The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 17, 1898, Page 2

2 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1898. ings tending to the acquisition of such a system be instituted jmmediately, and we pledge each and all of our candidates that, if elected, they will take immediate steps upon taking officein the honest and earnest investigation of said matter, With a view to the mequisition and construction of satd water and electric }ight system, and that all proccedings be pressed with all possible dispatch, to the end that said system, it found feasible and reasonable, shall be constructed and in operation before the expiration of the present privileges of the city water company. And, in general, the Republican plat- form was like unto these; and every city official ele-t.? last year was “ab- solutely and unqu:.fiedly pledged” to do something at once, which has not been done to this day. But five short months of the lease of the City Water Company yet remain. The present city government has frittered away more than & year in a vain and foolish attempt to acquire— not an entirely new and adequate water plant of scientific construction of sufficient capacity to supply a great city, and with force enough to serve as an agent for the extingulshment of conflagrations, besides furnishing pow- er for a great electric lighting sys- tem—but a scurvy, little antiquated | system of rusty water ‘mains” of the normous diameter of two inches. | Some thirty years ago the Council | of the village of Los Angeles entered into an alleged agreement With certain | Individuals by which the latter were { to have the privilege of using the water of the Los Angeles River, which is owned by the city; and at the end of thirty years the city was to buy the plant of the sald individuals at whatever it was worth. rights @ rights of way, cte., will be considered, and 1he prices set oprosite the differcnt items are, in* the opinion of the writer, not only adeauate, but like material can be bought to-day in | open market for less money if purchas- ed in larga quantities. The obsect and aim being to arrive at a fair valuation, giving at all -vents, the benefit of the doubt to the present water works. The investigation was made by rig- idly inspecting every one of the fea- tures of the system. Three hundred and eighteen pipes at different localities were unearthed, tested and their condition noted, in or- der to arrive at a fair understanding of the general nature of the pipe ys- tem. The sizes and conditions of the pipes were ascertained, depths and widths of excavations measured; com- parison was made with the record of the pipe system as submitted by the company; errors of sizes, etc., were thereby corrected, and the first star- tling discrepancy between facts and fig- ures was shown to be that instead of 1,870,931 feet of pipe system as listed by the company, but 1,682,289 feet, or a difference of over 35 miles of pipes was found. It appears,that the com- pany has carried on its record all abandoned lines, and submitted same as part of their system. « The condition of the existing pipe lines was scrutinized, and investigation showed that out of 114 pipes of two and three inch dimension, 47 are good, | \ { At present the plant of the Olty 67 in poor condition. Out of 153 cast | Water Company consists of & batc iron pipe of various sizes, 145 are good | of ancient machinery, some antiquat- 5 t i | ed headworks for extracting water |and 8 are poor; out of 51 sheet iron and diluted mud from the DOgS up ERNEST ABS HAGEN, C. E. pipe of various sizes, 29 are good, 22 are the river, a few ponds called ‘“reser- poar. voirs” and about 300 miles of rusty It was further found that there are SHE BROUGHT PRESIDENT DOLE. The Peru Slipped In Through the Fog Last Night and Dropped Anchor Off Meiggs Wharf About Nine O'clock. [0S ANGELES SOW TP IV ARMS 4 from First Page. e a bond in the sum of $20,000, the compliance b ns of this cor v the Mayor of pay all State and °d upon said e said period of Always provided that mon Council of and do reserve ate the water rates of the second provided that such water » price thereof to be »w charged by the nd part for water; a certain contract or have se heretofor by the or and Common Council of said v to Jean L. Sansevaine of said te of October 15, to be surrendered up and at or before the signing of ded, always, that s by these e parties of embrace to T works, of ¢ e 0 thes not v extent, or have any reference to, r works of said city used for n of water for the pur- or affect” in rights of irrigation, which ribut 1 it or , except as hereinbefore ressly stipu- d that the said cond part shall not ny water for the purpose but shall only take from ereof the sald par- their hands ay and year first above JOHN KING, President. d.day of, July, 1868. AGUILAR, Mayor. S. GRIFFIN, SAUDR United States District lborn has decided is ng as to both parties. g th i OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOJ | three daily newspapers named were o o THE POPULAR IDEA. | the Republicans, ar~ he | istration of the affairs of the city. ran for City Attorney. He was de- feated. But it was in the Council that the | water company got in its finest work. Four Republicans and four Democrats were elected. The L' -gue for Better City Government elected one Council- | man, and he had the deciding vote in | the Council. This was Ferman Silver, the member from the Fourth Ward. There was considerable speculation about.the organization of the Council. Mr. Silver settled it by combining with was chosen president of the Council. It was by | this clever move that the Republicans were ostensibly enabled to organize the Council, but really Mr. Silver and the League for Better City Government are responsible for the present admin- The Mayor is like the fifth whe 'l to a cart so far as concerns his legal power to | do or undo what the Council doe: When President Silver appointed the important Committee on Water Supply | he named F. M. Nickell, a Democrat, as chairman. This was regarded as extraordinary—that 1ader the circum- stances a Democrat should be n. med for that committee, which would have all to do with the settlement of the water question. The friends of municipal ownership | then and there began to realize that once more the people had been deceived and that the prospects for an equitable | settlement of the problem were becom- | ing dim. Time passed on, and, under extraor- dinary pressure from the people, the Council took one limping step after | another, but no move seemed to bring any nearer the great desideratum of municipal ownership. In the meantime, for reasons which must have been substantial, but which are not known to the average citizen, three of the daily papers of the city— the Times, Herald and Express—be- came silent on the water question. If they had anything to say it was in condemnation and denunciation of those public servants who were en- deavoring to carry out their ante-elec- tion pledges, solemnly made to the people. Shafts of ridicule were hurled at the Mayor and at the two Council- men who were endeavoring to do what | they considered to be their duty to their constituents. It soon became apparent that the along closer to cons nicipal ownership does not think outiook auspicious to secure it diately. ped in the house of its —that is to say, by city 1s claim to favor it and by newspapers which for various considerations the allies of the water company. {on record on the water question. they L:ad promised the peopi» te their ¢lection did not k hat to do. Finally it was d tfer the water company §1,1 A matter of form ¢ the result was that the promptly refused. The next step under the contract was arbitration. But the water c { declined to arbitrate, claiming that under their contract they were not compelled to arbitrate unt fter July , 1868, when their contract ¢ d Then delays and delays and delays. The Council acted as though it was fearful lest it might do something that would clear up the matter and push it mation. If sev- en members had any such fear or ap- prehension it was groundless. Then a petition, signed by S00¢ vot- ers, was filed, asking the Ccuncil to at once call an election to vate bonds to construct an entirely new water dis- tributing plant. The petition is now in the hands of the Council, and there it will remain. The citizen who honestly desires mu- imme- The proposition is being stop- sed friend who are Messrs. Silver, Mathuss, Baker, Toll, Ashman, Nickell and Blanchard will tell you that they are for municipal ownership, but they are not willing to take one singie solitary step or to sup- | port a open the way to bring it about. motion or measure that will The newspapers all deny that they are contrclled by the water company, either directly or indirectly, yet they furnish almost daily evidence of it by their editorial policy. A man, either in public or private i life, who manifests any activity in the | way of municipal ownership promptly has his wings clipped by the press in | so far as it is possible for the syndi- | cated dailles to effect this. In the Council Messrs. Grider and Hutchison are the only two members | who have placed themselves squarely are distinctively anti-water company- men. They are both honorable, and are above purchase. They may be radical in their views, but the opinion of citizens generally is that they are | the They | “mains,” of which latter commodity the average size is about three inches, 180 miles thereof being of no more than two-inch pipe. Only § per cent of the ponderous “water mains” of this city are more h four inches in diameter, and v miles thereof are of that per- ishable material commonly called sheet iron. For all this rust a for all these bog sinks, the City Wa- ter Company asks the Town Council the modest sum of $3,000,000. ngineer Dpckweller prepared ans and estimates for an elaborate water system, in accordance with the political platforms of the late muniei- 2 scrap iron, and pal campaign, the smallest main in side street to be six inches in diameter, or of nine times the ca- pacity of the average main of the present tem, and the entire cost of such a tem sufficlent for a city of 350,00 inhabitants was found to be but littie more than $3,000,000. If this city can construct a great water system for $3,000,000, with water mains of 6, 12, 18, 30 and 40 inches in diameter, it would be a crime to pay any such sum for the rusty pipes that now drip a little water over the city, and w aggravate the entire Fire Department every time it tries to extract from the said pipes enough water to quench the flames In a burning shanty. The Los Angeles Water Company is more powerful as a political engine after elections than as a distrioutor of water to the public. Most of the newspapers of this city appear to be in ity employ or upon its pay roll. The Express seems to be its steadiest and most trusted ally. The Times seems to grow restive occasionally— but it usually cools down into a friendly apologist for the water com- pany within a day or two after its biuster or covert attack upon the said company In a labored editorfal published a few days ago, the Express said that the water company is a large tax- payer of this city and that for that particular reason it was foolish to think that the water company would * take advantage of the city, or the tax- vers thereof. Whether the editor did not know that the water company might want to get back its tax money together with the tax money paid by 20,000 or 100,000 others is not known to _ but the water company can ever know how many people there are here, or how few, who are under the thumb of the said company for pe- cunlary reasons; but it is certain that there are many officials.of the city and many private citizens who see through the water company's spec- tacles because of pressure brought about by pure business relationship and constant insidious maneuvering on the part of the astute management of the water company. I could name half a dozen city offi- clals whose worst enemies never ac- cused them of downright bribery for coin, and whose official conduct con- make water run up hill through iron rust. If The Call will but aid us in our work and lead us out of our legal and illega! dilemmas, of Los Angeles will owe The Call a debt of gratitude. Yours trul EDWARD L. HUTCHISON. Councilman Eighth Ward, Los An- geles. — - 0000000000000 0000 |o /@ AS COUNCILMAN |© L. M. GRIDER SEES IT. Councilman L. M. Grider always has been one of the best known real estate men in the He was elected to the Council from one of the aristo wards and has made quite a repu for himself. He has demons that he is beyond the reach of the © Water company. His views of the situ- © ation are below. o0O0oOeCoeeeo0R0Ce 1 To the Editor of The Call—Sir: It | is indeed fortunate for the city of Los Angeles that a great newspaper like The Call is willing t fight of its people inst t} ate monopoly which now water supply, nd which i through a subsidized press te ate such control, or to sw city by selling wh 000 more than it | | | tion trated 000000000 take up with one | openly | the water com- pany, and the fact that The Call has taken up the cudgel on behalf of the people makes the promise for the fu- ture brighter. Every city official—certainly every member of the present Councill—was pledged prior to election to take ste; immediately to secure a municipal water system, to be owned and con- trolled by the city. Nothing id in any or pledges about waiting until next July to see if the er company’'s plant could be purchased, and no candidate men- tioned such a thing during the cam- paign; If one had, such one would not now be a city official. The Democratic platform especially ignored the plant of the water com- pany and pledged its candidates to immediately construct an independ- ent water system, and, if praoticable, to bring the water from a mountain source and not from the Los Angeles River, the source of our present sup- ply. As early as January 12, 1897, T intro- duced a resolution in the Council di- recting the City Engineer to prepare plans and spectfications for a er system to be owned by the city, with estimate of cost. This was voted down. The Herald next day denounced the majority for having betrayed the people, but the Herald was not then controlled by the water company. COOCOO0000000C00 00000000000000000000000000 it deserves. am now as always in favor of build- ing at once and now a new and com- plete water system, completely ignor- ing the water company, but I have small hopes that this will be done. I believe that after all possible delay has been obtained in other ways, the majority of the Council will order a reappraisement of the water com- nt, and that the matter will pany’s pla be so z anged. that a much higher appraisement than the former one of $1,190,6 1l be made; that when July has come and they are certain who the third referee will be, the water company will consent to sell its plant at a price to be fixed by arbitration; ¢ that referees will be appointed who will report a much higher valuation than that reported by City Engineer Dockweiler last summer; that the people will be asked to vote bonds to consummate the purchase; that the bonds will be defeated, and then the people will have to settle the matter at the next city election. Yours truly, L. M. GRIDER, man of the Sixth Ward, Los s. Counc Ang e 80000000000000003 THE EXPERT’S FIGURES o [+] What the Value of the Water © Company’s Plant Really Is. The property for which the water company is endeavoring to squeeze $3,000,000 cut of the people and which bargain the syndicate press of Los An- geles has given its quasi approval to is by one of the best known expert en- gineers in the country figured to be worth just $1,192,000. Mr. Abs Hagen has credentials which establish beyond question hi§ experi- enceand ability. He is being followed and hounded to a more or less extent and an endeavor is being made to drive him out of the city by rendering it impossible for him to make a living here. However, the effort may fail. Anyway, while Mr. Abs Hagen is yet here he has consented to give a few facts for the readers of The Call. O0000000000000000 To the Editor of The Call—Sir: A water works system, complete in all its appurtenances, subservient to the needs of a city with over 100,000 inhabitants, with a supply and distribution sys- tem sufficiently large to respond to the needed subsequent enlargements, in order to meet the requirements of a yearly increasing population; well planned, carefully executed and economically administered—is not only a necessity of the present age the people whom its ac- boon to Dependence on but a 00000000C00000000000000 at present within the city limits a lit- tle over 23 miles of pipes, which are paralleled by others of larger dimen- sions. This latter fact shows that such 23 miles of pipes of insufficient sizes had to be augmented by parallel pipe lines. The combined capacity of both are found to be hardly sufficient for present requirements. The pipe system was found to con- sist of 103 miles of cast iron pipes, equaling 32 per cent of the whole sys- tem; of 189 miles, or 60 per cent, of wrought iron: of 3.75 miles, or 1 per cent of cement lined pipe; of 21 miles, or 7 per cent of sheet iron; or a total of 318 miles of pipe, good, bad and indif- ferent. The conditions of the pipes were found to be as follows: All cast iron pipes, with the exception of those suf- fering from the effects of electrol were found to be good and serviceable. All wrought iron pipes, except the new- 1y laid, were found to be covered with rust and deteriorating rapidly. All sheet iron pipes, except such as were laid in deep trenches and favored b local conditions of the soil, were badly deteriorated, and some utterly spoiled by rust. The cement lined pipes were absolutely worthle: Sooner or later, within the next five or ten years, every one of the pipes, except the cast iron pipes, will have to be replaced by cast iron mains. The sizes of the mains, as found in econnection with this system, furnish a remarkable illustration of what can be done with inadequate means, by the use of good judgment and careful ad- ministration by the one party and in- dulgence by the other. Out of a total of 1,626,490 feet of avail- able pipes, there are at present in yse: Of 2-inch pipe, 55 per cent; of 3-ihc pipe, 5.5 per cent; of 4-inch pipe, 18.5 per cent; of 5-inch pipe, .5 per cent; of §-inch pipe, 6.5 per cent; of 7-inch pipe, .1 per cent; of 8-inch pipe, 4.5 per cent; } of 10-inch pipe, 1.5 per cent; of 1l-inch pipe, 1 per cent; cf 12-inch pipe, 2 per cent; of 14-inch pipe, .3 per cent; of 16- inch pipe, .5 per cent; of 18-inch pipe, .6 per cent; of 20-inch pipe, .1 per cent; of 22-inch pipe, 1 per cent; of 24-inch pipe, .5 per cent; of 30-inch pipe, .6 per cent; of 44-inch pipe, 1.1 per cent. The preponderance of 2-inch, 3-inch and 4-inch pipes (78 per cent) over the medium and larger sized pipes becomes the more apparent when it is consid- ered that a 6-inch main is necessary in order to furnish the required maxi- mum volume of water for domestic and fire-extinguishing purposes. At present there are no hydrants available except where connected with 4-inch or larger mains, thereby depriving all such sec- tions of the city where the smaller sizes of pipe predominate. The propected city water works sys- Of syniilcatsd ror 8 Darrss SR A TAE p:‘r;:iel: ;:;r:mnx;;c::;:&rmz;n:; eloctlnln cerning the water question is ab- It then became evident that a ma- |cCurate, mever ’&‘;‘"bg gm“‘“ 'i“"“ces tem calls for 300 miles of 6-inch mains. o =i O} 1 2ot to . entively - Setost “Sanvicioal 2 h‘~ 3 ; e people | inexpiicable if it be not for jority of the Council were not going |the expense caused by fires, NSUres | phe present system contains less than O It Was That by, the Middis ot © cwsershiy, of this city water at the lowest possi- idiows influence of business re- to carry out their pledges, but were |clean streets, well flushed sewers, |twonty miles of such pipes. The depth Py g Al efforts to get the water comfnittes | \C_Tate It can be given to consumers| lationship. going to try and find out how not |wholesome water for domestic uses and | {, which mains are laid is inadequate, G July of This Year All Was < i thec‘:'un A l:: = anythin; :;;l ue@ | direct by the municipality itseif. Mayor Snyder has fought well for to do it. The lion in the way was | jt reverberdtes in general to the credit | tpq average depth of 2-inch and 3 mc,; © | of the cf 3 ctive | x 4 the interests of the people. In the found in the shape of a contract be- 2 i : < & = o to Be Settled. | e rattiens TrbeA Treaitnt e | The Mayor of the city, M. P. Snyder, Sty - Councll: ME i Oridar and mukar Fd of its owners, i. e, it pays & handsome | pipes being found to be from twelve tween the city and the water com- pany, made in 1868, binding the city to buy the improvements of the water whatever else may be charged against kim by his political enemies, has never been accused of being an ally of the interest on the capital invested. Such a system is needed for the city ings at unknown times, but what it has ever done 000000000000000008 inches to eighteen inches below street grade, larger mains gradually increas- i1t long and hard to have plans to hasten municipal and estimates for a new water system Abs Hagen, C. undes the super- vision of Engineer Dockweiler, was most minutely exhaustive, and it re- vealed the fact that nobody couid find any value in the present water plant beyond the sum of $1,19,000. That is far less than the three millions asked for the plant by the water company. No criticism of Mr. Abs Hagen's scientific investigations and careful es- timate of the water plant was ever made by anybody; yet somebody's It will be noted that the agreement | gwnership no man knoweth. 3 prepared by City Engineer Dockweiler, company in July. 18 a price to |of Los Angeles. The question of ob-|ing to an average depth of four feet, which is so fully set forth provided —_————— | water company. He is doing the best | or under his supervision. It took a be agreed on or fixed by arbitrat taining the same has been agitated | thus necessitating expensive altera- end evidently contemplated municipal | ‘ho can in his officiai position to effect fight equally long and hard to get an I am credibly informed that some years. It is now at the point of | tions whenever a change of street ownership of the water plant of the | L R L R L lIhe change provided for in the contract. “"“'“X:h v of the plant of the City contract was secured by corrup taking its form of development, and in — Gty it Xth By feaMbn. e |In a signed article for The Call the| ‘vater Company. 3 and fraud. and every one I have talk- | grder to evolve such a system in the Continued on Fourth Page. Anyway, the people have for the 1ast|©@ TIGURES OBTAINED. @ head of the municipality touches upon| , 04t Inventory, made by Ernest | ed with who was famillar with the |goort 0 qiil e e e be guided o matter at that early date has stated | that it was a job. But be that as it may, no attorney not in the employ of the water company has ever claim- ed that their contract could be en- forced against the city. In this con- ' the water question way. ten years always so regarded it. | = b4 ‘When the municipal campaign of 1896 | @ The City Engineer Directed to © opened the voters of the city realized | [ that the public servants chosen at the | Teanson e Castmliag ] e December election of that year and | New Plant. ° taking office on the first Monday in January of 1897 would be called upon| @ @9 ©0©000000000C000 to adjudicate the question of municipal ownership of the plant. The Council- men chosen would go to make up the from the start, trained and directed so |as to produce an ultimate result ade- | quate to the needs and wants of the people. As a beginning toward a successful end this city is confronted with the fact | of having to buy a water works system | at the present owned by private parties, of either enlarging, renovating and im- proving such undesirable features in in’ no uncertain | NEW TO-DAY. Al SR 0000000000000 000 o o VIEWS OF COUNCIL- © MANE. L. HUTCHISON. The City Engineer was finally direct- | @ ed to make an estimate as to what an o entirely new distributing plant would Annual Sales over 6,000,000 Boxes BERLLETS » FOR BILIOUS AND NERVOUS DISORDERS 000 nection I may state that my unders standing of the law is that a city of- ficial Is in duty bound to insist upon every legal right and legal defense which the city has. Now although every city official Prior to his election to the City legislative body of the city. The Mayor, the head of the corporation, would have the power to veto all acts of the Council. The City Attorney would be the legal adviser of the Coun- cil and Mayor, while the City Engineer would be the expert relied upon for knowledge and information concerning the water company’s plant. All political parties declared in favor of. municipal ownership, and the indi- vidual candidates vied with each other | in seeing who could carry out the idea | that he was and always had been in | favor of the city furnisning its inhabi- tants at the cost of distribution the | water which it was admitted the muni- cipality owned. The water company also had ests at stake in the campaign and the corporation through its agents en- deavored to play some very clever schemes whereby the people would be deluded. It succeeded. Perhaps not before the election, but it certainly did | afterward. The corporation realized that fits very life was involved in the result of the election, and, as“well, a matter of anywhere from a million and a half to two milllons of dollars. The work it did was under cover and was under- stood only by those who were close to its directing spirits. Herculean efforts were put forth by the water company to defeat M. P. Snyder for Mayor. Tt was fruitless. He was elected by 1600 majority. In the matter of City Attorney and City Engineer the candidates who were endeavoring to beat each other were none of them objectionable to the water company save J. R. Rush, who inter- | & cost. He made it, and figured that for a city of 350,000, which was the basis he was instructed to figure on, it would cost $2,500,000, Then the City Engineer was asked to take the water company’s inventory of its property and figure what it was worth to the city. For this work Ernest Abs Hagen, a competent engineer of unquestioned reputation and ability was chosen. He made an exhaustive examination as per the water company’s own return of its property. The result of his examina- tion he himself speaks of elsewhere. That result was that the water com- pany’s plant at a liberal valuation was worth to the city $1,192,000. The water company’s price was and is mow understood to be $3,000,000, al- though it has never yet given a posi- tive price to the City Council. For once the corporation had been outgeneraled. Engineer Abs Hagen's report was submitted to the Council by the City Engineer, and it raised con- sternation in the ranks of the water company, their allies, official and unof- ficial, and their newspaper organs. Abs Hagen was bitterly condemned and denounced, and he has ever since been excluded from city employment. He made an honest report and lost ail prospect of present employment by the city. His report did not suit those who are running things. But the figures and facts set forth in his report never were assailed. They are absolutely unassallable. This report of Abs Hagen's, made as the City Engineer, was a bombshell in the City Council. The members there who seem to have forgotten aboui what O Council Edward L. Hutchison was an © instructor in the public schools of the © city. He was elected from the Eighth, © the one ward in the city where the people of ordinary means make four- © fifths of the population. He is a very O piain, blunt-spoken sort of citizen, young, active and courageous. He O tells what he thinks about the situa- tion. (] 00000C00CCO00Q000000 To the Editor of the Call— Sir: In the Los Angeles municipal campaign of a year ago the platforms of all political parties fairly roared and bellowed for the municipal owner- ship of a water plant and for the con- struction of an entireiy new water plant at the earliest posible date, The Democratic and Populist plat- forms, upon which I was elected to the City Councll, together with three others, declared “Unqualifiedly and unreservediy in favor of an entirely new plant to be owned and operated by the people for the people, the rates to be charged to be upon a basis of actual cost of distribution.” ‘The same platforms also declared in favor of ““A supply of pure water from mountain sources in place of the un- desirable ‘substance’ furnished us by the Los Angeles City Water Company”; and they were no less clear and clamorous in favoring the construction of the proposed water plant with “sufficient pressure for fire purposes, thus saving the city a large portion of the annual expense of §51,- 000 for an expensive fire department, besides thousands upon thousands of dollars every year in fire insurance.” The final clause in the said plank was as follows: We demand that the necessary proceed- NOOODD000000000000 political and sinister Influence has pre- vented the city from employing him in any similar work for the past six months. The water company manages to squeeze out of the property-owners of this city about $500,000 a year. About $300,000 of that is clear profittothecom- pany. The service is utterly unsatis- factory and inadequate. In many sec- tions of the city the water pipes are almost empty for several hours each day and the pressure is but slight at all times. Almost the entire city is eager for a new and adequate water plant. The city owns every inch of water in the Los Angeles River. The lease of the City Water Company will expire next summer. The supply of water in the mountains north of the city is ade- quate for the city and is available for its use. The present water plant Is worse than worthless as a nucleus for a new plant or as a part of & great sys- tem. It would be of no more use as the basis of a new system than a Waterbury watch would be as a basis for a fine watch. Its attempted use would entail almost endless expense in every part of the city. The present pollcy of the majority of the city officials seems to be to walt and walt and wait. Every move causes weeks of unnecessary delay. The city should begin the construc- tion of a new system of its own with- out delay. Its alleged contract to pur- chase the alleged plant of the City ‘Water Company does not prevent it from constructing an entirely new water plant of its own after modern and scientific plans. If we must purchase the present ‘water plant, we can utilize some parts of it, perhaps, but we need not burden the city with any further attempt to knew of this contract as well when he made his pledge for Iimmediate construction of a water svstem as he does now, still the majority of the Council are making tnis contract their excuse for not carrying out their pledges. Impatient with the delay about this, thousands of residents of the city in November last flled a petition with the Council asking that an election be immediately called to vote bonds to build a water system. This was eferred to the Water Supply Com- mittee, which committee held a public meeting to consider it. Any ordinary man hearing the discussion which took place at this meeting would have supposed that a prominent member of the Water Supply Com- mittee was there as the special agent of the water company, so watchful was he of the interests of that cor- poration and so fearful lest the square thing shoud not be done by that soul- less organization. Even the special counsel of the city did not seem to have even bothered his brain or dis- turbed his lawbook in endeavoring to advise the city how to avoid the afore-mentioned contract. In fact, it seemed that this contract was a savior and a deliverer to the majority of the Water Supply Committee, which led them out of the land of bondage to their pledges to the peo- ple, not to mention their reaching the water company land of milk and honey. The petition was reported back with a recommendation in substance that the water company be requested to please consent to immediately sell its plant to the city. The water company has not as yet hearkened to the prayer of the Council, and some, lack- ing in faith, say it never will. F ‘What will the Council do? Well, I | parently only time, | this system as are or may become ap- | parent, or else substitute an entirely | new system for the old one, which lat- | ter at all events will have to be bought and paid for at such a price as may be | agreed upon. A contract made thirty years ago ne- | cessitates the acquisition of this prop- | erty. | this property is the stumbling block for | the rapid solution of the question. The | purchase prise asked by the present | owners is $3,000,000. | by the city and based on careful engi- | neering | $1,00,000. The price which is to be pald for The sum offered investigations is a little over This produces a gap in the present business negotiations which ap- arbitration, law- suits and similar time-consuming ex- | pediments may overbridge. A comparison of the present water | works system as it shows itself to be with what it ought to be leads to some astonishing results. It is the aim.of the writer to present the existing conditions of the Los An- | geles water works system to the reader in as calm, unbiased and correct a manner as possible, based upon a pre- viously made searching investigation | reduced to a dollar and cent estimate. | Every item of such estimate can be substantiated and verified. A schedule list of the city water works property was filed by the offi- cgrs of this company with the city au- thorities, which list embraces cvery piaze o ' estate, every pieca of the numerous features, such as tunnels. conduits, reservoirs, power stations and pipe system, which go to make up a large water works system. Water such as Wind and Pain in the Stomach, Giddiness, Fuluess after meals, Head- ache, Dizziness, Drowsiness, Flushings ot Heat, Loss of Appetite. Costiveness. Blotches on the Skin, Cold Chills, Dis- turbed Sleep, Frightful Dreams and all Nervous and Trembling Sensations. THE FIRST DOSE WILL GIVE RELIEF IN TWENTY MINUTES. Every sufferer will acknowledge them to be A WONDERFUL MEDICINE. BEECHAM'S PILLS, taken as direct- ed, will quickly restore Females to com- plete health. They promptly remove obstruections or irregularities of the sys- tem and cure Sick Headache. 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