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Lees's c ' ' c .--*--'■ r . ; ■ 7' •- ; - ":, / ' ■• i.- !; •> s X' t ■ " . ;f" *.K Atat Our Water Supply 1 1 i % M Why need we do avythhig? Because we are behind every city of similar size in Canada in our provision of water for domestic use and for protection from fire. Because, to fairly supply our city, we should have twenty- three to twenty -five miles of water mains, whereas we have only seven. Because, except on Main street and a few short lengths of other streets, we are dependent for water upon water carriers or upon fetching water in pails from public pumps. Because the supply by such means is inconvenient, insuffi- cient and unwholesome, and, if the water is purchased from carriers, expensive as well. Because, without a proper system of water supply, the sewers cannot be kept efficiently flushed, and will become a source of disease and nuisance from bad smells. Because, without such a supply, we cannot gradually sub- stitute water closets for the filthy and unwholescmie system of privies and cesspools by which the whole soil of the city is being poisoned. In most parts of the city the ground Is found to be full of water six to eif^ht feet below the surface, and this water is nothing but dilute sewerage from the over- flow and soakage of privies. Because an abundant supply of water for washing, bathing, house cleaning, sprinkling and such purposes, as well as for manufactories, elevators and small motors, is one of the first essentials to a rising city, and we cannot afford to let Winnipeg be beuind other cities in this respect. Because, though we have an excellenl- fire brigade, we might have much more efficient protection for the same money, if. instead of depending on steam fire engines and tanks of limited capacity, we had a good fire hydrant, with ample pressure, forming itself a powerful fire engine, at every 500 feet along our streets. // (iny thing is to be done, ivho .shoidd do it ? The tendency of the day is for cities to own and operate their own Waterworks. The rates actually charged are usuaUy lower where the works are so owned, but on the other hand it is more ditficult for the city authorities to resist pressure to lay mains in streets where the returns will not be remunera- tive. Perhaps it would have been better for the city to have taken this matter in hand at first. As it is, we have a Com- pany in possession, and we must either buy them out or make such arrangements as will obtain through them what we require. What .are the present arixtngements hetiveen the City and the Cornixmy ? By their charter, the Company have an exclusive right to supply the city for twenty years. In return for this, the Company are bound to supply as much water for the extinction of fires, gratis, as their pumps and pipes will enable them to supply. But they are not bound to provide either pumping power, pipes, or pressure for fire purposes beyond what the requirements of their commercial business of selling water to private persons may render necessary. So that the city is only entitled to use for tire purposes the surplus remaining after supplying the Company's customers, and is not entitled to require extra pressure for fire extinction. The Company are bound to provide pumps and mains sufficient to supply 25 gallons per head per day , that being the standard adopted in Europe for ordinary domestic use, apart from waste, and from extraordinary consumption such as watering lawns and gardens, manufactories, etc. It is usual to provide a La-ger quantity on this side of the Atlantic, partly because more water is used for these extraordinary purposes and partly because there is more waste from bad fittings and carelessness of consumers. The Company are bound to extend their mains on the * requisition of the City Council, whenever the latter can show that in each quarter of a mile a revenue e(pial to 10 per cent. on the cost of the extension can be obtained ; which practically means whenever the Council can produce agreements from consumers :o take water at rates which will yield such a revenue. No attempt has hitherto been made by the Council to put this provision in force. What (ire the objections to this arrangement as regards Jive protection ? The effect is that the Company instead of receiving from the city about J^IOOO per mile of mains, for a tire supply, as in other cities, receive no income from this source, consequently they have no inducement to provide more powerful pumps, larger mams, and higher pressure than are required for the domestic supply. But the appliances sufficient for the latter, which are all that the Compan}' are bound, either by the charter or by their commercial interests, to provide are altogether insufficient for adequate tire protection. For instance, a certain street would require for the ordinary domestic supply 14 cubic feet of water per minute, and a pipe 4 inches in diameter would suffice to conve}'^ this quantity. But the efficient fire supply for this street would be 160 cubic feet per minute, or eleven times as much as before ; and the pipe for this would have to be 12 inches diameter. Consequently a system of pipes carried out under this arrangement, though useful for filling the fire tanks, and for giving some additional supply in case of fire, cannot supersede the expensive steam fire engines, and as the city grows will entail still larger expenditure upon the fire brigade. Hoiv came the City to make this undesirable arrange- ment with the Company ? At the time the charter was el*ore iiiany y(*jir.s are over, some better arrangement has become a necessity. Why not wait at any rate till the City has power to Jmy the works eompvlsorily, when the Council can retme the means of fire protection as may then seem best ? Because tlie Company, for their own interests, must make considerable extensions of their mains, and if they did not do so of their own accord may very likely be called on to do so under the compulsory clause of the charter. In making these extensions the Company are not required, and cannot afford, to lay pipes of the extra size necessary for the "direct hydrant" system, unless they obtain compensation in some shape. But if these street mains be now laid of the size necessaiy for domestic supply only, with corresponding leading mains to feed them, should the city hereafter take over the works and desire to establish the "direct hydrant" system, it would be necessary to take up and relay all these mains at very great expense. 'hat, then, do the Company propose to meet this diffi^culty ? They propose that to compensate them for the additional cost of extra sizes of mains and additional pumping power, to give the necessary high pressure, the city should levy a "fire protection" rate on the frontage of lots upon streets in which the Company have laid or may lay mains; such rate to be ten cents per foot on occupied and five cents per foot on vacant lots. The Company represent that this method is more fair to the citizens than a fixed hydrant rental, paid out of general taxation, because the latter would tax all citizens for protection enjoyed by only a portion, and because those who actually receive the benefit should pay for it. They also represent that tl.is method makes the compensation to the Company in part proportional to the number of houses actually protected, as seems reasonable. They think it fair that owners of vacant lots should pay something, because the provision of water supply and fire protection in front of a building site adds something to its eligibility and value, and efficient fire protection in any case should lead to some saving in insurances. f 5 With regard to the doinestlc supply, how h((s the arrange- ment between the Company nnd the City affected the extension of the mains ? The surrender by th(^ Company of any hydrant rent or other contribution towards the cost of extension lias been very prejudicial to the progress of the Company's works. Under tht^ customary arrangements tlie payment of hjalrcant rent secures to the Company some return, at any rate, upon the outlay of capital, and helps them to wait for the gradual growth of revenue from private consinners. In the case of our Company they have been entirely dependent upon such growth for any return, and the slow increase of consumption up'^n the mains has not hitherto encouraged them to further outlay in this direction. Winnipeg is an unusually scattered place, and the small number of houses per mile of street makes it necessary that a large proportion of householders should become consumers within a short time if any adequate return is to be obtained. Had the monopoly granted by the charter been adhered to, so that the Company would have had to contend only with the sale of water from house to house by water carriers, there might have been a prospect of securing within a reasonable time sufficient customers to make exten- sions pay. Unfortunately for them, and as the Company contend in infringement of their chartered rights, the City Council has adopted the unusual and almost unprecedented policy of supplying water gratis, from public wells and pumps, over almost the whole area in which extensions might other- wise have eventually become renmnerative. The result is not only to discourage extensions, but that consumers living upon streets where the (Jompany have laid mains already, instead of taking the Company's water, avail themselves of the free supply afforded by the city. Have not the high rates charged by the Company had much to do ivith the small groiutJi. of consumption ? The rates in a city like Winnipeg must necessarily be high, as compared with other cities, at any rate until the use of the Company's water becomes universal (by compulsion or otherwise), for several reasons. First, the city is unusually scattered, and hence a much greater length of pipe has to be laid to serve a certain number of houses than in cities more 6 closely built up. Then freight i.s so hijrrh that pipes, etc., cost here nearly double as much as in eastern cities. The pipes have to be laid deeper to escape the frost. The cost of labor and of fuel is higher than elsewhere, so that both in the original outlay of capital and in subsequent working expenses the Company are at a disadvantage. But if the consumption were more general, the Company could undoubtedly afford to lower their rates to some extent, with advantage to them- selves as well as to the public. Then why do not the Company seek to ohtainmore general consumption by lowering their rates ? The Company have already tried that experiment more than once. A new schedule of rates, much lowf r than the original one, was issued last year. By that schedule, householders were offered not only an ordinary supply but water for a bath and a wash basin as well, for an annual payment little more, and in some cases, less than they are now paying to water carriers for a barrel or two per week. Since this tariff' was issued scarcely any new applications for private residences have been received. Again, last fall, when about to lay a pipe in Donald street, the Company offered a still lower tariff, lower than is paid in Montreal, to every householder in that street who would at once agree to take the water. Only three did so, and that is all the Company have gained by laying about half a mile of main. No doubt in the course of four or five years, nearly every house on that street will take the water, but the Company cannot afford to wait for people to make up their minds at that rate. There is another point which affects the Company in trying to obtain fresh consumers by lowering; rates. Thev cannot refuse to give old consumers the benefit of the reduction, and hence, unless the alteration induces general consumption, the result to the Company may be that they supply more water at great cost to themselves and, nevertheless, may receive less total revenue. What does the Company want the city to do in this matter of domestic snj^ply? They want to be relieved of the competition of the city in supplying water gratis from public wells and pumps, so that '^m^ ! •1 ■m i tlicy may only have to contend witli the h'j^Mtirnate coni)K>ti- tion of the water carriers. ISut this alone would not he sufficient to enahle them to make sucli a yeneral extension of the system as is necessary to l)rin<4 Winnipen- up to the stanchird of 0t:ier citirs and to afford tlie i;en('ral sup])ly re(|uisite for liealth and comfort. Havinij^ in view tlie scattered condition of the city, and the eonse((U»'nt small numher of houses to the mile of streets, tiny consider that it would he too loUL^ to wait for the n'l'adual accession of consumers to give them the necessary revenue per mile of nuiin. Speaking roughly, it re((uires ahout 100 consumers per mile of main to make the laying of ])ipes remunerative to the ( \)mpany. Now, if there were, say, 800 houses per mile of streets, and one- tifth hecame consumers each j'ear, at the end of two years the company would ohtain its ffdi" return. But, if as in most of tlu! str(3ets in Winnipeg, outside *»f Main street, there an; not more than 100 houses per mih\ ,ind one-tifth of these hecome consumers each vear, it will he five years l)efore a sufficient return is obtained, and the Company cannot afford to wait so lono-. The only wav to secure a general extension of the system, and at the same time cheap rates for wat(^r, is to make the consumption general, that is compulsory. The Company offer, if this is done, to extend their mains at once to about twenty miles, sufficient for the present population, and to lower their tariff to one which will compare favoral)ly, all things con- sidered, even with cities where the corporation own the water works, as at Montreal and Ottawa. Is it 'not luird upon people to compel them to hay what they do not ivant ?■ It is not hai'der, as a matter of principle, to make the use of water compulsory here than in Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec. Indeed, in many cities the owners of vacant lots are required to pay water rates, which is not proposed here (except as to the separate rate for fire protection). Everybody wants water; it is not a question of compelling people to buy what they don't want, but of compelling them to buy from an authorized seller, just as those who want liquors can only buy from a license<] vendor, or those who want drugs from a qualified chemist. People now buy from water carriers : in future they would have to buy from the Company, that is all. 8 If the city had originally built the water works, or if it hereafter took them over under its powers of acquisition, the city would undoubtedly adopt the compulsory system. Why not, then, start now, seeing that every year which passes and every addition to the size of the city will r.iake the alteration more difficult in the future ? But it is proposed, not only to make the use compulsory, hut to fix a price that people must pay ? That is as much for the protection of the consumer as of the Company. The Company has power, under its charter, to charge very high rates. It would not be fair to compel people to take water unless the price was fixed at a reasonably low figure. Nor would it be fair to compel them generally to pay more than it costs them now to buy water from the water carriers, and the proposed rates have been tixed on this basis. A householder who buys water now can scarcely do with less than a barrel a week, which costs him $13 a year. The Comptany propose to charge for houses containing — 1 room $ 5 2 " 6 3 " 8 4 " 10 5 " 12 so that residents in such houses would pay less than at present. Residents in houses of six to eight rooms usually pay a good deal more than $13 a year for purchased water, probably from $20 to $30, in some cases much more. Now, the proposed compulsory rates are, for — 6 rooms $16 7 " 20 8 " 24 so that, practically, nobody would pay more than he does now, and he would get a much larger supply, fresh every hour, of good filtered water. Is it not hard on the water-carriers to interfere with their hitsiness ? Not so hard on them as for the city to compete with them by allowing anybody who chooses to carry away water gratis lafr them gratis I 9 from the public wells, but there will always be a considerable and growing zone of the city outside the districts supplied by the Company which will give scope for the water-carriers. And the Company will help the water-carriers to supply these districts by allowing them to take water from the Company's mains at a small charge, if they do not take them into the Company's employ for the express purpose of supplying these outlying districts, as they probably will. But hoiv ahout the poor people ivho now carry away their water gratis from the public wellsl The city has undoubtedly got into a difficulty by sinking these wells. Even if they had not been hampered by an agreement with a company, giving the latter exclusive rights, the question would have arisen some day; it will arise anyhow should the city ever take over the works. The real question underlying the difficulty is this ; should any portion of the citizens be supplied with water gratis, out of public taxation, any more than with any other necessary of life, such as fuel? The answer surely must be, all or none. Inasmuch as water rates, for this class of property, are usually paid by the owner, not the tenant, th^ effect of re- lieving the property of water rate nmst be one of two things. Either the tenants pay less rent than they would do if water were laid on, in which case the city is practically paying part of their rent ; or as is more likely to be the case, they pay the same rent, in which case the city is practically subsidizing the landlord, by [relieving him of a charge he would otherwise have to pay. Probably a large number of those who now avail themselves of these public wells are too independent and public-spirited to object to pay a fair sum for water brought conveniently into their houses, thus saving the trouble of fetching water in all weathers from the pump, and the danger of drinking unwholesome and polluted water. With regard to the very poor and the s(juatters living in mere huts in certain parts of th«' city, as the Company do not propose for the present to extend their mains to tliose parts, the question of the wells there might be left open for the present. Even where the Company do lay their mains, they would not object to the wells remaining open for a time, pro- vided the compulsory system be adopted, so that persons living 10 I off* tlie streets containing mains might continue to obtain water from them. The Company are convinced that the city will ultimately have to close thes« wells for sanitary reasons before long, and would not object to their remaining for the meantime if the Company are protected from direct competi- tion on their own mains. But even on the better streets where the Goiinpany 'purposes to lay its mains there are a few houses ivhose occupiers are too poor to pay for water, and now get it from the public wells. How do you jiropose to deal with them, ? If the water rate is levied, as it should be, on the owner, it will not necessarily affect the occupier. A man who owns a house and lot on one of the better streets can afford to pay the low rates proposed. If he lets to tenants he may or may not raise the rents. In the latter case the poor occupier cannot suffer ; if the rent is raised and he cannot afford to pay for the consumption of water laid in, he can move to a part where the pipes are not laid and no water rate is payable, just as he would have to do if rents were raised throug-h increased value of the site or for any other reason. A great measure of public utility ican seldom be carried out without inconvenience to a few for the benefit of the many. There is another plan that might be adopted. In certain cases of poor class property, exemptions might be granted by arrangements between the city and the company, the occupiers taking water from a stand pipe supplied by the company ; the city paying for the water so used. The advantag'^ of this would be to bring clearly before the council and the citizens the real meaning of the free wells system, viz.: — that it is sup- plying a certain class of the citizens with a necessary of life at the expense of the whole body ; and further that this ulti- mately resolves itself into a grant from the general funds to the owner of the property on which the persons so aided reside. ■*?■ Why do you say the city will tdtimately have to close up the ivells for sanitary reasons ? Because these wells derive their supply from one of two sources — the water which saturates the clay soil immediately under the city, or from the subterranean reservoir which J I jrtain d by piers ; the this nzens sup- )i' life ulti- ids to laided \se up two lately rhich n supplies the flowing w^ells, The ordinary subsoil water in this city is profusely contaminated with sewage matter, the overflow and soakage from pri\ies and cesspools ; so much so that in excavating trenches for water pipes and sewers, the water which percolates into the openings is oflfensive and sickening to a degree. Any water derived from the strata above the " hard pan " is more or less in communication with this polluted subsoil water, or dilute sewage, and is totally unflt for use, in fact poisonous. The water from the " flowinij wells " itself liable without the greatest care to get mixed with the poisonous subsoil water, is besides loaded with salts to an extent injurious for habitual use. It contains according to a recent analysis 70 grains of dissolved matter to the gallon, or as much as many professed " medicinal " mineral springs. Of this about 62 grains are mineral salts, and about 8 grains organic matter and loss. The mineral salts include 20 grains of Epsom salts to the gallon and 14 grains of sulphates of soda and potash, besides a large quantity of carbonate and sulphate of lime. The continued use of such water tends to produce disorders of the bowels, kidneys and bladder, and, in fact, d )es frequently cause immediate diarrhcta to new comers. But I fhoughf the deep tuell w an ?r at and :e to Ihich pore IV& « mu(idy than the Assiniboine, and will deliver the water pure and bright at all .seasons. The original presence of the nmd does no harm but rather good. It is the surface soil washed off the ground by rains and floods and is well known to be itself an excellent deodor- izer and purifier of noxious natters. But why should a Tnan ivho prefers to drink well water he compelled to drink river trater? Nobody proposes to compel him to drink good water if he prefers to drink bad. Out of the average daily consumption per head in large cities, of oO or 60 gallons of water for all purposes, only about one (]uarter of a gallon is actually drunk as a beveraj e. Anyone who prefers to send and get water from a pump to drink can do so. He still has all the 50 or 60 gallons for other purposes in return for his water rent. Is there no other source of supply available ? Practically none. The flowing well water is unwholesome as already stated and besides is too hard for domestic purposes generally. Borings have shown that underneath the water bearing stratum is a magnesian limestone rock, beneath which any water found is likely to be still more highly mineralized than that above it. Any possible sources of supply from lakes, such as Lake Manitoba or Lake of the Woods are so distant that the cost of a line of pipes would be quite prohibitory, at any rate until the city has five or six times its present population. What is the system on which the Company proposes to fix the rates t It is proposed to charge a fixed sum for each house accord- ing to the number of rooms, that being considered the best available measure of the quantity of water used. This is for the ordinary supply to one or more taps. Bavdis, water closets etc., would be extras, for which people would only pay if they cliose to have them. Many different systems are in use in different cities ; in Quebec a percentage is charged on rental, in Montreal the cl^rge is on the assessed annual values, in Ottawa it is on the assessed capital values. There are objec- tions to all these plans in the case of Winnipeg. Thus rents 14 I are at present in a fluctuating condition, and are likely to rise in the near future. A rate fixed on rental on the basis of present rents might prove onerous as rents regain their normal figure. If capital value be taken, it is found that sometimes poor frame houses stand on valuable sites, and a rate based on tlie total assessment (as in Ottawa) would press unduly on such houses. On the whole, the system of charging by num- ber of rooms seems the most equitable, and it is also that provided by the company's charter. How do the rates proponed hy the Company compare with other cities ? If Montreal and Ottawa be taken as a standard, very favorably. The pumping for these cities is done at Montreal partly, at Ottawa wholly, by water power which lessens work- ing expenses very materially. Materials and labor are also cheaper. Therefore if tiie City of Winnipeg owned the water- works, the rates should be somewhat higher for houses of similar class here than there. Moreover these cities charge water rates (at a reduced tariff) on vacant plots, which naturallv enables them to charjje lower rates for houses. Assuming that the annual value of a frame house and lot may be taken for assessment at ten per cent, on the capital velue, and fixing an average value for houses of a certain number of rooms, we find the comparison works out as follows: a I 3 4 5 () 7 8 < $ 800 1,000 1,300 1,800 2,300 3,000 ^§ $ 80 100 130 180 230 300 ai o $ 8 75 10 25 12 50 16 25 20 00 25 25 I o $ 8 10 12 14 16 18 £5 % 8 10 12 16 20 24 It will be seen that the proposed rates are, if anything, lower than Montreal, and only a little hiffher than Ottawa, 111 where the cheap water power and the taxing of vacant lots account for the difference. The Ottawa? tarift' is, perhaps, a little too favorable to the larger houses, which are charged much less in proportion there than the smaller ones. < 16 with How do you iivopose to cfuvrge stores and offices t When part of a dwelling house is used as a store or office by the occupier of the whole house no special charge w^ould be made. When stores or offices are rented separately they would be charged for at a moderate percentage on the rental value. The company suggest the following as a fair scale. It is very much lower than the charge at Montreal, as will be seen ; in that city the cost of the water works system is largely borne by the storekeepers, for the benefit of other consumers, which seems hardly fair; — Rental value— tceeding Water rate, Montreal . Winnipeg 100 $ 6 $ 6 200 10 8 300 14 10 400 18 12 500 22 14 600 26 16 700 30 18 800 34 20 900 38 22 ,000 42 24 Di U) •a fl CD .3 §^ $ 8 10 12 16 20 24 bhing, Itawa, It lots ^haps, irged Hotv is it proposed to collect the rates ? It is proposed that the fire protection frontage rate should be collected annually by the city authoiities with the city taxes, the Company allowing the city a certain percentage for the extra labor. The water rate would be collected quarterly in advance, either by the city authorities under a similar arrangement as the frontage rate, or directly by the Company's officials as niif^ht be a^jreed. Are the rates to he paid by owners or occicpiersl The frontage rate would be payable by owners who receive the chief benefit from fire protection. The water rate would also be best levied upon owners, who can either recover it directly in additional rent from their tenants or can arrange with their tenants to pay the rate and deduct it from the rent, the owner remaining always responsible to the Company. 16 What if the, owners refuse to 'put water Jltthigs into their houses ? That is one of the reason.s for laying the rate upon owners rather than occupiers. If the owner has to pay the rate he has an inducement to put in the water fittings, without which he cannot get his tenant to repay him for the use of the water. After a short time, the use of water will become habitually included in the rent, and the owner will receive more in increased rent than will pay him for cost of fittings. In fact the provision of water generally within a cer'oain area will add much to the demand for houses in that area, as after the ex- perience of the convenience of water fittings tenants will not willingly rent houses without them. If the rate weie levied from the tenant a difficulty would arise that the owners might refuse to put in the fittings, and the tenant would either have to do it himself or get no benefit from the payment of water rate. Will not the expense to the oumer of putting in water fittings he a great difficulty ? It is only the extra luxuries of water closets, baths, etc., whicli are not compulsory, that cost much. The company lay the service pipe up to the street frontage line at their own expense. The cost of taking the pipe into the house, and pro- viding a tap and sink need not in most cases exceed $10 to $20. In the case of artizans and others living in their own small houses to whom even this expenditure might be burden- some, the company would be willing to put in the fittings at their own expense at first, recovering the amount by say, four quarterly instalments, with the water rate. How can you lay the tvater on to houses on streets where there are no sewers ? Out of 13 miles of new mains which the company now propose to lay, there are already sewers for 8 miles of street, and there are sewers on nearly all the streets on which mains have previously been laid. The remaining five miles would for the most part require only inexpensive pipe drains, of small diameter, and it is very desirable that these streets which have a good population should now be sewered. But although 17 their owners rate he . which water. )itually lore in [n fact ^rill add he ex- v^ill not would gs, and benefit water IS, etc., ly lay ir own id pro- $10 to ir own urden- nors at y, four where now street, mains would small which hough water closets cannot be introduced till sowers are provided, then; is no reason why water shcnild not be laid on in the meantime for ordinary household purposes, such as drinking, cooking, washing, etc. The people have to use water already, they may as well get it from the company as from water carriers or public wells. Till sewers are provided they could dispose of slopwater just as they do now. Will not the services he coniinually frozen up, especially ■ in frame houses ? I This is a difficulty which has Iteeii much exaggerated. A certain lunnber of services jj^et frozen everywhere, if there is .;; frost in winter, but it is doubtful whether in comparatively mild climates the percentage is not actually kirger than in severe ones, because more precaution in laying and protecting , pipes, and more care b}- consumers are taken when the danger is evident. In Ottawa about 5 to 10 per cent, of the services seem to be frozen every winter. The thermometer there ranges to 40 below zero. In London, England, where it scai'cely ever gets down to near zero, few householders escape a " freeze up" at least once during a winter. In Winnipeg, on the contrary, very little trouble has hitherto been felt, and with proper care this danger may be generally avoided. A frame house without a cellar 'is in some respects actually more favorable than a l^rick house with a cellar. The ground under the house is protected by the fiooi' from the frost getting far into the ground, and if the pipe be brougnt up under the house it is not likely to freeze outside. Inside it will not freeze, if properly protected, ! and moderately near a stove. If no stove be burnt at night, then the water should be turned off and let out of the pipes every night, which only requires the turning of a key fitted to a proper stop and waste cock. Of course a few services will freeze up occasionally with everv care, I)ut this is nothino- to the C( invenience and comfort of havinerj>(daity^ The city has the right to take over the works by arbitra- tion in 1891, and if they found the compulsory system not to work well could then take it into their own hands. ; ov if the Council