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Show H oaDEN'SWATER SUPPLY. H Tlio waterworks system of Ogden Is given a long write-up in H the Salt Lake Tribune, under the heading, "Ogden in Ntscd o itforc H Water." A number of insinuations are cast, which are here rcpro- HI duccd: H "Many o the farmers have refused to subscribe to H stock in the reservoir project, not because they do not need H the water, but because they say that the Merchants Light H & Power company, a local concern, has an understanding H with Ogden city that if the dam is built the company will H receive the -povcr without cost, while tho fanners and the H tether stockholders will receive no other emolument except H the water to the amount of stock taken. This theory of H the farmers is doubtless based upon tho close business rela- H ions which arc known to exist between certain city officials H and the main stockholders of the power company. H "Ever since Ogden city purchased its waterworks sys- H tern from private interests there have been many rumors Hj involving cerlaiu city officials which are persistently circu- H lated. Much money has beon spent on the waterworks sys- H rem in addition to the sum paid for its possession, but it H remains a fact that the city stands on tho verge of a water Hl famino during the dry months of summer, and that its pres- H ent water supply would be wholly inadequate to meet an Hj exigency liko a big fire or other unusual demand. H "It is not generally known, and it has been tho basis of H much criticism directed toward the city officials, that the H people of Ogden are consuming at the present time water H from Ogdon river into which garbage and sewage is dumped H from Huntsville and other points above the intake. Yet no H notico has been given to the people of the city that the H water they are drinking comes from that stream. Several H years ago, when Ogden river water was turned into the H mains, there was an epidemic of typhoid fever which caused H the death of many persons. An investigation followed, v H which resulted in the discovery that the people of the city H wore drinking water from a contaminated stream. H "The needs of Ogden city for a greater and purer water H supply are serious. Despite the fact that the city has ex- H pended considerable money in "prospecting" for water in Cold Water canyon, the supply which was expected from H seepage in that locality was not obtained. H "If the city carries out its plan to build the dam in H South Fork canyon, only $100,000 will be expended for n H dam large enough to obtain something more than ten cubic H feet of water a day for the sixty days when the "dry" sca- H son is at its height." ' H The Tribune should bo specific. "Who arc the city officials in H lose business relations with tho main stockholders of the Merchants' H Light & Power company, whose conduct is such as to cause doubt H as to their desire to do that which is right to all concerned? H Rumors involving city officials! "Who are tho city officials in- H volvcd and what are the rumors 7 fl This paper admits that water "has been, and is being, drawn m from Ogden river, but the fault in failing to make the same known M has been .with the water department of? the city which has kept H from the public the fact that water is being obtained from that Hj source. The water department officials always have maintained that Hj the city's supply did not come from Ogden river, that the water was Hj all from Coldwater, "Warmwater and "Wheeler Creek, but when n Joseph A. Taylor, a few days ago, shut down the intake valve, the H disclosure was made, and the fact admitted, that every summer, for B years past, Ogden had been drinking river water. H Immediately after this exposure, the Standard, in a leading H article', advised the people of Ogden to boil the water used for H drinking purposes. That is one reason why the city officials, are K now making a vigorous effort to obtain a better water supply. |