To The Editor Of The Time...
olr,-iUullc having been saidl lately about the farth!r uCcommodatioij of the towvn by additional bvaterftompa "lea, the following information regarding this subject seets both curious and interestinig, and but little knowi-ot The first attempt to serve wvater In this manner was in the Wear 1613, u'ndertaken by Sir Hugh Middleton and his rother merchanLs of great, opulenee, and one of them Lord "Mayor that year. Thliey expendled all their vast riches in bringing the water by an artificial channel from the present source of the New River; but from the great and unfore- seen expense, they fouvnd their ti1dls exhauste(d wheni their v>perations had been plushed no farther than Enfield. They then induced the Ki rg to becomne their partner, his MIa- iesY being to bear hhalf the expenise and to s>hare half the p?^rofts. In virtue of this arrangement, the works were iished, the canal and the reservoir near Islington were womp1et-ed, and the vwater distributedl, to the great benefit of the town. But'it wasfoundl the rates chargeable were si little commensutratc with the out-lay, that the King and the Afidtdeo,i 1), e letons lecomning banikrupts, the whole concern was disposed of to a com panv, for the mere trifle of .50l. Pcr annumn to tle King, and as miuch to the Middleton family. It had previously been divitle( into 72 shares.'one half of which was called " ling's s1hares," an appeliation which tley bear to this day, ani(l are considered as of a somne- wbat sme.ller value than the other 36; for the holder, of them are not allovwe(d aniy share in the management of the on?cet n. ['his history explains a mysterious circuinstanice ~Ot'gemall known-nanielv, the source of' the exorbitant "> anm hig>,h )price of the shares of the New River Coin- P'any: for it is manifeqt that those rates wlhich aflorded leb a small income to the original adventurers on their grtat eapital, proved ani imimense profit to those who plur- ~hased the wreck of' these bankrupts. None of all this, however, was palpable to the public at large, except the great Plofits; anml in the year 170,3 the Chelsea Companv was erected, un(der the confidence of the like profits. So much, however, were they disappointeil, that for the first 20 years they mate no divideind: they have at (listanit inter- *als madIe small divi(lend1s, sceilom exceedinig two per cent., and have been acuallY altogether 50 years without any i]ivilenl. This, lowever, (lidl not deter others, who still dreamt of the great prolits that might be ma(de by. any othei comlially as well as the Nelw River, and various companies were formed towarels the latter part of last eentury and the beginniiig of this, most of which have been equally unsuccessful ag the Chelsea ; for after strug. ,-gling on the brink of bpeggaiv an(il bankruptoy, not one of themn hag been ahle to rva!'ize one hmalfof Lhe inconie usually realize(l by builders and olhers who sink their cap>tal in public works. Let 1ort ihis, however, deter tie newly- proposed companies, for thle public at least may derive benefit from the enterrrise of these spiritedI individuals, under the prcscnt unP.xatnipled redund(lancv of eanital. A CONSTANT READER. TO 21?FD .DITOR OP THE RIMES. . _ _