Liability of Water Companies for Fire Losses Another View

In the Superior Court of Cook County, Illinois, before Judge Arthur H. Frost, there was recently presented in substance this case: A private corporation furnishing water to a municipality for fire protection had contracted with the town, in consideration of certain fire hydrant rentals, to keep at all times a pressure of water of at least thirty-five pounds per square inch on the water pipes connected with said fire hydrants, and, in case of a fire, to increase, at once, the pressure to forty pounds per square inch. A fire occurred. It was assumed that the water company had notice of it; that the fire department arrived in time to have saved the plaintiff's house, had the pressure contracted for been furnished; that the pressure was not furnished and that the plaintiff's property was destroyed. The plaintiff sued the water company in an action sounding only in contract.

The learned judge directed a verdict for the defendant. A direct appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed for want of jurisdiction and the case is not now pending in any court.