Vol 36, No. 1 - NAWC

equated the CEO of a company to the captain
of a ship and said his style created
either a "happy ship" or a "madhouse." He
urged CEOs to keep their workers informed,
avoid paternalism, capriciousness
and, especially, nepotism, and to employ
constructive criticism, not blame, to motivate
people.
Federal Water Service sold California
Water Service Company to General Water
Works in 1939. Cal Water would become
an independent company, listed on
the New York Stock Exchange, in 1945.
Two months after the 1939 meeting
William C. Hawley died. He had been either
president or chairman of the executive
committee of the Association for 24
years. In a eulogy published in the
Association's newsletter, Murdock said
Hawley, an engineer and AWW&E executive,
was a man who believed one's education
never ended and was always seeking
information and insights. "He was at his
best at our meetings," Murdock said. One
of the projects Hawley had worked on, the
acquisition of the Greenwich (Connecticut)
Water and Gas Company, was completed
a couple of months after the death.
Company Exhibits Introduced
The Association's 45th meeting featured
an exhibit room where six companies
set up displays illustrating some aspect
of their operations: a training
program, an ad campaign, a record-keeping
technique, etc. The war was a real presence
at that meeting. The Nazis had entered
Paris and were bombing London.
Churchill had taken the helm in England.
The U.S. Congress passed the Selective
Service Act, setting the draft in motion.
And Major General Edwin Martin, the
adjutant general of Pennsylvania, addressed
the annual meeting on the implications
of a war for the state's water suppliers.
He got off to a great start by
announcing that he, personally, didn't
think that government, at any level,
should be in the water business.
The session also included a panel discussion
on depreciation and an appraisal
of the Municipal Authorities Act, which
John Ware had supported to advance his
plan to sell properties. Some members
thought it was at odds with the objectives
of the Association. A new attendee that
year was John J. Barr, a young financial
lieutenant of Ware's who represented the
Freeland Water Company. He would one
day head both American Water Works
Company and the National Association of
Water Companies.
During the summer of 1941, Roosevelt
and Churchill met to coordinate the Allied
war effort. The lend-lease program
was implemented, largely to assist Russia,
which was fending off a German invasion.
U.S. military recruiters were finding that
thousands of young men failed the induction
physical because of dental cavities.
That experience eventually led to the widespread
practice of fluoridating public water
supplies.
Murdock's address to the conference
that year was a call to arms. He said a
"shooting war" was inevitable (this was six
weeks before Pearl Harbor) and that the
defense establishment would have first call
on manpower and materials. But, he noted
that thousands of unemployed were being
called back to work ... and were paying
their utility bills again. "But we must
guard against inflation," Murdock said,
"for war doesn't produce wealth, it destroys
it."
"The difficulties we face are real and
serious," Murdock concluded, "but they
should bring out the best in all of us."
CEO Won't Serve Neighbor
The meeting wasn't all that grim. T urning
to regulatory decisions that year, attendees
heard about a small company
whose president, the owner, had discontinued
service to his neighbor "because his
driveway was unsightly." He told the Commission
he didn't intend to serve anyone
who didn't take pride in his property. The
Commission fined him $50, ordered him
to restore his neighbor's service and told
him if it happened again, he'd be in real
trouble.
A more serious bright note was a report
on the new Federal Housing Program that
was expected to finance 35,000 new lowincome
homes in Pennsylvania and create
new accounts for PWWA member companies.
The Housing Authority and the utilities
were working together to implement
the program, Murdock said, and there
might be something to be said for establishing
special rates for these accounts.
An FBI agent spoke to the group about
precautions against sabotage: floodlights,
security fences, employee background
checks, etc. Companies hired security
John H. Murdoch
guards to watch plants and reservoirs;
many bought war damage insurance on
plants and dams. In December that year,
the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor,
the governor and the chairman of the PSC
asked Murdock to convene a meeting of
the largest water suppliers to review their
anti-sabotage preparedness. The state was
divided into 15 water supply districts and
a mutual aid plan devised to minimize any
supply interruptions in the event of an
incident.
The 1942 meeting of the Association
was scheduled for October in Atlantic
City but was moved to Harrisburg after
the Army and Air Force took over the
shore hotels and coastal defense and training
purposes. The session focused mainly
on the exigencies of the war: an increased
demand for water, increased stream pollution
and limited materials and manpower
to cope. Murdock outlined the new
Water Production board priorities. Members
exchanged stories about their new
roles as air raid wardens and auxiliary
policemen, about their "victory gardens,"
and shortages of sugar, gasoline and tires.
There was widespread confidence that
now that the moral indignation of the U.S.
had been aroused, it would be over pretty
quickly-perhaps in a year-for Germany
and Japan.
Secretary Succumbs
Dr. F. Herbert Snow, secretary of the
Association for 19 years, missed the meeting
because of illness and Lillian E. Wolfe,
assistant secretary and treasurer, filled in
for him. Snow died a week after the 1942
meeting and was succeeded temporarily by
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