Willis v. City of New York

The litigation presented to us for determination finds its origin in the efforts, originally made by the former city of Brooklyn, and continued by the greater city of New York, after amalgamation, to provide water for the uses and purposes of the inhabitants of what is now the borough of Brooklyn, in the enlarged city. To the end of accomplishing that purpose the officers of the municipal government planned to collect, house or reservoir the waters percolating the earth within given, fixed or definite areas in the territory known as lung Island, and their system contemplated the erection of…