, 1874-10-23
LOCAL MISCELLANY.



ATnfnuNE roporter yesterday afternoon so,,rh
to hod out what WAS tho callso of tho hltcl, 4
prcaons standing In the way Of tho cooperalo,
OF tho Citizena' Association and tho Fire Donrt
III connection with tho occurring Of Gan. Shnles'
Services. How wol ho succeeded will bo show,
in tho following intoryicwa with q nrominon
member OF cacl1 body. Tho first gentleman In
vlowod WAS
lii. L. z, LETTER,
!aas>tng member Of the Cisi2ons' Association
WHO WAS quito communicative on tho subject AZ
follows:
Roportor-Mr. Letter, please let me know
what WAS tho causo Of the CltizcnB' Association
declining to nct further with tho Fire Board Ii,
bringing Gen. shn!er to this city.
hr. Leiter--The fact Of tho matter In, that
tho Association has become tired Of tho Board'a
doublc-deallng. When first the subject wns
mentioned to tho Board, they socnod to 10 quite
anxious to co-operato with t,B. Commissioner
Ayars, who Was present, expressed willingness
to resign In order to mako o p1aoe for Con.
snnler, and The Donrd sconlcd to coincide with
bis idoa. Ayars chargcd Lis mind. however,
subsequently.
Rcpor.er-Dus in tho conference between the
Board mud tho AaHociation waB 1t hot agreed
upon that tho Board should pass ccrtain resolu-
ttons in regard to calling III Con. Sl,aler's as-
slstauce to roorganizo the firo Department Oh
Mr.. Lciter-Yos; during..the confercucea--
there wcrc thrco Of them-botweou tho two
bodies. tho Board seemed always willing to
further The designs Of the Association, and res
ontions wero framed accordingly, which received
The full appreciation Of tho Association! 1hoso
reaolutionH woro, however, invariably changed
afterwards 30 That their original meaning was
entirely lost.
Roporter-That was rory tickle conduct.
Mr. Lesor-Whonevor tue Board was confor-
ring with tho Association, It's members even wont
furthor than our members IN desiring tho pres
once Of Gen. Shaler, but then AIr. Mark Shorf-
dnn, on after consideration, invariably framed
Mark Sheridan is a crafty customor,-tho crafti-
est ever mot iu my life. When I tirst talked
with him, felt that he would willingly aid tho
Association in It's operations he coinoidod with
nil my views, aud / left his presence much gratt-
fed With tho result Of my intorviow with him.
l aoon learned that Lis coincidence with my
idcas was but sluaulntod, and nov am Of tho
opinion that this gentlc-yoiced, meek-nannerod
rst, craftcat man ever mot in my Life. From
thu frequency with which tho Board failed to
keep tho promises made to tho Citizons' Conf
u,ttee. wo felt that even il Con. Shaor wero
Lis efforts ut atneiorating our condition unaYnil-
ing T1oy lnvc no feeling of goodwill towards |
his coming. and. as long al thugs are thus, thero
is no use Of employing the General
I'LL. MARX SHERIDAN,
the Prea,dent Of tho Doard. That gentleman |
had but little to eat about tho matter. The ro-
r,rtor wanted to SEQ tho letter which tho ARso- |
nj Tho board went to the City Attorney, who had
il III his possession III order TO show 1t to him
This the City Attorney would not do, fairly |
trembling With emotion When tue President |
lad it locked up in his vault, mid it
wus evident thai ho intended go keep 1t There at
.,il cost. Leaving Mr.. Jameson to guard his |
.casure, the reporter asked AIr. Shoridan why |
he Ind gono and changed tho meaning OF tho |
resolutions us charged by tho Citizens AsBooia-
;ion.
Nir. Sheri'an-The changes mHde were Of no |
vital consequence. The resolutions az prepared |
by tho Board md cltizcns' Committee wero In
olorant Of expression and awkward OF construo-
ton. n,orcly put them into such shape AZ be-
conloa tho record of tho Dourd over which pre-
side.
Roportor-Why, momber of tho Committee
told me this morning that you invariably altered
tho resolutions which meant good deal, 80 a. |
to mcnn nothing.
hfr. Shorilan-Well, now, look hero. + will !
show you what tho letter from tho Citizons' |
Committee was caused By. It was from, little |
change 1 cnused to DO niatlo in n resolution. or
rather nn addition to tho resolution, Of our |
board Of last Saturday. published in TIE SuN-
DAY Tribune, which tho Association did not /
deem sufficiently strong. On Monday afternoon
tho resolution:
And that he {Gcn. shacr) DO employed In the or.
gnntzation q nd dsciplinuK Of the Fsc Department
md, wh!le thus employed, he shall be known a. Ad-
visor- General Of the Board.
Now, I did not think that this Was M elegant
amendment or nddition to the resolution, and I
decided that its wording should bo somewhat al
tered. This accomplished. ID follows and tho
following amendment was placed on tho board
record, md copy Of it forwarded to the Citi-
xenB AaHociation:
And that while thus employed in tho reorganization
and dseirljnng Of the Fire Department, lie Bhal bs
known ns General Adviser uf the city aulorltIes. and
shall DO respected accordingly.
Now. you SEQ that oil tho change here ia to
giye Gen. Sha!er the wido scope Of tile whole |
city authorities to give the benefit OF his wiz
6um, and to call him General Advisor instead OF
tho Advisor General. In the nan,o Of oil tlat is
good, what fault can tho Citizons' Association
lind with tIils2
Reportor-rhon this is tho whole Gauss Of the
hitch, is it2
Mr.. Shezidan-Tho solo and wllole cause,
nbBuro you.
THO reporter again Interviewed Mr.. Jamioaon,
and found him still unwilling to allow glance
at tho letter.
The reporter departed. but not until after he
had learned that it was proposed to hold another
conference between tho two bodies tofore nil
hope was given un. The conference, il, all brol-
ability, will decide wl1etlor Gcn Slla!er is COM
ing to Chicago or not.
ALUMNI ASSOCIATION.
The meeting OF the Alumni Institute was COLI
tinued Yesterday morning, aud will hold until
noon today, as Prof. Andrews On account Of