, 1877-02-03
Examining Witnesses as to the
County Plumbers Charges.
They State the Prices for Which They
Would Furnish Goods to the
County.
The Man Who Sells Hogan Pipe Ii an
Excellent Witness for Him.
What the City Is III the Habit Of Paying
for Material Furnished.

ALLEGED oTEfcEAFnta Ol llOEaH1 lHe NtuHLf
Plumber, met yesterday afternoon. Besides
The members of tho Committee tAEcasrs. Fitz-
gerald, Comfy. and Bchmfdt), there WAS a nlisn-
ber of other Commissioners present. A number
Of contractors md interested cittzcns were aleo
Ia attendance.
III opening tic proceedings, tho Chairman
Or. FitzRcrald) said: Gentlemen, tho charge
inaio was that Hogan !,al charged the county
90 pcr cent above market value, aud / am hero
TO substantfato that statement.
Mr. Schmidt TO Tho Clcrk)-1fhom have you
invitcl to intend this u,cctlng'
The Clcrk-f requested The following gentle
men to bc prcsont: Fiellfouse, Dutchcr d
Delden, L. Wolf, Woodman i Warner. and John
Davis u Gu.
MR. BUTCHER
was then called md asked by tho Chairman
what tho market yalue OF pipe was IN December,
ls7j. and 1t what discount It would be sold 10
the trn1cf
Mr. Dutchcr-It depends altogether upon
WIN yau arc selling the pipe to, the quantity
required, how you arc going to be pail, etc. III
that month, however, pipe vas sold from 40
cents tu IS cents OIL.
Q.-'yhat would you l,ayo sold 724 feet OF
four-inch galvanized pipe att Ait would de-
pend On how VIC were to be pal.l. II we had TO
wait 9ger Thirty days we would charge Tho price
Q-What would you hare sold the county
hila Of 81, ,On-plpet fittings, md things-at ttnt
time, payable In thirty days. Ave could
ecli the pipe from 10 cents to II cents oil, and
Mt. Srhmidt-Do YOU sell to consumers at the
same price ~ you do to rctailersi A.--No, sir.
Q-1f flEt'i cnnlc TO- your store and wanted
charge item tie price On tho lit iitstt A.-Ycs;
as general thing We get as much for It as We
cau.
The C!a!rman-Fou would not give dis,
Il thsy paid il we would take IL i. ' '''>@' ''''
Ar. Hogan qh'a.nel permission to I9ucatton
thu Witness. Lie asked: Do yuu consider that
the dealer Ia entitled to that ID cents to 45 cents
discount us profit for his expet'sest Al do,
Q-That Is what is supposed to be his margin
fos paying his labor and everythingt Ayes,
The ChaIrman-There Is no labor attached to
; NJ; lIogsaEThere z; ,, is Ia1or ATTACHED to tho
The chaIrman IL wIsnessl-lf Cook County
dispunt ot % % rsr cci't} X.@Yes, H. IT, "s'' ~ y
Mr. llorarl-Bnt e yol had possibly to wait
ak mlontls' WI didn't know Mhsn you would
Tie 'Chalrlna1r--Tle county does not buy in
that way.
Mn. woonMAN
was next ntnccd on the stand.
The Chnlrnhn--Hhat were y0u buying pipe
at III tho nantll of Dcre,nber lust! Mr.. Wood
ccnts .llkeoant.
Q.-l!ow about tho quantities1 Suppose It
w nsiaNedt A.-Thcre wns q sttding scale at
l!at time. 1t varied from to ~ per gent.
Q.-A'!a Il yo,, paii :easi wouldn't you get
All extra 2 per tent} A.-No, sir.
! Ds-fml lU1ft Nat nrv ft.frrnfnrA Hy,ok
casl1! A.-somc do, mil some don't.
Q-fou know ilera H. such rule araouE tho
nipe1lca1crsl A.-Tlscrc IL rule III this market
Mr.. Conly--Wllo Is supposed to 9ct thc bcne.
Gt OF Tits tlfscnunt.-the purchaser or CONSUME
ri. Alt belongs 10 what VIC call tho jobber,
lilo man who puts tito Job up.
Q.-ihc person ho Wis doing the wort for
wndtl not l,e Buploscl tu receive tlIe benefit
Ana. VIZ elyu this discount to tho trade,
Mt. Ifosan-As their pra!1ti A.-Ycs, for
lai.nE thu pipe tut nnI putting II up.
.i1!c Chalffitau-ls It customary to ' charge In.
dlvkluafs buying Eno1a ont nf the store 40 cents
orA5 rciIts as proltt WIllyon state whether any
aenlesh IN or manufacturers u pipe woultl
rlH4r.u that proAt to tho uountyl A.-Of
rourse, don't Know wtat auy other couccrn
would do.
p.-What is the customary profit on such
traMaetlonsl Al hardly know how 10
Tie Chatrinali-Thcro II no labor attached to
th1s., Il'e pipc VIC. lougut, handled, aud sent
uuL to the Insane Asylum.
Mr. Eony-f slluuld consider It tobbiuQ work.
Mf. Srtni1t, utter examining thu bill, cx-
prcssed tho opinion TINT good deal Ut Iobbiug
worl; appeared tiercI;I.
The Chairman thought there was very little.
NJ. Coniy-1 should consider H. oil Job work
The Cltalrtnan-Iho point mako IN rtgar1 to
thls bill ID tnls: etaui that tic county cun GU
10 Any sturc a1'ts buy within per cent ns cheap
as logan. lWould not hlanse him II lle charged
eswr fout; blame tho Board for buying the
tn t.f,n tf, Ann
hr: Schmidt handed tho bill to Witness and
nkcti Il any OF thccl,argcs wcro outrageous.
az: Woodn'an-Ilcrs il . vast differences
xbethrr niatl simply takes the pipe from the
stpie u whether liz puts It up.
Ar: Coniy-Are y0u interested ln thts n,atterf
Al am not interested any more than my
o''t' 'aSpHScf' =. .;nv,
~ tnen eal!ed to tie front md interrogated by
Q-Wll you stats to the Committee tho
ptise that you would charge tho county for ptpe
smaxht I'll you In tho month Vi December;
What discount your firm would give on thirty or
sixty daysl A.-lIpe IN random lengths, ii II
ssae. sane "as 81 The factory VIC woult sci! some.
hy s e % eve ' ST. g t. g. per- a. ses ss o
Q.Would YOU sell 10 this county "a YOU
SU, would not.
4.-Stats your reasonsl Al would not sell
uatcss had so,ne vuarantee about the pay, i
Nou!u nor del! to any corporation, city, county,
or slate. We have declined corporation aud
saa!soad oraeEb Tor TINT reason.
,4-WollA YOU sell 10 the county on stxtr
ua}s' tihlcl AL would II had some assur-
eace ti'at would be paid at ths as.1 Ut the slks
days. u, II not, that should receive interest
Alter that time,
V-Nhat would you have sold pipe to me for
tAc extent Ut 81 ,u0 in Decemberi Alt
"Snld 1cPeul upon what the pipe was.
lae ChaiEtnan enumerated tho different items
"s1 loads, sBl.H
~, mitntsa remarked. that 10 knew what some oil
i1se s eanage coss. They tsied 10 Ret &oue Of 1t
ua IT, Shnirman-I,h he buy pipe OF you'll A.
rnonst Mas bought more Or fcss OF us f0F twelve
G,-lic has been III tho t!abit of buying from
;;o9i A.-ief; VIC hare sold considerable pipe
sar., ~saa, recolleet tho circumstances OF tii!a
n.r.isS tried to contract for H. ond outside
H. s.ass TAINTED ahous g tar load Finally We
pv'-i9u loaded this up and 1t was sent from
~ r. "as to tho 1nsane Asyluuit A.-Yca,