The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1879-08-15
Reply to the Card of the County Com
missiOners.


TNIIE CARD printed by the order of tho
L board of County Commissioners, on tho
Sth instant, in reference to County Coal, is SC
full of errors as to demand notice.
The Card says: Seventy tons of coal
were advertised for by the board of Commits.
sioners, to be delivered at Bel Air, and twenty
tons to be delivered on the wharf and hauled
by the team at the Almshouse to that place "
Then the advertisement, under which all
bids were received, was in full as follows:
"Bids for furnishing Seventy tons of Coal for
the use of the Court House, Jail and Almshouse,
will be received by the County Commissioners,
up to the 2lst July, 1879, H. M. Bids for the
Coal delivered, or on the wharfwill perceived"
1t thus appears that their advertisement
makes no mention of fifty" or "twenty"
tons, or hauling by Almshouse team, as stated
in their Card, but it does invite bids to be
made up to IL o'clock, NJ on the day named
AT that hour they had received four sealed
written bids, as follows, us their own records
| Shove
IL will deliver ut Court House and Jail 20
tons of Coal No. ., at SIS per ton of 2,2I0 lbs.
"E. HALL RICHARDSON"
We will sell to the county, delivered in
Bel Air, No. , or Egg Coal, ut $50 per ton,
| or the same ON the wharf ut Glen Cove or
Lapidum, at $500.
BARNES IL ARCHER"
81 will deliver on the wharf at Havre de
Grace, 20 tons of No. , Coal Carefully screen
cd,l at $3.50 per ton of 2,940 lbs. Or will
deliver 10 tons No. 3 Coal carefully scrcenGd)
in Bel Air, for 1913 per ton of 2,240 lbs Or
| will deliver 20 tons of No. 3 Coal in Bel
Air, such as is now ut the door of the coal
cellar of the Court House, for S5.50-namely,
unscreened. GEO. r. CAIRNEs."
% | will furnish IN tnnS Nh Cnol f,,r iIgn
Of Hartford county, at S4.05 per ton.
EDWIN II. WEBSTER"
Again, the Card says:
Barnes & Archers bid for 50 tons, screen
ed at SOB. Observation-Disclosures. $.267 80
Barnes Il Archer's bid for 20 TONS screen
ed ut $3.50. ........................... 70 90
SS37 50
f. II. Wcbsters bid for 50 tons, un&c,ee0-
ed, at $i.95....................... S2i7 80
ed, at Sl.l5.........,......,..... SO 90
$3.50 80
Difference in amount 800 between the two
bids.
The bids set out above show how gross is
the misstatcmcnt. Nothing was said in the
advertisement about screened or unscrccncd
COAL and nothing in the bids except by Mr.
Cairnes | certainly never in any way made
bid for UnScreened COAL and in fact never
set out and there cannot be found in the
County Commissioners Office any other writ
ten bids than the four contained in this com
munication.
Again the Card says:
"E. III. Webster refused to deliver screened
COAL but was to deliver coal ms he receivcdit"
This is not true; but presume the state
mcnt has its origin in a conversation which
occurred between one of the Commissioners
MIR. Wilson-and myself, at my office, late
in the afternoon of the day on which the bids
were opened. Mr.. Wilson came to my office
and said he wanted to know if my coal was
screened or WnScreened. | said to him that |
purchased my coal from Hilles, Boyd IL Co.,
OF llavrc de Grace, highly respectable dealers,
from whom all other bidders bought that my
coal was the same as that offered by the other
bidders that / would insist upon Hilles,
Boyd IL Co. giving it to me in as good condi-
ton as to any one else, and that took it for
granted that they would properly screen it,
but that did not propose to scrcene it my
self He did not say or even intimate TO me
that the Commissioners had determined to
buy coal screened in Bel Air, nor indeed do |
know if the coal contracted for is to be screen
ed here. If the coal is not to be screened on
delivery in Bel Air, there is no point in their
reference to screened and U3Scyeened coal, as
llillcs Boyd " Co. have informed me by letter
that they screen all coal sold to me when it
is loaded on the boat at Havre de Grace, for
Hartford Furnace wharf. Imay add that since
my bid for county coal, have been delivering
the very coal which would have been hauled
to the Court House, &c, had my bid been ac-
cepted, TO Hon. ii. d. Farnandis, Hon Stev-
enson Archer, Major VIM H. Dallam, John
s. Dallam, ESD, Mrs Hanna and others, and
all of them express themselves as entirely
satisfied with the same. lIilles, Boyd ~ Co.
also write me that if it was thought best TO
screen coal at Bel Air, the loss would be about
2per cent. of weight, which ON my bid of
S495 per ton, would make 9-10 cents per
ton, or added to my bid $500 9-10 per ton
for coal screened in Bel Air. The contract as
made by the Commissioners is $685. per ton
for coal screened don't know where.
MIR. Wilson also asked me what | would
sell coal for on Hartford Furnace wharf |
told him they could have what they wanted
for the Almshousc at S4.15 per ton, but that
| did not desire TO sell coal at the wharf MY
object in bidding for coal was to employ the
mule teams belonging to the Hartford Furnace,
and not to engage in II general coal trade
The ahmshOuse is about 81 miles from IIar-
ford Furnace wharf, and about 1G miles from
Lapidum or Glen Cove. Our teams make
two loads one day and one load the next day,
hauling to this nelghborhood from Hartford
Furnace wharf, and the Almshouse team
ought to do the same thing. If the Aims
house team hauls 9 tons per load, it will re-
quire 10 days to haul 30 tons from Lapidum,
and Z days from Hartford Furnace differ
encc of 3 days, which at So per day for the
team makes Sl5, or IS cents per ton in favor
of Hartford Furnace wharf This added to
contract price at Lapidum, $3.50 per ton,
makes $4.25 per ton paid by the county,
which is 10 cents per ton more than | offered
the coal for on the wharf
Now, what are the legitimate conclusions
to be drawn from all the facts in the case, and
in which all tax payers and good citizens are
interested? They are:
list. That the board of County Commission
ers have violated their own printed proposals
for coal, and made contract for the same
without giving any notice to other bidders
than the party with whom they make the con-
tract.
I'd. That in this departure from the open,
impartial dealing with responsible bidders, es-
pccally necessary on the part of public
officers, they have not only not benefited IIar-
ford county, but they have in fact, compelled
the county to pay more for its coal, under
any view of the case, than it would have cost
if taken at the lowest written bids
EDWIN ii. WEBSTER
Bel Air, August 18th, 1879.
A DnSirahla Farm nf IN A ornc