The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-03-08


hat said he would see Shuer about it, and after
wards Shulcr said he would refund the money,
which has however, not been done. The billw
for dressing the wounds Of Il mule; was private
bill of Mr. Shulcr's, and on his recommendation
ii was paid.
Another matter TO which call the attention of
the council is the cuurmou, amount OF oats con.
stunned 10y the city teams, purchased 10y the chair
man Of tho tire department committee. From
April . 1875, to January >, 1919, iOS bushels and
: lbs of oats and - worth of corn have been
purchased for the four city horses | venture To
say there i, not a livery stable in Ottawa thatha'
fed as mach grain in the same time. 1t is about
I2ll bushels per day. The average feed is three
quarts. The price paid by the council for these
oats /, also worthy of attention. The average
price paid by the city is 23,9S cents aud II the
price paid for carting them is added the price is
increased to 2l.26 cents. On the street ON the
same days the average price was 1878 cents or
Dos cents less than charged the city. Aprott of
5 cents a hu,hel is a very nice profit for buyer
If thi, is the way the department is to be man
aged it is time things are ovcrhauled; and for II
chairman Of committee to make money out OF his
position is certainly beneath the dignity OF an
alderman
There is still another matter Two months ago
the chairman of the fire department committee
asked of the council permission to buy rubber
coats for the department. He was instructed to
buy them When the bill came in for payment
it included bill for bootS alSo 1t is well known
that on this kind of goods large discount is
given for a quantity; and yet these were paid for
at a retail price of S3.OO;-thc retailers would
have been glad to lay them down here at $3.50. Is
mo notice to be taken of this kind of thing:
There is another popularity about these bills
for oats On May II, bill was paid for GO bu.
aud pounds at DC: $lG.55 In July another
was paid for &C bu and Spounds ii 25c.: SlG,55plus
zoe for carting. Singular coincidence. On Dee.
) bill was paid for 60 bu. and 10 lbs. at BE:
Sl5O3 Oats were selling on the street at this
time at nc. 1t is singular that these amounts
should tally 50 exactly, especially when we con
slider the enormous amounts. am satisfied that
this amount of feed could not he consumed by
four horses in this length of time without great
waste.
AID. snuLER,
i'm reply, said have lived here Tor 43 years and
no man has ever before said anything againstm
''N''' N''N''''
if they were not furnished | don't want any pay
for them. As for DR.. Shcppard'S bill, he handed
it to me as he had all bills, in an envelope and |
supposed it WAS against the city. The books OF
shulcr &; Rathbun are open to inspection as to
the amount and price of oats sold the city,
Mavor Lynch said he admired Mr.. Logan's dar
ling but not his discretion. He suggested that
some other cause might be assigned for the
amount Of oats used as Z. f., that they had been
delivered but stolen afterwards. There are many
things to be considered in this matter and all
should have been looked into by Mr. Logan. The
gentleman (Shuler) is innocent till proved guilty
and if all points have not been siicl crave inlus-
ticc has been done him.
Nh Logan said: l ,hnk you are stepping out
of your bounds in taking part in this discussion
Tcalcd 20 order, and DO not propose to allow
the Mayor to step in rs an advocate for Mr. Shucr.
Mr. lynch: You mistake me, Mr.. Logan, ! say
| admire YOUR penetration in this matter; but are
YOU able to answer these questions:
Logan: make the charges. 1t is his province
to prove that the oats were stolen.
Iloban: 1t is not right to throw the blame Of
this on the tcamstcr by saying he allowed these
oats to be stolen. have seen that p cents have
been paid for oats selling on the street for lIc,
This fact can't be denied Something is wrong,
and any member who attempts to encourage it
violates his official oath Justice to whom JUS
tice is due If Mr.. Shulcr has not done as charged
The can prove ii.
| Catlin said he would like a further explanation
i about the Sheppard bill. He had heard Of this
before and the explanation Just given by Mr.
Shuler not satisfactory.
Shulcr: The bill was handed me by the Doc
tors man who told me to hand it to the council
and handed it in unopened, not knowing it was
II a private bill,-in fact | did not know 1t was
i personal bill until tonight.
Dean: | would like to ask two questions. How
is it We pay 25c. a bushcl Tor oats and should pay
but lie? Is DR.. Sheppard in the habit OF hand
ing in bills addressed to H. y. Shucr personally?
In my time the bills came in addressed 10 the
/ Mayor Lynch thought committee of mycst-
cation would be the proper thing, and on motion
Of Shulcr the chair appointed committee OF
three as follows: lIossack, Hull and Logan. Lo-
gan cndcavorcd TO be excused as not being u
proper member but both the Mayor and shuicr
i Insisted on his being member Of the committee.
SOUTH SIDE FIRE CIsTERNs.
Aid. Griffith called the attention of the coun
ell to the fact that Il year ago a committee had
been appointed to look into the matter of build.
ing wafer reservoirs on the south side for fire
purposes. He thought it time that the commit
Tee reported rs four buildings had been burned
on that side during the year. cistcrn can be
built near Boylc'S at q low figure, using Cation
water, offered free; and near Dewcy's house
(burncd lately is Il running stream which can be
utilized. It looks bad To see buildings burned
down without an effort to save them. Hun agreed
and wanted new committee appointed To report
the cost of not less than two ciscrns. The Mayor
suggested that the street supervisor and stree,
and alley committee be instructed To begin dig
ging them: and to show that such q beginning
is warranted he said that during the past year the
EXPENDITURES
for purely city purposes were 81, 4Gl.GO; the APP
precipitation was $4,000, to which add 5000 re
lCeipt5 for licenses, &c, lcavn" over siOOO sur
plus. But from this surplus are to be deducted
Extraordinary expenses, $1,000 for city lot ana
81 600 for lawyers fees in city water bond case:
still leaving a surplus OF about 900 warranting
under the circums tanccs the building of the re-
5cryorS On motion 81 Hull the street and alley
committee were instructed to begin work at once.