Daily Republican., 1883-07-31
TROUBLE AROUT FUEL.
The Committee ~ IeG9erh eads and
the Board Settles the Matter.

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The Cosmmfttee ~ I.eegerh eads ana
the BOard Settles the Matter.
A special meeting of the Board o
Education was held last evening will
DR.. Sh0rtlidge III the chair and Messrs
Monaghan, Vernon, Smith Reeve, Sam
pie, Hanson, Grier. Belts. Wiley Nc
Kay and Hickman present. The cal
for the special meeting, signed by
several members, was read by the
Secretary, after which Mr.. Belts, o.
the Fuel Committee, stated that there
was a hitch in the committee, and ir
order to settle all dispute he deemed i,
best to place the matter in the hands OF
the Board.
He then proceeded to explain his
position, by residing report signed by
himself, to the effect that the commit
tee misunderstood the matter when i,
reported in favor of awarding the con
tract to the jackson Lime & Goa
Company. The committee understood
that the bid included Lehigh az we'll al
Schuylkill II coal, but the following day
after the report had been made, it was
learned that the Lehigh coal mentioned
in the bid was mined In the Schuylkill
The report also stated that Messrs
Warner and Bush each claimed the
contract for Lehigh coal. After con-
cluding the reading of the report, sew
e"al letters from the Jackson Lime &
Coal Company in reference to the
subject were read and commented on,
In one of the letters the Company
claimed the contract and urged that ii
be officially awarded. Mr.. Belts read
his reply tn the firm and stated that he
was not satisfied with the bids The
coal was guaranteed to Messrs Beaton
Smith Il Reeve tobe as good as any
Lehigh coal sold In Wilmington. Mr.
Belts stated that he wanted to purchase
Lehigh AMI Schuylkill Goals and ex.
pertinent with them 10 see which was
the best and cheapest, and would leave
The matter with the Board
Mr.. Reeve made an explanation, and
stated that the committee knew but lit
tie about coal before, but during the
past week they had learned all about it
and probably knew more about the bust
ness than the coal dealers themselves
He stated that the Jackson Lime &
Coal Company had not misrepresented
the coal, but had stated it was the salnt
Lehigh coal bid on by other firms
They explained that it was mined in the
Schuylkill. He thought it doubtful
tn Vt the Board would get any better
Lehigh coal from any other firm, and
that the Jackson Lime Il Coal Co
should have the contract
He further stated that there would
not have been any trouble if either
Bush or Warner had received the con.
tract, but az they were fairly beaten
they kicked against 1t, aria hence the
trouble. Ths subject had been literally
discussed by all business men, and
many of the coal dealers who were
beaten had stated to the committee
that the contract should be given to the
firm mentioned.
Mr.. Belts moved to reconsider the
vote by which the contract was awarded
to the jackson Lime q Coal Com.
pany, which was adopted, but no action
was afterward taken on the vote az
re-considered, as the proceedings will
show.
a majority report, signed by Messrs.
Reeve and Smith, was submitted and
read. 1t was to the effect that no ac-
tion be taken to discountenance the ac-
tion of the committee at previous
meeting, and insisted that the contract
rightly belonged to the Jackson Lime &
Coal Company, and that there had been
no Misrepresentation. A motion to
adopt the report was opposed by Mr..
Belts and advocated by Mr.. Reeve, who
said that if the bid was not sustained no
one would bid for coal in the future
but Messrs. Bush and Warner.
Mr.. Wiley being called to the chair,
Dr. Shortlidge took the floor and de-
nounced Mr.. Reeves argument that no
one would bid as tomfoolery" He
opposed the majority report, and
thought the bid of the jackson Lime &
Coal Company "a little crooked" as
shown upon its face. Mr.. Reeve re-
rest Of the bids. They were all about
alike. Mr.. Hickman stated that from
the reporrs the Jackson Lime e. Coal
Company were not the lowest bidders.
Mr.. Reeve defed anyone to prove
thai they We're not according to the bids
received. Messrs Hickman, Sample,
Grier, Mckay, Kyne and others favored
the inviting of new proposals. After
considerable discussion DR.. Mckay took
a schedule prepared by Mr.. Belts, and
offered it as an amendment to the ma
,jority report in order to save further
trouble. The amendment divided the
n,t ha fhran Inxr,aof ND
ders, viz: 295 tons to the jackson Lime
a. Coal Company, 207 tons to Warner
a. Co., and l9j tons to George w. Bush
q Sons. The amendment was lost by a
large majority.
Mr.. Reeve called the attention of the
chair to the original motion, when the
chair thanked the member for his in
but was competent to I'll the
position of presiding officer without his
assistance. (This admission would
have been all right, if the presiding Off
Ger had taken care to see that there had
been nothing doue with the vote that
was re-considered at the beginning of
the discussion, and let the meeting adj
joun without noticing the tact,)
The question being put, Mr.. kyne
took the floor and desired to know some
thing about the matter, when DR.. Nc
Kay said:
"The member came in half hour
late, and the Board had half hours
in regard to the matter
which he ought to have been present to
hear"
Mr.. Kyne-" member from the
Tenth ward, Mr.. President, has had
about two weeks information, l under
stand"
DIR. MclIay-"That cannot be, Mr.. |
for have been absent from
the city. think I've got him there. ]