Morning journal and courier., 1888-04-17
ANOrHER TOWN mEErINe

To Get she New AlmshOuse on It's
 way-The Tangle i'm a Fair way
 Now of an Early and Final Adjust.
 ment-CaII For Q Town Meeting to
 be Tssued TO.N1Rht.
 That we'll seasoned chestnut the new alrns- house is about ready to drop from the trse on which it has thrived for the past nine months, and the knot in which the building committee have tied themselves will be unrav- eled by another town meeting which it was decided yesterday should be called by the board of selectmen. The board of selectmen and the citizens committee met in the town agents office at 4 o'clock in pursuance of last weeks adjournment, yesterdays being the seventeenth meeting held by the joint committee since they first took in hand the towns trust of erecting an institution to house the towns charges. The selsctmen present were Town Agent Reynolds, Kenke, Brown and Hughes, and Judge Morris, Henry s. Dawson, Harmanus M. Welch, John P. Futile and Henry o. White were the mem bsrs of the citizsns' committee on hand. When Secretary White had read the minutes of the last meeting it was at once decided that ex-Governor Ingersol1, who had conducted the legal proceedings on behalf of the committee in the injunction proceed ings brought by the Tracy brothers of Wa terbury, be invited to appear and give his in- depreciation of the Supreme court decision, and also advise the committee what course in his judgment, they ought now to pursue. Governor IngersoI was evidently of the opinion that the town, in whose behalf the joint committee were acting, should have no information of his advice, for the reporters were invited to withdraw while he enlighten- ed the gentlemen present as to what, in his r judgment, were their rights and privileges in the premises. The learned counsellor was closeted with the committee for about twenty minutes, but his opinion didn't seem to have much weight with them, for when he withdrew, as was shown by subsequent proceedings and by the vote on the question of awarding the contracts, they stood just where they did before his visit, and just where they stood last week and just where they were last August be- fore the matter was ever taken into the courts.
 John P. Futile made motion that the contract for the carpenter and mason work and painting be awarded to the Tracy broth CTS of Waterbury. The motion was lost by the following vote: Nays, Messrs Reynolds, klenke, Brown, Hughes, Dawson and Weleh; yeas, Messrs. Futile, White and Morris. This vete indicated that no awards would be made by the meeting, as the town meeting which appointed the joint committee had di-' reered that no contracts should be awarded except by majority vote of both the board of selectmen and the citizens committee. Henry c. White then said that, as no decis- ion could be reached in the present state of the case, the committee should either go to another town meeting or throw out all bids and advertise anew.
 MT. Reynolds then made long statement, which was clear explanation of the atti- A., l. -E -L1l k., given to the New Haven parties. He spoke of the action of previous meeting which had voted the carpenter work to Larkins & Langley, the mason work to George M. Grant, the painting to E. R. Jeffcott, the plumbing to Daniel Kelly and the steam heat- ing to the New Haven Steam Heat Supply company, and the subsequent resembling of these awards in order to remove complica- tions from the court proceedings He thought that, as these bidders had acted in accord ance with the specific wording of the adver- tisement calling for proposals and put in their bids separately, they were in justice en- titled to the awards. The advertisement he claimed, left no room for proposals other than separate or altogether, and as no bids were received for all portions of the work together the only bids the committee could properly consider were those which were the lowest separate items. These were made by the New Haven parties
 
 of purpose in bidding according to their in- depreciation of the advertisement, they. should be awarded the contracts Judge Morris replied briefly, saying that as the members of the committee who thought with him felt, the Tracy Brothers were the lowest responsible bidders, and as a majority of the committees could not agree on the award, he thought the most judicious course would be to call a town meeting. MT. Dawson, Mir. Welch and Mir. Klenke spoke in favor or giv- ing the awards to the New Haven bidders, but agreed to the suggestion of a town meet ing as the best way out of the difficulty and the deadlock in which the committee found itself.
 Accordingly the selectmsn at the meeting this evening will issue call for town meet ing and the new almshouse may yet get under way before the snow flies next winter.
 MT. Reynolds suggested that, in accordance with the vote of the town meeting, this com mittee should take some action toward se- curing plans and proposals for a workhouse to be submitted to an adjourned town meet ing to be held on or before June 22, but the committee were evidently not in a mood to wrestle with the matter and adjourned with out taking any action.