St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-28
MINNEAPOLIS.
A BATTLE ROYAL.
The Gjertsen Side of tho Lot Con-
trOversy Up Again.

Eli Gjertsen. who figured as an agent
of F. j. Kost & Co. in the sale of the lot
purchased by the police commission for
the North side station house, furnishes
the following statement to the GLOBE
for publication, to correct several errors
in the Journals article headed ELI did
not get there"'
1.-THE article in yesterdays Journal
purporting TO give the story OF how
the police commission purchased the
site for the North Minneapolis station,
is wholly misleading. Perhaps it was
to the commission. One bidder was
Charles L. Cove, not Charles Gould, as
stated by the Journal Possibly the
mistake in the name was unintentional.
Perhaps 1T was due to de-
sire to shield Supt. Bracket from
suspicion, inasmuch as Cove, the
real bidder was formerly his partner
and is perhaps so still. The other bid
was submitted by myself. the price
named by me for the lot chosen being
s2,425 not $500 as reported in the
Journal. Why did the informant of
that paper find it necessary to falsly
state the amount of the bid? Doubtless
the alleged facts were obtained from the
parties whose official misconduct is
made apparent by the truth of the
transaction. Again it is stated that I
made no bid at all, when the fact.is that
not less than five witnesses of unim-
peachable character are ready to verify
the same under oath if necessary.
Lastly, it is claimed that had no au-
thOrity to make an offer. And in the
Tribune-Star of to-day it is stated that
Cove had exclusive authority to sellthe
property by an agreement with the
owner dated June 8. In order to settle
all controversy on this point, append
a copy of a contract dated May s, 1889,
giving F. j. Kost d Co. OF this city the
sole right to sell the property in queS-
ton from that date until Jan. 1, 1890.
If Cove had similar agreement of a
later date, which doubt, it would be
of no validity. Kost g. Co., authorized
me to make the bid as will appear from
their certificate. The owner of the
property demanded only S2,315 net for
the lot. Cove and his partner apparent
ly received slS5 profit. 1t is not claimed
by MeSSrs. Babb and Guile, that they
made any investigation at the
time to ascertain whether or not
had authority from the owner.
Had they done so they would have
lcdtucu GlldG GuRC Was uudutllOllLCus
and that alone had authority. Their
conflicting and false version of the tran
saction only adds to the suspicion al
ready entertained by many that Doodle
alone Induced the commission to enter
tain the higher bid. The original con-
tract from the owner of the lot to kOSt
& Co. is now in their office.
The contract appended gives FL.
Kost & Co, the sole agency to negotiate
the sale of lot IA, block "a, Case and
others rearrangemento of Case q MOOre'S
addition of Minneapolis. The street
number is 1887 North Third street. The
price asked is $1,000, and it is stated
that there is an incumbrance of
$500 on the lot. The contract is
signed ]. B. Chapman, owner. and
seems to be conclusive that Kost & Co.
had the authority they claim. That au
thority they delegated to Eli Gjertsen,
according to a statement signed by f. j.
.KOSt q 10