St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-05
AFTER THE. APRICOT.
A Fat City Office to Be Given
Out on Next Tuesday
Night.
The Building Inspeetorshjp'
Proves a Tempting Baitaoi
~ to Many. qs!
a8F5
sYti
A Juicy Plum, With Short
Hours and Big Pay, Ready
TO Drop. as1
II
sGs
Candidates Are as Thick as
Leaves in the Vailam-
br0sa. e


| ways interesting. Two weeks ago
the absorbing topic of conversation was
the coming spring election, but since
that time the bright prospects offspring
| time turbulence have been eulipsed and
| wholly lost sight Of in the merry scram-
| BILE for fayors TO be received at the hands
of the common council Tuesday eve
Mug. A building inspector is to be
| elected for term Of four years, and .
city printer appointed for one year. III
| terest centers Oh the election of an in
| spector. The position is something of
OF q sinecure, as the salary is
5000 q year, with considerable
| patronage attached and the duties are
| not onerous, to say the least. In fact,
| it is one of the CleaMeSt Offices Of the
! city government and one of the most
| profitable. as prominent politician eX-
/ presses it, ''beeause it never has cost
ANYTHING to get it," 1t was not init
| mated, however, that the job has a
| price attached this time. There is far
| from a dcarth Of candidates and con
| siderable feeling has already been
| stirred up among them. Even should
| all Of them escape unhurt from the pre-
| liniinary Skirmisii some are sure to
| come out with ''sore" heads after the
final grand shakc-up by the board of
| aldermen.
There are open candidates for the
honor and dark horses. Probably the
most prominently mentioned of the
former class is Gates A. Johnson. the
present incumbent, who has held the
position for the past six years. He was
elected for term of two years while an
independent member of the cOmmOa
council. Heis credited with having voted
with the Democrats on important issues
however. to which his election was i'll Il
large measure due, it is said. AT the ey-
piration OF his two years term he was
reelected by q Democratic majority,
and his term of Office increased to four
years by the passage Of an ordinance.
These facts place the present incum-
bent III a rather peculiar position at
the present time, when there are
NO VOTES TO SPARE
on either side of the house. Certain
Democratic aldermen allege that he is
not of their faith, and that he is not en-
titled to fhe party support. while it is
urged by other Republican members
that he is fuIl-fedged Democrat, and
that any Republican alderman who
votes for him betrayS the party. Not
| WlthStanding these stories, Mr.. john
sons friends allege that he has strong
support on both sides of the house, and
that his election is an assured fact!
That he has made thoroughly
capable and efficient officer is
admitted on all hands. Aid.
LeithauSer, of the Second ward, who is
q, well known contractor and builder, is
also out for the job and hopes to be
pulled through by the straight Repub+
| iican vote. But his party colleagues
| nave not caucusSed, and it is limited that
| they viii not. as two Republican alder-
| men are credited with having refused
| to support him even were his election
! agreed upon by majority OH the Repuh-
| iican side. 1t is possible that the action
| of these boiling Republicans may eX-
plain the claims made by Mr.. JohnSon'S
friends. Capt James Starkey, deputy
inspector under Mr., Johnson, is in the
field as q Democratic war-h0rSe, and
state Of uncertainty" is the way he
described The situation yesterday,
but he is confident OF strong sup
port, and hopes to come out at
the head in the end. The
| ''fne-haired" wing of Democracy is
represented in the race by Col. William
Crooks, who is a civil engineer of no
mean ability. He is an acknowledged
candidate and claims strong SUPPORT.
Augustus f. Gauger, the well-knOwn
architect, has also been declared can
djdate. His friends who urge his candi-
dacy claim that Mr.. Gauger has always
beer conservative politician of the III
dependent order, and that lie will receive
a strong backing from both parties
in the council. John Heinlein, the
lower town contractor, who is Repu5-
iican, but not an aggressive one, also
expects 10 be elected by nOn-partisan-
vote
William c. Severn. an assistant in
Spector uuder Mr.. Johnson, is growing
as dark horse, it is said. and counts on
being elected. Thomas Fitzpatrick. the
Weil-kn0wh contractor and builder, has
also been mentioned in connection with
the office, but his candidacy is doubted
by his friends, who allege that lie would
not give up his business for
THE SALARY AT STAKE.
There may be a sudden collapse of
| some Of the hard-pushed bOoms when it
becomes known that there is a strong
| probability that the inspectors term OF
office will be reduced TO two years.
Several members of the council, ire
speCtiYe Of party, have declared that
| the term is too long, and it is quite
likely that an ordinance will be intro
duced to shorten it by half before
| an election is attempted. Neither party
has held caucus as yet, and 1t is quite
probable that both parties will 90 into
the meeting primed for blind free fight.
Aid. COnley, hamm. Minea and Melady
held long consultation with Mayor
Smith at the latter'S office late Friday
night. That the situation was discussed
there is very little doubt. but what was
agreed upon will not become apparent
before Tuesday night. Aid. Melady,
the only man of the conference who
said a word TO reporters, volunteered
the information that they met to discuss
the affairs of their building society,""
There was CONSERVATION in the Re-
publican fold and among Republican
candidates when il was announced early
in the week that the bell wether of the
flock, Aid. SanbOrn, would not attend
the meeting, being obliged to leave
Tuesday evening for Washington, where
he is to argue the meat inspection case
before the supreme court the following
| Thursday. The Republican contingent
huddled together in punches and Shook
at the bare possibility Of being left with-
out a leader, but the bright idea of a.
| Republican newspaper man who wants
| the city printing has allayed their
fears. Aid. Sanborn has agreed to stay
and pilot his party through the trouble
| on the assurance that a special train
will be run to Chicago for his accommo-
datIon, to connect with New York
trains, after the council meeting. But
it would not be at all strange if no cleo
ton resulted Tuesday night. for reasons
that ara obvious, and the battle may be
fought without the Seventh ward al
derman after all. 1t will be All interest
ing meeting at any rate.
A Cathedral W Wedding.
On New Years eve. at the cathedral.