The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-02
LINER DOES The WORK.
Contract for Paving Main Street
Awarded TO tho Lowest
Bidder.
! EFFORT 10 Readvertise and Post
pone tho Work Is
Defeated.
Lettsr From tho sucoessful Bidder DO
nylng thu Reports About the Im-
portation Of Labor.

stead ef broken stone and sand, and the
her to 70 ahead with the work according
the present specifications. A meeting OF
% special committee on street paving, held
Wednesday night, d which all the mem-
brs were presant except Alderman Steele.
bcided to disagree ON these propositions.
hen this council met last night, Aldermen
thompson. Harrity, Reeoe. IissnAr and
amer, the majority of the COMMITTEES,
admitted tKs following report:
.''Your committee on paving, TO whom
as referred the proposals for paving Main
rect, bag leave to present the following
hbulated statement Of bids received:
teele b Clements, S$48,686.87; Thomas Ora
an, $f43, 938. 80; Mysen y Mellon,
s, 49, sss' 10 A.. 81 =: I p, Brad. aalm' I'll, 54b tsi.
The above figures do not include district A
street car tracks. After careful discus
ion of the matter we would respectfully
commend that all bids received to date
J rejected and that tho street commits
ionsr be instructed to advertise on Dec. !,
aid proposals to be submitted to the city
bounoil on the 11th day Of December, 1891"
Alderman Fuller, chairman OF the com
knittee. stood alOne in the minority report
which lie submitted. It was a. follows:
1.-THE undersigned, q minotity OF your
committee on paving, to whom was referred
he proposals for paving Main street,
Recommend that the contract for said paw
ng be awarded to the lowest responsible
bidder, and that the work be commenced
ind carried out under the present plans and
specifications"
When tho two reports had been read.
alderman Weber moved to substitute that
Of the minority for the majority report, and
Alderman Hartwig asked the reasons for
this action OF the majority. Alderman
Thompson said tho majority Of the COM
mittee wore almost unsnimausly OF opinion
that it would be an error, n . serious
error, il the work were done uDder the
present specifications, which provided for a
wooden block. on a stone foundation. They
also thought that the only way to remedy
the evil was to readvertise and substitute a
one or two inch plank for the stone. That,
more than anything else, Influenced their
action. He would say on behalf OF q ma
jority Of the signers q the petition that
they we're committed to the use OF board
foundation. There had never been q
wooden pavement laid IN any other fonda
tion than plank. The condition Of the
ground on Main street demanded it.
Alderman Lissner said he wanted Main
street paved, bnt he wanted 1T done sys-
tematically. The foundation of stone OF
gravel WIS not the proper one for . wooden
pavement. Ho asked why Alderman Hart
wig was SO anxious to urge the thing on.
Was there. anything in it? The council
should remedy the mistake in time and not
go On record ss letting i 60, !.
using q plank foundation had been
thoroughly discussed, and tho majority Of
the council were found against it. Why
this sudden discovery that plank was neces-
sary? He thought it only an excuse to post
pone the work.
Alderman Klein favored paving the -tt-aet,
MHS1k l, nrs~ ~ 1r<,In18 M h N tho man In - nD tIH
storm sewers, he SAW that the ground wal
soft, and thought the wooden blocks apt to
sink unless they had&a plank foundation.
City Engineer Keeder was called on to
give his views. He said il was proposed to
cut down the street on an average four,
with q hsavy machine and il there were
any concsaled bitches or other soft places,
this would detect them. Each layer OF
broken stone and sand would also be rolled.
They could get nothing better than that
foundation. It would Of itself make q good
street. Civil Engineer Geo. g; Foss &
pressed the same opinion about the founda
tion, and said when the wooden pavement
wore out il would make a bed for q stone
pavement without extra work. II
Mayor Kleinsohmidt reviewed the history
OF the paving matter from the time the pc
tition was first presented last spring, and
said the council, In the different steps, had
gone through tho summer and had nov
come to the time when snow was flying
and had lust arrived at the point Of award.
ing the contract Why was it proposed tc
put the matter off? We're the Helena people
overrun with work, or were they in want Of
ii and asking for itY They were confronted
should be no work this winter. If there
was a spark Of honesty In the movement to
pave Main street, he would like to see it By
the councils vote.
Alderman Steele said he had serious
doubts about HelenR workingmen gettinf
contract was given out now, labor was to be
imported by the contractor.
Mayor Kleinsohmidt had heard the same
report and had asked H. b. Palmer, thu
lowest bidder, about it. That gentleman
Gent him q letter denying the report.
j.. Fl. Boucher. chairman OF the knights
of Labor committee, was allowed to ad,
dress the council. He said the knights OF
Labor had watched the proceedings ane
had come to the conclusion that something
should be done this year. Many Of thu
laboring people who bought homes on tht
instalment plan, had been forced to forfeit
them and move away with less than the,
for work and expecting it. The paving o
Main street had become . "josh'' NIL owe
the state and was forming the butt 70.
jokes ON the STAGE, The Knights Of Labol
believed the foundation proposed as goot
M any and tho objections to il
were not sufficient to stop the work
Though Is might be a calamity to 70 aheat
now, it would be a greater calamity if TIL,
poor people whom the merchants were de.
pending on for business were not given
chance to make u living; if they killed tn
goose that laid the golden egg. This wa
the chance for the property owners on Mali
street to say Ego ahead" The mono,
would all drift back to them before spring
He did not come from the trades unions
ers, and who were asking a chance to d,
something this winter. The argument
about the plank was a hollow one compared
with the Bread and butter for the people,.
The following petition signed by j. II
boucher. chairman, on behalf Of tn.
Knights OF Labor, was presented and read