Los Angeles herald., 1891-10-29

Although it may not be fact that the
investigation now being carried on by
the grand jury into the furnishing of the
county court house and Whittier reform
school implies some suspicion of Grim
inality," as the kindergarten reporter on
the Express terms it, nevertheless such
investigation is being prosecuted with q
great deal of vigor.
Mysterious personages appear at the
court house from time to time, armed
with two-foot rule, and take measure
ments of the desks, counters, etc., at the
same time making a critical examina-
tion of the same with an experts eye.
These are supposed to be emissaries of
the grand jury who are employed to esti-
mate the cost OF the furnishing OF the
building, so that some ineligible COM
parsons can be made between the sum
paid by the county for the luxurious
solid oak desks, benches, chairs, etc,
and what it is supposed should have
been paid for them.
The jury is holding daily sessions in
the Jones block, and District Attorney
McLachlan is constantly in attendance
on that body throughout the day. Ex-
perts have been employed to look over
the original contract, supplementary
contracts, etc., entered into between the
county and the Los Angeles Furniture
company, and synopsis is being made
of the mass of specifications which are
part of these documents. 1t would take
a Philadelphia lawyer to get head or tail
out of them, however. The bids are all
on individual pieces, and the aggregate
cost lin the neighborhood of $S0,000) can
only be arrived at after deal of fgur-
ing.
The changes from and additions to the
original contract have been numerous
and costly. In several instances, nota-
bly, in the sherif's, tax collectors and
board of supervisors rooms, counters
ordered to fit certain angles OF the apart
ments have been altered to 60 else
where, and these alterations, it is said,
have cost sums apparently unjustified
by the amount of work to be done.
If the grand jury does not believe that
someone's nest has been feathered it is
certainly taking great deal of trouble
to apparent purpose in looking these
matters up.
The statement is made that the carv-
ing of Fiat justicia" on the panels of
the Judges desks and other handwork of
similar character, is what makes the
alarming differences paid by the county
for those articles of furniture and the
bench which Judge Wade asked to have
made. If so, the pretty sentiment ex-
pressed i'll that phrase cost the taxrav
ers a good MANY hard dollars
General E. 2. johnson, of the furni-
ture company, in a conversation yester-
day with HER AID reporter said that if
real experts were employed in estimat-
ing the cost OF the court house furniture
he had no fear of the result OF their
calculations rejecting on his company,
but he added that there are no men in
this city who are capable OF acting as
experts on the quality OF the furniture
in the court house.
! General johnson stated that he had
been before the grand jury and had fully
explained to that body all the transac-
tions. He had simply filled the require
ments of the contract. If the county
wanted an expensive oak chair, he could
not give them pine, cane-seated chair.
The quality of the furniture had all
been settled by the specifications; bids
had been advertised for, and his com
pany had got the business because it
had, by $1,000, underbid other dealers.
AS matter of fact, the furniture was
no more expensive than what is usually
found in public buildings. As for Gov
ernor Markham, he knew nothing about
the contract and had nothing to do with
its acceptance. The general asserted
that there was absolutely not the slight
est foundation for any idea that the
furniture company had done anything
wrong, or even made very much of
profit out of the transaction. He very
truly said that if the authorities wanted
the most elegant expensive furniture in
the market the company was not to
blame. They were in the business to
sell furniture, and they could only cell
to purchasers what they wanted to buy.