Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-03-25
TALKS BY THE WAY.


NEw CeeRT HggsE-Ths supervise
meet IN sPeesal sess-oa To-Day 70 take
acton On the court house nigmz-
What the result 0f the.E deliberations
s.ll Dc i IS impossible 70 conjecture
IL = pFosab.e that the whole subject
wiA Be gone over from start % hnlsa,
aaa matters LETT Just where they are At
present The history u TIE buldlng
of tue court house Affords Interesting
instruction 10 tne average bnaneler-
/ Ia tie spnng OK SIS tbs people ~ a
popular vote authorized lae Taising Of
sl50,0o0 Tor the purpose " 0ulldlag a
ne. county court house. Afters4Tds
proposals. Ter plans were invited and
those submitted ~ Architect OsgCod
were accepted. Then proposals
Tor the construction OF the build
* were asked tor. That OF tue
Western Construction Company
for tl0u. 100 vas the lowest, although
$4,000 above what the people had
( authorized This difference was OF 10
importance 10 the sagaelous supervisors,
To- they argued that the premium on
the bouds would more than meet this
excess. The contract was therefore let
10 tue lowest bidder. The bonds were
sold 10 ;. A. hean 4 CO. for SI37, -
leaving At the outset and before blow
had been struck an absolute deficiency
OF nearly s5000. Work was commenced
| under the formal contract aud specI-
hcatI0ns, but before the excavations
We're fairly under way a change was
7 ftgfl nj "a 80 N ~ NJ found a.
tloLs. TINS was made. Then the I'M
posing pile went upward until a
layer of galvanized iron work
was reached. il was agreed that
this ornament would dlsfigure
/ the building, and the architect himself
agreed 10 pay for the extra expense at
tending the substitution OF stone. HIS
| proposal was accepted. Since then the
| changes. additions and alterations 10
/ the original plans have been lntermIn-
able and innumerable. All these have
| been the source OF delav and veXatIOus
dlsputatlOns between the supervisors,
| contractors and sub-contractOrs, in
| which the superintendent and architect
( have joined with alarming frequency.
/ Without going INTO the figures II is
( sufficient 10 call attention to the fact
L NA8ls NtiN AHl4AA uat bttll ONtl
! drawn, leaving a balance To be applied
TO the completion OF the building of
about $40, OU0. Experienced contractors
/ declare that II Will require double tins
sum 10 complete the structure. Where
Is the money to come from? That's the
nut the supervisors will try 10 crack to-
day. It's an awful hard one.
IRoNCLAD observation-disclosures of specu-
lative proclIvities Will be panied
TO learn that Boorhem's ironclad
monitor has been removed 10 a
! larger field. At least there is rumor
| 10 that effect circulating among the
| sporting gentry. The place is strong
enough for safety deposit vault or q
bank, and the shute by which the occu-
pants formerly escaped police raids
would be an elegant thing Tor abScond-
I ing cashiers. There have been many
sero-comic scenes within those walls.
| Most OF them are only known 10 4 select
| few of the habltues of the place, but
| others have leaked out. One summer
afternoon William Clarkins sat with MS
| legs under the table With fortune smll-
ing ner persuasive smile upon HIM. A
heap of glttering coin lay before him,
which was gradually growing larger al
the expense of the faro bank. The pro-
| prletor OF the place viewed the situation
critically and decided That the dealer
was in cahoots with William. Just as
the latter made another big winner
! Boorhem collared the stake and closed
the game. Williams proud, sensitive
spirit Ievolted at this imputation on
his honor and he kicked-kIcked the
table over and the chairs about the
room and as his b.o)d warmed up he
pulled pop with Il muzZle like the
entrance to a dog house and began an
Indiscrlmlnate fusIlade. Boorhem de,
sirlng to evade the bullets, began to
dance Hey Betty Martin and just as he
made u soaring kick he managed to
catch one IN the foot. This closed the
place for Il while. IL was reOpened
and the shute was held out as an extr a
| nducemeut for nervous spectators.
One night there was a tremendous
racket at the entrance door and q
/ glance through the peep hole disclosed
Lieutenant Hurley and several other
/ myrmIdOus of the law. Down the shute
went the gamblers like bull-frog:
IN brook, and they found another de.
tachment of police at the lower end
These fellows thought they were in
hard luck until the last man started tC
come down. He was short of stature
and so constructed that his altitude wa:
greatest when he was lying down. lie
started down all right but at the lower
end the shute tapcred and he brought
up with crunching sound and 1t took
some minutes to drag him into tn,
open air and get the breath back into
/ his obese carcass.