San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-11-05
,umbent, he having been elected by the

SiOner stage that cast so much Odium
upon that trio was the new court house
jugglery. No honest business man, who
Is aware of the transactions connected
with the letting of the several contracts
up to date, can glance a. the affair with
out an expression of condemnation of the
course pursued by these commissioners in
the premises. When the big job was
begun there were two thousand dollars OF
the peoples money sunk Oh account oil
the day work system followed-th at
amount being the difference between the
expenses incurred by the county, and the
amount for which several contractors
were willing to do the eXcavating for.
The next loss the taxpayers had TO
foot amounted to several thousand dollars
in the handling of the concrete footings
for the cellar walls. Here the commits
siOnerS followed the same course they did
in the excavation, after rejecting all the
bids upon the grounds suggested by the
architect, Riley Gordon, viz; That the
lowest bids were all too low. Right there
was some kind of bug under the chip,
for these lowest bidders all had a five
hundred dollar deposit with their bids, to
insure their entering into contract and
giving satisfactory bond. The motives
that prompted the commissioners to take
such queer action in the premises, is at
tributed not to their unwillingnesS TO per-
themselves into eternal bankruptcy, but
simply to the fact that the contractors,
for whom this job was intended, were the
highest bidders and too far out of the way
to slip in through some pOcuS. Then
came outa advertisement calling for bids
for the erection of the stone, granite and
brick walls of the building; after twice
rejecting all bids for no apparent good
reason Duggan & Kroeger were finally
awarded the contract for this work
Those who desire information upon the
inner workings of this game should call
on Niggli 81 White, contractors, who were
really entitled to the job, and were natur-
ally indignant at the injustice done them
in that award. The next 'little job to
be let was the iron work, and there once
more the wrong fellow became lowest
bidder, at figure amounting to about
S35,OOO.0O and all bids were again rejected.
On the second round, however, Duggan &
Kroeger were declared lowest bidders on
iron work at figure amounting to some
thing over 100000 90, but OF course at the
suggestion of the architect, the roof TIL
ing was included in that bid and
some of the iron beams were made
claim that the price of the irOnwork as
finally let to Duggan & Kroeger, had
jumped Up something over $1,000 after
the first bids were all rejected and the
new deal allowed. But that little sum is
covered up and hidden under the roofing
tile that were finally included, and the
anxious engineer is nCw told, that the big
lot of roofing tile had something to do
with that remarkably large difference in
the amounts between the first and second
bids.
There is something singular about the
way, these commissioners proceed with
the letting of the various parts of that
structure. They have already contract
ed to be spent, in the neighbOrhOOd of a
half million dollars-and most people
think that amount completes the
court hOuSe-yet with hatamOunt spent,
the structure will be but half finished.
II the commissioners propose to gauge
the expenses on the balance Of the work
upon the building yet to be Leland they
will let at least 10 or II more contracts
before all is tiniShed-the total cost will
aggregate at least one million dollars;
and next year will tell us a tale on ad
ditiOr al taxes that will aStOniSh the tax
payers.
From all appearances there must be
something fascinating about the Office of
county OmmiSSiOner-well. why not?
Are they not handling over a million dol
lars of peoples money the next twelve
months? For they are growing quite deS-
perate in their efforts to get themselves
reelected. The latest political deal,
having any hearing in that direction, was
accomplished in the 4th commissioners
precinct, where Commissioner Frank UNI
Scheid induced +. Hldebrand, candidate
for commissioner to withdraw in his fav-
or in consideration whereof, Hildebrand
was offered and has obtained the position
of superintendent of the county convict
camp. Hildebrand is said to have a
strong following among the MeXi-
cans about Elmendorf and one or
two other outside precincts. However, it
remains to be seen whether or not, he
will be able to deliver the goods. Hide
brand speaks openly of the nice bargain
he made this time. This is matter
that the proper authorities should inves-
tigate. Frank UmSchied now makes his
living out of the commissioners office.
The only commissioner that the citizens
can rely upon for his independence and
straight ways is Peter Jonas, and he will
therefore be reelected by large major
ity; The taxpayers and citizens generally
will determine next Tuesday what they
will do with the three commissioners,
who have proven themselves so utterly
recreant to their trust.
The candidates for the four commits
SiOnerShipS upon the citizens ticket are:
ALI MuSSey, in precinct No. l; +. Emiel-
ienburg, in No. 2; Peter Jonas, in No.
5, ana henry PauIy IN NO. 4. They are
all honest and representative citizens, and
would under no crcuT stances allow them
selves to be used in a manner so as TO
bring the least suspicion or discredit upon
themselves.
1t is to be hoped that the citizens in
general will give this part of the ticket
their serious consideration +.
READ THESE SHOE PRICES.
1000 pairs at prices In reach OF