The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-03-03
TO Be INVESTIGATED
Attention. Evil DOers-MayOr Webster
Has Enlisted For
the War.
Warranted Free From Whitewash''
is the Councils M0ttO
Just Now.

Pursuant to the mayors call, the city
council met in special session yesterday
afternoon to consider progress in the
W investigation. There was a full
attendance of the members of the coun-
Gil and a large number of citizens we're
there to watch the proceedings,
Councilmen Randall, Gaunt and Cor
%nelius, by request Of the mayor, made
verbal reports of the examination had
by them Of portions of the lateral sew
ers. They agreed in their statements
that many of the joints examined by
them were not cemented, and that much
of the work is not in conformity with
the plans and specifications. ID. l..
Tracy had also ins pected some OF the
pipes for his W information, and found
a good many of them badly put to
gether. In the tunnel near the Catholic
church he found a pipe connection where
he could put his hand between the end
of tho pipe. Mr.. Tracy said that the de
fects in the work had given rise to a
general feeling of uncertainty about the
new sewers, and it was clear that the
work must be closely looked after. The
The board Of trade committee through
its chairman, T.. w King, also made a
verbal report, coinciding with the views
of the council committee.
The attention of the meeting was next
taken up for some time by Mr.. Reynolds,
the president of the Trades and Labor
Council, who said that the investigation
had been brought about through the
complaints of w%orkingmen against Mark
Tuck's boarding house dive in Third
avenue south. He read from a copy of
the sewer specifications intimatiDg that
many provisions of this instrument had
been infringed by the contractor, and
closed 10y reminding the mayor and
council of the petition of the working
men for the suppression of the den kept
by Mark Tuck on the south side. In the
course of his remarks Mr.. Reynolds
showed that while the contract on these
sewers is for $4,000, the bond of the
contractor is for only $500. Some of
the speakers language was decidedly
strong and to the point.
Mayor Webster next took the floor.
and his remarks were decidedly ami
mated. lie warned everybody present
against condemning the city engineer or
anybody else without a hearing. One
fiery passage of his honor's address was
as follows:
Il want every taxpayer of this city to
understand that there is to be no white
washing of any city official in this mat.
ter. We are going to sift it to the bot
ton. But ] warn the men who are
making charges to be sure that their
charges are true. If wrong can be al
legged against the city engineer or any
other employe of the city government,
We want TO know 1t, we are ready to pay
for the iuformotion if necessary. / know
that the onus Of the charges and insinu-
atoms made fall upon the city engineer.
lie has been maiigned before and we
have stood by him because we had im-
plicit confidence III him, His reputation
is at stake, n We all know how dear a
thing that is TO a man, And | tell you
now, neither he nor any man shall be
condemned without a fair hearing. |
have stood by him in the past, and will
do SO now though every man in this
community should order me to do other
wise al the point of a gun. SO long as
he Is not proven guilty Of day wrong he
must not be condemned. But if he has
betrayed the confidence placed in him /
shall be among the first to cry hang
him | should feel that no punishment
is too severe to in,iict upon him"
AS Mayor Webster spoke his voice
~ wv u NtD IVA ~ al pltSCIll |
that his emotions were severely worked
upon.
There was a rrse-for-all discussion in
which several took part, and statement
WAS made by Engineer Morley TO the
effect that he regarded the work as be
ing workmanlike. lie had improved on
the specifications by ordering the man.
holes left without tho coating of cement
on the outside. When asked by Coun-
Gilman Jensen if he would be willing to
make affidavit that he has no "rake off"
on the Tuck contract, he replied that he
would. Tn mayor asked him if he did
not think the council would have pro-
vided an inspector if he had recommend
ed it, to which be replied yes, but he
had been always careful to keep down
the expenses as much as possible. At
best the engineers explanation was "a
very shutting affair, which did not i'm
prove his case with the people who
heard it.
The only practical result of the meet
ing was the decision to organize Il COM
mittee of nine to prosecute a thorough
inspection OF the sewer work. This
committee will consist of the three men
already appointed by the board of trade,
three members of the council to be
named this morning, and three represen-
tatives of the Trades and Labor council.
A special meeting of the council will be
held this morning at 10 o'clock.
For the Single ScuIi Championship
New YORK, Feb. "A rowing match
was arranged between Edward Hanlan
and Wallace Rose. of this city. They
agreed to row for the single scull cham
pionship challenge cup and IA purse of
$1,000. The distance to be five miles with
a turn. The race is TO be rowed on
Tuesday, May 30, at a place to be mutu-
ally agreed upon.