The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1894-03-02
FIR. SWANS EXPLANATION.


to be an interview with President
Swan, of the Board of Public Works,
but which gives evidence on its face OF
being very much garbled. In this, Mr..
Swan is made to say that ever since
the annual report of the city engineer
was made the board has thought it
would be good thing to make change,
as the expense for pumping was great
er than it should have been. palmer"
says Mr.. Swan, ''may not have been to
blame, but the change will determine
whether he is or not" 1t had been
talked upon the streets for some time
that the expense of running the pump
ing station was too high. The pump
had been doing medium duty, when it
should have done high duty. Ninety
million pounds to a ton of coal is high
duty; sixty million pounds is what the
pump made. Mr.. Swan also denies
that Mayor Weaver ever mentioned
the matter to him, but admits that he
told Mr. Palmer that Mr.. Weaver had
said to Mr. Shoemaker that palmer
was the LATEST man in town." The
change was not made against Mr..
Swans own inclinatiOnS, he says, and
was made in the interest of economy.
Out of fairness to Mr.. Swan we have
given the substance OF the pretended
interview with him. 1t has been COM
monty supposed that all fair and jul
dicial minds are willing to presume a
man innocent until he is proved be-
yond reasonable doubt to be guilty,
but Mr.. Swan takes the opposite course
and presumes Mr.. Palmer to be reSpOn-
sible for the reduced duty of the pump
until 1.-THE change determined whether
he is or not" The board has listened
to street gossip about the expense OF
running the pumping station and has
made scapegoat of Mr.. Palmer, &C
cording to his own statement. Ii the
city is to be run by street gossip we
shall have a peculiar government, to
say the least.
So far as Mr.. Swans statement about
the duty of the pump is concerned,
Mr.. Swan understands why Mr.. Palm
er cannot run the pump on any higher
duty at the present time, and it would
have been more honest for him to have
stated it. Mr.. Swan knows what every
other intelligent man does who is at
all familiar with the circumstances at
the pumping station, that it is impos-
sible to obtain higher duty out OF the
pump until repairs have been made,
and that these cannot be made while
the pump is in daily use, as it must be
at present. Upon this point the testi-
mony of Mr.. Thomas Downs, of Chi
cagO, the agent Of the Knowles Pump
Co., will not be considered PARTIAL
particularly as the Holly pump was
manufactured by rival company. He
was in the city yesterday and stated to
Aids. Widell and Fowler in the pres
ence of a FREE PRESS reporter: Il
know something of Mr.. Palmer's work,
although not much acquainted with
him. He appears to me to be an eX-
cellent engineer, and has done as well
with the pump as any other engineer
could. What the pump needs is a
thorough overhauling, and this cannot
be done until the new pump is in
working order, to take it's place in sup
plying the city with water. Like any
pump, the old one at the pumping sta
tion has become worn by long and I'M
interrupted work Some parts of it
must be replaced, and when this is
done the pump will be as good as new.
No engineer can prevent a pump from
becoming worn, and Mr.. Palmer has
done as well as any engineer could pos
Sibly do. The pump is so worn that it
leaks one-third of the water pumped,
but when it has been repaired, it will
pump all the water needed at half the
cost it now does"
This fair and unprejudiced statement
from an outsider brushes aside the
half-statement, and insinuations by
which it is sought to make Mr.. Palm
er responsible for condition of affairs
for which it is clear that he is not to
blame.
Mr.. Swan says: ''Mr. Palmer may
not be to blame, but the change will
determine whether he is or not" In
other words, Mr.. Palmer is to be placed
in the false light of failing in his en-
cheering ability. After the pump has
been repaired and made as good as new,
and the cost has been reduced greatly
in consequence of this repairing, the
expense of running the pumping sta
tiOn under Mr.. Palmer and his success
or is to be compared and because it
was of necessity greater under Mr..
Palmer Though no fault of his, the
latter is to be condemned as an incom
petent man. But, as Major Dane said
last night, truth is bound to come to
the front, and cannot be held down.
The effort to make scape goat out of