Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1894-08-10
CAN 1T BE TRUE?
Did Normal Contractors Receive
More for their work than they
Should havesDone? s
x. Nj. RingO Says they Did: and
Produces the Evidence
i'll Support of the
Statement.

iii support of the
Statement.
ED GRAPHIC:-I desire to make
tfew statements through the col
umn's of your paper, in order to
't.throw more light" on some of
6he tran sactiOn connected with our
Normal school. .cl
twill perhaps be remembered
by some of your readers that
very savage attack was made up
On myself and some others by
Judge Andrew Ellison in public
speech delivered by him in this
city something over a year ago in
which he denounced us in violent
terms for having reported to the
examining committee that the re-
gents of the Normal School at this
place had mismanaged some of
the funds of that institution.
l am free to confess that | did
SO, telling them that if they would
look far enough into the matter
they would find-to put it mildly
auseless waste of the States money,
and that some of Ellisons parti:u-
lar favorites had received more
money on contracts for repairing
the Normal building than was fair
and right. This however they had
already discovered before talked
with them, on the subject and criti-
cised the regents sharply in their
published report (see report of the
examining committee to the seth
general asembly.) .s. gl +
1t will be remembered by those
that heard the speech above re-
ferred to, that Ellison completely
exonorated all the other members
OF the board of regents. He assumed
all the responsibility and took all
the blame on himself for anything
that might be in anyway consider
ed wrong in the matter. : o.
That, | think, was fair enough to
the other regents, as he had un-
doubtedly bossed the whole Job.
| AS to whether the bills that he
paid to some of his pet contractors
for repairs on the building in the
summer of 1890 are reasonable
and right Just let one item (among
several others of like character)
read out to the audience by Mr..
Lane, Il member of the eyamin-
ing committee. suffice to show.
For instance, he paid $50. for
little extra job of painting that
was outside of the regular painting
contract that | am creditably in
formed can he done for six or seven
dollars. Ellison was present and
admitted that these bills were
paid, and claimed that they were
cheap enough.
l have record evidence now in
my possession (the Normal School
tresurer's book, } showing that he
paid s3,312.75 for painting the
building and doing little paper
ing, when I will take the contract
and give bond for its completion
to duplicate the job for 81, $50, co. |
The same record shows that he
paid 81 ,5l0,95 for patching the
roof Just a little and doing some |
other little tinkering around the
building, when | will contract to
put an entire new roof on the
building for sS5O,OO.
| say these bills are not cheap
as he asserts, and | do not
believe that there is a man in the
state, of honest instincts, who will
say they are, after carefully look
ing into them.
But perhaps Judge Ellison can
make satisfactory explanation of
Ill these things. If he can he has
5he floor. No doubt the tax pay
.rS would like to hear from him
concerning the matter. And while
lie is in the explaining business,
suppose he explains why he made +,
he state pay his Office rent for six
II seven years. at an expense to
he State OF over $4,000, when no
'ther Normal school in the state
ver did such a thing. Suppose
.lso that he explains why he paid
he treasurer of the school here a