The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-01-19

depended upon the quality Of the material
AMI the specifications under which 10 was
ordered AS 20 a charge for IA boards al
SO per thousand he said the Central rail-
road bought ordinary material al from
+ fiS) 20 80 per thousand al the mill. Mr..
Conner showed from the bill that the stun
was Of varying dimensions and that the
number OF feet was not run out for each
I item, so that he could not tell what price
was charged per thousand The price OF
( 4 Ia boards delivered IN the city. he said,
would be about s. 50 per thousand more. he
said.
I Dr. Harris asked Mr.. Conner what would
be the cost per thousand to deliver this
material from the Central railroad depot
% the quarantine sta ton. He replied he
. had no experience in this line: that Ium-
ber coming over the Central railroad was
delivered az the wharf lie could not say
what would be the extra cost Of trans
porting 20 quarantine
Mr.. Conner was examined as TO the items
in a voucher for a bill OF lumber for the
dry culture department by Melon
oush q 60. As to one item billed at SIS
per thousand. Mr. Conner said the Central
railroad bought lumber OF this class at the
nail for 81 10 $3.50 per thousand The
same thing applied 70 several other items
on another charge Of Sl5 per thousand. Mr.
Conner said the material could be pur-
chased for 81 10 IS. An item for boards
/ billed az $40. ne said could be bought at the
mill from 81 10 So per thousand. Add 81 81
/ per thousand for freight. An item charged
at SIS per thousand. he said, he considered
rather steep charge. unless the piece was
OF unusual length. From 80 10 $3.50. he
said, would be the usual charge 10 the
railroads.
The same thing appliGa 70 several other
items, he said. On bill of McDonough &
Ballantyne for castings Mr.. Corners at
tention was called to an item for CRATE
q ne
Bailantyne sold the Central railroad the
same material al 1sl cents a pound The
same thing applied 10 other items on the
bill
on another bill OF McDonough & Co.'S
Mr.. Conner said material was charged al
SO 70 }l3, which he thought excessive the
/ price IN open market being $3.50 to SO. 30
per thousand An item charged at S12. he
said, could be purchased in open market
at s. to $3.50. On another bill Of Melon
ough & co. for lumber, Mr.. Conner pointed
out several items which he considered ex-
Cessiye.
Voucher Jas, bill Of McDonough & Bal
lantyne for iron, billed at cents. Mr.
Conner was unable 10 furnish any infor-
nation because the class Of iron was not
stated. The Central railroad bought
iron for less than cents. he said one
item for washers at cents. he said he
would expect to get for ia cents.
A bill for yellow metal shceting. Nov.
!. 1888 from Mcmillan Bros. 5,42i pounds
al Is cents was produced. Mr.
Conner said he paid for sheet copper.
which he considered a better material
for the purpose Of covering pilings 10
cents pound delivered
Voucher 2SS, Mcmillan Bros. 1000
pounds Of pig iron at cents a pound,
was produced. Mr.. Conner said that he
paid from 3a4 cents to 3s7 cents delivered
at that date. 1t is material the price
OF which fluctuates, and the price Is
less now than in September 1898.
Mr. Conner, when questioned by Mr.
Meldrim, said the price of lumber de-
pended to a certain extent upon the spec
ihcatons the amount and the quality
In the matter of castings a large pur-
chaser Ike the Central railroad could
buy much cheaper than a small purchaser.
NJ. w. Dixon was the next witness
HIS testimony was interesting He was
hrst examined as 10 voucher 3l6, dated
Sept. 30, 1893. a bill of McDonough & Co.
Mr. Dixon said that the prices of lum-
Der varied greatly, according to condi-
lions and specifications. If the lumber
were of extra good quality he would not
have considered the price unusual Mr.
Dixon said he had been promised by
Alderman Harris an opportunity 10 bid
on the lumber He got mad with him
because the bid was not advertised as
promised. The explanation Of Mayor Nc
Donough, made in Maj. Meldrim's an
swer, had satisfied him, however Had
| known what I know tonight | would
have kept my Irish down" lie said he
did not get a chance to bid on the bill
and cenSured Alderman Harris for il
AS to certain items, the prices of which
he was asked. Mr.. Dixon said that under
the same circumstances he would not
have furnished the material for any less
Mr.. Dixon said he had sold small bills
of lumber to the city, through chair
men of committees. Mr.. Dixon differed
with Mr. Conner as to his prices on lum-
Der His firm owned a mill near Mr.
| Smarts mill. near Midwife, the rates
of which had been quoted by Mr.. Conner
Their freight was 81 thousand higher
than those quoted by Mr.. Conner, he
said. He gave some technical eXplana-
tions as to reasons of the difference in
freights on lumber. lie would like he
said, to sell the Central railroad 100000
feet Of lumber at Midwife at the prices
quoted by Mr. Conner
Il have just paid $500 TO the city for
! license to do business here, and taxes on
! each of my wagons. Then we are not sat
| isfied to sell lumber at the exact cost to
us to bring it here. Then there is drayage
! and handling and other matters 10 be
| taken into consideration"
Mr.. Leaken: IF bids for lumber were
called for could not lumber be gotten
cheaper for the city2"
Mr.. Dixon said the price depended a
/ great deal upon circumstances, especially
the time within which the dealer was re-
quired to fill the order.As a general rule Mr.
/ Dixon said, lumber could be purchased
/ cheaper by calling for bids than by sim
/ ply giving the order to a dealer. He was
1 questioned as TO some lumber, 12X12,=vhich
| he sold to Mr.. McDorough at $l2 per NJ.
| lie said the lumber was taken off by a
/ barge, but he did not know whore it was
1 carried Maj Meldrim showed Mr.. Dixon
/ the bill for the lumber at $3.50, and
| Mr.. Dixon acknowledged at once that
this was the correct price. He said in
1 answer to questions that on small orders
/ for special purposes the prices are usually
high. He had, while a member of council,
| sold the city several small orders.
! Mr.. Leaken spent some time in bringing
out the difference of $3.50 charged Mr.
| McDonough by Mr.. Dixon and the price
of $l3 charged the city for the same lum-
Der by Mr.. McDonough. He said he
would not have sold the lumber delivered
at quarantine for $3.50 There was an i'm
! preston that Mr.. DiXons testimony would
prove very sensational and very damae-