St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-02-26
THE MAYOR GETS RUFFLED AT A
BOARD OF EDUCATION MEET
ING.
DIMINUTIvE WOODCHUCK
WOODPILE SET THE MAYOR
GOING.
Oil Poured on the Troubled Waters
in the Shape of an Amend
ment.

81 do not propose to sit here and be
talked to in such manner" said
Mayor Pratt, Indignantly, as he took
the floor during session of the board
of education yesterday afternoon, and
gave the members to understand that
ne was an honorable gentleman in the
literal sense of the word. His de-
meanor was that of a man whose in
tegrity had been questioned, and the
preceding limitations of certain men,
bers left no doubt as to that
The report of the building commit
tee. recommending that the heating
! engineers of the city be requested to
! submit to the board plans and specifi-
cations upon which they all substan-
TALLY agreed for heating the new North
side high school building now in course
Of construction, was declared unfair,
in that it excluded outside competitors,
and gave the local heating men a
monopoly.
Mayor Pratt's signature appeared
on the report as chairman of the COM
mittee making the recommendation,
and the calumny heaped upon him was
more than he could bear.
President Gjertsen started the ball
rolling by placing the foregoing con-
struction upon the wording of the re-
port. He said that it excluded out
side competition, and gave local COM
bination a monopoly on the heating
business. The president said he be-
lieved in giving outside competitors a
chance. Although uttered mildly, Mr..
GJertsen'S remarks were precise, and
he added that he could not vote to
accept the report. The mayor smil-
fngly requested the clerk to read the
report again, that the unfair phrase
ology might be dissected. When the
clerk concluded Directors Rolfe and
Norton took issue with the president
The former declared that Mr.. Gjertsen
was correct in his analysis of the re-
port. 1.-The wording of your report
does exclude others outside the city,
and you know it," he said, with eyes
glued on those of the city executive.
The mayor said that he didn't know it,
and his manner was somewhat ruffied.
Words were finally incorporated in the
report including every heating engin-
eer in the Western hemisphere, but
the three members were not satisfied
with that.
Director Rolfe objected to the ap-
pearance of the words substantially
agreed and remarked: II want the
construction of that report placed
above board so that the sunlight of
heaven can cast it's rays into every
crevice and crack
The allusion especially the use of the
word "above-board,'' riled the mayor
considerably, and he was sarcastic in
MS retort. Il move you, Mr.. Presi-
dent" he said, that Mr.. Rolfe prepare
a report to suit his own ideas, that the
sunlight of heaven may render plain
to vision every creYice and crack there
in"
The situation had assumed a grave
aspect. but the mayor considered that
discretion would be the better part of
valor. against his wishes. The report
was finally adopted.
Director Quinby introduced a resolu-
ton condemning the sale of cigarettes
to school boys, and recommending the
suppression of the pernicious habit He
stated that rigid enforcement of the
law was the best means to suppress it.
The resolution was unanimously adopt
ed.
The report of the superintendent for
the month ending Feb q showed that
800 boys and 357 girls had been admitted
to the day schools, making a total of
SO, 300 pupils for the year. For the cor
responding months of last year the to-
tai number of pupils admitted was ST.
665, an increase during 1866 of 635
pupils.
The matter of selecting an oculist to
care 70: the children's eyes was not
settled