The herald., 1896-08-12
THE MAIN STREET PAVING
Will Come Up in Council
This Morning
MR.. LONG MUST MAKE 4 SLOWING
Or His Contract Will Be Declared
Forfeited
WILL BE NO MORE THRILLING
Regular Weekly Meeting Of the Police
Commissioners
WILL BE NO MORE THRILLING
Action ou All Saloon Matters Deferred for
One Week
The Charges Preferred Against officer Craig
by His Wife Withdrawa-The Board Of
Observation-Disclosures for the
New City Prison

NsW lily frlSOh
The city council will meet in special
session this morning, when the fate of
the Main street improvement contract
will be decided. At a meeting of the
council on Monday the city attorney
presented the following report on the
matter:
At your last meeting you instructed
me to advise yo. as to what can be done
to have the paving of Main street pro-
ceeded with. During the past week l
Rave been assured by parties interested
in the contract that Il full force Of men
would be put upon the work this morn
ing and the work prosecuted with due
diligence. and that it would not be ne
cessary for pou to take any further
measures in the matter. But so far
as 1 can learn there is no work being
done upon the street today. and am led
to believe from repeated failures upon
the part of the contractor to proceed with
the work that no attempt to substan-
TALLY comply with the terms of his con-
| tract will be made until there is a de-
cision Of the supreme court as to the
validity of street improvement bonds
However much the contractor may
be disinclined to enter upon the work
of this magnitude, until he is satisfied
| with the validity of the proceedings, he
| cannot expect the city and the people on
| this street to wait until he has a decision
from the courts. The same uncertainty
existed when he bid upon the work as
| Th,A lott ct
| are entitled to relief in this matter at
once I would therefore recommend
that you order the contract heretofore
| entered into between the city and John
7. Long Cancelled and anruled upon the
ground that he has failed to comply with
its terms and conditions, especially that
condition which provides that the work
shall be diligently prosecuted until COM
rletion; and that you direct the street
superintendent to notify Mr. Long that
his coHtract has been Cancelled and that
he will not be permitted upon said street
for the purpose of doing any further
work thereon under said contratc."
This report was hailed with delight by
the councilmen. whose lives have been
made a burden to them by Just COM
plants of the property owners along the
street, who have been irritated almost
beyond endurance by the dilatory tactics
of the contractors. The street has been
torn up and almost impossible for
weeks while a solitary laborer has been
pottering along under the pretense of
keeping up the work. "A t first there was a
disposition to at once adopt the report
and declare the contract forfeited, when
suit could be brought against the con-
tractors bondsmen to again put the
street in proper shape. But, owing to
the magnitude of the work. the amount
involved being approximately S116,000 it
daI to riva Mr. m 20
chance, and if he showed that he really
meant business then he would be al
lowed to proceed, it being understood
that he would at once put an adequate
force at work, as he had promised. Ac
tion was then deferred until today.
But no men were put to work Monday,
as it was stated there would be, and the
solitary workman continued on the even
tenor of his way undisturbed. Yester-
day morning, however, things began to
move, not on the street but at the city
hall, and the first evidences of activity
on the part of the contractors in months
were apparent. Mr.. Long, with the
sub contractor, who has the job of do
ing the cement work. called at the office
of the street superintendent and city
engineer to get the stakes for the curb.
Under the terms of the contract each
block must be completed before another
block is torn up, and not more than two
| DOCKS are 10 De l1llDdSSHDle dl any oiie
time. The contractor said that he want
ed the curb stakes for the entire length
of the improvement, from Ninth to
| Thirty streets, 50 that when he
| once went to work laying the curb he
could proceed without interruption. The
city engineer and the street superinten-
dent consulted with the city attorney.
While it is true that the contract states
that each block shall be completed be-
fore any other part of the street is dis
turbed, it was conceded that this provis
ion cut no figure as the street was al
ready torn up almost its entire length
and therefore il could not be made any
worse by giving the curb lines. Not only
this, but ii was urged that the people
could not be any further damaged by al
| lowing the contractor to put in the
.curb as even if he fell down on the re-
mainder of the contract, the property
owners would be ahead Just that much
AS a result of this consultation the en-
gineer felt justified in giving the curb
stakes. Then they wanted the stakes al
once, but owing to pressure Of business
they could not be accommodated. and
were compelled o be satisfied with a
promise that they would be accommo-
dated this morning.
Later in the day it was stated that ma
terial was being carted on the ground,
preparatory to starting work with a
rush this morning. A visit to the scene
by reporter failed however, to discover
any extensive preparations.
Street Superintendent Howard, when
asked what had been done, said that
Mr. Long had called on him in the morn
ing to get the curb stakes. This was the
first time he had seen Mr. Long since he
had come to his office to sign up his con-
tract and bond. Mr.. Howard said that
he knew that Long could sell out his con-
tract at an advance at any time that
rtsa
ing ready to take it off his hands and
push the work. He thought that Long
would now go to work. He claimed
that he wanted the curb stakes, so that
part of the work could be pushed while
he was waiting for his asphalt mixing
machinery.
! When the matter comes before the
| council this morning 1t will be necessary
for Mr.. LcIg to make strong showing
: and convince the council that he means
: business if he Wishes to save his con-
tract. This contract was signed up last
| oy6 fno inc - he et,.. ,.x