The herald., 1897-08-12
THE BOILER FIGHT
Waxing Warmer, and the End Is Not
Yet in Sight

A reporter of The Herald was informed
by Deputy Boiler Inspector Little yes
terday afternoon that the article in
Tuesdays Herald, so far as it related
to Mr.. Baker, councilman rom the Sec
ond ward, did that gentleman an in
justice, in that he has not been engaged
in paying out money or receiving it for
certain special privileges namely, that
of selling supplies to oil men and others
II am grieved at the way Mr.. Baker
has been drawn into this controversy.
because he is not in the city," said Mr..
Little. HE has not been here for sew
eral days past, and he knows nothir 6
about the matter. So far as know,
Mr.. Baker was not even aware of the
fact that a petition was being circu-
lated to repeal the ordinance. 1 am
sure I know nothing of it, and do not
believe he did
Mr.. Baker has never been under the
necessity of paying morey to any one
in the oil field, and he lost the sale Of
the boilers because his competitors
made a better figure on them. Mr..
Baker was not thrown down on the
proposition; he was imply outbid"
H.. .
Ben Cohn, a member of the Rex Oil
company, corroborated Mr. Little con-
cerning Mr.. Baker. Mr.. Cohr is
chairman of the grievance committee,
and he freely expressed himself in refer
ence to the theoretical questions pro-
pounded to the engineers. Mr.. Cohn
said
TT was impossible for the engineers
| to answer the questions without taking
course of instruction in this so-called
| Kindergarten The school was in op-
Grafton before the honorable board was
organized, therefore Mr.. Little could
not have had access to this particular
list of questions. Further, the list,
which is causing SO much trouble can
be found in many of our scientific
works all of which the men had access
to. Mr.. Little was requested to con-
tnue giving instructions after he was
elected secretary of the board of en-
gineers, but desired to discontinue the
same. He has scholars now who have
taken out first-class licenses, for the
purpose of becoming better qualified in
their profession, which shows that a
first-class license does not make first
class man.
"We as a body of engineers, desire to
have this school continued. 1t is filling
a long-felt want. Lawyers and doctors
have their schools, why cannot humble
engineer have one too?
In regard to the satisfaction of the
old and reliable engineers the trouble
came about in this way: The board saw
fit to issue what is called a special
license to a certain class of engineers,
regardless of their ability or qualifica-
tions, which brings them into competi-
ton with the better class, each of whom
has to stand a rigid, theoretical exam
ination.
I'm regard to the class of engineers re-
ferred to in yesterdays Herald, 1 will
say thata from personal knowledge
the engineers in the oil fields compare
favorably with the general run of en-
gineers, so far as ability and a general
knowledge of their particular line goes.
1 also call your attention to the fact that
the oil field has been entirely free from
boiler explosions.
AS TO MIR. BAKER
The oil we'll men and Boiler inspector
Church and his assistant, Mr. Little
expressed surprise at that portion Of The
Herald's article concerning the troubles
between the board of examining engin-
eers and the inspectors wherein Council
man Bakers name occurred.
From all that could be learned Mr..
Baker has had nothing whatever to do
with the quarrel; he is out of the city,
and the intimation that he was inter-
ested in any way in the matter is prob
ably unfounded. The information upon
which was based Mr. Bakers connection
with the affair turns out to have been
wholly misleading as to the real facts
in the case and from an unrelia BILE
source.
The trouble is between the examining
board of engineers, Boiler Inspector
Church and Mr.. Little. The oil men
and others seem to be favorabl inclined
toward Mr. Church's side of the contro-
versy, and have petitioned the council
to abolish the board of engineers by re-
pealing the ordinance which created
their official duties. That petition was
relegated to the oil committee of the
council when presented, of which COM
mittee Mr.. Baker is a member. The
broil will be settled, it is thought, upon
Mr. Qa lyer'c return IN tha rity