The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-05-10

HOOS IN HARNESS.
The New City Rulers Get
ting Down to Business
in the City Hall.
ELECTION WARRANTS SIGNED
Exhausted Condition of Street and
Water Funds Attracts GEN
eral Attention.
ELECTION WARRANTS SIGNED

ct ten O'Clock, served the papers on
Mayor Wanser in the quo warranto pro-
ceedings which have been instituted by
former Mayor Wanser, at the request of
the Republican Executive Committee. So
far as the ex-Mayor is concerned, he
says, he wishes the Republican Commit
tee would abandon the idea of disput-
Ing Mayor Hoos' title to Office.
When Mr. Kellogg handed Mayor Hoos
the necessary papers requiring him to
file an answer within ten days, he smiled
and remarked
is Mr.. Corbin losing any flesh over this
little dispute?"
The law student made no answer.
Mayor Hoos seemed to enjoy reading
the documents. as he went over them
carefully twice. On the second reading
he discovered that they bore date of
May T.,
THAT won't do" he said, addressing
Kellogg. To-day is May TO- and intention-
ally or otherwise your employers are de-
priving me and my counsel of three days
time in which to prepare an answer
The young man from Corbin and Cor
bins Office volunteered the information
that there was no intention or desire to
deprive anyone of any time He said he
would call the attention of Mr.. Charles
Corbin to the question and have the date
of service made today rather than May
e.
This was satisfactory to Mayor Hoos,
who remarked:-'We only want what we
are entitled to, nothing more
Secretary Hoos accompanied Mr.. Kel-
logg to the office of Corbin and Corbin,
and later to the office of Allan L. Me-
DerInott, where the difficulty was ad-
justed
The case will be argued at the June
term of court What line of defense AL
Ian MeDermott will make is causing con-
siderable speculation in legal circles. It
was said today that Mr.. McDermott has
in store few surprises for the gentlemen
who will endeavor to reseat Mayor Wan
ser.
Mr.. Wanser declines to discuss his plans
and 50 does Mayor Hoos. 1t is expected,
however, that the fight will be bitter
one. Mayor Hoos feels confident that
his legal adviser will see him through
without much difficulty
Mayor Hoos callers are becoming few
daily. and he is settling down to hard
work. Today he is signing all the cleo
ton claims. The warrants take book
of q thousand pages. The Mayor says he
had no idea he would be called upon to
do SO much writing
There are now about a dozen warrants
for various amounts hung up in the
Mayors office. The Mayor declines to
sign them until he has found out some
thing about them. The great bulk of
work which accumulated during the
change of administration is being dis
posed of in good shape and by Wednes-
day next everything will be up to date.
Secretary Hoos has been working day
and night to get affairs in shape
Office seekers still continue to haunt
the Mayors Office, but His Honor dis
poses of them like a veteran He in
forms each one that having no control
over any of the Democratic Boards he
cannot make appointments. That ex-
PLANTATION satisfies some-but there are
others.
The announcement that the Board of
Street and Water Commissioners would
meet this morning at ten o'clock tended
to draw the usual horde of office-seekers
to the hall Every time Commissioner
left the private Office he was buttonholed
not by one man, but by about twenty.
Two-thirds of the men who were bounced
were seen in the corridors this morning
declaring to everyone they met that they
had been Democrats all their lives Such
an amount of trimming has not been seen
in many a day, and some of the men who
have shears out are old timers.
Robert Davis place of business was be-
sieged by men wanting places They were
told to see the Commissioners. The lat
ter are in a peck of trouble endeavoring
to convince those who did not catch on
the appointments so far made have given
entire satisfaction. Those who are find
ing fault do not seem to realize that pa
tronage is very limited. The most anx-
ious Republicans in City Hall are those
clerks who have not been bounced
yet. The Board meets this afternoon
and it is not at all improbable that sew
eral dismissals will be made.
Owing to the fact that an enormous
quantity of business has accumulated
within the last two weeks the Commits
sioners favor retaining some of the old
clerks until new men are broken in The
work in the Chief Clerks office has
grown to such an extent under the liberal
improvement laws that it may be neces-
sary to engage one or two extra clerks
unil the new Commissioners get the af-
fairs of the department running along
smoothly. The present clerks will all
be removed Siby June and new men will
be in their places Next Saturday, Water
Assessor Kenny and Water Registrar
Peckham viii take charge of their re-
spective departments They will retain
some of the Republican clerks until
June l.
The principal topic of conversation in
official circles today was the revelation
concerning the financial condition of sew
eral accounts of the Street and Water
Board as found by Commissioner Heintze.
The News told the facts on Saturday
The Republicans made the following ex-
planation:-
The fact is there is no shortage. The
law requires that one-half the amount
of the liquor license fees shall be used
for paving and repairing streets and re-
construction of sewers.
The amount paid in for license fees
last year was $2G2s 600
Prior to 1892, when Mayor Wanser
was installed, the custom had been to do
the work on streets and sewers bv the
tlaborers employed by the city and bv
3contract when the cost exceeded $500 for
ono Improvement. When Mayor
Wanser took charge there was no money
tft lsHs amounting to SIS. .000
The bulk of this was due John Nolan, a
5 { ,- ..stefs'ctrr flss 1at certificates had been
drawn, but the Comptroller refused to
sign them, claiming that the appropria
tlons had been overdrawn, which is
violation of the law. anu ise did not in
tend to be liable fer punishme4tm
Nolan instituted sur. j ust1cN 11sippif1-
colt held that It was a continuous fund,
not an appropriations and ordered the