The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-20
CAPITOL COMMISSIONERS GOING TO
LOOK OVER THE QUARRIES
THERE TODAY
MERITS Of DIFFERENT STONE
WE'RE AGAIN DISCUSSED BY THOSE
INTERESTED IN THE NEW
CAPITOL.
IA
CONTRACT FOR ESTABLISHMENT.
Lauer BrOsB &, Miller Will Do That
WOrk-COmbinatiOn Bids With
WinOna Stone.

| viii the new state capitol be built
| or Winona stone or q combination of
W1nona stone and Minnesota granite?
The sentiment in the corridors of the
Endicott building, in the immediate
proximity Of the suite Of rooms occu-
/ pied by the commissioners, would seem
to Indicate that might be the choice,
Judging from the remarks made by
some of the contractors yesterday af-
ternoon, and the belief is becoming al
most conviction that only Minnesota
| stone will be used at any rate
The board reconvened yesterday
forenoon, all members present-Chan-
ming Seabury of st. Paul, H. w. Lam
berton Of Winona, e. E. Corliss of Fer
gus Falls, George A. Du Toit of Chas-
ka, John De Laittre Of Minneapolis,
Col. Z. H. Graves of Duluth, and Ed.
| weaver of Mankato. Gov. Clough is
an ex-officio member of the board and
It's president, but he has not been in
| attendance at the meetings. The day
| was occupied largely by hearing the
arguments of the bidders, with special
reference to the merits of the differ
| ent kinds Of stone mentioned in their
specifications, to all of which the COM
missioners listened patiently and with
the desire that all shall feel that they
| nave been given every opportunity to
prlng their claims before the board.
Among the callers were Senator John
Fuller, Senator G. B. Buchanan, John
! Vented and M M. Williams, of Little
Falls, to urge the adoption of the
beautiful white granite Of the quar-
ries there. The quarries have not
been developed but the gentlemen
claimed that.-there was a sufficient
| amount Of granite in sight to build the
| capitol. The only contractor bidding
on that stone was the firm of Record
& Grant, of St Paul, whose bid was
! 1886, 900.
No vote was taken by the board as
to what stone should be used, and the
individual members are chary about
expressing their particular Individual
preferences until the proceedings reach
that point. AS was mentioned in yes
| terday's G O b e, however, Mr. Lam
berton is inclined favorably to the use
OF Winona stone, a dolomitic lime
NSOANS
wilderness, and which is said to be du
rable and susceptible to rich carving.
1t is evident that Mr.. Lamberton does
not wish the board to act on his opin-
lon alone, so he invited his fellow COM
| m1ssioners to pay a visit to the Winona
quarries,' four in number, and the
board accepted the invitation. They
Will leave at 8:15 o'clock this morning
| W1nOnA no In,
tour OF inspection Of the quarries, and
Will probably not return before early
tomorrow morning. Cass Gilbert. the
architect, will accompany the party.
The contractors attach considerable
significance to this trip, which gives
voice In the expressions of opinion as
mentioned above
After the board adjourned Yesterday
one of the commissioners commented
On the fact that so many kinds of
stone had been brought to their notice
by many beautiful samples. that the
board was thinking seriously of con-
structing the capitol Of these samples.
The board took definite action in the
matter Of concreting the sub-base-
ments, awarding the contract to Lauer
Bros. & Miller, Of st. Paul, for $15,586.
Their bid was originally $4,000, and
was the lowest of the six received: this
reduction from the original figures is
due to a change in the specifications.
originally they called for Portland ce-
ment and the board has now decided
to use Mankato cement, which will
thus result in a saving to the state Of
about $4,000, and the Mankato cement
will answer every purpose The OBJ
ject of the concreting is to preserve
the foundations while the work of con-
=structing the building Is in progress.
1t will require two or three years for
the building to be completed, and dur
ing all this time it is exposed. to the
weather, practically acting as a gigan-
tic cistern: If 1T was not for the con-
creting, the basement would fill with
water which would in time cause con-
siderable damage. Messrs. Lauer
Bros. e Miller will give bonds for the
sum of their contract and will COM
mence work immediately
One of the outside bidders on the SUI
perstruoture expressed considerable
dissatisfaction at the proceedings Of
the board, or more particularly in re-
spect to public sentiment in the state
ment that only Minnesota stone should
be used. He intimated that all the
outsiders had put in their bids in good
faith, and now it appeared that only
Minnesota stone. would be used: that
they had been-put to considerable ex-
pense, in fact being required to pay $40
for the plans for the privilege of bid
ding, in addition to loss Of time and
travelling expenses. He intimated
that if the people of the state wanted
only Minnesota stone used, 1t should
have been so specified in the ADVERTISE
ment for bids.
1t is doubtful if the board takes any
action before Saturday.
Commissioner Lamberton left last
evening for Winona to make arrange
ments for the reception and entertain
ment of his fellow workers. A
reference to the bids shows
there were five bidders who figured on
the Winona stone, as follows
Pike Coon MINI Mslinnes a. .s5ss 1873
Grant & Record St; Paul .......... $4,000
Macarthur Bros & Z. Co. Chicago -. $4,000
Only one bidder, Grant G Record,
of st. Paul, put in proposal for it
in connections, with other stone. the
combination being: Basement of ST.
Cloud or Rockville granite, balance of
Winona stone., nheir bid for this was
$6S9,000. AIl