New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-16
COILS "VINDICATED. y

The interesting and important intelligence
that General Coils. our enterRrsing, energetic
ond ncrvasive Commissioner Of Public Works,
hos been .vindicated' reached this city by wire
from PHILADELPHIA on Tuesday night, and was
rrlnted in the P.-O. r. organ Wednesday morn
inc The yindIcatlon took place at n reunion
If "Coll,s's Zouayes" in philadelphia on Monday
afternoon. II being the anniversar, Of the bat
lie of Fredericksburg, the report says, the Ola
"warllke feeling was stirred up by attacks re-
"cently made by certain newspapers in New
"Yorl, mon the character and reputation of the
treatments former commanding officer, General
Charles H. T. Coils resolution was adopt
cod declaring the attacks TO be unwarranted and
WORTHY Of condemnation. Further than this,
1.-THE charges were repudiated as being slander-
IONS and untrue" The Tribune takes pleasure
In giving this report of General Collss Flhdl-
cation" the benefit of It's circulation, though II
is by no means clear what the "Slander"us ana
untrue" charges were that stirred the "old war
like feeling" and evoked the "vindication'
1t has been intimatod in various quarters that
Coils has kept this blessed Island OF Manhat-
tan wide open longer than was absolutely neces-
sary, to the diffusion Of malaria and bacteria,
the disturbance Of trade along some or our thor'
oughfares and the increase of cab fares, by the
necessity for adopting long and clrcuitous routes
to get anywhere and back. But we have never
heard any intimation that Coils was In league
with the doctors to spread disease; or that Ills
closing up some thoroughfares was IN the In
terest Of tradesmen or others to whom business
would naturally be diverted, or that the CAD
owners had bribed him to make locomoton
difficult and dangerous, IN order that their
profits might be increased. And certainly no
one has charged him with keeping his transac-
tons concealed No public official ever showed
such aversion to covering anything up II resi-
dents along Fifth-ave have sometimes SAID,
as they gazed upon the enduring monuments
Of his efficiency which reached from curb 10
curb, that the science Of archaeology would have
been the gamer had Collis's energies been en-
ploved at Corinth or in the Troad, It was only
because they were willing to make some sacri-
fees themselves In the interest Of science.
In fact, we do not now recall anything that
has been said of late in the newspapers or else
where about Coils that could be called "slan-
derous and untrue" or that need STIR up
a "warlike feeling" in Philadelphia. His recent
discussion Of art matters with J. Q. A. Ward
and his Intellectual attempt to correct certain
crude notions Of the latter concerning the uses
of art in educating the rising generation in
patriotism may have led some persons to re-
mark, incidentally, that Coils was teaching
his grandmother how to suck eggs" but we are
confident that there was no intention in this
to cast reflections upon Coils as connolsseur.
and certainly nothing so "sanderous and I'M
true as to stir up ''thc old warlike feeling" in
Philadelphia There must be some mistake
about It somewhere. Now that we think of
It, even II harsh and unjust things had been
said about Coils, either as excavator or art
connoisseur, we don't quite see how "Collis's
Zouaves" at meeting in Philadelphia could
"vindicate' him by resolution. We can under
stand very readily how any reference to him
would stir up "the old warllke feeling in Phil
edephia II often does that here. But TO win
dictate" him by resolution against charges that
are not dehned!-well It's all right anyway.
We congratulate Coils upon having been "vin-
dlcated" IN Philadelphia. That's a good place
to begin. Now, II the "vindicaton" comes up
this way, by easy stages through Trenton. New
ark and Jersey City, It may in time reach this
town It will find "warlike feeling" here for
q starter certain.