Smyrna times., 1897-06-30
TOWN COUNCIL.
R L. Cummlns put In the Chair and Rules
ArbitrarlIy-In a Dilemma Over
Supt. Wright's Nominations.

man Robinson, who came in late and
Councilman A. Lee Cummins, who has
only attended two meeting this year.
President HOffecker requested r. l..
| Cummins to take the chair and
with gavel in hand" our Pavement
inspector presided over the delibera-
tiOns of that body. The first hitch
came when Councilman Moore moved
that the reading of the minutes be dis
| pensed with. Chairman pro tenn Pave
ment-InspectOr r. l.. Cummins ruled
the motion out of order. This caused
little confusion, but his arbitrary rul-
ing was enforced and Secretary An
thOny proceeded to read the minutes.
Councilman Moore then arose to make
another motion almost simultaneous
with the reading of a bill by our Sec
retary, aud again the Chairman en-
deavored to ''sit on" the councilman
which caused the latter to become pro-
vOked at such treatment, so he was al
lowed the floor. The motion of COun-
Gilman Moore was that Councilman
Robinson be fined $1.OO for being late
unless he could give a reasonable ex-
cuse. Robinson arose to know whether
he was late, and appealed to the chair.
The chairman was confused, but he re-
quested an excuse from the tardy coun-
Gilman, which he gave satisfactory to
all. WhereupOn Councilman Moore
moved the the fine be remitted.
Secretary Anthony read printing bill
of r. d. Hoffecker, for $50. SO which
was allowed.
President HOffecker, who had been
sitting quietly while the above was 60
ing on arose to discuss upon the mer-
its of the Cummins' resolution, passed
at the previous meeting, imposing a
fine of $1.0O for tardiness. He said he
had been thinking over thematter and
and had come to the conclusion that
said resolution was not legal unless it
should be put in the form of town
ordinance. He moved that the reslOu-
ton be rescinded. Councilman FAIRIES
promptly seconded it and the question
was open for debate. This action was
not pleasing to r. L. Cummins, the
mover of the resolution and he called
the President to the chair that he
might make an extended speech in its
defense. However this had no effect
and he charged the cOuncilmen with
changing their minds and requested
that their names go upon record.
Councilman Moore retorted that:
"Wise men change their minds; fools
never" The motion was carried with
all voting in favor of it but Councilmen
Cummins, r.. L., y and H. S. Anthony.
Secretary H. S. Anthony read
statement showing where he could save
the Town from $50 to $25 year on
lamps by having them furnished by
contract.
The approval of names to be assis-
tants of Supt' f. L. Wright, was taken
up and discussed for the remainder of
the evening. In order to get the mat
ter before the Council, Secretary An
thOny moved that the names of J.
King Wright, Samuel Jackson and
Clark Franklin be rejected, seconded
by Councilman Robinson. Remarks
were made by Robinson, Cummins and
Anthony and FAIRIES. When asked for
his opinion on the matter, President
HOffecker said sit was puzzling ques-
tiOn to solve. He was rather in favor
of Messrs. Samuel Jackson and Clark
Franklin, but hardly new what course
would be proper to take. He said how
ever that the Town finances were in
better shape now than they had been
for three years, for which Supt. Wright
deserves the credit. Abel Taylor he
said seemed to be the ''bone of cOnten-
tiOn, and he regretted that he had not
taken advantage of his opportunities.
Mr.. Taylor might have been at the
head of the plant to-day, had he not
been so timid about the Electrical De-
partment, but such was the case and he
is now not only stumbling block
to himself but also to Superintendent
Wright He could plainly see how
our superintendent was hampered and
while he would like to see Mr.. Taylor
nominated, nevertheless he could not
see how he could command as much
wages as an electrical engineer who
had the responsibility of the heaviest
load during the night"
After a little discussion, Secretary
Anthony withdrew his motion with the
hope that some other plan could be
suggested.
Councilman Robinson moved that |
the nomination of Samuel Jackson be |
accepted. Hearing no second, he arose
again and moved that the nomination |
of J. King Wright and Clark Franklin
be rejected, seconded by Secretary An
thony. This question was debated |
quite lively when Cummins, Or. L. |
offered an amendment that Messrs. |
Jackson and Franklin be accepted and |
j. King Wright be deferred for action |
at next meeting. He failed to have a
second. A motion was made to ad-
jOurn and lost A vote on the original
motion of Councilman Robinson was
called and resulted in all refusing to
vote except Robinson and Anthony
who voted in the affirmative. Anthony
moved that when Council adjourned it
be to meet Tuesday evening, which
was carried unanimously. Action on
the matter was deferred at which time
the Council hopes to see way ont of
the dilemma. There was feeling all
the way through that our plant needed
competent men and for this reason they
refused to act promptly on Supt.
Wright's nominations. They didn't
want Mr.. WIight's nephew because
they felt that they could not afford to
risk a $4,000 plant in the hands of a
graduate to experiment upon and the
other two men were all right when
working directly under the Superin-
tendents personal direction. SO this
Is how the matter stands. Develop
A.. a