The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-05
THE BOARDS SIDE OF 1T.
Its Claims in Regard to the Gamewell
Contract.

Richard Herrick, secretary of the Board
of Public Safety was asked yesterday
about charges made by agents OF electric
police patrol systems whose bids were re-
iected in favor of the Gamewell Company.
II notice the disappointed agents claimed
that the board let the contract to a COM
pany bidding many thousand dollars above
others. But the other companies did not
bid on furnishing the same amount of ma
terial or according to specifications. The
GameWel Company bid as the specitlca-
tions required, on a separate talking cir
cult, which would relieve the wires from
all induction and make it easier to talk
from a box on the street. One of the COM
panies bid on only forty miles of wire, while
an expert electrician figured it at $50 miles,
and the Gamewell Company bid on that
amount.
1T is true that it was anticipated that
the Gamewel Company would secure the
contract, because the preponderance of tes-
timony gathered previously to receiving the
bids from about twenty cities showed that
the Gamewell was the best and only COM
plete system. Superintendent Colbert in
his visits to other cities found that out and
so stated to the board, and eX-Superin
tendent Powell wrote the board letter in
dorsing the Gamewell system, giving as his
reason that his investigation led him to be-
lieve that it was the best The citys cleo
trician also indorsed the Gameweu system.
1 understand that the Council recently
passed a resolution indorsfng the GameWell
system.
AS to the claim of johnson and Dodge
that they did not have time to get APP
paratus for their exhibit here Mr.. Herrick
said
'They knew months ago that a system
was to be purchased. The city advertised
L. les vote fnt~ hot
purpose and every one interested in munich
pal improvements knew it. Mr.. Dodge has
been in the city for a long time and came
in the Board Of Public Safety office every
day for several weeks asking when the
specifications would be ready. He knew the
money for system was already appro-
priated Why did he not go ahead and get
his exhibit here? The mayor told him that
a place would be furnished for his exhibit
Mr.. Dodge is quoted as saving that he
that part of the apparatus had been shipped
and that the remainder would be on it's
way at once. The identical telegram is on
file with the board 1t says: Expect to
ship exhibit July 8. Express a box to-day
to AcCurdy. Have written If the board
had waited on such an uncertainty it is
probable that the system could not be put
In before the appropriation would run out.
That telegram came to Mr.. Johnson one
day before the time advertised TO let the
contract-July 2-and it was not proposed
to ship to him until a week later.
mir. Dodge says the bids were showed in
bids containing 1880 worth of certified
checks-in the corridor? / carefully locked
the bids up, after marking the time received
on them, until the board had examined the
exhibits and was ready to hear them read.
1T is not true, as charged by those men,
that at one session of the board all agents
except Chandlee, the Gamewell agent, We're
excluded. No agents were called before the
board either before or after the proposals
were read. The proposals were explanatory
and the board asked all questions of a tech
meal character of Mr.. HOlderman the city
electrician.
The statement that the bids were
SKINNED over is equally false. Every word
of the board and every word in three Of
them was read at the last session. These
three bids We're gone over slowly by para
graphs at the last session. The remaining
two bids the board did not deem worthy of
further consideration. Mr.. Johnson says
that he supposed that the board had suffi-
cient interest in the matter to wait a few
days to see our apparatus. Mr.. Johnson
proposal was signed James w. Johnson
only Who is j. w. Johnson He hasn't
up in any city / have ever heard of. nor
can / find any one that has ever heard of
him having a single box up in any city.
Mr.. Dodge was formerly an employee Of
the Gamewell Company, but was released
and he is sore at the Gamewell people. hence
his misstatements. The city of Indianap-
oils along IN 1872 experimental with a fire
alarm telegraph system. 1t lasted only a
short time and had to be torn out and the
Gameweu system put in. That deal if
600. Rather a costly experiment. The board
in awarding the contract to the GameWell
Company endeaVOred to avoid a repetition
of that experiment, and the chairman has
so stated many times when considering the
police telegraph system"