The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-30
THEY MEAN BUSINESS
DEMOCRATS OF THE FOURTEENTH
WARD HAVE ENOUGH OF TAGGART.
w. III. Cooper Refutes the Nonsense
year-Ought to BE Insured.

| in the Fourteenth ward do not intend to
| vote for Taggart and they have been pref
| ty freely discussed since the Journal gave
| an account of the formation of the Anti
| Taggart League last week. The league is
| gaining ground and number of anti-Tag-
CART men who have simply said before they
would go to the polls and vote against
him are now talking about taking a public
stand
There was good deal of amusement in
the Fourteenth ward yesterday over the eff
forts of the Sentinel to stamp the move
ment out by calling it fake. 1t gives an
alleged interview with one Fred Meyer who
claims that he did not sign the resolutions.
A reference to the city directory shows
that there are eleven Frederick Meyers
in the city, although they do not all spell
the name the same way. Four of them live
in the Fourteenth ward. The directory
gives Frederick Meyer, carpenter, 80 Shelby
street; Frederick Meyer, fnisher, AZ Evil
son street; Frederick G.. Meyer, 1872 Pros
pect street, and Frederick II. Meyer labor
er, Ill Orange street. William +. Mowwe
president of the league, said yesterday that
the Meyer who signed the resolutions is
carpenter, living on Shelby street The man
who broke into the Sentinel is an employee
OF the Park Board, and, naturally enough
is anxious to see the mayor reelected. The
assertion that he called on the Journal and
was refused the privilege of making a cor
rection is untrue.
Another meeting of the Anti-Taggart
League will occur this week, when steps
will be taken to extend the organization
into other wards
One of the monuments of the incapacity
and lack of business ability in the present
administration is the Beecher-street bridge
across Pleasant run. Residents of the
Fourteenth ward that want to use it have
70 carry step ladders with them to mount
the east end, which stands twelve or fifteen
feet in the air. Before the bridge can be
used at all Beecher street will have to be
graded down to the bridge and a fill 125
feet long made. The work the bridge
was begun nearly a year ago. 1t was
completed and the work accepted by the
city last January. The cost was 81 445 IS
The work OF making the street and fill has
VIII be heavy, and it was feared that if
they were made before the election it would
cost good many votes. Voters in that
part OF the city understand the situation
very thoroughly, however, and are doubly
annoyed at the efforts to blind them to
the true condition of affairs BY some
body's blunder the Beecher-street bridge
was so constructed that the west end closes
the alley west of RinggOld avenue. 1t is
only nave been legally done by vacating the
d1ey. Inc city, 1t is said, never
took any vacation proceedings. A man
whose. property is effected said yesterday
that the bridge was built so far west as to
shut off the alley for the sole benefit of
the Belt road, the track Of which is a few
RODS south Of the Beecher-Street bridge.
The latter was built directly north of the
railroad bridge over the run and serves
as sort of breakwater to it. The main
IDEA, however, it is claimed, was to close
the alleyWay so that it could never be eX-
tended south across the railroad. At this
point the railroad grade is very high and
QGi6 err to f11Oa-
mel through for an alley if property own
erS ever asked to have the alley opened
south or the tracks. Whatever the motive
for obstructing the alley may have been,
the result is that people on the west side
OF Pleasant run, along the west bank of
which the alley lies will have no means of
reaching their stables after the lots are
more generally improved. Now there is
good deal OF open, commons and the OBJ
struction of the alley is not so serious as
it will be after Beecher street is opened
and graded 60 Shelby.
There is a good deal of feeling on the
subject of the Barth-avenue bridge and
residents in that neighborhood say that the
delay in building the bridge is due to the
fact that the street will have to be opened
and paid for by assessments If they were
levied before the election this might cost
more votes. There is a growing feeling of
disgust at the habit Of the administration
of looking at every proposed Improvement
to see what political advantage or harm
will result from it.
Another reason why Fourteenth-ward
Democrats will not vote to continue the
present administration in power is the dis
NAL record it made on the South Side
subject was discussed by the mayor and
the Board of Works an6 all at once the
Democratic councilmen concluded to rush
the thing through. They agreed among
themselves on a site Virginia avenue
When the Southsiders heard what place
had been chosen there were vigorous pro-
tests made. There was a pretty strong de-
mand for the location of the market on
Shelby street. The councilmen got to
quarreling over the subject could come to
no agreement and ended the whole con-
troversy by sending it back to the Board
of Works. 1t was recognized at the time
market scheme. That is about the way in
which everything in which Southsiders
were interested has been dealt with and
every subject has been fought jealousy
by members of the administration who were
fixing up their own political fences.