The herald., 1897-09-17
Cause Inspector Mcclellan
to Be Investigated
CHARGE AND COUNTERCHARGE
EACH INTERESTED PARTY HAS
AN ATTORNEY ON HAND
Sewer Committee Will This Morning
Hear Protests-Delegates to
Irrigation Congress

The special committee appointed at the
last meeting Of the city council for the
purpose Of investigating the charges
spector of street sweeping, by Health
Officer Powers, began its labors yester-
day afternoon at the city hall. Nearly
the entire afternoon was devoted to the
hearing of evidence. on the matter, but
beyond the presentation of the two sides
Of the controversy nothing was done.
The committee did not determine just
what kind of report will be made. They
will meet again today for that purpose
and their report will be filed either late
this afternoon or sometime tomorrow.
It will be remembered that at the
last meeting of the council DR.. Powers
sent in a communication in which he
charged Inspector Mcclellan with the
willful neglect Of duty. He asserted that
many streets in such repair that they
could be cleaned thoroughly are left in a
filthy condition, and yet are reported and
approved by the inspector as satsfac
are reported and approved by the in
spector as having been swept, when. in
fact, they have not been swept" 1t was
also charged that although the ordin-
ance provides that the inspector shall
be under the control of the health officer
and subject to his orders. Mcclellan had
ignored and disregarded the orders Of
Dr. Powers. To investigate this COM
plant Councilmen Nickel, Toll and
Baker were appointed special commit
tee, with instructions to learn all they
could of the matter and report at the
next council meeting. The session yes
terday was the result.
The hearing was attended by large
crowd, including the interested parties
and many of their friends. The two
sides of the controversy expected lively
session, for most of those directly inter-
ested were represented by attorneys.
Attorney Bacon appeared for Mr.. Nc
Clellan, Matthews for DR.. Powers and
Dillon for W. I. Hollingsworth, who has
the contract for street sweeping. The
Citizens league was represented by At
torney Phillips.
After the reading of the charges, DR..
Powers cited instances in which the in
spector had disregarded his orders. The
doctor asserted that his only interest
in the matter was an attempt to do his
whole duty, as he was responsible for
the condition of the streets and was an
able to get them properly cleaned by Or
dering certain work done; he had no
other recourse than to report the mat
ter to the council, which he did. He
charged that on certain occasion Mr..
Mcclellan had misrepresented him and
since that time their relations had not
been the most cordial. Attorney Bacon,
who represented Mcclellan, found some
alleged irregularities in DR.. Powers
statements, and started to point them
out, when Councilman Nickel, who
acted as chairman of the committee,
stated that they were not there to dis
cuss technicalities, but desired to know
the whole truth as to whether Mcclellan
had done his duty.
In response to the charges, the in
spector asserted that soon after he had
assumed his position DR.. Powers took
him into the rear room of the health
office and told him to go for the con-
tractor, as he had a friend whom he
wanted to see get the job of street sweep
ing. This DR.. Powers denied in toto,
and also denied that he had preferred the
charges on account of a desire to ge,
even with Mcclellan for his having pre-
ferred charges against one of his ap-
pointees.
Captain M. H. Bellinger and T. e.
Morgan testified that they had followed
the street sweepers in a buggy and had
found number of discrepancies be
tween the work actually performed and
that reported by the inspector Mr..
Pierce, who had also made observations
at the request of DIR. Powers gave SINH
lar testimony. Each of the witnesses
was carefully cross examined by the
attorneys Some of the answers to the
questions developed the fact that there
was considerable feeling in the matter
between the parties concerned Con-
tractor Hollngsworth repeated his as
sertion that in his opinion the charges
against Mcclellan were simply an ave-
nue. through which Dr. Powers hoped to
reach him and cause the annulment of
his contract. He explained some of the
difficulties und,er which he performed his
work. In regard to the sweeping of
Main street he showed how difficult it
was TO properly perform that work
when there is not single catch basin
between Ninth street and the end of
that thoroughfare. His inability to
compel hackmen to move was given as
another of the reasons why it was i'm
possible to give some other streets all
the attentions they needed. Several
other witnesses testified in corrobora-
ton of what Others had stated, and at
the close Of the meeting it was an
nounced that the committee would take
the matter under consideration until to-
day, when they would formulate their
report.