The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-01
CEMENT AND CREOSOTE
OBJECT LESSONS TO SHOW TAGGART
ADMINISTRATION SCANDALS.
An Incident in Citizens Ticket Meet
ing Last Night-City Officials
and Holt lee Company.

Some lights were thrown on the scandals
Of the present administration in general
and its connection with the beer war in
particular at the opening meeting of the
Citizens party campaign in the Eighth
ward last night. The opening of the cam
paign was much more fiattering than that
of the syndicate's ring campaign a week
ago at Beatty's resort on Shelby street
There was no booming of the cannon"
and no one expected any free beer to be
on tap and yet, although the meeting was
held on Rural street, just north Of Wash
ington, almost at the city's limit, crowd
of fifty men listened to the various speech
ss and applauded the telling points that
were made against the syndicate-ridden adj
ministration- According to the Irons al
ley organ, official" boomer of the brewery
syndicate campaign, "about seventy-five
voters gathered" when 'the neighborhood
was aroused by the firing of an anvil" at
the launching of the Taggart boat in the
beer campaign a week ago last night. There
has been much sneering and soothing at the
Citizens party by the syndicate ring and
although it had none of the spectacular eff
fects at it's command that marked the be-
ginning of the syndicate campaign, the
crowd last night was almost as large as on
the other occasion.
Oscar A Kimber. ward chairman, called
the meeting to order in a Rural~street
storeroom, which had been decorated with
bunting for the occasion and presented a
bright and cheerful appearance. A litho-
graph of William J. Bryan hung in a. con-
spicuous place near a large banner con-
tanning the party emblem, an open book
with the words Shall the people vote or
the machines?" scroIled around it, and the
ticket Of the party. Mr.. Kimber stated
briefly the purposes for which the meeting
was called and introduced F. ]. Van Vorhis
as the first speaker. Mr.. Van Vorhis as
serted that the city had been robbed, first
by one party and then another for the last
twenty-five years. and then proceeded to
elucidate the statement, dwelling at length
on the 'creosoted block" scandal. On the
table at his side were samples of block
alleged to be creosoted. that were dug up
from the Michigan and PennsyIvania-street
pavements.
THE CREOSOTE SCANDAL
This may be a business administra-
tion,' said Mr.. Van Vorhis "but it is not
conducted in the interest of the citys bust
ness. 1t is conducted in the interest Of
private business enterprises. Here are
-
igan-street pavement. They were supposed
to be creosoted. but there is not enough
creosote in Michigan street from one end
to the other to make you bat your eye If
you had it all there together. 1t is safe to
offer a twenty-five-dollar reward for a Gre
osoted block in the whole pavement And
YET the pavement cost the citizens S. 800
extra because Of the alleged creosoting of
the blocks. Who is interested in creosoted
blocks? 1t is said everywhere that a mem
Der of the Board of Public Works has an
interest in the plant. We might as we'll
talk this out One member of the Board
of Works resigned because of his Illegal
connection with city contracts, and it is
well TO inquire If more of them should not
resign. To-day on Michigan street it was
necessary to take UP some cement walks
The contract required that not less than IL
inches OF cement should be laid on three
inches of concrete. l picked up couple of
chunks that showed only one-half to five
e1ghthS of an inch Of cement on two inches
of concrete. / was observed, and, although
L did not say a word, before the day was
over the engipeeF, and his entire force were
up there, with the contractor declaring
that the walks were all right. hadn't said
a word, but they, feared that something was
going to be said. Truly, the wicked flee
when no man pursueth. To see that the
right kind of material is used inspectors
are employed by the city who would not
know bai; oH cement if they were to meet
it in the woods"
Mr.. Van Vorhis said that there were three
things influencing politics in Indianapolis
just now; first, the brewery syndicate, pre-
sided over by Albert Lieber, member of
the Park Board and Mayor Taggart's con-
fidential friend and adviser; second, the
Holt Ice and Cold-storage Company, and
third the City Railway Company. 1t was
known, he said, that the Holt Ice Company
was owned by Sterling r. Holt, another
member of the Park Board, Tom Taggart,
Jim Reach, il o. Henderson, Mike
Downing, president of the Board of Works,
and that other gold Democrat John R
Wilson. The brewery syndicate, he said,
was controlled principally by Albert Lieber
an interest in the City Railway Company,
he said. j. r. Wilson, Holt and twelve
or thirteen other prominent politicians were
mentioned during the session of the Legis-
lature last winter he said, as being inter
eSted in the City Company. He said that
after the fight in the Legislature A. L. Ma
demanded 600 for a paper contract, an
investment of nothing except what had been
paid the lawyers"
TAGGART AND FAIRBANKS.
What do care about the politics of
man when 1 know that he is trying to rob
me by forming a combine with rings and
syndicates? The air is full of rumors and
shall we be afraid to repeat them? Not
one contract has been carried out, but the
money has been paid by the people all the
same. Who does not know that the admin
istration has been used for the benefit Of
private enterprise? Albert Lieber wants
town, and that is the reason for this quar-
rel among the brewers. A man came to my
office and told me he was willing to make
an affidavit that Tom Taggart sent him to
Albert Iieoer, who employed him two
months following other beer wagons to see
where they sold beer. Another man told
me how one saloon was open all night be-
cause Lieber beer was sold and another
across the street that sold American beer
had to close up. l did not take their affi-
davitS. | thought it no use, as these things
are known to everybody. Lieber wants to
sell his beer to all the saloons Holt wants
to sell ice to all the breweries. Who is the
Downing, Holt, Reach and the others that
opened UP gold headquarters to support
Taggart to-day Holt wants to sell ice to
all the brewries so he is trying to smooth
things down with the other breweries. Tag
CART went to see Crawford Fairbanks at
there, but he saw. the Terre Haute beer
king, nevertheless. The first thing you
know Albert Lieber and Sterling r. Holt
will have each other by the ears.
Then there is the garbage scandal. One
man fails to satisfy the administration and
is forced to turn the contract over to an
other Who runs the garbage company?
company. At any rate one of them has
leased the stable in which the garbage
company's horses are kept. There was tax
of bribery of a councilman in the garbage
contract"
Mr. Van Vorhis denounced the admins
trations policy making debts to create
parks. He declared himself as opposed TO
all bond issues, saying that the thing that
is citrsng this Nation to-day is DEBT. The
talk about letting future generations pay
for the Larks was as though q man We're
TO leave property 70 ms chlldreh lncaLn5 /,