The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1898-01-28
Fer A5PECULIAR PUBLICATION
SELFISH MOTIVE.

w SELFISH MOTIVE. ilSs!t ~ ~ '5if
i AS hrst said by Abraham Lincoln and
( expressed yesterday by President H. P.
y McGregor, OF the Ohio county board o.
commissioners. there is 'nlSgcr in the
woodpile' in the Registers attack upon
the, board," for letting the contract for
4 new indexes In the county clerks Office
< TO Hall & Mcchesney. OF Syracuse, over
the Johnston-watson Company, OF
Dayton, tho only competitors for the
contract. N. d
i The Interior motive alleged by Mr..
< McGregor and supported by other mem
bers OF tho board, Is that the West Vlr-
i ginia Printing Company. publishers Of
I the Register, had an interest In the
Johnston Watson company securing the
contract. An employee OF the Register
Z, was at the county commissioners office
last week, inquiring about the letting
of the index contract, and said openly
4 that he was representing the Johnston
y Watson company This state OF affairs,
( It Is alleged by Mr.. McGregor and other
Il reputable gentlemen, explains the re-
markable attitude OF the Market street
sheet toward the index contract.
Charges without foundation and the
barest Misrepresentation constitute the
account of the boards meeting In that
\ paper. say members OF the board who
= naturally are Indignant.
Mr.. Charles H. fancy, ot.the Regis
\ ter. approached a member OF the board
. ) III !, Al, Ia, I'D Ia hA
index contract, and said that the Reg
lister printing works was to do part OF
the work for the Johnston-Watson
company" said President McGregor to
an Intelligencer reporter last evening
'"The statements made in the Regis
I, ter this morning are mass Of misrep-
RESERVATIONS. For instance, 1t was said
that the representative Of the Johnston
Watson company was not In Wheeling
until a week after the Hall 6 McChes-
ney man (who represents the Graves
index, arrived here. and that the for
mer was not given 4 fair show. That
statement Is, false. The Graves man ar
rived here on Thursday Of last week
and the Johnston-Watson representa-
tive came the following dug. There was
no effort to shut off the Dayton man at
all.
Then the, Register says there are
better systems than the Graves. This
statement the board believes to be un-
true. and Is supported in that belief by
all OF the attorneys of Ohio county who
have expressed themselves upon the
: subject to the boards finance commit
tee while It was Investigating the
merits OF different indexes. The Colts
index was before the committee for
8 several months. and It was not consld-
cred when compared with the Graves,
the latter being manifestly superior.
Z THE Johnston-Watson man stated
before the board that his index was In
use In Washington county, Pa. This
was denied by the Graves man. whD
claims that his Index had replaced the
/. Johnston-Wa Watson system on January
of this gear. This latter statement
was verified by letters from the recor-
der OF Washington county, and lead
fng Lawyer, who testified to the super
iority Of the Graves over all other in
& dexes 80
.ss..Mr Buckner. the Johnston-Watson
6 man, came before the committee after
his arrival last Friday, and exhibited
his system. He was told that the board
would meet on the enshlng "Wednesday
for the purpose OF deciding upon an in
M W
tee, too, that his best plan was to visit
the attorneys of the county. who use
the index In the county clerks Office.
and II possible, secure endorsements OF
his index. II he secured such endorse
ments, he did not present them to the
committee or to the board. know, that
he approached several attorneys who
refused to endorse his system, and said
they wanted the Graves, whose super
iority was evident.
d 1.-THE finance committee OF the board
( met on Wednesday morning before the
4 board assembled. and It was then de-
\ cided to recommend the Graves index
s for adoption. The committee, before
this, had Investigated the Johnston
q Watson system. and decided that It
was not wanted. This Recommendation
was made by the committee upon the
fadvice OF every attorney having work
in the county clerks Office, who gave
their views to the board, and included
. several OF the most prominent Demo-
cratic attorneys. In fact the attorneys
endorsing the Graves system were
nearly all Democrats.
1.-THE Johnston-Watson man also
complains that he could not induce the
board TO delay action In regard 10 CIV
< Ing the index contract. told the man
on the preceding Friday. the day OF his
arrival IN town. that the board would
decide OIL the following Wednesday. SO
he has no reason for complaint.
> Then the Register makes other false
Statements. In its headlines 1t states
that the cost Of putting in the new In
z dexes and copying the names will reach
from $4,000 to $4,000. Then It unwilling
fly dIsproves Its own statement by STAT
ing that there are 100000 names to be
copied at three cents Cor less), amount
Z ing, to $1,000. which added 10 the cost
of the indexes and classification OF
& names. $500. makes a total OF $4,000,
more than $1,000 less than the lesser
figure given as the cost OF the indexes.
But It Is not yet known that the cost
will reach $4,000. for the finance, COM
mittee vii! make an arrangement for
$ copying the names better than three
3 cents II It can BE- done. 1t has power to
act In this matter, and the work will
]a dnpn ~ n low n fCvyra n n "a NOS.