Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-01

Totals .........s e2, o22. AZ s73, 26s. SO sS6,G52. 10
Salaries paid to
members of Bird.
of Public Works
and sec'y 1851. 10000 2,56s.6o .....".
Totals ........ S4,a 22.F SO. 7oi. s2 sSs.Oa2. 70
Salaries .......p...s y,0I.s "a siv, bss. 20 siz, boo. ~
Bills ,..... 1929 600.71 765. "A
Totals ......... $40. $50. Il 81, 2ss. SO s13, i2l .4S
Total expenditures
under the super
engineer ......... s6i, $50. IS ss1, $780, IS 500, 454. q
GROW Somewhat Sarcastic.
How has the council hampered the board
by failing to supply needed money when 1t
gave 1t last year S34.S72.04 more than In
| 1852 demanded the councilman who had
by this time become somewhat worked up.
ION the other hand. this little god, this
little Napoleon. has cost the city hundreds
Of thousands Of dollars for his useless ex-
periments during his years OF connection
with the city"
AS soon as Councilman STUNT had COM
pleted his explanation, Councilman Mercer
received recognition to make one also. He
declared that when the city engineer In
| situated that he (Mercer) knew OF any IT.
regularity or fraud in his election to the
| council he (Rosewater) implied something
that was false and made himself ridiculous.
| Mercer said that every vote In his election
had been recounted and m In court
| and the records of the court show that his
election was legal and that his opponent
had dismissed the contest.
Councilman Mercer said that he did not
deny that he opposed the Walnut Hill grad
ing assessment and that he had asked the
city engineer not to make another assess
ment until one satisfactory to the inter-
a,tnl npa 1,,,na rr rp,1I ha Intarr,inni
He did this because he was convinced that
the assessment was illegal. But he asserted
again that the city engineers words i'm
piled something that was not true when he
said that he (Mercer) had made any i'm
| proper proposals.. What Is the animus of
this attack?' demanded Mercer. 1T is
shown in the city engineers statement that
his department does not need a guardian.
He wants to run it all and we're not in 1t.
l differ with him there. / think the coun-
| Gil was elected to watch his as we'll as other
departments and no threats Of his will ever
force me to vote that he shall expend what
he pleases."
This is as far as the discussion went at
the time, but a few other shots were taken
at the city engineer later in the meeting on
an occasion offered by the Introduction by
Bingham OF a resolution declaring that no
Nv VI obohi ~ a.
tertained by the council until they have been
considered in committee Of the whole and
have been endorsed by the city engineer
that the street has been worked to grade.
The reason for this resolution, 1t was stated.
was that OF a permanent char
acter have been laid on streets which have
not been graded and therefore will have to
be torn up when the grading is done. The
reference to the city engineer had the same
effect upon some OF the councilmen as the
proverbial red rag has on a bull, although
the resolution was ultimately adopted.
Councilman STUNT declared that the Board
Of Public Works is really to blame for such
sidewalk laying. He asserted that in the
First ward the board had laid a sidewalk on
the wrong side of a street, thereby putting
the city to an expense Of at least 500 as a
result Of the mistake.
did any hindrance on the part Of the
councilmen result in that mistaken" de-
manded Mercer. II want to call the atten-
ton Of the council right here to the fact
that hundreds Of such cases have occurred
as a consequence OF the inefficiency and in
competency of the head Of the Board OF
Public Works. The city Jail is another
b~ungling job that the engineer Is responsible
for"
Just before adjournment President Bing-
ham was named by the council as the chair
man Of the investigating committee and he
announced as his confreres on the commit
tee Councilman Burmester, Burnley, Bechel
and Lobeck. He also declared that the
hearing on the charges would be as public
as possible and announced that the com
mittee would have power to summon wit
nesses and to take sworn testimony.
For OrdOn Removal.
Tho nat ~ resolutions odo,te6 ~, 49,
Board Of Fire and Police Commissioner
declaring Judge Gordon to be guilty of in.
competency in the performance of his duties
and recommending that steps be- taken by
the council to bring about his removal. were
received. Without comment and without
reading the resolutions were referred to the
committee on fire, water and police.
Another ordinance declaring the need o.
q viaduct over the railroad tracks from
Hickory street to a point 100 feet more Of
less south of the tracks and instructing the
city engineer TO draw up plans for the struc,
ture was introduced. read a first and secont
time ana referred. The annual levy ordi.
nance, minus the amount OF millage tina
will be levied. was also introduced by the
finance COMMITTEES. Other ordinances reat
. q first ana second time and referred were
Repaving Thirty-second street from Dodg,
TO Farnam. establishing the grade on Phelp:
between Thirteenth and Fourteenth. appro-
priating land to widen Fortieth street a
Davenport and a new plumbing ordinance.
At the request OF the Omaha View I'm
provement club. Councilman Karr introduces
a resolution directing the street railwa
company to operate continuously its LAX
street stub line from Twentieth and LAX
streets to Thirtieth and Bristol and to main
tain until midnight two cars instead Of one
as at present. The resolution was unani
mously adopted.
, BY resolution of STUNT the B. G NJ
River railroad will be at once di
recued to pay into the city treasury within
e the next ten days the sun of 81, 46S. IL tina
D was advanced by the city when it appropri
I; ated the Kingman alley nearly two years ag
: 10 enable the Burlington depot to be built
= This money was used to pay the force o
= laborers that was employed to grade tn
alley when 1t was seized. This money ha
never been returned and Is badly needle
now by the city.
The committee appointed to collect tn
: visduct claims from the Union Pacific an
Burlington railroads reported that there /
every assurance that the railroad people wi
get together with the committee at an earl
date and adjust the matter.
In response TO a resolution adopted at tn
last meeting City ComDtrolIer Westhery re