The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-03-10
SAMPLE JUCCLERY'
Standards at Snake Hill
Changed to Throw Down
Winning Contractor.
FuRsI BROS. INDICATED
Resistance of Some One to an
Honest System of Bidding
the Cause of the
Trouble.

Freeholders Heating, Darling, Kenny,
Richardson and Clements, the special
committee which has been investigating
the differences between ~Storekeeper p. H.
O'Neill and some of the contractors, sub
mitted the result to the Board yesterday
evening. This is their report
Jersey City, March 9, 1899.
ITO the Honorable the Directors ana
Member of the Board of Chosen Free
holders of the County of Hudson
Neutrality-suspicious. special ap-
pointed at the meeting of this Board,
held March 2, 1895. to Investigate and re-
port as to the merits of the disputes be-
tween the S~torekeeper and contractors,
begs leave to report as follows:-
THAT said committee held it's first meet
ing On Friday, March !, and held otner
March, and called before it P. H. ONelil,
Storekeeper; Richard Judge, Assistant
S~torekeeper; John p Egan. Clerk OF THIS
Board; John P. Noonan, Assistant Clerk;
Henry Muller and John McCue, employees
in the Office of the Clerk, and MI. Condor,
the teamster; also Myron Fnrst, Charles aa :
with his attorney, Charles c. Kelly; John
J. Kelly, by Joseph NJ. Noonan, his At,
torney. and Ignatins Noo nan, wh9 Rs sala
and the matters referred to your commit
tee were tnereupon inquired into.
% As to the contract OF Furst BROS;
that the. samples of muslin and jeans
= that bidders were to examine for the pur-
pose Of bidding were procured by dgna "a
as one of the contractors; that at the
time Furst Bros. examined the samples
to bid as appears from the dnns ns ~
cut pieces off the samples of muslin and
jeans and took them TO New York. for
the purpose of having them matched ana
Thar Mr.. Egan. the clerk of your
Board, before the shipment of the samples
samples. attached them TO slips, and duly
labeled them for Identification. THESE
samples he carefully put away in his desk
and locked them up, SO that when pro,
identify them to a certainty.
THAT Furst Bros. became the success
full bidders and delivered the first batch OF
goods when required, which were almost
without exception rejected. On examina-
ton into the material it was deemed un-
necessary to go into details on any of the
articles mentioned in Mr.. Furst's con-
tract outside of the rubber sheeting,
muslin, jeans and suspenders, 1t appear
ing clearly to your committee that the
other items were fully up to the specifi-
cations.
The specifications called for three
thousand yards of Indian Head u. B.
Muslin, as per sample. The sample upon
which bidders were invited to bid did not
have branded thereon any design Of an
by the manufacturers contained Mr..
Furst produced before this committee the
sample which he cut from the sample In
the Freeholders' office, and it was COM
pared with the sample in the possession
of the Clerk and found to be the same
material. He also produced piece of the
muslin, which was rejected by
the storekeeper. and 1t was found TO be
fully up to the specifications and the
same material as that contained in the
sample. Mr.. Richardson. who is in the
dry goods business and is familiar. with
it. m the Clerks sample and said
that the sample was not what Is known
in rho +ro1n DC fTndfon Had IT r tI11S-
lin He also investigated the matter and
went to various houses in New York City
to investigate the matter, and was fully
assured that the sample was not Indian
Head y. 3. Muslin
Mr.. O'Nefll, the storekeeper, thereupon
produced the sample which he said was
taken from the show case delivered at
the storehouse at Snake Hill. This sam
pie was a much heavier piece of muslin
and seems to correspond with Indian
Head, but did not correspond to any par
ticular with the sample IN the possession
of the clerk and the sample in the possess
sion of Furst Bros.
The committee thereupon directed Mr..
o. Neill to receive the Lockwood Mill as
being up to sample.
fFor the Information of the committee,
OR Furst produced before the committee
his bills from 81. B. Clafiin & Co., from
whom he purchased the goods. showing
that the net price paid by Furst Bros. at
wholesale, was seven and seven-tenths
q 7-1O cents per yard; and their bid for
furnishing a gross profit to the con-
tractors of eight-tenths G-1W of a cent
per yard.
THE committee next investigated the
question of jeans
1.-THE statement of Furst Bros. is that
they cut q sample of the jeans and sent
their purchasing agent to New York City
to match the same, and that they were
unable to match it; that they received
bids from New York City houses on a
sample This jean, according to their
bills, cost them eight and a half cents a
yard net, with all commissions off: their
bid to your Board based on the bid which
they received from the manufacturer.
The Storekeeper rejected this jean on
the ground that it was not Silver Peak
Jean"
sFurst Bros. produced their sample be-
fore the committee and the clerk of this
Board likewise produced the sample
which he cut from the original sample,
and the samples of F'urst Bros: and the
scented to the committee the sample
which he took from the showcase at
Snake Hill, and the sample produced by
Mr.. OsNeill did not correspond in any
particular with the samples of the clerk
or Mr.. Furst, but on the contrary was
a much heavier and more expensive jean.
Furst Bros. contend that the jean they
furnished Is fully up to the sample.
Your committee thinks that the jean
is a little cheaper and not quite up to
the sample, but is substantially up to the
sample, although it is not as expensive
as the sample.
sFurst Bros. say hat owing to the
pressing le6uS Ol the COullly LOT l1lS llu6
of goods and of their inability to secure
goods of the precise description of the
sample, and being unable to find where
such goods could be procured, they pur-
chased the goods rejected by Mr.. O'Nefll
and sent them to the s~torehouse, and say
that, in their judgment, the same is fully
up to the sample, both in standard and
quality. II this were so, your committee
is advised the Furst Bros. would ave
complied with their contract. But Mr..
Richardson says that in the sample there
was a little shoddy wool, whereas there
was none of it In the goods furnished by
Furst Bros. The contractors say that
they are willing to furnish the Identical
goods in the sample, but 1t may take a
little time to do so, and that they are
willing to let the county take the goods
furnished for its present needs, and on
the next requisition supply identically the
same goods as the sample.
Your committee on this point recon-
memo the acceptance Of the jeans as be-
Ing In every manner suitable and proper
for the purposes for which the goods
were purchased; and if it SHOULD hereafter
appear that these goods delivered by
Furst Bros. are cheaper than the goods
actually bid upon, that Furst Bros. be
required to make a rebate of the differ
ence on account of their contract.
are satisfied that in the matter of
bidding Furst Bros. have e~ndeavored to
honestly live up to their contract in ev-
cry particular; that their contract Is one
very beneficial to the county; that an ex-
animation of the prices bid by Furst
Bros. and the prices paid by them to the