Mower County transcript., 1899-08-23

|
York, Boston, Philadelphia and other
cities at little over 20c The deal is.
estimated to cover 10.0eO, ,00G eggs.
Statement by Surveyor Clausen.
To THE EDITOR:
Nearly every paper publis he'd in:
Austin has made more or less extend
ed comments upon the unfortunate
affair that occurred between city
clerk Foster and myself, Aug. I, but,
none OF the papers have given a true;
statement of what gave rise to the,
trou BILE. In justice to myself, deem~
ing it right that the facts In the
| case should be known, l therefore
make the following statement.
The blue prints which we're the
bone of contention, are specifications
and explanations Of how the flush
tanks and the flushing apparatus in
the sewer is to be constructed and
put in. They are the property of
the city, and not of the contractor
and for the use Of the city engineer
and the Con tractor, to refer to for the
proper construction Of the flush tanks.
AS the city engineer, and while having
a general supervision over the work
on the sewer, to see that it was pro-
perly put in. it became necessary for
me to make use OF said blue prints
and went to Mr.. Foster to get them.
He told me that they were in the
hands of Mr.. Goodwin, one, of the
contractors. I went to Mr.. Goodwin,
and he gave them to me. A couple
of days thereafter, 4fff. ~ Fartney
wanted to make use of the blue prints
and went to Mr.. Foster to find out
whether he had them. He met me
on the street short time thereafter
and Indignantly demanded of me,
"Where are those specifications
They do not belong to you, they be-
long to the contractor. You have
no business with them' Without
stopping to argue the question with
him, gave him the blue prints, but
as:I had to make constant use of them
l went to see the city attorney about
the matter. He told me that Mr..
Foster must either let me take the
blue prints: or furnish me with
copy of them, and that if Mr.. Foster
refused, to let him know. l went
back to Mr.. Foster and told him,
that as had to make constant use OF
the blue prints, he must either let me
have them, or furnish me with a
copy. He refused emphatically to
let me have either one. I then told
him that Mr.. Greenman wanted to
speak to him. He went to the phone
and commenced telling Greenman
his side of the story. which however
was not strictly in accordance with
what had transpired, so l said to him,
"Now don't tell him any lies" Upon
hearing this he seemed to lose all self
control and made the assault for
which he was subsequently convicted.
emphatically deny that I said,
You are liar
I make this statement because Mr..
Foster has said and nearly all the
papers have reiterated it, that I re-
fused to turn the papers over to the
contractor when he requested the
use OF them. Mr.. Furtney, the con-
tractor had never demanded the
papers Of me or said anything to me
about them, (which he has subse-
Quently admitted to me in the pre-
sence Of witnesses) and he will so
state to anyone that will take the
trouble to ask him.
As I stated above, the blue prints
belong to the city! As city Official
who had charge of, and was RESPONSE
ble for the proper grade and level
being given for the sewer, and con-
struction of the flush tanks etc., I
thought that I had a right to make
use of said blue print, and think so
still. II they are the special property
of the City Recorder and he has the
right to arbitrarily refuse to allow
city officials to inspect and make use
OF the city records as public property,
when 1t is done in pursuance of their
duties, it is right that they should
know 1t. We all recognize the fact,
that the City Recorder is q very inn
portant parsonage, but there are few
Of US that will admit that he is the
lcity Of Austin. II. n. GLAUsEN.