Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-08
BONANZA IN CLEANING DESKS
Contractor Enjoys Huge Profit in Privilege
Conferred in Secret
SCHOOL BOARD IS EXCESSIVELY CLEANLY
II is Found Necessary to RCvnrnish
Nearly Onc-IInIf of school ScutB
During Year. Involving
Large Expense.

The contractors engaged in cleaning and
| reyarnishing the public school desks, ap-
! parenuy a humble occupation, have been
/ drawing as rich a revenue as tho wash
woman who deciphered secrets Of the stock
4 exchange on the cuffs OF the millionaire
! broker when the work was done under
the supervision Of the school board the an
nual expense Of Keeping the desks in good
condition was between $2,5OO aud $4,000.
Last year the contract was let to II. IL.
Boyles at 50 cents per desk and during the
last twelve months he has drawn $500 for
services rendered, In addition to this he
has been furnished with a workshop, two
rooms in the Comenius school and the board
has met the expense of drayage to and from
the school buildings and of labor in moving
and resetting the desks.
The contract was let to Mr. Bovles with
out advertising for bids and no other pro-
posal was entertained by the board This
action was in violation of section Al of the
rules governing the board, which reads:
Bids for furnishing either labor ma
terals or supplies or for selling school sites
to the board as herein provided or for the
sale of bonds of the school district shall
be open to competition and shall be in
vted by advertising in such daily papers
and trade journals as shall be selected by
the board"
The contract was pet on December = 1895
and the monthly amounts paid the contrac-
tor are as follows: December. SiSI; jan
uary, $3.50; February, $462; March, $453;
April, $5lS; May, 5000; June. S5G5: July.
SLIPS; August. $l,1O3; September, $272; Oc-
tober, $462 November, $3.50; total $6 SS3
The expense is increased to $500 by a bill
for repairs not included in the contract
H
There are 10000 desks in the public
schools of Omaha and of these 5000 were
sent to the workshop during the last twelve
months. In the opinion of several mem
bers of the Board of Education there is
no necessity for overhauling the desks more
than once in four or five years and teach
ers in many cases prefer the desks after
the surfaces have been worn smooth On
one occasion the seats were removed from
the Walnut Hill school under the protest
of the principal, who believed that thev
were in a perfectly serviceable and sanitary
condition. The official intrusted with the
inspection of seats is Superintendent of
Construction Banker
When the board cared for its own desks,
hiring painters by the day, it was found
necessary to revarnish only about 1000
desks annually. The only reason for the
oNPShoe VI P-,uuU yearly, or Sl.2J per desk,
was that the employees of the board could
be induced to t,nish only five desks a day,
whereas working by the piece they are
able to clean and revarnish sixteen desks a
day. 1t is estimated that if faithful work
men could be secured the expense would
not exceed 40 cents per desk
Mr.. Boyles' contract has now expired and
an offer was made last Monday to renew it
on the same terms Two of his workmen, |
however, recognizing the large profit in
volved, made lower proposals, in spite Of !
the fact that bids were not invited from
the public The low offer was made by
Oscar Peterson at 81 cents, the price still
affording him a handsome profit. Mem !
Der johnson, of the board, a brother-in- |
law of the low bidder, made an earnest |
plea that a contract should be signed by
Peterson in preference to the work being
done by days work under the boards |
supervision. The contract was so awarded
On Wednesday night, no public proposals
having been invited, and only three having
been received, all from Boyles or his en-
ployes.