The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-16

The assembly held regular meeting
otter devoting two hours and half Of
the three hours to caucusing on the ques-
ton of contracting for g. new police alarm
system. The board Of aldermen at its
last meeting awarded the CONTRACT to
the Municipal Signal company, Of Chi
cago, at s12,131, and last evening the mat
ter came to the assembly for concurrence
or rejection. Nine members of the as
sembly locked themselves in the commit
tee room at 8 o'clock, and for an hour
and half debated the question. At $50
the vote stood to 4 in favor of giving
the contract to the Gamewell company
at $4,000, and rejecting the Municipal
Signal compahy's bid. 1t took six votes
to turn the trick, however, and Messrs.
Albrecht, Kirke, Denny and Thompson
would listen to nothing but that the as
sembly concur in the award approved by
the board Of aldermen. An adjournment
Of the caucus was taken, and the regular
business having been disposed Of the
members filed into the committee room
and put in another hour in debate. The
result was that Messrs. Benson and War
ner agreed to vote for the award of the
contract to the Municipal Signal COM
pany, which settled it. Those voting for
the Chicago firm when the roll was called
were Messrs. Albrecht. Benson, Denny,
Kirke. Warner and Thompson. Those
voting against the award were Messrs.
Craig, Nelson and Dix. Mr.. Benson ex-
planned his vote by saying that he fa-
vored the Gamewell system but as 1t was
a rfIn lon, ha rtnvx fayS, or
he would vote for the best interests Of
the city, as a new system was badly
needed. Messrs. Craig and Nelson said
the Cregier system was not the best and
they could not vote for It. President Dix
voted against the award but did not ex-
plain his vote. Banks Cregier informed
the members after adjournment that the
system would be put in and in operation
within four months and he guaranteed
perfect satisfaction.
The removal of Lieut.. Henry ]. Pothen
from the police force, as recommended
by the mayor, was concurred In by unani-
nous vote. The changes and promotions
in the police department as recommended
by the mayor and published in the
G 10 b e yesterday were concurred in.
The contracts awarded by the board Of
public works for asphalt paving and
wooden and cement sidewalks were ap
proved.
Peter Murphy, a hotel runner, knocked
Mayor Kiefer out after a long fight.
About year ago Murphy attempted to
secure a license to operate as hotel run
ner. The ordinance at that time required
the Judges of the police court to certify
that the applicant sid not been convicted
of any violations of city ordinances. The
application Of Murphy was duly certified
to by the judges as o K, but the mayor
protested and refused to Issue the license.
The ordinance was then amended so as to
eliminate the provision requiring the
>certif1cation of the judges and placing
the granting of the license in the hands
of the council. Then a resolution was
passed giving Murphy a license. The
mayor vetoed the resolution. The board
of aldermen passed 1t over his head by
q vote of 8 to 1. Last evening the assem-
bly, threw the mayor down by passing the
resolution over the veto by unanimous
vote.
The city engineer was directed to pave
with brick the roadway of the Sixth
street bridge and put In new sidewalks.
The improvement will cost about $4,000,
and is to be paid from the bridge repair
fund.
The board Of public works was directed
the effect that teams and labor employed
be confined to residents Of ST. Paul.
The veto Of the mayor was sustained
on the resolution appointing e. F. Crock
er as feveemaster.