Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-03-07
The BOOK BUSINESS
Forty -seyen Agents Pay Sc, 600 for Sis, 900
Worth of Books.

! 0VVAOe
this paper are open to It, If not the
public will condemn, and no manner of
assaults upon the person of its present
editor will ever intimidate the T.-R. or
suppress it's comment on the course Of
public officers.
TILE CIRCUMSTANCES
During the contest it was known by
all the bookmen that on the mig hit of
November 81 last three members of the
board, Messrs Williams, Hargrave and
Shearer, with j. II. Jayne. the county
bridge superintendent, went into Chi
cage, accompanied by a Mr.. Hassett.
agent for the American Book Company,
who gave up the sleeping car berth he
had secured to Mr.. Shearer. Their os-
tensible purpose was to attend the good
roads convention, but they We're met by
MIR. Skinner, the champion enter amer
of the American Book Company, who
showed them thru the art galleries and
museums, translated the Greek testa-
ment off-hand, introduced them to-
artists ard princes and made a good inn
preston. In the evening, with the pos
ssible exception of Mr.. Shearer. they
We're taken in tow by Jimmy Dock
Erll, also of the American Book Com
fpany, bully" good fellow. who
showed them the town. Where they
went or what they did is perhaps Best
not told. 1t matters not In the book
controversy. On their return the mems
bers freely related of their royal enter
pany. A few days later Mrs. Jayne re-
ceived a present of a handsomely bound
dictionary from the American Book
happened to be present in Chicago, re-
|sceived a present of number of books
from the same company.
PIERCE WAS IN 1T.
knowing what such entertainment by
the American Book Company might
mean IT any members vote should hap
pen to be anlenabe to the influence of
money, the rival houses quickly flashed
the Intelligence totfeir agents, who ar
rived on the ground posted. They all
soon found out that Mayor Pierce was
actively interested in this book bust
ness. He was seen repeatedly by citi-
zens to be in consultation with .Ameri-
can Book Company agents in the Tre-
mont hotel, he was seen to enter their
room there time and time again. on the
might of the adoption. when the Alneri-
can Book Company and its allied house
of Butler, Sheldon G Co. had received
IS per cent of the boards favor, Mayor
Pierce boldly entered the hotel and went
straight to the American Book Com
pany's private room. Book agents and
citizens in the lobby saw him, and it
was freely talked then with Knowing
winks and rods, that he was than re-
ceiving a reward for his services. If
these suspicious are unfounded, per-
haps Mr.. Pierce can explain his fire.
quent and constant ATTENDANCE uponsthe
agents of the American Book Com
pany
Furthermore II Is known positively
lsthat Mr.. Fierce did discuss With a rep
Preventative of one company the deliver
ling of the board vote for price The
company did not get the contract and ii
IS TO be presumed that they did not
meet his terms. but Mr. Hargravc has
shown the editor OF the T.-R., in the
presence of three witnesses, a scrap Of
paper containing the figures of prices
which he then claimed CHM & Co.
agent had offered him for his vote. His
purpose and the purpose of the mem
bers of the board present then was to
alr. Morriseey. Those men,
! hers have both since aumitted in the
EDITORS presence that they do not now
think Mr.. Morrissey was dishonest. r.
II. men have talked with practically all
Iof those forty seven book men and not
one has made a single charge against
either Mr. Shearer or MIR Morrissey.
LIN their words We played Morrissey
and Shearer to be honest" and lie that
set Of book men can play" a man to
be honest he must be honest beyond all
lreproach.
Mr.. Morrissey had previously gone on
record to school men in this city asia
|voring an equitable division of the
books among five companies, the Me-
MILAN Company ID. c. Heath & Co..,
Silver, Burdette & Co, CHM & Co., and
the American Book Company. His
Judgment ought to have been consld-
erred, for he had made study of the
bids and books and NJ. Ira Eaton, of
Eaton & Co., whose books were not ia
vored by MIR. MorrisSsy. said that in his
Twenty seven years of experience In the
book business he had never met a man
who knew more about the corr parative
merits of text books than did Mr. Nor
Irissey Yet Morrissey was ignored by
the board entirely. He was given but
one opportunity to express his views
and was first Informed of the date the
board would meet to adopt by Mr. Has
set, agent for the American Book Com
pany. who told him 1t was set for Feb.
IS. Why should the American Book
Company know this before the coun-
lty superintendent WAS informed
In the meeting, when the board was
adopting books, MIR. Hargrave .sguyed''
Mr.. Morrissey with insinuations that
CHM & Go. owned him and so confused
the meeting that. Mr.. Morrissey states,
at times he coughed in a very signifi-
cant manner and that whenever he
Icoughed an American Book Company
contract was adopted. This may mean
nothing. Perhaps Mr.. Hargrave can
show a doctors certificate that he was
suffering from throat trouble, and per-
haps the coincidence of cough and adop-
tion favorable to a single company was
merely coincidence and nothing more
The fact remains that MIR. Morrissey
and the board were at outs
A WORD AS TO PRICES.
1t is estimated that in the next Ave
years the parents OF the county Will
have to buy $4,000 worth Of school
books at the prices accepted. The
American Book Company Will get $l1. 400
III. Il a