The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-06
One Is Expected at the Council
Meeting Tonight.
Councilmen Exercised Over the
Barber Asphalt Company.
CHARGES OF FRAUD.
Engineer McCabe Says They
Can't Buy Up Men.
The Morris Avenue Pavement
Is Defeated.

The council m Getting this evening has
| great possibilities. War is likely to
| break out at any one of half a dozen
| points.
There is certain to be a fight on the
| proposed city park sewer, which rs
| been hanging fire for some tirne. The
| city clerk has five bids for the construc-
| ton of this sewer, and tonight is the
time for the bids to be opened. Several
councilmen will oppose the opening of
the bids. and the city attorney will ad-
wise the council that it can not legally
| build the sewer.
The license ordinance, which may be
reported back from the license commit
! tee, Will be good for several hours dis
cussion If it gets before the council. 1t
may be, however. that this ordinance
Will be postponed for consideration till
after the decision of the mayoralty
case by the supreme court.
II the question of paying the Barber
Asphalt company comes up, it will
make trouble, as there is much Animos-
1ty among the councilmen on this meas
ure.
CHARGES OF FRAUD.
Some of the members of the council
even go SO far as to intimate that the
Barber Asphalt company has bee1 Of
fering inducements to some of the city
ofhcials for their support of a resolu-
ton to pay over to the Barber company
the greater portion of the ST. 500 still
que Inc company on the contract.
The contract which the company has
with the city has not been fulfilled by
the company and there are rumors that
some councilmen have been given to
understand that the company is desir-
Gus of getting out of doing any more
work here, and would like to get what
ever 1t can out of the city for the work
done, and cancel the old contract
An official of the Barber company is
reported to have said to a Topeka man.
1T cost the Barber company $4,000 to
get into Topeka and we may have to
dig up some more to get out"
At the last meeting of the committee
on streets and walks, the city engineer
was instructed to make out detailed
INST OF the amount of work still undone
by the Barber company, and to esti-
mate the probab BILE cost of completing
the job. This estimate is being made
today by the city engineer and will be
presented tonight at the council meet
ing.
City Engineer McCabe said today: eff
the Barber Asphalt company thinks
that it can go around here and buy up
men wherever it needs Them think it
will find itself mistaken. I am in favor
of holding the Barber company to the
exact letter of the contract, just as they
would hold US. Nobody has ever sug-
gested compromise to me, and unless
some representative of the Barber COM
pany suggested it to members of the
council, / don't see where they would
get the idea"
MORRIS AVENUE PAVEMENT
BEATEN.
1t is claimed that the proposed pave
ment on Morris avenue, which was
authorized by the committee on streets
and walks, will be defeated in the coun-
ell this evening by means of a protest
signed by large majority of the peo-
pie on Norris avenue. G. F. Bishop,
one of the petitioners, states that he
has withdrawn bis name from the or
iginal petition. This alone would beat
the proposed pavement, as the petition
had only 108 feet majority, and Mr..
Bishop owns $50 feet which was signed
for on the petition.
INJUNCTION THREATENED.
There is more grief in store for the
committee on streets and walks, for
several of the owners of iron foundries
in Topeka have turned their steam
hammers loose. and are knocking hard
on the Capital City Iron works cast
iron curbing.' The other foundries
claim that this specification in the East
Tenth and East Eighth avenue pave
ment petitions makes an absolute
"cinch'' for the Capital City Iron works,
and violates the provisions of the city
charter for competitive bidding.
I'VE do not object to having the pave
ment petitioners call for cast iron curb
ing, but we do object to limiting the
competition to one foundry" said a To-
peka iron man today.
It has been claimed that the cast iron
curbing is patented product, but this
is denied by other foundry men.
The plan of the foundry men is to
have some resident of the streets in
question bring an injunction suit in his
own name to stop the laying of the
pavement on the ground that the petit
ton is illegal.
If such a move is made. it will in
all probability kill the East Eighth ave-
nue. pavement, which is not in very
healthy condition anyway. The East
Tenth people, however, want pavement
and want it bad and they would doubt
less get up new petition