Akron daily Democrat. [volume] (Akron, Ohio) 1892-1902, 1902-09-18
oUTWITTED.
Continued from first page.)

Mr.. sawyers being given just two
minutes to leave the floor.
During his speech, which seemed to
include discussion of every event
in history from the time of Rameses
/ down to the memorable onslaught Of
the Man of the Hour on dirty streets,
Mr.. Sawyer was interrupted at various
times. He yielded gracefully, because
the interruption gave him opportunity
to recover his breath and not infre-
quently some new points for discus
sion. At one time Mr.. Gauthier stated
that he didn't imagine that Mr.. Saw
yer himself presumed to believe ev-
erything he was saying. This gave
Mr.. Sawyer an opportunity to talk
for a quarter of an hour upon the
terrible imputation made upon his in
tegrity by Mr.. Gauthier. He wound
up by forgiving the General of the
opposing force, assuming that his
words came from the head and not the
heart. After this remarkable display
of magnanimity, General Sawyer sent
General Gauthier to bring him drink
of water.
Another chunk of time was consumed
by an argument with Mr.. w. G. Clerk
| in, relative to the value of certain
property owned by the latter on South
Main st. Mr.. Sawyer made some re-
marks about it that were challenged
by Mr.. Clerkin, and 1t took nearly
half an hour to settle the difficulty.
When 1t was ended Mr.. Clerkin laugh
ed until his sides shook.
Col. Sanford was also let into the
| argument, and during his remarks he
made some statements which Mr..
Sawyer accepted as uncomplimentary
to himself, and. after saying that in
private life he and Col. Sanford were
good friends, being brothers in two
fraternal orders, he spent nearly is
minutes in 'lambasting" the Colonel
for presuming to say uncomplimentary
things, after having been accorded the
courtesy of being allowed to interrupt
speaker who had the floor.
Attorney j. V. Welsh was also in
vited in for few words on the sub
ject. He stated that he believed the
Councilmen were getting along all
right with the fight, and that if the
matter were left to the people, the hall
would undoubtedly be taken still fur
ther south, as the tendency Of the
growth of the city is south Col. San
ford is also in favor of having the hall
taken to South Akron.
When forced to conclude his speech,
Mr.. Sawyer quit his playing, and the
essence of his whole argument was
contained in his closing words. For
Heavens sake, gentlemen" he be-
gan, wake up, and consider your po-
stion. believe you are honest men,
but am sure that this belief is not
shared by the public. There are hun
dreds of people who will believe that
there has been dirty work connected
with the transaction, If the City Hall
is taken to South Akron, as 1t seemed
to be almost unanimously the opinion
of the business men and others who
attended the mass meeting last spring
that it would be wrong to take the
hall so far south. Let the wishes of
your constituents guide you. If the
people want to take the hall south, I
will be with them, but haven't had
opportunity to hear from the masses
yet. Here we have proposition
from the American Cereal Co. to sell
the city the present City Hall for
5000. This comes upon us sudden
ly. and we ought to wait until we can
hear from the people on it. Why
should we pay $3.50 foot for that
property at the corner Of Buchtel ave.
and Main ST., when we can get proper
ty only few feet from 1t for 500;
or on South High ST., for $50? The
calling of this special meeting tonight
is unfair. You must have known that
some OF our men are out of the city,
and that you have an advantage over
us. 1t is unfair from every point of
view, and in striking contrast to the
disposition shown by us last spring
when We had the majority of votes in
favor of buying a site down town.
At that time we decided not to take
advantage of you. preferring to allow
everybody to have an opportunity for
discussing the matter, and to avoid
hasty action which we might regret
afterward."