The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1902-03-29
One BIG CONTRACT
Aldermen Refuse to Divide Con-
: tracts for Fire Hose.
CHIEFS ADVICE DIsREGARDED
He Said the Brand Was Unsatisfac-
tory, but Over Mile Was
Ordered. +.-,-,. p

The city council fought the fire hose
contract issue to finish last night. II
vas a neck and neck contest for one
Whole, strenuous hour, with both sides
strainirg every nerve and using every
subtcrfuge to carry. the day. Live Oak
hose, manufactured by the Bowers Rub
Der company of San Francisco, finally
won. The Bowers company gets the con-
tract for 5000 feet Of two and one half
inch Are hose. while the lesser contract
for chemical hose was divided between the
Plant and Revere Rubber companies. The
profit in the contract lies in the IRE hose
proper ard the fight was conferred there.
In awarding the contract to the Bow
ers company for the Live Oak brand of
hose, the council disregarded the desires
and expert opinion of Fire Chief Canter-
bury and went against the opinion of two
Of the five members of the fire depart
merit committee. But the Bowers COM
pany, which, by tne way, is represented
in Minneapolis by a prominent repub-
lican politician, had this In its favor,
that it was Ehe lowest bidder On the
other hand, the 5000 feet of the Live Oak
lose purchased three years ago has given
wretched service. according to the fire
chief, and its champions found this a
serious Offset There was cohesive power
enough some where, however, to hold their
strength in line. .-u -.- =. =. .-=s
Why Canterbury Complained
Chief Canterbury opposed the Live Oak
brand in the committee and last night be-
fore the council. Here is what he had
to say of his latter day experience with
this hose 80. r ~. ~ ..
OF the 5000 feet of Live Oak hose pur-.
chased in 1899, 1850 feet has been sent back
to the company to be replaced and the rest
L>yo ray4
Der, when The guarantee expires. OF the 100
sections of THIS hose, y have broken while
id use and 300 feet have been sent back
twice l cant successfully fight fires with
the hose somewhere between here and San
Francisco.
This statement prompted Alderman
Lane of the fire committee to ask whose
judgment was to be followed in fire de-
partment matters, the chiefs or the
committees '.f
rs the chief to say how much hose and
how many horses are wanted, or does that
duty belong to the fire committee"' ne
asked-"It seems to me that it is time that
this question is settled. I\believe the will
Of the majority Of the committee should
Cverrule the chiefs" ... ,#.
So evidently thought the council, for
they turned in and voted down one propo-
sition after another, designed to split up
ders, and as a clincher, by vote Of Is to
10, awarded the whole contract to the
Bowers company at the price OF 80 cents
per foot. The other bids were uniformly
81 per foot. The vote in detail is as fol-
lows: o ........
Yeas-Foen, Ryan, Lane, Mumm, Rand,
y. j. Nelson, Main, McIaskey, Powers. Nc
Coy, Larson, Dryer, CASTLE a. 5. ADAMS.
Sutherland-1j. ari
Nays-Chatfeld Leighton, Merrill, S. E.
Adams, Holmes, McCune, Sibley, Peterson,
Schoonmaker, President Jones-1O.
a. 4 Singular Unanimlty.
1t will be noted that every democrat in
the council, with the exception of Alder
man Peter Nelson who refused to vote
on the final proposition, stood for the
Bowers hose. Aldermen Rand and Dwyer
were in the van Of the fight all through,
and the former outdid all his eloquent
stunts for months past in his speech
depicting the glories of this brand of hose.
There was not vessel sailing the Pa
cific, he declared, that did not use the
Bowers hose, which provoked the ques-
tion from Alderman Merrill, what possible
use could a sailor have for hose while
climbing up the mainmast.
Under the terms OF a resolut ion pre-
sented by Alderman S. e. Adams, the new
hose is to be placed at stations where 1T
will receive the most severe service, and
the chief Of the fire department is to re-
port the results to the council after four
months. $50
The same majority of the committee
recommended the purchase OF 5000 feet
of cotton hose in addition to the rubber
hose, this also against the desires ana
Judgment of the fire chief, but they lost
their point by margin Of two votes
Lichtins Bonds Postponed.
At the meeting of the special committee
on q municipal electric light plant yes
terday afternoon. Alderman Leighton's
resolution to submit to the people at the
next election the proposition to issue
$35O,0O0 Of bonds for building an electric
lighting plant was recommended for in
definite postponeme1t. the formal method
of burying the matter for good. The vote
was 9 to 2, Aldermen Powers and Rand
alone taking the other stand, Alderman
Leighton was held outside the city by
a wreck. Last night he was in his seat,
however, and with blood in his eye. He
declared that he had not been fairly
treated. This was the first time that the
chairman of committee had been ignored
in calling together a committee. There
was no occasion for such unseemly haste,
he declared, and it was most discour-
lteous action toward him. He asked that
the report be sent back to the committee,
and won his point on close vote. The
committee is instructed, however, to re-
Alderman Holmes introduced last night