Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-15
VNlLLEY MUST MAKE CUT
County Board Makes IL Necessary fer Auditsr
to Dismiss Enploys
TO ADVERTISE FOR BIDS ON SUPPLIES
Purchases for County store VIII No
Longer he bfade on Informal
weekly Bids Received over
the Telephone.

A resolution introduced BY ostrom and
adopted unanimously at yesterday mornings
meeting Of the Board OF County Commits
sioners brings matters TO a showdown be-
tween Halfdan Jacobsen and w. r.
o~'shaughnessy OF the county auditing de-.
partment. Both have continued in the
office since the Encouragement and the Sc
lection Of Peter o'Malley as chief OF the
office, but the Ostrom resolution calls for
the heads Of departments to cut of all
extra help. and Mr.. o'Malley knows Just as
well as anybody else what that means. He
aid not Immediately announce HIS selection
between the two. but 1t is thought that Mr..
-O'Shaughnessy will be the one to stay.
The resolution that created most COM
ment by the commissioners, some Of IL be-
ing OF a rather heated nature, was one by
o'KeeTe, requiring that hereafter bids for
supplies at the county store be made for
periods of six months instead of one week,
as has previously been the practice. The
resolution was adopted and the bids are to
be advertised for at once and be opened
at 10 o'clock February 2S.
Connolly Makes "a Personal.
When o'Keefe introduced the resolution
Connolly leaped to his feet and declared
that It was only another reflection on him
as chairman OF the committed. and that he
declined to let It go through. without com
ment. He said that the agent II the
county store has a habit Of snubbing him
and treating his Inquiries with cold disdaln
every time he goes out there, and that the
storekeeper is also knocking" on him con-
~tinually to others. He further declared
that he couldn't see the wisdom Of O'Keefe's
plan as a protective measure against dis
honest bidders and declared that there
was not a grocery firm in Omaha that
would not enter into a secret arrangement
with the storekeeper, II 1t could.
The ommen made O'Keeffe torrid under
the collar and he led the discussion to al
legged former thefts at the county farm by
employees there. and Connolly, in defense of
the board, declared very audfbiy that one
man out there had been AIRED when he
was discovered to be knocking down money
that should have gone to the county" Tn
O'Keeffe motion finally passed, with only
Connolly dissenting, and 1t was agreed be-
fore the meeting closed that hereafter all
business done by the board shall be In
public.
wants Authority for WORK. y
o'Keeffe introduced two other resolu-
lions, which were adopted. One requires
that ION and after this date any work ex-
ceeding $25 shall be authorized by a motion
or resolution introduced at q regular ses-
sion Of the board" The other reads: The
county clerk is hereby instructed to notify
all those ~oficials whose once supplies are
furnished by the county that all requisi-
tons for the same must be made by them
direct to the county clerk and not through
any solicitor, and that the count clerk
must have all such orders. endorsed by
some one of the commissioners before hsv-
ing the same filed" -l >.--,,,
The explanation of this first resolution is
found In the discovery that QKeeffe made
yesterday that a. plumber Is doing work
at the county farm that will COSTS f,00o.r and
on which $500 has already been allowed,
but for which there is no, scrap, of paper
to show that he has any contract or any
authority to perform. The new member is
prodding into this with a very long pole.
! but has SO far failed to discover any very
satisfactory solution.
Another resolution OF ostrom's. which
was adopted. directs that the su~perintend-
ent of charities, before ordering goods for
the supply at the charity store, shall obtain
a written order from the committee having
charity matters in charge. #,~ tr "ys
The event that had been counted on TO
furnish the ~liveliest feature OF the meeting
did not materialize. 1t was the hearing on
the application of John Sorenson for a
license for a saloon at %Irvington. The sign
ers Of the protest by the temperance people
Of the town outnumber his signers and he
withdrew his application before the meeting
was called. He is preparing, however. to
renew the effort later. ..=eS a~
Bids ON Prescriptions.
The bids for furnishing the prescriptions
written by the assistant county. physician
at South Omaha were opened. but referred
to committee OF the whole, The bids ranged
from 10 cents to 50 cents per prescription.
The board accepted the report OF the
finance committee approving the report of
County Treasurer @. Fred Elsasser for the
period from July 1. 1901, to January s, 1902.
1t also granted the G. w. Hull company
the contract for furnishing the county,
sand, cement and sewer pipe. "f
The pay roll for the Judges and clerks OF
the last election disclosed that some of
them were caught for -$S72.ss delinquent
taxes. The net total was $2.547.75.
DR.. Van Camp advised the board that
Frank storck. who was present In the room
when the letter was read. was subject to
epilepsy and a permanent county patient.
Storck asked transportation to his home. in
Wisconsin and the charity committee de-
cided to send him as far as Clinton, Ia.