The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-05
CITY WILL BUY
ITS SPRINkLERS
Satisfactory Bid Offering
Wagons for Less Than
$4,000 Is Received.

A municipal sprinkling plant for st.
Paul was practically assured yester-
day afternoon when the committee on
streets of the two council bodies
recommended that the contract for
a new equipment be awarded to the
Austin & Western company, of Har-
vey, III. This company will furnish
fifty-three wagons and tanks COM
plete, and Fielding & Shepley will sup
ply seven more, making an outfit of
sixty wagons to start with.
For ten of the wagons, which are
of 500 gallons capacity, the city is
to pay 1892 each, and for the other
forty three. which will be Of 700 gal :
Ions capacity, $247 each. The wagons
to be taken from Fielding & ShepIey
are second hand affairs Five will
cost $3.50 each and two $3.50 each.
The rivalry for the contract was so
keen that prices were numerically cut,
ard IN the contest, st. Paul manufac-
turels We're badly distanced. The Aus
tin and Studebaker firms, Illinois and
Irdinana concerns, were the principal
Contestants, and in their effort to land
the contract, which involved an eX-
penditure of 5000, prices the lowest
ever known for sprinkling wagons
were made.
James Forrestal, a local contractor
who is the owner of about forty five
Sprinkling tanks without the running
gear, offered to sell the lot to the city
at $87 each, but as it was found that
an expenditure of 1892 for each tank
would be necessary to place them on
a par with the Austin & Western
wagon, it could not be accepted. Be
sides they had seen five years service,
and the city engineer would guarantee
only thirteen of them as first class.
Some of the members were for TAX
ing these thirteen off his hands, but
it was all or none, he said, and the
members reluctantly dropped any fur
Their consideration of his offer. Later
ForreStal wanted to amend his offer to
the extent of putting all his tanks in
first class order and attaching them to
any running gear that the city might
supply, but as the bids had been So
licited on the basis of certain specifica-
tons, this could not be permitted.
Assemblyman Schumacher was for
buying the entire Forrestal outfit at
the owners figure, and threatened
trouble when he was. voted down. Later
he made the statement that he would
have the Austin contract thrown out
when it reached his body for confirma-
ton.
The majority of the members are for
a new outfit, as from this year on any
further additions or repairs must be
made from the $4,000 that is annually
set aside for sprinkling purposes. The
members are agreeable to helping out
Forrestal to the extent of taking thir-
teen of his tanks, but will not enter
tain the others at the $87 figure, as
the city engineer will not indorse them
as first class. Besides a second bid
cannot be entertained, as the other
bidders would object.
A special meeting of the two council
bodies will be held this evening for
the purpose of closing the deal, and a
lively time is expected when those ia
yoring Forrestal prepare to protest.
City Engineer RundIett says he
thinks the city would lose if it threw
out the present bids and called for
new offers. THE bids are the lowest
ever saw he said yesterday, and
l do not think can be ever duplicated
again.