The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-06-02
BOARD SETTLES
TELEPHONE BILL
County Commissioners Com
promise With Company on
so Per Cent Basis.

The county commissioners yesterday
backed down from the defiant attitude
recently assumed by them in reference
to the payment of a bill of $1,750 for
the use of Northwestern telephones in
the court house during the past few
years. In spite of the declarations of
the members of the board that not one
cent Of the bill would be paid unless
the county was defeated in the courts,
the board yesterday practically COM
promised the matter by accepting the
company's offer to settle for one-half.
The matter will be finally disposed Of
at meeting next Monday, at which
time the commissioners will, in all
probability, order the payment to the
company Of the amount agreed upon.
The board has also decided to re-
scind it's former order calling upon
the company to forthwith remove all
of the Northwestern telephones from
the court house. By doing this the
county will hereafter be allowed half
rates, the same as has been given the
city since the latter first installed
Northwestern telephones.
After the telephone bill had been
practically disposed Of yesterday the
board appropriated an additional ST.
600 for the improvement of the county
roads. The sum Of $4,000 had previous
ly been appropriated for this purpose,
and when the proposition was yester-
day made to set aside this additional
amount, Commissioner Seng raised an
objection to this method Of doing busi-
ness. He was decidedly opposed to
omnibus appropriation, and insisted
that the money set aside for road pur-
poses should be appropriated only aft
er 1t had been ascertained what the
work could be done for,
The position taken by Mr.. Seng was
opposed by Commissioners Pottgeiser,
Gray and Powers. Mr.. Gray contend
ed that the appropriation of this mon
ey did not necessarily mean that all Of
each fund should be expended, but
rather that so much be placed in a
fund to be paid out for day labor, as
far as was needed.
The appropriation was passed, the
sums being divided as follows:
District No. q
Culvert at Carver's place ............$ 800
Highwood road ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. $50
County line between Upper and Low
er Anton .................' Ivy
Rice street, inside city limits ........ 200
Improving macadam and cleaning
bitches, Rice street ................ Jog
Fairchild avenue, New Canada. $500. 100
Minneapolis avenue, Hills to White
Bear OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. $50
District No. i
Eladar avenue, Rosetown ............ $50
Northern Pacific bridge to Hills. 200
North end Rice street ................ SO
North of Turtle lake ................ so
North end Lexington ................ 100
Turtle lake road Observation-Disclosures. so
Barlow road, north Of New Brigh-
TON 1900 lOU
New Brighton road in village ...... so
Newland avenue, New Brighton -. 200
Lexington avenue, Rosetown ........ 2G0
The board received a protest from
Abstract Clerk Schoutz, who had
learned that an effort was being made
to remove his Office from it's present
location on the first floor to the fourth
floor of the building, where he was to
be given a portion of the space until
recently occupied by the temporary
fail. He declared the removal would
ruin the business Of his Office, as peo-
pie who had such business to transact
would not go so far out Of their way
when they could transact the same
business with abstract companies more
conveniently located. The protest was
referred to the Joint court house and
city hall commission.
The board disposed of a number of
small matters and adjourned until next
Monday.