Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-26
CITY COUNCIL TAKES HAND
Proposes to See that Motor Company Keeps
Its Offices in Oounoil Bluffs.
HOLDS TERMS OF CHARTER ARE VIOLATED
One Clause Provides for Notice 60
City of Any Transfer or Lease
Before the Same IL
valid.

The city council, It is expected, will take
some action at its regular meeting Monday
night in the matter of the transfer Of the
general Offices of the motor company from
this city to Omaha. While It Is commended
that the company is violating the provl-
sions Of its charter by not maintaining its
principal ofnces in Council Blufs, the at
tention Of the city authorities has also been
called to the fact that the company now
| operating the street car system Of Council
Bluffs has failed to comply with another
and very important requirement of the
franchise.
Section three OF the ordinance granting
the franchise to the Council Bluffs, Lake
Manaw8, East Omaha Construction COM
pany, which franchise was subsequently as
signed to the Omaha, Council Bluffs &
Suburban Railway company, and under
which charter the motor company is pre-
sumed to be now operating, provides in ad-
dition to the necessity of maintaining the
principal oflces Of the company in Council
Bluffs that no assignment, lease or trans
fer of the franchise granted by the ordi-
nance shall be Of any force or validity un-
til written notice OF the same shall be filed
with the clerk Of the city Of Council BLUFFS.
When the consolidation of the Omaha and
COUNCIL bluHb SlEttl railway bgolcuiS was
recently effected 1t was understood that tho
Council Bluffs lines had been leased to the
! omaha & Council Bluffs Street Railway
company for q term Of ninety-nlne years.
No notice of the lease, however, has been
filed with the city, and therefore 1t is con-
tended by the city authorities that the
lease is not yet in effect.
While this may be the case, 1t does not
alter the situation, and the fact remains
the m as one Of the aldermen said yes
terday, that the Offices OF the mo-
tor company, instead OF being maintained
in this city as required by the ordinance,
have to all practical intents and purposes
been removed across the river.
Several OF the aldermen when interviewed
on the matter yesterday, expressed them
selves SIS In favor of appealing to the courts
unless the Omaha company now operating
the street car system Of this city was will
ing to comply with the requirements of the
franchise.
1t is understood that City Solicitor sny-
der has the matter in hand, and will make
a report at the meeting Of the city council
Monday night.
Wickham Bros. Get Contract.
Wickhsm Bros. Of this city have secured
the contract for the Great Westerns pas
senger depot. The contract price is in the
neighborhood OF s12, 900. The depot will be
located on the west side of South Main
street, on Ninth avenue, and will set back
some little distance from the street to al
low OF parking. 1t will be 119 feet long
and 81 feet wide. Pressed brick and Bed
ford stone will be used in it's construction,
and the style Of architecture will give the
building a villalike appearance. The roof
will be Of red tiles with wide cornices.
Wickham Bros. now have the contract
for all the buildings OF the Great Western
in this city. Work on the freight and pas
senger depots will not be commenced I'M
til the road has its trains running in here
so that the material for the building can be
hauled In on the company's own line.