The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-11-19
He WILL WAIT.
Mayor i'm No Hurry to Sign Coal
Contract.
Now Appears to Be Man Who
Gets There First.
NOT ALL AT ONE PRICE.
Different Kinds of Fuel Specified
In the Bids.
Mr.. Bergundthal Says He VIII
See Which liz Best.

1t is up to Mayor Bergundthal to de-
eide who will furnish the city of To-
peka with its coal during the winter.
For a month he has had two contracts
in his hands. and up to the time he
left for his Indian Territory hunting
trip Wednesday. he had not signed eth
ar one.
One of the contracts has been signed
by the webster-Tullock Coal company;
the other by the Southwestern Fuel
company. The job is worth probably
$500 in trade a year. Things are in a
great tangle, and 1t is probable that
both of the companies may refuse to
supply the city at the prices originally
bid.
Fred Webster. of the Webster-Tul-
lock company, said today: Il am get
ting sick of this business; it isn't worth
while to fight for the privilege of stuff
6ng In a few tons of coal into the city
bins If the city isn't going to straight
en- this thing out pretty quick, 1 may
drop out OF the game. The way 1t is
now, We are all furnishing coal 1t
sees to be simply a question of who
can see an empty coa1bin first, and
stuff some coal into it,
When the fight started, 1t was be-
tween the Southwestern and Webster.
Now the Wear company seems to have
taken out a stack. 1t has offered to
furnish coal at the same figures offered
by the OIler companies.
Just at the present time, Mayor Ber-
gundthal says he is having a test made
of the coal furnished by the three diff
ferent companies.
give US the best coal. Then 1 will be
ready to sign the contract. instruct
ed Mr.. Goodrich of the city electric
light plant, which uses all the slack
furnished to the city, to try a carload
from both Webster and the Southwest
ern The Wear company came around
and offered to furnish coal at the same
price, so 1 had Goodrich try car load
of that too. 1 have not heard yet which
kind he prefers"
1t may be that before the thing is
finally Strengthened out, the city will
have to advertise for new bids on the
coal contracts. and take a fresh start
Since the mayor has permitted the
Wear Coal company to get INTO the
game it seems that the old bids are
not going to cut much figure In the
Ali the difficulty arose because of the
loose manner in which the council ad-
vertised for bids back IN Septenper.
The advertisement did not specify any
particular kind of coal, but left it to
the discretion of the coal companies TO
bid on anything they wanted to.
The city uses three kinds of coal;
lump for heating the fire and police
stations, nut for heating the city hall
and Auditorium, and slack for the
electric light plant. A committee OF
son, Ryder and Nellis was appointed
to consider the bids. The committee
recommended that the bids of the
Southwestern Fuel company and the
Webster-Tulloch company be ac-
cepted, thus agreeing to give the con-
tract to two firms for the same thing.
The queer part of it was that the
council went ahead and adopted the
committee report without noticing the
tangle into which is getting.
The bids which were accepted were
as follows:
Southwestern Fuel Co..
Usage City shaft. $3.50
Mill coal -......-.--. Z-45
Steam nut ....-........ 2.S2
Webster-Tulloch Co.,
Nut coal .-.-.... %
Slack coal z-SO
If the companies are willing to sell
their coal at the prices they have bid,
is simply means that the city has an
"option" to buy its coal from whatever
company it pleases at the prices spe
cited. of course the bids were sub
United on the theory that the success
full bidder would get the whole job.
The coal men do not like the idea of
splitting up the work, but under exist
ing conditions they can't help them
selves.
1t is claimed that the fight between
the Southwestern Fuel company and
Fred Webster is really fight between
the Santa Fe and Rock Island. The
Southwestern ships over the Santa Fe.
Webster's coal comes most over the
Rock Island. The rival roads want
the job of hauling the coal.