Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-07-05
BILLS ARE HELD UP
Council Wants Light on a st. Louis
Jaunt and Purchase of a Water
Main Taper.
CONVENTION EXPENSES HIGH
Two officials Have IN Account of SI7O
For Five Days - New Bridge
IL Ordered.

Aid F. F. Robbins. chairman OF the
waterworks committee. and Plumb T.
Bancroft, superintendent of the Wa
terwOrks department, week ago at
tended a national gathering of water
works superintendent at st. Louis, re-
naming five days. They went in re-
Spouse TO an invitation that had been
extended to the Rock Island council
Their expense account was presented
as an item in the monthly payroll or
dinance that came up for adoption at
the regular meeting of the council yes
terday afternoon. 1t was for $40.
The bill originally was offered for
the approval of the finance committee
at its meeting for the auditing of ac-
counts last Friday evening. The mem
bers of this committee are Aids. An
derson, Sexton and Westbay. The two
latter objected to payment of the item
until they had been informed what the
money had been spent for. They also
opposed allowing $3.50 for a patent
main Taper purchased from the A. +.
Smith Manufacturing company with
out the authority of the council. This
was ordered through the waterworks
committee.
Excluded From Ordinance.
When the ordinance was read yes
terday Afternoon it embodied the eX-
pense account of the waterwOrks con-
vention jaunt and the bill for the pat
ent Taper. Aid Westbay offered a
motion that both bills be excluded
from the ordinance and referred back
to the finance committee.
Aid. O'Connor expressed surprise
at the St. Louis convention expense
account. and intimatcd that the Rock
Island representatives must have been
living in royal fashion to have eX-
pended $17 per day each during their
stay in the worlds fair city.
However. he did not object to pay
ing the bill. assuming that the
amount mentioned was used for legit-
innate expenses, but he thought when
representatives of the city went away
on trips of this sort the least they
should do would be to furnish an
itemized statement. thereby removing
any grounds for criticism.
Concerning the patent Taper sew
eral of the aldermen expressed them
selves as opposed to doing business
after the system that had been en-
ploycd in this case. None doubted
that the Taper was needed, but they
wanted to be enlightened before they
voted to pay $3.50 for an apparatus the
merits or value of which they knew
nothing. Accordingly, by a vote of s
to >. the bills were referred to the
finance committee for investigation.
Another Bridge il Ordered.
City Engineer Wallace Treichler
was ordered to prepare specifications
for a two-span steel bridge to replace
the riCkety structure across the north
branch of Rock river. The new
bridge over the south branch of the
river is nearing completion, the city
council having provided for the build
ing thereof by declaring an emergency
TO exist several months ago. When
the appoTtiOnment of the anticipated
revenues of the city was made at the
meeting of one week ago $4,000 was
set aside for n bridge fund. From
this the new structure ordered yester-
day will be paid for. Though consid-
erably larger than the south bridge il
is believed it can be constructed about
as cheaply owing to the low figure at
which structural steel can be pur-
chased at this time