Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-10-21
ACTION RESENTED
Aldermen Eckhart and Bloch.
linger Say Undue infIu-
encs Was Wrought.
HARD SLAP AT THE COMBINE
Pump of William Tod Company Re
ceives Vote of Majority of Coun-
Gil in Committee of Whole.

Efforts have been made to compe
me 10 vote for a certain pump" sale
Aid Eckhart at the meeting of tn,
committee of the whole of the council
last night, and l have not stood for i,
and never will stand for it. l will moi
permit the using of my organization tC
force me 10 vote for any particular
pump. If the difference was not great
would under ordinary circumstances
give union labor the preference, but il
is not my money nor the unions money
but all of the peoples money we are
spending. and my vote shall not be Sc
cured by undue influence that was
sought TO have been brought to bear
on some of the members of this coun
ell
Mr.. Eckhart spoke further of his de
votion to the union and mentioned
among other things that it was respon
sible for the eight-hour government
service, as we'll as what it had done
for its own members
Demand ON BIochIinGer.
Il want TO say that the same influ
NiANN W as DlOuc94Ii W bNGl OIl iliS that
IS spoken of by Aid. Eckhart," said
Aid. Blochlineer. 1T came not only
as an attempt at influence but de
mand that | should vote for a certain
pump When this demand came to IL
we began an investigation and founC
that the situation had been misrepre
sented to our union headquarters anC
when they learned the facts. they sen,
us telegram TO keep our hands off"
What company did they ask you t.
vote fOr?" inquired Aid. Robbins.
The Snow International" replied
Aid. Blochlnger
| Combine Lcses.
| If the vote in the committee of the
whole of the city council asst evening
is indicative of anything. it is that the
| backbone of the combination has beeL
| broken. that has been frequently al
| luded to as oXerting undue influence
as far as a sale TO the city of Rocl
Island is concerned. If it is broken il
is because the pump was not put Vi
TO the council strictly upon its merits
but an attempt to force a sale by lob
! bying by bringing in outside influences
| Scti III anu OhA VI inc wy anu ny
seeking TO compel certain aldermen tC
vote for that machine. The last vote
taken showed a majority for the pml
of the William Tod company, seven a.
darmen voting against the combina
ton and the attempt to force a certain
/ pump upon the people of Rock IslanC
regardless of whether it was the choice
Of the aldermen or not. There are
four aldermen who stick with the Snow
pump yet
straw Ballot.
Upon the conclusion of the inspec
ton of the specifications. a straw bal
lot was taken for the purpose of deter
mining how the aldermen stood as tC
choice among the various pumps Or
the first ballot the AIlis-Chalmers ma
two votes, the Snow five, the Tod two
and the Holly one. Two aldermen die
rot vote, and Aid. Dauber was absent
On the second ballot the Tod pump re
, Ceived seven votes, a majority of tn,
: council. The Snow received four. an,
, the Allis-Chalmers one. The contes
a., was thus brought down to three ma
chimes. the difference between the To-
and the Snow being $500 in favor o
the latter. The lowest bid in was b.
the Laidlow. Dunn, Gordon company
but il did not seem to be in the run
Ling.
Exceedingly Unpopular.
In the effort to force the sale of tn
Snow pump by the undue influence III
on the union men of the council. an
= the work of certain elements in Roc
Island the machine has become unpoI
p ular and the aldermen who want to &c
out from under anything that sayors {
deal or forced sale have deserted i
May Advertise Again.
Some of the aldermen expressed
desire to throw out all Of the bids an
advertise again, the argument bein
q that many of the manufacturers of ma
chimes were not aware that pump wa
| 10 be purchased III this city. Some {
y the aldermen took the position that
would be unfair after the bids of tn
= several COMPANIES had been made pull
f lie to allow others to come in an
: compete. but all agreed that the chant
IS would be that the city would saw
q some money on pump.
\ The matter has now gone over unit
Tuesday night when the committee {
he whole will again meet for the pu
Z pose OF taking a recommendation I
he council either for purchase or 70
= re throwing out of all bids
If Eftae