The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-04-08
County Court Displays Great Lack
OF judgement.
CASH GONE NOTHING TO SHOW
Court Pays SII,soo to Reputed Agent for
Terra Gotta Concern Instead of
to Company--No Terra Cot
Ia Delivered.
Astoria, Or, April 4, 1906.

Astoria, Or, April T., 1906,
"For and in consideration of the sun
Of S21,5oooo | herewith agree to sci
to the County of Clatsop all the archi
tectural Terra Gotta now on new coun
ty court house site, Astoria, Or. and th'
balance of said material now at oul
factory at Lincoln, Cal, that portion al
spr factory to complete the full quan
tity required to complete the new court
house in full accordance with the plans
and specifications, and to be full, unbro
ken pieces and in good condition less
cleaning, all to be f. o. b. our factory
We further agree to hold the above
material for the period of six months
free of charge for storage"
(signed) "J. c. BAYER."
Upon the foregoing, simple memoran-
dunn, which, as document, has no bind
ing force upon anyone whatsoever, the
county court of Clatsop county, on
Thursday last, ordered the issuance of
q warrant in the sum of Sl9,5O0 to J.
c. Bayer, of Portland, on account of
fifteen carloads of terra Gotta trimmings
for the "new" court house Of this coun-
".
Without any purpose of impeachlng
the integrity of the county court IN
this transaction. and in conformity
with the broad and critical discussion
of the matter upon the streets of this
city at the present time, the Astorian
has made a detailed inquiry into the
negotiations and the processes under
which it transpired, and finds the fol-
lowing particulars are pre-eminent and
certain:
J. c. Bayer is Portland merchant OF
high reputation and nquestionable
commercial standing, the one saving fact
in the length and breadth of wholly
stupid piece of business. Mr.. Bayer is
the reputed agent of the concern, loeat-
ed at Lincoln, California, which it is
alleged, has made up the terra Gotta
trimmings originally designed and ord
cred for the projected court house, and
presumably, under business relations
had with HASTE & Dugan, the original
contractors. But there is nothing OF
record to indicate what company it IS
that is manufacturing. or has manufac-
tured, the stuff; no member of the court
can tell the name of the concern to
which it paid the big sum Of Sl9,5OO;
Mr.. Bayer's memorandum does not state
the name of the company; he simply
mentions it several times in his note OF
agreement as sour company" "our fac
tory; but there is nothing to show the
real name and status of the concern
that is in possession Of nearly $4,000
of good Clatsop money for bulky lot
Of undelivered goods.
The warrant was ordered payable to
J.. c. Bayer, and the county clerk so
issued it, and as said before, the mere
fact that Mr. Bayer is a reliable bust
man, is the only hopeful feature in the
muddle.
The county court has no bill of sale
for the goods, has no bond for its safe
and proper delivery at the end Of six
months; has no guaranty against the
untoward exigencies of business, such
as any plant Of the kind at Lincoln is
subject to; has no assurance Of compen-
sation in the even the works are deg
troyed by wind, or fire, or other causes;
in fact, has no documentary evidence or
record that it has ever bought dol
lars worth of terra Gotta from anyone;
is not protected against the emergency
Of failure or bankruptcy on the part OF
the manufacturing firm or company;
knows absolutely nothing Of the actual
standing of the concern; nor whether
its liabilities exceed its assets, nor
whether there are not liens imminent or
suits pending, adverse to its existence,
and its ability to make good on this or
any other engagement. In fact the
county court has bought pig in a
poke, with mo tangable ground on
which base cause of action in the
event recovery must be resorted to.
How any set of business men, such
as a county court is supposed to be made
ND of could consent to close a transac-
tion of such moment as this, with
out single resourceful expedient for re-
lance in case of it's failure. is more
than most of the business men in this
city can fathOm, and the comments cur
rent throughout the city on this score
are numerous and obviously, of con-