The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-11-30
HIS BID REJECTED
WlLLETT LOSES SCHOOL
ADDITION CONTRACT.
Joseph 0schwald Gets Warren Street
Addition Job-Loser Made Error
Involving Thousands.

One OF the important matters be-
fore the members of the Board of Edu-
cation last night was the re~awarding
of the contract for the new Warren
Street Public School addition. The
members of the board believed they
we're through with the matter. and
were jubilant that the contract had
been given out at a sum which would
be SIS, 900 under the appropriation. but
while they We're preparing 10 close the
contract 1t was discovered that the bid
was only an informal one and did not
comply with the stipulations of the
architect. Enos Willett was the con-
tractor. His bid was for the masonry
work, but 1t had to be rejected at the
last minute for the cause mentioned.
His closest competitor was Joseph
Oschwald. whose bid for the same work
was $4,000 higher han the one Of Will
lett. Oschwald's bid. however, viii
bring the work within the mount OF
the appropriation. With the new bid
accepted the necessary additions to the
school will cost sos, 579.45 as against
$97. SS2.05 If Willett's bid had been ac-
cepted.
Architect Henry j. King. who was
present, was pleased to learn that with
lli1S duu6Q ullIeTtlc6 III COSTS his D1dIlS
for the alterations would still be within
the amount allotted for the work. Out
side of the architects fees and those
of the engineers the board will be able
to pay out for the work the sum of
$103, 400. leaving a balance from the
appropriation of 1891.
There was considerable discussion re-
garding the acceptance Of Mr.. OschwaId's
bid OF A4,52S. on account of one of hts
bondsmen being a woman. 1t was not
known whether Gertrude O~sehwaid. who
signed the agreement to bond OschwaId,
was married or not, and Commissioner J.
Edward Smith maintained that IL she were
a married woman she could not go upon
the bidders bond. 1t was finally decided
10 accept the bid, and, IL necessary, to ask
that another bondsman be furnished.
1t developed during the meeting of the
committee in charge that Willetts had
made an error Of 100000 bricks in computing
his bid. This, probably, accounted for the
difference between his bid and the next
highest. Upon the figures named in the
bond, had II been a formal one, the con-
tractor would have lost money to the tune
OF over $1,000 on this item alone. As It
was, the lnformality of the bid, which was
unintentional In the first place, probably
saved the contractor from a heavy loss.
Architect Henry j. King said that Mr..
wilIetts had notified him of the error
yesterday, but said that he was willing
to stand by his proposal and pocket his
loss If he had TO do so.
The informality OF the bid consisted in
the failure OF the bidder to stipulate the
time of completion. in working days, OF his
work. A space was left on the bottom OF
each form for this purpose. Several Of
the blanks were not filed out, and the
Willett bid was among the lumber.
Joseph F. Polletier, the contra ctor who
submitted a blanket bid covering the cost
of the entire building. with the exception
of the heating and ventilating apparatus,
was a close second to Oschwald. Pelle-
tiers bid. including the o~lternates accept
ed by the committee, amounted to $S9,56S,
The sum of the lowest bids aggregated
$SS.964. or $6O4 less than Pelletier's bid.
Had Pelletier's bid been less than the sum
of the lowest separate bids, he would
have been awarded the work, which was
given out to seven separate contractors as
it was.
The secretary was authorized to pay
Henry ]. King, the architect, and Runyon
& Carey, engineers for the new building,
their first payment of "a per cent. of the
cost, 81, 200 and s369.S7. respectively, on ac-
count.