The Cairo bulletin., 1908-03-11
CITY COUNCIL
LONG SESSION
ADOPTS ANNUAL APPROPRlA
TON ORDINANCE CALLING
FOR $9e, 900.
CHEAPER TELEPHONES
City Printing Bids Rejected
Sunday Theatres to Be
Permitted.

The second regular March meeting
of the city council was held last
night All members were present
excepting Aldermen Burke and Fer.
guson. His Honor, Mayor Parsons
presided. The mayor made a brief
statement regarding the meeting OF
Illinois mayors, which he had attend
cd in Chicago, expressing the belief
| that the suggestion there made, that
the bond issue limit be raised, would
be OF value TO this city This could
be done by an act Of the Legislature
whereas other plans that would af-
ford relief would require a constitu-
ferred to the starting Of the city
pumps and asked the council to APP
prove the action, which was done
The report of the finance commit
Zee recommending that the Evening
Citizens bid for the city printing be
accepted was read by the clerk.
Alderman Snyder moved to receive
and concur in the report.
AL this point David s. Lansden
president of the Bulletin company
asked permission to address the coun-
ell He said when tne Bulletin com
urny was organized the city was pay
ing three cents a line for public
printing under an arrangement by
which the price had been forced up
Since then the city had not paid one
third that price because Of the open
and fair competition inaugurated by
The Bulletin company. He did not
ask the city council to reject the
lower bid in the present instance. but
that the Citizens bid was
rot the lower He had no doubt the
finance committee thought II was the
lower when it voted to recommend 1t
but to printers and newspaper men
the contrary was apparent. Both the
Citizen and The Bulletin are set in
what is called eight point" type but
the Citizens tyne is on a ten point
body while The Bulletins is on a
nine point" body. The effect of this
was that in the same space or column
measure The Bulletin printed ten
lines and the Citizen printed only
eight lines, difference of % per
cent If the papers were paid accord
inf to line measure" instead of line
count" the Citizen would get pay
fol- l25 lines, for every 100 lines OF
actual service it gave. The Bulle- F.
tins bid was at 65 cents per 100 lines
actual count" the Citizens was 57% /
cents per 100 lines paper measure /
While the latter bid seemed the |
over. the manner of measuring" |
The space instead Of counting" the
lines, would bring the figures up to |
" cents per 90 lines The word |
measure" was the little joker" in !
he Citizens bid, which seemed to /
Do harmless, but was full of meaning.
Mr.. Fisher had offered to waive the
advantage which this gave him, but
Il would not be fair to permit him to
amend his bid; the committee and .
council would have to take the bid as
It read and as it had been submitted
Another point was that The Bulletin
had from q TO 80 per cent greater
circulation than the Citizen. and II
the council proceedings We're pub
ished for the Information of the pub
ic then this fact was worth consider
ng. The Citizen was getting all of
he county patronage, including the
ak list, The Bulletin having no
nance at this at all. There was no
Profit in the city printing at the
igures presented in the bids. but
,aper liked to have it because il was
Jews of value to the reading public.
Alderman Scullin said the matter
I circulation of the paper in which
he city's affairs were published was
{ Importance, in view of the improve
tents We were making. II
Alderman Koehler moved that the
rinting bids be referred back to the '
for further consideration 7
Alderman SNYDER moved a substi- =
ute that all bids be rejected aud the