The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-07-17
MORAN GETS
STRONG STARE IN
LIEU Of CASH
Board of Works DefieS Mayor
and Refuses to Accept Main
Street Paving.
CONTRACTOR MAKES BIG
TALK WITHOUT AVAIL
SAYS HE is SCAPEGOAT OF
PETTY AND TRIVIAL
QUARREL.

The city board of works last evening
took decisive action regarding the ac-
ceptsnce Of the paving of Main street
by p. ]. Moran, which brings the diff
ferences between that body on the one
side, and the mayor, city engineer and
city council on the other, to a focus.
The board defied Mayor John 5. Brans-
ford, told Pat Moran that he must so
to the courts before he Will receive pay
for the Main street work, or before it
will be accepted.
The resolution offered by c. d. Rock
lidge at the meeting of the board last
week was adopted in its entirety. This
provides that since Moran disObeyed
two orders of the board to put in ex-
pansion joints between street curb and
sidewalks, the board refuses to accept
the work or consider any estimate for
it. 1t was opposed by T. G. Armstrong
the only member of the board who is a
concrete expert, and was carried by the
votes of II. c. Mcmillan, chairman: c.
D. ROOklidge and c. P. Brooks. W J..
/ HallOran, the fifth member of the board,
is out of town, but is understood TO
stand with Mayor BTansfOTd and MI.
/ Armstrong.
/ 1t was thought that the board would
| drop the petty dispute after the mayor
= had talked to them earlier in the week.
/ He told them that he would consider
/ the passage Of the resolution a slap at
/ him. Also he told Chairman Mcmillan
| that he had been blocking Main street
/ paving all the way through, and seized
/ this small pretext to try to hold it up.
/ In the face Of this talk with the mayor,
| the board went ahead with their refusal
to accept the work
Moran Talks Plainly.
/ P. ]. Moran was present at the meet
/ ing last evening, and talked pretty
! plainly to the members. He told them
in erect that if they had had their way
I Main street would not be the beautiful
street it is today and would not have
been paved before the encampment.
You fellows are having your nights
down here with the city engineer. and
you want to take 1t out of me. Do YOU
call that faiT?" inquired Mr. Moran
Moran insisted that he had complied
/ with the contract in every particular
He turned to one section which is in
this contract, as in all others. laying
down the powers of the board in the di-
recting of work and enforcement OF
penalties in which their decision is final
and read another following which SAYS
| that all questions Of Interpretation of
the contract or specifications OF plans
and all technical matters shall be de-
eided by the city engineer.
Chairman Mcmillan here experienced
a sudden change of base. He had beer
| relying upon the contract all along. and
had been talking about it Now he
said; Il don't care what the contract
says. 1t can't alter the statutes"
History Of the Dispute.
Moran then told the history of the
quarrel, which he stigmatized as petty
and trivial He had stopped the work
when the board ordered. Rim to do so
and started the work again when the
mayor told him to do so.
But we never told you to stop" said
Mr.. Mcmillan. "Oh, yes, you did" said
Moran. And he continued:
The city engineer came along and
asked me who had told me to nut IN
expansion joints. I told him that ii
was the board of works, and he said hi
would go and see the mayor. The mayol
told me to go ahead and finish the work
and I did so.
You fellows are trying to settle youl
quarrels at the expense Of the contrac.
tor. Just because you people down her,
can't get along together, you vent YOU
spite on the contractor, and he is tn,
man who has TO suffer for your qusrrels
Is that business? ] want to know ii
you people mean to hold up those esti
mates now that the work is all fin
ished ?"
That's what the resolution means
said the chairman.
Then all I have got to say is that
, don't see why ] should suffer on &C
count Of your petty quarrels."
; "We don't quarrel down here" saic
MIR Mcmillan.
"Oh. I've been coming down here to,
long not to know all about your scraps.
retorted Moran.
The contractor was by this time thor
Oughly warmed up. While you people
/ we're fighting over this petty and tri
vial matter, ] was going ahead and get
ting the work done. If / had stopped
the work in the middle of it. as YOU
wanted, Il might have served you right
but wouldn't have been the best thinr
p for the people on Main street. The,
wanted a paving. and they wanted # a
= / once J gave it to them under a con
p tract which I followed In ever. particu
, lar You are trying to dodge behind
Continued on Page 3.