The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1910-03-10
Mayor Makes Bitter Fight
on Hollister But Does
Not Get His Scalp
COUNCIL HAS CONFIDENCE
Bitter Attack is Made on the Street
Commissioner by Mayor and Alder
man Higley to Save the Power of
the Mayor.

Street Commissioner Charles H. Hol-
lister wears the smile which don It
come off today as he came off the vic
tor in bitter fight made against him
at the meeting of the common coun-
ell on Monday night and notwithstand-
ing the fact that a hard fight was
made to discharge the commissioner on
account of the fact that he had de-
clined to take orders from the mayor
the council by close vote upheld the
commissioner The fight came at the
meeting of the common council and it
was brought up by Alderman George
Higley who in particularly vitriolic
speech declared that the commissioner
had not been doing his duty, that he
had been known to play cards in a
blacksmith shop during working hours
and that he had refused to follow the
orders Of the mayor on some matters.
This gave the opening that the
mayor had long sought. His fight
against Hollister has been an unrelent-
ling one and since the opening of the
winter he has sought to force the COM
missioner to regard his orders rather
than those Of the committee in charge
of the street work. Hollister was on
hand and there were no words minced
in the battle of oratory. The mayor
after Alderman Higley had opened the
way declared that he had ordered Hol-
lister to do certain work and that the
latter had refused to 10 it declaring
that it was up to the mayor to give his
orders to the street committee under
whose authority he was employed.
The mayor seconded the motion of the
alderman when he declared that Hollis
ter had played cards in the blacksmith
shop. Hollister made no effort to de-
ny the soft impeachments. In fact
he told the council that he had played
cards in blacksmith shop and that
on several occasions it had been i'm
possible for him to do anything on
the streets.
Alderman George Wade took part
in the fight and clamored for the dis
charged of Hollister. Hollisters was
not without his defenders and the mem
bers of the committee remained lOyal
to him and declared that he had fol-
lowed every order they had given him
and had done his work as commission
er in satisfactory manner. Hollis
ter in his own defense admitted that
he had been placed between the devil
and the deep deep sea by the squabbles
between the mayor and the members
of the committee and that he had final
ly appealed to the city attorney for
advice as to who had right to give
orders to him and that acting on the
advice Of the city attorney he had TAX
en- his orders from the committee.
The city attorney declared that he had
instructed him that this was his prop
er course of action and that he had
told him that the mayor had right to
give orders only in an emergency.
The attorney held further that there
had been no emergency during the
time covered by the complaint of the
mayor.
In the debate the mayor declared
that he would not sign any further
orders for Hollister and this only
brought smile to the members of the
council who recalled that the mavor
had just as vigorously declared that
he would never sign the orders for the
re-surfacing of Durkee Avenue, but
history reveals the fact that the orders
were signed However, the circum-
stances surrounding the signing of ord
ers for the payment of nice, fat. Juicy.
paving contracts are possibly different
from those where only the pay of a city
employee is at stake and Hollister
may have trouble getting his money
unless he can find out what arguments
the contractors used.
When the question finally came to
vote it was on the question of the
discharge Of Hollister and after the
street commissioner in language more
vigorous than eloquent had declared
that he would not knuekle down to any
man in order to hold his job. On the
vote to discharge the vote was as fol
lows: Ayes-Aldermen Pirsch, Higley,
Harbaugh, George Wade, Willems, Wer-
ner, and John Wade. Nays-AIder-
men o 'Brien, Marlatt, Timme, Simons,
Hegeman, Swift, stenm and saftig.