The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1910-12-24


board from carrying out its contract. |
According to the statement of Charles |
Friedrich, the chairman of the meet |
ing, one man has already offered $l00
to fight the proposition.
After score or more speeches had
been heard the fact became clearly APP
parent that to avoid with the citizens
of Hammond the board Will have to
axe the following action:
l-Rescind the contract with Cald-
well & Drake.
Have the plans for the new school
re-drawn after competitive bids are re-
ceived from number of architects.
3-Re- advertise for bids on the gen
eral contract and award the contract
to the lowest bidder
1t is only under these terms that the
citizens committee will agree to an
armistice with the school board. 9th
erwis. it is battle to the finish.
battle to the finish in which some of
the leading citizens of Hammond will
lead the fight.
Ugly Things said.
There were some ugly things said
last inbht. BY innuendo the board was
charged with conspiring to give Archi-
tect J. r. Hutton the contract for draw
ing the plans without having received
competitive bids with deceiving the
public as to the real cost of the build
ing until after the contract was let
with undue haste in signing the con-
tract with Caldwell Il Drake and with
permitting pressure to be brought to
bear which resulted in the elimination
of Eric Lunds bid, which was $4,000
lower.
If yellow journalism is sensational
| ism by the press; yellow oratory is a
new brand of sensationalfsm that
seemed to prevail last evening, and to
be INDUCED in by some of the best citi-
zens of Hammond. Responsible bust
ness men did not hesitate to intimate
| that the members of the board were
grafters and to openly allege that
| Caldwell & Drake were crooked. If a
newspaper had taken the responsible
| ity for what was said last evening it
would have had dozen libel suits on
its hands That indicates the temper
1 of the meeting.
| ReIman Makes Speech.
| One of the most striking speeches
was made by w. .Belman. cashier
of the First National bank of Ham
| mond, who for nineteen years was iden-
| titled with the educational departmen mt
| of the city in the capacity of superin-
| tendent
| Belman said his interest in the prof.
ect developed when he read in the pa
| pers that the cost of the new school
| house was to be 1866. 600. He said the
| people had been lead to believe that
the cost of the building would not be
| more than $250.00O and that he was
| willing to see that amount spent
He then told of an interview he had
with Judge Joseph G. Ibach, in which
that member of the school board had
informed him that the school would be
built regardless of the kicking that
was done by the public.
4 told Ibach." said Belman, that
for one did not propose to stand fol
the expenditure of s365,00O for a man
ual training school and that I would
be heard by the people of Hammond
before 1 would let the project &C
through"
He then told of his interview with
reporter that THE TINES an interview
which marked the beginning of the
, agitation against the present large ex
penditure for the manual training
building and the opposition to cald
well & Drake as the contractors.
Analysts Situation.
| With this explanation as to how h
happened to get into the fight, Bel
man went on with an analysis of tn.
; situation. He said there was com
bination of forces at work which ha'
resulted in the preparation of thi
deal.
He said he would not enter into thi
phase of the matter. but would call at
tention to some of the results of thi
combination. He pointed to the fac
that the contract for the drawing o
the plans had been let by Messrs. Drees
en-, Ibach and Bicknell 10 ]. T. Hutto
without receiving competitive Bids.
He then said that after the boar
had discovered that the cost Of til
building would be 100000 more tha
the architects estimate on a basis o
Eric Lunds bid the board perrnitte
the withdrawal of the low bid an
awarded the contract to the next high
est bidder at a price $4,000 above tn