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

No Chance to Object.
Belman then went on to show that
the public had been given no oppor-
tunity to object to the proceedings.
He told of the board meeting at which /
the bids were opened the Amusement |
of the public when they found how |
large the figures were and then their |
chagrin when the board met three days |
later and let the contract in spite of
of the protests that had already been |
made.
why close the contract that night"
said Belman, there was no necessity |
for hurry. If you were about to lay
a cement walk and man offered to lay
it for Is cents a foot would you say,
Go ahead or would you walk on the
dirt for day two and see If you
could not get some one to lay it for
II cents a foot
IF there is a niger in the woodpile
we want to know it. A lawyer and
an appellate judge said the contractors
would hold up for damages If they
abrogated the contract after it was
signed and yet they were in such
hurry to r-sh into the mess"
Outlines Plan of Action.
Belman then went on to outline
plan of action similar to that which tss
meeting finally agreed upon and SINH
lar to that which is outlined in this
article. The cost of that building
must be reduced" Belman concluded,
and it ought to be mighty easy for
the architect to cut $4,000 out of that
contract without impairing the build
ing much either. Cancel the contract
and re-adyertise for bids" he shout
ed, land IL you don't do 1t we had bet
ter get some honest men on the board"
Carl Bauer told of a $260,000 man
ual training school which Mr.. Hackley
had given to the city of Muskegon and
which he thought was good enough for
Hammond. Marion Hover thought
good building should be built but that
$4,000 was too much to spend Con-
tractor j. h McClay said he made an
estimate on the building, but saw that
it would run so far above the archi-
tects estimate that he refused to put
| in his bid. Otto Knoerzer said that
| the board should have given the matter
| more consideration. Contractor Lavene
pointed to the old court house, with its
leaky roof and rotten heating plant,
as a sample of Caldwell & brakes
work
Many Citizens Talk.
l
| should be stopped and that the cost of
the building was too great. Nick Hahn
| said that after one bidder haa pulled
out, the board took a man $4,000 high
| err instead of advertising on the
chance of saving that $4,000.
Charles Jewell said he did not like
| the procedure. Bert Fischer made a
| defense of the property valuations in
! Hammond. He said valuations in Ham
mond compared favorably with other
cities
DIR. Fl. C. Groman favored the close
| supervision of the work to prevent
graft. Peter Lyons said the people hao
i been mislead as to the cost and If the
architects estimate to the cost was
| wrong the board should have read.
vertised.
Mayor Becker's Kick.
Mayor Becker took this opportunity
to point out that he had not yet sue
ceeded in securing the right to ap
point the school board. He pointed tt
the board of public works. a sampl,
of his handiwork, as a model H,
sneeringly remarked that the presen
board of education is the work OF TIL.
city council and that he did not wan
to be charged with having appointed
it. Becker did not lose the opportunit,
to refer to what he termed. the un
friendly attitude of certain newspa
per-" although his remarks were en-
| tirely Irrelevant He concluded by say
ing that he did not believe in goin,
into debt to build school of tina
character.
Frfederichs Makes Threats.
Mike Maginot, Frank Hammond, c
Friederichs and a number of other
spoke on the proposition during tn
evening. Friederichs said, IF an in
junction will not stop this deal Their
are some people who will not hav
very good regulations" He said h
believed the contract was PRACTICAL
let before the plans were out.
THE architect does not lose an
money in specifying what kind Q
! plumbing shall go into the building.
shouted Friederichs, IF this cant b
stopped we ought to have Judge Reite
call the grand jury"
Committee Appointed.
A committee consisting of w. c. Bel
man. the secretary of the meetine
), Charles Friederichs. the chairman; OF
to Knoerzer, Frank Hammond, J. +
McClay, NJ. Hover. Mike Lavene Fran
O'Shea, Lawrence Becker, Charles Jew
ell, John l.. Rhode, W. A. Hill and Her
~ Lundt were appointed to appea
before the board of education on Tues
day night and see what can be done
stop the whole deal
". c. Belman then asked for yo1
on the question of demanding that TT
board not only reduce the cost to $3.50
| 600, which he understood was bein
done, but also insisting that the boar
re-adertise for bids. The votin
brought every man in the room to h
feet.
d