The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-02-20
In Special Session Board Re-
ceived and Closed Con-
tract For Same.
SPECIAL TAXATION OF FIVE
MILLS REQUIRED TO MEET IN.
STALLMENTS, WHICH RUN OVER
PERIOD OF FOUR RYEARS--LARGE
NUMBER WITNESSED CLOSING
ACTS REGARDING CONTRACT.

What Mr.. Blount says is untrue"
The above declaration came near pre-.
cipitating an encounter during tha
meeting of the board of county com.
missioners last night between Hon. w.
A. Blount, who appeared as attorney
for the Keynton Construction Com
pany in the matter of signing up the
Jail contract, and Rudolf Benz, the Mo.
bile architect, who, In defending what
he thought had been mistake on the
part of Mr.. Blount let slip the half
dozen words which really implied that
falsehood had been uttered by Mr..
Blount. The latter, walking over to
Mr.. Benz, said firmly that he wanted
the statement repeated, and insisted
that Mr.. Benz repeat just those half
dozen words. Everybody in the large
audience expected to see a personal
encounter, but when Mr.. Benz, stand
ing before Mr.. Blount, said: 'I'll take
that back" 1t ended the drawn rela-
tions between the men.
HOW 1T HAPPENED.
The way it came about was this:
Mr.. Benz, just before a motion that
the contract for the jail be signed up,
stated to the board that he understood
the building inspector had made a
declaration that the plans, in present
shape, would not pass the city's build
ing laws, and he suggested, and asked
permission, to consult with the city's
building inspector with view of maxi
ing such changes as would cause the
plans to call for the issue of building
permit. Mr.. Blount, remembering
that the architect who had just ad-
dressed the board, and his brother,
were very anxious to have the CONTRACT
approved at the former meeting of the
board after an examination Of perhaps
an hour, or two hours at the most,
Fcalled attention TO such, and additfdn
ally stated that declaration on the
part of the building inspector was not
official, so far as the board was con-
cerned. Mr.. Morgan, the county attor-
ney, also stated that there was nothing
in the objection of he building inspect
or's statements referred to, and that
there was nothing official before the
board in that respect. Mr.. Blount also
stated that the building inspectors
alleged statements were not of an Of
ficial character because they had not
been filed with the board, and of
course the board could not take cogni-
zance of any such declaration. He
then. recalled the apparent haste and
zeal on the part of the architect to
have the contract signed last Tuesday
night, and that is what the architect
meant when he said: What Mr..
Blount says is untrue"
SIGNED CONTRACT.
The contract for the new county Jail,
to cost approximately $120,992, with
an accrued four years interest at per
cent, to make the total cost of the
building alone about S140,251, was
signed up at $50 o'clock last night.
In fact, just as the first signature.
which was that of Chairman Oerting,
was affixed, the clock in the tower
tolled off the half hour period. The
contract was signed by the chairman
of the board, by A. J. Keynton, for the
Keynton Construction Company; by
Geo. T. Morgan, county attorney, and
by w. A. Blount, attest for the second
party, or the construction company
named. Before the signatures were
attached, however, the clerk started to
read the lengthy contract He
struggled through four pages and was
then relieved by the county attorney,
who read the other eight pages. Then,
after the reading had been completed,
motion was made by Commissioner
Davis that the paper be accepted ana
signed. The motion was seconded by
Commissioner McQuarrie, and all
voted on it. Commissioner Brown was
not present.
PLANS ENDORSED.
After the contract had been en-
dorsed, the architect again put the
board on notice that the locking de.
vices and their details had not been
presented. W. E. Pauley, representing
the Pauley Jail Company, which will
furnish these details, and his sales.
man, Mr. Parham, were on hand, mere.
ly as spectators last night. Their
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