Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-09-27
IS RAT SNEbLED
/. By commission?
THE BIDS FOR PAVING ANYWAY,
DIDN'T LOOK RIGHT
A COMBINE FIGURES OUT
Officials Claim That Eureka Company
Coming In at Last Moment,
y Upset Othcr Plans

! Because It Is hintcd by certain per-
sons who are supposed TO be "in the
know that the Cleyclund-T Trinidad
and Parker Washington paving COM
panies entered into a combine to
'hog' the big l25 block paving Job
and that their plans were upset by the
entrance into the game of the Eu-
r,ka Paving Company at the last mo-
ment, with the result that the Eu-
ryha company is low bidder, with a
price higher than has before been
paid for paving in the city Of Tulsa,
all bids on the contract are likely 10
be rejected by the city commissions
ers when they meet In regular scs-
sion Friday morning. While none Of
the commissioners win commit them
selves on the matter the rumor Is
current about the city hall that the
officials have smclled "A rat in the
woodpile" and that the paving bids
Will be re-advertised.
! The facts in connection with the
alleged combination are suhstanti-
ally as follows from what can be
| gathered from persons in positions to
know
Some time ago the Eureka Paving
/ Company announced that when 1t
/ completed the contracts it had on its
| hands at that time 1t would never do
any more work in Tulsa. The season
| for this announcement, according to
well founded rumors afloat al the time
was that the Texas Company had
withdrawn its "backing" of the En-
Ieka. and as a result the organization
was rendered helpless as far as hand
ling any more big Jobs were con-
cerncd When the time came for
presenting bids on the recent con-
tract--thc biggest ever let at one time
IN Tulsa-the competing firms under
stood pr tty well, and the city offic-
ials likewise believed that the Eureka
Company would submit no bid This
left the Cleveland Trinidad and the
Parker Washington companies the on
~ cOnteuders for the work, although
the KaW Valley Paving Company of
Kansas city put in a bid at a figure
far above any others. \ perusal of
the bids submitted by the Cleveland
Trinidad Company and Parkcr-W Wash
ington Company will show that their
concerns, either knowingly or other
wise, Wer exceedingly and unusually
kind toward one another.
The Parker Washington COMPANY
for instance, has bid on one street
and the Cleveland-T Trinidad Company
on another street included in the
contract, and the bids Of either CON
cern do not conflict Where both con-
Germs have bids on the same stretch
of paving work, either one or the
other of the companies has been easily
the high man. Had there been mo-
body in the field but these two com
panies, the paving contract would
have been pretty evenly divided be-
tween the concerns at "phat" price.
had the bids been accepted, It would
have been as nice a division Of the
pie as any machine politician ever
handed out.
But the plans Of the companies-if
there were any plans-were rudely
shattered at the last moment when
the Eureka Company-which the 9TH
er concerns counted on as staying out
of the bidding-came in with a bid
on practically all of the work in the
contract. All in all, the Eureka Com
pany's bids were lower than those of
the rival concerns And the fact that
IS worrying the commissioners is the
figures included in the Eureka Com
panys bid, which are. in almost ev-
cry instance, higher than the city en-
gineer's original estimate on the
work
There is a possibility that this state
of circumstances makes the bid ille-
gal but even If City Attorney Ram
sey holds the bid legal, the commits
sioncrs are very likely to announce
Friday that all bids are rejected. The
Kaw Valley Company. which lost out
hopelessly in the bidding, had assured
the commissioners that if bids are re-
advertised for, they will submit some
prices much nearer the engineers es-
innate than In their former bid.
That the whole matter has been un-
satisfactory to the city commissioners
is evidenced by the fact that the let
ting of the contract has been post
poned three times, first, because the !
city engineer had not compiled the
bids. secondly because it was desired |
that the legal phase of the bids be
gone into thoroughly. and third
which was esterday-because for the /.
ostensible desire of the commissioners
to have analysis made of different !
paving already laid in Tulsa by the |
three high bidders.