The Detroit times., 1911-07-15
MAYOR ASKS FOR
CLEANER CHARGES
IN WRITING
viii Make Rigid Investigation rnts
Award Of $1,000 Contract To Hieh
Bidders. To Exclusion Of Ma
chine Proved Best.
Former Inspector snitgen Says
"rusc' Hose Is Too Large
Calls On Mayor.

Mayor Thompson's inquiry ;n,o
the purchase OF vacuum cleaners Nv
'ne board Of education win begin
next wednesday morning, at 10
O'clock. The mayor has asked Luman
w Goodenongh, the local attorney
retained by the United Electric Co
OF Canton, whose cleaner was tnr,.
ca down in spite OF It's excelIenf SHOW.
ms 70 put his charges in writing He
mas also invited all parties interesfed
20 come In. 80 tnat the matter ran
oe siven fHH aiFing, with the ,n,xnr
acting as sole Judge.
wen go into all the facts ana
Wen settle II then and there a. far
as ! am concerned" said the nnavor
Saturday noon. ~
Inc announcement that the navc,
would investigate the boards actor
with reference to the vacuum clear-
ers has caused unusual actfvifv IN
the part OF some OF the Concerns thaf
We're awarded contracts FOR cInana,s
and a number OF other neonIe tnra-.
ested in one way or another Hs 10.
caned up at his residence late Friday
=, nsne ~ woman who offered TO give
nim some inside information. He
inyiteo her to attend the hearing
Freu Cody, q former school princi.
pal, VINO IS now in the Insurance. bus
mess In the Ford building. called I'D
his honor, Saturday morning. appar.
entiy on behalf OF the McCrum- How
ell Co., who sold the board eight ma
chines on the recommendation OF the
committee on janitors and supplies
What interest have you In this
matter Mayor Thompson inquired.
~ am stockholder," was the re.
Cody attended the school hoard
meeting Thursday night. when the
board voted to purchase the cleaners.
and seemed to be wellpleased with
the action.
Among the callers at the executive
office, during the forenoon. was form.
er School Inspector Caspar Sniteen.
who Is in the same office with Cody.
He was q member OF the old com
mittee on supplies and janitors. which
considered the vacuum cleanere Ne.
fore the old board went out OF once
and whose recommendation were re.
adopted by the new committee. Snit.
gen told the mayor he wanted 10 ex-
plain why the "Tuec" cleaner. manu-
factured by the United Electric Co.
MAS not recommended
The principal reason he gave was
that the hose on the 'Tnec" machine
was larger than the specifications call.
ed for.
Il am no longer amember OF the
committee and have no interest In the
matter" said Snitgen to The Times
later. We voted for the sweepers
that We thought would give the best
service. They couldn't all get a con-
tract very well. could they?.
President Charles r. Robertson. OF
the board Of education, who alone
stood out with Inspector Mumford FOR
q reconsideration OF the purchase ana
reference OF the entire matter back
TO the committee, called on the MAYOR
10 urge him TO exercige his veto.
Il am looking at this matter from
a purely business standpoint said
MI Robertson. ",rhe vacuum cleaner
industry Is still In the experimental
stage, and the tests that were made
by the board were largely theoretical.
| believe we should give all me manu-
facturers whose machines come up TO
the specifications required an equal
chance. Let them all put their sweep.
ers in the school and let us try them
out in practical way as to eficiency
and cost OF operation. Then we can
pick out the sweeper that makes the
best showing and adopt IT,
Several Of the inspectors went out
to the Ford automobile plant last
Thursday, to see the "Tuecr sweepers
In operation there. and were wen
pleased with the showing. II was
practically agreed among them at that
time that all the manufacturers who
had qualified should have an equal
chance, but when IL came to q vote.
Thursday night. the committees re.
port was adopted almost unanimously.
Representatives OF the United Elec
trio Co. are coming from Canton to
attend the hearing, and the inquiry
promises to develop into very inter.
esting session.