Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1911-12-05

tractors to figure the cost OF grant
told and hammered away at the
truth for two months but the grant
old specifications were ramned
through the council with Gregory
alone Directing. On the evening of
protest 263 property owners repre-
scented by six lawyers objected. Nc
Carten then joined Gregory which
made impossible a three-fourths ma
jority to order paving over the OBJ
lection of the owners Of majority
of the street frontage.
After a stormy caucus the spedf-
cations were amended to provide Tor
concrete enough different from
granitoid to evade the patents.
Granitoid had been killed. but
friends reported the mayor as say
ing that it would be granitoid or
nothing. The bids were opened on
June %, 1909, but the T.-R. had
been told by contractors that they
feared the administration would
take advantage Of every opportunity
to make trouble for them and they
refused to bid. When bids were
opened a local contractor, brick
paving scontractor and the granitoid
people, we're the only bidders. The
granitoid man addressed the CONN
Gil in favor of his patented paving.
saying that the council was specify
ing his pavement, changed only SUI
ficient to evade his patents. The
lowest bid then was $1.65 n with
granitoid at $1.98. Herman shoa
Joined Gregory and McCarten to re-
ject all bids Thus as the mayor
had been quoted as saying ut would
be granitoid or nothing"
BY this time some one was agftat-
ing petition for brick on Thir-
teenth street.
In August a second attempt to
rush granitoid through the council
was made although the T.-R. had
shown that the first bid had been
$4,000 in excess of fair profit to
the contractor, but Gregory and Nc
Carten blocked 1t. The administra-
tion was insistent and McCarten
confessed that he had been ap-
preached by the paving people.
Granitoid was killed the second
time.
In the spring of 1910 the council
attempted again to get bids on con-
crete this time adopting the Fond
Du Lac specifications since the T.-R.
had exposed prices on concrete In
that city ranging from $1.1o TO
1892. The council and mayor were
now unanimous hence the T.-R. was
suspicious. The result was the err
dering OF two districts paved, very
small one with concrete and mMch
larger one with brick. The T.-R.
exposed prices on brick paving and
nearly so per cent of the property
owners in the proposed brick dis
tricts demanded concrete. The coun-
ell then changed the districts until
three blocks called for concrete to
one OF brick. Bids were opened
June 20, 1910, whereupon, as pre-
dicted, in the T.-R. the week before
the only bidders on concrete were
the two brick paving contractors
Four other concrete contractors, al
though present to bid, had been
scared out. This time concrete was
priced at $1.6S and brick at $1.s5.
At this point Providence Joined
Gregory, McCarten and the T.-R..
for had not Mike Ford made a blum
der in his bid on brick, Marshall
town would be laying brick paving
today at $1.95. Ford accidentally
reversed his figures and quoted
$1.95 on curbing and 40 cents on
paving which made 1t necessary for
the bids to go over to the next meet
ing. Ill tu6 fIucdullIuc tIAO - 49,
made the discovery that the brick
specifications were loaded vita 9
RATHER test so severe that no brick
could qualify except when the rat
tier was turned by friendly hand
and with specified dimension for
the blocks which would by the frac-
tional part OF an inch, bar all brick
excepting one make. BY the next
meeting Herman had joined Greg
DRY and McCarten and brick paving
was dead for once, June "a. 1910. A
second attempt at the same Brick
was rejected July IL.
In July the administration started
the fight anew by demanding two
new districts, one for concrete and
one for brick By this time Hull
had joined Gregory and McCarten
and Herman. They deferred the
concrete indefinitely knowing full
well what would happen to the Did