Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-06-06
G|LLEN WILL ASK
INJUNCTION TO KILL
PAVING CONTRACTS
Seeks to Restrain City from
Using Bitulithic on
Streets.
SLAP AT COLLEAGUE AT
WORKS BOARD MEETING
Members Vote to Lay Same
Pavement on Eight More
Thoroughfares.

Ithic as an unfit pavement, Commis-
sioner Charles P. Gillen, of that body
will now appeal to the courts In
junction proceedings will be institut-
ed within the next few days to re-
strain the city from laying this style
of pavement.
Mr.. Gillen continued his attacks on
the bitulithic interests at yesterdays
meeting of the board, at the same
time taking a slap at his colleagues
He insisted that any public official
who persisted in giving contracts to-
a concern at from forty-five to fifty
cents square yard more than the
pavement can be laid for lays himself
open to suspicion.
In spite of his spirited and deter
mined opposition, however. the board
adopted resolutions directing the en-
gineers to prepare bitulithic specif-
cations for eight additional streets
To this Mr.. Gillen alone voted in the
negative.
Bitter in His Attack.
Mr.. Gillen's attack on bitulithic was
bitter. He charged the company with
restorting to any methods or means
to attain its ends, and read extracts
from newspaper clippings and engi-
neering reports from various sections
of the country that reeked with scan
dal.
Commissioners Charles F. Kraeme
and Albert H. Biertuempfel and Chief
Engineer Morris R. Sherrerd took
Mr.. Gillen's charges as a personal af-
front. All referred particularly to an
article in a New York newspaper
yesterday, supposed to have been
sponsored by Mr. Gillen. In this
Kraemer and Biertuempfel were
characterized as machine Demo-
crats,'' while attention was directed
to the fact that Francis Sherrerd, a
nephew of the chief engineer. was an
employee of the Standard Bitulithic
Company.
To all Mr. Gillen replied that be
had not made the statements at
tfibuted to him.
At the outset Mr.. Gillen read a
statement which rather summed up
the various newspaper articles and
reports to which he referred later.
This was as follows:
"The methods of the Bitulithic
Trust are such as to cause Vulnerable
scandals wherever its pavements are
laid. This trust is charged with dis
honest methods in procuring sigma
lures of property owners to its petit
tions; 1t is charged with attempting
to bribe public officials; 1t is charged
with taking advantage of the mon
opoly it enjoys through the kindness
of city officials who prepare closed
specifications by charging so cents
and upward a yard more than Is
charged when specifications are open
and competition allowed. 1t is also
charged with laying pavements diff
ferent from the kind specified by its
patents,e while creating a monopoly
and shutting out competition by
virtue of those patents which the
Bitulithic Trust itself does not live
up to-"
VIII Answer Charges.
At this point President Turner, of
the Standard Bitulithic Company, de-
manded that Mr.. Gillen's papers be
given into the boards custody. He
stated that the charges made were
very serious and declared that his
company intended to answer them.
Continuing his arguments Mr.. Gill
len declared that the bltulithic COM
pany is charging the city of Newark
1927 a square yard for a pavement
which should be laid for forty-seven
to sixty-seven cents a yard less, un-
der competitive bidding.
when we award a contract to this
company" he continued, 1--WE are
simply robbing the people of New
ark. What right have we to do this?
m addition m ha t.
charging eighty-nine cents running
foot for curbing that the other con-
tractors in competitive jobs charged
seventy and seventy-two cents foot.
Now the bitulithic company is not
satisfied with g. reasonable amount of
the paving business, 1t usually, after
getting foothold in a section, and
after getting a grip on public officials,
resorts to hogging the business.
In 1911 the bitulithic trust had
Newark by the throat and succeeded
in paving 121,000 yards at a total cost
of $2S6.051, over one third of the total !
paving jobs awarded in the city dur
ing that period. In 1912 the trust
still had Newark by the throat. and |
laid 1O9,191 square yards. and in ad- /
dition to this were awarded contracts |
for four or five other streets, the work |
on which is being done this year.
"In 1912 the administration in the |
Board of Works, which seemed to be |
so friendly with the bitulithic trust |
was supp1anted by an administration |
of the opposite party. The citizens of |
Newark had a right to expect that |
the grip of the trust on Newark |
would be broken, but what do We
find? Already the Standard Btu |
lithic Company has been awarded a
half dozen contracts, and now reso-
luton is presented to give the trust |
eight more streets. The trust be-
lieves that it has Newark by the |
throat and will go ahead and flood
the city with this inferior pavement
.'I have warned the board repeated
lv that if there is great amount
of this pavement put down it would
not surprise me to see the city go
bankrupt in trying to maintain II.
It seems however, that majority
of this board are bent upon letting
the trust have full sway. In that
case there is only one thing to be
done, and that Is an appeal to the
courts propose to fight this bitu-
lithic trust as long as am in this