The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-07-01
Bids for Fuel for City Light
Plant to be Asked for
Again by the Board of
Works.
SEE DISCRIMINATION
Only One Company Able to
Submit Bids for Coal Un-
der Specifications for City
Plant.

Specifications on coal to be used the
ensuing year by the municipal plant,
as prepared by Supt Kleinknecht of
the city plant, were such as to pro-
vide a discrimination against some
local dealers, in the opinion of the
members of the board Of public works.
Consequently when bids on coal for
both general city use and the munic-
ipal plant we're submitted today the
board, with the consent of the bidders,
received only bids on coal for general
city use. Bids for coal for the city
plant will be re-advertised for
No comment was made by the
board, however, on one discriminating
feature of the specifications for coal
for general city use, which limits bid
ding on coal to be used at the city
park, carload, to the Glen Allen
variety. A. Harsh, who has supplied
coal for the city plant for the last six
consecutive years, is the only local
dealer who handles Glen Allen coal.
and was, naturally, the only bidder
on park coal. Glen Allen is merely a
trade name. There are several va
rieties which analyse the same as the
Glen Allen.
.ss.... Confines Bidding. ...s.........
h Under the specifications for city
plant coal bidding was confined to
washed nut and slack coal. Superin-
tendent Kleinknecht favored this coal
because, he stated, 1t was proved to
be the best for use at the city plant
through the medium of tests conduct
ed during the past year. The Harsh
company is said to be the only one
which makes specially of washed
coal, and President Bavis of the board,
in his address to the bidders today,
made the assertion that only about
two per cent of the coal mined in this
country was washed.
There we're several other dealers
who submitted bids on washed nut
and slack coal but there were other
dealers who were prevented from bid
ding because they could not supply
washed nut and slack. Because of
this bids on city plant coal were re-
jetced.
Sees Discrimination.
"The city has advertised for 10000
tons of washed nut and slack coal for
the city plant" Mr.. Bavis said to the
bidders. "If this amount was pur-
chased at $500 ton, as hitherto, and
the supply contains fifteen per cent
moisture by absorption through wash
ing, as we have been informed, then
the plant would be investing about
SO, 900 in water. We believe that in
limiting bias to only washed nut and
slack we would practice discrimina-
ton"
In re-advertising for bids for city
plant coal the specifications will pro-
vide for nut and slack varieties, elm
mating the word washed"
kieinknecht's View.
Supt. Kleinknecht said that in speci-
flying for only washed coal he did not
know at the time that such provis-
ion would eliminate some dealers from
the bidding. He said he was prompted
in preparing such specifications by the
success the plant has had with wash
ed nut and slack.
At the hearing before the state COM
mission last week Kleinknecht testi-
fled that tests conducted at the plant
had shown that with three and half
pounds of washed nut and slack one
kilowatt hour could be produced
Upon cross examination 1t was dis
covered that In conducting these tests
no allowance had been made for
shrinkage nor for theft. Other wit.
nesses testified that from such causes
the actual loss in the amount Of coal
contracted for was, in some instances,
as high as twenty-five per cent.