The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-06
BRIDGE BOARDS WON'T CONSIDER BIDS PRESENTED Mayors Suggestion Not To Open Them Endorsed By
 Two Commissions. IGNORE WARNING OF
 EXPERT ENGINEERS Steel Prices Soaring, Ad- ninistration Humors Un-
 accountable Whim.

On the pretext that the city might not get a fair deal the members of the Grand street and the East Wash ington avenue bridge commissions at the suggestion of Mayor Wilson today voted not to open any bids on the bridges. They also voted to readver- tise for bids to be opened on Satur- day, May 6, at 12 o'clock noon.-
 The joint meeting of the commission took this action despite the fact that bridge building experts present at the meeting said that within al month the prices of steel will likely be much higher than at present. Also that bridge building firms might be en- gagged with other contracts to such extent that they would not care to bid On the plans.
 Sixteen bridge building firms asked for plans, of the proposed bridges but of these only three offered bids.
 Toole & Sunderlin of Bridgeport bid on the East Washington avenue bridge. Snare & Trieste Co.,, Wool worth building, New York city, bid on the Grand street bridge, and Edward DeVoe Tompkins, Inc, IT East Thirty-eighth street, New York, on both bridges. Other firms that took plans but did not bid were:
 Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co.,, Chicago, H.; Holbrook, Cabot & Ro1- 1ins, Bridgeport, Conn; J. c. Rogers, 271 w. 125th street, New York; Arthur McMullen Co., 149 Broadway, New York; AveriI-Matthews Co., 917 Essex building, Newark, N. J.; The FOunda- ton Co.,, Woolworth building, New York, N. Y; The T. A. Scott Co.,, New London, Conn; Penn Bridge Co.,, Bea- yer Falls, Pa; H. P. Converse & Co.,, S8 Broad street, Boston, Mass; Ma tionaI Construction Co.,, Jenkins Ar cade building, Pittsburgh, Pa; Mason, Milton & Co.,, IT Battery Place, New York, N. Y.; Johnson, Clifford Co.,, 30 E 42nd street, New York, N. yY.; Hickey Co.,, 2,o9O Railway building. St. Louis, Mo.
 An executive session, was held be-. fore the meeting and it was voted to return the bids without opening them. Alderman TooIe of the firm of TooIe arrangement. M. B. SkiI1en, repre- senting the Snare & Triest Co.,; EdA ward Dev. ~Tompkins of that company and c. H. Norwood, an electrical expert, who furnished bids on the electrical work on the bridges ob- jected.
 MT. Skil1en said the price of steel is soaring and it was dou ubtfu1 if the prices su omitted could be duplicated a month from now. MT. Norwood said the contractors had gone to con- siderable trouble in getting prices and the prices quoted only held good for procuring a contract within two weeks.
 MT. Tompkins said the prices he had offered were for material. for inn m mediate delivery and within a month the prices would be much higher. He thought in fairness to the bidders, SD many firms having had an equal chance, that the contracts ought to be, let today. Some of the representa- tives of the bidding firms said after the meeting it is unfair to reject bids without opening them as the prepar- ation of each bid had cost the com pany making it from $500 to $40O.
 Mayor Wilson said he thought more complete bids might be obtained and the city get better prices if the opening of bids, were postponed for a month and bids advertised again Commissioner P. H. Brady made such a motion and it was seconded by AL derman MacF'ayden and carried with out dissenting voice.