Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-28

J ton of the outlying districts contrib
utory to the site in the future, and
finally touched upon the matter of
local materials and contracts, speak
ing of his concern that there be no
un1air treatment of either
/ in turn explained my experience
as school architect. dwelt upon my
particular fitness for the work con-
templated, and assured him that If
came into Harrisburg 1t would be
with clean record, and with some
assurance that 1 could give Harris
burg value received. / was particu-
larly guarded in my talk with Mr..
McIlhenny, and nothing / said to
him could possibly be construed as
being in the slightest degree i'm
proper.
Nothing About Commission
Nothing whatever was said at
this time by Mr.. McIlhenny about q
division of commissions or anything
else improper. In fact his attitude
. was such that my impression of him
was favorable and l had the thought
that he was maligned or misrepre-
sented-until, as he was leaving, he
said that If L was elected he might
want to see me in Philadelphia. AS
thought this over L did not like it.
AS to the site l assured Mr.. Nc
Ilhenny that if the site was as he had
stated the case to me it would GER
tainly recommend itself to the
Boards favorable consideration. and
that If called upon to do so | would
give the matter due consideration
and investigation; and as to local
materials l told him that it was my
universal practice to investigate all
local materials to determine their
fitness for use in the work, and to
admit all materials which were suit
able, not only as a matter of econ
omy, but as matter of good busi-
ness, and that / could assure him
that all things being equal local men
should have the preference in the
awarding of contracts as far as my
authority in the matter was involved.
No definite promise was eXacted in
the matter was involved. No def
mite promise was exacted from me
nor made, except in the general term
taboVe given. The interview termin-
ated with a luncheon in company
with Mr.. Petre, and the interview
ended.
Asks Division of Commission
That afternoon Mr.. McIlhenny
spent at the office of the American
Seating Company in conversation
with Mr.. Boyd substantially the same
as held with myself, Mr.. Mcllhenny
| ISboI hlllS W llldJ 6Ntll-
ing. | had no further word with or
from Mr.. McIlhenny at any time un-
til about March 19 at which time Mr.
Petre told me he had received word
from Mr.. Stewart that his friend in
Harrisburg (Mr. McIlhenny) would
expect me to relinquish one-fifth of
my commission and that if he (Mc-
llhenny could get assurance from
me to that effect my election was as
! ot 10 he
April 6.
This proposition I again declined,
and in order that there would be no
misunderstanding as to my position,
| either upon the part of Mr.. Stewart
or Mr.. McIlhenny, Mr.. Petre came to
Harrisburg March 81 at my sugges-
ton and told MIR. Mcllhenny that |
would not agree to his proposition,
that if my coming to Harrisburg was
contingent upon such terms ! would
be compelled to withdraw. | again
dropped the whole matter and heard
| nothing further from it until l got
| your telegram in pursuance of which
| came to Harrisburg and told you
! the whole story. Indeed, | thought
perhaps my competitor had been
elected and wrote you several weeks
since asking whether such was the,
case to which letter l seem to have
received no reply.
You have asked me why l was
unwilling to have my statement to
you read in public and why / stated
at the meeting of the Board of Edu-
cation that l would rather retire
from the competition than have it
made public. / was taken complete
ly by surprise. i was in a situation
which in every respect was unlike
anything / had ever experienced be-
fore. i had no idea of appearing
before the Board. / had made the
statement to you because you had
advised me as | understood it that a
report that l had met Mr.. McIlhenny
was being used in a way to reflect
on me and against the efforts of
those who thought | should be Sc
lected as the architect of the Board
and / made it in what | supposed to
be spirit of fairness to those gem
tlemen as well as to myself. | had
no objection to the fact being known
by those who L thought at the mo-
ment were entitled to know hem.
THE statement was actually read
to half dozen or more gentlemen
who l was told were supporting my
candidacy, in advance of the meeting
of the Board of Education and j.
was perfectly willing, and so stated
at the meeting of the Board, that L
was willing to have it read to the
members of the Board for they all
were certainly entitled to know the
facts. But when you, as presiding
officer, suggested that it be read pub
licly. / shuddered
my statement gravely reflected
upon, necessarily and unavoidably if
l were fair and honest, two persons,
one of them member of my pro-
fession / had never before been
called upon or found it necessary to
do such a thing even in private in
defense of my own integrity. The
whole experience was distressing in
the highest degree.
For His Own Defense
"Then, too, | saw the members of
the press and, as / now analyze my
feelings, / saw a public scandal in
connection with which my name |
would be used and | saw that peo-
pie who might not have the oppor-
tunity or take the trouble to get
all the facts, might be improperly
involved to my personal and profess |
sional injury. But now that | have
been publicly attacked without prov
ocation, | must defend myself pub |
licly. and the truth must be publicly |
known, no matter what the conse-
quences.
II want to express my deep ap-
preciation first to the members of |
the Board of Education who have
been so partial as to favor me with |
their votes, and also the newspapers
of the city who have, L understand,
unanimously favored my selection !
and also to the Chamber of Com
merce and all other organizations