Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-06-08
SHOWS HOW CITY
CAN SAVE ON HOSE
Lowest Bidder Points Out
Way to Get Larger
+. Supply

aroused in the purchase of $4,000
worth of hose for the city Are de-
partment, which has been pending
for weeks.
The HARRISBURG TELE-
| GRAPH is in receipt of letter
| from H. ]. Behr, manager of the
mechanical department of the B. F.
| Goodrich Rubber Company, lowest
| bidder on the contract for the hose,
| endeavoring to show how the city
can save money and at the same
| time get much larger supply for
the sum to be expended.
Th letter has been in the hands
of the HARRISBURG TELE-
GRAUH for some time, but its pub
lication was delayed because of the
illness of City Commissioner E. 2.
Gross, superintendent of the park
and fire departments, who is now
recovering. 1t is understood Mr..
Gross will have a statement to make
in connection with awarding of the
contract, probably at the meeting of
Council next Tuesday.
The letter explaining the situa-
ton follows:
To the Editor:
Commissioner Gross is confront
ed with the problem of making an
intelligent and economical selection
from about fifteen or eighteen diff
ferent brands of fire hose. We
have put in, as you know, a bid of
7s cents on the same grade of hose
we furnished the city of Philadel-
phia. Two other brands OF hose,
we are led to believe, are being ia
vorably considered. These brands
| cost $1.00 per foot. 1t seems to us
that from the standpoint of fairness
for both Harrisburg and those who
a
submitted should be carefully
weighed on its merits. Politics and
partisanship should play no part
and it is on this basis that we aAe
addressing you. There is absolute
ly nothing mysterious about fire
hose. The quality of fire hose can
be determined just as accurately as
you can determine the quality of a
suit of clothes, a piece of furniture
or the kitchen stove. The first
thing to consider is the integrity and
reliability of the manufacturer max
ing the goods. We, ourselves, have
been making fire hose for over
torty-seven years. We have the
largest rubber factory in the world;
we are growing still larger and with
our growth we have maintained
reputation for reliability and quail
ity of goods that Is surpassed by
no other manufacturer in our line.
Tests Determine Quality
In the second place, the quality of
fre hose can be accurately deter
mined by physical tests. Practical
ly all fire hose is submitted to a
400-pound pressure when 1t is pur-
chased, but this is no test at all,
since any cheap, shoddy hose would
meet this requirement. The life of
fire hose is determined by the quail
ity of the rubber tube. The tube of
fire hose should, therefore, be care
fully examined to make sure that
1t is real rubber and not shoddies
and reclaimed stocks which deterio-
rate rapidly. Here in Philadelphia
all samples of fire hose submitted on
the last bid were most rigidly in
spected and our hose, which is the
same we are offering Harrisburg,
showed a quality in the tube which
was not surpassed by other hose
costing as much as 800 per foot.
For your information, we are at
taching a complete schedule of the
tests as they were made here, so
that you can see how accurately and
how decisively the quality of fire
hose can be determined.
Must Consider Service
The third point to consider is the
service which a certain make of fire
hose will give. Since we have been
making hose for more than forty
seven years, that, in itself, Is proof
that our hose stands up, or we would
not continue to sell it. The city of
Boston has just purchased its elev-
enth consecutive order of Goodrich
hose. Last August the city of New
York purchased forty-nine thousand
feet of our hose. In October Phil
adelphia purchased twenty-six thou
sand feet of the same hose we are
offering Harrisburg. There is not
an important city in the country
where Goodrich hose is not being
used. In Wilmington we have hose
in service which is over seventeen
years old.
We have offered hose to Harris
burg at IS cents per foot and against
this we understand two brands are
being considered more favorably at
$1.00 per foot. We contend, and we
think we can prove by test that the
quality of our 7S-cent hose is su-
perior to the two $1.00 brands that
are being favored. This being the
case, on what possible grounds
would Mr.. Gross be justified in pay
ing $1.00 per foot for hose when he
can purchase the same or better
quality for IS cents? II this mat
ter is going to be intelligently and
fairly settled, so far as the taxpay-
ers of Harrisburg are concerned, it
ought to be settled on the basis of
merit. We are the lowest bidders
on high quality hose for Harris
burg. We see no reason why Har-
risburg should be penalized 90 cents
per foot because OF politics. The
mere obtaining of this small order
for fire hose will not amount to a
great deal with us one way or
the other. 1t WILL however, be a
distinct victory for us If we can ef-
feet in Harrisburg what we did in
Philadelphia, namely, an honest
four-square exs mination of fire hose
bids and samples and then an
awarding of the contracts on merit
only.
Yours very truly,
The B. F. Goodrich Rubber Co.,
DEIJD