Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-04-28
continued From First Page,1

street He says of conditions II
Harrisburg:
school architect in st. LOUIS ana
in cities in various parts Oh inc
country not only has no ref1ec-
tion. not even the slightest, been
cast upon my reputation as
an architect and gentle
man, but / have never before
been corruptly approached. And
never before have / found-in-
deed L did not think it could exist
"a situation so appallingly cor
rupt as that heretofore existing
in your city.
President Stamm, in his statement
goes at some length into the history
of the school boards effort to pro-
cure a school architect of national
reputation to design the new build
ing unde,- the $1,250,000 loan APP
proved by the vote last fall.
Mr.. Stamm's Statement
Mr.. Stamms statement in full
follows:
"A popular American humorist
says: There's too many folks with
opinions an no information That
has been the case in Harrisburg with
respect to many phases of public
school activities. 1t is clearly my
duty think-and it cannot be made
an agreeable duty-to now present
to the public some information that
has recently come into my possession
with respect to one of those phases.
Mr.. William 3. Ittner of st. Louis,
amongst others, accepted the school
boards invitation to appear before it
in competition for the position of
architect in the building construc-
tion which the board is about to be-
gin. His selection was favored by
all of the five members of commit
tee of citizens invited by the un-
animous vote of the board to advise
with it in the matter and by four
of the nine members of the board.
"The school board has in it's pos
session testimony from the highest
sources both to Mr.. timers pro-
fessional ability and standing and
his personal integrity. In addition
the chairman of the committee in
charge of the recent campaign for
the school building loan of $780,
900. has recently obtained mass of
corroborative testimony-much or
all of which, l understand, has been
printed in the newspapers during my
absence from home - as to Mr.
timers pre-eminence as a school
house architect and as to his high
standing as a gentleman.
This evidence is in the form of
ltlltlS anu lClt5l Ii lOlll lttlulilB
architects of the country, from the
superintendents of schools in cities
where Mr.. Ittner has been employed,
from lawyers and businessmen of
high standing in their communities,
from officers and members of school
boards, etc, all of them, except one,
solicited by persons other than Mr..
1ttner, who were desirous either of
assuring themselves of Mr.. timers
vol g.tn nFN,li In
or of confirming information re-
ceived on those two points, the one
exception being a highly eulogistic
letter and telegram from +. l.. Nc
Claim, of Greenfield, Ohio, who pre-
sented to his town a $250,000 high
school building, fully equipped and
who selected Mr.. Ittner as his archi-
tect after an investigation of his fit
ness very much more thorough than
is likely to be made by any school
board.
The McIlhenny Interview
"A few days after my return on
the 11th of April, after an absence
of some weeks, l was told that Mr..
Ittner had been in conference with
George w. McIlhenny of Harrisburg
could personally see no objection to
this, but / was also told that an eff
fort was being made by members of
the board friendly to the candidacy
of another architect to discredit Mr..
1ttner in some way on account of this
and / concluded would
like to know the facts. AS the regu-
lar meeting of the school board
would be held in four or five days ut
which the question of the selection
of an architect would probably be
presented, telegraphed Mr.. Ittner
and asked him in the event that he
had met Mr.. McIlhenny to at once
write me fully all the circumstances
In response to my telegram Mi.
lttner called at my office last Thurs
day morning, the 10th instant, told
me he had met Mr.. McIlhenny and
that he wanted to tell me every
thing that had transpired. He made
Il verbal statement which, later in
the day, at my request, he put in
writing. This written statement l
read the next day, Friday, prior to
the meeting of the school board in
the presence of Mr.. Ittner, Messrs.
Bacon, Enders and Yates of the
school board (who had previously,
with me, supported Mr.. Ittners can
didacy) Mr.. Boyd and Mr.. Petre.
named in Mr.. timers statement, and
Mr.. Ogelsby, vice-president of the
Commonwealth Trust Company,
chairman of a committee of the