Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-09
court ENJO|NS
PAVING Of ROADS
WITH B|TUL|TH|C
Supporters Of Brick Surface
Start Litigation Con-
tractor Hopes to Co..
Iect Damages.

The Douglas county commits ssion-
ers and the Allied Contractors, Inc,
were stopped by order of District
Judge Sears yesterday morning from
proceeding to lay any of the II
miles of "Warrenite bitulithic" paw
ing, the contract for which was
signed and bond approved last Sat
urday afternoon by four of the
county commissioners.
This is the entrance of the paving
fight into the courts. Since COM
missioners gave the contract for the
"bitulithic" paving to the Allied
| Contractors, Inc, two weeks ago, a
citizens committee has been fight
| ing to have it rescinded. A big
meeting Saturday was unproductive
of results and now the courts are
| invoked.
Jamin B. Root, head of the live
stock commission firm of J. B. Root
& Co., South Side, is the citizen
elector and taxpayer named as
plaintiff in the petition. John P
Breen, his attorney. filed it. Judge
Sears issued the restraining order a
few minutes later and set next Fri
day morning to hear arguments on
the petition for temporary injunc-
ton. The bond put up was $3.50
under the restraining order.
Keep Track of Damages"
The bitulithic contract, thus
stopped, involves $550,055.
What are you going to do now?"
! John w. Towle, president of the
J Allied Contractors, Inc, was asked
| after the restraining order was is
| sued. "
"Just keep track of our damages
he replied, smilingly. -.-
"We have already spent 100000
| for equipment to do this bitulithic
job," he continued. "We have
closed contracts for the cement and
other materials, all since the con-
tract was given us. And the people
who hold UP the work by means OF
Injunction will have to stand re-
sponsible for our losses. ,~
"The brick trust is behind all this
thing. The committee doesn't
know that but it is the truth"
Eight Typewriter Pages.
The petition for injunction con-
sists of eight typewriter pages and,
after reciting the history of the
$3000,000 paving bond issue in
Douglas county, asks that the
county board be enjoined from
carrying out the provisions of the
bitulithic contract and from paying
out any money thereon; also that the
Allied Contractors, Inc, be enJolned
from proceeding with the work, for
the following reasons:
|. That the specifications filed in
the Office of the county surveyor and
to which prospective contractors
were referred in making bids, speci-
fled "Warrenite bitulithic paving on
concrete foundation" The ,specihca-
ton of "Warrenite" was destructive
of competition, says the petition, be-
cause it barred all forms of as
phaltic mixture, except this so-called
patented preparation controlled ex-
clusively by Warren Brothers. This
constituted a fraud upon the electors
and taxpayers. it is alleged.
2. That in the specifications,
maximum prices" were given for
various kinds of paving and that
S435 was named as the maximum
for Warrenite bitulithic. and $3.50
for brick. This was interpreted by
some bidders to mean that no bids
could be received higher than those
prices. 1t is alleged that $4.35 "al-
lows very great if not enormous
profit" for bitulithic paving, while
$3.50 would permit little if any profit
| for brick. The bitulithic contract
involved in the suit is at $4.35 a
square yard.
3. That the printed bid turned in
by the Allied Contractors, Inc, for