Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-08

| land penal institution will be asked to
! turn out the tags, and that VIII mean
another delay in the ultimate d1str1'
| button to motor car owners. Unuer
such an arrangement, officials believe,
| District cars may be equipped with
| 1927 tags by March /, or shortly there
after.
| A mass of correspondence on Mr..
| Hargroves desk bears mute evidence
| Of the persistent, but fruitless, efforts
of District officials to get delivery of
| the tags before the New Year. Mr..
| Hargrove revealed that there had
| been an almost constant exchange Of
kilograms and letters between the firm
and his Office until last month, when
| for some unknown reason the Chicago
concern abruptly halted it's CORE
spondence. Even Maj. Edwin b.
| Hesse, superintendent of police, ap-
| pealed to Police Chief M. A. Collins
of Chicago to intercede on behalf of
| the District.
| And now, more than two months
| from the date on which the contract
called for delivery Of the tags, only
| $4,000 of the 100000 pairs have ar
rived, the vast majority of them for
commercial vehicles. Confronted with
| this situation, the Commissioners were
4
of the 1926 tags until February /, and
there is likelihood of another extern
sion, due to the present situation.
One of Three Bidders.
Mr.. Hargrave's records show that
the Chicago firm was one of three to
submit bids for furnishing the tags.
It's price was the lowest-11.76 cents
a pair. The Maryland State Peniten-
tiary quoted a price of 1876 pair and
a firm in Kentucky offered to supply
the tags at Is cents a pair. Under
the ruling of the controller general,
the District was forced to accept the
lowest bid. providing the contractor
Is reputable. So the Chicago firm was
awarded the contract after a member
of Congress, 1t is understood, gave as
surance that 1t was reputable. More
over, the District had business rela-
| tons with the manufacturer some
years ago. when it turned out special
tags for diplomatic cars.
The contract provided for delivery
of the tags November 1. Two weeks
| prior to this date Mr.. Hargrove wrote
| to the contractor reminding him that
deliveries were due November l and
| impressed on him the necessity for
| having the. tags in Washington on
| that date. He also asked for a report
on the progress of manufacture. The
| firm replied by wire on October 20
| that the tags would be delivered, and
although no date was given in the
message the District officials assumed
that November l was meant.
| November / came and when the
tags failed to arrive Maj. Hesse ap-
pealed to Police Chief Collins IN Chi
cago to investigate the progress of
manufacture. -Four days later Mr..
Collins telegraphed Maj. Hesse that
| he had interviewed officials OF the
| firm and learned that 10000 pairs of
| tags would be ready for delivery No
| yenaber 10. The delay, he reported,
| was due to an inferior grade of metal
| which the firm had received from its
| mill.
Company Spurred Again.
Still uneasy about the tags, Mr.. Har-
grove again wrote to the firm Novem.
Der S. urging that manufacture Of the
tags be rushed and shipped before the
New Year. No reply came and eight
days later the purchasing agent wired
the contractor that the delay was 'in-
excusable'' and asked for immediate
advice as to what progress had been
made and whether any tags had been
shipped.
This message also contained a warn
| ing that the tags would be obtained
from some other source If the delay
continued. At the same time Mr.. Har.
grove notified the firms bonding com.
pany Of the situation and pointed out
! that IL the contract was turned over
| to another manufacturer the bonds
man would be required to pay any
additional cost above the contract
| price of 11.75 cents a pair. The bond.
| ing company promised to see that the
wark was pushed.
| Shortly afterward the Chicago Motor
| Club was asked to investigate and
urge the firm to make shipments. The
| club notified Mr.. Hargrove that the
| firm had promised positively to make
a shipment of 10000 tags on Novem.
| Der 20 and a subsequent shipment of
| 10000 on November u and the re.
mainder Of the 100,0 900 one week later.
| About that time the firm also reported
| that it was in operation "a hours a day
| in order to complete the contract.
| Time passed and ION November "a
the firm telegraphed Mr.. Hargreve
| that a car was being loaded in Chica-
| go. The car didn't come, however.
and another investigation was started.
AS a result the firm sent a message
| to the effect that it had been forced
by the railroad to change the ship