Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, February 27, 1904, Page 1

Vou XII.—No, 29 Granp Rapips, Irasca CounryY, 3 .. 3 Pretty Feet Often it happens that a foot 1s made prettier "Are sometimes clumsily clad. by selecting the right shoe. Our ladies’ and gentleman’s shoes are “FORD.” skilfully modelled; they are made in shapes to fit all kinds of feet and to make any foot attractive. You may say, “My foot is too broad or too flat to look sty- lish in any shoe.” Duzens of our pat- rons have s2id the same thing, but we have fiitted them and pleased’ them. Kitchen Supply of our granite ware can be bought at our store for very little more than good tinware costs. And a very good housewife knows how easy these goods are Lo keep Clean aud bow pleasant it is to use them. THESE GOODS Are not imperfect or damaged, but arebright and new and at the prices we are offering them it will pay you handsomely to replenish your stock, hey always come in so handy you know. W.J.& H. D. POWERS. lf you must eat, you should always try to get the best goods in the market at the lowest prices. You should buy Fresh and Salt Meats, Fish, Game etc., at the Market of Thos. Finne- gan. They always haveon hand the very best — at lowest prices. Thos. Finnegan, Proprietor. Thos. Finnegan, | : FP SISLSLSESLSLSVSLSL: STSSVSVSEBWOVSE WM. C. TYNDALL, Agent For A. FITGER & CO’S., Fine Bottled Beer and Malt Extraet. Highly Recommended by Leading Physicians as Tr It y it. “Best Nerve Tonic.” Telephone Nu.—— and Have a Case Delivered to Your Home. mrilY FEET jing yourself to be led so far from the! | : § “Walk-Over” Our gents’ “Walk-Over” shoe is made for:style and comfort and for $4. you cannot buy its equal in any line. And our ladies shoes are made by A short name and an easy one, yet it stands for the very,highest in Shoe wear and style. not advertised at an enormus expense for which you must pay, FORD quality is all the advertising-the line has ever need- ed, and Ford’s ‘manufacturing facilities are equal to the demand every year. These shoes are This Is Not Honorable, It is rumored that certain members of the present council do not dare to let a new coun- cil get hold of matters until after the fall election for it would prove disastrous to their ambitions; it is asserted that they pésitively nnsi be.re-atected oF 3: meee dictate next council shal és Editor Stuart, you ought to blus with shame for penning and publish- ing the foregomg slanderous innu endo. It 1s an act unworthy of any man who has in his control a newspaper. It is the act of a character assassin. You should make public apology for allow. j well-beaten path of honorable jour- nalism. If you do not, then, in justice to yourself and in justice to those whom you would thus strike witha poisoned dagger, publish their names, together with a Dill of particulars of their official wrong doings. Speak, out like aman, that the objects of your slanderous insinuations may have an opportunity to defend themselves. ‘Two members of the present council hold county office: I. D, Rassmussen, clerk of court, and A. B, Clair, regis- ter of deeds. Whether either one of these gentlemen will be candidates N., SATURDAY, FEBUARY 27, 1904. IER PITIABLE. PLEA ‘The Magnet and Its Co-Defendants Try- ; ing Hard to Deceive the Public FACTS ARE TOO WELL KNOWN To the People of Grand Rapids to Admit _ ofNew Found Falsehvods—The Vote Next Week Will Demonstrate What the Taxpayers Think. _/The editor of the Herald-Review May not know the meaning of the word “generalities.” He doves not go yond the defimtion given by Web- ster, Webster and the Herald-Re- w may both bewrong. If they are, en we will admit that we may have en using generalities in discussing e Grand Rapids electric light plant- t if Webster is correct, then the itor of the Magnet is wrong aud ‘tie Herald-Review has been stating in, unvarnished facts in language at the most obtuse can understand. ecan do no more unless it be to aw diagrams. So far as the Magnet i$ concerned our arguments and plain atements fall upun deaf ears. It is }eyident that our con'emporary will bot be convinced of that whieh it re- Bards as contrary to its own interests and the interests of its - political friends. Inasmuch as it is not the Mission of the Herald-Review to en- lighten the Maguet editor it will Cause this paper no g'ief it he chooses Tfemain in darkness and imagines at he is enjoying therefulgent light a forty thousand dollar electric mp. 4The Herald-Review will address it- elf to an intelligent public, and sub- t the facts to the public. + Passing over the preliminary ver- biage of the Magnet’s defense of the 2-council, we find the folluwing re- atkable reasoning from the new ms resonant resources : f d E hen cil paid $40,000 for a $24.500 electric plant “dump” as he calls it. If Brother Kiley pos- sesses the intelligence we give him credit for he must know this statement to be untrue. In previous issues he has asserted that the plant cost $24,500 and the extras $15,000. mak- ing in all $40,000. The plant did cost $24,500 and what Mr. Kiley styles “extras” are the building and the extensions, meters, trans- formers. etc. There 1s nothing general in the foregoing; neither is it amDiguous. It is plainly stated that on a $24,500 contract there were $15,000 in extras. The Herald-Review, the, Magnet and eyerybody else agrees to that state- ment, and with two slight changes the quotation might go unchallenged. The Herald-Review did not say that the plant cost $24,500. It stated that the contract for thecompletion of the plant was made fer $24,500, and it cost the village bf Grand Rapids $40,000. If the Magnet would carry its line of for re-election next fall the Herald- Review is not in a position to state, The former 1s a Republican, the latter a Democrat. Both have openly op- posed the actions and policy of the ex-council and their positions. on the questions now being discussed by the people of this village are well known, They do not hide their sentiments be? hind slanderous insinuations. They speak openly end in a manner that gives their opponents full opportunity to defend themselves. Was it Messrs. Rassmussen and Clair to whom you referred, Mr. Stuart? Ifit was, you will sooner or later regret your hasty and ill-advised libel. You will find them to be two of the most competent public servants holding office in the state; you will find them to possess the confidence of the voters of this county to a degree that all the editors ever produced by the Zenith City can- not change; you will find them to be royal good fellows in the best sense of the term; you will find them to be infinitely superior to their traducers in every walk of life, and finally you will find the men who are today your false advisers giving you the “double cross and the cold trow down.” Good, If ItGoes. The editor of the Magnet is not carying a gun for anybody who threatens him with a J licking Bro. Kiley. He'll take his chances.—- Maguet. That’s all mght, Brother James, if you can make the bluff stick... But you're liable to get a call any day that wil ruin your reputation as a bad man. ‘The policy of the Anzona Kicker genius 1s the -satest policy to pursue. It commands respect and raises the dignity of the profesh. For Sunday dinner try the North- ern Cafe. Those who know do not hesitate to say that the Northern — the best, . ci teeter has argument to a logical conclusion and cause the people tu agree with its de- ductions the Gunn council would be amply vindicated and would no doubt be returned and retained in power. But unfortunately for the Magnet and the ex-council the taxpayers are unable to distinguish the difference between paying $15,000 under the head of *‘extras” or on a straight con- tract. It’s fifteen thousand dollars just the same, and every dollar of it must be paid. If the ex-council had run the extras up to $100,000 instead of $15,000 under the head of, extras” the people, we presume, would have no kick coming. Let the taxpayers bear in mind thata coptract was made with J. G. Robertson to install, equip and complete ready for use an electric light plant for the village of Grand Rapids for the sum of $24,500. This contract did not include a year’s sup- ply of fuel nor a year’s salary for the wen employed to ruo the plant; neither did it include the extension of wires to houses for all time to come, and no body is making such a claim It included only that which was specifically stipulated in the original contract Lo be done and which was to have been cumpleted in every detail for $24,500. What did it cost the village? The Magnet tells us it ccst $40.000. Now we begin to under- stand each other; we’re getting at the facts; and we're agreeing. We will not quarrel as to whether that $15,000 shall be known in local history as “extras” or just plain “graft.” It’s “matter of question whether or not Supt. Finnis can read a meter correct- ly. We repeat that it is an open question.” But the Magnet is not looking for nor accepting questions. “Facts are wanted by this paper and nothing but facts,” boldly asserts the Magnet. Why not confine yourself to facts and not cast aspersions on the ability and competency of a man con- cerning whom you know nothing, ac- cording to your own admission. Is that honesty? Does it show a disposi- tion to deal fairly with the question atissue? No. It simply shows a dis- position to befuddle the facts and confuse the minds of Magnet readers. The Magnet and the men whom the Magnet defends do not want tbe facts known. They still cling to the tactics adopted a year ago when every mano who ventured to ask a question concerning the new plant, its cost, ect., was metaphorically told by the leading spirits of the ex-council to “go way back‘and sit down.”’ It was none of their business what the plant cost; whether it was according to specifications or not; noue of their business what the schedule of rates were to be. The result of last spring’s election indicated that these explana- tions were not satisfactory. They are not satitfactory today and the Magnet capnot make them satisfactory. There is\ one thing which Mr. Kiley has dropped with a @ull thud—that is the differ- enco in price of the Fort Wayne and Westing- house meters.—Maguet. No, Mr. Kiley didn’t drop anything witha dull thud. except a few stub- born facts into the campof the de- fendauts. The Herald-Reviewdid not understand what was meant by the Magnet’s reference to nine dollar Fort Wayne and thirty-five dollar Westinghouse meters. We passed it by unnoticed because it appeared to be a meaningless interloper in the Magnet article. After a search through the Herald-Review files the article referred tu was found. It was published several weeks prior to. the advent of. the present editor of the Magnet in Grand Rapids and was evi- dently saved up by one of the gang in anticipation of this controversy. {in commenting on the different ne ters and the cost of them, part of a sentence was omitted in the Herald- awe ‘CoHDp the opportunity thus afforded the de- fendants to insinuate that the coun- cil was working a graft. The Magnet editor may not have known that he was taking advantage of a typograph- ical error when he made reference to the nine dollar and thirty-five dollar meters, but the gang who wised him up on Grand Rapids affairs were well aware of the faci. It wasa palpable error and could not possibly have been intended to read as it appeared in this paper. The price paid by this council for Westinghouse meters is a matter of record and was such prior to the publication of the article in question. The Magnet says : The Magnet is asking and expects to be answered whether or not Grand Rapids is paying $35,00 for these $12.60 meters, or if the editor of the Herald-Review is merely writ ing rot for past time and talking through the arm-holes of his vest. Ifthe council is puy- ing $35.00 for these meters, which cost other places $12.60, kindly Inform us if the Westing- house company is getting it all; and if so, how the council happened to yet boncoed so badly. If the Magnet and its co-defendants desired to make campaign thunder out of the foregoing they should have “gum-shoed.” It will not stand pub- lic discussion and be of any secvice to them. The council pays $12.60 for 10 amphere Westinghouse meters, The ex-council paid about thirteen dol- lars for Fort Wayne Waterberrys—as they are commonly termed. So, Mr. Magnet, your insinuation of a possible graft by the present countil falls flat. We must here explain that the cost of meters is governed by their am- phere capacity. The Westinghouse ranges in price from $11 to $40. he Magnet intimates that the council is attempting to re-elect itself by casting reflectivns on the electric plant and by further attempting to make it a losing proposition. The facts and figures will show that the Magnet and its co-defendants have utterly abandoned all semblance of truth in their efforts to deceive the public into the belief that it is per- fectly proper fur them to pay $40,000 for a $24,50) outfit. Under the pres- ent management the plant has stead- ily increased its earnings and is today earning more money per candle power than ever before. The absurd assump- tion that the council would attempt to gain favor wilh the people by cut- ting down the earnings of the plant Two Do.Luars a YEAR. ment? The financial statemeat of the affairs of the village as published today in the Herald-Review shows where every dollar has gone during the past year, and it isa mathemati- cal refutation of the innuendoes con- tained in the Magnet article. The co-defendants eannot give up the hope that the shortcomings of the electric dump may be unloaded on the shoulders of Supt. Finnis. They have tried this many times during the months he has been in charge of the plaut and in cach instance they have been forced to retreat when the facts were brought to light. The same fate will-weet their latest attempt, which comes ig the form of evidence from one Kirschbaum. » The water heater referred to is one of the many parts of the plant that is not up to the specifications, which call for a heater that wfll furnish water to the boilers at 200 degrees. Instead of 200 de- grees about 90 is its limit. This heater cannot be used except when a light load is on because it will not work the vil extractor, and conse- quently there is constant danger of an explosion. It is used whenever possible. The Hartford+steam boiler insurance inspector forbid its use except with a lightload. That water heater, Mr. Magnet, is one of the de- fects of the plant that tigures in the case now pending in the court. The Herald-Review doesn’t blame that old fellow Kirschbaum for being sore at the present couucil. Last spring, shortly after the present council weut into oftice, Mrs. Kirsch- baum, wife uf the “allegator,” hada fall ot Kindred avenue, for which¢ sbe put in a bill to the council for about three thousand dollars dam- agvs; The council had no evidence at hand to show that the !ady had sustaiued any injuries and refused to ante. The case was taken to the dis- trict. cgurt where $5,000 was demand- ed. Attorney Price defended for the village and when the case was called Kirschbaum’s attorney asked for a dismissal of the action without preju- dice to either party Attorney Price objected aud demanded that costs be assessed to the plaintiff, which was done. Ever since Kirschbaun. has been mad at the council and every— body connected with the village in ticularly objectionable to the old fel- low because he discharged him as fireman at the power house for in competency. The output meter at the power house went out of use some time be- fore Supt, Finnis took charge of the plant and Kirschbaum koows it. The last time it was used was on April 2, 1903, about fifteen days before Mr. Fionis was employed by the village, Contractors Robertson and Savage both tried to make it work and failed. This was while the man Fulkerson was in charge. Robertson wanted the council to send the meter away for repairs, This the council refused to do, holding that it was in Robertson’s contract to make it work satisfac- torily. These facts show the value of Kirschbaum’s statements, He is evi- dently a fit associate four those whom he is attempting to defend. The fact that Mr. H. D. Powers has applied a test to a meter and found it to register correctly for a time proves nothing. Any of the Fort Wayne meters may run nearly correctly for atime. That has been the council’s experience. What a customer de- mands is a meter that will run cor- rectly all the time. It has been dem- onstrated notonly here but elsewhere that the For Wayne meters are not reliable and they are not regarded as standard. The Herald-Review hopes it has been sufficiently explicit in the fure- going to preclude the charge of ‘‘gen- eralities.”” DEATH OF JAS. S. O’BRIEN. Prominent Logger and Politician Suddenly Dies at Grand Rapids. James S. O’Brien, of Stillwater, who has been logging in this county dur- ing the past two years, was brought down from one of his camps last Sun- day morning suffering from a diabetic trouble of long standing. Dr. Russell was called but the sufferer had already passed beyond the power of medica! skill to aid him and about four o’clock in the afternoon he passed away. The remains were shipped to his late home in Stillwater Monday afternoon. Mr. | O’Brien was one of the best known ‘Tumbermen of the Northwest. having j large holdings in the northern part of the state. He was also well known as {a tyrfman and ‘his racing colors had ; been seen on all of the principal enough to know that it’s fifteen | is too foolish to even merit contempt. | tracks For many years he was active thousand dollars and the taxpayers! If the council was scheming to re- in political affairs of the state, and was will haye to pay the bill, elect itself is it uot more likely that a member of the board of prison man- “The Magnet objects to being charg- | they would put forth every effort to agers, He also served in the state ed with having asserted that Supt. | make as-big a showing as possible in | senate and was at one time surveyor innis is incompetent and corrects | the total receipts from a business that. general of logs and lumber for the dise Beview by saying it isa rested ‘entirely with ‘their manage- trict of Stillwater,