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Show ON THE UNDERGROUND With the dog days there seems to be impending impend-ing a heated season of more or less prospective acuteness, for some of our pet trusts. Judge Gary finished his symphony of philanthropy philan-thropy before the Senate investigating committee commit-tee this week and is now on his way to dine a few steel magnates on the other side one of those little dinners he became famous for in New York when the seventh course was wont to trail off into a talk on steel prices, the conclusion of which invariably left the astute managing directors di-rectors present in a frame of mine more agreeably agree-ably receptive for the demi-tasses than could possibly have been the case had the suave and diplomatic host neglected to call his guests' attention at-tention to the fact that it might be difficult to find a better time for a little shop talk. Judge Gary will undoubtedly succeed in his mission abroad, vulgarly termed by some an ef-foit ef-foit to form a world wide steel trust. Under the touch of the wand of his subtlety, little else than success could be expected to attend his efforts. With L. Kelsey feathering a pretty little nest in the Oregon state health office, Grandma Breed-en Breed-en headed for the Big Ditch territory, where he will freeze on to a section of the Supreme bench of the canal zone, after running his Santa Monica Mon-ica boarding house all winter, Pa Smith due for his second Washington appearance next week, trained nurse Evans (the erstwhile McEnery protege) pro-tege) back in town and Chief Barlow hard at work again after his Colorado trip the Bartlett case being finished it would appear that a little Garyism might help here. And those gentlemen whoso abilities run pro-liflcally pro-liflcally to such attainments as have made Gary and Havemeyer interesting witnesses in Washington, Wash-ington, overlook a marvelous bet at long odds when they pass ur the municipal contracting Held. Then would it be possible for some unlearned, uncouth councilman to rise from his two by four desk in the council chamber and declare that a contractor "ought to be in jail" simply because he is the successful low bidder on a proposed new sower a former sewer of his construction having for a good part of its length been out of commission most of the time since its completion? comple-tion? It probably wouldn't be considered good form either for a second councilman to pound on his desk and declare himself in favor of making such a contractor put up a guaranty bond to keep the sower in repair for several years. Such things are very annoying to a contractor and interfer with profits. Then, too, it denotes an utter lack of understanding on the part of such councilmen that is excessively disturbing to other councilmen whose perception of existing conditions are apparently much clearer. There are those, too, who earnestly contend that because a contractor builds a sewer that isn't, there is little excuse for making him the butt of rude councilmanic remarks. It is oven reported that a number of Salt Lake's city dads cannot be made to understand the philosophy interwoven in-terwoven with the science of securing paving contracts and the performance of the work, subsequently. subse-quently. For instance, a number of them have (Continued on Tago 7.) ON THE UNDERGROUND. (Continued from Pago 3. professed to have become entirely befuddled by as clear and obviously simple an example of paving pav-ing prices as this the contract price to the city for paving a street on the east side of town was approximately $1.75 a yard net, this quotation cov ering the putting in of a concrete base six inches deep, a binder on top of that over an inch thick and an asphalt top of an Inch and a half or two inches. The city is charged at the rate of $1.87 a yard for the resurfacing of those portions of the paved district about town, when the holes get too dangerous, this resurfacing consisting in putting down an inch and a half or a two-inch :j asphalt top only. 1$ Such stupidity among councilmen is enough to tax the patience of the best disposition of the best contract getter any town ever had. No incident of the current year in Salt Lake has been so keenly enjoyed and appreciated among some of the councilmen and contractors as the report prevalent about the city early this week that a subscription list was going the rounds of the business and professional profes-sional men of means, the proceeds of which were to be used in bringing to Salt Lake the detective, detec-tive, Burns, and several of his associates who aided aid-ed him so effectively in scrambling the eggs in San Francisco's municipal affairs a year or so ago. It was Anally reported as ascertained that but three or four wealthy men had signed the I subscription. The rumor created a great deal of merry discussion, however, some of it even extending to the beat walkers of the police force, who, having long since given up the problem of J ascertaining whether they are going or coming, under the orders that emanate from headquarters, have more time for lawfter than in other days. The Associated Press carried news Tuesday of this week that the Socialistic administration in Milwaukee had uncovered and put an end to graft in street paving contracts in "'that city amounting to ?152,000 a year. This is another instance of the unsettled conditions con-ditions arising from changes In municipal administrations ad-ministrations and in such a light it is almost impossible im-possible for anyone who likes to see a town pursue pur-sue the even tenor of its ways, free from eruptive erup-tive incidents, to view the coming change of government here to the commission form, with I much enthusiasm. |