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About Gold Hill news. (Gold Hill, Jackson County, Or.) 1897-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 20, 1912)
(GolÖ « il Cold Hm Makes Good Watch Gold Hill Grow GOLD H IL L JACKSON COUNTY, OREGON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 20. l!>12 VOL 14 NO. 37 COUNTY COUR T HAS VIOLA TED THE LA W! WHY? County Court Admits That It Is Badly Mixed Issues S ta te m e n t W ith N o W o rd o f C ensure fo r H a y a ; Jud g e N e il's S lip -S h o d V e rb a l C on t r a c t B la m e d fo r W h o le M ix - up; M in in g T im e -B o o k S t ill M in in g ; In v e s tig a tio n Not Ended. + + + 4 + + + + + + + + + + + + 4* H(Mt< by County Court. 4- 4* 4> 4- To Whom This May 4- 41 Concern: 4- 4- This la to certify that the 4* 4« accounts of J. W. Haya, road 4* 4* aupervloor of Dlst. No. 11, 4- ♦ Jarkaon county, Oregon, have 4* been thoroughly Inveattgated 4* 4- ami (mind to be »126.14 ♦ 4- abort, und that on thia date 4- O. A. Tveltmoe, the San Franclaco 4* Mr. Haya haa paid Into the 4- labor leader who was Indicted for 4- county treaaury the amount 4- complicity in the Loa Angeles dynam 4- mentioned, and It la there- 4- iting cases. 4- fore ordered by the county 4* 4- court that a copy of thia + 4- statement be recorded In the 4- 4- commlaalonera' Journal of 4* 4" Jackson county, Oregon. 4- 4* Dated at Jackaonvllle. Ore- 4- Citizens of Jackson county may 4- gon. January 10. 1912. 4- now register for the April primaries 4- Signed: J. II. NEIL. 4- for state, national and county offi 4- County Judge. 4- cers, the election of which will be 4- JA8. OWENS, 4- held November 5. Last year the vote 4* Commlaaioner. 4- of the county was approximately 4* OEO. L. DAVIS. 4- (1000. Inasmuch ns this year will in 4- Commlaalocer. 4- clude the choice of the nation’s 4- A ttest: 4- executive, it in expeclcd thnt more 4- W. R. COLEMAN. 4* voters will fill in the registration 4- JA8. M. CRONEMILLER. 4- blanks. Au estimate of 6500 is + Wltneaaea. 4* placed upon the year’s vote. The 4 -4 -4 >4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 -4 - 4* 4* 4* 4- 4- primaries will not hold all of these and will hardly exceed the vote at the final »lection of 1011. Although According to statements tnade by no candidates have announced them le members of the county court to a selves for nominees Io any of the of ommlttee of Gold HUI citizens at fices, il is generally understood that ackaonvllle Wednesday, the above Sheriff Wilbur June-, County Hecord- tatement la all the Information given er I’olvig and School Superintendent > the preas by the county court In Wells will make the race. County rference to the And)ng that J. W. Clerk Will R. Coleman has I....n urged lays had overcharged the county to to shv his castor into the contest for le extent of 1126.14 for work done by the county judgeship, ami the remark Irn on the roads is heard on every hand that no man The county court stated that Mr in Jackson county can stand against laya was not dismissed from office as him for the honor. ubllshed In the Medford Mall- rlbune, but that Ills term having ex- Ired. the appointment of his succes- S ite fo r B ra n c h E x p e rim e n t F a r m Chosen W ed n esd ay jr was held over for one week, pend- ig the receipts of new petitions from A brunch experiment atutlon of the nid district No. 11. Judge Nell stated In connection Oregon agricultural college will be Itli the case thnt he "considered Will established at the county poor farm seven miles south of Medford, be ays' word as good as his bond.” It developed that the »700-contract: tween Talent and Phoenix. Commis n which Mr. Hays was accused of sioners James Owens and George verchargtng the county was let wlth-j Davis selected and surveyed the site, nt a line of writing by Judge Nell comprising fourteen acres, Wednes srsonally, without the knowledge of I day, which land will be leased to the agricultural college for as long n ncr- le two commissioners It developed, and the members of| lotl as the branch may be maintained. le county court admitted, thnt by ren All produce raised on the tract will in of the slip-shod verbal contrnct be turned over for the use of the stween the Judge and Mr. Hays, the county poor farm, which averages itter’s accounts had become so badly about twenty Inmates. addled that they—the members of ie county court—could not be sure as from the time book, was found, which i the exnet amount of Mr. Hays' showed th' time on which the alleged leged overcharge. padded warrants were drawn. Mr. The court admitted that nn Item Hays mnintains that the person who ’ $1.14 should not have been Incltid- copied the time sheet, from tip time I In the amount the court decided book for him, being unfamiliar with the r. Hays owed the county at Its tneet- work, bud either made a mistake—or g a week previous, nnd which was the time sheet had been altered after it romptly paid over by Mr. Hays at was mailed to M r Harmon. lat time. The court also admitted Mr. Haya stated that when the pad int the amount of »126 14 might be ded warrants were received he imme irther reduced by errors In other diately turned them over to another ems, could Mr. Hays' accounts be man, who ndvanci d the money as the iccessfully audited. work was done to pay the men In whore It wns freely admitted by at least favor they were drawn. He further ro members of the court thnt Judge stated that he received no benefit from ell’s verbal contract with Mr. Hays the allegi il overcharge. as the root of the whole trouble. O. U. Nowell, of Gold Hill, stated to The attention of the court, was the court that he made out Mr. Haya’ died by the committee to the fact August report, and that if there was int. for at leaRt two different months any error in the same it was his. r. Hays had been sent amounts con- Tlie investigation committee appoint derably In excess of the amounts ed by the Gold Hili Business Men’s died for by Mr Hays' reports. The Association is determined to probe the mrt wns asked to Investigate and matter to the bottom, nnd expects to [plain this npparent looseness In complete its findings and arrive at the exact truth of the matter in a few days. uniting county funds. A petition asking A^r the reap Mr. Hays offered »50 for bis mi-s’ng pointment of Mr. Hays, signed by ngnst time b"ok, which h« claimed he mt to Roadmaster Harmon, who never nearly 250 taxpayers of district No. (turned It. A demand wss made on 11, was turned down by the court. J. B. Davidson of Gold Hill was ap r. Harmon for the hook, but It could it be produced. However, the August pointed supervisor for the coming ' me sheet, purported to be a true copy year. Register! H uh any bridge built in Jackson county in 1911 been constructed according to law! Here is the law: Sec. 6368. Contract for Bridge Coating Over $600. Whenever any bridge ia to be built by any County in this State, the estimated coat of which »hall exceed the »itm of $50D, the County Court ah&ll at once advertise for sealed bids, accord ing to the plans, specifications, and strain diagrams, to be pre pared under direction of the County Court, to be kept on file in the office of the County Clerk for the information of bidders; . said advertisement to be published for at least three consecutive weeks in the official newspaper of the County, if a weekly, and twenty days if a daily paper. Each bidder »hall be required to deposit with hia bid five per cent of the amount of his bid, which nhall he forfeited to the County in case the award is made to him, and if lie fails, neglects, or refuses, for a period of two days after such award is made, to enter into the contract and file bis bond in the manner required by and to the satisfaction of the County Court upon the day appointed, the County Court shall proceed to open the bids and award the contract to build such bridge to the lowest responsible bidder, and the County Court shall enter into contract with him therefor; provided al ways, that said County Court may, in its discretion, reject any and all bids; ami provided further, that, said County Court in its discretion may employ a suitable and competent superinten dent and assistants; procure the necessary material and cause said bridge to he constructed without such advertisement and in which event said superintendent shall inspect all material, as to its fitness, and, shall inspect all hills for material and labor and certify to their correctness, before they shall he ordered paid by said court, and upon the completion of said bridge, shall prepare and file with the clerk of said Court a full and complete detailed statement, duly verified, giving the name of the stream across which said bridge is built, the name or location of said bridge in such a manner th at it may easily be found, its entire length, width, amount and cost of each kind of material and entire cost of said bridge, with a brief general description of the style and character of said bridge, and of its immediate surround- . ings, which statement shall be subject to inspection a t all times by any one desiring to examine the same. (L.1903, p. 262, Sec. 53; L. 1909, c. 207. p. 302.) Thus the county court is given two ways of gefng about the business of bridge construction, namely, cither to advertise for bids, and accept the bid of the lowest responsible bidder, or employ a suitable and competent superintendent and assistants, procure the necessary material and cause said bridge to be constructed without such advertisement, for bids. The county court exercised its legal option in constructing bridges by the latter method in two notable instances in 1911. These natances were the upper Rogue river bridge, costing $8,285, and the lower Rogue river bridge, costing $12,185.52, or $20,470.52 for both, which Hmonnt is over fifty per cent of the total spent for bridges in 1911. There are those who will gravely criticize the county court for this method of doing business, even though it is perfectly legal. BI T THE COUNTY COURT HAS VIOLATED THE LAW in respect to the construction of these two bridges. The law specifically provides that in case bridge contracts are not let by competitive bids, following newspaper advertisement therefor, a full and complete statement, duly verified, describing the bridge, its location, cost, character, etc., minutely, MUST BE FILED WITH THE COUNT! CLERK upon completion of the bridge. Has the law been followed in regard to the construction of the upper and lower Rogue river bridges, the two most costly, if not the most needed, bridges constructed in .Jackson county in 1911! An inspection of the records of the county clerk's office shows that THE LAW HAS BEEN VIOLATED. The county court, for reasons best known to itself, or perhaps even better known to its guiding spirit, our $300-a-month “ county road m aster,’’ or perhaps best of nil known to the contractors who constructed these bridges, ehose to do the work without ad vertising for bids. This is one of the many mysteries that envelop the doings of the county court like a murky mantle. Let ns say that the county court hud its reasons, good and suf ficient unto itself, or to somebody, for doing over $20.000 worth of work without inviting competitive bids for same. Let us say that the county court was competent, with the aid of its $300-a-inonth expert, to see thnt this work was done properly and that the people of Jackson county got value received for every dollar so expended, though no one knows that such is the ease. Still the fact remains that FULL AND COMPLETE DETAILED STATEMENTS, descriptive of location, size, style, cost, etc., of these bridges. HAVE NEV ER FEEN FILED IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY CLERK, as specifically provided by law. In fact, so far as the proceedings of the county court are con cerned relative to the letting of contracts for county work, the office pf the county clerk, supposed and intended to he the repository of all records of county business, has been patronized but twice by that august body since the harmonious advent into the official life of Jackson county of W. W. Harmon, county road master by grace of the appointment of the county court for the ten months ending December 31. 1911. One of the two exceptions is the contract made by and between W. W. Harmon and the county court for the said W. W. Harmon to act as county road master from Mandi to December, inclusive, at a salary of $300 per month for all months but November and Decem ber, or a total of $2700. In the ten months he lias seryed the people of Jackson county as “ county road m aster,” for which he has drawn his stipulated salary promptly, Mr. Harmon, with most charming sang froid, tells us that his twelve supervisors have wasted $60,000. (See New Y ear’s edition Medford Mail-Tribune.) The other exception to the illegal rule of NOT filing county documents with the county clerk, which illegal rule has been in vogue ever since Mr. Hannon got in harmony with the county pay roll, is the contract for building the Derby road—9.61 miles at a cost of $23,905.54, or a cost exclusive of bridges of $2.267.90 per mile. This contract was duly filed with the county clerk. Many times in this contract occur the words, “ county engineer,” where it is probable that “ county road m aster” was meant. A shrewd hair splitting lawyer might tell you. inasmuch ns no such office or officer existed as that of Fcounty engineer,” and that it is expressly pro vided in the contract that the work shall he done under the super vision of the said non-existant “ county engineer,” that this contract is invalid. No use to quibble or split hairs now, however. The money spent on the Derby road is spent beyond recall, and because Mr. Harmon does not include it. in the $60,00(1 he says his supervisors wasted, we must needs conclude that it was spent wisely and well, and close our ears to all disquieting rumors to the contrary. CHARLES S. OSBO N Champlins Will Build Big Dredge to Cost $100,000 C a p a c ity W i l l B e 3 , 0 0 0 Yards a D a y ; A la s k a D re d g in g E x p e r t N o w a t O ro v ille In v e s ti g a tin g Types o f B ig C o ld - G etters; P a r t o f O ld M a c h in e ry W i ll B e Used; H u l l to B e o f L a te s t M o d e l. (Medford Sun.) That the Champlin Dredge company Is to construct a new dredge, costing »100.000, on Foots creek to replace the old dredge that aank over a month ago, is the gist of a persistent rumor among the mining men of this city. Dame Rumor has It that the dredge Is to be designed by a prominent Alaska miner by the name of Reese, who has had a great deal of dredging experience. For th purpose of com paring tis tentative plans with actual models, he is supposed td be in Oro ville, Cal., where a dredge of the model Charles 8. Oaborn, governor of ' Is being operated. Michigan, who suggested that Taft The old dredge, which now lies at and La Follette both quit seeking ’ the bottom of the creek, is to be the Republican nomination. • raised and all the machinery that is of the proper nature will be used on the new one. The boat which will hold the new dredge, however, will be entirely new and of a later model. The capacity of the proposed dredge What has ever become of the »10,000 Is approximately 3000 yards per day “paid in by public subscription" to and is a great increase on amount over help build the Flounce rock grade, the old one. note of which is made In the report for 1911 of Wilbert W. Harmon, county roadmaster? No record either of the Advertised Letters receipt or disbursement of thia money The following is a li-t of letters re exists In either the offices of the maining uncalled for at the Gold Post county clerk or county treasurer. The Office: people want to know. A. L. Cain F. Daly Fielder Jones “ We have twelve road supervisors Mrs. M. P Galsrneau that spent in the year 1911 more A. A. Nicholson than »60.000, and with all due re Mrs Fred Mitchell spect to the honesty and Integrity of G. W. Ring these men, THIS MONEY HAS BEEN Miss Nell C. Palmer WASTED.” Mrs. L. M. Ring The above Interesting statement Electric Telephone Co. does not come from some chronic old G. J. Herman mossback, nor from some rabid, un Parties railing lor the abive wil reasoning critic of the county court. please say “ sdver ieed.” I It comes from County Road Master J. B H ammkrslkv , Postmaster W’llbert W. Harmon. As an example of superheated gall this statem ent of Jackson county’s fancy »300-a-month Leap Year Ball ‘road m aster”— or Is he “county en A erand leap year ball will be gi-en gineer?"—can onl) be equalled by at the Gold Hill Opera hou-e next Fri other samples of the same commod day evening, from 8 to 1 o'clock. Mes- ity emanating from the same source. dames J. Q. Jarvis, S. E. Smith and O: Haller a-e the committee in charge ol More money will be spent this year the arrang ment«, aud it is certain that (1911) on Jackson county roads than these ladies will be diligent in their ef during any previous years, but as it forts to make the affair the sncct-ss of will be expended on permanent work the«ea«or. Local bachelors are bash It will be welcomed by the taxpayers. fully waiting to be bidden, while the The above paragraph appeared In m»rried men, who have a cinch, look on the Medford Mall-Tribune of March and—grin. 12, 1911, in reference to new work about to be undertaken by County Sams Valley Meetings Roadmaster Harmon—or County En A series of re igions meetings will gineer Harmon, as the Mall-Tribune hel I at the Tankey schoolhouse in Sa called him at that time. In view of Valley, beginning next Wednesday a Mr. Harmon’s modest statement In continu ng until Suuday. Elder W. the New Year's edition of the Mall- Darby, of Corvallis, of the Church Tribune that »60.000 has been wasted God, willaddre s the meetings. All i on the roads during his administra cordially invited to attend. tion—which the taxpayers believe is a conservative estimate—it would ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ - ♦ ♦ 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - 4 - seem that the Medford paper is rather ♦ a bum prophet. Fong Way Shows Right Harmonies Way to Boost. The people at the October election signified their willingness to furnish the money for road building by vot ing in favor of a »1,500,000 bond Is sue. and there should be no time lost In completing a perfect road building organization.— "County Road Mas ter” W ilbert W. Harmon. Indeed, the first and most essen tial step on the part of the county court toward “completing a perfect road building organization” Is un doubtedly the Immediate re-appolut- ment of W ilbert W. Harmon to the office of county road m aster—or county engineer, which Is It?—at a salary of not less than »300 per month, with »150 per month for those months he does not "w ork.” The people of Jackson county are deeply grateful to Mr. Harmon for his harmonious suggestion. It wilt be such a help to the county court In laying the plans for wasting an other »60,000 In 1912. Nez Perce, Idaho, lays claim to a model citizen in the person of a Chinaman. Late ly that town has raised a pub licity fund to exploit its re sources and the Chinaman subscribed $120. His name is Fong Way. Incidentally, Nez Perce, wit ha population of 1500, is raising a promotion fund of $10,000, to carry on a two years’ work. Any little wound or abrasion of the flesh occurring In cold weather that Is not promptly treated becomes a bad sore and Is difficult to heal. Ap ply BALLARD’S SNOW LINIMENT at once when such accidents happen. The wound heals promptly and soon does away with the annoyance of a bandage. Prloe 25c, 60c and »1.00 per bottle. Sold by Jarvis, ths druggist.
