. Life and character of William Taylor Baker, president of the World's Columbian exposition and of the Chicago Board of trade. a Receiver. The hardest fightthat they put up against us was in the matter ofsecuring the contract for furnishing power to the cityof Tacoma, which city in turn furnishes all the electriclight consumed by its inhabitants. I was pursued tomy wits end in securing this business, and did notfinally succeed until we had been routed once or City Council was at that time generally corrupt,but there stood up for the people of that city an honestMayor, the Honorable L
. Life and character of William Taylor Baker, president of the World's Columbian exposition and of the Chicago Board of trade. a Receiver. The hardest fightthat they put up against us was in the matter ofsecuring the contract for furnishing power to the cityof Tacoma, which city in turn furnishes all the electriclight consumed by its inhabitants. I was pursued tomy wits end in securing this business, and did notfinally succeed until we had been routed once or City Council was at that time generally corrupt,but there stood up for the people of that city an honestMayor, the Honorable Louis D. Campbell, than whomTacoma nor any other city has ever possessed anybraver, more scrupulous, conscientious nor morehonest a mayor. I finally succeeded in securing thisbusiness by a little ruse, as a result of which Mr. A.,our opponent, fell into the trap which I had preparedfor him. POWER DEVELOPMENTS 253 The bids for the city lighting as advertised for,called for a deposit of a certified check equal in amountto five per cent of the total cost of power to be CHARLES H. BAKERS GRAND HYPNOTIC EXHIBITION AT CITY HALL. Tacoma Ledger cartoon, representing President C. H. Bakers supposed hypnotic power over Mayor Campbell and other city officials of Tacoma, during the power contract light. The mayor occupies the center of the stage. furnished for the five year term of the contract, basedupon an arbitrary estimate furnished by the Com-missioner of Public Works, and at the rate bid. I 254 LIFE OF WILLIAM TAYLOR BAKER therefore secured our certified check at a bank inwhich one of A/s lieutenants was a director, knowingthat in this way the information as to the size of ourcheck, and consequently our bid, would get aroundto A.; but this is where unusual credulity causedhim to fall down, for I had our check made for a sumindicating a larger bid than the one we actually sub-mitted. The result was that A. bid just under whatour bid would have been as purported by the check,and jus
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