sed other bidders.

Answer. No complete list was submitted to the Chicago House
Wrecking Company or to any other bidder. The Exposition Company,
through the salvage committee and the executive committee, with
deliberate intent refused to furnish any list purporting to be
complete.

Fifth. That a written offer of $400,000 cash, and more, if lists
could be secured, was ignored.

Answer. No such offer was received.

Sixth. That a bid of $450,000, half cash, was presented to the
Exposition Company after the announcement of the sale of the
salvage to the Chicago House Wrecking Company for $386,000.

Answer. No such bid of $450,000 was received; the Chicago House
Wrecking Company did not make a bid for $386,000.

Seventh. That the contract was eventually given to the Chicago
House Wrecking Company for $450,000, with contract provisions
inferior to the former $450,000 bid made by a party outside the
Chicago House Wrecking Company.

Answer. This statement is not true. There had been no bid of
$450,000 on any terms when the sale was closed. The contract
provisions were superior to any made in the bids.

Eighth. That the contract with the Chicago House Wrecking
Company does not adequately protect the Government, the city of
St. Louis, and the stockholders, the $40,000 bond being out of
all proportion to the size of the sale.

Answer. The bond of $40,000 was not taken to secure the payment
of the $450,000, or any part of it. The first payment of
$100,000 was made on the signing of the contract of sale. The
remaining $350,000 was secured adequately by a mortgage on the
property covered by the bill of sale. The $40,000 bond was
required to enforce other conditions of the contract, namely,
those relative to the wrecking and removal of the property under
conditions of leases upon which the property stood. A part of
the contract required that property be kept insured for the
benefit of the Exposition Company until all payments were made.
The bond covered these provisions. The Chicago House Wrecking
Company made its second payment of $100,000 on February 1. The
third payment will be due March 15. The company holds a mortgage
on the property to secure the remaining payments, and only
releases the property to the Chicago House Wrecking Company as
the payments are made.