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Show O'OMKISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. 17 Class 9. Crockery and lamps ------------.----$.9-.10-0 ---------------- Classlo. Furniture and woodenware ----------.----35.,0-00- ------.----- Class 11. Harness, leather, shoe findings, saddlery, etc- ------.-33-, M-Y) -- Class 12. Agricultural implements- --,---- .- -------.--10-,7-00- --.------ (Xass 13. Wagons and wagon fixtures- -.-----._-----1-8,4-00- ----.------- Class 14. Paints, oils, and glass ................................... 42, 000 Class 15. Tin and stamped ware, etc- -.-..-----..-.---6-,8-00- ---------- Class 16. Stoves, pipe, and hollow ware. ........................... 8,000 lassI7. a w a r e ............................................. 54,000 Medical suppliea __..-_..-----_.-.-.-----23.,4.00- --..-----..-.---.--.-- c o o books, e t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,700 I - 194,800 Total ..................................................... 1,758,6fM Altogether these embrace 2,673 items. Bids for these articles were opened this year as follows: For subsistence, except dried fruit, for classes 8 to 17 except for the Pacific coast, and for school books, on April 25, in Chicago. For classes 7 and 17, except hardware for Pacific coast, and. for medical supplies, on April 27, in St. Louis. For classes 1 to 6, on May 16, in New York. For coal, on May 25, in Washington. For classes 8 to 17, for the Pacific coast agencies and schools, on June 13, in San Francisco. For dried fruit, on September 29, in Washington. The number of bids received were as follows: Chicago, 460; St. Louis, 70 ; New York, 72; Washington, 102 ; San Francisco, 75 ; total, 779. . All articles, except a few subsistence supplies, such as beef, bacon, etc., are bought on samples submitted by the bidders. The samples are examined by experts, and those are selected which, price and quality considered, will best answer the purposes of the service. When we consider the number of bids offered, their tabulation and arrangement, the comparison of samples, which sometimes number as many as a dozen &different makes of one article, and the precautions necessary to prevent the expert judges from knowing the identity of any bidder, it will be seen that the work involves a great amount of clerical and other labor and not a little time. The present system, with few modifications, has prevailed for years, and on the whole has served its purpose well. Changes for the better have been made from time to time, however, as special exigen-cies have pointed the way. Until recently, for example, subsistence and goods of the first eight classes for the Pacific coast agencies and schools were not included in the Eastern lettings, but were bought sep-arateiy. Such articles as beef, flour, and grain were allowed to be contracted for by the different agencies and schools, while the other articles of subsistence and the classified goods described were bought IND 1 9 0 5 2 |