New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1860-09-12

the general inspector, with the Inspector 81 tne worh
constantly On the ground. who made certificates thst
the work was performed in accordance with the con-
tract.
In reference TO the charge of having retained IN
office persons who hed been proven gnty Of ON ia
deIi.aueucy committed 70 officer of tho department,
aud tie case of Conwel aod Conboy, alluded to by
the Mayer the reply says that the matter took place IN
the early psrt of June, 1859 two years previous TO
the appointment Of Mr. Happen as a member Of the
Cro,oI Beard. Ard at that time the unanimous de-
csicp of the Board upon examination Of the was,
that there hsd been no intention Of wrong doing on
the part Of Meesrs COrnwen and CoDboy.
Alter Mr. Van Shack, the then President of the
Groom Board, his Honor the Mayor sent 10 know
whether the above par les were employed, and for
copes of ibe evidence which furnished him, and
be then asked that they be discharged The Mayor
was requt sted to look over the testimony again,
and after few dsys, Messrs Happen aud Craven
were informed, verbally, that he was satisfied aud
would see the Board, Of its members, about It,
And it wss believed that the Board was correctly 70
inform ed inasmuch the Mayor has signed the war
rants every fortnight since for the pay Of Messrs Corn
well and Contoy, whom he now again charges with
wrong doing. Since the above occurrence the
CrotCn Board had heard nothing from the Mayor re-
spectpg The matter until the nmunlca,lon which was
sert TO the Board Of Aldermen.
Mr.. CRAVEN, Chief Engineer Of the Croton Depart
ment sad that the Mayor had refused t. be present
st the meeting Of the Committee, he presumed his
Honor withdrew the charges. ,
The CHAIRMAN stated that, when MIR. Craven had
read his reply the Committee woud notify the Mayor
to make his charges good.
An elaborate aud minute defense from the serious
charges preferred against his official conduct by ne
Msyor was then presented by Mr.. CRAVEN. lie makes
a direct statement of the several points IN the ndlc
uent and by clear explanations Of the nature aud
amount of the work TO be done, the methods OF ac-
comprising ii, and the apparent discrepancies 10 the
estimates originally made and tbs accounts finally reD
6ered upon which he has been aTaignet endeavor5 TO
establish his integrity and TO fix upon the Mayor some
other motive than pure desire for the faithful admin
israton Of all departments of the city affairs. Ihs
issue, be Gays at the outset,
the balance issue is Of chaIaceIof Private and a
apiyas citizen might have given the degree
Consequence his would demand But
my asst happens be the Mayor Of the city and from mis-
put &c poou embodes h stack n official documents, to
main records Of the city forever them pass IN
silence contempt but must expose ana eonue hese cau
MES only for my sake, but for the sake Of eu
and OF oil who appreciate private or iona
AS the public is aware, the first message OF the
Mayor was utter destitute OF basis OF fact. Eal.
ing 10 receive sanction Of the Board it followed
on the Is h of July, by SECOND document. II submit
ted as for Mr. Ccavens removal that the work
upon the new seTvOir, completed and IN progress.
Will largely exceed in cost the original estimates TO the
benefit OF the contractors in wi Ose interest aud not IN
that Of the city the Chief Engineer ha ac'ed that IN
paving forty-ninh street, the materials used were OF
inferior quality aud used very badly thatn the grade
Of new sewer, an important error was made in the
maximum which may involve the city IN litigation and
loss; and that two employees OF the Department,
proved to have detrauded IT, have been kept 10 service
thus subveTting "the good hlth ana honesty OF the
Department
In regard to the Reservoir Mr. Craven ts ne
cessy to the city and ts independence of expense az
well as the perfect acceptance and comprehension 0y
IN. Civ Government of the original estimate for the
work 1t was desirable that the relative proportions
of the different quantities making the total cost should
be as exact as possible, but " how even probable
| estimate to be asceriained!
The 'uae Of the entire Of LOG acres could be seen
with tie eve many the surface indications
Of what will be found underneath But this Of land was
pecuiaT have before described -and who could tel ~hlt
ood be found beneath sufGce2 how much solid rock what
kinds Of rock how much earth what hads Ct earth now
much the materials either OF earth OF rock would be ut TO use
! in the construction -
The examinations of quantities most carefully
made and in order that competitor Tor the work
should be msed, special clause inserted in the
proposas distinctly holding that the CrOton Aqueduct
Beard were responsible that any of them shall
strictly obtain" This clause was also included in the
contract and specifications. The seventeen bids re-
ceved on the items reauled in totals for the whole
work varying from 1914 DOL " TO Sl,9l473O 40. This
great difference showing that contractors frequently
propose lose by some portions OF the work, and
make up the loss on other portions Inc contract
confirmed by the Common Council in the Spring of
1851 was awarded TO the lowest bidders Fairchld n
Co., their bid being $632, 473 80.
With this general explanation, Mr. Craven takes mp
the separate charges in the Mayors Indictment He
defends the increase of eXcayaon-estinated at per
cent--on simple grounds:
The Depressed portions Of the site were very when the
required The material e1cavated necessarily collected
into temporary places Of deposit and to this when the
ground sufficiently drained to permit the construction Of
embankment double excavation required 1t was found,
oy for embsnEmsnt and deeper digging was Of course
snded BY the visions Of the cor tract the materials for the
rom The round for such a. was necessarily produced from
other sources price additional that named in the contract
at was therefore to the interest Of The city that materials
should possible be Obtained from the Reservoir grounds and
say kmeut that directed the increased excavation
to Be made Tithia grounds.
a. The nature of the rock encountered materially
added to the amount OF excavation. For this contln-
gency the twelfth section of the specifications in the
contract contains particular provision.
Mr.. Craven defends the increase OF puddle-the
space n the center Of the emba kmeut which surrounds
the Reservoir-estimsted by the Mayor at q per cent
over the original estimate the ground of the porous
neFs and friaby of the subteTranean rocks encoun-
tered il the puddle trenches. The deeper the eXcava-
ton the greater the amount of puddle required to hill
it. In un0ing for estm ties also, the engineer WAS
frequently deceived bis sounding rod being stopped
by what was pre- sumed to be solid rocS but was really
boulder upward pr, iecti1g point of rock. The
contingency of increase in this particular ALEC pro-
vi6ed for BY Section of the specifications and con-
tract.
TIE decrease in embarkment lone third according TO
the MsyCrl r. accounted for equally simple physical
Urincires and the de rease in stone paving and The in
crease in cement, proved 10 nave been folly auth
Orzed by the express terms Of the contract, although,
actually the quantity Of stOnepaving has not been
increased o. diminished 1t is rmply aidup in cement
instead of beii lard dry" 1t ia 50 laid for technical
reasons, fully forth by the Chief Engineer. The
charge Of increase of concrete is met in the
sane thoroughly pract cal way. The Engineer says:
viii be seen from the above, tina, the variations from the
estimated relative quantities by Of increase dunuon In
every item Of work aluoed to in the Mayors have rr
either the the ground elOPcd or the
character Of the sriss atedthat the estimate itself
and not Intended t. be- rae statement Of
quantities bt IL beN approximation TO which under
the circumstance could be obsnrd a. Engineer do not
hesitate declare that the estimate thus accurate In all its
parts"
That the changes in the original est mates wers
every beneficial 10 the contractors his Honor assert
on the confessed authority of the most skifu
tractors" lie finds their opinions " in the bids of
Cumming d Co. for thcse particular items of the work