Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1869-09-18

Baltimore papers OF last week con'aineu
the Report OF The Joint CommjIlee oil HE
City Council OF Baltimore, appointed 10
investigate certain charges Of othcIa' COZ
ruplion in reference TO the contracts ioF
the erection Of the New City Hall, from
which i, appears that there has been a
great deal Of fayoTillsm. and no small
amour, of fraud pracliced by those who
have awarded the contracts.
Amongs! the building materials requif
ed for the work, were large quantities oil
bvdraulic cement, and we are very glad to
find from the Committees Report, and
accompanying testimony, that the Polo
mae Mills Cement, manufactured near
this place. found 10 be fully equal if not
superior in quality to the celebrated
Rosendale brand, and tia; il gave far more
satisfaction than either the Cumberland or
Round Top Cement, in regard 10 the
latter of which the testimony Of the Su
perin,endant OF the City HALL Building
says: 1.-The Round Top was The only &C.
menl liable to objection, he could not
have used it without great trouble"
We have room only for the following
extract from the Report -
CEMENT.
The first contract for cement was
awarded 10 Messrs. V. V. kllnefeller d
Bro, at $500 per barrel for Potomac ce-
men,. and VIC have heard no objection 10
this contract from any source.
The second contract Tor 5000 bbls was
awarded 10 Mr. Charles ii. Nicolal at
81. Is per Dbl. for Cumberland cement,
and at the time OF the award we find thai
the following bids were before the com.
mi,tee, 10 with
Elincfsltcr s Bro, Potomac, at $500 per Dbl.
John Curdy, Potomac, at. so. III
Lester & Co., Rosendale, at....S2.i
A \. Bush, Rosendale, at..."..S2.l5
From which it will be seen that Mr..
Ncolai's bid was not the lowest" 1t was,
however, claimed for Mr.. Nlcolai'S ce-
menl that ut came in larger barrels
wOuu go further" and was by far the
most superior cement offered, aud there
fore the cheapest at his price.
Mr.. Purcell, the Superintendent o! the
building, however, informed us,ln his eX-
animation, that The barrels in which the
Nicolai cement was delivered were IN
many instances the same, and in no in.
stance larger than those in which the
Potomac cement was delivered by Mr..
Klinefe,er, and that the Cumberland, al
though very fine cemeni, IVES not supe-
ror to the Rosends!o or Potomac Mills.
Inasmuch as the award Of this contract
wa. justified principally upon the ground
that "ihe packages" of the Nicolai cement
were larger than any other. for the pur.
pose OF ascerIainng the truth OF the stale
ment, as well as TO see whether the con-
tractor was complying with his contrac.
so far as TO deliver proper quantities IN
each barrel, we appointed sub.commll-
tee, consisting Of three OF our members,
who caused 10 be weighed by sworn
weigher six barrels OF cemen, delivered at
the building by Mr.. Nicolsi, and i, will
appear from their repor, and the certificate
of the weigher, both OF which are here
with returned as part OF this report, that
in The six barrels so weighed there was
deficit Of $40 pounds. Presuming that
all the cement delivered by Mr.. N. is de-
ficen, in quantity in the same propor'ioo,
as we have right 10 do. we find in his
contract for 5000 barrels there was de-
iciency Of about SCI barrels, SLOWING
clear loss TO the city in that contract OF
$3.50. l6, to which, if you add The dill
ference between the bid OF NicoIsi and
Klinefeller. we have tot,l loss OF ST.
1916 Now we cannn, say that the
Building Committee can be held directly
responsible for this outrage, but they cer-
iainly have suffered themselves TO be mis-
led by the representations OF Mr. NIcolaI
and others, thereby permitting great
outrage 10 be perpeIrated against the
cily'S interest.
AZ Nrcur SCuooL.-At tho REQUEST o!
some Young men, Mr.. McMurran propos.
IL .,hoo1 nrfOhnr 4