The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-10-14

tocOrutuk TO tne tpeOtuChtlOna, tuo uufolUcA4 1
Ions are a part Of the contract, and belong 70 |
i, do they. nott A: II they do, II was Mr.. |
Cranes duty to put them on IN one case a. we'll |
,s In smother. MT. Crane was the man Who |
q. DO you not remem that no contract
has been let out In, the Fourth ward since
these specifications were printed except thisi
A. :, No q ar DO not; I do not Know At what
j.. q: Do you know who composed these. spsoi.
ncatious and had them printed A. No, sir.
moi Know shssr Z but
Q Do yoa not remsmber Inst you requested
MT. Crane to draw up some specifications and
y SS% .Ss yS a.. ssa ss Sm and
Thousand copies printed A. very likely l
d,d, bnt have no distinct recollection
O. Do you not remember that that was
about the LIST OF january A. I do not. Issy
have no distinct recollection about II II 10
very probable that what you say 10 true, but l
there was something said about having GER
tain speciacstions dfswn, but l could not say
whether you drew them or drew them. be-
know who drew them OF anything about it /
could, probably, by reading them over, tell
whether Idrew them myself Ifnow my own
Do you consider It business.like to make
an advance on work upon which, according to
the contract, nothing can be paidi A, have
done ~ 10 individual cases time and again,
q. Do you consider II business likei A.
Yes, sir l do consider It business like, II
a. why did you not make the advance on
account Of K street where there was some
thing donei A. made the advance upon the
contract. Il did not make any advance upon
saysnce vas made Because II me sons had been
d. no yoa fecoiiect on the I'D 81 February
OF Mr.. Cranes coming into the once with the
nrfVtnal Of thia nj nj anhmittiaR ~ tn
you A; No, sir; as l said before, ! hsd no
recollection Of seeing the contract from the
time Y wss made until ! Ie.sraea, fey day:
what brought 1t out at the time.
~ ySS that rsen MI 4, S sS az
in. syy,,, A. No. lido not remember any
VOC s si;s T AL a VI. RI, 9 g. S' :uSn es
the contract to you on the asd q Febrn,ry. Of
ture was obtainedf
Mr., Crane Yes, sir.
Witness. Yes, remember that time.
thought you meant some other time after the
contract was made.
Of paper the following words, and hsndins
them to Mt. Crane: 1.-THE contractor 10 to re-
| ceive pay only for excavation or embank.
%s.s ma. no. pSs' p.S for as ss s
with the same earthi'' A. Yes, sir, I do. I
required Mr.. Crane to put that into the con.
tract oetote W0uld sign N -
orsns AZ t6st tine. YOU Euow, hi. Crane,
| that q street and First street will have to be
allied with earth taken out Of X street," A.
q. You sie positive You never didi A. l
know l never did-never in the world.
could not have said 1t, because did not
Q. Why did Foa have this clause Inserted
| In the contract n there was no such expeota-
ton on your part A. There was an expecta.
tion as, ~ there would BE- surplus earth on
tied In the other streets, I had been so told by
the city surveyor, but that In the converse.
ton that took place between Mr.. Crane and
take place. l could not have said any such
thing. did not know the condition OF q and
First streets, didn't know whether they would
than Whist / learned from the conversations
| with Mr. Bliss. He said there would be
| surplus earth on some OF the streets, and thai
would make a very great difference In the
cost Of the work, whether It was done by one
party-the four streets-or the different streets
q. You own square Of ground, I believe
| on X street, between North Capitol and First
street esstf A. lido
qusinted with that locality, A. / am.
q Do you not remember OF riding over
there with Mr.. Crane one day last fall, and
s0;s sr r and and h nk9g
graded, and Of asking Mr.. Crane to draw up a
bill for grading these stree,st A. l think Il
very likely did: I reTember very well o.
however. II thought It was proper I should
have done so. did think 1t proper that M
q. Did you not know at the time that @ and
| First streets were all embankment1 A. No
sir, did not, and do not know 1t now. had
not the levels, and could not know, and there
fore l say, most positively and decidedly, tina,
never made such declaration to you-never
~ there her wa no :uJgiqs earth o. street
10 this contractf A. How can say whether
there would be surplus earth or not on X
street when ! have the estimste OF the sur
says that the excavation is SO much and the
| embankment so much.
- Q. Didn't you know that everybody At the
estimate OF that street, A. No, sir; Ipresume
that Mr.. Crane, In his prejudices against Mr.
Bliss, will make an assertion OF that kind, bu,
do not believe 1t, Notwithstanding. believe
| MIR. Bliss is as correct a surveyor as any one
we have In Washington.
u. Do you think his estimate IL correct OF X
| street, A. doj have no reason to doubt 1t
| q. You think there are over 1000 yards NOR,
| of Excavation than embankmentt A what
ever he has made 1t presume Is correct. i d
not know anything to the contrary. His esti
yards OF embankment. Ihave never had any
reason to think It was erroneous. l relied
upon his estimate when the contract va.
knows that he and went over that estim1t,
time and againi that we took the bids ant
made the calculations, and that he admitted
the corporation large sum OF money. l csr
testify to that do testify to It. He admitted
that, and that Is one reason why the contrac
was given. 1t was not only with his sanction
but with his advice that the contract wa,
given to this man.
q, IfthereS no surplu. earth on X stree,
IN n " n n foFa NM ftaA ant,
thousand yards Of surplus earth being take
nothing about.
| q. II there has been fifteen or twenty thou
sand yards Of surplus earth taken out OF l
street and Deposited somewhere else, doe
A. That 10 matter for Mr.. Bliss to answer.
q. say, II that 10 q facti A. know moth
ing about It, shall answer no such questio
ast that, and l AN not bound to answer. Their
are circumstances that could, perhaps, be es
plaiued by surveyors that would satisfy an
one that Mr.. Bliss was correct, even thong
stances, There may have been washes, on
way or the other, In or out. do not kno,
sDything about the circumstances OF the Cast
g. In case any dirt washed out, would tina
require more dirt to be taken out of X street
A. No, eli, Of course II would not That 10 to
silly aquestion for any man to ask, aud Gel
taialy too silly for reasonable man to al
q. You say dirt might have been washe
out or washed int A. Yes. sir, that Is what
q. Gan you mention any special reason VIII
| Mr.. Bllss'estimate 10 not incorrect, otherwis
than the dirt being washed out, washed mi
had no knowledge Of the streets except wha
10 contained In these estimates. My oalculi
. tions have been made from the estimates tina
were made by Mr. Bliss. He made them !
good faith, and have no doubt of their col
rectnessj I never had any.
@. II alter the embankment on X street l
finished, and the excavation Is finished, ther
. has been hfteen or twenty thousand yards Q
earth taken out Of X street, and deposite
somewhere else, would that show Mr.. Bliss
estimate to be incorrect A. That 10 a quei
tion OF your own asking, and you will have
answer 1t. That 10 q matter have nothlng /
do with. 1t does not throw any light upo
this Investigation at all.
q. You admit that according to the contrae
II there 10 that amount of surplus earth, col
tractors are not entitled to any pay for dii
, taken out OF X street and put into q and Fir
streetst A. The contract specifies that II an
surplus earth is taken out Of one street an
. for, and 1t will not be paid for.
, q. DO you remember that 1t has alread
been paid fort A. No, sir. There has beer
, as l said before, no payment made.
q. Do you not know that B,24b cubic yard
charged here In q street, as embankment, wa
mainly taken out OF X street, A. Mr.. Gran
knows as well as l do that that is merely a
approximate estimate Of the work done. 1t
!, not made with view to settlement or an
thing Of that kind. 1t was just made for II
/ purpose Of satisfying the corporation-thoi
, having the means In charge-that there hi
been a sufficient amount Of work done to Ju
r.. a Nl... LII aIH