National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-02

p IL
IN some cases-a few Of them, say about 200
Of them, Of this tulip-poplAf. r DO not consider
that It Il good to do It. I made the recon-
mendation because ofthe anxiety felt TO have
the city decorated with trees, 7g...ii. sls.iI.
Q. Some testimony was given here about the
cost of soddiAg and the price paid for soddinE
around the Botanical grounds. You may state
what knowledge you have OF that subject. "A.
Mr.. Clark, the architect, who disbursed the
money, had charge along with himself. BE got
some sodding done for TWENTY-FIVE or thirty
cents, and there were other bids from experts;
forty and TWENTY-FIVE cents were the bids Of tie
other two; twenty five cents was the bid Of Mr..
Sullivan. That was Q peculiar case. He said
he was desermined to have 1.-THE must have
work for his horses; and do not think that is
a fair sample of work Of that kind to be done.
While II was done under my own superintend-
eney, and done really well, considering Il was
the last Of the season, we had scarcely time 70
do II. In fact, the eods were all put down
frozen and then flxed little afterward.
Q. What season Of the year was ~ A. Just
at the end OF last season. -
Q. Il was done, then, when he had not other
appointment for HIS horsesi A. The other two
were forty and forty-fve cents; and the sum
was discussed, and he said he would not do It
for less. Three horses and boy, and he put
in eight inches Of soil and sodding.
Q. understand you to say that all these
bids were influenced BY the consideration that
1t was the reason when there was no other oe-
cupationi A. Yes, sir; It was cash.
q. What was included in that jobi A. Only
on First street; little strip.
Q. Was there any grading or anything Of that
sorti A. No gradiag; I had first taken away
all the superduous material, and taken care TO
make IL eight inches. / do not think any sod
ding SHOULD pc done that has not sufficient sol
underneath it.
Q. Then the proportion of the ground was
not included in that contract A. Not at all;
loosened up the soil underneath, which is one
of the requirements of the specifications as pre-
to the board for their guidance, published with
the name ofthe board attached TO 1t.
@. This piece of ground is level, Is It not,
and the job IL q comparatively easy onei A.
It is what we would call q smooth, easy Job,
and would not cite 1t as Q criterion to 60 by
at all. do not think If Mr.. Clsrk's attention
was called to 1t, that he would. Mr.. Clark
consulted with me in these matters very often.
g. As general thing, how has sodding been
sodding has been laid, as general thing, very
we'll. ... .. ..
@. Do you know who fixed the price for
which sodding was done under the boardi A.
Mr.. Saunders and myself recommended so
cents. ...a -..
Q. Do you regard that as reasonable pricei
A. think it is reasonable price, and q fair
price for sodding and putting the soil under
meath. 90 So. al. rr. ... .
o. You and Mr.. Saunders prepared, also, the
specifications, did you mott A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that was prepared with carel A.
Prepared with care; It was prepared, 1 may
say, by Mr.. Saunders, and Endorsed by me; few
men have had as much experience as Mr.. saun-
ders. -- Dr.. ..... 49,. ..... ID .... -.- .-. ., -
Q. What was the price originally fixed by the
board, do you knowi Was 1t not twenty-five
centsl A. ] do not exactly recollect how the
various questions were discussed by Us, but the
final conclusion was to put the requisite
amount of soil and sod and pick up the soil
underneath, &C. know that It was worth
that, and think SO still. ~. II
Q. A witness by the name of Huber has testi-
fed here that some public property was taken
to build q stable of yours. He says:
I received request from Mr.. Smith. He is the
chairman Of the parking commission Of the Bo-
tanical Gardens-the superintendent OF It. We
had some requests for boards, some 800 400 500
S rn se e
board. I built one for Coglin-he is contractor
and one for Henry Burkhardt. and one for
smith himself, for carriage-hOuse that he had
Q. What have you to say in regard to that
A. That it is lie. 1t is willful and ma
hcious lie. NE 100. ...
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. Did he build any house
for youl A. never owned stable In this city
in my life, and never knew that there was
stable, until read it in that testimony.
Q. You say you never knew there was a sta
BILE. A. mean in that place in Burkhardt's
yard. may say the house that owned was
in Burkhardt's stable, for the use of the super
intendent and myself to go about inspecting
and examining the works.
Q. Where Is this yard7 A. It is somewhere
down in that neighborhood; but never was
there, and could not tell you; the superinten-
dent lived out there; and / asked him to hire q
stable somewhere in that neighborhood, and he
had buggy there that he used In the morn
ing to 60 around, and see me before my Office
hours. He hired stable from this man Burk-
hardt, but authorized no such thing, and I
By Mr.. Stanton: 8. This Huber was dis
charged, was he mott A. Work was suspended,
and he was; we had no further use for him,
and we could get good men for less money TO
do the work. But won't say anything of the
mans character, because It would be con-
sidered that 1 was prejudiced, he having &C.
cused ms-made an accusation which Is false,
of the falsest kind.
@. would like to have your general opinion
as to the course which the Board of Public
Works pusued In parking-the general plan,
and arrangement, and the cost. A. With
reference to the cost, except in the matter of
trees and the price paid for sodding, have no
knowledge. The plans that they have adopted,
as general thing, while 1 was opposed to
some Of them at first, have changed my
opinion Ia toto-they are right, and was
wrong. In the matter of Massachusetts
avenue, for instance, / thought for long time,
and was very Jealous and anxious 10
secure its parking in the centre. Ger
tain plans that l had in common
with my associates were thwarted by that-a
feature which would have been an interesting
one. / was very anxious to see along that
magnificent avenue all our American oaks, for
instance, IN which take q special delight.
But think that the plan adopted now by the
Board Of Public Works will make 1t the most
magnificent avenue probably In the world.
Four rows Of American lindens planted and
cared for judiciously will be q magnificent fea-
ture, if carried out. You can see specimens of
them, In the Botanical Garden. have seen
Paris, and have seen inter der linden, In
Berlin, and think this will far exceed that.
The American linden is superior to the Euro
pean linden for the purpose. The unter der
linden tree looks squatty, and our tree grows
much higher; but, strange to say, they have
not adopted It to any great extent anywhere
else except here. 1t Is the first time, think
We came TO that as q necessity. We were dis
~ Jul pAeASI oho oAOPtCu bul51 ouo i
now think, for artistic beauty, It viii make the
most magnificent avenue on the face Of the
earth in any city.
By Mr.. Stanton: Q. State whether your
services have been rendered to the board
A. Entirely.
Q. And of your associates, alsoi A. or Mr..
Saunders and Mr.. Lane in the same way. We
meet once q week. for discussion-at least we
proposed to meet once week; we are not as
regular as we used to be. We give our ser
vices without fee or reward, except the honor
we expect for being associated with the plant
ing Of this city with trees.
Q. During the active progress of the work
you did meet for consultation once a week. A,
Yes, sir; whenever necessity required anything
to be consulted about, we met every Thursday
evening.
@. Have you and your associates taken pride
ami interest in this work and given 1t your best
attention. A. We have.
By Mr.. Christy; @. How long since your
nurseries have been established here7 4. It
was one Of the first things that we did when
we commenced the parking. i
Q. State If the trees first planted were not
largely brought from the forests.
The Witness. What kind Of trees do you
meant
Mr.. Christy. The trees generally planted
throughout the city here. I am speaking now
sntireiy Of the trees planted by the Board of
Public Works.
A. No, sir; they were brought from the