National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-04

you were tbersi A. I noticed Il from the time
Il was started until Il was finished In casually
walking along through there.
.. Did you pay any particular attention 70 itf
A: did pay particular attention 10 II,
o. Did they continue to work WE'LL A. Yes.
sir; think the work Is just as good piece Of
work ~ can be found anywhere.
@. Even though there were tailors ana shoe-
makers superintendent A. don't think NJ
Gantz or Mr.. Appieman either would conscien-
tiousiy have Job OF work done that was not
q. I speak Of the taiiors and shoemakers be-
causs It has been said here that there was that
class Of men" experimenting the work, and
want 70 know from you, even If there were
brick-layers and men following other occupa-
lions there; whether the work was still prop
erly done, as far as you knewi A. win state
the facts here. Mr.. Burrows Is the superin-
tendent under Gant1 q APplenan. He Is
stands work thoroughly. He drew the work
off-dreW the lines Of the work and did 1t all
himself. He may be here In the room. He
knows exactly how II ought to be done.
O. And how 1t was done! A. Yes, sir.
! By Mr.. Christy: Q. You say that your re-
monstrances made to Mr.. Gantz were not lis
tened TO, and .nese incompetent brick-layers
never asked Mr.. Gantz but one question. l
told him to discharge Curry the first day went
there, F
o. You said, however, there were other incom-
pefent bricklayers-men who did not know the
businessi A. / said SO.
@. That is true, Is III A. Yes, sir; said
there were incompetent bricklayors there.
@. You said the first courses were laid with
good, but the rubbish, tho inferior brick, were
placed ove-7 A, Yes, sir; In the second ring.
Q. And Of course an inspection now of the
sewer would not enable the committee to de-
termine whether the bricks above the first
course were proper bricks to be used or non A.
No, sir. If you will allow me to say one word,
Twill explain to you. suppose that you were
in Rome, or some other country, where you
had very poor material to use. We were TAX
ing rough material and put the rough inside
and put the best out. At the time this sewer
was constructed 1t was q hard matter to get
brick here. We had to take the best we could
get, and Messrs. Gantz s. Appleman were
building this sewer. We took the best brick
that we could get and put them on the lower
surface, and put the rough brick in the inter
mediate course.
Mr.. Merrick. The question is not whether
you put the best brick you got In, but whether
you put as good brick as ought TO have been
put in that sewerl A. We did, under the cir
cumstances.
DIDO not speak of the circumstances; but
suppose good brick could have been gotteui
A. We could not have gotten them ct the
time.
O, But suppose good brick could have been
gotten, would it not have been better to put
better class of brick than what you did in
therel A. We had to run the chances. We
got as good brick as we could at the time.
Q. We're they made In accordance with the
specifications A. Seven by two inches, every
brick made there.
O. Were they made according to the specif-
cations, and in oil respects were the brick
throughout Of the quality called for by the
specifications A. The bricks were what we
term arch-brick.
O. That Is not the question. The question
is, were the brick put into that sewer of the
quality called for by the specifications! A.
They were not. i say they were not.
By the Chairman: Q. They were not the brick
called for by the specifications!
Mr.. Mattingly. Explain that to the commit
tee.
A. The specifications call for all red brick,
solid brick, and there is no sewer In the
world built with solid red brick.
O. Why noti A. Because you cannot get them.
This Capitol here Is built with them, and the
State Department, that am working on now,
Is built with them.
Q. With solid red bricki A. Yes, sir.
Q. You can get them for the Government A.
Yes, sir; the Government gives 81 or s. more
than anybody else gives for them.
Q. Where do they come froml A. They pick
them out OF the kiln.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. Those kilns Of Gantz &
Appleman-the solid red brick were picked out
Of thcml A. Well, Gsntz & Appleman, / sup
pose, sold their paving brick. The Government
don't use anything but paying-brick. They take
the paving brick and use them upon the Gov
errmcnt buildings.
O. Let us understand this. Gantz & Apple
man burned their bricki A. Yes, sir.
Q. Then they had solid red bricki A. Yes,
sir; they sold them for paving.
@. The solid red brick that are called for by
the specifications of this contract they picked
out Of the kiln and sold them for other pur-
poses! A. 1 don't want you to understand
that say they called for the solid red brick.
In sewer work arch brick will do.
Q. It viii dor A. Yes, sir; 1t will do a'good
job, too. The salmon brick, of course, they
have to sell for what they can get. Paving
brick they sell for putting down sidewalks
with.
o. Was that done in this case, out of this
kiln? A. They took the arch brick and hauled
them to the sewer.
O. What did they do with the nice square
brick7 A. Sold them for paving all around
town.
Q. That is the way this thing was donei A.
Yes, sir.
By the Chairman: Q. Are you familiar with
burning brick. A. l know something about It,.
Q. What portion of the ordinary brick-kiln
are salmon bricki A. Take a kiln of 200, 900
brick, and l suppose there would be about
sc, 900 salmon brick in the kiln.
Q. How many archl A. We take $1,000
arch
Q. How many solid red bricki A. There is
.hot iaI
suppose out of kiln of 200, 900 brick you
would get 100, 900 red out of the kiln and 100,-
QUO arch brick.
@. Now, the red brick and the arch brick
were put Into the sewcrl A. Yes, sir; the red
and arch were put in the sewer.
Q. Andsthc paving brick, the solid red brick,
were picked out and sold for pavingi A. Yes,
sir.
Q. And the salmon brick were sold for
WHAT A. don't know what he sold them at.
Q. They were not put in the sewcri A. No,
sir.
By Mr.. MattIngly: Q. Were the brick put
into this sewer suitable brick for q sewer. A.
Yes, sir; they were suitable for sewer.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN J. BURROWS.
John J. Burrows sworn.
By the Chairman; Q. What Is your businessi
A. Superintendent of building for the last three
or four years; sewer-work principally; nothing
but that.
Q. What was your business before that? A.
Twas Clerk in one Of the Departments-auarter-
master generals Office.
Q. Are you mechanic of any kindi A. Not
by trade.
Q. Did you superintend this B-street sewera
A. Yes. sir.
Q. When did you begin that work-at the
beginning of the sewerl A. At the beginning
of the work; from the start; somewhere In the
latter part Of May or June, 1872.
Q. Do you know what class OF brick were
put into that sewer A. Yes sir; the payeing
brick, generally, were taken out; were not
brought there. The arch and pillar or dark
brick. There was some very light colorcd
brick used in It In coloring.
Q. How in quality A. They were hard in
quality.
Q. How do you know thati A. By breaking
them open. There was complaint made about
the color-about their being salmon, and
went and assorted them, and broke them open
to find out what was the quality inside, and
they were far harder than they appeared TO be,
100 per cent. harder.
Q. Is that good seweri A. It is.
Q. How many sewers have you scent A.
have seen quite q number of them.
Q. Wherei a. Here in Washington and in
Georgetown.
Q. Not anywhere elsei A. Yes, sir; in
Washington and Georgetown.
Q. anywhere else5 A. No, sir.
By Mr.. Mattingly: @. What were Gantz &
A ar,ta fna In 40