National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-25

furnishing iron covers, IS
To labor in hitting blocks IN.
der granite step and fur
nishing material therefor, Is o.
TO two settlers and two labor
ers, ressttIng curb accord
ing to directions received, - 10 0
<. --- - 40 = ASS o.
Ths above bill Is herewith certified as correct
and true.
This is the price established by myself This Il
the iAgKiug which has been used twice; thai flag
ging which has been charged to the Government
BY Mr.. Wilson: Q. Where is the charger A
is SO excessive about Pstreet circle that 1t comes
under the head OF e1orbitant? A Yes, SIR, II
does; It Is not extra tagging around P-street cir
up a couple or faggsi you could see the thickness
q. Then they did not have the kind of stone
By Governor Shepherd q. In this bill Of yours
for tagging around Franklin square, on page ass,
where Is the sidewalk A. I was there and looked
OF the Franklin school house, which have from
my own records just brought the original Dill
By Governor Shepherd: Q. Then IT is. on the
east side Of Thirteenth street, A. Yes, sir. 2
I @. This does not refer to the sidewalk on
strcet-Neufehatel faggtngf A. No, sir.
q. Wherer A. 1 think 1t is in some other
O. WIN you be kind enough to find It and show
BY. Mr.. Mattlngly: @. will simply ask you
one question. You have introduced this corpora
ton bill Of 1883 Here is one Of 1870 What is the
of the fiaKgingH A. 1t does not say whether 1t is
for material, or material and labor. This is for
material and labor.
from that bill what IL is? A. No, sir; i do not,
whether 1t is for material and labor. There is no
doubt that II for tagging and laying, but it don't
state whether 1t Is bIuestone or Seneca. Seneca
BY MIR. Christy: @. Is It not the fact that the
Tagging laid down by the Board Of Public Works
generally was of the least thickness used, and
wholly different from the Kind upon which you
fixed the price OF 70 cents, delivered on the wharf
at this timer A. Certainly; especially for the
which is the greatest quantity. The specification
reads not less than two inches thick.
Mr.. Stewart. Is it not your duty to certify to the
The Witness Al P-sIrsst circle there was this
Governor Shepherd. That is what he did.
Mr.. Stewart. 1 have not asked that My
question was whether it was your duty to certify,
and whether you did not certify, to quality as
we'll as to quantity A. Yes, sir.
q. Then you ought not to have certified to the
quality. ..
Mr.. Srswart. 1.-THE quality was not up to the
The Chairman. When did you discover this
Tagging was so inferior In quality A. 1t is not
inieriSr; IL Is common.
q. When did you notice thata
The Witness. Whichf
The Chairman. Anywhere.
The Witness. Well
The Chairman. As 1t was being laid DOWN A.
Yes, sir.
WRIGHT RIvEs RECALLED.
would like to make an explanation, If the COM
mittee will permit. General Babcock and myself
are classmates. formerly occupied, under Presl-
-N,N.N
that he now occupies, and It may be that portions
Of my testimony may seem to reflect upon him.
Therefore deem 1t proper that I should come
occupied the position that have referred to, the
Board Of Public Works had been placed in power,
and consequently these duties had devolved upon
have been impossible for me to have attended to
them personally; would have had to rely en-
ttrely upon subordlnates.
The Chairman. He has relied upon them.
A. Yes, sir. II had been called upon to per-
form such duties would have had to neglect the
duties Of one Of my positions, ard think I should
have neglected the measuring part.
TESTIMONY OF JONATHAN TAYLOR.
Jonathan Taylor sworn and examined:
BY Mr. Wilson: reside in New York, and am
Of the firm Of Taylor s. Filbert. That firm has
been dissolved. II was dissolved on the I'D Of
Q. For what purpose was that firm organizeiP
A. Ii was general contracting and street paving.
Q: In reference to what-any particular place?
@. How long had that firm been in existence
A. We went Into partnership in September, 1871;
September or October. !
A. The first work we laid, we laid q small piece
In Philadelphia, on Arch street, corner of Sixth
and Arch. The next work we did was here. q.
@. Have you done any work except in the city
Of Washington, with the exception Of what you
have already mentionedf A. No, sir; not our
o. What was the extent Of your contracts in the
city Of Washington A. Nearly 8 million Of dol
O. Who was your book keeper A. In the FIRST
place MIR. Slater was book keeper, and then Mr..
q. Did he continue up to the time of your dis
o. Where are the books Of your irmf A.
cannot tell you where the books are now.
Z. Where have they been? A. The last saw
Of the books they were at the Metropolitan hotel
In New York.
: Q: How long ago was thats A. About three
weeks
9: Where had they been kep. prior to tina.
some time in February, when they were taken 70
DIR. Filbert's room, Mr.. .Nioholls brother-in-laW,
sss n tbs; sss W sssd T. n such sS
anything about them; I was trying to get q set
Element with him for the purpose Of dissolvtng,
but could not get that done. They were taken
up to his room from the Office, and they were kept
there some time, and then submitted to Jno, @.
Moore and F. W. Smith to get them up and to
make settlement between US:
Q. Where does John q. Moore live? A. In
q. Where does Mr.. Smith liver A. In wash
ngton; he is In the lumber business.
Q. Were they submitted to these gentlemen as
or as arbitratorsf A. Both; they
were to get up the books in the first place, and
decide certain matters that We did not agree upon
nearly, until the LIST Of January and never could
catch the Doctor here; If he was, he did not have
q. Where is DR.. FIIbert now A. do not
know; his homo is 1907 Greene street, Philadel-
phia. He Is either In Philadelphia or Pittsburg,
l presume. He has contracts fOr work there, I
q. Did you or your firm, or Dr. Filbert, either
directly or indirectly, pay any money for getting
cOntrsessH A l bought the first contract here
Spicer. At that time he lived here. was mot
much acquainted with him. think be had been
q contractor for the Government at the time. He
told me that the Government owed him s35, 900
and be expected to have got the money to do the
work himself. l think he got 1t in September
Inc award was made TO him, As underst9od at
do the work. was doWa here and he proposed
to sell me the contract. 1t IVES contract for .
OosSn sIs sa Sor q WHcte 1aysmsn
cheap kind Of pavement, or not frst-rate pave
ment. think the price was $3.50. When he spoke
and then went to Governor Shepherd and asked
him about 1t, but did not tell him was going TO
buy the contract, or anything Of that kind. told
MIN MT spiesr hsd the contract put mao NOT the
nish the money and give him an inter est in
he contract to 70 on and DO Il. He told me the
award was good but that they might want to
,hange the pavement as they had inquired about
L and they did not like It. So the next spring !
went on and did the work and changed the kind
Of pavement, and had the wood preserved
O. How much per yard did YOU pay Mr.. Spicer7
There were about IS 900 yards in the contract,
and gave him 5000 for It.
@ Have you purchased any other contracts?
A. Yes, sir; do not recollect the names.
bought contract on Eleventh and Tenth streets.
@. Whom did you buy the contract from on
Eleventh street? A. I could NOT tell the name
now. The contract was afterward issued In my
name. The way that, contract came about was
his: There was mah BY the name OF BeIdler,
from Philadelphia. He came over to New York
10 my ONCE and said that he had 1000 yards OF
contract to sell, and wanted to sell 1t TO me- 1
told him did not want to buy. but he urged upon
me that I should come over with him. Twas here
] day or two, but could not find out anything
about It for the first two days Then he said 4
belonged 70 some parties, a man by the name OF
Kelley think, and another man, whose name
q. seltIf A. Yes, sir; I think that was the
q. ANYBODY else? A. Nobody else was men.
Toned. Then went with him up to the board;
The board was In session, and instead Of having
20 900 yards, they had only one street. which was
sither Tenth or Eleventh street. Ho said he had
that contract, and before would make any ar
rangement with him went In and saw the con-
tract ana asked Mr.. Shepherd II the award-if the
good one. I told him that THIS