New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-04-04
THE DISTRICT INVESTIGATION.

FURTHER TESTIMONY REGARDING ExIRAyAGANT
PRICES FOR wORK-A FORMER AUDITOR OF THE
DISTRICT GOVERNMENT IEsTIFIEs AS 70 THE
AUDITING OF BILLS.
fBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUyEl
WAsH1NGToN April 3.-The District Investigating
Committee examined Mr.. Clark, Architect of the
Captal Extension, this morning, principally in
relation to the prices which he pays for labor and
material employed in the Improvement of the public
grounds, of which ne has charge. He said that the
proper price to pay for granding in the streets of
Washington, including the hauling of the earth,
was 40 cents a cubic yard. The Board of Public
Works pays 40 cents for the excavation or filling,
and one and quarter cents per hundred yards for
hauling, where The distance is more than 200 yards
For instance, the Board paid 40 cents yards for
grading Pennsylvania-ave., East and AZ cents
ward for hauling the same material. Mr.. Clark said
that he could have got the grading and the hauling
both done for 40 cents yard Mr.. Clark pays SO 79
q yard for granite pavement and $50 10 for Belgian
pavement. klagging, not dressed. costs him
40 and A. cents foot. When 1t Is
dressed on the surface he pays 70 and 80 cents a
foot; and for raised Seneca tagging ne pays 90
cents Sodding costs him % cents yard. He pays
10 cents foot for setting straight curb and 10 cents
for setting circular curb. These prices are from ten
to fifty per cent below Board prices and, taken in
connection with the testimony of numerous other
witnesses prove that the Board has been very ex-
trayagant in the prices it has paid. As all of the
Boards contracts were awarded without compet-
ton to whomever the Board chose, the opportu-
mites for favoritism were very great
Mr. Strong, the unwilling witness, who was on the
stand yesterday, admitted paying S125 to Mr..
Browne, the attorney of the District Board of
Health, but said he took note for it. That note
was produced to-day. but was simply memoran-
DUN in the form of note, written on the back Of
business card. Testimony will probably be intro
duced TO show when that memorandum was actually
made
Mr.. Wright Rives graduate Of West Point, and
the owner of considerable property in the city and
county, gave some important testimony in regard to
the Improvement of the ~Badensburg road in the
county. This road is little more than two miles
long through the country and the Board has spent
upon it $52,S4, more than $26 600 mile. Mr..
Rives said that tho whole plan of the improvement
was too expensive, and that this the result of
the incompetence of the Boards engineer. The
work has also been done in very extravagant man
neT. Mr. Rives had Also made computations with
regard to work done in various parts Of the city, and
had found numerous mistakes and overcharges.
single instance will illustrate the nature Of these
overcharges. The Board, according to its report of
1872 paid for putting down a wooden pavement on
one street 30 ~ yIu, puJ III MAKING out Dill
against the United States Government for o part of
this same work they charged 49,
THE AUDITING OF BILLS.
The lest witness on the stand was Mr. Il Richards
late Auditor of the District Government. He said
that about year ago there came 20 his office bills
for improvements amounting to about S475,000,
which 1T was proposed to pay out
of the funds of the old corporation OF
Washington, the ground that they were for
Improvements ordered and appropriated for before
the present Government into existence As
the Board paid for work ordered by the old corpora
ton, this would be perfectly proper if these bills
covered work 80 ordered. But Mr.. Richards found
on examining the vouchers that many of the claims
arose under new contracts made by the Board OF
Public Works. la other words where the old corpo-
ration voted to improve street, and appropriated
81, 600 for the work. the Board annulled the con-
1 tract changed the plan, and improved il cost of
$4,000 Mr.. Richards did not believe that the old
corporation ought to be made to pay this increased
amount but that il should be paid as other improve
ments were paid for. Besides these. other bills
| amounting TO from $4,000 to $4,000
were also sent to his Office, which, for similar
reason, MI Richards refused audit. After lie had
| held the bills several weeks, he received a call
! from Gov Cooke, Mr., Shepherd. Mr.. Magruder the
| Engineer of the Board, and several others. They
tried TO persuade him 70 audit the bills but he re-
fused until finally he did aunt S379O00 Of them as
correct according to tho vouchers. Ninety four
thousand dollars of them he never did audit, and
| The $4,000 worth Mr. Shepherd ordered the Board
| Engineer to take away. Mr.. Richards also testified
that the reason why the school fund appeared over