National Republican., 1874-05-21

/ foot, while had at that time no idea whatever
that this was q different Tagging. In fact,
ought TO have seen 1t. For this am to be
blamed. My impression was that this was the
same kind Of finish which was up at the other
reservations. I thought, therefore, that the
price OF 81 cents which, in detail, he laid before
| mc-that this was q fair pricc-so l signed
that requisition for 81 cents; but l go back Of
that. The cost price OF that is about IS cents
furnishing material and putting it down.
O. Who did the principal part Of the flag
| ging around Government propertyl A. Well,
I think that we laid about 800, 900 square yards
Of hagging-345, 900 square yards Of Tagging.
| OF this Mr.. Evans must have laid 200 600
| square yards, and the rest OF It was divided
between Mr.. Nicholas Acker, Mr.. Morgan and
Joseph Fletcher. There may have been others,
but do not recollect them Just now
| Q. In looking at Fletcher's contracts, no
| tice the price there was fixed at 81 cents; since
that there has been something said about 10
feet of parking. How was that price, 81 cents,
fixed for laying that fiaggingi A. Well, in the
original papers find that there was nothing
mentioned of sodding, because this question
has been up officially in the last two or three
weeks; and so / said to the board, / do not sp-
| prove of this price; but believe that no sod
| ding is included. However, at q subsequent
date, when he was awarding contract for sod
ding, the vice president marks upon it, ''This
sodding is included in the former price' Now,
the contract did not show that this soddlng was
included, 80 1 was willing to let It 90 for what
the contract actually was, to stick BY an
| agreement you once make right or wrong.
The board directed me to take of this sodding,
which did; and subsequently they reversed
their decision and allowed him for the sod
ding. think this was only two days ago.
| wish to say have never heard Of Tagging and
sodding being put together. They are two
different things, just as much as brick pave
ment and curbing. do not see how the two
can be brought together, especially since, in
some cases, the tagging is only four feet wide,
as in the case of street, in the case of Sew
enth street, in the case of Twelfth street. In
the case of Twelfth street 1t may be six feet
| wide, Fourteenth street, fourteen or twenty
three feet wide. How, therefore, can you set
tie uniform pricea It is not all alike.
| Q. Do you know the market price Of tagging
In ~, '73 and '74l
The Witness. Do you mean the cash price
i Q.Yes. A. Between seventeen and twenty
cents, delivered in New York city. To this you
must add the price of freight here. The price
Of freight, should thiRk, is amply covered by
five cents. Then, agafnsyou must add TO it
the price of haul to the place where it is to be
used, and you must always take into account
that In large contracts, of course, the con-
tractor ord rs direct from the quarry and
brings it to the place, while where smsllsr
quantities are used, Of course he has 10 have
the stock in his yard. 1t has to be hauled,
and 1t is a matter of the Investment of capital
In his yard.
Q. Do you know from whom the Board of
Public Works made purchases Of the tagging
A. I do not.
. Q. Do you know Of any contracts being made
were you consulted about any contracts in
regard to the purchase of haggingi A. This
: case having been up for some time, / examined
closely the list of all the contracts, and did
not find any contracts recorded among the OIL
cial list, so have no idea at all.
Q. You don't know who did make the con-
tract, then, for the haggingi A. No, sir. 1
have also examined the report Of the superin-
tendent of property of 1873, and see one kind
is omitted, while curbing and other pieces is
included in his. report. t....
Q. Do you know of any case where contracts
have been executed after the work was done2
A. Many. think the rule has been to make
the contractors sign the contract as soon as
possible; but, then, the members of the Board
Of Public Works don't sign them all at once;
they sign them in bulk.
| Y. Do you know of any cases whero the con-
tractor has signed them after the work has
been donel A. / know of several.
@. What cases were thosel A. For Instance,
the case Of Gantz & Appleman, tor the B-street
sewer.
1 Mr. Wilson. don't care about taking up
time with that.
Il Q. Do you know of any case in which the
price has been increased after the contract was
awarded If you do, state what cases they
were, and what reasons there were for making
such change. A. remember there was, be-
fore was q member of the board. One day /
was asked about the price of the Evans Con-
crete Company. There was an independent
order of the board, and the vice president sent me
a note from which / inferred, believe, that
Chas. E. Evans & Co. got $3.50 or $3.50 for
concrete, and the other contractors were paid
$500. At that time Mr.. Chas. Z. Evans had
Of his host tV0rLr az EiffnaOth az
between Pennsylvania avenue and II street, and
also on i street, while the other contractors,
Messrs. Jno. o. Evans s. Co., had done work
which was a decided failure In concrete pave
ment, especially on Pennsylvania avenue, be-
tween Fifteenth and Seventeenth streets. So We
thought, looking at the question Of law
certainly reported back, 81 do not quite see
how q man who does better work gets less pay
than other men who do poor work" "Ofi-
\ cially," as q member of the board, / do n t
know anything about it; but this has been re-
ferred to me, and I just answer. Other casesI
do not remember just now, but there may have
: been other.
!; By the Chairman: @. Was the amount paid
to the Evans Concrete Company increased
upon your statementl A. think SO. l do
! not know whether it was made retroactive or
not.
, By Mr.. Merrlck: Q. understand you, that
, , certificate was made before you became a
your private character, and not officiaR A.
Yes, sir. was then inspector of buildings,
=. and, as such
The Chairman. infer he was giving his
! best judgment.
BY Mr.. Stanton: Q. You were an employee
of the board. A. Yes, sir.
: Q. Acting under appointment of the beardi
A. Yes, sir; have continued to act up to this
time, but of course without pay after was
appointed q member Of the board.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. Right there, 1 will ask
you this question: State whether you have
; ever had any extra compensation for your Ger
vices as engineer, or have you simply had your
salary' A. No, sir; have never asked for
J any, nor have I claimed any. The question
/. was put q couple of times when Mr.. Willard
became vice president. The letters addressed
} to me were not couched In such respectful
] language as thought was proper for fellow
member of the board. Mr.. Willard afterward
} told me that he made difference between me
as an engineer of the board and as a member
, of the board. He said such salary was due to
me. asked him afterward what salary he was
getting for performing duties of vice president.
Said l, 81 do not see that anything Is due to
me then" 1 wish to say that /, Of course,
have had for many years before l was
! member Of the board had private Office as an
architect here. Long before was member
of the board, drawings were perfected for
market-plac on Capitol Hill by my employee,
and this market-h0uSe l have finished since
have been a member of the board, and have
received little less than the regular commits
! sion would be. The whole charge for my office
! expenditures has been S2,500, and this COM
pletes all. They owe me still a couple Of little
charges for work which we had done-personal
outlays by employees of my private Office.
Q. Do you carry on your private Office be-
sides your duties as member of the Board of
Public Works? A. did carry 1t on.
Q. Have you since you have been member
J of the Board of Public Worksl A. Yes, sir.
Q. What has been the character of your
businessi A. Erecting buildings, to some ex-
tent; but, of course, since was . member Of
the Board of Public Works have been consid
erably impeded In these operations. have at
this day given it up nearly altogether. For
Senator Stewart l erected o house last year,
and then a couple Of other houses. / am also
architect for block of buildings on my own
account, and on account of Hallet Kilbourn
and Alexander +. Shepherd. An engineer of
railroad acts at the same time as q consult
ing engineer of other railroads. And so do
not think there was any harm, provided
worked about sixteen hours, and devoted to my
public duties nine.
Il q wish To l-novv sonnatbfnc abOut thnsa