National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-03-20

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-, :. - :. =. -. .s..E.S.E
Mr.. Merrick. No, sir; we do not Ere about
The Chairman Mr.. Emery, you MY tn, =
be Discharged from further at.sn1ancs All
the witnesses who werr summoned yestcr q
may be discharged. -,
TESTIMONY or wrLLsaN eALLAxruns.
William BaIlMtyne swcrn:
EIan,ir.I By tie Char,nss -r
Q. We ind among the DAnct 6ies bnI az
yours against the trefees Of TIC pubiic schools
for ss,A1I7, paid On The ID Of Apii, Nv.
wiz YOU state the circumstances connected with
tnis Transactions beginAns At fbs Scxihan.s
a; Fhe circumstances ase simply these.. Ths
sIter the foursastion Of CIR building Wz1 Id,
IN " was IN psssress of esection, tke' sFNeces
o. tne punalc sehOols came to- mc'tScoxsxl1t
soo0e Iurnhure: IL takes sohAider1eeU tiAe
70 lake such fussiturc, and they coaC$u<je.1
they would take tine by the 6fciock, awe
would say. SO We came to a verbal ~ T.
standing as to the time and tbeou. M M a
would be needed. TAe positive cfocr forth
furniture, given by Governor Cook. .w,s p;y,,.,
after he came into power, but IL aas4he orSS
order and the only contract that l. syrr bsf1 m.
supply furniture signed by the MAYOR or ths.
Governor. The others were ali gi1ub y,tbe.
trustees. This was simply confirnutocy az
that which had been previously giveuby tho.
board Of trustccs-.he board Of th.,Fourth.
district
O. The first understanding OF whicK. you
OF Washington A. Yes, sir. That is, by u q
trustees holding underline old government II.
was INST given BY tho mayor, but By the sui
board OF the Fourth district.
q. But the final order for there several aftf--
cies was signed by Governor Cooke. A. Ycf, f.
sir. a ,--.s 10 ~
8 9. When, do you remember. A. In the
spring OF 1s7S-early In the spring OF 1879.
Q. When was this furniture placed in the !.
school .roomf A! In theAspring Of 1879. -
Q. 1t was new school -houscf A, Yes. str :.
then approaching completion, and tho furniture
was all made previous to the formal order being
given; made under the verbal ORDER
Q. When was this verbal order giveua A. To
the best Of my recollection, in the spring Of
Q. There are various prices appcnled here to
each article. Was there any agreement as to
the prices, or did you charge what you cOnsid-
cred the articles were woyth2 A: In reference
to the furniture, / acted simply as the agent Of
the manufacturer, and furnished it at precisely
the factory price, the manufacturer paying mo
small commission. The trustees paid TO mo
simply that Which they would u.ye nAa to pay
to Mr.. Shattuck in Boston, Or any other manu-
facturcr-the manufacturer allowing me small
commission on the transaction
Q. Then YOU were simply acting as commi,-
sion merchant. A. Yes, SIR. In the article 4
furniture.
Q. Were thes ewholesale OF retail prices, 4.
They were the prices given ior t.I. quantities
there, on which had o commission Of i've PR
cent. r....r 50 30
@. From the manufacturer, A. Yes, SIR: to
furnish the schools here precisely what they
would have had to pay If they had gone d..
rectly to Boston. ~ > $500, b.. 80
@. You had no commission from the CITY,
government A. No, sir.
Q. Where were these articles manufactured d.
A. think portion of them were mannfac-
tured by Mr.. Shattuck in Boston, and portion
of them by Mr.. Bancroft in Philadelphia.
Different articles were manufactured, ofcoarse,
n different places. =
By Senator Thurman Q. Do. you know
how many children attend that school.. A. II
do not know. l suppose II is very easy to
reach that from the number Of rooms in tho
building, sixty pupils being allowed to each
room. think there are fourteen rooms in the I.
building, if am not mistaken.
Mr.. Harrington. Twenty rooms.
Witness. Perhaps so. Fourteen in the Frank
lin, / believe. think sixty pupils were al
lowed to . room. That will give you tho
number.
Q. That would be 1900. Here are !, go chairs
In this bill, and among them are 40 cane-seat
chairs. For what rooms were those cane-seat
chairsa A. The cane-seat chairs are furnished
for the teachers, there being allowed to each
room for the teachers own use, and for any VIII
tors-the trustees-who may come in, and then,
such others for the room occupied by ths sub
board of that district. That will refer, think,
to the number.
Q. Three to each room would be sixty for
the teachersl That would Be eighty more.
A. Then the others were used in TIE hall and
for the platform, and quite q number We're
used for the rooms occupied by the trugtees.
tees, at one dollar foot, making 81 los. How
many settees did they makei A. The ssttsks
were cut up into different lengths. I can16S
tell the exact number. We charge them q So
much per foot, and they were made to order to
at in the circular spaces in the hsll-in the
main hall in which concerts and general ex-
aminations, &C., are held. :
Q. -Four hundred and nineteen fest of Wilcox
setteesa A. That IL cheaper settea used In,
the gallery of the same hall.
Q. That is q hall in which public examine
tons, concerts and the like are heidi A. Yes,
sir. It is large hall.
Q. Do you know anything about the reason O.
ableness Of these pricesl A. Well, sir, I know
that they arc net manufacturers prices, and T.
low, and lower, than they could Be DO Yht
day BY at least ten per cent, because the Id
vantage which the city gained In ordering tho
furniture early was before the rise of Iron.
Q. That is not the question 40 to what they
would be to-day. The question 70 what they
would be when furnishedl A. The very .oxscf
possible price at which the furniture could bot
bought at the time they were furnished, and
the prices Of furniture advanced before they
were furnished.
By Representative Wilson: Q. Who gave you
that verbal order, and with whom was IL you
had this verbal understanding that you have
spoken Off A. The sub-board of the Fourth
district, consistingof Mr.. AtLee, Mr.. Champlin
and Mr.. Crook. I think they were the sub
board at that time.
Outstanding with these gentlemen that you
were to supply the furniture for this school
building when II was completedl A. Yes, sir;
so much 90 that on the strength Of that pro-
ceeded to order the furniture to be made and
Il was made and nearly completed by the time
got the written order from Governor Cooke.
Q. This was no part Of the contract TO build
the housed A. No, sir. Il had not sntthing
to do with It, a. fsr a. am concerned.
By Mr.. Stanton: Q. You had furnished fun.
niture to the schools under the old corporation
Of other times, had you mott A. Yes, sir. I
think all the furniture that has been furnished
since went into that business. ~ i
Q. Was Il ordered In the same way - the
original order BY the trustees In this easel A.
Precisely; and this b the only exception to
the uniform rule of verbal order.
Q. In this case you obtained written evidence
from Governor Cooke In consequence Of tia,
change Of government. A. Yes, sir; and II
order to make good the order that had for
merly been given. b.
On the conclusion Of the testimony of the
witness, the committee adjourned untn TO-
morrow morning at 10 .. m.
A LEGISLATOR OF OTHER DAYS. :
Among the oldest sx-msmbsrs Of the New Yefk
Legislature u Hon. John J. Van valksnburih.
OF Chatham Centre, concerning whom Sea6sl
Wilbor, IT,, writes to the Albany Jossssl y fol-
lows: $50
In the quiet little village Of Chatham csSH,
Columbia county, ip this stats. there i(sd63h
The eajoyness Of grs:a ~ sss John }; IA
valksnburGh. For eoneehlnf OVER dirty Sv{Sil
town, and NOW at the ripe "a u nipA }aH5 isaf3
under ht1 own vine and DC tfee. BY f6fbflr14 II
the civil List 10 viii b. ~ that NJ, Yaq YAl9d
bsrgh vas member q w Ls&i2&QtSHaf n
head, AssrisS Prsss and tSs snes xS50 81
WiIl{aua iuatlv sfvfNd thu aOuPfAH u AAA % |