National Republican., 1874-05-27
DISTRICT INVESTIGATION
Co.isnssd Jsos Supplement.

Co.ssnssd from S.pplsmsnt.
/ Q. Now you say it b slgned by Mr. cluss.
In what way 10 Il signed By Mr.. Clussi A.
sEstimate Of voucher on me-" He signed
j THAT.
i O. Read what be has signed and tell where
it Is on the margini A."Estfmate Of voucher
on die, Adolph Cluss, engineer in charge"
) Q. Where Il thatf A. That d IN red ink on
the msrgtn-on the left hand margin.
Q. Look ct the next one, and see what this
is. A. II Is the same. They arr the same all
u through.
I Q. Il is simply note ON the feft-hand mar
GIN, showing the character Of the paperi A.
Yes, sir. -.... .---a- r-....
i Q. Is IT not a certificate by Cluss, Of any
thingi A. No, sir.
Q. He has not certified to any of these meas
urements, or any of these youchersi A. No,
sir. - ....-- 49,
1 Q. Do you know when that work was done
that is set forth in these pspersi A. presume
this work was done during tho summer of 1873,
most of it.
Q. And that is the work on account Of
which the Board Of Public Works is now ask
ing for appropriations from the Government,
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And those papers were made up, If un-
derstand you, by Mr.. 0ertlyi A. Yes, sir.
1 Q. Do you know by whose directions he made
them upf A. do not.
i @. Do you know when he was at work at itf
A. think remember the circumstances Of his
working at them, but what time am unable
to say. He was working at them In our Office
j Q. I would ask you to state how long it
would take you, as an engineer, to take that
pile Of vouchers and verify all the work that
is set forth there, setting apart TO the Govern
ment the work that has been done, that which
pertained to the Government property, and
should be paid for by the Government, and set
fka oka.,
the private property-holders should pay, and
test its accuracy A. / do not think 1t would
take great while, from the fact that we have
most ofthese measurements in the office already
made. .- .. b. I'd. .... ....-.. .. :
Q. 1t would not take great while If you
took Mr.. 0ertly's statements as being accuratei
A. These are not all of Mr. Oertly's state
ments. Some of these are copies of vouchers
which are signed by myself, and also signed by
(. Q. What mean is this: If you as an engineer
Eshould take this estimate to be correct, it
would not take you very long to verify; but
suppose you were to be called upon to be GER
tain as TO the accuracy of those things, then
I how would it bei A. If my reputation de-
pended upon It, would go over them-every
one of them. / hardly know how long It
would take me to do that. It would be a
pretty difficult matter to tell the time it would
take to. do this work. / Ipresume two or three
weeks, with plenty Of help. should want
plenty of help, and not anything else to do.
BY the Chairman: Q. There are two kinds
of papers here, are there noti A. Yes, sir;
one is vouchers for work actually done, and
the other the estimate Of work to be done.
Q. II would not take you long to go over
that, would 1.-THE estimate for work to be
donei A. suppose great many of these are
for work that is estimated for.
Q. But you could sit down in your Office and
\ make estimate for work IN he dOne1 A 0h
yes, sir. --- 1885,.
Q. Those two classes, then, comprise that
listi A. Yes, sir.
Q. Work done, and work to be dcnea A.
Yes, sir.
q. The vouchers there for work done are the
vouchers for money paid to the contractors!
A. Yes, sir.
Q. They assume to be the exact amount paid
| to the contractorsi A. Yes, sir.
| Q. You say some Of those are yoursi A.
Yes, sir; think most of these vouchers were
signed by myself.
| q. In the estimate for work to be done the
prices are estimated as well as the quantitiesl
A. Yes, sir. o..
| Q. Who made up these estimates for work
to be donei A. This Is Mr.. Oertly's.
Q. He made them upi A. Yes, sir; in the
engineers Office.
Q. Do you know anything, personally, in re-
lation to themf A. No, sir.
L Q. Did you at any time A. No, sir.
.. You did not know he was working at
themi A. No, sir.
Q. You had nothing whatever to do with
themi A. No, sir.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. How long would It take
you to test the accuracy of those measure
ments-ths general accuracy of them-by
taking map of the streets and q scale OF It
A. 1t would take only short time.
! Q. How correct would that bel A. usually
determine the accuracy OF my assistants meas
urements in that way-just taking the map
and walking along and seeing what has been
done over the street, and then going back to
the Office and figuring It up.
Q. The scale Of maps Il generally substan-
| TALLY correcti A. Yes, sir.
Q. So that the chief engineer can with a map
test the accuracy of estimates of measurements
sufficiently to see that there are no great errorsl
A. Yes, SIR.
o. win you please make that little figuring
for me, and give 1t to me during the day, If
you cant A, Yes, sir.
WILLIAM FORSYTH RECALLED.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. What is that book you
have in your handi A. A book of measure
ments of different kinds of work done under
the old corporation; This is headed "FIfth
ward tHeasufefH9nt book"
@. Have you been making out an account
that Is chargeable to the avenues for work done
for the old corporation for any purpose3 A. l
| have.
Q. Have you any data by which you can
know when the work is chargesble to the
avenue and when 1t is chsrgeable to the streets
under the old corporatiOnl A. You will find
| that upon the vouchers that accompany the
report.
Q. State how you arrived at the separation
of the voucher, where In the same voucher
| there was q portion of the work done on the
street and q portion on the avenues. How
would you distinguish the work on the avenue
from the work on the stree.si He says he has
| predicated his estimates-his accounts-upon
| the separation of these accounts in part by
| you, where they were mixed entirely by you.
A. For instance, you wanted to find the flag
| footway and the gutter across North Carolina
avenue and D street, west side Of Third street,
you will find the account of that, the cost of
| Il, and the measurements, and you will find the
voucher to correspond. There may be q dozen
| other fagways embraced.
Q. VIII you read what there Is in that book,
and then state how you know it from thati
A. At this point that I have opened 1t, It sis
the flag footway and gutter across North Caro-
lima avenue and ID street, west side of Third
street." That is D street south-157 feet by
4, making CPS square feet Of Tagging, which,
at 65 cents Q foot, makes t40s 90; 157 by 20
cobblestone=349 yards, at 62 cents q yard,
s21638; 1877 feet by Is and 15=772 yards of
grading, at 10 cents yard, 1878; 157 six
teen-inch tagging and gutter, IS cents foot,
s70.65. Total, sSSS.S6.
Q. How do you know that was on the ave-
nuei A. Because measured It there.
Q. What is there on the book to show you 1t
was therel A. Because the heading Of it reads
SO: "Flag footway and gutter across North
Carolina avenue and D street, west side Of
Third east"
By the Chairman: @. When was that work
donei A. Il was measured By me on the 11th
of May, 1871; that Is the date In this book.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. This is the measurement
across North Carolina avenue and D street.
How do you know It should not be charged at
D street, A. It Is street intersection, they
all being counted as avenues at these points.
@. 1t 10 the intersection Of North Carolina
avenue and D street, the intersections being
charged to the avenues! A. Yes, sir.
q. And that is for the Intersection A. Yes,
SIR
q. In the old vouchers, by turning to the
papers that Mr.. Winter has on file, the num-
ber Of the vouchers will correspond. Now
hora fha 6rct Aao fnotwau and f1atfar