National Republican., 1874-04-01


property a:ong on the line Of the Improvement.
Mr.. chrfsty: For the entire cost
The 'Witnfzs- wish 10 call the attention 6f
the committee 20 the fact that now We hsvs
received bill from the board charging Us two
cents foot for our property down there. We
eons,dss u very unjust, because no other part
BY Mr.: Stewart: q. Where Is tina. bin A..
i I have Il home, sir.
Il Q. Where Is that property A. SQUARE a57.
fronting on Fourteenth street seVenty-AYe
Il feet.
o. Between what other stre.t,, A oh,.
avenue and d street northwest.
Il Q. 10 is down by the canal A. Yes cir.
about two squares south Of Pennsylvania ave,
nue..
Q. There has been q sum Of money speut ON
tnaf eanaf A. understand the Government
has paid all the expenses Of that sewer, I
cant say anything about that. would state
TO the committee that we had all the facilities
that could be possibly given to us by putting
sewer down before the canal was filed up.
4 we mad q splendid sfx-foot sewer running down
fourteenlh street through the canal. Il an
swerea every purpose so far as know.
y iou speak Of general injustice done TO
the town was habitable; that peopIe csIid live
tneref a. l have tenant houses there and
never have any can to advertise for tensnt,
have now house that will be idle the first of
the month and have Eve applicants for n.
| Q. Do you think that the property along
unjust discrimination against III Al, do
indeed when we have had the whole cost Of !,
six-foot sewer to pay for.
By Mr.. Jewett: @. You say you are . Judge
Of brickf Yes, sir; somewhat so-
Q. Did you test these bricks to see whether
they were son or hard, or merely BY looking a.
| thenf A. can tell from the appearance Of
the brick. They were all . very light salmon
color; that is, avery large proportion of them.
2. When brick ID q salmon color, does Il
not depend somewhat upon the character Of
the material 1t Is made on A. Yes, sir; it de-
pends considerably upon the material that It is
made out OF. But then, as / understand q
prck-aimost any material-you can burn .
heat to IL. -
Q; You say you did not test whether IL vas
naru or SOFT, only from its colorl A. Yes, sir;
anu tnen picked up several and compared
them, and my attention Was drawn 70 them NV
several parties passing asking what thourht
of those brick for sewer; whether thew were
proper kind. Arch brick, think, Is gene
rally used for that purpose.
Q. What kind Of material Is there here for
making brickl A. have understood from Mr..
Hopkins, who was in the brick business, that
he had very fine material; that he got on tie
Virginia side Of the Potomac q most excellent
material. / am not engaged in the business.
Q. If you have observed It, you know that
bricks made from the clay in the neighborhocd
of Philadelphia and Baltimore will give much
higher color, although no better burned, than
| clay from other localities. A. It Is generally
admitted that Baltimore clay will make the
best pressed bricks, but we have found good
clay here for the purposes Of hard brick, as I
understand, as can be found in the United
States.
Q. Then the color was not attributed to the
| m - ali
Mr.. Stewart. The material makes no differ
ence with the colorl
The Witness. Oh, yes, It does. There Is no
question about that; but am speaking of the
hardness. The hardness is produced by the
burning, as understand.
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. Do you Judge Of the
quality of the brick from the colorf A. No.
sir; l saw them, and picked them up, and COM
pared the hard with the soft.
Q. Did you break theml A. Yes, SIR; I
broke them, and compared them, and had them
in my hands.
By Mr.. Christy: Q. Do you know whether o.
not all the brick furnished by Gantz & Apple
man came out of their own kiln or Doti 4.
couldn't say; their own teams hauled greater
portion of them.
| Q. What was the proportion of salmon bricki
A. II Is impossible for me to say, for never
took any account of It; merely made the re-
mark: l said salmon brick with the hard brick.
By Mr.. Msttingly: will ask you II the diff
ferent colored brick which you saw were not in
the same wagon-loads Of brickl A. Icannot say
positively in regard to that.
TESTIMONY OF wELIAM DOUGLASS.
William Douglass sworn.
Mr.. Christy. We desire to call this witness
on the subject Of trees and tree-boxes, and also
on the'subject of sodding. He Is, as / under
stand, a florist and gardener, and experienced
in this business.
Mr.. Ayett. Do you propose to prove by this
witness that they charged too much for sodding
and for boxeA
Mr.. Christy. Yes, sir; and also for the oraa-
/ mental trees.
By Mr. Jewett: Q. What do you know abou.
itl What was a reasonable price for sodding
during the summer Of 1873, per square yard,
such as was done in Washington cityl A. I
can't say what would be q reasonable price for
the sodding that has been done4
Q. What is a reasonable price for good sod
dingl A. About twenty-five cents a\yard.
| Q. Was the sodding you saw in thfs city Of
good charaeterl A. No, sir. / saw them lay,
ing down sod on New York avenue, l think In
the month of June or July, and told them at
the time they were laying it down, says I,
''You are just doing work here for nothing;
that viii all die" And it did die.
Q. Then the difficulty was the season, and
the character of the weather. A. At that
time, l say; and saw good deal of other
sodding. They didn't sod at all; they threw it
down with shovel. Gfs
4 Q. For the kind of sodding you saw here,
what was a reasonable priceS A. couldn't say,
because would not have 1t done In that way.
| Q. Did you notice the kind of tree-boxes put
around treesl A. 1 know nothing about the
prices of tree-boxes, or anything of that kind.
Q. Do you know anything about the prices of
such trees as were planted herea A. Yes, sir.
Q. What were theyi A. am furnishing
some to the Board of Public Works
Q. What is reasonable prlcel A. Forty
dollars a hundred.
Q. You furnished some at thatl A. Yes, sir.
By Mr.. Christy: Q. Have you observed the
trees planted in this cityi A. Yes.
Q. What would you furnish them for, or
what could they be furnished for by persons in
the business, apiece, and setting them upl A.
Planting the treesi
Q. Yes; furnishing the tree, and putting it
up, and digging the holel A. Doing the paw
ing around it, and alli
@. No; exclusive of the removing of the
pavement. A. They have to remove q pave
ment to make hole. Well, should suppose
about 81. so would be fair.
By Mr.. Jewett: O.. so per treei A. Yes;
I would like to have the job for that.
| Q. Do you include the boxi a. No, sir.
Q. Il would be reasonable price for digging
the hole, furnishing the tree, and setting g upl
A. Yes, sir; it would pay a man well.
| Dy MI mcTrlck. ". mOulQ LnAL 0cluQe the
furnishing of the soili A. Digging the hole
and filling it up.
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. Do you do any sodding
In your businessl A. Yes, sir.
@. Do you include in the estimate of 25 cents
the furnishing of the sodl A. Yes; certainly
g. You estimate 25 cents per yard, getting
the sod for nothingi A. You always get the
sod about the streets.
Q. But it is against the law, isn't III A. 7
don't know.
Q. The sodding done under these specihca-
tions-state what reasonable price would be.
A. could not say.
Q. Have you read these specifcationsl A.
No, sir.
Q. 1 viii read then for your benefit: "sods
will be free Of garlic and other noxious weeds,
and average two inches In thickness. Before
the sods are laid, there viii be eight inches Of
good Srface properly graded, 30 as to present
an even surface and prevent tepressions In
filing. When grading has necessitated the
removal Of the original surfaee-soil, the sub
soil will be pecked up and thoroughly pulver-
lied to depth of six inches, before spreading
to eight inches of good soil upon which the
sods win be laid. Alter the sods are laid they
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