National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-25

Balance due ssl2se5 OF
The work required in the compilation oi the
above figures, and their comparison with former
appropriations Of Congress on avenues and streets
was quite laborious and extensive, and hence the
delay.
Very respectfully, &C., ADOLF CLuss,
Engineer In charge.
The Witness. This verifes the statement
which made.
Q. That verifes the statement which
you made, that you knew nothing about
the Government measurements a. That
the engineers are sacrificed by the Board
Of Public Works. This was submitted to me
by Nj. .Oertly, and, as mere clerical matter,
was signed.
Q. Was signed at whose request Let us uu-
derstand that. That is in response to letter
Of Mr.. Willard, dated the 18th, and this reply
is dated the 21st. You had eight daysl A. In
eight days ! could not possibly have gone to
work and measured up this work that is In
here. .. o.
Q. You did not undertake to do III A. I
could not do IL at all. i said Mr.. Oertly did
this work. ..r ..... ...- #- :. +.
Q. Mr.. oertly did not write this letter, did
he, or sgniti A. Mr.. oertly wrote the let
ter, and signed it. 1t Is in the handwriting
of one Of the clerks. ..--
Q. Signed by you, is It mott A. think, for
sure, altered the wording of that letter some<
what, because 1t was too positive, and altered
the wording of 1t and so this was q mere
clerical matter for me to have signed It.
Q. Wasn't that work measured, and wasn't
It compilation from vouchersf A. All
know was certain vouchers in connection with
the change of grades around the Capitol here.
Q. am talking about the items mentioned
in that letter. A. That is one of the items.
There are certain vouchers connected with
this work around the Capitol. These bear my
signature and Mr.. Barney's, and this part of It
l know, but as far as the rest of IT is concerned
am altogether ignorant.
q. Then whatever bears Mr.. Barney's and
your signature is all right A. OF course.
Human judgment is liable to err. Certainly
there will not be found anything but what
competent men, under similar circumstances,
would do.
@. But so far as the Board of Public Worksis
concerned, when you addressed letter like that
to the executive head of the board is It not fair
to presume that you knew what you were wri-
ting about as engineer of that board? You
have just little while ago stated to me that f.
vas impossible, between the sd of October
and LIST Of November, to do that off-hand state
ment OF appropriations required, you know, for
81 ,240, 90 appropriation. did not tell you 1t
was impossible. A. How could /, within ten
or twelve days, do such voluminous work as
this7
Q. That is what am trying to find out.
Now, Mr.. Cluss, look at these assessments
there, and see If each one of them is not certi-
fed to by you as engineeri A. East Capitol
street, from First to Second street, there is not
q signature on that-on this one. ,.--|
Q: You say your signature is not on that
A. No, sir; 1t is not.
Q. Just please look at that again before you
make such positive statement. See If you do
not find 1t there in red inkl A.'Ah, yes-that
is all right.
By Mr.. Stanton: Q. Is IT your signaturel A.
Yes, sir; that is my signature.
Q. Are not those the papers on which the
statements made In that letter were basedl A.
It would take close comparison to say 60.
2. just see If these are not all signed by
you. s--i.g -...Eg
Handing the witness number of vouchers
referred to In the letter.
"A. This bears out what said, shat this
system OF the Board of Public Works that is
In vogue viii catch in its measures the best en-
gineers. These papers were presented to me
as q mere clerical matter. did not know that
I signed these vouchers. cCtA
Q. Then you would sign O mass of papers
like that, Mr. Clussl You would write out
long letter giving summary Of this abatement,
address it to the executive officer of the Board
Of Public Works, and this a. engineer of the
board, and come here and state Il was q mere
clerical performance on your part "A. /. pre-
tend TO say this is the way the Board of Public
Works perform the work, as the Governor
knew very we'll. = -. - i---
Q, That is the way you performed your
duty, Is II no1 That all these measurements
had been for months preparing -these yolumi-
nous papers, heref A. What I am positive !.
about-these vouchers for improvements- 4
The Chairman. want to have him answer
one question before you proceed to another.
l want him to stateWhether his name appears
70 al these vouchers. A. In this way, Mr..
0ertiy signs in his handwriting, and my name
Is in my handwriting between,
BIZ Mr.. Mattingly; O.. TheI your own name