National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-17

1 tnree OF Jour thousand collars, so nave Deen
| told. The firm of Shepherd has been paid that.
Governor Shepherd. will state to the COM
/ mittee that did not know Of work ever having
been done there by the firm Of which am
| member to the amount Of three or four thou
sand dollars. / will state further that never
knew about the 5000 appropriation until !
heard It here to-day.
Mr.. Merrick. There Is another subject that
wish to interrogate this witness in regard to. /
| allude to the lowering of the water main on F
street, or the gas-maln.
The Chairman. 1 will ask you about that.
| Q. What would have been reasonable cost
of lowering the pipe on F street, A. That
would depend upon the distance.
Q. Do you know the work done therei A.
do, indeed. live in that neghborhood.
Q. What would be reasonable pricel A. I
can give it to you better In these words than
lowering the pipe. I could take new pipe,
which would cost about 81 cents 9 foot-six-
inch cast-iron main-take It from Seventeenth
street to Twenty-second stseet, make all the
connections for less money than it would cost
| to lower that pipe. will furnish the pipe, put
| II down four feet six inches in the ground, and
give a bond and do It for less money than 1t
cost to lower that pipe.
@. What did IL cost A. About s., 600.
Q. How much per footl A. suppose It cost
in the neigbborhood of SIPS per foot. will
put new pipe down for that.
Q. What is it worth to lay this sewer-pipe,
/ the pipe being furnished =
Mr.. Merrick. The table that he gave shows
all that. They show the comparison of the
cost-show the charge, and what 1t could rea-
sonably be done for. -...
| The Witness. / have laid pipe here. A man
| can 60 TO work and lay any six-inch pipe in the
| ground. That Is what have done. have
/ done miles of It. 1 can take a six-inch pipe and
put It down into the ground four feet six inches,
fill II up, and make connections for about
| tyyorfv mi q and "a
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. Tile pipei A. No, sir;
| iron pipe. have done It for 16 cents q foot.
| By Mr.. Stewart: Q. You mean where you
have to dig up the street, A. will dig the
street four feet six inches down, take up the
iron pipe and put it there, and make the lead
| connections, and do It all.
Q. What do you include In that; preparing
the street, also! A. Yes, sir; fixing up the
| street, as a matter of course. l will put the
street as found it that is, the dirt-street.
should not do it on a macadsmized or con-
crete pavement, of course.
By Mr.. Merrick: Q. You include the exca-
walton and reflling? ..
Mr.. Stewart. That does not tinclude the
concrete pavement or wood pavement.
| A. They don't put them down that way, sir.
will put them down the same as any other
person puts them down in the same way. They
don't put those pipes only just when the
| streets are under repair.
Mr.. Stewart. Sometimes they have to be
dug upi 49,
4. Yes, sir. Sometimes It might cost you
s25 to dig up and repair where It would not
| be one foot.
Mr.. Thurman. Have you anything further
| that you want to state yourself? A. Governor
| Shepherd stated in his message that had paid
that paid s2,351.47.
Mr.. Jcwett. At the time of the messagel A.
These were paid prior to the message.
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. You mean the memo
rial handed into the Senatel A. Yes, sir. Now
here is another thing here. The fifty feet of
| ground that own at the corner of Fourteenth
and Corcoran streets 1 am charged S414 just
| for the roadway, which think Is sixty feet.
| havn't measured it. 1 only want TO show the
difference between the two with the same pave
| meut.
At the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and
| Nineteenth street have some property which
own there, which think Is forty-eight feet
eleven inches, am charged S21S, $4l4 on fifty
| feet of ground on Fourteenth street, with o
carriagewsy Of sixty feet and s2l3 IS for forty
eight feet eleven inches, at the corner of Penn
sylvania avenue and Nineteenth street where It
| is ninety-fve feet wide. want to know where
is the difference between the two streets. They
are both wooden payements.
Mr.. Thurman. The same kind of pavement
A. Yes, sir; wooden block. -.--ss-
Q. understood you the first time to say your
first block was 60 feeti A. No; so feet.
Governor Shepherd. The Government owns
a great many reservations on the Avenue,
which makes a difference in the cost Of 1t.
By the Chairman: Q. You do not know why
It isl A. want to know why it is; want to
have It explained.
Q. You say you have 4s feet II inches front
ing on Pennsylvania avenue7 A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was not the assessment on the Avenue
lessened by the fronts OF Government property
that there is On the Avenuei How is thatl
A. 1t might be that; but then I should think
35 feet would make difference all the way
along. There is one-half more.
Governor Shepherd. The assessments arc all |
here in the other room. .--ysS--i
The Chairman. I suppose that can only be |
explained in some way or other. |
Governor Shepherd. Yes, sir.
The Chairman. You need not spend time |
with this witness, Mr.. Christy. (To the wit |
ness.) We will try to see what explanation |
there is of this.
The Witness. hold In my hand two certif- |
Gates Of the Board of Public Works, from the |
Office, for this same property, on the corner of
Fourteenth and Corcoran streets, fifty feet |
front, water surface, 5000; water surface,
$3.50. want to know the difference between
the two. There are only 25-foot lots there. The |
Governor can explain that, because there is
By the Chairman. Q. Have you ever been to
the Office of the Board of Public Works about
these mattersi A. have q thousand times to
different ones.
9; On this subject A. Yes, sir; and they
paid no attention to me. You might as well
whistle jigs to the mile stones.
O. Who have you complained to ofthe board
with reference to these mattersl A. have
spoken to Mr.. Forsyth.
Q. He is the engineer? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he give you any satisfaction
Mr.. Merrick. He is the one who had charge
Of making out these assessments
The Witness He told me he had nothing at
all to do with this; that these were made by the
engineers outside.
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. What Is meant by
water-surfacel A. Running the pipe from the
centre of the street to the sidewalk Now,
that street, 1t would take IS feet Of
PIPE to run That from the main to the
40 cents foot, S14. Then there is q stop-cock
which cost 81 so, and stop-cock box which cost
$500; then there is the tap. don't know
whether the city charges profit or not. The
tap is worth about s1.70 itself. It would be
worth about $275. That is what I am doing
i at. They charge $500, viii give them
$500 for that.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. Then the putting OF IT
In? A. That is what it is. give that in the
charge. 1 allow him sl.25 for putting the
tap in. -.
Q. Is this the value of the pipe' A. No, sir;
" 70 "nak Inc putting IA cost. am allowing
big profit on it.,
Q. That includes material and the work,
digging the trench and allf A. Yes, sir.
By the Chairman: Q. You think il is an
excessive charged A.. Whichl |,
D. This SiO0l A. Yes, / do, indeed
o. Mr.. Thurman: Q. These are separate
pieces of property A. No, Sir; they are both
adjoining.
Q. Water service of eaehi A. Yes, sir:
water service to every twenty live feet is what
is provided for always.
By the Chairman: @. Are these lots built
onl A. No, sir; they are both vacant. J.
Q. Have you paid all these taxesl A. have
paid all with the exception of Fourteenth
street. went to pay this Fourteenth street
tax; went to Mr.. Beall. He told me that nv
certificate had gone to the city of New York,
and that could not get It without paid 10
per cent. told him that would never do
that without they compelled me in court; that
was very willing to pay my taxes; that had
paid all the rest of them except this, and
thought 1t very hard that the government of
the District was so poor after getting so much
money as they had, to send our certificates to
foreign market to raise money on.