National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-14

Mr.. Mattingiy. II II be as the gentleman
states, then the only thing the District govern,
ment has got to do Is to refund to the United
States.
The Chairman. It Is pretty complicated
question for ns TO 60 into, think.
Mr.. Harrington: don't understand Judge
Wright to be complaining at all about the
BY Mr.. Christy. What was the action of the
board as to the Improvement madea Was it
concrete pavement A. Yes, sir.
BY Mr.: Harrington: O. You are ready to go
to court, and do not want to come up hero with
your grievances, as / understand?
The Witness. do not intend to pay the bill.
By Mr.. Merrick: Q. What knowledge have
you Of the pipe that was laid on N street, and
the circumstances under which It was pur-
chasedl A. Well, can state that in very
short order, and / will be very glad to get
through with It. drafted the bill to improve
M street. II was the first street improved in
town after Pennsylvania avenue. got 1t
passed through Congress. There were COM
missioners appointed to improve the street.
There was very great opposition to 1t. The
commissioners were appointed, as l say. Twas
not one of them. / didn't want to be one, but
took a deep interest in 1t, and met with them
very frequently. was very familiar with all
that transpired. There were some who were
not in favor Of the improvement at the COM
bu8BSSIeu- putting VI
Ohio pipe for sewerage. It never has been
done in the city. These old settlers here were
pretty hard to learn new tricks, and talked q
good deal about it. At last they concluded
they would put in Scotch pipe If they could get
it. l went to New York and found but one
man there who was importing Scotch pipe.
got his bill of prices. l don't know whether he
shipped the pipe then to me or not.
The Chairman; Q. When was this done
under the Board of Public Works!
Mr.. Mattingly. No, sir; prior to the organ
ization of the Board of Public Works.
Mr.. Christy. But we will connect it with the
board. We will show that the Board of Pub
lie Works collected all the assessments.
The Chairman. Very we'll, go on.
The Witness. 1 got list of prices. Twas
no contractor, aud did not want to be.
wanted the pipe put into the street. wanted
the street improved. got his list of prices,
and If recollect Alright he then shipped to me,
to my yard, certain pipe. know they stayed
there for a good while. On that price bids
were made. Mr.. Tom. Lewis put in bid and
got the pipe; he got the sewer contract. When
he went over to New York to get the pipe-I
don't know what Mr.. Lewis told me; his testi-
mony-
The Chairman. No, you need not state what
he told you.
Witness. At all events the pipe could not be
had at the price named to me. l subsequently
went over to New York to see about the price
of pipe. l got person to ask the price of pipe
for Richmond, and the price of pipe for Rich
mond was the same old price that it was in the
commencement. The price that we paid on NJ
street was considerably in addition. said to
Lewis, 'get the pipe, put it in here, and when
the last note comes due, don't pay, stand q law
suit. don't remember whether Endorsed the
note for him or rot" That was my advice to
him; so we got the pipe. By and by the street
was turned over to the Board of Public Works,
when il was pretty near finished, and the board
went on. 1 heard nothing about the pipe or
the percentage, until one day met Tom, and
says l., ''Tom, 1 am going to pay my sewer
taxes"
By Mr.. Stewart: q. Who is that3 A. Tom
Lewis. said, 81 am going to pay my sewer
tax because you are out of money o great
deal" He said, 'tNo, amt out a cent" l
said, show did you get iti You were to wait
until the taxes were collected" "Well," says
he, 81 was walking along the street one day,
and the Board of Public Works sent for me,
and said they had my money, and paid me-"
Says l, "Tom, did you pay anythingW Says
| he, '1've slept since that time, and l don't
remember it." That is all / know about the
matter.
By Mr.. Hubbcll: Q. Who is Tom Lewisl
A. He is In town; saw him about fifteen min
utes ago. Now, 1 know nothing about the
Board of Public Works having any interest in
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. What was the size
and price of that pipe! A. cannot remem-
Der. remember that it was by list. don't
know anything about It. know that got the
pipe introduced here into the city.
By Mr.. Christy: Q. State the difference in
| the price of pipe as furnished to Richmond and
other places, and the amount charged as
against Pipe furnished to Washington cityl
A. do not know the difference between tine
| bill, cannot tell it without tell what Mr..
| Lewis told me.
By the Chairman: @. Tell what Mr.. Lewis
told you'll A. He told me there was an ad-
vance of ten per cent, and this man-not the
man in tire store. l did not know either one
of them. The second time was back there
they asked where this Scotch pipe was for, and
! they were told 1t was for Richmond. He said,
ssWell we have got to pay no percentage, and
\ the price is, so-and-so; but for certain other
cities-he did not say Washington-the charge
is ten per cent. for the benefit OF the office.
Q. Was not this pipe laid in the fall Of 1S7O2
A. cannot remember dates. The pipe was
laid before the board came In.
Q. Bought and paid fort A. No, sir; 1t was
not paid for. 1t was bought.
Q. And bought at pricel A. Yes, sir.
Q. Which you do not remember! A. No,
sir. 90 r :
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. By the bill, under the
provisions of which that Improvement was
made, have the property holders to pay half or
all of it, A. You certainly remember It, Sen
ator l got you, then, and Pratt, and some
more, to introduce the bill when we found the
other Streets were going to be made at two
| thirds expense to the city and we were going
| to be "socked" for the whole of ours, to intro
duce the bill, Just before we got M street done,
a little bit-just before we got the ends Of It
done-to introduce a bill that the Board of
| Public Works should take control of this con-
Germ, out of the hands of the commissioners,
and the TAX for the improvement of the street
should be levied as on other streets in the Dis
i trict of Columbia, so that we got rid of one
sixth instead of one-half.
Mr.. Stewart. That, think, was Just.
The Witness. 1t was just and right. You
know / would not ask you to do anything but
Mr.. Stewart. There was nothing wrong
about the billl A. No, sir.
Q. But then you say you had bought this
pipe beforel A. Yes, sir; bought that and laid
1t before, but 1t was not paid for.
| Q. Not all paid forl A. No, sir.
Q. The price was fixed beforel A. Yes, sir
;. Q. Who gave the notes for It'll A. l wa
asked that question yesterday.
By the Chairman: Q. Yesterday A. Yes
sir: Sunday.
T By Mr.. Stewart: Q. Who asked youi A
Somebody asked me who gave the notes fol
| the pipe. suppose Mr.. Lewis did. Iva:
asked whether i lnQOr6eQ those notes, anu
cannot remember whether did or not.
[ @. Was the contract for the pipe in writing
A. 1t was not, think. think the pipe wa
paid for by notes. So much money paid, and
so much in sixty, ninety and one-hundred-day
notes. knew all about 1t at the time.
| Q. Then bill for the pipe was Legitimate
charge against the Board of Public Works
under that bill that we had passed, was 1t not
A. OF course 1t was.
@. 1t was their dlty TO pay these hottest A
Yes, sir. Though asked Lewis, was ticklet
l at Lewis getting his money before it was col
Z lected. l.
) Q. When you had given your notes for II
how were you going to avoid payment You
! had bought the pipe at q stipulated price, AM
given notesl A. The bank or the person VIII,
would look to me and Tom Lewis for paymen
of 10 per cent. on the last note would be !
/ fool -, sII uoS TnIHk the notes were gooo
: aa-- sotes were perfectly good, but the.
would have to spend more than 10 per cent. b
getting the money.
Q. You think the Board Of Public Work
: ought not to have had anything to do witt
paying the hottest A. They ought to hay
: paid Lewis, and they did pay Lewis.
al @. And Lewis contract, as you understant
It, was to wait until the tax was collected A
Yes, sir; and 1t Is not collected to-day.
Q. Didn't the contractor of N street make
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