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

rect measurements; what is your opinion, "a
the chief engineer Of the boardi A. Ny opinion
Is that they are gross outrages. Q. That they
were excessive measurementsl A Well, more
than that; more than excessive measurements
| Q. That they were fraudsf A. think 40: at
least the one mentioned and asked the com.
mittee TO look at" That was south Z street,
was Il notl A.. Yes, SIR.
@. In which you say the assessment was a
| fraud-so excessive as to amount to q fraudi
A. That is what mean TO say.
Q. The allowance for that was $17,O00i A.
Yes, sir; Sl7, 1886.
o. At the time you were tes.ifying what do
you think would have been proper allowance
| for the amount of grading done therei A.
| was only positive that this was good deal too
Hmuch. understand that q measurement was
made yesterday which will foot up TO Si,5OO
less than what has been paid.
q. I asked you at the time you were testify
| ing, when you pronounced this so excessive az
to be fraudulent, what did you suppose for the
| time would have been q proper sllowAncef a.
| l thought It was too much. ] say that the
street was graded through one square, and Mr..
Albert Gleason and Mr.. John o. Eyans-theY
afterward went below grading for the purpose
of making sand pits end using this sand for
paving purposes. Being upon their line, this
was q monopoly to them, and, in my opinion,
the sand (which they appropriated there ought
/
ceiyed from the street. further thought this
! Q. Now, Mr.. Cluss, you can answer the
question. Can you tell me, at the time when
you testified that this measurement was fraud
uient, what In your opinion, at that time would
have been proper allowance for grading done
on that street, A. know to-day positively
what it Is, and so, ofcourse-
Q. Oh, / understand that. My question Is,
what was your opinion at that timed A. That
it was much, too much, good deal too much.
The Chairman. Q. Can you not answer the
question: A. cannot, sir. 1 know nearly
$4,000 was paid for that, and l know 1t was
muah beyond the limits.
Q. Did you, or did you not, make an estimate
off yourselfi A. Oh, yes, sir; did, a general
| one.
| Q. Then what was that estimated A think
I have some note about it: it would be difficult,
however, for me to find 1t just now. I find that
| this one square, where the work was mainly
done, was $40 feet long and 80 feet wide, and
such a square, if excayated one foot deep,
would make 1 ,l34 cubic yards. To make this
quantity come out, have found that this had
| been charged at the rate of so cents yard for
excavation, and As cents yard for hauling to
the canal; so, in order TO get the quantity out,
| l was sure that this was an overpayment of,
perhaps, In my opinion, from-about two thirds
of it, of what was actually paid, would have
made enough. l took the measurements, and
said, "How high have got to go up in order
to get the sum of SIT ,O00p
By the Chairman: Q. You are testifying
from q memorandum; when was that madel
A. 1t was made before / testified here.
BY Mr.. Mattingly: Q. That was q partial
measurement, was II notl A. It was q partial
measurement. This Is a partial measurement
this day; 1t is partial measurement, which
was, in fact, final measurement, because, as
1 n laA- z.
| ton 20 this very voucher, that Mr.. Oertly has,
in a couple Of days, measured about fourteen
streets. One of them found by looking over
Maryland avenue, from Seventh to Eleventh
street, grading, 81, 5S2.60-I found that a con-
| tract was only given Mr.. Gleason August 80
thought that II, on two days later =.
Mr.. lIattingiy. VIII you answer my ques-
ton without branching off into something else,
or notl A. Well, what is til -....-- .-s
o. asked you whether this was partial
measurement : A. 1t Is go this day, and he Is
paid In full for It instead Of 80 per cent, and.
therefore, it Is final measurement, because II
| appears that he has been paid in full.
! @. He has been paid In full has hef A. II
4 sppe ars so; / am not positive about that.
Q. That was what you stated the other day
was It not, that he had been paid In full, and
thatwas one reason why Il was a-inal voucher
because he had been paid In full for the amount
of that voucher, and 1t was more than the
work would have amounted to, and, therefore
he would not apply for any anal measurement
A. Mainly. r .... ..n. r....
o. That is the idea, is 1t noti A. But 1t 1.
very uncommon to wait eight months and moi
touch anything. - -.- .......
Q. Do you not know that IS, 900 has been re
tanned from Mr.. Gleason on thati A. I do not
know it; no, sir.
Q. Did you ever take the trouble to inform
YOURSELF A. l did the best to find what / could
out from the official papers.
Q. Did you go to the official papers to find
out whether Gleason had been paid in full fo
that measurement A. The question for me wa
that it was fraudulent measurement Of SIT,
700 for work which was sent down to the au
| ditor-
Q. That is not the question, SIR. You stated
that that was partial measurement; that IL
was not only excessiye-that excessive was MOI
the term for 1t, but that It was fraudulent, anC
that, while q partial measurement, It was, II
fact, final, because It was excessive; that Mr.
Gleason had been paid in full; had received
more than 1t would measure, and, therefore
he would never apply for final measurement
4 A. wish to read my testimony TO refresh m.
memory.
O. Did you not say two minutes ago tina
tn at was what you said! A. No; did not.
i @. Now, ask you this question:. Well
want to see the testimony before You ask IN
any other questions. see here, wish tina
the committee in full, or q subcommittee
should go to E street southeast, from -
Mr.. Hubbell. Do not read We have hear
all thai testimony.
After SOME little discussion as to what haG
been stated by the witness, Mr.. Wilson said:
I Mr.. Wilson. My recollection was that Mr.
Cluss was not asked anything about the pay
ments, but only as to measurements. do no
think he said anything about the payments
and do not think you will find 1t In his testi
mony. ... . ..
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. II a man applies TO
q partial measurement, and gets it, and after
ward applies for final measurement, is thu
work finally measured, and If there Is an,
error In the partial measurement, is 1t cor
Irectedl A. Yes, sir; It is corrected. The par
tial measurement Is always expected to be les
than final measurement. We are never ex
pected to be thousands above tho final meas
urement. understand this work was meas
ured yesterday. Iwould like to hear the re
Il suit.
i BY Mr.. Wilson: O. By whomi A. By Mr.
Barney, under the orders of the Governor.
am informed that 1t foots up about four thou
sand and several hundred dollars less than Mr.
Oertly's paper calls for. Mr.. Barney, unde
special Instructions of the Governor, has gonC
over that measurement, and has It now here
| / asked Mr.. Barney to give me copy and Mr.
lD1Tney Salu LudL uc uau anu WI
Oertly was nearly crying on account Of the po
sition he was placed IN.
Mr.. Mattinsly. Mr.. Barney's measurement
will be put in.
The Witness. Is It here?
Mr.. Mattingly. have it among my papers
It will be put In. To the witness.l Do yoI
know whether Mr.. Gleason has been paid OF
that measurement or notl A. do not.
Q. Do you know whether Mr.. Gleason re
sumed work on these streets referred tot A
have watched that street for o length o
time, and he has not been there except, per
haps, to take out sand for his private pur
poses.
Q. Did he not resume work there, and was
he not stopped there by your orderl A. dc
not remember that. He commenced there
| without my orders. He commenced this street
en- direct orders from the vice president, and
| / think have q note of 1t here somewhere. A
contract was given to him, and this contract
he never applied at the engineers Office fol-
anything. After six weeks, when the contract
was in his hands, he received orders direct
from the vice president, without gradings OF
stakes, and without giving US notice, and went
| in and went to work.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. Were the cross sections
of that street taken before he commenced work
lthere3 A. No, sir.
Q. Is there any data in your office by which
you can make an accurate measurement now
\ ~ A Mr. Rarnav rarortad To ,,,e