National Republican., 1874-05-28
DISTRICT INVESTIGATION
TESTIMONY OF SURTEToR FORSYTH
AND MR. W. II. PHILLIPS.

".
to make the assessment of Massachusetts ave-
Iue. when the avenue is not finishedf A.
cot the estimate of the balance between
TvenLy-second street from Mr.. Barney OF the
cost Of the sodding and other work 70 DC done
there.
hut footwaiks TO be laid, grading to be done,
and carrispeway to be laid, so that in that case
Won aid not wait until the street was completed,
and got the actual cost; but you made your as
kessments in advance Of the finishing of the
street, is not that sol A. That is so.
Q. Now, did you make the assessment against
the property of Mr.. Riggs, Mr.. George w.
RIGGS, on that street, do not know what
Ereet he does live on.
The Witness. Wherever he had property
Yes, sir.
8. Do you know of any case where you
changed your assessments after you had made
them; found they where too large; and have
given statements to property holders that their
assessments where erroneousl a. Really, /
cannot call TO mind now; there may be.
Q. mentioned Mr.. Riggs because thought,
perhaps, that would enable you TO remember.
The Witness. Mr.. Winter, have you any
tdeal
Mr.. Winter. 7hstSwere some streets.
The Witness. have no recollection Of any,
except It might be perhaps on G or street;
probably.
Mr.. Wilson. If you do not remember I will
not press the matter.
O. Do you know any other streets where
assessments have been made against the prop
erty-owners before the street had been COM
pfetedl A There has been an assessment
made on Nineteenth street. The parking has
not been done; that is all.
G. Do you know any other street where that
has been donel A. think not. have no
recollection Of any other.
Q. Do you know Of any case where you have
made assessments against property which you
ought not to have madel A. ] do not.
Q. How do you manage it about the trees
the number of the trees that are on the street
or on an avenue-a great many of these have
not been planted yet! A. That is the business
of the auditor. only get the bills from the
auditor. They allow tree, l think, to every
twenty feet, so that If you take the whole
length of the avenue and divide It up by
twenty you get the number Of trees.
@. That puts trees at all the street-crossings,
and then when you come TO one Of those angu-
lar spaces you plant trees clear across that,
do you notl That is to say, there are i'm
agiDary trees furnished, and which are
charged for at the rate Of six or twelve dollars
treel A ] have nothing to do with that.
Q. Is not that sol A. It may be so, but
have nothing 10 do about that.
O. What is YOUR best impressioni a To
count them, as say, taking the whole length
from the map; of course 1t may be 50.
O. Do you not think that Is the fsct7 A.
DO not know, indeed. It may be so. If they
take the whole length Of the ayenus and divide
1t by twenty, 10 get the number of trees, one
of the trees might fall in with some of the
streets.
@. Is that the way to do III A. There is no
other way that it can be done.
Q. That is tho way-about the way 1t is donei
A. Yes, sir; think so.
O. Who furnished the auditor with the cost
of these streetsi A. The engineers depart
ment. ] suppose all the work of construction
comes from the engineers department, and
then all the other incidental expenses come
from the psy-rolls of the parties employed
there as superintendents.
Q. Have you looked over East Capitol street,
A. No, sir.
Q. asked you once about the curbing when
YOU were on the stand beforel A. The curb Of
that street is exactly right-9,0l5 feet or 9,OO5
feet. The whole of the side footEays were
measured by my assistant, Mr.. Wilson. 1t was
not entirely completeI so 1t required remeas-
urement afterward.
Q. You know that curbing is measured cor
rectly! A. Yes, sir.
Q. Unfortunately, the street is charged with
a great deal more than thatl A. know all
about that.
Q. How is that A have nothing what
ever to do in relation to that. There has been
some 5000 feet more of the old corporation
IdhGuy h10 sOLuC P0b III PAASS
of the parking, and probably some of the curb
may have been taken up and used by different
changes of the grade, or something Of that
kind, but 9,0l5 feet is the actual amount there
now.
O. There is no controversy about that, but
the fact is there is a very large amount of
curb charged to that street that is not there.
A. Yes, sir; that is 60. 1880 --
Q. And that curbing has been hauled away,
and used elseWherel A. Yes, sir.
@. And these people on East Capitol street
have been assessed for itl A. Yes, sir.
Q. How about the q adingi 1t seems to me
you made some measurements for the grading
there! A. made about 10000 yards on that
street entirely.
O. You measured the whole of it2 A. Yes,
sir.
Q. From n to Nj A. Yes, sir.
Q. And somebody has got pay here twice? A.
know nothing about that. l only know what
is under my own signature there.
Q. How did you make that measurement Of
the gradiDgl A. From my general knowledge
OF the street.
Q. Did you put any levels onl A. Not one.
Q. Had no cross-sectionsl A. No, sir.
Q. You made the best guess you couldi A.
Well, sir; guess it was pretty near the thing.
Q. You made the best guess you couldl 4.
Yes, SIR; If you choose to say so.
By the Chairman: Q. You were superinten-
dent of assessments a. No, sir.
Q. Havnt you the direction the assess
ments7 A. make all the assessments, and
the record of all the lots and lands of the
WHOLE District of Columbia arc in my Office
the Sizes of all the lots, consequently all the
Official papers are there, and make them In
In consequence of that.
Q. In making up the amount the Govern
ment is to pay on any avenue, and the method
OF measuring that avenue, together with the
cross streets-the intersecting streets-from
whom did you receive instructions, If from
anybodyl A 1 never got any instructions
from any person, except that was directed to
go and point out this work belonging to the
United States to Mr.. Samo.
Q. know; but what want to get at, Mr..
FORSYTH, is this. How did the Board of Public
Works and the Government of the United
States arrange as to the proper proportion that
should be charged to eachi A. cannot in
form you.
Q. You do not knowl A. No, sir; except
the regular custom was adopted. / do not
know by what method or how they arranged
it. Mr.. Cluss has made statement there the
other day in relation to some work on Pennsyl-
Vania avenue and II street. He stated that
made an error there. Well, the error was
made, il is true, but It was by not deducting
the amount OF yards that was occupied by the
railroad which amounted to the difference.
When my attention was called to it had IL
corrected.
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. Then 1t was not an
error in the measurement, but an omission in
failing to deduct thenmount occupied by the
railroad trsck2 A. That is 1t; also down on
street north, between First and Third streets.
It was mere clerical error, as the committee
ssn see by reference 10 this book. The square
feet in that street were added by ms to be
SO, 1913, instead Of 81, ,e39. It made difference
of some three or four hundred yards; that is
all. In relation to New Hampshire avenue,
the voucher had from New Hampshire avenue
got from tire engineers ofice-the amount
that was to be charged in HIlse's work, which
you will sec.
Q. About NJ street, A. On NJ street my
measurement as assessed was exactly right;
the figures were never changed, as Mr.. Barney
stated when he went out. MIR. Cluss made a
mistake there in taking the street as 80 feet
wide instead of z219 feet; that is about the DIFF
ference that he says there is in the street.
MR. WINTERS RECALLED.
By Mr.. Stewart: Q. Do you know whether
the people of East Capitol street by this error
have been oEercharged or mott Have you
figured it up go as to ascertatnl A. figured
It myself some weeks ago, just before 1 was
ooJIad ,,, While the DrODertV holders