National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-08
AFTERNOON SESSION.

AFTERNOON SESSION.
On the committees reconYening, the ex-
animation of 8. 8. Riley was resumed. -
By the Chairman: Q. State to the commit
Tee what proportion OF this property, alluded
TO by you this morning, is subject to oVerflowe
A. OF this assessed at two cents foot; mono
OF that overfOws at all; it all runs dry
Y. Then how as regards that assessed at
one cent footl A. The other portion of that
assessed at one cent foot Is oyerfowed BY the
tide When the tide comes up the most of 1t
! overflows.
By Mr.. Merrick: Q. Is that at ordinary
high-tide or spring tides That is ordinary
high-tide that 1t overAows most-the most Of
that assessed at one cent foot
Q. What were your instructions with refer
ence to the rate at which you should assess
this property A. do not know as ever re-
ceiyed any definite instructions. was given
to understand frequently, by conversations,
that they desired as high assessments as they
could get. Major Hall at one time told me-
we were then in the cars together, and talking
about making assessments, we had not com
menced them-he said he wanted Just as quick
an assessment and as high one as he could
get.
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. Who was that A.
Major Hall, superintendent of assessments;
the man who was over me.
Q. Did you mean to have It assessed at its
highest cash value? A. Yes, sir; that Is the
general instructions 1 receiVed-it was the
highest cash value.
By Mr.. Mattingiy: Q. Did you have. any
printed instructionsl A. No, sir; I think I
never received any printed Instructions.
Q. Did you assess property for more than you
| thought it WORTH A. did BOT aim to assess
1t for more than 1 thought it was worth. 1
aimed to assess itup to its full cash value.
Q. State whether you conscicntiously dis
charged your duty. A. Yes, sir; according to
the instructions received.
By the Chairman: Q. Do you know any mat
ter relating 10 personal property-the assess
ment of personal property A. I know there
was an assessment made of all personal prop
erty.
Q. When was thatl A. That was in 1871.
In August we commentator the 18th, or else
on the 18th day of August; it was the 18th or
| 18th of August.
Q. When did you end, A. We were about
three months making the assessments little
over.
Q. Do you know the cost of that assessment
| A. Well, of my own positive knowledge 1 do
not know just what the cost was. / know it
was good deal. There were twenty-five as
SCISSORS employed at it for over three months,
and each one of them was allowed q clerk
| There were some eight or ten clerks in the SUI
perintendent's office, and there were an i'm
mense number of blanks printed. was told
| by one of the legislative board-there were
|
positively which one 1t was told me. The way
he came to tell me was this: during this assess
ment we were required to have Offices, and af
ter the assessment was over we felt as though
we ought to be allowed for Office rent, as q
good many of US had to rent an office; 1, for
one, rented an office. We wanted them to al
low US for office rent. The reply was made,
and, think it was made by Mr.. Peter Camp
| bell-of that / would not be certain-I think
he said-he was one of ths parties who was
present, at all eyents-that that assessment
had already cost over $40, 900, and he thought
that was enough to be thrown away. The
taxes were never collected on that assessment
that know of.
By Mr.. Thurman: Q. How high does the tide
rise at the mouth of the Anacosta; ordinary
| high-tidel A. I think about six feet
Q. AS much as thatl A. Yes, sir; ordinary
high-tide. 1t rises sometimes as high as eight
feet.
Q. Spring tidesl A. Yes, sir.
Q. But you say the ordinary rise of the tide
here at Washington is as much as six feetl A
should think it was. 1 never measured it TO
be particular about it. only judge from land
marks.
Mr.. Thurman. That is more than thought
It to be.
Governor Shepherd. Three feet Is the rise
and fall of the tide usually.
The Witness. That may be the average.
have known 1t to come up TO eight feet. have
measured eight feet.
By Mr.. Wilson: Q. Do you know Of any in
crease IN the area of ground that the Govern
ment has gained by reason Of improvements
made by the Board of Public Works down In
the region that is known by squares 1 $50 to
1, 170l A. There Is nothing In l, 150.
Q. Has the Government gained any In area
ground by reason of any improvements that
the Board OF Public Works has made down
therei A. No, sir; not down there.
@. Has the Board of Public Works made any
movements down therel A. No, sir; not
ence now to where it is assessed at one and two
cents a foot.
@. Go to the maps and show US where squares
/, $50 to ITO, inclusive, lie.
WITNESS did as he was required, remarling
that square l, ITO was the last square in that
portion Of the city.
o. You say the Board of Public Works has
made no improvement therel A. There Is
sewer running down through here (indicating.)
Q. Has that increased the area of the Gov
eminent property there-that seweri A. ]
don't know as the Government owns any prop
erty there. The Government does not own
square /, $50 unless they have become the own
ers of 1t within year and half.
Q. Has there been any change in the over
flow of that property by the construction of the
sewer from ], $50 to !, 1T0f A. No, sir; there
is not, unless where they have filed in little
on each side of it. There may be little on
each side filed in, but it made no difference in
the overflow of the tide at all.
TESTIMONY OF ANDREW wANDERs.
Andrew Wanders. sworn:
By the Chairman, Cat the suggestion of coun-
sci for the memorislists:) Q. What is your
businessl A. am bricklayer.
Q. Did you work on the B street sewer! A.
Yes, sir.
Q. How longl A. Well, I don't know exactly
how long. think went there about July,
and quit sometime in October, 1873.
Q. Do you know the character of the brick
that we're put in that sewerl A. do.
@. State what kind. A. At the start out OF
the sewer there were three men from PhhadeL
phia. They were sub-contractors, from what
I understand. One Of the men was named
Major
q. asked YOU to state the character of the
brick that were put in that sewers A. They
were salmon brick, a good many Of them, that
were put there.
A r ann satisfied there was fully one-third>
saw brick condemned on the ground by Mr..
Roven. and they were not hauled away by his
orders until the inspector came down. He con-
demned them and they were then hauled away.
They were hauled down to the foot of Fifteenth
street, right near street. There was some
dispute down there about some other brick, and
1 understood Governor Shepherd came down
and passed some Of the brick; bdon't know
nothing about il myself. didn'tsee the brick.
From that out, after Governor Shepherd had
passed upon the brick, as theS, saidl didn't
know anything about it-thsF used then what
they chose. They said thatNr Bowen. said to
use anything, when they Applied to him; that
he gave them q very shcA answer, but don't
know anything about sAs:. All these bricks
that were condemned on fifteenth street were
hauled back and pdf into the sewer, They
were all salmon brock, and there was as high
as fifteen or twerfy thousand at time, and the
work was not Zone properly, according to speet-
hcations. Tie bricks and material that went
into It were, inferior.
Q. In what respect was the work not well
donel a In the first place, salmon brick Wens
In there, and they won't stand It. Salmon
brig will dissolve In the course of time by
c.ampness. Those light reds. they say, II