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

Q. You think the prices ought to be fixed I'm,
your Office, where the quantity and quality is
fixed! A. Yes, sir.
o. And not in the auditors Office, A. Yes,
| sir; the auditor afterward should look over IL
TO see If 1t Is correct.
O. Does he tx the rate, or take those estab-
lished by the board in some cases, and in other
cases the rates fixed by the contract where the
| special rate is ixedi A. Yes, sir; this is Just
the complicated business that am complain
ing Of, and It requires, in my opinion, the CO.
operation Of the engineer, and cannot be done
| by mere clerks.
O. State whether the auditor undertakes to
establish the rates, or merely takes the rates
hxed by contracts when it Is so established By
contract, and in other cases the rates are hxed
BY the boardl A. Il seems he frequently
establishes the prices, for find in the testi-
| mony of the board here, that when the price
OF u cents q square yard of tagging wasestab-
lshed, they undertook TO pay 80 cents, because
he thought the engineer had forgotten some
thing. do not think he had right to think
| so. OH.
By Mr.. Mattingly: Q. In that very case had
not you given the details which made up that
81 cents, and did It calculate anything for hau1f
A. II there is tagging.
Q. Just answer my question. do not want
you To go into details about Tagging, lust now;
you have alluded to that. I just want you to
answer that question, whether you did not Ok
that price Of 81 eentsl A. There was haul In it.
Q. You say now that the haul was included
in that 81 cents A. For sure.
O.. al right A. Most positively; because
so cents includes the price Of haul from New
York to Washington, and from the wharf TO
| the place sr
By Mr.. Black Q. Were the contracts made
| by Mr.. Evans paid according TO the work actu-
ally donel A. Yes, sir.
| There was no false measurement for himI
A. No, sir; not to the best of my knowledge.
Q. Those measurements were made by your
assistants7 A. Yes, sir.
g.. They were properly and accurately made,
as far as you know7 A. Yes, sir so far as
know.
Q. And you certified them to be properly and
accurately madei A. Yes, SIR.
Q. The certificates that you made in those
cases were not negligently made. A. No, sir.
Q. You did not merely close your eyes and
| sign the mat somebody's request, without know
ing whether they were true or falsel You
made the proper investigation before you signed
them? A. Certainly; yes, sir; for sure. Where
ever have regular business do that always.
Q. The work was paid for at fair and proper
prices, was it not, alwaysl A. would not
say so. The prices were excessive.
Q. His work was paid for at proper pricesl
A. say some Of the prices were excessive.
Q. How did they come to be paid excessively;
\ by blunderl A. do not know.
Q. By blunder or a fraudl A. do not
know.
Q. You do not knowl A One dollar and
twenty-five cents'per square foot for tagging is
more than ever gave before, you know, and
| this Is one of the vouchers which you have
| Just shown me upon Mount Vernon square.
| Q. How were the prices established for that
squared A. request the counsel for the Dis
trict to show you. ! do not know.
Q. am not counsel for the District; but
will show you nevertheless.
Mr.. Black. Mr.. Evans addressed a letter on
] hi ~ Ma - Nhah II
that the price be established. Mr.. Adolf Cluss
answers that, when the subject Is referred to
| him, by fixing the price.
| Mr.. Wilson. Please give me the date of that.
| Mr.. Black. Certainly, sir. May II, 1873.
| The Witness. That don't touch the point.
Mr.. Black. Eighty-four cents. You viii
find it on page 1855. 70 say there, ~ esti-
mate It q fair cost" And then you give the
items, amounting In the whole to 81 cents.
| The Witness. have explained before that
this was one Of the cases. l. requested that
this voucher be brought here. This price is in
Mr.. Oertly's handwriting. Mr.. oertly hxed
that price.
| Q. And then you did not sign thisl A. Yes,
I did sign It; and told the committee the
| other day that this is In fact, in my everyday
business, the only point where 1 know, where
L have, perhaps, not done my full duty in look
| ing close enough. But this don't cover the
| case, 1 have asked for the order in which
81 .25 was established per square Got for flag
sI.ss5. i'1 'p"A' u OF 's'' anu 'pOA'
Q. Was not this the price that Mr. Evans
got-S4 centsl A. viii the counsel be kind
enough to show me the voucher for MounE
Vernon squarel 1t is 81 .25, believe. 2
Q. Look at this, (handing witness paper.l
Read that letter. Witness read aloud as fol-
lows:
NEW YORK, April %, Is73.
GgNrLxNES: We have q lot of selected blue
i Aaur rfTNora al nnRN o
thousand feet, from two and 9 half to four inch
thick even four feet lengths and from two and
four twelfths feet to four feet wide, planned TO an
even surface, such a. is used here for hrsLeiass
We will deliver the same to you on wharf,
square foot. Delivery to be complete within
thirty days. Awaiting your reply.
we are TsrE TsPsetR1y ySuf
| Hon. Board Of Pablie Works, Washington, D. C..
Q. Now please read the Endorsement
Witness reads the Endorsement, as follows:l
| Endorsement
BH btsTs Sy F ~ f:.iv WXSSInaSs'S
wAsmrSsroS, April 81, 1873. J.
for report. This viii be necessary Tor the Pstress
circle II the price is proper one.
By0rder Ofths board. EDwAaD JoHNsoNs
O. Now read the order to Van Brunt &
Bro, based on that. Witness read as fol-
loYs:l
BOARD OF PCBLIo WoRKs,)
DISTRICT CT CcLuMBIA,
WASHINGTON, Hay 9, 1878.
GENTLEMEN: You are hereby requested TO ship
to this board from twenty 10 twenty. nVo thousand
q EVEN ses and ess
Wide, and to be delivered At the wharf in this city
within thirty days. at seYenty-hye cents per square
foot.
by order 1.-THE board. ..
- .--.--- EDWARD JOHNSON
Chief Clerk
-.. CHAs. s. JOHNSON
Kssrs. Taagyunt & Bro, rs South st., Mao FORK.
True copy:
o. Look at the Endorsement on the lower
part of that paper, and read IL.
Witness reads as follows:)
The P.street circle IL completed; otherwise the
+ viii post u, only about Is cents addition PSI
Q. Is that in Xr. oertly's handwriting OF
yoursl A. That is in mine.
2. Is the signature yoursl A. Yes, sr.'
Q. How much does that make footf A.
This refers to e1tra-thick tagging, and this
makes IL IS cents, and then, afterward, Is
cents, which makes it up to 90.
BY Governor Shepherd: Q. Add your price
here-S4 cents fixed by you upon this date
Doesn't It make it 81 "a. A. | wish e see he
detail. No, 1t don't make s1.24..
By Mr.. Mattingly; Q. Ninety cents and "a
cents don't make S1.2H
The Witness. There is 81 cents; taking Out
the wind is 8 cents, jointing is 10 eents-16
cents-is included in the "a cents, and, there
fore
By Mr.. Black: Q. Now, If the prices paid to
Mr.. Evans were too high, that was a wrong
against the public, was Il notl A. 1 think It
was.
Q. If the public was wronged by the pay
rnent Of those prices to him, who permitted
the wrongi A. The party who awarded the
Sl.25.
Q. Who awarded him, the party who fixed
the prices, was it noti The officer who fixed
the prices must have been the person that did
the wrong against the public, II he fixed them
too high! A. The officer who fixed the s1.25
-; and claim that these figures here do not
add up 81 IS; and claim further that this Is
extra thick Tagging; from ~ to 4 inches
thick; while this tagging was mainly common,
thin tagging and not Tagging Of extra thick
ness.
Q. Do you mean TO say you are responsible
for the adjustment of these prices2 A. For
the 81 .25 am not responsible. 1t is more
than have allowed you know.
Q. How much more?
The Witness. VIII you allow me To- fgure
this upl That is plain tagging. That is ma