National Republican., 1874-04-01

wooden pavemeuts that have been laid, the rlo-
cality, and the dates Of the contracts since the
18th Of May, 1879. Also include the patent.
Mr.. Mattingly. We will do 90. -
W. J. WILSON RECALLED
Mr.. Christy. desire 20 call fbr1 written
responses to certain questions tina. have here
from Mr.. Magruder, on asubject that we deem
of Importance. sNF mr.
The Chairman. Are you through with this
witnessi ~ -, fr-s--- -7-s--7
Mr.. Christy. No, sir; was utilizing time.
The Chairman. You are making a request tc
counsel on the other sidei - = =
Mr.. Christy. Yes, cir. 49, --t
The Chairman, They VIII either give re
sponses or refuse them,A Is fET-fo ! y =
By the Chairman: @. I am directed to ask
you whether you had bills presented to You fol
sodding and for footways before the work was
donei A. l viii state that none of the bills
have received ever specified -sodding. All the
bills that / ever received were Just carriage and
footway, sewer-service and water-service.
Q. Have you received bills for carriage and
footways before the work was donei a. No
sir; not for carriage and footwsys. .-7 "a
Q. For whati A. For sodding and for foot
walk, not completed, and carting. 6
Q. Carting and footwaysi A. Sodding and
footwalk, mean from the main pavement VI
to the house.
or understood you TO say q moment age
that you had no bills presented for sodding
A. It don't specify on any of my bills for sod
| ding. ~ = 80. alsi.s. -. -. -,
Q. What Is the purpors Of 1T A. Carriagt
and footway; but II you will take the bill ant
look over the statement, you win see that the
| rate; front foot, includes sodding, pavement
fencing, and everything, to make up the rate
per front foot. The only thing they make spe-
cial Is curbing and water-service and sewer
service. .-s-r-g ~, p Ina -s,E-.-rLgl
Q. Do you know that this class Of work
was included in the billf A. I only judge from
the bin that 1 get on the same street where
the work was complete at the same rate.
Mr.. Merrick. The committee will observe
that the bills, as presented to the parties, dc
not present all the items for which they are
rendered; but the bills as rendered for the
whole street, and the service of the street, in
clude those; and then by comparison Of the
amount of the bill rendered to party with the
amount of the bill rendered for the whole street,
it shows that they must necessarily have been
included. ---..,..-'.
The Chairman Yes, understand the fact is
so stated. .. --.---' - '--.- 81
Witness. That is the only way had to Judge
Mr.. Christy. / am informed that the witness
has in his possession the bill to which he refers
Does the committee desire that 1t be producedi
Witness, Unfortunately ! haven't that; not
that bill; Ionly paid two instepmsnts on that.
viii state that on my own Individual bill I
have always paid in full; but this work, not
being completed, I only felt It my duty TO pay
two installments. This is the thirc winter that
l have been in the mud. The sod was put down
last week.
By the Chairman: o. Where do you resided
A. H street, corner Of Eighth; that is, when
say |, mean my tenantsl
Gr x-or1 arar OH av1xy
inquiry of the board as to what this bill IN
cludedl A. No, sir; did not. s.-- -
The Chairman. You are discharged.
TESTIMONY OF n. J. DKLL.-
R. ]. Bell sworn.
Mr.. ChrIsty. There were some witnesses who
were not served until yesterday. Mr.. Bell was
ore Of them. may not have furnished his
statement. can call your attention at once,
however, to the questions we desire asked.
Mr.. Wilson. Name them.
Mr.. Ghristy. desire first TO interrogate the
witness upon the matter Of the railroad laid on
Ninth street, north of Pennsylvania avenue.
Mr.. Mattingly. What do you expect TO prove
By the witness In that connecticut
Mr.. Christy. expect to prove this; that the
Improvement was completed and charged
against the general fund and the property
holders. That subsequently the track of the
horse-railway was completed, and no charge
whatever made against the railway company,
moi. was any credit given to the property
holders -. .#.s1. sB
The Chairman. Was this street paved before
the railway was laid down.
Mr.. Christy. / desire him to explain to what
extent the railroad was laid down. -
The Chairman. Just go on and tell your
story. State what you know about the Ninth
street pavement In connection with the rail-
road. A. l own property on Ninth street; and
the bills were presented. / thought it was q
very extrayagant bill-s5.19 per running foot
in front of my property. / went down and
asked the different engineers why 1t was that
they could make such large bill, whenI found
that the railroad was, according to act of Con-
gress, to be charged with all the rails occupied
and two feet on each side.
The Chairman. That we understand.
Witness. He said that the corporation attor-
ney, or William A. Cook, had decided that they
could not charge the property With that, be-
cause the iron was not placed on it. A portion
was right below my property, and iron was
already on it, and the balance of it, all the way
through, had no iron on; that is, the iron on
the railroad. We were charged with the entire
cost of the street, in accordance with Mr.. For
syth's explanation to me.
Q. No portion of the paving of that street
was paid for by the railroad comprnyl A. No,
sir; none Of it paid for.
track was laidl If so, how long; or was those
two things done in connection, at the same
timel A. They were both done at the same
time. While they were putting down the stone
for the concrete. and putting the concrete down,
the railway company placed their ties and
woodwork along to receive their rails.
Q. The paving and railway track were all
done in connecticut A. All the same; just as
the contractors graded along.
The Chairman. l think we understand that.
Mr.. Merrick. The only part OF the railway
which was complete was the iron.
By Mr.. Christy: Q. desire to ask you in re-
gard to the lowering of a Waterman on the
same street. To what extent was 1t lowered,
and what was the cost of itl A. being in
terested in the street, took particular notice as
to how the work was done.
Mr.. Mattingly. Isn't there q better way of
getting at that than by this witnesss
Mr.. Christy. No, sir.
Mr.. Jewett. Go on. .E... .- .as.-.
The Witness. And in looking over the items
found that they had charged for lowering the
Waterman s297 20, / think 1t was, and I, of
course, named 1t to some parties, and they
called me here. 1 state, further, that It was
not lowered one inch, to the best of my kncHl-
edge. know it, as far as was up and down.
could not see that 1t was ever uncovered,
farther than the plumbers tapped the main to
let water into the different houses. I further
state that, where my individual property was,
had laid all my water connections; and my
neighbors had neither put In water mains, water
connections, nor sewer connections, and their
bills were the same as mine; they were never
charged. How It was fixed could never tell.
Q. Did you make complaints to the Board of
Public Works of that differencel A. No, sir;
several times have gone-I thought would
60 down and ask questions of the board, and
they said must produce 1t in writing, and all
that kind of thing, and didn't think It was
worth while for me to go there. If could
have gone in, and represented this case before
the board, like am here, and like could be-
fore the old government, would have done 1t;
but the Board of Public Works were locked
up .-.-----.. --.
Q. How much did they charge youi A. They
charged, in the general bill for lowering water
mains, general item Of 81 400 for sewer. 1
paid for my part of the sewer. In 1850 the
sewer was put in; in 1859 l paid for the privi-
lege-
Q. Did the Board of Public Works put in any
seweri A. didn't see them put in any.
Q. didn't ask you that. A. don't think
they did. The sewer was Put in from Pennsyl-
vania avenue to NJ street. / saw an item there
for sewerage of some fourteen hundred and odd
dollars; they can, perhaps, explain that. l
didn't see 1t put in by them. The sewer was
put in prior TO their coming into power. Twill
further state here to the committee that, ac-
cording to the act of Congress, which you per-
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