Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1876-05-08
THE DISTRICT INvEsTlaATION,
Another Report from Expert Cfuss

Committee on the District OF Columbia, sub
mitted the following report to Chairman
Buckner Saturday:
81 have the honor TO report upon the prac-
tice OF the late Board of Public Works in
paying for work connected with the grading
Of streets. Earth was measured Simply as
excavation except in cases where no suffi-
Gent quantity for q heavy embankment was
been given TO obtain the same from private
sources, and IL was proved to be q proper
charge, allowance would be made In the d m
for the difference. Material obtained from
excavation was not At the disposal of the con.
tractors, but was reserved for the District,
TO be used for embankment elsewhere II
the excavated material consisted OF valua-
bic sand or gravel, and such did not reach
the designated dumping ground, 1t was to
be charged to contractors, but this was ex-
ceediDg difficult OF control. On September,
adopted. 1t included: "Grading, 20 cents
per cubic yard, and earth TO be deposited
without extra charge" (Rep. Invest. 1874, p.
this provision impracticaDie, and on Jan.
%, 1872, the board s'ordered that the price of
grading be fixed from and after this date at
5su6s sno aSeeS ,ee Far the
additional 100 feet, \ cent additional will be
allowed" Excessive quantities were subse-
quently ALLEGED In court, before the investi-
have been measured" up In many cases.
and these ALLEGATIONS were In a number OF
cases sO6ta1UGu I0e rem6dSurements OF j..
Blickensderfer, jun, the eminent Ohio engi-
neer, called in by the joint investigation
committee of 1874. The attention excited by
the subject caused computations to be made
by the Dgineer of the board of public works
In the spring of 1873 as to the real cost OF
haul. These were based upon the distance a
cart horse can walk and draw in a working
day, upon the cubic contents of q cart, aud
upon enumeration of $3.50 per diem for
horse, cart and driver. They showed that
the established rate was Inadequate. Hence
4f,oo TN f,<ao 1In<lt
honest measurements, recommended the
price OF hauling TO be raised from half
cent to Ia cent which was approved
cases where grading was commenced in
1872 and finished in 1873, the auditor recon-
mended in September, 1873, that the new
price De applied to tn. the whole jobs in such
be charged being in those cases under the
control of the departments, the engineer in
dorsed the auditor, and his recommendation
however, was excluded In all cases of still,
open contracts, where the grading and haul
had been finally measured In 1872, and SIM
ply surface work or sewers were done in
1873. This was done because the grading for
those early cases had been measured mostly
upon arbitrary assumptions, and the guam
titles obtained were not based upon an accu-
rate survey of the ground, as It was before
the grading was commenced. The compen-
sation thus allowed was found to be ample,
and The payments had all been In cash. The
u.
or its subordinates, In 1875, even without
taking any testimony from those who
guarded the public interest In 1873. is diff
cult to explain, and was hazardous enter
prise after the lapse of three years.
In filling the old city canal the mode In
vogue for having the public grounds brought
up to the ground was primarily adopted.
one third OF cubic yard, in the case was
held as an inducement for any one who had
surplus earth to dispose of, to dump the
was made to street contractors who were at
that time required to deposit their earth
without extra charge, but were put to un-
reasonable expense by the increased length
OF haul. After compensation for haul was
allowed the charges for the dump In the
canal became Legitimate. Allowances may
have been made subsequently by oversight,
or for special reasons. But whenever such q
case was regularly brought up or detected 1t
was promptly re ected. There was one ex-
ceptloD TO this rule, and the cases relied
upon in 1875 as precedents for reOpsning
these old accornts are probably of this class.
In the price paid for patent pavements two
feet of grading was included, and whenever
this cath was dumped in the canal the COM
pensaf1on for such deposit was yet admissi-
ole for while. Before long the claim was
successfully carried to have the haul al
special charge, and then of course the COM
pensation for dump stopped. In this COM
plicated state of the case the reopening of
the old accounts In 1s75, resulting in heavy
been one.sided affairs.
Another class of cases is that of streets
AIDED rom 1cI2 TO 1873 and remeaSured as
"fnal'' in the fall OF 1874, or even 1875, be-
cause, IL is claimed, the contractor did not
ASK for the final measurement at an earlier
date. These cases occur on Table 3, fur
nished by the District Commissioners to
Your committee on April 5th, and are, per
these records, virtually confined to the con-
tracts OF Albert Gleason. Deputy Engineer
Oertly measured these streets In the sum.
mer of 1873, as '.final to date" The pre-
ished contracts has not been withheld, hence
these were, prima facie, final measurements
where no work is proved TO have been done
afterwards. The additional allowances
made In 1875 have traced to be improper to
great extent. i have examined the &C
counts and cross sections for grading of Del
aware avenue, between i and X streets
northwest, and find that Gleason Is credited
with haul for distance of Z, 440 feet on total
s-nOunt OF excavated earth. But have as
certained that Gleason commenced to exca-
vate along one side OF the street, went from
II to IS feet below grade, contrary to regula-
lions, In digging for sand and gravel, which
he put to his own use. The sand and gravel
have not been deducted from his account,
and for the earth from the adjoining bank,
which he simply threw in the deep ditch
first dug, he was paid this long haul. The
records of such Of the other remeasured
streets as have examined, for evidence, z
street southwest, show similar irregulari-
lies, and do not constitute any sound basis
Tor legitimate charges against the District.
which the quantities are derived, are not
based upon personal knowledge of his of
the state of the surface before the work was
com menced, and his superiors throw the re-
spOhstbtlity upon him, as attested by Mr..
Oertley's testimony"