Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1878-05-21
A Sharp Effort to Anticipate the Ten
nessee Marble" Bill by Ordering the
Use of Illinois Sandstone in the
Construction of the Men,
phis CustOmh0use.
Tennessee Marble Preferred by Num-
Der OF Prominent Architects, Even at
an Increased Cost OF Fifty Per
Cent. But one Opinion
FayOring the Illi-
nOis Stuff.
Special Correspondence of the Appeal

not only fraud, but sneak. lie is a type
of Radicalism that in its personal features is
more detestable than Radicalism itself, if
| that were possible. He is not, and never
| has been, straightfol ward or manly In his
| dealings, even with men of his own party.
| He prefers chicanery, underhaud, sneaking
| and double-deaIing, and as a consequence is
| to- day the most detestable of all the public
| ington is hfled. Member of fraudulent adj
ministration, he is fraud and libel upon
| craftsmanship. He is the result of years OF
| fraudulent practices. He came here so poor
that he was compelled to borrow the money
| that paid his way from his home In Ohio, and
| now he Is ranked among the millionaires of
| the country. An implacable enemy of the
south, as his brother the general is and al
ways has been, he was prompt to avail him
| self of the chance Grant made for him to
| become. a visiting statesman to New Orleans,
| and there bulldozed a fraud for which,
if there Is any virtue In legisla-
| ton, he will have to answer
as an impeached public servant.
The air of bravado which he at present as
sumes will not serve him long when the
enormity of his otfenses are made apparent,
| as they will be by his letter to Anderson, of
West Feliciana, IN which he offered this per-
| son a place in recompense for stealing votes
| or forging returns. He will before year
passes away break down and sneak away
into retirement, or beldriven by the public
verdict into merited disgrace. The place he
received from Hayes in return for the frauds
| which he originated, aided and practiced in
| New Orleans, he will be compelled to sur
render, branded as Infamous. But it was not
| to recall the VIGOROUSLY criminal acts in con-
| nection with the Presidential election of this
| fraudulently made secretary of the treasury
| it is to call public attention to the sneaking
attempt he made to substitute the perishable
| sandstone of Illinois for the substantial
| marble of Tennessee In the construction of
the Memphis customhouse. 1t is to call at
| tention to the fact that his order to build
with this sandstone was given while bill
to substitute marble for brick twas on its pass
age through the house, 1t having passed the
senate after extraordinary e1ertions by Gov
ernor Harris. Casey Young promptly, as
his attention was called to this sneak
ing act of questionable authority,
this surreptitlous move to defraud
the people of Memphis, wrote to the fraudu-
lent secretary, and in justly-indignant terms
called his attention to an act condemned by
| all the presidents that dictate Difference and
| courtesy between the several branches of the
| government. OF course the letter of our
representative had no effect to stay the hand
of the fraud who occupies the place of secre-
| tary of the treasury. Nothing daunted,
however, Mr.. Young secured the appoint
ment of subcommittee of the committee on
public grounds and buildings, the members
| of which have taken the matter in hand to
prove, and have so far proven, that in select
| ing Illinois sandstone instead of Tennessee
marble, the fraud of the treasury has at
| tempted another fraud. The testimony
| given before this subcommittee is voluminous,
but to the point. By the kindness of the
committee l have been put in possession of
| copies of it, from which proooed to make
extracts that show how unfit the supervising
architect of the treasury is for the place he
| fills as a fraudulent architect, libel upon the
| Der, as his chief John Sherman -
is libel upon all phases of
public life and official station.
| Colonel Thomas Lincoln Casey, of the en-
gineer corps, in charge of public buildings
and grounds in the District, said he pre-
| ferred marble to any other description of
! building stones, and condemned sandstone as
too porous and more likely to disintegrate
and degrade. He would regard it as
measure of economy to pay twenty
FIVE per cent. for marble over
sandstone, especially sandstone like the
sample from illinois before him, which he
thought would easily disintegrate under the
action OF the Notwithstanding and thawing
I and that it would absorb a large amount
of water. Heidi not think this Illinois sand
stone fit for building purposes, in Memphis
especially, where the climate, like that of
| Washington, was variable in winter, and
characterized by violent extremes of heat and
| cold, and where excessive moisture was a
general feature at that season of the year.
| Without subjecting it to tests, he regarded
| the specimen of Tennessee marble before
him as very good, very excellent build
| ing stone. 1t seems to be ine-grained mar
| BILE of close texture. The crystals don't ap-
| pear to be large in it. 1t is compact and ap-
| parently free from impurities. He classified
the sandstones that have any commercial
value, and stated the best to be that
sorb the least amount of water, and
is generally of the greatest specific
gravity and weighs most. That will be the
most durable, but even to that he preferred
| marble, though it should cost twenty-five
per cent. more. He called attention to the
| capitol, in the center of the south front of the
patent office, and the Sixteenth street front
of the Treasury building. All these, except
| the latter, are painted to protect them
from decay. But even with several
coatings of paint they are disiutegrat-
ing. Upon a cross examination by Mr.
Lathrop, Colonel Casey could not be
moved from his direct testimony, and de-
clared marble like the specimen from Ten
nessee before him equal to the best granite.
Major John G. Park, also of the corps of en-
gineers, sustained Colonel Casey's testimony.
He thought it would be a measure of econo-
my to construct building like the Memphis
customhouse of marble rather than sand
stone, even though the cost were enhanced
by twenty-five per cent. The specimen of
Tennessee marble before him impressed him
most favorably. In public buildings he pre-
ferred to use granite, marble or brick, in the
order given, and would not like to use sand
stone, because of its tendency to disintegrate
and degrade-to crumble away under the ac-
ton of the weather, heat and cold. He adj
mitted that there were buildings of
sandstone, but experience condemned its
use. On cross-examination by Mr.. Lathrop,
he said that the durability of marble depend
ed upon its freedom from assure and frac-
ture, upon the character of It's capitalization,
whether it is fine grained with small crystals
or coarse-grained. Mr.. w. A. M'Gowan is
stone-cutter of twenty-three years expert
ence, divided between New York, Washing
ton and North Carolina. He is familiar with
the quality and durability of all kinds of
building stones, and prefers granite and mar
BILE to all others, and looks upon them with
equal favor. He prefers marble to sandstone,
because it will last for ages, whereas the lat
ter 1.-THE best of it, will not stand more than
ten years. 1.-The trouble with sandstone"
he says, sis this: If you put it in thin blocks,
FIVE or six inches thick, it will dry out, and
then it will last a considerable length of
time, but when you put it down near the
ground where the moisture can get into it,
or where you use blocks ten or twelve inches
thick, it seems never to get dry, or in such a
condition that when winter weather comes
the stone disintegrates and the outer surface
of it is forced out. The working of sand
stone creates a kind of thin skin on the out
side, the moisture gets in between the body
of the stone and that skin, and the conse-
quence is that the frost operates upon the
moisture, then off comes the front
That does not occur with either marble or
granite, and hence those materials will last
for centuries" He does not think sandstone
proper material to be used IN the construc-
ton of building like the Memphis custom
house, and he would regard it a measure of
economy to build of marble, even at an adj
ditional cost Of twenty-five per cent. He