The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-04-09

york y.sc om from Apri l. 1873 10 Jan. l. 1870, ior
pOsal bond for $500 600. upnn which Mcssrs.
Sidncy Dillon and j. n Smith were -urctirs.
ana We MS deposited with the polco Cummis-
sipn"rs $40 in cash; this boing ten per cont.
Oi Our bid
pid tle specifications require this2"
lrs. ana the idea WINS sound. 1t made 1t Inn
possillr for ia, eponshlc persons to bid. II
rendered il certain that PROPOSALS would bc re-
ceivod from men who were not only nhio but in
tended 10 carry out the contract tu the letter.
Nncn the box containing the PROPOSALS wore
2pgncd to ,my smrnrse o9rs % wae the only, one
forty contractors would mike an Offer"
:, And why did they notY"
were so strlngcnty drawn that it made It i'm
n0ssiblo t. lo the work other than thoroughly.
Tint. and the bonds and 10 per cont cash re-
duired. probably prevented many bids. You
SEE there WIS no getting AWAY from the con-
tract, II re1nired all The principal streets mud
avenues every other day; the cross streets be-
low Fourteenth twice II week, and above
Fourtecntlh-cNcepting TwGniy-ihirl. Thirty;
fourth. Forty second. Fifty :, ninth and
Eghty-sixth-oncc week, These strcets
every day So% by 'S The SconfSc Il T. we inSd i,G to
clean the strecls as required. any property
holder or any ono else 10y com plnining to the
Pu.ico Board would have instant relief. because
the Board could at once send mon to clean the
particular street and charge VA for it, or they
notice. This contingency nnd ths largo cash for
felt in the hands of the Board. to say nothing Of
the bond. made Il morally certain that the con-
tract would he carried out To the letter. and
in a manner that has never been known
in New York. Our bid boing in. as
just said and there being no other. We
believed that W. w're LOCALLY EMIT .tlod to tho
| contract, and cNpectod that il would Toe at once
executed. But then the Board. by resolution,
asked the CORPORATION Counsel his opinion as
! to IN" propri'iy " hitting the work. Mr. Whit
ncy took about ten days TO make no his mind.
| and when his opinion WAS received Ivy the Po-
| lice Board, Comm ~ iuurr Wheeler changed his
| mind. ii y Ind bern previously \ ry anxious To
| lpf work Iy luf nta voted ylslt Conn
| missioner Erhardt against the execution OF tho
| contract. President smith and Commlssonor
Mich voted t. eNerut" the contract"
| " DO YOU know of any reason why Commits
| sionors Wheeler and Erhnrlt voted after
| offering to receive bids Yours was in due
Yes; all the requirements were mot There
] could not possibly have been any objection To
| the hond with such names as Mr.. Dtlion's and
| Mr.. Smiths On IL. and tuo cnsh deposit was
mnde. BY law the contract was ours.
| Then had one Of the other Comm i-si ioners
| voted with Gen. Smith and Mr Nichols you
would have cleaned thesircets. and thoroughly.
W. should have given the city what 1t has
| never had-rlean streets. Our Arrangements tur
doing the work we're very thorough. An ot tho
| principal streets and avenues would have been
the other streets would have been cleaned as
required 10y the contract There are a few
river streets on the west side that we should
have boon obliged To clean 10y day. rs they are
lined with trucks at night You SEQ We could
| not aif ri to slip up Tor single day. We might
have forfeited our deposit. or have had our
|
Obliged to pay Tor men the Police Board en-
ployei 10 clean streets that we neglected. But we
| could under our arrangements. give New York
as clean streets Ms those OF Paris or Berlin. and
pesiies We should have Put an end 10 all the
| trouble with tho Harbor Commissioners. Our
| arrangements included the utilization OF tho
| garbage. which we intended to cause 10 be con-
verted into fert.lizng material. II ia a great
| waste, To say nothing of other evils. to dump II
| into the hay. IL can be easily converted into
manure that would have good market price.
| certain sunken land near New York There Is
| nothing better for this purpose than ashes and
fresh earth. But then these are mere minor
considerations. We should certainly have kept
the streets perfectly clean bad the Police Board
You were not afraid. then OF the risk you
ran in assuming such stringent obligations to
carry on, The speelilcatlopT.s ., ndo-,.La,h.
obligations showed our great faith and earnest
ness in thc natter. We expected to execute the
And. in your opinion this system as pro-
posed. was and is the only efficient and tho
u don't know low itcan De done in any other
way well. l 30 know that by this plan the
city would haye 9ecn kepi pcri'c'y clean dur
What was done 10y the Police Board after re-
What was donsf why thr work was done
by days labor. a most Inefficient way OF doing H.
and besides. N nm additional expense 10 the
You link Gcu. smith and Mr.. Nichols were
anxious TO have your contract executed
! Yes. They hIth vOtet to that effect, and. 80
far ~ ] have been able 10 see. both We're
Straightforward and honest IN the matter. But
their vote WIS unayailing on account Of Mr.
Erhurdts and Mr.. Wheerr's negative vots.'
| But do you know Of any rea- n why tho lat
'eGyWyniemon Wa noa i9'.1 II NJ oc,.mao smiling
| rather sgnin 'antly. before ! cAIress amy
op nion ~ th, matter would prefer 20 have
! YOU srr and talk with Commissioners Erhhrdt
and Wh""ier themselves. Then. II You wanted
a Legal opinion, You might Interview corpora
you ct the vi.w Of some siatCsmuu; and
would suggest that know Of no siat'smnn lot