Telegram-herald., 1891-03-05
DlCKEY RETuR NED
The Committee Asked Him 70 Talk
and He Talked.
COURT HOUSE a.IIfRS WELL AIRED
The SsnaaaiSsss >snd for ar. DisksrsaAa
70 tsPisip ths nei~s ea shs tsatldisxs
aaa ne isits fheaa They Them
selves are she sols CAUss

hitRtcc % ttlC b04fA u oApcfN1sds anu
representatives of the westera Con-
siTuetion company Vas held yesterday
sftemoon at the Office of Areniteet
( Sidney osgood, st whion men talked 80
one another rs plainly as Nathan talked
To David. The object Of the meeting
was 10 induce, if possible, +. B. Dieker-
son, of the Construction company 10
give the committee his reason OF the
delay of the work on the Kent county
court house. Mr.. Dickerson and sir.
Morton, for the company. were present
| by invitation OF the committee. super
VISOR LOOMS, addressing tue two gen
tlemen, stated the purpose for which
! the committee had called them into its
| presence. lie said that contract had
been executed between Kent county
anu the Western Construction company
for the erection Of county building TO
DC completed Jan. l, 1891. But the
building was no; finished on the day
agreed upon, but the
Work Has Been since Dragging
along in the most desuitory and unsatis-
| factory way. The committee had been
the object OF much public. criticism on
account of these things, while IL felt
that the responsibility rested upon
careful survey of the entire situation
| the committee had reached a definite
| theory of the cause of the disorder OF
1 the work, and had not invited the pres
ent conference without Irst taking
| counsel. Mr.. Dickerman was then re-
| quested TO give such explanation OF the
| delay as he might have 10 give. The
gentleman particularly addressed hs-
tended TO the chairman's remarks with
the closest attention, and ut tneir con-
clusion took from his pocket type
writer copy of bret from which he
| read the heads of his discourse. In re-
| ply to Mr.. LoomIs's charge, ne spoke
substantially As follows:
Dickey Makes His Speech.
eve claim that there is no delay Of
any great magnitude. All the delay
has been caused directly by your CON-
mlttee, or by Kent county, and you are
almost wholly responsible. In the first
place. the original contract was for n
building costing Sl60,000. When we
| got to work, we found that you had no
adequate foundation, and there was an
| extra $4,000 called tor at the very start.
| And, by the way. | want you TO inter-
rupt at any point If do not state mat
teIs truly" And Mr. DicSerson did
not pour this appeal for Interruptions
into deaf ears, nor was the sequence of
1t Il group of silent lips. Ihe whole con-
| ference was marked by running fire
! all along the line. Every one of the
| committee was in disputatous frame
! OF mind, and no one on either SIDE OF
the controversy hesItated to dissent
from any statement coming from the
| opposite side.
| Causes for Delay Set Forth
| "And so," continued Mr.. Dickerson,
with this extra 10 be looked after at
| the very outset, strictest conformity to
either as regards the cost OF the build
ing or the time OF completion. was not
| possible. We conld not pretend TO
such conformity. Another cause of
| delay: There was 10 be plain brick on
| the line of the terra Gotta course, and
you wanted terra Gotta. But YOU went
TO Chicago and tool, the matter square
| ly out of our hands, and the work was
| delayed there. You gave rs an order
1 ., % Of l-r Is,
and again similar order ON the 4th of
| April. And here was another delay of
| four months. Again the plans for the
outside walls on the third story were
| imperfect, and we had to do some tear
| ing down. This necessitated a journey
| to Chicago on the rart of Mr.. Morton
| and here was another delay.
Who Was to Biame for Thar
All this, together with other small i'm
perfections Ia the plans occasioned a
number of small delays, the aggregate
of which was large" Some one here
interrupted to deny that the plans were
imperfect, and to suggest that much of
the difficulty lay in the fact that Mr..
Norton was not a mechanic. and had
notthe sort OF grasp OF the situsiion that
would capacita;e him TO reconcile the
clashng among the army of contractors
employed upon the building. Hr.
| nicserson-"Well, there have been
numerous other causes. tho greatest of
which has heen the wavering, bBil-doz-
| ing, chiid-lke way IN which your COM
mittee have done your business. For
/ Instsnce. when Nr. Humphrey failed.
| you wanted from us n new bond
/ When We declined to give it, although
you must nov admit that YOU bad no
night 70 demand il. YOU declined 70 paw
anything norr II iher belseved
What you sad, would Il tend g. stina.
/ late me to prevent snv delav Of work
I You told me- that the sub-c gHtfsctofs
ordered yoa rot % pay ~ any peTe
/ money. when vou yourselves requested
the suh-ooBtractors to serve that aotsce
On you"
Lsorafs ard Dickr af Wa
This statement called eet from Hr.
Loomis not denial Hs sald il wss
simply false. In reply, Mr.. Diekerson
Re terated ths statement, ard sid thst
Mr. ssreesoF lsaa tod him that very day
tat TIE comm tee made the Teqaess
! CT him.
1T sh.soluteiy false retortsd Hr.
/ LOOMS uasuasy.
Mr.. Dsckerson - Moreover. Fou
stated that there was uot money
+ enough - complete the tn5tding- hUt
+ Id rot think AZ. soa askea for a COR
! rsrs.oa of figures Bet I ecBIa nsvsr
7 get i. snd sffsrwsTds year @1auss re-