Los Angeles herald., 1891-03-14
How Has the Work In This
System Been Done?
Interviews With the City Engi-
neer and the Contractors.
ID. Freeman's Views of the Case After
the Fullest Investigation.
A Loose and Imperfect Contract Made
and Most Faulty Inspection
work Done BY the City.

The effort of little city like this to
put in great system of sewerage was
an enterprise that ought to command
the admiration OF the country. The
burden on the shoulders of the taxpay-
ers, imposed by the great undertaking,
was a very heavy one. The system was
expected to be something of which the
city might well be proud. The portion
OF the system, let about year ago to q
man named Boyle and his associates,
calls for the expenditure of 1876, 900. 1t
is in the center Of the city where it is of
immediate necessity, and where the
strain OF great service will fall on it at
once. The matter is one of great i'm
portance, on account both of it's neces-
sity and OF its cost.
! All last summer the air was full OF
popular complaint as to the character OF
the work being done. 1t was openly al
legged that the b,ick going into the
! Grand avenue sewer was of very inferior
quality, and that not sufficient nor
proper quality cement was being used
This paper gave voice to these com
plants, because it was of the opinion
that they werewolf founded. By person
al investigation it became fully con-
vinced that a great deal of inferior
brick was being put into the sewer.
Attention was called to the matter; but
as things were then one might as well
go talk to the west wind to refrain from
blowing. The old Republican ring had
1 the city in its clutches, and thought it
had perpetual and inalienable right to
/ Ill -. -
ular complaint as at thing powerless
and despicable. The fall elections
| opened the eyes of these gentlemen to
their error, and now they are chief
mourners over their own political de-
| mise.
With the incoming OF new officials,
Mr.. Dockweiler became city engineer,
and he at once began to probe into the
new sewers, and so far as his investiga-
tions have gone, he fully confirms the
views set forth in the HERALD all
through the past summer. His claim is
that the bricks are inferior, and that the
mortar is so too. and that not sufficient
even OF the poor cement is used.
So far, all this is now history and has
been written before. But in the past
few days some new facts have come to
light. Early this week a taxpayer of
the city went to where the sewers are
now being laid, and carried away brick
from the pile being used at the moment.
He claims it was one of the very best he
could find He picked up one or two
more of the same sort, and brought
them into the city. He then procured a
few Inglewood bricks, and with the lot
he and the city engineer proceeded on
Thursday to test their strength. The
bricks he took from the street where the
sewer is being laid stood a pressure OF
1000, S57, and 500 pounds. The
Inglewood bricks were then tested, and
the ordinary building brick required a
pressure of 2400 pounds to crush them,
while the hard brick turned out by that
kiln withstood pressure of 5000 to 5000
pounds. The last one tried did not crush
under that weight, but remained whole,
the man at the machine refusing to put
on any more pressure. The people in
the test was hardly fair, inasmuch as
they had not selected the brick to he
tried. \ trip was therefore made to
where the bricks were being used, and
the foreman selected two of what he
thought the best on the ground. These
crushed under pressure of $50 and 500
pounds. They were not as good as the
others selected by the citizen.
Now, all who understand anything
about bricks know that a very ordinary
sort of mere building brick will bear
pressure OF 800 pounds, and that good
brick will bear up to 1000 pounds pres
sure. Authorities on sewers insist that
bricks used in their construction shall
bear pressure of 5000 to 1900 pounds.
| A "Clinker" taken from the lot now 60
ing into the sewer crushed at the test
on Thursday at pressure of 1927 pounds.
These are arch brick taken from over
where the fire burns in the kiln. They
average about one per cent. of the whole
kiln.
The reporter visited Mr.. D. Freeman
and asked him what he thought of the
matter as it now stands. He said he
had given it much attention and would
say
''In the first place, the specifications
prepared by the city authorities for the
construction OF the sewers, and on
which the contract is based, should
have called for the best quality OF sewer
bricks, capable of withstanding a pres
sure OF at least 6000 pounds to the square
inch of surface. AS / understand it,
the specifications call for the ordinary
building brick, without stipulating what
AMOUNT of pressure they are to stand.
Such bricks would have cost the city 81
per thousand more than the ordinary
building brick, which would have
amounted to $8,805 on the number of
bricks used up to the present time.
''In the second place, the contractor
was not allowed to use any bricks made
by Cinnamon, and as nearly all the
brick-makers in this city employ China
men, the contractor was limited to a
few brick-yards, and these not the best
in the city.
''In the third place, it was the duty OF
the sewer inspectors to see that no poor
material went into the construction of
the sewers, and that all the work was
done according to the contract. They
could have stopped the work at any
time for breach of contract"
Mr.. D. Freeman said: In referring to
the paragraph in yesterday mornings
HERALD relating to the testing of the
Inglewood bricks, that the test was
made to satisfy a gentleman who de-
clared that no brick was ever made that
would stand pressure of 5000 pounds
to the square inch of surface, Mr.. Free
man submitted a sample Of ordinary
building brick, that withstood a pres
sure of 5000 pounds to the square inch,
o,,J n co v,oIa &c cou,oY hriclr tbot otnoI