The Jersey City news., 1892-06-02
BOARD OF STREET AND WATER COMMlS-
SI0NERS.
(Continued from Second Pagc.)

The total bids for this work amount to
S57, 400, the mason's bid being S25. .9o9.
have examined the original contract
and specification No. $685. AS found on file
in the Comptroller's office. relating to the
mason WORK rs made between Mayor an d
Aldermen of Jersey City of the one part,
and Patrick j. Condor. contractor. OF
the other part. the same bearing date,
January %. 1892 / have also had the i'm
provement examined, and find that IL has
progressed so that the cellar or basement
walls are about in condition to receive
the first tier of beams.
The contract, specifications and the
work done call for the following coven-
ant:
l. The specification Interference to ex-
cavating reads as follows:
THE mason has to do all earth eXcava-
ting as required by plans for basement,
all trenches, boiler pit, areas, piers and
any other eXcavating necessary; all earth
must be removed from the premises"
The records in the Comptroller's and
City Clerks office show the following
warrants in favor of Patrick J. Condor
for eXcuvating for School No. 25.
Iu Comptrolier's Office. January Ii. 1892,
1896; January 81. 1892, $495; January 30.
1892 $3.50; February II, 1892, S495; Febru-
airy "a. 1892, S495, 1896, s275
In City Clerks Office:
April 2s. 1892. 1884. so, making total for
excavating for this school of 50. 534, not
withstanding the earth eXcavat1ng is pro-
yided for in the specification, as ABOVE set
out or the eight payments for this excava-
tiou, six of them approach limit of $500,
and it may be that this can be explained
by citing section l59. page S5, Charter of
Jersey City, and supplements A. d. 1873
which reads as follows:
"And be it enacted. That no contract
for work and materials shall be entered
into, or purchase of personal property
be made, by, or on account of, any board
or department. of the city government,
except after due advertisement for six
days at least in the official newspapers.
Whereupon the contract shall be awarded
to, or the purchase shall be made OF, that
responsible bidder who offers the terms
most advantageous to the city; provided,
that nothing in this section contained
shall apply to cases where the amount 10
be paid by the city, or to be raised oy as
sessment for or on account of such con-
tract or purchase, shall not exceed five
hundred dollars" etc.
q The specification for brick walls reads
as follows:
Have all cellar walls up to surface and
all rear walls from surface up to root
bult of best quality North River hard
burned bricks, laid up i'll strong cement
mortar, etc., and for the interior walls
thus "have all interior walls built of good
hard bricks, laid up in lime mortar, with
flush joints"
As before indicated, the cellar or base
meut walls are about ready to receive
first tier of beams at which time the
mason contractor would have the right
to ask for his first payment under the
contract, to wit $1,000; but the basement
walls have not been built according TO
specifications; the rear walls are of trap
rock rubble instead of brick, the inside
walls are of trap rock rubble instead of
brick, the outside walls are on Zabriskie
street and Columbia avenue, are of trap
dock rubble at bottom and back, the
trout being faced with brick.
When it is considered thai the location
of this school house is remote from brick
yards but near to trap rock, thus making
brick walls expensive and stone walls
of trap rock cheaper, to offer specidca-
tions to various masonS to estimate on in
which brick was called for, but in which
stone had been substituted, is a fraud on
every nason's rights who bid on this
work. | am told that under the con-
ditlons OF the stone market. the profit to
Mr.. Condor by this chhnge has been in
the neighborhood of 81, 000
In addition to the complaints about the
actual work under the contract, com
plants reached me that two sets of speci-
fications were used at the time the con-
tractors were figuring on the work. and
that the two sets did not agree; in other
words, that the specification attached to
Nh Condon's contract on file in the
Comptroiler's Office does not agree with
the specifications on which the the other
contractors figured whose bids were not
successful.
l have examined this matter carefully,
because of its seriousness, and find that
there is in existence q typewritten copy
of the specification connected with
this work other than the typewritten
copy of the specification annexed to
Mr.. Condon's contract as on file. Apart
from one or two minor variations relating
to gray bricks and the drain pipe, l find
the following to be the essential points
OF difference.
In the unsuccessful bidders specifica-
tions are the following requirements:
Turn 81 arches between all floor beams
of eacn toilet room, put ~ tie rods to all
beams of toilet rooms, 'have the toilet
rooms tiled with 6x6'' cast glass tiles to
be set in Portland cement"
These requirements are omitted from
Mr.. Condon's specification. As the three
items bear relation to each other, their
insertion in one set of specifications and
their omission in Mr.. Condon's needs ex-
PLANTATION, as the brick arches are neces-
sary for the tiling, the tie rods also. and
these two items, with the tiling called
for in the one specification and omitted
in the other, makes difference of large
sum of money, and why the omitted items
are not found in Mr.. Condon's specifica
tion needs the same explanation as the
omission from Mr.. Condon's specification
of the folowing.swhich is found in the
specification OF the unsuccessful bidders:
Ceilings:
Have the first, second and third story
ceilings ceiled with metal ceiling plates
to be 2 TT. in .X2 it. in. square, of neat
design, and all to be properly nailed,
sides before being put up.
That this variation and omission
amounts to large sum of money is self
evident, and the necessity of one set of
bidders bidding on the tile work and
metal ceiling, aud Mr.. Condon's not bid
ding thereon made the bidding tarcical,
think there is just ground for criticism
as to specifications not having the usual
provisions accompanying contracts of this
Importance, and also the contract blank
attached 10 the specifications has not the
usual safeguards which one would expect
to find therein, the following may be
cited in support of this criticism.
CD. No supervision is provided for
either any Committee or the Chief Engi-
neer of your Board but such supervision
as is provided is left to the architect
named in the contract. Ii the brick walls
were changed to stone walls il may be
because Of the architects supervision or
it may have been done with the knowl-
edge of the Board OF Street and Water
Commissioners as in the Comptroller's