Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-09
MUST PAY UP AT ONCE.
Rippey Must Either Turn Over $4,000
or Stand a Court Trial.
ALL THE WATER BOOKS MISSING.
Auditors Fail to Find Trace of Records
in That Department
STOCK YARD ACCOUNTS ARE ALSO GONE

The sub-Auditing Committee of Ale
gheny met yesterday afternoon, when the
auditors submitted the following report:
ALLEGHENY, PA, February s, 1892
ITO the Auditing Committee:
"GENTLEMEN:-Youra auditors would re-
spectfully report that as our time and at
tention for the past ten days have been re-
quired on city cases pending in court, we
have been unable to complete our investiga-
tion of the affairs of the water department,
previous to April 1891, in time for presenta-
tion of your honorable committee at this
time.
However, the fact of the entire absence
of any systematized method of keeping
record of the business of the department
prior to April, 1891, warrants your auditors
in calling attention to the matter, and shows
the necessity for an entire overhatlling of
its workings, and the employment of men
who are capable as we'll as conscientious in
discharging the duties pertaining to their
office. We say an entire absence of any
systematized method of keeping record;'
by this we mean that we have not been able
to discover any books of record whatever,
with the single exception of the ferrule
book, and even this book is not . complete
record, and whether those in charge ever
kept any record and then removed or de-
stroyed them we fail to discover.
Can't Find Any Wafer Department Books.
'The fact developed as a result of our in
vestigation is that the department has ap-
parently been run without the aid of any
books to record the business of the depart
ment that would in anv way furnish the
data to enable your auditors to formulate
full report of the accounts in the water de-
partment.
cat the stock yard on Grant avenue. the
man in charge assured your auditors that he
had not been supplied with book to keep
an accurate account OF material received or
how disposed Of On the other hand, the
City Controller claims that no demand has
ever been made on him for such books, not
deeming it his duty to furnish unless asked
for.
"We find no record Of the amount of the
water pipe, fire plugs, stop gates or fittings
received or how disposed of, except the
published annual report, and there only in
a general way, nor has any mention been
made of the large amount of scrap metal
that would accumulate from year to year.
that possessed commercial value suffi-
cient to iustifyyour auditors in endeavoring
to ascertain the disposition of the same
'fThe wisdom of this was shown when we
attempted to verify the returns for old iron
water pipe sold by the city in 1885, We
developed the fact that the city had been
systematically defrauded out of large
amount of scrap iron, brass and lead by the
successful bidder forthe old iron water pipe
advertised for sale by the city July 30, 1889,
a partial exhibit of which we herewith SUBJ
init, which is self explanatory and will only
add that other amounts appropriated and
removed by the same party will be added
to this supplementary report as soon as
verified.
Natural Gas Reports No. Ready.
'eYour auditors also desire to state that
progress has been made in preparing an ex-
hibit in conformity with resolution of Coun-
ellis relating to Indebtedness under city
ordinance of natural gas companies, but for
the same reasons stated in the beginning of
this report we have not been able to COM
plete it, but expect to have it ready in time
for presentation to you before the regular
meeting of Councils.
"Respectfully submitted,
1T. w. BIGGERT,
"JoHN MCKIRDY,
Auditors. "
OF MATHEW RIPLEY TO CITY OF
ALLEGHENY.