San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1892-12-30
COURT HOUSE MIDDLE.
More Testimony Given in.-Pau
Pretzer on the Stand-Waiter
Scott Tries tn Explain What
He Said

nc Sdtu
This morning, after a weeks rest, the
county commissioners court of investiga-
tion in the mattere of the county court
house, met in executive session, with all
present. There were only two witnesses
examined. Paul Prefer, city engineer
and Walter Scott.
The first sworn was Paul Prefer, who
said: II have had much experience In
concrete work. My experience with the
portions of 1, 2 and 5 has been varigated.
One, two and five will Just about make 5,
thoroughly ramped. The cement and
sand will be entirely lost. The cement
and sand will about fill the voids In the
rock. Stone broken fine will make more.
The small pieces will fill the voids in the
stone. AS general rule they ram the
concrete until the motar Quashes to the
top. IL the sand and cement comes to the
top it is a sign thpt the voids In the rock
are filled. / advocate heavy ramming,
that is until the sand and cement come to
the top. ISay that the cubic feet of concrete
is no more than the dry measure. / have
examined the concrete of the new county
courthouse. | saw them mix and put in
considerable of the concrete, and | think
it is tirst-class piece of work Every
part of the stones is expected to be coated
with sand and cement. That will make
thV StoitS llbbit utH Itdsoh
that it don't make the bulk of concrete
large is that the sand and cement fill the
vOidS. My knowledge is both practical
and theoretical. / don't know anything
more about the building except what l
read in the papers about the investi-
CATION.
The witness was turned over to Mr..
Franklin. He said: 1T is better TO ram
the concrete heavily. That is, heavy
enough to bring the moisture to the top.
For foundation work like that, consider
that il would be better to handle the rock
with a shovel. i use Portland cement for
bridge foundations" Witness was ex-
cused.
Mai. Green announced that Mr.. Scott
was anxious to address the court. Mr..
Scott said, upon taking his seat, he want
ed to give some facts and figures. Mr..
Scott read his statement, which is as fol-
lows:
To the county commissioners of Bexr
county, supplementary testimony BY
Walter Scott, on his statement to the
county commissioners of BeXar county,
on the number of cubic feet of concrete,in
the foundations of said courthouse, in San
Antonio:
Strange to say, not one of the experts
examined have given the measure or the
box by which the mixture was measured.
These boxes are still in existence and can
De seen. 10 facilitate business VIII give
measures and calculations The box is %
by % inches at top and 1874 by lsl4 inches
at bottom, and II inches deep, and con-
tains without fraction 1890 cubic inches;
1891 sleek measures Of dry cement, make
TAOS cubic feet; 6S42 heaped measures of
sand makes q, 526 cubic feet; III, los heaped
measures of broken stone makes 5l,3l5
cubic feet. These, together with the
fractions makes 81, 020 cubic feet concrete,
after. deducting 25 per cent for shrinkage,
the amount of cubic feet in my statement,
to the county judge of Bexar county.
Yours truly,
WALTER SCoTT.
Inanswer to Maj. Green, Mr.. Scott said:
81 kept an account of all the material
put in. That account is in my pocket. A
record was kept of every box each day,
Mr.. Scott was then excused.
Sheriff Campbell stated that Mr.. Dingle
said he could not be at court this morn
ing. Maj. Green said that Mr.. Dingle
had told the sheriff that he did not know
anything, but that II he was wanted that
he would be here at 3 o'clock. The sher-
if was instructed to have him here and
court olrned until o'clock.