The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1893-03-03
V|llA|NOUS WORKMANSHIP.
That is What Investigation Shows
on the North Side Lateral
Sewers.
Some Strong Indications That a Ger
tain Person is Seriously
to Blame.

The lateral sewer examinations are
still in progress at several points, and as
as far as the pipes have been uncovered
they show that the work has not been
performed as required by the specitica-
tons and contract. The contractor ad-
mits bad work OF the pipes back of
Sheriff Hamilton's house, and will do the
job over. They were not uncovered.
The charges that the pipes running past
the Catholic church and across Seventh
street were broken in places, that no ce-
ment had been used. and that there was
a Jog" of several feet between the con
nections of the pipe in the tunnel run
ming under Seventh street was disputed
by the contractor. Work was com
menced Wednesday morning in digging
down to the pipes at each end Of the
tunnel, a depth of twenty-one feet, and
cleaning the earth off the pipes in tho
tunnel. The work was finished at $3.50
yesterday and the inspection made by
a committee of the city council.
A TRIBUNE reporter arrived at the
scene of operations shortly after the
OtiC SCo HUH tho tulIltl
and was requested to take q look at the
work. Councilman Cornelius loaned the
reporter his o~veralls and jacket and he
climbed down a ladder at the east mouth
of the tunnel, lighted a tallow candle and
started on his hands and knees for a
journey of ninety feet. The task was a
tedious and dangerous one; the hanging
earth overhead giving away several
times, which made the cold chills creep
down his backbone. But notwithstand-
ing this feeling of terror, every joint in
the pipe was examined as closely as the
dim light of a "tallow dip" would permit.
One very bad hole, averaging one and
one-half inches in length and nearly the
same in breadth was discovered at one of
the joints; at another place the joints
dld not meet and there was room enough
to take hold with the hand and pull up
the joints; five of the joints had little or
10 cement or other material at the con-
nections; the pipe was not a laid on a
level bed for several lengths and the
variation of the pipes from a straight
line would not average over ono foot in
the ninety feet examined. The Jog OF
six feet between the meeting of the pipes
at the center of the tunnel. as sworn to
by Herman Offerback, was not found by
the reporter in his journey. The under
side Of the pipes were not examined as
the earth had not been removed.
The manhole at the west end Of the
tunnel was examined and the
ship was very poor. The brick looked
lonesome without their proper coating
Of cement and lime.
Having arrived at daylight at the west
end of the tunnel the reporter was as
-,ntal to tl,n fnr lu n fr,nnI1u had Pace,
one OF the ~bystanders, and he speedily
dotted the o~veralls and jacket, thankful
that he got through the hole safely with
only one bump o. his Uranium.
From the standpoint of one not ex-
perienced in sewer-pipe laying or any
thing connected with such work, the re-
porter has only TO remark that he con-
siders the work he examined not fit for
the use it is intended, and if the defects
are not remedied now they will be a
source OF great expense to the city in
keeping them in repair.
Work was commenced yesterday even
ing uncovering a portion of the ditch be-
tween Sixth and Seventh streets and
Second and Third avenues north, where
it is charged by Adam Monske that a
good many joints of broken pipe were
laid. This job will be finished by noon
today.
There are several other points to be
examined, but with the discoveries al
ready made the city council will no
doubt have pointers enough to take
prompt action Of some kind at their
meeting this afternoon looking toward
the digging up and relaying of the pipes
in all the lateral sewers on the north
side.