Evening journal., 1893-12-12
FOR THE FULL AMOUNT
F. A. Mitchell Wins His Suit
Against Mayor and Council.
JURORS ONLY TOOK ONE BALLOT


with In the case of Frank A Mitchell
VS. the Mayor and Council of Whining
ton He said he was, at the time of the
contract, chairman of the Street and
Sewer Commission. Mitchell took the
initiative and asked for the work "He
was awarded the contract and was to
pour the tar between the bricks. He
afterwards said he couldn't do 1t for
IL cents as he was losing money
We were anxious to help him out and
have the work done properly We al
lowed him TO flush it instead Of pouring
it, thereby saving him time and labor
Experiments were made on Adams street
by Mitchell, at our suggestion, that he
might know how much to charge per
yard. He reported to us, after half
days experiment, that he could afford to
do it for something like 80 cents yard,
but subsequently came down to 20 and
% cents, according to location.
The mopping Is TO unite the bricks
with pitch to keep out the water and
make a solid mass The sand got ahead
of the pitch and filed up the cracks.
keeping out the pitch. We complained
several times about t. The pitch would
break away and leave the cracks open to
be filed with refuse and the bricks
settled iregulRrly
"The work done by Mitchell was a
detriment and not benefit II there had
been no pitch on it a body Of sand, an
inch thick, would have been spread over
the bricks and gradually worked in "
Bricks, showing by comparison how
imperfectly the tar poured by Mitchell s
men had penetrated the crevices. were
presented in court by the defense
Three we're from Ninth street and the
others from Eleventh street in front Of
the public school,
II complained to Mr. Mitchell and also
his men, continued Mr. Carpenter. 1T
was an every day occurrence. / told
them the joints were not being filed
with pitch as they should be. The hot
sand filled the cracks before the pitch
reached the cracks Il was the usual
fall weather when Mr Mitchell was
doing the work. We we're anxious to
have it done as it was late l don't
think the bricks were laid as we'll ss
they might have been We stopped
Mitchell by stopping the paving We
had the right to stop the work at the
end of one or more squares. The work
done by mop does not show as even q
surface as where the pitch was poured
We let him go on, hoping that he would
do better
Commissioner Samuel Chambers wal
sworn by Chief Justice Lore. He said
Il was a director In the fall Of 1891
expressed my opinion TO both Mr.
Mitchell and Engineer Woodbury. tha
the work was not satisfactory l sug
gested that he mop it by the bucketfu
and not pour IT, The farther the worl
progressed the worse it got. The woil
on Adams street, between Eleventh
street and Delaware avenue, was fairl
well done, but in other places il wa
not. There was much dissatisfaction II
the department II the interstices wer
not flied, but simply covered over, tn
bricks worked under the travel on tn
street. ia few weeks the pitch brok
through and the iutersticts filed W i'll
filth | saw the work every day Tn,
WORK done on Eleventh street is not s.
good as that on Adams street thinl
be city owes him something"
President J. Newlin Gawthrop fol
; lowed Mr. Chambers
81 have been a member of the depart
m-nt for seven years-siuce its creation
, | am now president of It, complaine,
to him very frequently about the way II
q which he was doing the work. l tol'
him be was not getting the tar betweei
the bricks. He did not make a solid job
The work was not according to contrac
and a detriment instead of benefit, es
pecially on Eleventh street. The par
we paid him for was fairly well done
, We allowed bim to 60 on because he saiI
! he would do it sll right 1t was con
slant worry to ne If he had poured
on it would have run into the joint
all right. The sand went in where tn
, pitch should have gone. don't thin
y the city owes hlm much but he ought t
be paid for what little he put ia. "
The city closed its case and Mr. Nit
Z chell was recalled by Mr.. Hilles d
denied that the sand preceded the pitc
into the crevices. If it had the mop
could not have been used. Both side
agreed as TO the law Mr. Hilles rea
his prayers and Mr. Vandegrift informe
the court that they expressed his senti
ments
Mr. Ponder opened the argument fc
3 the plaintiff
Mr.. Ponder was followed by Messr
: Elliott, Vandegrift and Hilles. Th
y court deferred the charge until tn
: morning, and adjourned,
. A Verdict for the Full Amount.
d This morning at 1908 o'clock th
Mitchell jury retired, the court 6ispeni
s ing with the charge. At 10 AS o'clOc
q the jury sent in for the bricks, but I'll
court refused them, Mr.. Hilles objec
B.. ing. The jurors took one ballot and Oh
Y minute later it brought in a verdict fC
n the full amount, 1892 a.. Mitchell le
n the court happy man.
% John Biggs informed the court thi
8. the case OF Vincent o. Hill, d. b a v
Sydney r Harris, p b., T., had bee
given to referees for settlemen
Thomas Davis represented the defendan
m Chief Justice Lore announced that u
m trial and argument list would be gol
v over tomorrow morning, at 10 o'cloc
II and final disposition made of the cas-
as pissed He urged lawyers to be presen
b The jurors were discharged until
~ this afternoon, 70 which time court a,
IN iourned The case set for trial tn
"A afternoon is that of Philip Mayer v
Charles Pratesi. for personal injuries L
burn Chandler represents the plsinti
and John Biggs the defendant JudgiI
Il from all accounts the plaintiff aud d
Z" fendant went on spree together al
- | IN, a Vihau trara orraa q