Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-02
The Number at Work on the Post
Office Building.
FIVE LESS THAN EMPLOYED YESTERDAY
Delay in the Completion of the
Several Contracts.
ONLY TWO FINISHED ON TIME


five less than yesterday. when The Star
estimated the length of time that the con-
struction will take. What has become of
the other five men no one can tell. The
statement of the thirty-siX yesterday was
made on the authority of the superintend-
ent, Mr.. Kinsey, which was accepted by the
reporter who visited the scene of the opera
tions. 1t was probably what is known in
mathematics as a round number" or, per-
haps. what some writer's call 'glittering
generality" However that may be, there
were thirty-one men laboring at IL o'clock
this morning. and there is every reason to
believe that none of them were laid off dur
ing the day. These men were distributed as
follows: Nine men We're on the top of the
structure, handling the iron beams as they
were hOlsted aloft by the engines; seven
were on the ground floor, placing the iron
as it was sent into the building by the truck
that runs from the south to the north end
four were on the ground on the east side,
attending to the hOisting. making the knots
and doing other odd jobs; three engineers
were posted at as many holsters; three men
were digging trench at the northeast cor
ner OF the lot; two men were trying to make
the affair look artistic by means of red
paint: one man was in charge of the work
of unloading the beams at the south side,
and he had one man TO help MIN; then the
thirty-hrst was not man, but a boy, whose
function it was to slake the thirst of the
other thirty by means of the water that he
''toted" around the building.
This was the sum total of the Drawn that
was being expended on the great work.
There was a quantity of brains embodied in
the superintendents and agents and clerks
and contractors in the offices, but they do
not really count in the problem of how long
the public will wait. There has been enough
brain matter expended already in this con-
nectiOn to build an entire city. There were
.a1aN er~r haas
gate, waiting for chance to work on the
iron construction, and about seven citizens
drinking in the spectacle of the great pile
growing They were taking lessons in i'm
mortality.
At the rate thus fixed on this day of
grace. October =. 1891 the building will be
finished on or about the 9Th of July, 1901.
This is counting in the water boy as a
workman. This is hardly fair to the citi-
zens, but generous to the contractors. The
water boy in this case stands for what may
be known as a margin
\ Series of Contracts.
The work on the city post office is being
done under a series of contracts subdivided
on the theory that quicker and better work
can be done in this way than by means of
q general contract for the entire construc-
ton. All of the work is under the super
vision of the architect of the treasury
through the medium of a superintendent of
construction, who is on duty ON the
ground and whose business it is to that
the contracts are executed according to
specifications and that the materials used
are or the proper character. There have
SO far been two superntendents. the first
being Mr. Steward, under whose inspection
the ground was cleared, the excavations
made and the pilinS driven. He was sue
ceeded by Mr.. kinsey at the beginning of
the present administration, who is now in
charge.
Exclusive of the work of clearing the site
which was done under sale of materials,
there have been so far six contracts award
ed by the Treasury Department for the
various features of this work. The first
was awarded to Albert Gleason of this city
on the 18th Of February, 1872. who under
took TO grade and eXcayate the site by the
first of April of the same year. Mr. Gleason
hnished his work on time and with a few
days to spare, and established precedent
that has unfortunately not been followed
IN the subsequent branches of the work.
On the Both Of June. 1s.2, Mr.. Brooks was
AWARDED the contract for eXcavating the
pit and driving piles for the foundation
he obligated himself to finish this work
In four months from the date of the con-
tract. which would carry him to the :;Oth of
october, 1872. He finished his work in
May, 1875, upward of seven months behind
time In addition to this delay it is to be
noticed that the contract for this work
was not let for three months after Mr.
Gleason had prepared the ground for piling
All OF this delay, however, was not un-
IOT UluCn OF the time the archi-
tects office was considering the question
OF the character of the foundation TO be
laid under the building. The ground had
Irst 10 be explored to considerable depth
Dy means or borings, and this took some
time On the whole, it is probable that the
three months lost between these two con-
tracts was well spent by the thorough sur
Ney OF the ground on which the great
structure was to rest.
The seven months DELAY ON the Rrool.s
contract, however, was either a mscaIcu-
lation by the contractor or an example of
that curious inefiiciency which attends so
many government jobs of this kind lit was
said. too, that the weather was unfayor-
able, but however that may be- the pilinp
was sadly In arrears. The architects Office
!et 10 A D. Neele on the 18th of October
IS3-, the contract for the masonry of the
Foundation. This was to run for ItO work.
ing days. and was finished on time. not
wlthstanding the delays on the piling
which necessarily had to precede the ma
sonry work.
The stone and Brick Work.
On the I'd of March, 1893, John Pearce of
New York was awarded the contract for
the cut stone and brick work for the base
ment and superstructure of the building
including the entire eight stories and tower
This contract has a life of two years and
six months from the date of its award
which will carry 1t TO September q 1895.
just eleven months hence. In view of the
estimate made by Superintendent Kinsey
to Star reporter yesterday. that this work
will be finished in eighteen months from
date II will be seen that Contractor Pearce,
on the present basis, VIII be at least seven
months behind the contract time. But here
again. there has been an official delay. The
first stone under the Pearce contract was
not laid until the 31st of January. 1894.
For four months not a hammer struck a
blow nor shovel tufned on the building
The work was absolutely at a standstIll
This was during last autumn, when the sII-
pervis1ng architects office was wrestling
with the problem of whether the basement
should be provided with an area or should
be built with a pavement flush to the wall
The latter plan has been adopted by Mr.
EdbroOke, under whom the plans had been
prepared. and all Of the drawings had been
made to correspond with this conception
When Mr. Edbrooke's successor Mr.
O'ROurke of New Jersey. who has lust left
the office against his will. entered upon his
new duties. he announced that he consid-
cred this plan defective. but II was not un-
til autumn that he bestirred himself to Sc
cure a change of the plan. The suggested
change had first TO be submitted to the
Secretary of the Treasury, who Is head of
a commission of three members, created by
the original appropriation act 1t was a
tedious process TO secure the approval of