Great Falls weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1894-1???, 1894-12-21
BAD WORK ON THE HIGH SCHOOL
A"e rians Have Not Been Followed
and a Lot Of Inferior
Work Done.
me trades Council Advises the Work.
ingmen Not to Vote Bonds Under
the Present Board.

lnasmuch as the workingmen of Great
Falls were largely instrumental in elect
ing a majority Of the present school
poard, and inasmuch as there have been
a great many rumors at1oat regarding
what has been done. and what has not
been done in connection with construc-
tlon upon the new high school building
FAR as the same has progressed, it was
considered advisable by the trades and
labor council that some investigation be
made. A committee was appointed for
this purpose. Its report was submitted
at the regular meeting of the council
last Friday and was adopted. The
report reads as follows:
GREAT FALLS, Dec. IA, 1894.
TO the Officers and Members of the
Trades and Labor Council of Cascade
County-Brothers: At the meeting Of
the council on Friday night, Nov. 1G. the
chairman of the school board COMMITTEES
was instructed to call to his aid such
members OF the council or any member
OF a labor organization who would be
competent to inspect the work on the
central high school building. The fol
lowing gentlemen were selected:
A. De Long Bricklayers' union; w. f.
Gay, Carpenters union; W. -. McFar-
land, Plasterers' union, and Charles
Carlson of the Stonemasons' union.
After reading the specifications and
inspecting the plans of the building the
work on the school house was ~investi-
gated. The following facts were discoy
cred:
In the beginning the architect did not
test the ground or drill to see how deep
1t was necessary to go 10 find bed rock
or a suitable foundation, which is Gus
tomary before giving an estimate on the
cost of a building, thereby creating an
extra expense to the school district for
excavating and tho construction of "a
foundation for the superstructure.
The specifications state that the foot
ings shall be through stone, squared and
hammer-dressed. This has not been
done. On the contrary, it is found thai
the footings are composed Of two rock
side by side in place OF through stone.
This is inferior workmanship and is d
saving to the contractor of several bun
dred dollars and a loss to the taxpayers
of this district. Tho cement mortar used
was not, 10 a great many instances, &C.
cording to that called for in the speciti
cations.
The specifications call for "hoaders''
every four feet in length aud two feet IN
height, 'headers" to be through stone.
The specifications have not been lived
up to in this particular. The tower foot
ings have not been laid according
to the lines on the plans, thereby
causing portion Of the wall
to set on one side or on the edge of the
footings. in the tower circle the footing
should be 6 feet s inches in width, the
course of footing 5 feet 2 inches
and the third course 4 feet. Instead of
the main wall resting upon the center OF
the third footing it rests upon the inside
edge of the lower footing. In other
words the footings are of no service to
the wall on one side.
In places the partition walls were
to be out of plumb and out of line,
in some instances 3 inches.
Some of the cut stone used in the
is certainly unfit for a build
IMP of the proportions such as the high
school building is to be.
In the laying of the cut rock the speci-
locations call for a one-quarter of AN inch
|olnt. On the contrary the joints in
places are from a-half to seven-elghths Of
inch. The. east wall is out line one
and one-half inches, this defect being
p%erceptible to the naked eye.
In some instances the cut stone and
Inc backlng-up are separating for the
want OF headers or anchors. Estimates
been given and the money paid
over to the contractor for material that
las not been used in the building.
The committee has carefully and can
idly considered the present situation as
t presents Itself to the people and the
taxpayers of This school district, and we
re of the opinion that it is in the inter
'st of the T~orkingmen and taxpayers
hat certain members of the present
chool board resign from their position
orthWi'h and stand aside so that mon
vho will perform the duties of the office
o which they were elected be placed iI i
heir stead, ,
At meetings of the school board atten-
ion was called to the fact that the con. {
of tho high school building 6
las not being done according to the I
'ans and specifications, yet there was ,
n effort on the part of certain members y
t the board to smother these matters to c
re detriment of the public.
We recommend that in tho event of d
hose members Of the board vino have |
OF performed their duties IN the inter II
st of the people refusing to resign the 7
.orkingmen OF Great Falls will uot vote /
ne 10000 binds called for by the board, v
10 election for which is to be held on
lee. y, 1884. +