New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-10-21
THE ARCH EXTRAVAGANZA.
NOT LESS THAN $4,000 DECLARED TO
HAVE BEEN WASTED on THE WORK.

A wrrJ.KYowv GRANITE MAN READY TO prFL'
r.rr THE ARCH AND ITS ArPURTENAN'Es
RI, 600 600 NEARLY 81 PER CE$T or
WASTE on SOME PARTS or THE sTEU'1-
IRE PRUDENT POLITICIANS ANp
BUSINESS MEN WHO GOT LEFT.
.rbo only trouble with The Tribune eN"s
A, the waste % the peoples money IN '"' pu'',''"
=, The Memorial Arch" said one OF the h'o'"
IT, ofHcials the other day rs that te "if''
hss no, been made strong enough. ~ IN" "u.''
,o,,d ave, he earned II would be founh '~' u'o
or,, uas,ed was .arger In proportion 10 'he
go, a,,ronristion than on almost any other )op
over carried to completion in the paiih''S' '"'
n, the BROOKLYN Ring. -
IT., ,h,s ls no, an over-statcment is proved by
all the facts thus far learned People 'o"'''o'"s
.o.. TIA, the arch is built OF the very pest
cu,,t,v Of granite. They Will find from inc S."''
mont OF a reputable dealer III srahl''' VIM"
riven in this article that TINS - nov '"e '"
7, has already been pointed out that 'h' 'o'"'
., tho mark entrance cost more IMAM t"'e ""''
should have been paid for them not coul''ns
large sum paid for excavations. the "."oN'
,htcb cannot he ascertained. II remains 10 ne
shawn that the agreed TO be pilu pr go
for this excavation was preposterousS Ia
tbermore the dealer In granite already re'ei'eu
declares his willingness TO construct the who're
for four-sevenths OF the amount thus iar eNPe"'e'
s35o.Ooo -. ,.o,,o ~
In order get fair estimate OF 'he ' w.,
,he work done on and about the arch from ""
worthy source a visit was paid to the OFFICES "
q y Tavntor & Co. wcll-known dealers IN sra"i.e
.rd contractors for monumental WORK III w 900
proadvav in This city. The firm has been IN ous'
ness for a number OF years, and has done SUM "
The best work OF the kind in this neighDorhoou' ~
Tavntor lives in Brooklyn. only shor' "'
from Prospect Park. and is familiar Win 'ne a. :"
Naturally. he took an interest in 1t from the oe-
shining one might suppose that such III" 40
~. wou,d have been competitor for the worn
and would at least have put In pld ioi IT,
almost the first thing said by Mt ldS"'oi' -
.rsver TO n question, disclosed his reason LOT HUI
doing
CNEISS NOT GRANITE, USED.
.yye never undertake" said he. Ito secure any
n,b,,c work Of that kind. There would be no use
Mt least there wouldn't have been uhuer 'ne CIV
.ho,,r. In Rrooklyn. OF the three bids put III Io'
that arch not one made by man OF MIN
engaged In monumental work IL Is Only "
~ are on the inside who can hope to secure d
contract In such case There is hoth'S my
.ree and fair competition. don't know JUST no"
chose things are fixed up. but know II Is uohe'
"vou about the arch. In the first place IL IL
m, hu,l, NJ granite II is simply gneiss' "hich
is a much softer stone 1t is true that inns s"ei'
is commonly called granite. but IL Is ho' Gram
In the pace of crystal quartz "fhch 't'".' VI
Granite there are feldspar and mica, when are
comnarativey soft. The consequence is that gneiss
s,sco,ors oucklv and there is no doubt whatever
tho, the arch will in few years become
dreadful eyesore to the people OF Brooklyn Inc
two columns at the park entrance which really
have nothing TO do with the arch. are MADE OF
the same material. This so-caed granite Is ob-
,.,r.a from, two ouerries in Maine The arch al
roadv shows evidence of the action OF the ele-
ments and its appearance will go from Dad 10
worse OF course granite ought to nave oeeh usen
IN work of that kind. and | suppose most OF
the people of Brooklyn believe that the arch Is
built Of granite
THE ARCH NOT PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED
"Rut apart from the material used. which is
not such as will give satisfaction, IT is evident
that there has been serious defect in the
construction | have never been on the top OF
The structure to examine 1t, but II IL pam from
the stains which have already appeared INSIDE OF
the arch that IL was not built IN such manner
M To resist the action OF the elements That Is
IN. a, the important points in all monumental
construction In all our work take the greatest
mains to avoid perpendicular joints. and we arrange
the stone in such a way that II Is Impossible ior
rain 10 find its way until the time comes that
water runs up hill Consequently. such work VIII
never he in need of repairs. Designs are fire.
ouenty made for work OF this kind, however that
are faulty In this respect. The cement Will give
way-there is no way of helping that-and then the
water its in through tne crc'iCes' anu
what with the expansion and contraction OF 'he
stone there is sure 10 be trouble.
ct am not prepared 10 say just what is the matter
with the Brooklyn arch in this respect but nave
no doubt that something is the matter Inc STAINS
on the inside positive proof OF this suppose
that repairs can be made. but they VIII constantly
he necessary for where mistake of that sort has
heen committed il is out of the question to get the
thing right So even If the whole work had been
honestly done and the city had got its money
worth in material and labor. the Work could not De
considered satisfactory. The arch is built out OF
stone that will soon become dscolored and present
a wretched appearance. and 1t is constructed In
such way that IL Is not capable of resisting the
action of the elements. and is becoming discoiored
from the entrance of rain through imperectIy pro-
tected joints
.Now. in regard to the columns at the park en-
trance The contract price understand was sf"'-
lss, not counting the excavations ana the eNc1
walton was to be paid for at 81 30 a cubic yard
That price is far out of the way as TO be anus
ing | don't know how deep those foundatlons 20
20 s,x feet If we suppose that the foundations are
laid eight feet deep, the entire work on TINS par,
than 81 200 In fact stand ready to build two snch
columns as h9se sic S apieee
''As for the entire work on and in connection WIN
the arch on which da sd Wng nat 10 execute
contract to-day for doing It all FOR S2eVoO sn nr
too. for I would build it of real granite instead of
gneiss
FORTY-THREE PER CENT OF THE TOTAL AP-
PRECIPITATION WASTED.
How unfortunate IT is that men like Mr.. Tayntof
feel that they are shut out from bidding on publc
works Of this nature in a city run by such ring
as that which fattened at the public expense IN
y,rookyn! He says that what Is true in reference
IN the arch Is likewise true in reference TO the
Federal Building. in Brooklyn that the contract
was given out In such way that men accustomed
infp he hes
getting 1t. , ...n ~ ,ar %
rrove that not less than $4,000 of the $S50OOO ap
propriated for the arch was misused and wasted
he popular belief that 100000 of the money weii'
into fhe nnckets those who had no right TO II rs