The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1894-12-13
A hitch IN THE PLANS
Two Sets Of Specifications Raise az
Interesting Disturbance
BEFOaE The CITY SCHOOL BOARD
a" Archssect,s Arrangements Fall
te the Grouaa Becau use OF the Wig
iiance OF Defeated Bidders-New
bids TO be Called For.

Iakimas new addition TO the Central
school building is not Immediately to be
built, aad when il ia it will not at vii re-
semble the plpns now drawn for il. Con-
nected Herewith IL n narrative Of u more
or less interesting nature.
When the board Of school directors OF
district No. decided to have constructed
an addition, they asked for a drawing Of
plans and a set Of specifications from q
recent arrival in this city who poses a.
an architect. These plans and specifica-
tions were furnished. the board told that
the bids would probably fall below 5000
and call for bids from the various city
contractors was demanded. Among those
who complied with the published call
were Robert Scott, NJ. F. Zindorf. A. F.
Switzer, Bruin and Cummings !;
and these bids ran all OF the way frsm
1920 to $1,000.
The vast difference betw cen the lowest
and the highest bid was what first arous-
cd The suspicious of Messrs. Switzer, Scott
and Zindorf. In the present times, be-
cause money is so scarce, work is figured
very close and it did not seem possible
in fact it was impossible, that the work
upon which they had figured could be
done for $1,000. Therefore they put their
heads together, held two or three private
meetings with tho board Of directors. and
he hat hA ha
drew the plans was called before that
body and charged with submitting an
ink written set Of specifications Ia Mr..
Cummings, and pencil Set to Messrs.
Scott, Switzer and Zindorf-the latter de-
handing entirely different figures than
the former. The architect confessed that
he had so manipulated the specifications,
but contended that he thought the bid
dsrs understood, snd that the alterations
affected the plans bnt little. 1t was dem
onstrated that they were thereby affected
very materially. For instance, one set OF
specifications required an excavation OF
ground 1890 feet in area, while the other
set only called for digging l4x60 feet
one set demanded that all tin work
should be of Taylor old style quality,
while another required only 81 c."
grade, the cheapest made; one stated that
all wood work, the other that oil OF any
quality (none being specifiei) could be
used a difference of perhaps 81 per gallon
being figured by one contractor. So it
was all through the two sets. Every
section was changed. the ink-written
drafts being much lower in countless
places than the pencil drawings.
1t may readily be surmised that the ar
chitect was told, in very plain Language,
shat his services were no longer required
by the board OF directors. They said to
. HERALD reporter that only two opinions
were open to them, i. e., either that the
man was a rascal or that he WAS incom-
petent. In either event he was not need.
ed in this building project.
Mr.. Cummings assured the board of his
utter lack of knowledge OF any nanipu.
lations. and said he could not underst and
it. He only saw one set of specifications,
that being the ink copy
The board will have regular meeting
on Friday evening, when the furnished
specifications or plans will be rejected Of
ficially, and others called for Every ar
chitsct in the city will he asked to fur
nish drafts and figures for the addition,
and the plans chosen will be paid for by
the board of directors, the others being
rejected as valueless. The snccessful ar
chitect will also he employed a. superin-
tendent Of work shonld he not be the low
est bidder npon his own plans. On the
contrary, if he should he, then anothe,
architect will be thus employed.
Every member Of the board seen bv a
HERALD reporter deplored the occurrence
They are put back in the work, necessary
rs it is new bids will have to be adver-
tised for: new features figured upon
They regard the affair IN unfortunate
from . variety Of standpoints, but take
some consolation from the fact that the
subject was preached in time to remedy
the evil at comparatively small expense.
The full official action Of the board at its
meeting tomorrow night will be pub
lished verbatim in the next issue of THE
HERALD. at which time some disclosures