The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-12-06
MR.. GUM DIDN'T REMEMBER.


MR.. GUM DIDN'T REMEMBER
or. William s. Gum, chairman OF the
Committee on Light at that ume, diu S not
remember that ever any coihPiai,n,t P,, M ils1u
been made by Mcssrs. Joseph SteiWastl
q co. in Philadelphia. as 10 the awnrdinS
Of The contract for the purchase OF ldi
to MIR. Armitage. lie said he did renleIh,,
b.r that Mr. d. G. Richardson appeared
before the committee; ,' 1ut tall sia 'i0'
member the purpose OF his visit -.
Mr. Meredith next read from the nun
utcs OF a committee meeting held at tnat
time that Mr.. Gum stated lMr B9ueker
iu the chain that Mr.. CampDen, the
resident of Inc Common Council, had de-
niod receiving a letter from the Phllauel-
phia firm on the matter. ..,...
MIR. Gum reiterated, upon quesnons
asked by Mr.. Meredith. that he did not
remember the least thing ABOUT tue mat
Mr.. Meredith next read communica-
tion from Mr.. Richardson, dated August
1889 who complains, on Dehalt OF ms
clients, Joseph StellWager a. 2oh, as 10
the awarding OF the contract. In NOVem-
ber 1889 a new contract was made with
Mr. Armitage at sixty-fve cents per par
rel for seven years, and about eighteen
months before the expiration OF the ola
contract.
MIR. Gum again stated that he did not
remember ANYTHING about the commune
cation. He was merely chairman, ana
did not remember anything. III the alle-
cations were true, the city would nave
been defrauded. He insisted that he did
not remember any action taken by the
committee and did not remember any
thing about the paper in question; he
did not remember having ever redd the
paper before If he had he would have
been satisfied that the superintendent
was either ignorant or deffauded the clts'
lie did not remember whether the com
mittee ever ondeavcred TO obtain fair
a. hon ~ "
Superintendent $1,000 worth of barrels had
been purchased and the tar shipped 10
Philadelphia, but II did not bring price
sufficient TO pay. for the barrels. I'M, Ihe
committee. therefore. was glad TO accept
the bid from Mr.. John Armitage.
MIR. S. d. CRENsHAw.
Mr.. S. u. Crensbaw. manufactures of
fertilizers, was the next witness. lie
stated that he had some correspondence
with Mr.. Adams in November, 1889, in re-
gard 20 the expiration OF the contract Tor
tar He stated that he had friends who
would like to present bids. Mr.. Adams
replied then that the existing contract
with John Armitage would expire In July,
1889. The first intmation he received
about the reletting OF the contract he
gathered from the newspapers, Whicn
spoke OF the trouble between the com
mttee and Mr.. Stillwager. He sent his
letter to Mr.. Adams by Mr. Spillman, his
boOk-keeper. who delivered it In person.
Mr.. Crenshaw next explained how ne
presented J $ bid 10 the committee, but
the contract was awarded TO the other
man, who had presented two bids Wit
ness had the first contract, and had a
plant established on the Citys property
for which he paid 1920 Afterwards,
when the contract was given 20 Mr.. Jos.
Davis he endeavOred TO sell his plant.
The committee had some six or seven
meetings on the subject and ne finally
consented TO sell out his plant, when Mr..
Davis offered him 500 Finally he sent
his men down 10 pull down his plant.
hut Mr.. Adams stopped Il. lie made an
other attempt few days later, and was
again stopped Subsequently Mr.. Armi-
tage appeared AT his Office. who had OBJ
tanned the contract from Mr Davis and
paid witness 5000 for his plant This
was his first and last contract with the
city. witness said. Mr.. Davis never work
ed the contract for amCnacal liquor, but
Mr.. Armitage did who also had the con-
tract for tar. During the six years prior
10 1890. while he had the contract the
city realized p per cent. more from the
coal than during the next four years.
Mr. Spillman said he delivered the let
ter of Mr.. Crcnshaw to Mr.. Adams i'm
person, and subsequently telegraphed 10
Mr.. Crenshaw about the awarding Of the
contract.
Superintendent Knowles submitted
statement showing that in 1889 the coal
tar brought from 81 TO So. lie also stated
that the Superintendent of the Gas-Works
i'm Charlottesville. who was I'm the city
yesterday explained that lir Armitage
was paying now Sl50 per barrel for the
tar I'm Charlottesville, sent up the barrels.
and paid the freight both ways.
Mr.. Meredith stated that the committee
had all the light that could be given
them, and that the investigation had
come 10 close.
COLONEL SMITHS REPORT.
Colonel William p. Smith. the expert
accountant, who has examined the books
of the Gas-Works. submitted the follow
ing report as the result Of his labors:
Richmond Dec s. 1898.
The Special Committee on Investigation
of City Gas-Works.
Gentlemen concluded the ex-
animation of the books and papers fOup1
1 beg 10 report that / find the amOuntsof
shortage Of the Gas-WOrks to the city Of
Richmond for the period extending from
July !, 1886, 10 June !. 1895, 10 be s29516 TO-
This amount has been arrived at by as
certainlng the amount of sales of coke
tar sulphate, lime. &c, and comDari-
son or same with the amounts paid into
the city treasury. as shown by the Audi
tors reports for the same period. The
absence of the usual cash account made
IL necessary that the amounts should be
made up from stubs of ticket books and
as many Of the stubs have been torn out
and removed, II is evident that this
amount would be increased II these stubs
were fclnd. This data shows
Receipt from July !. 1856. to
June l. lNo...........t.... .sl906l0 a
Amounts paid into city treas
lly ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. l6l. .O2f G.
Balance due the city...........S 1856 10
I found the books properly opened and
the system commendable, but since 1888.
when the books were last closed the sys-
TEN seems TO have been either disregarded
or misunderstood and some OF the ac-
counts are improperly and incorrectly bal
anced. and many errors in entries and
posting were found.
The pay-rols balanced with the
amounts charged by the Auditor. but
none Of them are signed by the employees
though there is a special column ruled
and headed for their signatures.
Ky your direction ] have also made an
examination of the books from July 1871
10 July 1886. In order 10 make a state
ment comparative with the succeeding
nine years. but after having gone over
the whole work ! found IL impossible TO
do so becuse OF the loss of the necessary
books or any other data TO work upon.
Not only the cash book was wanting, but
only one coke journal could be found. and
there were no ticket-bOOAs tor long pc
riods OF the time. and where / found
tickets for the general sales of coke
either the books for coke sold TO the en-
ployes were wanting. or where | find both
Of these. there is no record OF tar. sui
phate. lime. &c. and these missing re-
cords render the making of compara-