The record-union., 1896-07-01

brushes, amounting to about So. Croly
further says that he has never been
paid for the brushes, and that the city
has received them, and has received
credit on the contract for their use, but
has never paid for them.
He also denies that he has been guilty
of any acts Of gross, or any other, in
competence, and that he is incompetent
or incapable of performing the duties OF
Street Superintendent, and alleges that
he is as competent, capable and ef1l-
cent in the performance Of his duties
as are the members of the board, or
any of them are, in the performance of
their duties as members of the Board Of
Trustees
1t is further denied that by reason of
his incompetence or ignorance, or for
any other fault on his part, that he
has permitted the street at the corner
Of Seventh and n to become dilapi-
dated, or that the street is dilapidated.
He says ne did not allow the gravel to
become loose on the street, and that
through no fault of his did it become
dangerous, and, further. challenges COM
palison between the street in question
and that part of NJ street between
Sixth and Seventh strets,. which under
the direction of, and by the orders of,
]. H. Devine the Chairman of the Com
mittee on Streets of the Board or
Trustees, and by means of his incompe-
tency and Ignorance has become and
teen made dilapidated, and has been
RI "a 90 = tI,<.n Of IL
sand dollars and suffered irreparable
injury; that the street was improved
several years ago by graveling-large
and heavy gravel being placed at the
bottom and fine, screened gravel on
top, and that Devine had caused a
heavy roller. with long spikes inserted
in the wheels, to be rolled upon the
street, which process had shifted all
the fine gravel to the bottom and raised
the cobbbles to the surface, and by rea-
son of his acts of ignorance and incom-
potency ruined the street and made it
irreparable.
1t is further denied that any of the
streets have been rendered dangerous
to horses by reason of Croly's neglect
and ignorance, and that any streets
have been seriously damaged, and al
leges that many of the streets have
been improved in past years with ex-
ceedingly coarse gravel, consisting of
stones from one to five inches in diam
eter, which were originally covered
with a coating of fine gravel that the
streets have been repeatedly scraped
and in removing the mud the gravel
was also removed, leaving the coarse
cobbles exposed on the surface; that
all this occurred prior to the time of
his becoming Superintendent of Streets,
ard that he has caused the larger
stones to be removed, and the streets
are in good condition, excepting that
part of NJ street between Sixth and
Seventh.
Croly further denies that he con-
structed a useless culvert at Fourteenth
and r streets, and that a large sum of
money was expended without any bene-
fit to the city being derived from it, and
alleges that by the direction of the
Mayor and President of the Board of
Trustees he caused the gate in the sewer
at Sixteenth and streets to be closed,
and alleges that keeping the gate closed
was the duty of the city-the Superior
Court having granted an injunction
against the gate being open; that the
closing of the gate caused the water
to back up in the sewers and overflow
the streets and private premises in that
vicinity, and that along r street on the
north side Of the railroad is sewer
which would carry off a portion of the
water. At Fourteenth and r street the
culvert became clogged up and in order
to clean it out a drain had to be cut
across the street in order to carry off the
surplus water, and that the drain was
cut for temporary purposes only, and
accomplished the purpose for which it
was intended, the expense being only
nominal, and the construction of great
benefit to the city.
It is further denied that by reason
of the incompetence or negligence of the
department the dust in the streets has
not been attended to, and denies that
it has been permitted, without attempt
on his part to prevent it from blowing
about the city, and denies that he was
given authority by the Board of Trus-
tees to do all things necessary to keep
the dust down. He alleges, to the con-
trary, that during the month of March,
April and May, the streets were in a
dusty condition, and that the dust was
blown about, which was entirely due to
the negligence of the board and the in
competence Of the Chairman of the
Street Committee; that no proper facili-
ties exist for filling the sprinkling carts
except from the fire plugs Of the city,
and that the carts We're not supplied
with hose for the purpose of filling them
until after the filing of the accusation
against him, and that he had notified
the Board of Trustees of the necessity
of having hose for the sprinkling carts.
The board had referred the matter to
its Committee on Streets, and that the
committee, and particularly the Chair
man, through ignorance and neglect Of
their duties. did not obtain the hose until
after the accusation had been filed, and
for that reason and no other the dust on
the streets was not laid during the time
mentioned.
Devine said that the answer contained
a bare-faced lie and that the roller was
not purchased till May 27th, long after
the charges were filed. He proceeded
in an excited manner to denounce the
nd 10 a