San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-03-31
CONTRIBUTED SCRAPS.

Written for the LIGHT
An unprecedented knack fol
laundering seems to be about the
only distinction enjoyed by oul
city authorities. They grasp the
wrong end Of the poker, play the
wrong card, and entangle instead
of Strengthening matters.
The sewer matter was too big a
thing for them to handle, so they
have let Mr.. Gray have his own
way. The material to be used in
sewers has been settled one day
and unsettled the next.
The Monterey brick are so slick
that cement can not take hold OF
it, as it should, in order to make
the work solid and durable. A
veritable green-horn ought to have
discovered this palpable and ma
terial defect in the Monterey brick
But Mr.. Gray overlooked it, or con.
sidered it as Of no consequence.
The city is in a fair way to be
mulcted into the payment Of good
round sum Of money, in conse.
quence OF not daring to raise any
objection to Mr.. Gray's acts and
doings and OF leaving everything
to him.
He made his calculations in
ignorance of how much and what
character OF rock would be en-
countered at the depth OF fro M s to
Is feet below the surface. The
formations in prairie soil, in the
vicinity Of edges OF rock like those
about the heat Of the river, are
epentially different from what Mr..
Gray has met with elsewhere.
Two courses were open to Mr.,
Gray-first,to have had trial or ex.
perimental pits dug, in various
portions Of the city for the purpose
of ascertaining how much hard
rock conglomerate and soft rock
would be encountered in digging
the trenches for the sewer mains
and pipes, secondly, to have made
no specifications at all, but to have
let the construction Of the sewers,
without any price being fixed on
earth, soft rock, conglomerate and
hard rock, but for gross sum OF
! money.
Mr.. Gray adopted neither one or
the other OF these courses, but
event itiblind," and made his cal
culations as to what would be en-
countered in digging the trenches
for the sewers by guess, or conjec-
ture. No doubt, he relied on the
plenitude of his knowledge on the
subject, or else concluded the same
conditions existed here which he
had found in Providence, r. l. The
result was, he missed the mark and
laid a predicate for large claim
against the city on account Of the
rock encountered.
In fixing the price Of earth, soft
rock and hard rock excavations,
Mr.. Gray used vague and ambig-
uous language, which the council
failed to have made definite, owing
to its overwening confidence in
the knowingness and rare expert
ness Of Mr.. Gray in sewer matters.
In consequence OF the looseness
of expression in the specifications,
fixing the price of removing earth,
ETC., the sewers will cost consider
able more than the public ever
supposed they would.
1t Is said the attention OF the
council, OF several aldermen, was
called to this ambiguous specifica.
lions and to the consequences that
would probably result from 1t pri-
or to the letting Of the sewer CON,
tract, and while 1t was open to
amendment, but that Mr.. Gray
met this objection with the state
ment, that it was copied from the
specifications, in the sewer con
tract Of Washington, ID. g., and
that as 1t answered in Washington,
it would also answer in San Anto.
MO, or words to that effect.
The trouble arises from the dis
similarity in the conditions as to
soil, in Washington and San Anto
Mo. MIR. Gray made a mistake In
jumping to the conclusion, thai
they were almost identical.