The herald., 1897-03-22
MAIN STREET
PAVEMENT
Will Again Come up This
Afternoon
BRIEF RESUME OF THE CASE
Over One Hundred and Thirty Thousand
Dollars Involved
BRIEF RESUME OF THE CASE
The Facts as Brought Out by the lnvesti-
gatlon and Analyses Up to Date.
On Its Final Hearing

| against the acceptance of the Main
| street pavement. This matter has been
dragging along for months, and 1t is by
no means certain that the hearing will
be concluded without at least one spec
ial session. At the last hearing. some
| two weeks ago, continuance was grant
ed, at the request of the protestants, un-
til this afternoon at o'clock, at which
time it was understood that both sides
would be ready to proceed.
AS this is an important matter, involv-
ing something like $1S0,000, brief re-
sumo of the whole transaction Is of Inter-
est at this time. The contract was
awarded to John T. Long, under the
bond act, almost year ago, and is the
largest single contract ever awarded in
this end Of the state. At the time there
was a question as to the validity of the
bonds, the matter then being before the
supreme court. The contractor natur
ally wished to be sure of his position be-
fore putting any money into the work
and there was much delay In commence
ing actual operations beyond tearing up
the street. There were several injunc-
ton suits brought. and much friction
IcBultCQ pCIWCCA tHc COHtLdClOio anu
the property owners. Mr.. Long always
insisted that he would have the work
done within the contract time. as new
asphalt works were being constructed
and when everything was in readiness
the work would be pushed to a speedy
completion. There was considerable de-
lay in the supreme court handing down
its opinion and as the claim about the
new asphalt works was generally dis
credited, the council finally revoked the
contract, though the city attorney stat
ed that he did not think that this action
would hold in law. Only very few
days after this action by the council
favorable decision was renSered. In the
meantime, the new asphalt plant had
been completed and work was promptly
commenced and pushed with the utmost
dispatch. being completed we'll within
the contract time. with a safe margin
During the progress of the work there
were the usual complaints, and. acting
under the orders Of the council, the then
street superintendent, P. A. Howard,
gave the Job his personal supervision,
and the inspectors were ordered to ex-
ercise the closest scrutiny over the work.
On the completion Of the street 1t was
promptly accepted by Mr.. Howard. who
stated that 1t was the best piece of pave
ment ever laid In the city.
The usual protests were filed, In which
the general character of the work was
attacked, and 1t was claimed that the
specifications had not been carried out
in any particular. either as to concrete,
asphalt, cutters, curbing or anything
else. There was some discussion in the
closing days Of the old council, but no
action was taken, and the whole matter
was referred to the council which took
ohice on the first of the year. The coun-
cip appointed a special committee con-
sisting of three of its members, with the
city engineer and street superintendent.
to investigate the matter and lengthy
hearing was had. 1t was charged by the
protestants that the concrete was de-
fective, the cutters improperly laid, the
cement work bad and the asphalt sur
face did not come up to Specifications as
to thickness and the amount Of bitumen
1t should contain. and futher that 1t was
SO brittle that it could be picked out with
pocket-knife and crumbled at the
touch. The special committee made a
personal investigation and found that
the charges could not be substantiated.
The concrete was solid and it required
hard work to cut out the asphalt. Sew
eral places were tested, and in some in
stances the asphalt was slightly under
the required two inches, while in sother
places 1t was over 1t.
The question as to the component
parts OF the asphalt being unsettled,
samples were taken for analyses. Prior
to this time a number of analyses had
been made by local chemists. and showed
with but one or two exceptions that it
was equal to the contract requirements.
1t was then decided to send samples for
analyses to Price G. Son of San Fran
cisco. This was objected to by the con-
tractor who claimed that as these chem
lists had Affiliations with another asphalt
company they could not get fair show
and that an unfavorable report would be
returned. The samples were sent on
anyway, and in due time a report was
returned, and the asphalt was shown to
be slightly deficient in bitumen, besides
which the result Of series OF physical
tests were given, showing the effect of
heat on the asphalt at different temper
atures, and concluding with the state
ment that the substance was absolutely
valueless as paving material. This re-
port was promptly denounced by the
attorneys for the contractors, who Of
fered numerous analyses to contradict
the statements made, and claimed that it
was SO obviously unfair on its face that
it should be wholly disregarded.
Again the matter came up In the coun-
Gil on the report Of the special commit
tee. which was published In The Herald
In full, and the council, after debate, re-
fused to have any further analyses made
At this hearing 1t was charged by the at
torneys for the protestants that the
street was already disintegrating and
full of holes. This the attorneys for the
contractors promptly denied, and invited
the councilmen to inspect the work and
If It was found in the condition alleged
they would withdraw and not ask the
acceptance of the street. The council
men at once took recess and went over
the street for a number Of blocks, but no
holes could be found, though In places
the protestants had washed off the sur
face for its better inspection.
When the matter again came before
the council the attorneys for the protest.
ants asked for continuance to get it's
final evidence together, as there were to
be no further analyses which was
granted. the hearing being continued
until this afternoon.
From the statements made by Coun-
Gilman Toll and other members OF the
council the whole matter has now re-
solved itself into fight on the asphalt.
From what the attorneys for the prot
estants have said. they will probably
stand on the Price analysis and attempt
to demonstrate its correctness by actual
experiments In the council chamber. On