Shiner gazette. [volume] (Shiner, Tex.) 1893-current, 1897-07-07
The Court House and
Vault Question.

In my last letter l stated that
/ would not write again, but as
Mr.. Paulus brings some grave
charges against me in the issue Of
june 80, you will please give me
space for my answer.
In answer to an article by Ais
berry ~ Son in the New ara of
June 16, | will state: l did not
intend to answer the same, because
my answer | considered would be
AN injury to Alsberry " Son, and
the injustice to me l was willing to
stand, But Mr.. Paulus brings it
before the public again in the
Sinner GAZETTE with the intention
10 injure me, aaR refers to the
article Of Alsberry IL Son on bridge
building in the following way; He
quotes Mr.. Alsberry as follows,
which is incorrect: Mr.. Meyers
statements were not true and were
lot of rot, (this high toned language
comes from County Judge d. a.
Paulus, not from Mr.. Alsberry),
and as yet Mr.. Meyer has not seen
Git to reply to this letter Of Mr.. Ais
berry's, which puts him in the
soup" Nov, to get out of the
''soup," here is my answer, and [
will leave it to the citizens Of La.
vaca county if did right or not to
keep Mr.. Alsberry's hands out of
ihe county treasury any deeper.
| will give true statement Of
the last bridge letting. Alsberry
az Son were not in it from the start.
Mr.. Mather, agent for the New
Columbus Bridge Co., Houston, had
the lowest bid. The second day,
after dinner, the commissioners
court agreed to reject all bids and
select frst-class plan for all to
bid on. Stating this to all bridge
agents present, none would come
forward with their plans, Then
Mr.. Oliver got up aud said, I'll you
are all afraid to show your plans,
here are mine, they can stand close
examination" Mir. Alsberry Sec
,onded this willingly. If Mr.. Ais
berry had better plans why did he
not come forward with them? He
knew why. But after Mr., Alsberry
had the contract he worked hard to
get his plans and specifications in,
but of course failed to do so.
Mr.. Deborah was appointed to
superintend the Supplejack bridge
and I to superintend the Hallets-
willie and Rocky creek bridges.
The contract for the Rocky creek
bridge reads as follows; The
county has to haul the iron part of
old l.avaca county bridge to the
bridge site at Rocky creek. The
contractor has to furnish new piers
36 inches i'll diameter, also all lum-
Der used has to be new and of long
leaf pine. The bridge to be put
mp in good workmanship order
When Mr.. Alsberry, jr., who
acted as foreman for all three
bridges, measured the length Of thu
bridge ut Rocky creek and investi
gated the ground for length Of piers
lie found that his piers on the south
side of the creek were twenty fee
100 short, and on the north side
think about eight feet. Now, the
contract, as you will see, reads thai
he has to furnish new piers there
it don't say anything about the
length, and the county had the
right to force the contractor by the
contract TO complete the work
But l knew that all the bridge
agents calculated on a Mr.. Rhodes
measurement which called for short
piers, and for charity and honesty
sake, which Mr.. AIsberry refers to
stated it SO to the former county
Judge, Mr.. James Ballard, in favor
of Mr.. Alsberry. | wrote to three
different bridge agents who were
present when the contract was let
and they all stated the same thing
that they bid on Rhodes measure
ncnt. When the commissioners
court met I placed these letters be
fore the court. -Four members o
the court agreed to pay Mr.. Ais
berry for the extra work, except
Mr.. Candy. And the court agreed
to nay Mr.. Alsherry for "charity
and honesty" sake for extra length