Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-04
THEIR OFFICE HOURS.
AFFECT or LENGTHY DEBATES IN
THE STREET COMMITTEE,
ENGINEER POINTS OUT INCONSISTENCY
DOCS Vet Feel That His Department
should Be Required 10 he on Dutv
from . Till O and All Others from
q Tf1 =.

Tho council Committee on Streets. last
rlfD at a special session Of several
hours. considered the ordinances Of tho
committee on Retrenchment and Reform,
relative TO the City Engineers Office
which were referred TO the former boav
ty che Board OF Aldermen M n reco,,
meeting. The discussions INDUCED IN
were elaborate and general and. I'm some
Instances. very spicy. There were in at
tendance Messrs Allen chairman,
Goomborg, Carter, Ebel. Foster. John
3t King. Pollock. and Woody Of tho
committee; the City Engineer and his as
sstants. and number OF Interested
spectators. The absent members OF the
street committee were Messrs. Bahen.
lohn J. King. and Burton
AS soon as the body convened the point
was raised that the questions TO be con-
stered were OF grave Importance 70 the
largest department Of the city govern
ucut and Mr.. John J. King. the chair
man Of the subcommittee from the Com
mtce on Retrenchment and Reform.
which made the investigation Of the En-
cuccring Department who was detained
so home by sickness. should be present
when these ordinances were considered
After flibustering for an hour unon
the question Of whether or not the mea-
slres should be taken Up. the committee
decided 10 go into them seriatim. and
the first one was the ordinance stipulat-
ing that the ofiice-hours of the CITY En-
rinccr and his assistants should he from
a. NJ. until z. NJ. Mr.. King tbouebt
the committee should first hear from Mr.
Eoei who was a member Of the sub-corn-
mittee OF the Committee on Retrencb-
ment ana Reform, as to the reasons of
me committee for changing the office
hours which had heretofore been from,
A. ". until z. NJ. In this Mr. Carter
agreed with Mr.. King Mr.. Ebel held
that neither the subcommittee nor the
committee on Retrenchment and Reform
were on trial, and that the business be-
foTe the Committee on Streets was the
consideration OF the ordinances as they
stood. After a great deal OF discussion
the committee decided 10 hear from col
onel Cutshaw, the City Engineer. first.
COLONEL CUTSHAW'S STATEMENT
The Engineer prefaced his remarks by
saying that the Committee on Streets
was the proper body to consider mea-
sures involving the conduct of the Street
Department, and asserting that the En-
gineering Department had not been given
proper hearing by the Committee on
Retrenchment and Reform. He went on
20 say that he thought the questions
should have n most thorough and search
ing examination as to detail by every
member of the committee IL possible:
and added that after this had been done.
IL would make no difference to him
whether the entire department were
wiped out cut in half, or dealt with
otherwise. Colonel Cutshaw explained
that there was not man connected with
his office who did not give the city
his time between the hours Of A. NJ
and i. NJ, and oftentimes work much
earlier and much later; but he and his
assistants felt that II was an injustice
20 single out the one department in the
city government and say that il should
work from . till 6. and leave the office
hours of all others at 10 8. He stated
that he would never have opened his
mouth with reference TO this matter If
the hours Of all tho officials had been
made from till 6; but added that there
were times when the men from his office
rad 10 take work home with them and
put I'm several more hours there. He
went into a careful explanation Of the
inconsistency of fixing such hours for
his office. and gave a number OF practical
illus irations to bear out his points.
MI Ebel followed Colonel Cutshaw. and
said that the subcommittee had spent
three meetings going through the exami-
nation Of those connected with the Engi-
ncers office. He averred that the or
dinances renorted by the Committee on
Retrenchment and Reform and now
no
based upon the testimony Of the
Engineer and his assistants. He
construed the ordinance TO mean
that the Engineer and his assistants
should work from A. NJ. TO =. NJ.
and that the Office should be kept open
during those hours.
DEFENDED THE CITY ATTORNEY.
After some time had been spent de-
batting this question. Mr.. Carter raised
minor point regarding the construction
of the ordinance, and said that the city
Attorney was simply the agent Of the
city 70 say whether the laws would stand
or not; that the members or the city
Council were the makers Of the laws.
Mr. Ebel stated that he did not think
the Clay-Ward member should reflect
upon the integrity of the City Attorney.
TO which Mr. Carter replied that he was
not doing this. Mr. Pollock thought the
ordinance was perfectly plain and eX-
plicit. and meant the Office hours Of the
Engineer and his assistants should be
from 9 tn 6. Mr. BlOOmberg also held
This view while Mr.. Foster opposed any
discrimination against the Engineers
office as to hours. He wanted all the
departments placed upon the same foot
ing. Mr.. Foster asserted that there was
no department in the city government in
which there could be less suspicion OF
iileness.
when a great deal further discussion
had been INDUCED in, Mr.. King moved
10 Law the ordinance on the table. and
adjourn until Tuesday night two weeks
az o'clock
Mr. Bloomberg opposed this on the
ground that the committee should do
something before II adjourned. Mr..
Kings motion finally prevailed.
Cemetery ana James-Hiver Work.
The Committee on Cemeteries convened
IN Room no. IL OF the city Han at &
o'clock last evening, and attended 10 only
routine business. Those in attendance
were Messrs. Vaughan chairman. Noble
Mosby. Hawkins Blanks. and Carter.
A regular session Of the Committee on
James-River Improvement was held In
Room No. 8 Of the City Hall at o'clock
last evening. Present were Chairman
yaughan and Messrs Mosby, Branch X.
tucn. and HARRISON, from the TWO
Branches Of the Council, and Messrs.
James w. Allison. Thomas Christian T..
i Ferguson, W. H. Capers, jackson
Guy. and Frank Picot. from the Chamber
of Commerce
Sup.rintendent Thomas G. Cunningham
Presented his report Of the operations OF
a. "a H.