The herald., 1897-02-11

might have slipped in, but he did not
believe there was a barrel on the whole
street, nor was there one-h half of one
per cent of the rock that was not crush
ed Mr.. Howard ins ed that the pro-
tests against the acceptance of this
work were ridiculous, for the job was
a good one had been carefully inspected
and the proper materials were used. He
considered that the work was in every
way satisfactory. Thep roper material
was used for the grouting of the cutters;
he had personally inspected the ma
terial furnished ,and when it was not
satisfactory 1t was prompetly returned.
The cutters were properly laid and the
size of the stones were such as met with
his approval. Mr.. Howard cheerfully
answered all questions, and concluded
by saying that he considered the street
the best ever laid in the state, or that
ever will be laid. He further stated
that Contractor Long had given his
hearty cooperation ip making good
job.
At this point Mr.. Howard was taken in
hand by the attorneys for the property
owners, and subjected to rather close
cross-examination. The witness de-
clined to recede from any of his state
ments, and was finally excused
AS the hour was late, Chairman Nick
ell wished to adjourn the hearing. saying
that he believed that the committee had
enough on which to proceed,and they
had made arrangements to examine the
street during the afternoon.
This brought forth an energetic pro-
test from the contractors and their at
torneys, who desired to refute some of
the statements made by the other side.
They asked that they be given this priv
ilege as matter Of Justice, promising
to be as brief as possible.
After some further talk the hearing
was adjourned until 1880 p M, it being
understood that in the meantime the
committee would personally examine
the street, and Mr. Drain was instructed
to have men with the proper tools on the
ground at 2 o'clock.
EXAMINING THE STREET.
Although the hour set was o'clock,
1t was almost 3 before the work COM
menced. The members of the commit
tee, with the contractors, attorneys and
large number of property owners were
in attendance
Work was commenced near the corner
of Adams and Main streets. A piece Of
the asphalt four feet square was cut out
and cut was also made on the line of
the street railway track. The asphalt
was found to be a trifie under the thick
ness required by the specifications,
measuring from 15s to inches, the latter
figure being those required. The ma
terial was good, and it was explained
that the slight deficiency in the asphalt
was caused by the concrete being too
high, and as the street surface had to be
made level this could not be avoided.
AS to the concrete, while some of the
rock was larger than called for by the
specifications, the committee and the
engineer agreed that 1t was good Some
specimens of asphalt which it was said
had been taken from the street measur-
ed considerably more than two inches
in thickness.
At Thirty-third street another cut was
made, with substantially the same re-
suit as in the first instance. It was
claimed that the asphalt was fraction
under the specification requirements,
but the concrete was good.
The committee was then taken to the
gutter on the east side of the street be-
low Jefferson, where it was charged that
the granite blocks had not been proper
ly grouted. Mr.. Field, after some min
utes' hard work with pick and crow
bar, succeeded in getting out one of the
the grouting material This was soft.
but the contractors insisted that it was
of the right consistency, and this had to
go. Mr. Field insisted that the grout-
ing would wash out, but the contractors
said that it would not, but on the con-
trary would improve with age.
The gutter at Thirty first eet,where
it was alleged the grouting material was
bubbling up from between the rocks,
was next inspected, and it was found
that some of the asphalt was exuding,
as had been stated. bxk the contractors
insisted that this was not disadvant-
age.
Just north of Thirtieth street another
cutting was made, and here the asphalt
trn A C
was the case in all the other places, the
concrete was found to be good.
Another cutting was made at Twenty
fifth street, and here the asphalt meas
ured up to specifications, and the con-
crete was good. At this point piece
was also cut from the work being done
by the railroad company, and 1t was
found that the asphalt on the street was
thicker than that being put down by the
company.
Cuttings ware also made at Nine
teenth and Fifteenth streets, and the
asphalt measured all the way from 21s to
3h inches. The concrete was in each
instance uniformly good.
At each cutting the committee took
samples of the asphalt, which were
placed in separate bags and labeled.
These samples will be analyzed.
EVENING SESSION.
The hearing was resumed in the coun-
Gil chamebr in the evening, with all
the members of the committee, the at
torneys, contractors and a number OF
the pretestants present.
Mr. Rank, an engineer on the work,
who set the grades, was the first witness.
He checked up the work as it progressed
and finally checked the work when 1t
was finished. The completed work was
on grade. He had observed the work as
1t progressed and was of the opinion
that it was first class job The asphalt
will run in some places as high as three
and one-half inches. From an engineer
ing standpoint he would say that it was
practically impossible to get the cover
ing exactly two inches in thickness at
every place; in some places 1t would be
a little thicker or thinner, as the case
might be, where the concrete was higher
or lower. The asphalt will average over
two inches over the entire job. Mr..
Rank explained that the grade of the
street was almost level, and this of
course interfered with the flow of water
in the cutters.
Frank Dominguez, an attache of the
engineers office, was on the work with
Mr.. Rank. He corroborated Mr.. Ranks
statements as to the checking of the
work for grades, ETC., and said that j.
was properly done.
A. B. Combs, foreman for Gray Bros.
& Ward, who did the cement and con-
crete work, was the next witness. He
detailed the methods Of mixing the con-
crete, and the proportions of the mate
rials used, and explained the specifica-
tiOnS The greatest care had been used