Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-20

However much the citizens of Washing
ton have been inclined to protest against
the slowness of the post-office construc-
ton, now dragging through its sixth year.
1t has generally been felt that the work
was being well done, and that in the end
the building would be substantial and sat
isfactory. This faith has now received a
severe shock in the discovery that the
concrete flooring is so bad that it must
be replaced The stuff that was put in
under the eye of the Treasury's direct rep
resentative and according to the Treas
Ury's own time-honored formula, has
crumbled into powder, revealing the fact
that its principal component was cinders
On the floors made of this material thing
was to be laid, and it would have been in
order year or so after the occupancy Of
the building for the repair agents to be
kept constantly at work on these tiles to
prevent them from rafting loose. In short,
the government, according to it's own plea,
has been doing and permitting shoddy work
of the most wretched character in its great
constructions. If this is true of the floors.
may ii not be also true of other parts of
the work? The whole system of public
construction is wrong, to begin with. The
work Is done piece-meal Witness the fact
that only the other day contract for lay
ing electric lighting conduits throughout
the building was let, months after the
work had progressed beyond the point
when such conduits could be laid most sat
isfactorily and economically. What COM
mercial concern would proceed in this cart
before-the-horse fashion? The record of
this enterprise is of innumerable con-
tracts, sub-contracts and special jobs all
given out in hit-and-miss style. being based
the very least consideration for the
unities of time and opportunity. Delay
after delay has been oocasioned because
one contractor found another in his way.
Months have been utterly wasted while
the architects of the Treasury have been
preparing specifications for portions of the
work that should have been entirely
worked out in full detail long before
Periods of total suspension have occurred
because the wrong one of two contracts
was in readiness for progress while the
more necessary work waited. In the case
of this floor 1t appears on the face Of the
official excuses given out to have been laid
IN such inappropriate season that 1t was
pulverized by the heavy weight of stock
piled here and there through the building.
Had 1t been of best quality 1t would have
been sorely tested by such abuse, but COM
posed as 1t was of fiimsy constituents, 1t
readily crumbled when tons of metals,
glass and other materials were flung upon
1t in disregard of the chances of damage.
And it appears that the final discovery of
the bad quality of this flooring was brought
about through the cuts made into it by the
constructors of the electric light conduits.
1t seems impossible to fix the RESPONSE
bility for this shoddy work upon the con-
tractor or the Treasury agents posted at
the building, for the concrete was mixed
according to the official formula, and thus
the burden of accountability must rest
upon the department and its methods. Sec
rotary Gage has already given unmistak-
able evidence of a determination to better
the construction system by securing the
best available administrative and archi-
tectural talent, but his reform will be in
complete without thorough overhauling
Of every line of the work, including a posi-
tive revision of all the methods in vogue
in the actual construction of the buildings.