The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-06-19
NOT PROPERLY MEASURED.
COMMISSIONER KEHOE ON THE
GRAVEL FOR DALE AVENUE.

and Signed by Incompetent Per-
sons and That Some of Them Were
Not Signed at AII-InSists That the
Fifteen Sacks of Corn and other
Forage Are StiII UnaccOunted For.
Commissioner William Kehoe takes is
sue with several of the statements made
yesterday morning with reference to coun-
ty matters based upon talks had with
Chairman J. J. Dale and superintendent
of Public Work w F. Chaplin.
THE statement is made" Mr.. Kehoe
said, that the certificates Of measurement
of the gravel used on Dale avenue are on
file in the superintendent Office. There
are some certificates there, such as they
are, but they do not comply with the con-
tract and in some cases the bills are not
signed at all
TN the first place the gravel was never
measured by anyone competent 10 meas
ure it, and in the next place the figures
are put on those bills, where the gravel
was measured, by one man, and the bills
were made out by another When the mat
ter came up in the board agreed to vote
for the contract with the Augusta people
provided Mr.. Brown, the county engineer
was appointed to measure the gravel. This
the chairman would not agree to and I
voted against it,
Thee sixth section of the contract for
the gravel has this statement: The coun-
ty will make monthly payments for the
material furnished, and will cause the
quantity Of each carload to be measured
on arrival by a duly appointed officer
whose certificates of measurement shall
be attached to each monthly claim for
payments"
Section l of the contract says The &C.
ment, gravel or material to be furnished
for surfacing and hardening the public
roads offChatham county shall consist Of
not less than sixty-f1ve (65) per cent. of
pebble or flint rock or hematite and such
other proportion of clay, iron, lime and
gravel as win insure a bonding or cement
ing, and produce a smooth, hard surface
imperVious to water
Both of these sections were entirely ig-
nored and everything was taken on faith.
The road shows for itself as regards quail
ity. A large quantity of the material is no
better than ordinary clay. To prove the
truth of my assertion will be pleased if
the chairman Will allow a committee from
the grand jury, or two or more citizens to
examine these alleged roads with himself,
the superintendent and myself present. The
selection of such a committee could easily
be made in some equitable way.
1T is claimed that the cars were meas
ured by Quartermaster Schumann, and
that his certificate IS attached to the bills
have seen those bills, and I find that
there are figures on them which believe
to be those of Quartermaster Stevens,
while the signature is that of Sehumann.
One of them which 1 found, and 1 think
there are others, had figures on II, but
was not signed at all. This bill was for
nineteen cars. l would not have made
any objection to the matter If competent
man had been appointed to make The
measurements, but the way in which il
was done shows how loosely things have
been conducted
with regard to the corn and other for
age" Mr.. Kehoe continued II still in
sist that those fifteen sacks of corn. one
sack of oats, one sack of bran and one
bale of hay are unaccounted for. l have
sta tements from Quartermasters Haber-
sham ana Mcdonnell showing what for
age was received at the camps during
May. According to these statement, the
county has been charged by Messrs James
NJ Dixon g Co. for five sacks of corn on
May and ten sacks of corn on May )
which neither of these quartermasters re-
ceived.
1.-THE quartermaster stated that they had
received all the feed ordered in April, and
all ordered in May, except five sacks Of
corn. Ten sacks of corn were orlered on
May 4, and only five were received. But
orders were issued from the court house
for ten sacks of corn, one bale of hay one
sack Of bran and one sack of oats, which
were not received by the county, as Is
shown by the written statements given to
me as acting chairman of the committee
on chaingang by the quartermaster after
the question had been raised and known
TO them.
I'm addition to this there was one sack
of oats, one sack of bran and one bale of
hay which were never received at the
camps. With regard to these last items
I believe the county superintendent says
they were taken to his house to feed a
horse belonging to the county the horse
used by Mr.. Butler. The records show
that that horse was at the camp from May
6 through the month, and he could not
have eaten at both places. 1t is not true
that any county horse is kept in the city,
but on the contrary private horses and
cows have been fed and groomed at the
county camps, previous to my assuming
the craftsmanship of the committee on
chain-gang.
The bill for forage for live stock during
May from Mr.. Dixon was 1864 The
amount of stuff that was short l had put
on another bill. 1t amounts to $22.07, aeav-
ing balance Of $54.S7, which is the amount
for which approved the bill"
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