The San Francisco call., 1898-03-24

might not have been wholly bad Ac- cording to Expert Ford and ChieI plun,hing Inspector Sullivan. this wrought iron pipe will within year or two have to be removed from the build ing. In the belief Of these seI'tie''eh ard others familiar with the facts, the ch. mical action of air anu nlolStoi ,,non wrought iron pipes cause 1t to rapidly scale" The scale III Hhe course of time stops up the pipe ana renders the entire system worthiess-
 The specifications under which the contract was awarded explicitly state that tbe work shall be done in accord ance with the rules of the Board or Health. One of these rules reads as follows:
 "All air pipes shall run of undlmln- ished size. separately or complneo' through the roof, and for two reel ahove. and be left open, or they may De connected with the soil pipe at a point not less than one foot above the hlgn- est fixture and not less than three rect and six inches above the floor line.
 Tn addition to this the specifications expressly state that no vent pipe or less than four inches in diameter snau pass through the roof
 The work as completed shows how closely the contractor has followed the provisions under which ne unoer'ooh to nerform the work. None of the air pipes run of undiminished size to the roof and such as pass through the Iooi are of no greater diameter lhah l"o inches Some of the air pipes, in fact, do not run to the roof or any olhel point of exit They are simply cut OH at some convenient place regardless ol all laws governing sanitary pluiiioihs work. This is one of the 1acts WHICH led Inspector Sullivan to pronounce the entire work worthy Of conoefnha- tion.
 While scarcely an item of construc- +,on has heen overlooked by the con- +rac+or in the process of tearing down tho costly work and material, it is in the matter of the fittings for the tollet- rooms that he effected his greatest s+roke of business. Changes and omis- sions have been made in the or1glnal specifications whereby the contractor IS absolyed from the necessity Of putting in something more than thirty closets. This meant to him a lump sum saving. of s1O75. Not only this, but the closets he did provide were of a kind that cost about S5 each less than those specified Ry doing this he saved himself approx imately $135.
 It might be presumed that an ordin- arv person would believe that this very neat saving on a single item of construction would be satisfactory to the most greedy contractor. Not so with MT. Duffy. He and the gentlemen who have in their keeping the funds for the providing for the. erection of the ferry building put their heads together and arrived at the conclusion that this change from l-lany closets to a few and from costly closets to less expensive ones called for a bill extras. This was forthcoming in the shape of proposal from the contractor to effect the required changes for the sum of s715 additional his contract price. This pro 2osal was promptly accepted by the Commissioners.
 It so happens that MT. Swain's atti- tude in regard to this particular change is a matter of record. It may not be amiss to present it here and thus pre- vent any misunderstanding as to where at least portion of the responsibility lies It is in the form of communica- ton to the State Board of Harbor Com nissioners, under date of January 15 1897. It follows:
 Dear Sirs: Referring to the communi- cation of E. James Duffy to your board, dated December 24, 1896. and more par ticularly to that part offering to change the whole of the water closets in the