The San Francisco call., 1898-05-06
Preliminary Work Being Done Toward Un-
 earthing a Big State Scandal.
Architect Swain Spends Three Hours on the Anxious Seat in the AnterOOm, but Is Not
 Called

The Grand Jury has taken up the task of tracing the devious methods by
 which the State has been robbed or
 sum approximating $100,0OO through the manipulation of contracts for the construction of the depot building and ferry-house at the foot of Market street.
 Because of this, Architect Swain spent three hours on the anxious seat in the witness-room connected with the apartments occupied by the Grand
 Jury at the City Hall yesterday after noon. He had been served with sum-
 mons to appear before that body to explain his connection with changes in
 plans and specifications and the sub stitution of poor material for good, by
 means of which certain favored con
 tractors were enabled to reap enor-
 nous and illegitimate profits from their work on the ferry building. The grand jurors were deSirous, however, of ascertaining a definite Knowledge of the situation before subjecting MT. Swain to the grilling process, so he was of necessity compelled to console him. self with his thoughts while some half score or more of witnesses were being examined. His name had not yet been called when the hour of adjournment was announced.
 Now that the Grand Jury has evinced a desire to probe to the bottom the corruption that has marked the prog
 ress of the construction work on the ferry building since it has been in charge of Commissioner Colnon and Architect Swain, there Is a great influ- ence being brought to bear to have the whole matter sidetracked. In the event that this course should not prove successful an attempt will be made to minimize the scope of the inquiry and thus protect the men who are believed to be responsible for the thievery that has been practiced in so bare-faced a manner for more than year past. This was made evident at the inquiry yesterday by the questions asked some of the witnesses by one or more of the grand jurors who had been primed in advance with alleged facts tending to discredit the testimony that it was known could be given. It is also known that the men who have been growing rich at the expense of the State by reason of their connection with the work done on the harbor front have, through the medium of inf1uen- tial friends, been attempting to infiu- ence the minds of members of the Grand Jury. That this. attempt has proved unsuccessful, except in one or two instances, goes without saying. To what ends these same men will go to the end of procuring perjured testi- mony or the concealment of records re- mains to be seen.
 Among the witnesses examined yes terday was Chief Plumbing Inspector Sullivan of the Board of Health Some
 o1- T., -s.
 work in the ferry building and pro- nounced it practically worthless. He said that 1t was so defective in the matter of material used and the man. ner in which the work was done that 1t constituted as whole a positive detriment to the building and a menace to public health. Since that time Sul- livan has had many conferences with the water front officials, as well as with the contractor who installed theplumb- ing system. The plumbing con- tractor even went so far as to threaten
 Sullivan if he did not approve of the
 work as constructed. What effect these conferences and threats may have had is not known, but it Is certain that in
 giving his testimony yesterday Suli-
 van was mildly lenient in his discus sion of the work he had before charac- terized as cheat and sham.
 There were other witnesses who gave the members of the Grand Jury a cor
 rect idea of the manner in which the plumbing contractor was permitted by the officials who had charge of the work to swindle the State. Among them was Thomas Ford, a plumbing expert who had made a complete and detailed ex- animation of the plumbing work in the ferry building. He explained to the jury how the system had been changed
 by juggling the iron pipes and that by
 reason of this cham the contractor was enabled to teap very considerable profit at the expense of the State. The | witness also detailed the manner in | which the contractor had reaped rich profits by reason of other changes au- | thorized by Architect Swain and ap- proved by Commissioner Colnon. He | also told how the law had been evaded | in regard to the manner in which vent pipes and other vital portions of the | plumbing system had been constructed. Howard c. Holmes, chief engineer for | the Harbor Commission, was one of the
 witnesses examined during the course l of the afternoon. He was asked re- garding changes in plans and specifi | cations authorized by Architect Swain and Commissioner Colnon, but was un-
 able to throw any light on the subject | except to say that he knew that many | such changes had been authorized and | that in some instances the contractor l had been required to reduce the amount 1 of his contract and in others the con- tractor had been paid considerable sums in addition to the amount speci- | fled in his contract Whether or not the rebates were too small and the addi- | lions too large he was unable to state, l as his duties did not compel him to
 have anything to do with the supervis- | ion of the construction work on the 1 building He said that in his opinion the Harbor Commission had paid Con- | tractor Cronan sum approximating i S3O00 over and above the original con- | tract price for work that was included
 in the original contract Also that Cro- nan had been permitted to perform the work in a manner contrary to the pro-
 visions of the contract, the finished
 work being much inferior in point of
 strength. durability and cost to what | if would have been had the work been
 done according to the provisions of the l contract.
 The Grand Jury also devoted con- siderable time during the session to go- ing into the details concerning the manner in which the contracts for | a+o,o opd tarra cOtta work have been