The San Francisco call., 1898-03-23
Result Of the Investigation Regarding the States Indebtedness to the Honorable HarbOr
 Commissioner.
SOME MORE FACTS ABOUT A FERRY DEPOT CONTRACT.
Changes Connection With the Masonry Work That Have Ned Somebody Small Fortune in Very Short
 Space of Time.

From amid the mass of robbery, job bery and crooked work that has marked every stage in the progress of the construction of the new ferry depot building, Harbor Commissioner Colnon professeS to have unearthed one item wherein the contractor did not profit at the expense of the State. He says that by substituting Colusa sandstone for Oregon graystone in the construc- tion of the outer walls of the building there was saved to the State a sum ap- proximating S53. 600.
 The Call is in a position to prove the entire falsity of this statement, as well as to prove that the substitution re- 1erred to was made at a cost to the State of not less than $11,000, to say nothing of a saving to the contractor of something like $50,0O0 This saving, which represents a proportionate loss to the State, was made possible by the direct acts of the Board of State liar Dor Commissioners, of which Commits sioner Colnon is the presiding officer.
 The contract for the masonry work on the ferry building was secured by c. F. Mccarthy, the contract price be-
 
 ions of the contract the outer walls of the building were to be constructed of Oregon graystone. This was all straight and regular. Then came the first of the dozens of changes in the original plans and specifications, the inauguration of each one of which has cost the State from few hundreds to many thousands of dollars.
 It was proposed and agreed to that Colusa sandstone should be substi- tuted for Oregon graystone as the ma terial for the outer walls of the big building. Contractor Mccarthy was consulted, and he, after much delibera- tion. finally consented to make use of the new material without additional cost to the State. That is to say he agreed to construct the walls of Colusa sandstone at the same price he had agreed to construct them of Oregon graystone. The Commissioners bound this proposition with the seal of their official approval and the thing was done.
 So much for the facts as they ap- pear on the surface. The milk of the cocoanut is yet to come.
 At the time Mccarthy was preparing his bid for the ferry building masonry contract he was not an actual or pros- pectiVe owner of a stone quarry. He, like all of the other bidders, was obliged to ask uuarry-owners the price they would charge for furnishing him the quantity and quality of stone re- quired by the terms of the specified tiOnS. By this means he ascertained that the amount of Colusa sandstone necessary to do the work would cost him $98 900. He also ascertained, as did hnY- h hot graystone would cost s109, ,000 The other bidders referred to, having these facts in their possession, submitted proposals to the Board of Harbor Com nisSioners in which this difference in the cost of the two materials was made apparent. Mccarthy, on the other hand, did not put in a bid in which the Colusa stone figured as the material to be used. His failure to do so netted him on this particular item of material, just $11, 900.
 To be more explicit Mccarthy was awarded the contract, the material to be used being named as Oregon gray stone. Afterward the material was changed to COluSa sandstone, the con- tract price remaining unchanged. AS the Colusa stone cost Mccarthy $11,- GOO less than the Oregon stone, 1t does not require the services of a lightning calculator to demonstrate the fact that he was ahead just that amount of money by the operation, and the State was a proportionate loser. So much 1 for MT. Colnon's claim regarding the stone contract.
 The facts as above recited are sus- ceptible of proof. The dates, figures and the names of witnesses are in the l possession of The Call, and will be given to the proper authorities or to any interested person upon application
 The item of stone is not by anyme the only costly bit of jugglery that was practiced in connection with the ma sorry contract. Other changes" equally profitable to the contractor, and possibly to those instrumental in bringing them about, were inaugurated from time to time. One of the principal items in the long list was that relating to the terra-cotta work. It was on ac- count of this material that Mccarthy was enabled to secure the original con- tract by underbidding his competitors
 Terra cotta was the principal mate rial named for interior construction work Mccarthy agreed to furnish it at a cost of 12 cents a square foot, while the lowest price named by any other bidder was 9 cents a square foot. Every contractor in the city knows that terra cotta cannot be furnished at the frst-named figure. Whether or not this was known to Mccarthy does not ap-