Evening star., 1898-10-07
TANMANY PAID MORE FOR PAVING.
"eh. COILS Makes Statement Re-
gardfnS Asphalt Charges.
From the New York Herald.

From the New York Herald
Gen. c. II. T. Coils former commission.
er of public works, answering Mayor N,n
Wycks charges, declares that howeya- hfgr,
the prices he paid for asphalt paving. fh.v
We're not so high those paid before New
horks highways were placed in his keepinc.
while General Coils was writing his re-
ply yesterday District Attorney Gardiner
was studying item by item the allegations
made against General Coils administration.
Colonel Gardiner told me the report Of the
commissioners of accounts would probably
be placed before the grand jury next week.
General Coils. in his answer to Mayor
Van Nyck. in part says:
II the charge is true ths.t the price paid
for asphalt is too high. wndt shall be said
about its cost before Mayor Strong came
INTO office. when prices We're 20 per cent
higher? To compare our prices with those
PAID by other cities is the merest nonsense
Unless the traffic is exactly similar and the
guaranty for maintenance is for precisely
the same term of years, no comparison can
be made. For instance. 18th avenue. over
which eighteen thousand vehicles pass
Cally, cost nearly 81 a square yard. while
126th street, over which perhaps less than
five hundred pass, cost only SOB for ex-
aCtly the same pavement.
When asphalt was first introduced into
TINS city competition was opened to all the
world. Tammany Hall, however restricted
bids to particular brands of asphalt which
enabled the contractors who owned these
deposits TO make their own prices, and this
was the condition of affairs when Mr..
Brookfield and / came into office. We at
once called together all the people who
were willing to compete on fair terms. and
this meeting resulted in such modification
of the specifications as produced honest
rivalry and low prices
General Coils then gives tables compar-
ing the prices paid during the Tammany
81 ! 1-Ers
administration. Continuing, he says.
Tammany Hall paved the west side OF the
Boulevard from 92d to 1USth street in lS.3
at cost of SS.S5 per square yard. ! paved
the east SIDE Of the avenue from 92d to lw6th
street in lSv6 at cost OF S2.gS per square
yard, but the commissioners of accounts
had nothing to say about this.
| might fill a newspaper column with
just such gratifying information to the tax
payer, the horse owner and the bicyclist.
This difference in price enabled me to an
nualy lay nearly six miles more of asphalt
than was laid by Tammany Hall for the
same amount of money.
l do not, without evidence. accuse any
body of dishonesty. | leave such business
to vulgar ill-bred people: but as the men
who made these contracts are Mr.. Van
Wyck's political cronies and office holders
he has better opportunity to ascertain the
raison d'etre than 1 have.
| have plenty of ammunition of the same
kind, but prefer to reserve it for a future
occasion.
District Attorney Gardiner said yesterday:
''It is unfortunate that the report of the
commissioners of accounts was not finished
until this time, for now the claim Is made
that the charges are campaign material.
The charges have not been preferred with
this motive. The commissioners oe accounts
have been working the books Of the
former department of public works for some
months. They expected TO have made their
report long before this.
Il intend TO sift the charges TO tho boz
tom. l have always been friendly with Gtn
eral Coils and for Stevenson Towle,
whose resignation was demanded by the
mayor, he and ] grew up together. But
this is a time when friendship is to be ig-
nored, and you may rest assured 1 will do
my duty.
THE figures received from mayors of
other cities seem to show that New York
has been paying too much for its asphalt
paving"