Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-11-12
THE SEWER QUESTION
Brief Review Of Some of Its
Complications.
CRITICAL S AGE REACHED
Airing at the Next Council Meet
''r' Porter No,'h.d. Arrangement
Made Win Mr.. Darling. rh,r.,.
fourth Street Matter.

me sewcring Of :, CITY 5s ,,v.,,
uailieuit and delicate operation. In m.
, s "i Newn"rt News it is said t, bt.
particularly 50 on account of nacm,in ~
physical features Other factors 800
no" entered into the work ana il h,s
reached what must undoubtedly h,. con
sidered Il critical stage No
me CITY Is wound up in some rather
unusual complications. 1t has con
tractor who is doing the actual ,,,r,,
but who does not seem to b.. res,,onsih,n
10 the city. Il contractor who has :, con-
tract upon which he will not make INV
tnlnE and will. perhaps lose a good
deal. His bill for last month was some
Jung over $4,000. which, With tn. addi-
.'filai 10 per cent coming to him added.
~ - SUI some $1,000 less than his pay
rolls for that time
&c mas consulting engineer, through
whom all business with the contractor
is done. and to whom the council must
look for proper carrying out of the
contract
With this consulting engineer the
council by its action Tuesday night
showed itself dissatisfied. and he has
been summoned before that body to
Snow why he should not be dismissed
from the service of the city
ftere is where the delcacy OF the sit
uation comes in. If Mr.. Potter is dis
missed who is To be responsible for the
proper completion of the sewer system?
The contractors will say: I'VE arr. re-
sponsihle to Mr.. Potter" Mr. Potter
will say: You did not allow me to fin
ish the work. therefore am not respon-
slbie and if new consulting engineer
is obtained. he will say: Il am not re-
'sponsible for the working of the sewer.
l did not begin it. ! simply took it
where Mr.. Potter left off, Herein lies
the problem which the special sewer
commission and the council will have. to
solve
This phase Of the question will prob
ably come UP before the meeting Tues
day night. along with business along
the same line. Il is not known whether
MIR. Potter will obey the order of the
council TO meet with it Tuesday. He
may disregard it, as he has shown dis
3 position. to disregard its other orders
or the orders of its representatives The
notice was served on him. or. at least
sent to him by mail yesterday and
served personally on his representative
here. Mr. T. f. Pearse
The notice to NJ. Honan & Sons. con-
tractors, not to put in the proposed aux
Hilary sewerage on Thirty-fourth street
was served on MIR. Honan yesterday
morning and the work will not be done
This is the understanding now Mr..
Potter may undertake later to assert
what he considers his authority in ths
matter. and persist In ordering the work
done. but this is not at all probable. as
he would have very little occasion to-
his reason for issuing the first order he
ing. according to him. purely for the
city's benefit. 1t is probable that the
contractors VIII adopt a system of bar
rels instead. If this Is done, they vii!
have to be placed some twenty-five feet
apart. and it will take about a hundred
in all. costing. all included. perhaps SIS
Mr.. Pearse stated yesterday tn a re-
porter for the Daily Press that every
thing had been arranged satisfactorily
with Mr.. Darling, superintendent Of the
street railway system. as regards the
situation at the OF Twenty seventh
street and Roanoke avenue. it being
agreed that the contractors must not
make the space between the cal.s-over
which passengers have to be transferred
While the ditch makes it unsafe for the
cars to pass-more than two hundred
feet. which is considerably better than
block. He also said that if every
thing went all right. the ditch would
be in such Il condition bS ton. ght that
the cars could pass over without hav-
Ing to transfer their passengers. Mr.
PearSe also said that the large hole at
West avenue and Thrty-fourth street
was caused by the breaking of !, wate.
main. which undermined the bottom of
the trench and washing out the dirt be-
hind the trenches.
Relative to raising the money for the
completion of the sewer system. also a
point Of great Importance. it is proba BILE
that some money will have to be Dor
rowed from the general fund for that
purpose and repaid when the system is
completed and assessments begin to
come in from property holders This
method has been pronounced perfectly
legal and available. This additional
money will amount to something like
eight or ten thousand dollars necessary
to meet certain contingencies originally
unforeseen. AS to the matter OF assess
ment. the method has not yet been de-
cided upon. The property owners will
be required to pay either so much for
their connections. or so much per front
! foot. This money cannot become avail
u able until the system is completed 1t
VIII require all the money thus obtained
Tor some time to come to meet this ad-
dltlonal amount named to pay interest
on the bonds and to extend the system
to its full scope. which will cost at least
as much more as the present work
The sewer commission will meet this
morning at 10 o'clock for the purpose
of passing on the bills Of the contractor
and the consulting engineer.