The San Francisco call., 1898-03-18

tracts such as the floor of the nave which Mccarthy could not have con- Structed on the terms he proposed, and for which he was kindly permitted to substitute cheaper material and cheap CT methods.
 Neither should the circumstance be overlooked that there were seven bid ders besides Mccarthy, that several of them made bids on both Oregon and Colusa stone in each instance the Ore gon being figured as the more expen- Siye. There were between Mccarthy and these other bidders as striking diff ferences as between him and Mckay, with such relative changes as tend to support the theory here advanced.
 If it were possible for the architect who planned the ferry depot building to come to life and view the nearly completed structure that now obstructs the view at the foot of Market street he would, no doubt, find it difficult to recognize more than the bare outlines of the noble edifice he believed was to be monument to his own talents, and credit to a great and wealthy State. Were he to ask why this or that change had been made, or why, in almost every detail of the construction, cheap or fiimsy material had been substituted for the enduring material originally specified he would receive the reply that it had been done "at the suggeS- tion of Commissioner Colnon."
 It was at Commissioner Colnon's sug- gestion that the change was made from Oregon gray stone to Colusa sandstone, the contractor being allowed the full amount of his original bid in spite of the fact that he would have to transport the f1rst-named material a distance of more than a thousand miles from the quarries in another State.
 while the Colusa stone is practically at the city's door. Commissioner Col non is credited with the suggestion that resulted in the substitution of pine
 building at an additional cost to the State of about $3000. Commissioner | Colnon is entitled to whatever credit should be given for the suggestion that resulted in substitution of expanded steel and cement floor arches in the place of terra cotta arches and steel tie rods, a substitution that effected sav- i ing to the contractor of about $35, 900.
 The cheap brick work, poorly con- structed metal work and half dozen other items of construction-each rep resenting an exra outlay of the States 1 funds-are, rightly of wrongly, credited | to the chairman of the Board of State 1 Harbor Commissioners.
 The latest costly suggestion that Is ! laid at the door of Commissioner Col
 non is the substitution of cement floor 1 ing for the bituminous rock flooring | that was put down in the. new depot l building some time ago. The bitumin- l ous rock that fell under the ban of Mir. | Colnon's disapproval was laid by the
 Pacific Paving Company at a cost to
 the State of 915 cents a foot. The bitu men was laid on the concrete founda- l ton furnished by the State, the thick
 ness of the bitumen covering being PA | inches.
 Soon after Commissioner Colnon con-
 ceived the idea of substituting artificial
 rock for bitumen the following bid for doing the work was made:
 January 27, 1898. We hereby propose to pave the exits in | the new ferry building, aggregating ap- | proximately about 5125 square feet, with
 1l2-inch layer of Santa Cruz b1tumlnous 1 rock upon a Linen binder course of con l crete (cement to be furnished by the 1 board) for 7A cents square foot, with the understanding that the pitumlnous
 rock now covering the passenger waiting
 room, aggregating an area of l00SO suare feet shall belong to us after we have talk ! en up and removed the same. Very truly 1 CITY STREET IMPROVEMENT CO,
 w. E. Dennison, Secretary.
 Accepted by order of Chairman Colnon and Commissioner Chadbourne. January l 27 1898.
 The 2K inches of bitumen covering the 10080 square feet of floor space mas been taken up and removed The new work has not yet been begun The bar gain that was made by the City Street Improvement Company can be seen at a glance. The State furnishes the ma terials and gives them "A cents souare foot for putting down the bitu- men. and then makes them present of enough bitumen to cover 75o0 square
 faet of space to the depth of little
 more than an inch. In other words, the firm gets more than ample pay for doing the work, and then gets enough ..boot' to make the job compare favor
 ah1v with other suggestions" that - o.,a onated frnra the same source.