The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1899-01-14

worked out with fun details so that
proper working specifications could
be completed under the supervision
of the capitol commission elected 10y
the legislature and thereby comply
with the plans of Mr. Gordon, Mr.,
had what might be termed
a running start upon Mr. Gordon
and through the violations of. the
of the legislature by the
capitol commission Thinking that t
this plan would go though he had |
elaborated 40 great expense his pre- /
hmiuary plans which We're exhibit
ed 20 the capitol commission so that |
he had working plans, 1t was not |
contemplat i'm the original resolu |
tion that any architect would have |
more 10 submit To the Legislature |
than preliminary plans, but Mr., |
Weathers having the backing of all |
the capitol commission, all the other |
plans having been sent back, was on
the ground perfectly confident that |
his plan would be adopted. | have |
been informed by reputable gentle
men both architects and contractors
that specifications which have been
used for other buildings of like ma
ture have been again used as pre- |
limiuary specifications in other com
petitions, Just rs Mr. Gordon used
his specifications for the san Anto-
MO court house Mr., Gordon
specifications contained full dimen
sions for every room that would be
required by the various officials of
Mississippi in the proposed new
building The size and full dimen
sions were given in his plan for the
supreme court room for the hall for
the house of Representatives, for the
senate chamber, the railroad com
mission, the governor, various com
mittee rooms an the exact material
so far as the interior of the building
was concerned was given. As |
have said |, am not much of an
architect, do not profess to be an
expert, but there are some members
of the legislature who knew more
about architecture and building than
l did. One member of the house,
a practical builder and somewhat
versed in architecture wrote me af-
ter the adjournment of the legisla
ture, unsolicited, his criticism Of the
Gordon and Weathers plans and
stating that he had examined them
both carefully and infinitely |
quote from this letter:
But did he (meaning the COVER
nor say that the Gordon plan $ and
specifications were not perfect How
did he know; how did he find that
out Is he more of an expert in
building than the combined wis
dom and experience of nearly 200 of
Mississippi S representative citizens
Did he make any comparison be-
tween the Gordon and other plans
and show wherein they We're defect
i've Then by what standard did he
compare If by the Weathers plan
and specifications il must be clearly
shown that they were less definite
and certain than the Gordon specif-
cations After Mr. Weather's plans
were to be RECOMMENDED a statement
in the Memphis Commercial-Appeal
in reference to the roof said land
covered with first class tin roof "
The idea of a ten million dollar
building with a tin roof He began
to discuss a tiled root only after the
Chicago man made him talk before
the house. He never did tell how
he would secure a good foundation
on the ground which in 1896 he
clearly intimatd was totally unfit to
build or sustain a heavy building
This matter was most explicitly set
forth by Mr.. Gordon much to my
edification and that of the entire
house, both those for and against
him. Mr.. Gordon shows how a com
binatoin brick and granite or marble
does well for a four or five story
building 50 far more durable and
more fire proof than steel frame
building, and he is right A steel
frame thin brick filing is an inyen-
ton for tall buildings ON narrow
lots. One point much superior in the
Gordon plans was this, the partition
walls were all solid 13-inch brick |
walls. perfectly fire proof, whilst the
Weathers plans were with 4-inch |
tile, tin and weak and far less fire |
proof than the 13-inch thickness of |
brick. Knowing the uncertainty of |
the leading points in the Weathers |
specifications, ] earnestly requested |
Messrs. Glover & Thomas on the |
committee to review them in full |
inasmuch as their bill called for
the commission to follow specifica-
tons, but they were anxious to get |
the bill through and neglected my
suggestion. | think the senate |
amended the bill somewhat on this |
line. The plans were never made |
complete in all details workings and |
drawings until some had been ac-
cepted and made ready for inspec-
ton of bidders for the contract, |
hence the contention of the govern
or in the particular was not valid |
or well taken"
u will tell you now what could |
be done with the Weathers capitol |
plan and specifications without do
ing him violence A building could |
be erected under their uncertainty |
for $500, coo on for 81, 600, 600"
1t was openly charged by Mr. |
Chapman ON the floor of the house |
during this discussion of the COVER
nor's veto Of the capitol bill that !
Mr.. Gordon's defeated competitor,
Mr.. Weathers, had dissected Gordon 5
plans for Gov McLauTin
This statement was widely com
mented on in the papers and an eX-
PLANTATION was aske Of the governor,
who has never to this day distinct
ly and emphatically denied this as
sertion, although his attention was
called to it and he made a qualified
denial thereof in the jackson News