Evening star., 1902-08-04
CONTRACT FOR PAVING
Price Much Lower Than That
of Last Year.
AGREEABLE SURPRISE
AUTHORITIES ENABLED TO IN
CREASE AREA TO BE COVERED.
Discovery Of Asphalt in the United
. States Cheapens the Product
Trust Lowers Figures.
SURPRISE

| The District Commissioners have let the
contract for paving certain streets and ave-
| nues with sheet asphalt during the present
| fiscal year to the Barber Asphalt Company.
! The figure named in the Barber company 8
! bid Is the lowest submitted in many years.
/ 1t Is 16 cents a square yard lower than the
| price paid by the District last year to the
Warner-Quinlan Company of Syracuse, rep
resented locally by the Brennan Construc-
| tion Company. and Is from 20 to 80 cents
| lower than the asphalt prices formerly
charged by the alleged trust" houses.
| Last year the trust" was badly beaten
| by an outside firm, and despite a protest
| the Commissioners let the contract to the
| lowest bidders. They first assured them
| selves, however. as to the quality of the
| asphalt to be used and the resources of the
new concern for fulfilling the contract.
| Last years price of s1.72 square yard was
| considered comparatively low one, but
this year the Barber Asphalt Company.
commonly considered the chief concern in
| the so-called asphalt trust" made rate
! of s1.56 a square yard, and consequently
captured the contract with ease. The Bre1-
nan Construction Company, representing
the Warner-Quinlan Company. the success
| full bidders last year, also cut prices put
! ting In a bid Of S1-63 a square yard. The
Crawford Paving Company, which Is re-
| SdIUeQ as having q close community Ol III
! terest with the Barber company. and Is
generally termed a trust concern because
| of this relationship. put in bid of Sl.64.
| Andrew Gleeson, the well-known local con-
| tractor on general work, also bid for the
\ paving contract, his figure of sta a square
yard being the highest received.
Matter Of Speculation.
/ This rather unprecedented cut in prices
| on the part of the Barber Company is be-
1 In, CTR rio oil to hou mo
! to the success of the outside firm last year.
| with the probability that the defeat of the
| Crawford Company in it's fight for the $780,
| 600 Brooklyn contract a few weeks ago
| also had a bearing on the case. The Gran
| ford Company was beaten in Brooklyn by
| a new concern, called the Interstate Paw
| ing Company, which has secured control
! of asphalt recently discovered on the Cali
| fornia coast at a point known as More's
| Landing. The Crawford Company went
! into court to prevent the borough author
| tiles from executing contract with their
| successful competitors on the ground that
| they would be unable to carry out the con-
! tract. 1t was alleged that the outside firm
would not be able to secure sufficient as
| phalt to do the paving work required by
| the Brooklyn contracts. Quite an eXhaus-
! tive investigation was held, and reports
| were received from engineers in California
who investigated the new source of asphalt
I supply. 1t was stated that the California
| asphalt is found on the coast in great
| quantities. No mines needed for tax
| ing the asphalt out, as it is washed loose
| by the action of the waves and is gathered
/ up at low tide.
| Effect of the Discovery.
| The discovery of this land asphalt in the
| United States and the demonstration that it
is excellent for street paving work will prob
! ably have the effect of cheapening the cost
| Of h,It
much to the delight of the city authorities
| Heretofore all the asphalt USED In this
| country. or practically all of it. has come
| from the mines and lakes of Trinidad and
vicinity. The output from these sources is
| controlled by the trust" The president
| of the Barber Company. which secured the
| Washington contract, Is Gen. Francis V.
| Greene of New York, who was grand mar
| shall of the inaugural parade when Presi-
| dent Mckinley was inducted into Office the
second time.
| The District engineers are much pleased
| with the new order of things, for they be-
1 lieve the decrease In price will enable them
\ to do much more work this year and here
| after than was originally contemplated. The
| District contract amounts to about $10o o,OOO
| a year. The low bid Of the Barber Com
| pany was distinctly a surprise and il would
| seem that the "old line" companies have
| decided to hereafter more than meet the
| prices quoted by their perniciously active
| competitors The prices heretofore quoted
| by the sO-called trust" bidders have ranged
| from S1-74 to $1.7S square yard upward.
| The price of asphalt block paving has
also taken tumble and the Commissioners
have let the contract for the present fiscal
! year to the Washington Asphalt Block and
| Tile Company at S1.66 square yard which
| is IL cents a yard cheaper than the con-
| tract price of last year
Warner-Quinlan Contract.
| 1t will be remembered that the letting of
the District sheet asphalt contract to the
outside WarnerQuinlan firm last year
| created quite a little stir When the aues-
ton was raised as to the inability of the
| firm to do the work the Commissioners sent
| inspectors to the company's plant and also
| investigated the pavements in several cities
| laid by It. The results were satisfactory
| and upon recommendation of Captain Lam
sing II. Beach. the Engineer Commissioner
| at that time, the contract was let The
! trust" companies were very bitter it was
| alleged, against Captain Beach. and when. a
| few months later, the captain was unexpect-
| edly relieved from further duty in Wash
| ington and ordered to Detroit 1t was quite
| generally declared that the asphalt interest $
| had been instrumental in the matter This
| was stoutly denied by the War Department
| and others Interested
| From the prices quoted this year 1t is
| evident the trust" has decided to go in
| for low figures and secure the contracts in
| such a way that their actions cannot be
| called into question:.
| The Commissioners and the officials gen.
| orally at the District building are delighted
| with the outcome of this years bidding and
| are looking forward to still more lively
| competition next year
She Didn't See Lafayette.