The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-02-19

IstUnA ,t., iSohaSS.s.s - Ills 5uUeS ! uOL upper
In the new work Of the same character.
lin two places the stone fronting the
base of the balustrade Is too shallow
and Is built up three inches and half
With thin slabs Of stone to give it the
proper height" See e.testimony Of Capt
Hunt, pages 16, Tand 18. S
.tThe drawings call for wood
truss under the porticO roof. This
mas not been put in place and is q
1 ldelerlment to the strength OF this part
Of the roof. Il should have been put
N SO as TO give connection for, the other
have been finally mailed Testimony
Capt Hunt, page 10. a -
Inc DottDm members OF the archi.
traYe Is the stone Intel course over
the capitals and should have been
moulded inside as well as now shown
on the outside. This stone should
have been carried around the entire
area OF the p0rtico ceiling; this Is re-
quired In all classes Of architecture,
regardless OF the requirements OF the
special orders. These stones should
have been Solid and not built up in
sections, as shown by the drawings.
Testimony Capt Hunt, page 10.
~. Between the wall Of the building
and the caves Of the roof there Is a
vacant space of something over nine
inches, and but for sheet of galvaniz-
iron l-32 OF an inch In thinckneSs there
would be nothing at all between the
interior of the building and the wide
wide world" Testimony Capt Hunt,
page 20.
III. We call attention to a serious
tdefect In the rear pOrticO, between two
or the columns, which support.it. One
OF the large Intel stones, which car
ries its portion of the gable, Is crack
ed, apparently entirely through and Is
likely at any time to give away.
The contractors appropriated to
their own use and actually sold thou
sands Of dollars worth of the old ma
terial upon the State House grounds,
and which came out Of the building,
and seek to justify their acts by a
provision in the specifications which
allows them to "use" certain portions
Of the old material. The contract re-
quires the contractors to provide all
the materials and perform all the work
mentioned in the SPECIFICATIONS, and
shown in the drawings ETC. In this
connection they were allowed to use
'all old material that Is now on the
grounds, and such parts Of the present
roof that conforms to these plans and
spcci ications, with certain numed
exceptions, and to make plain what
was intended the said provision reads:
This only covers the granite columns,
ballusters, old iron bracing, granite,
etc, in the roof that is suitable and
the proper size as called for" Does
that mean suitable and proper size as
called !cr," &c. them to carry off and
sell, or does it mean suitable and pro-
per size as called for" by the speciiica-
tionS, to 60 into the building? We
submit that 1T is too plain for discus
sion, that the latter Is the construc-
tion to be placed upon it and that in
carrying away and disposing of this
valuable property Of the State they
were naked trespassers.
The glass floor to the pOrticOS, in the
opinion Of the expert should not have
been put in. The architect had the
choice of other old and reliable. styles
and passed them over to make an ex-
pertinent with this untried kind OF
flooring and as in all other depart
mentS of the work with disastrous re-
!. suits.
The water closets installed under
meath this portico leaked SO badly they
had to he removed to another part OF
the building. AT first this was requir-
, ed to be done at the expense Of the
architect. Afterwards the commits
sion allowed him 5000 out of the State
, funds as u contribution towards 1t.
And the lower pass away from the
} grounds to the entrance to the. lower
story Of the State House is covered
with water after every min. The fill
, Ing bet-7een the rows OF glass IS break
ing up already, and Il change of this
, flooring is a matter of Immediate
; necessity.
| The water closets, like everything
, else, are defective, and will cost the
, State more money 10 put them in
shape and suitable condition. We re.
fer to the testimony of Mr.. A. w
EdenS, civil engineer and inspector OF
sewers and plumbing for the city OF
Columbia, which explains this.
The contract required the contrac-
tors 70 protect the interior Of the build
ing from rain,' while removing the old
roof, by the use of tarpaulin or canvas
covering. This was not done, and in
consequent &c all of the galleries and
many of the rooms were flooded dur
ing this period, and the painting and
freScOing on the walls Of the two cham
bers were permanently ruined.
These contractors were required to
furnish good and sufficient bond for
the faithful performance of the con-
tract, and did give bond in the sum
of $50, 900, of the City Trust, Safe De-
! poSlU anu OdIcuy Company, Oh tnlla-
delphia, to Governor NJ. B. McSwee-
rey, chairman of the commission on
completion of the State House, to Sc
cure and guarantee the faithful per-
fOrmance OF the contract; said bond
bears date 2lst August. 1900. The
form and execution of the bond was
approved by the Attorney General and
accepted by the commission. On the
I'd of June, 1902, Governor McSweeney,
chairman of the commission, acting
under the oral advice CT the Attorney
General (as testified to oy D. II.
Means, secrctary,) caused satisfaction
to be entered upon that bond and sur
rendered it to the obligors.
This surrender and attenpted dis
charge Of this bond, the States only
security for the vast losses sustained
was not the act of the commission, as
the Governor alone. advised as it Is
said, by the Attorney General, under
took to perform this act, and 1t may
be that the State may yet be able to
realize upon said security.
Your committee do not consider that
1t comes within the scope of their du-
ties to determine questions Of law in
volved in the matters embraced herein,
but would regard 1t remarkable indeed
If there is not some remedy, civil or
criminal, or both, to bring these male
factors to justice and to some extent