The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-17

In the nepighborhood OF Clyde. That Is
TO say. his teams were. hired by the
state at say "a day, to haul laborers on
their work along the canal bank and back
again. This was but industry not thrift
80 while the men were at work and the teams
would have boon idle all day the frugal
, ntn ,hn a t9ok his wagon and horses out
was dumped on the side Of the canals to
weight the banks" at 80 cents a cubic
yard, Weight was applied to the sides
OF the banks In spots where there was no
been none in fifty years Travellers on the
New, York Central may see from the car
windows mile east OF Clyde on Tobin's
farm, just where the railway tracks diverge
from the canal, pile Of stone 100 feet long,
covering most OF the bank of the canal from
top to bottom That stone cost the State
SO cents yard, though 1t was hauled to the
spot In team paid for by the day by the
State. II Is weighting the bank.
b AS t. to tn tins bank wsishtng Mr. Nchooyt
Of 1t as he has done himself is necessary,
because the engineers from Gen. Tubbs's
office (Which might as we'll be Uncle George
Aldridges Office said 80. Much Of the
casual visitor to Section 8 was not done
under Mr.. Nicholoy's supervision at all
Significantly enough, it was done over his
head by Ben Hardy, division foreman,
WIN IedtiQuurteTS NJ nOCneSteT. Inc
farcical part OF the tale OF the iveryman
comes at its close.
The real boss Of Clyde odell Republican
ism is Postmaster George R. Roe. He
first discovered the utility Of the lveryman
in the odell system as applied to Clyde.
Roe is about as broadminded, as generous
and unavaricious as is Benjami b., Jr.,
himself. He sells harness and blankets
The liveryman tactlessly and carelessy
bought pair OF horse blankets elsewhere.
Roo hpf E,l apla rod that fba
man was ungrateful-that the weighting-
stop it dfid Now there "i is discussion h S,
between the competitors for graft in Clyde.
do up Postmaster Roe. Meanwhile. the
banks go unweighted in and about Clyde,
but the citizens seem not to fear any i'm
pending disaster. The liveryman has
flourished a State check Of late with the re-
mark that 5000 at crack was enough
to keep him happy until the $l0l ,o0O,0 900
barge canal started. He, who was bank
rupt before Odel was Governor, is now
rated at $40 600.
One of the Roe faction foremost howlers
for the Governor is f. B. Wells. He has
marble yard. Once he had n contract for
marking pauper soldiers graves. 1t became
apparent then that truly remarkable
proportion of Wayne's soldier dead had
left destitute families behind them. some
ime since, in the process Of fixing up the
canal at the Clyde lift bridge number
of docking timbers were taken from the
banks of the canal and replaced with new
beams. While the new and old timbers
were piled on the banks Of the canal promi-
nent leader of Odel sentiment in the town
marched up to Supt Nicholoy, who was
overseeing the work, and said:
Hey, you, want some timbers'.
"You can't get them here said Mr..
Nicholoy.
But s'posing," said the odell man, Il
send up to the State ward at Elmyra; can't
l get them there?"
you can t." said Mr.. Nicholoy.
But the next day f. B. Wells drove over
with his wagon to the bank of the canal
and carried of fifteen timbers, all Of which had
been in use and some Of which were rotten
in spots. When THE Sun reporter was in
Clyde last Monday, Wells was working
with two assistants putting those timoers
II didn't steal these timbers, said Wells.
aMr. Nicholoy gave them to me-"
L didn't give them TO him, said the
superintendent. He just took them, but
they were not worth making fuss about.
The fact remains that Wells got the tim
bers. when nearly everybody in Clyde was
clyde The liveryman, while he was amena-
Rs the A Benk =" Wells. still faithful 70
Roe, wasn't disturbed when he just took
the superintendent had laid down the law
against such gifts within twenty-four hours.
In Clyde, west of the lift bridge. is about
100 yards Of cement docking. II runs
below it. Below TIE bottom of this dock
ing the sides Of the banks Of the canal are
sliding steadily down toward the bottom.
In the course Of two or three years the
lovely false work at the top would doubt
less go down, too, were not the SOL 900 900
barge canal reconstruction coming to the |
rescue.
Where does the graft comein here? Simply |
that the canal employees must be kept at
work in the slack season when the canal
is full OF water. Cement falsework ia
pretty much the only work that can be
done in the high water tirne. 1t Is orna-
mental and it consumes cement. Under
the j. Wilson Tubbs plan OF doing business
consuming cement 1t is not possible to
learn here who sells cement to the State or
what his prices are. But by. the anxiety
of Mr.. Tubbs TO get his superintendent to
consume cement, the subject should be
fruitful if looked into.
The old method Of fixing shelving banks
was to repair them from the top to the
bottom, digging out the sediment in the
channel when the canal was empty.
is to raise the banks" Thus, in another
way lie the SOL 900 900 barge canal coming
to the rescue, or else few scores OF years
hence would see the Erie Canal in a groove
on the summit of high mountain ridge
running across the State--a ridge erected
with earth excavated and emplaoed by
enormous annual appropriations. 1t may
not be the easiest method but It keeps the
extra men busy. This raising Of the
banks" Is done, not by hauling dirt from
nearby fields, but by hauling gravel rs
miles, from above Palmyra 1t costa the
State 81 a lineal foot. Asked why gravel
was necessary instead OF dirt, Mr. Nicholoy
replied:
aThe engineers say these are engineers
of Tubbs and Division Superintendent
Barnard or. in other words Of Uncle
George Aldridgel that the gravel helps to
weight the banks
II would seem to.
But to get back to cement One mile
west Of Clyde is the Swamp road bridge.
It is a bridge over a ditch which parallels
the canal The ditch is one THE sun re-
porter stepped across without stretching
his legs. The road is little used country
lane, branching from the main road.
Twenty men worked for sixty days build
ing that bridge. 1t is built Of cement.
Local contractors said that they would not
undertake to duplicate the bridge for $4,000.
Mr.. Ncholoy says it cost the State less