New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-30
ALLEGED GRAFT S6,33O,OOO
Continued from first page.
nrices would have been s7.63eooo. and the total
loss IN the city 81. 100000.

!
and D. ]. McNichol is not first class Inc par.
which show prominently to the public are larry
| ,-.11 dome. the parts that can be examined "i'h
| . little trouble are distinctly second class anu
not M to the specifications We, OIL COURSE o'
| not know the condition of such portions as caii-
NOT Ire seen without tearing up the WORK Dut
wherever we have dug into 1t we hr1d IL seco'u
class or worse The Southern Boulevard work
| so far as can be seen is good. AS yet only tae
rough work of filling has been done
The report says that the crushed rock used In
surfacing the Northeast Boulevard is excellent
material. but the foundation rock was found to
ho of q very poor quality. The report also says
+bo+ the investigators found fault with much OF
tbe material that entered into the construction
| of filter beds and also with the workmanship.
one of the means by which excessive prohcs
were made possible the report says, was Dy not
permitting fair competition The advertising
was wholly inadequate, scarcely more imam
pretense The report gives an example OF the
advertising for bids for a S2.0oo0oo contract
The notice appeared in local papers only twen-
tv-four DAYS before the letting of the contract
This was wholly inadequate the report says, as
the vorl, 10 he done was very complicated and
very difficult to estimate The specifications
were voluminous and vague. covering liz PRINT
ed pages The drawings covered no less IMAM
fortv-three large sheets of complicated work.
each sheet over ten square feet in area
NOT SUFFICIENTLY ADVERTISED.
Advertisements for bids for the construction OF
the northeast boulevard published four
teen DAYS before the ordinance authorizing the
advertisements was approved, and the BIDS We're
opened three days before the ordinance was ap-
proved.
"A careful analysis of all filtration adVerus-
ing the report continues indicates that every
thing possible was done to avoid any real pub
licty without letting that fact appear too prom
inently in the records. The bureaus preliminary
estimates instead of being freely furnished to
bidders were vigorously guarded secrets. so far
as the general bidder was concerned. except that
they We're furnished in the specifications tor
fltering materials, where they were very little
needed The specifications in many particulars
were unfair to bidders and gave excessive and
unnecessary power the city officials. In snort,
the specifications We're drawn that the en-
gmeer in charge could harass an unWelcome
contractor to an almost unlimited extent with
out the contractor being able to prevent it or
secure legal redress.
CONTRACTS FOR FAVORED BIDDERS.
The report which makes more than twelve
thousand words. goes into details to SHOW how
contracts were let to favored bidders. and how
other methods were used to help favored con-
tractors. A frequently used method Of guiding
contracts into the desired hands, the report
says was TO readvertise them whenever others
the lowest bidders. In some cases con-
tracts were let to the firm which promised to do
the work in the shortest time and not to the
lowest bidder. The McNichol bids always pro
posed strikingly short periods for the completion
OF contracts, and IN one case notice 10 begin
work was given to MCNichol four months after
he started the operation, so that the firm would
have four more months in which to complete
the contract. In many instances, the proposed
time was exceeded by from 10 to 200 per cent.
In the aggregate the report saws McNichol
1a,-a haar, seed tor
for overtime about $4,000. He was actually
assessed $3.50.
We have received testimony from many con-
tractors the report says, in connection with
favored contractors, thai the conditions de-
received statements thai city officials directly
discouraged bidders from submitting bids. This
field has not yer been fully explored
The report says the filtration system ought to
have been completed on January l. 1894; that
since June g. 1904. when the West Philadelphia
District pegar receiving filtered water there
have been only ten deaths frocl typhoid fever
out Of a population OF forty-one thousand At
the same proportional rate the deaths from
typhoid fever in the whole city since January l,
1904 when the filtered water system ought to
have been completed. should have been fifty
disease Since January / 1904. the total num-
Der of cases of typhoid including deaths.
1873. The difference between - and 1,25T, thu
report says represents the loss Of life due to the
methods that have been employed in conducting
the filtration work.
James J. Ryar member OF the firm of Ryan
& Kelley said tonight that the statement,
made in the report that MS firm made excessive
profits were absurd.
We don't care whether Major Gillette said
the work we did is second class or fourth class;
say that It done according to plans and
specifications. We defy Mayor Weaver and any
or all experts 10 prove that the work on any
Of our contracts was dore Otherwise than re-
quired by the contracts
He denied that his firm was favored as against
other contractors and also denied that his firm
and the McNictol firm were in collision in bid
ding for work.
STATEMENT FROM M'NICHO!4
State Senator James P McNichoI. in comment
ing upon the report tonight, said
The statement that profits aggregating more
than SS.000,000 have been made on the filtration
plants is absurd The work was in many re-
spects experimental, and many losses occurred
in unexpected places. such losses amounting on
amount OF the contracts
The reports of expert accountants covering the
entire amount OF work in contracts completed
and settled and paid for by the city show that
on an aggregate Of 81, 11S.S4S received from the
| city there was 4 profit of $500 693 which makes
| a percentage which will be seen is barely one
third of the % per cent conceded in the report
! 10 the Mayor or to be legitimate contractors
| profit.
| gestiOn that there collision with RYAN
| and Kelly, any other contractor or con-
! tractors. any official or officials
AS far the Northeast Boulevard contract is
concerned. the last extension Of that contract
| amounting to 100000 was made on the nov.
soral order % Mayor Weaver. after there had
been submitted to him, At his request a fun
| and detailed statement Of tho receipts and CIV
| pendtuTeS on the first portion Of the contract
/ amounting 20 S2J0Gtbi
All Of these contracts nave been strictly COM
/ piled with according to the specifications. and
the city is amply secured in that conplianca nv
| bonds OF reputable trust companies. agsresating
| over SS.Go0.0W. to cover all obligations under
! these contracts
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