The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-11-01
A GRAB GAME
By Which Philadelphia Lost Over
Six Million Dollars On
STREET CONTRACTS.

Report of Msior Cassius E. Gillette,
Who Was Selected by Mayor
Weaver to See How Much
Graft There Has Been in
the Quaker City.
Six million three hundred and thir-
~ thousand dollars has tt u' far been
lost outright to the taxpayers q
Philadelphia through the contracting
combination which has been engaged
In building the great filtration plant
Ind the two %b.u,svards, n In The
northeastern and the other in tbs
southern district Of the city accord
ing to the report just made public.
This conclusion has been reached
By Mai u G ,ssius E. Gillette, corps OF
.ngineers, q. S. A., and John Donald
MacLennan, experts employed by
Mayor Waiver to make q full invest1
CATION of the contracts and the work
dom. M,jlr Gillette is the cf1oeI
aho Investigated the 'bbery In the
Savannah Harbor improvements and
procured the evidence by which ex'
Captsin Ooeriln M. Carter was con.
victed, and against which Greene and
Gaynor must shortly stard tria'
John Donald M.cLsonan is an expe.
rienced engineer, who recently COM
pleted the construction Of the gov
,rnment's filtration plant at Wash,
ington.
John W. Hill, formerly chief OF the
Bureau Of Filtration, is now awaiting
trial on charg IS Of forgery, ETC., in
connection with the filtration con
tracts. The contracting combination
ghich is acc used Is constituted in the
Gain, OF Israel w. Durham, Repuhli
csn boss o: Philadelphia, and associa.
I'd with United States Senator Pen
rose, of Pennsylvania, and State
Senator James P. McNichol. These
two men, with D. J. MoNichol. q
brother Of the state senator, compose
the contracting finn Of Daniel ]. Nc
Nichol & 90. Evidence brought out
at Hills preliminary hearing showed
that In this firm D. j McNichol owns
a one twelfth interest, the other
ele ven. twelfths being divided equally
between Durham and James P. Nj
N'chol,
WORK COST CONTRACTORS $40 356, 600.
"Omitting from construction all
small contracts, say, under $50, 000,"
the report says, I'VE find for the fl
ration work and the two b~oulevards,
as constructed up to date, The city has
paid or pledged S1s, 761. TAI. First
class work under the specifications
should not have cost ever s12. 430, 600,
which includes an all ,wance Of 20
per cent, or 50 OTIS, 208 for legitimate
contractors profits. The difference
IL So $50, 900. In ether world, sl8. 1850
OOO in round numbers has been paid
for work costing the contractors $40 F.,
$50. 900.
''Of the sc, $50, 600 excessive cost
there has gone 10 the contractors who
worked under thea name OF D. J..
McNichol IS, 065 1872, similarly to
Ryan & Kallr S543 800, and to Ware
Brothers $50 1913. OF thu S1S, 76l al
here remains unpaid about 1868. 900
to McN'c1ol and $4,000 to Ryan &
Kelley.
"Some of these contracts are in
complete. The estimated cost OF
completion OF the existing filtration
contracts al contract prices is about
81, 685, 900. A fair price, allowing 20
e cent profit, would be Sl,2l8, 600.
The d florence the city will lose II
these contracts are completed.
THE price paid for the three Quar-.
tiers of a mile Of Northeast Boulevard
already constructed is 1852 348, on
which there was a loss to the city OF
s273. 217. There are nine and a half
miles more of it laid out on the maps.
II completed at contract prices the
additional cost to the city would be
about Sc, 600, 900, and the additional
loas at least 81, $50, 900. On the
Southern B ,ulevard the amount paid
to date is 1886 3S9. on which the loss
IN the one and a quarter miles built
mas been s89, 1923. To complete at
contract prices would cost $3.50, SIG,
and the additional less would be 1885,,
555. In other words, the total cost
Ut both boulevards as planned at con
tract prices wild have been 81. 636,
900 and the total loss to the city OF
81, $50, 900.
MUCH OF WORK NOT FIRST CLASS.
Much Of the work done by Ryan
and Kelley and D.. j McNichol Is not
first class. The parts which show
prominently to the public are fairly
we'll done; the parts that can be ex
amlned with a lutte trouble are dis
tinctly second class and not to the
specifications. We, Of course, do net
know the condition Of such p5rtions
as cannot be seen without tearing up
the work, but wherever we have dug
into it we find it second c.ass OF
worse. The Southern Boulevard work
80 far as Can be seen is good. AS yet
only the rough work Of filling has
been DONE"
The report says that the crushed
rock used in surfaclng the Northeast