The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-11-01

d f1cult to estimate. The specihca
tlons were voluninous and vague
covering 1l2 printed pages. Th'
drawings covered no less than FORTY
three la, ge sheets Of complicated
work, each sheet over ten sq1are fee
IN area.
NOT SUFFICIENTLY ADVERTISED.
ADVERTISE ents for bios for thu
construction Of the northeast bcu'e
ward we're published fourteen days
before the ordinance author 'z!ng the
advertisements was approved and the
bids were opened three days before
the ordinance was approved.
"a cireful analysis Of all filtration
adVertising,' the report continues.
indicates that everything possible was
done TO avoid any real publicity With
out letting that fact appear too pro
minently in the records. The bu.
reau's preliminary estimates, instead
Of being freely furnished to bidders
we're vigorously guarded secrets 30 faI
as the general bidder WAS concerned,
sxccp pit that they were FURNISHED ir
the specifications for fltering materi
ais, where they were very little need.
ed. The specifications in many par
ticulars were unfair to bidders, and
gave ex ,eSsive and unnecessary powe'
TO the city officials. In short, the
Specifications were so drawn that The
engineer In charge could harass an uu
selcome contractor to an almost IN
limited extent without the contracto
boing able to prevent it or secure
legal redress"
CONTRACTS FOR FAVORED BIDDERS
Too report. which makes more thar
twelve thors Ind words, goes into de
tails to show how contracts were lei
to favored bidders, and how othe,
netht ds were used to help favored
contractors. A fr qusntly Qse6
method Of guiding c ntracts into the
desired hands. the report says, was tt
~readVertise them whenever Others
we're the lowest bidders. In som {
cases contracts were let to the firm
which promised to do the work in thu
shortest time and not to the lowest
bidder. The McNichol bids always
proposed strikingly short periods fol
the completion Ct contracts, and IL
one case notice to begin work was
given to McNichol four months after
ne 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 pei
cent. In the aggregate, the report
says, McNichol could have been as
sessed for liqu'dated damages for over
time about 1892, 900. He was actu.
ally assessed 90, 255.
I'VE have received testimony from
many contractors" the report says In
c )nnection with favored contractors,
that the conditions described kept
them from bidding. We have also
received statements that city officials
directly discouraged bidders from
submitting bids. This field has not
yet been fully explored"
The report says the filtration sys.
tenn ought to have bean completed o
January 1, 1904; that SIEGE June 6
1904, when the West Philadelphia
district began receiving filtered waite;
there have been only ten deaths from
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 1, 1904, when the filtered
water system ought to have been com
pleted, should have been fifty seven
or less, whereas l ,257 have died from
the disease. Since January l, 1904,
the total number OF cases Of typhoid,
Including deaths, was II, 9 The
difference bet ween 81 and 1881, the
report says, represents the loss Of life
due to the methods that have been
employed in conducting the filtration
works.