Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-20
CHALLENGE BID
ON SEWER JOB
WHOM DOES FOX REPRESENT
is THE QUERY
Dark Horse Contractor Offers to Fin.
ish the outfall for $2e5, 900, but
Wants Excess for Lumber
Left In Place

Left In Place
@%%%% o o %%%%%%%%%%~%I
o 8
o who IL Foxs o
O Fox's bid gives his address as o
o 051 Orange street. 1
o The metropolitan Surety COM @
@ pnny Of New York IL his surety @
@ for 100000. 3
@ He claims to have spent forty @
@ years In contract work. mostly @
o tunnels and railroad construction, @
@ much of II In Mexico. g
@ City hall attaches say they know @
9 him ns searcher of records and @
@ titles and ms having nm interest @
@ In municipal contracts In which g
O he figured in the background. @
@ RumOr IL current that his back @
@ ers are Stansbury & Powell, who @
@ defaulted their previous outfnII g
O sewer contract, but Fox denies g
o this. @
5000 o o %%~~%~%%%%%@
r. r. Fox wants to build the outfall
sewer.
That he is very anxious to do the
work Is evident from the fact that his
bid presented to the board of public
works yesterday was S265,0O0, far below
the two others, and that he furnished
bond of 100000 that he would carry
out the contract.
He also agrees to deposit a check
for 8 per cent of the amount of the
contract.
Because Mr. Fox changed one item
of the bid to read that he would ask
$50 per thousand for all timber, piling
and lumber left in place permanently
after the sewer was completed the
bid was held up till the city attorney
could pass on it. The printed specifi-
cations allow $3.50 thousand for all
lumber which the city appropriated
and Fox marked "$3O' in ink over the
$3.50" But lumber has gone up in
price since.
Is He Stansbury's Man?
In city hall circles the statement is
freely made that Fox really represents
Stansbury e. Powell, the contractors
who threw up their contract for the
same work and left the city in a lurch.
Contractor Alsop made protest
against giving Fox the bid, because
he changed the printed form, charging
that this change makes a difference
of $50.000 in the terms of the contract.
The lumber referred to is that which
is put in place as bracing, etc, and
which in the city engineers Judgment
may be left in place if he decides it
will serve a purpose in strengthening
the sewer or would cost too much to
remove it from it's position.
Alsop's bid was $294,45
The Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific COM
pany's bid was $3.50, ,000
Bidder Makes Statement
Here is Fox's own statement:
IF the board decides to award the
bid to me I ask for thirty days in which
to get ready. l will guarantee to COM
plete the work not later than six
months after 1 begin.
Il believe that 1 am the only expert
on tunnel engineering in Los Angeles.
1 can push the sewer section forward
not less than forty feet a day.
81 do not bid blindly. I have looked
over the ground carefully and studied
the problem before figuring my bid.
This will not be the first tunnel
problem l have attempted to solve. Five
or six years ago the Mexican govern
ment, after an experience similar to the
one Los Angeles has had with the out
fall sewer, paid me $4,000 in gold for
suggestion that made it possible to fin
Mexico.
II have been a contractor for forty
years and have lived in this city off and
on most of that time
Far Above Previous Estimate
Under the contract the city is to fur
nish all material except the lumber, and
the contractor merely performs the
work. 1t is believed that to finish the
sewer under the present plan will cost
the city about $3.50. 900 more than was
originally expected These figures are
not official, say the city engineer and
the members of the board of public
works.
The original contract with Stansbury
e. Powell was for $565, 900, of which they
have been paid about $460,000. This is
also only an estimate, for the city
auditor says he is unable to state the
exact amount.
The tunnel section is TITS feet in
length and passes through water bear
ing lands so hard to drain that Stans-
bury & Powell threw it up In disgust.
At the rate at which Mr.. Fox agrees to
complete it he will receive nearly $S7
for every foot he builds.
Will Settle on Friday
Between now and Friday much hard
work will be done on the sewer problem,
and on the prospective construction.
Friday is the time set for awarding the
contracts.
Stansbury & Powell, on striking the
worst portion of the sewer, were able
to complete only thirty feet in six
months owing to the seepage.
City Engineer Hamlin, by using air
compressors, managed to run the tunnel
three feet each day beyond the point
where the old contractors threw up the
job. He expects to finish the section
beyond that which will be awarded
Friday, as it presents no difficult feat
ures.
Fox's plan. it is understood. is to use
a pneumatic caisson. His theory is to
cover up the swampy section like he
would q pan of jelly, which, If covered
and sealed. loses nothing. When vent
is given the jelly goes out. At the out
fall there are four miles of homogene-
Gus quicksand. When this is subjected
to tremendous pressure and 1t is given
vent. he argues. the part which must
be tunneled can easily be pierced and
drained
Fox's Prophecy Verified
Fox's friends say he told the council
two wears ago that the undertaking