Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-06
GARBAGE WAGONS
ARE TOO SMALL
THIS IS DECISION OF BOARD OF
PUBLIC WORKS
Contract Calls for Certain Size, but
Those in Use Fall Short-More
Outfits Will Be
Needed

The new garbage wagons now in SER
wee Tor the collection Of the city's re-
fuse are insufficient. The board of
public works has so decided, and some
compromise must be reached between
the BOARD and Contractors Mcclure &
Mcclure. but just what it will be
neither side is prepared to say.
The garbage wagons we now have
are far too small" said President An
derson of the board of public works
we nave not yet accepted the wagons
and 1t is not probable we will. They do
not conform to the specifications nor
the contract which was signed by the
persons furnishing the wagons. Some
thing will have to be done, but just
what it will be we are not vet in a DO
sitiOn to say"
The contract which Mcclure &c Nc
Clure signed and the specifications
which they accepted call for wagon
bed As inches wide, "a inches deep and
10 feet long. The wagons are the proper
length but are only 3S inches wide and
is inches deep. This discrepancy makes
great difference in the amount of gar
bage the wagons can handle and also
in the cost of collection, for more trips
llluSI De maze.
Contractors on Carpet
When the board discovered the wag-
ons did not conform to specifications
the contractors were called ION the
carpet and at first stated emphatically
the wagons would not be accepted. The
contractors declared the old board of
public works of the council had agreed
to a change in specifications on the rec
ommendation of G. d. Willard, secre-
tary of the municipal league. Council
man Blanchard, formerly member of
the councilmanic board of works, adj
mitted it had been agreed to change the
specifications. The contractors de-
clared they signed the contract without
reading it but believing it to contain
the terms of the changed specifications.
Twenty of the wagons are on hand
and are now in operation on trial. Ten
more to complete the thirty contracted
for will be received from the manufac-
turers in a few days. The board of
public works agreed that the contract
ors might put these wagons in opera
ton for a trial, but on a written stipu
latioin that the board was under no
obligations to finally accept them. The
wagons have been tried since Monday,
but the trial has been anything but
satisfactory to the board, and it has
decided not to accept them under the
preseat contract.
Simply Rents Wagons
The city does not own these wagons,
but rents them from the contractors
with the necessary teams for $40 a
month each. The city employs the men
TO drive the teams and collect the gar
bage. Thirty of these wagons and
teams are specified in the contract, and
if, in order to make the necessary col
lections, it becomes necessary to order
more wagons the city. under the terms
of the contract will have to furnish
more collectors, increasing the cost of
garbage collection. If it becomes neces-
sary to have more wagons the contract
ors will have to furnish the collectors,
according to the board of public works.
AS the wagons on hand conform to
the orders given by the contractors,
they declare they can expect no
leniency from the manufacturers. II
the board of public works insists on
wagons being made according to speci-
fications and the contract, Mcclure &
Mcclure will probably lose between
$4,000 and $4,000, the cost of the wagons
M