Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1906-02-05
RII[R HITS BACK
Il COLONEL WALL.
tales Exceptions to Statements
''' crIticIsing Work Of City
Engineer.
NINE PER cHAIaMAh's PLAN
latter Was Sole Author OF
Report Attributed to Board Oh
Public Works.

.,,,on Of the report Of the board
' nnhllc works. flied several days ago
p raI'r A. wall. former chairman OF
W w. "A IN which former City Engi-
w George W. Ritter is criticised is
iss' .rly objected to by Mr.. Ritter, VINO
So ,as The following statement IN re-
ard to the matter
~When Col wan starts to paint one
NJ. Glowing word pictures, 1t is un-
v',,nrste that he begins by dipping his
IVAN IN the gail pot. The annual re-
., the board Of public works az
aAl,.ned in the daily papers Is such
"naigniAed document that can
s'.sy believe that any of the mem
S.,s az the board, with the exception
!, IN. chairman, we're familiar with It's
.ontsnts. one who is out Of harmony
.nb the world can usually find plenty
:, carp on, and suppose the colonel Is
,outlsd to enjoy himself in his own
20, but when he writes an official re-
,or, he should stick to the truth. So
ruch Of that portion Of the report
I.,lipe with the paving Of South Tenn
nj. street is misleading or distorting.
For example, when the engineering
t.Darlment is blamed for the cost Of
beerlng Inc telephone companys con-
juh. col. Wall iorgets that we merely
ror,ed out tRe scheme Tor doing the
hgerlng and furnished the grades as
,bey were designated by general plan
ssned oy himself, and that II the con-
tractor cot too much money for the
work. IL was because the board of pub
N works discredIled It's own accounts.
rWhen he criticises some features
about the drains under the pavement
for carrying storm water across the
street, he f0rgets that his own idea
MAS 10 omit these drains entirely and
that when he finally decided to put
them In he was obliged to do so by rum
Ming tunnels under the completed pave
ment.
When took charge of the city en-
CHEERS Office, | found a general plan
signed BY Colonel Wall as chairman Of
he board OF public works aud by my
predecessor. Mr., Snow, Although | was
never In sympathy with this general
plan. aimed 10 follow 1t faithfully,
keeping always in mind however, the
safety Of the street for travel, the dur
ability Of the pavement, and the APP
peaanee Of the street to the eye.
This plan. signed by Colonel Wall,
was our guide IN lowering the Rocky
Mountain Bell Telephone company'3
underground conduit, and in the other
preliminary work. until he repudiated 1t
and demanded certain changes, which
agreed TO, but which In turn were re-
puihted by him when the south side
Of the street was reached.
The resolution Of the city council
under which the paving was ordered
contained certain restrictions as TO the
depth Of I'LL that was to be made on
the south side OF the street. When tho
colonel undertook TO fly IN the face Of
this resolution, ] declined to be party
10 his action, and withdrew the engi-
neerlng forces and with on axe re-
moved some Of the stakes which were
being used only as something to depart
HNhAf WV hAfAaNA RlhNANu lAlE
ton OF the work. and our forces went
BACK and did the work as directed by
Colonel Wall
The real fact is that all OF the trou-
Die over the Brigham street paving
arose out Of the disposition of Colonel
Val not TO be bound by his own agree
hsnts, by the ordinances OF the city
council or by anything else which con-
teted with his purposes. and having
furnished a bond TO protect the city
against any claims Of AUDITING property
owners Tor damages he was permitted
10 nave his own way In all disputed
matters The South Temple street pave
msnt Is his own creature. and squirm
as ne WILL lie must father IT,
The part 81 the report which Is the
worst slur and which was written in
pure malice, Is the Introductory clause
which Colonel Wall pretends To
guoN /" {. Kelsey on the condition OF
We accounts OF the city engineers Of
noe. No one can truthfully say that
every dollar received or extended BY
ne during my administration was no.
mNntully accounted for. The account
o. 'his IS IN the city auditors office and
las been verified and checked bv that
oneial. A copy Of this account was al
70 kept In the city engineers office. but
Nappears that owing 20 errors IN copv-
,.s on aoaing there Is q slight difference
we totals, Mr. Kelsey says II was his
%lller custom TO compare accounts
.,n tne auditor NJ frequent intervals
~ a matter Of fact. this in all that
nsSls 70 be done at the present time
s sna would undoubtedly have been done
s s,,oie this had not the boolskeeper ap-