Milford chronicle., 1907-06-28
BLAMES 1T ALL
UPON HUSTON
Enyder Says Penna Capitol Archi-
tect Deceived Him.
ADMITS He WENT IT BLIND

Harrisburg. Pa, June 26. - There
was more testimony rejecting on jo-
seph NJ. Huston, the capitol architect,
at the session of the capitol inyestigat-
ing commission. William P. Snyder,
former auditor general. accused the
architect Of deliberately misleading
him and of Withholding important in
formation necessary to the proper au-
diting of the contractors bills.
AIr Snyder declared that he had re-
quested Huston TO supply him with
blue prints and with quantity plans of
the materials furnished by John II.
Eanderson and the metallic furniture
supplied by the Pennsylvania Con
struotion company. The architect
promised TO forward the books prompt
". but It was almost two years before
the quantity plans were sent to him.
At the time Huston decided to allow
Snyder to have the quantity plans the
auditor general had audited almost all
the contractors bills and sent them
to the state treasury for payment
Mr.. Snyder placed the legal respon-
sibility for many Of the acts of the
board Of public grounds and buildings
on the shoulders Of former Governor
Pennypacker, who, he declared, was
regarded by them as fit to determine
the exact powers Of the board.
One Of his significant admissions
was that the had gone it blind" as
regarded certain items Of work that
were not quite plain to him. He de-
clared most emphatically that he had |
no direct or indirect interest fnan- !
cially in any of the contracts and that /
he never profted by them one penny.
Snyder said that up to August, 1908, /
he paid out to capitol contractors war
rants for s2.739 ,O75, and that not one
cent of this amount came before the
board Of grounds and buildings for its
approval. The warrants were simply
drawn upon the certificate Of Huston.
He also said that the interlineations
in the quantity plans were made by
Huston, without the knowledge of the
board. and added thousands of dol
lars to the Sanderson contract. Rela-
tive to the payment Of s796O55 to
Sanderson for painting and decorat-
ing, Snyder said that he only knew
that it was for $4,000 feet, at S2.55 per
foot"
Don't you know that Sanderson
charged for everything in the way OF
painting and decorating that Payne
was paid for?" asked Mr.. Scarlet
"All know is that Huston told us
that the work for which Sanderson
was paid was extra and that the
architect said there was no duplica-
ton of the work." was the reply
He admitted that he might have
been a little easy" in paying bills
aggregating 81. 100000 for capital furn-
ishings one year before Huston furn-
ished him with the quantity books"
He did not know that the state had
paid $4,000 each for mantels in certain
rooms OF the building, and he never
saw the item of $1,000 for a bOOtblack's
stand in the senate lavatory. He did
not know that there were 100 chairs
in the building that cost SIG each.
'I believe there have been excessive
went on Snyder. Il be-
Iieved that everything was all right
and that things were as represented
I depended upon Huston so far as the
quality Of the work. I depended upon
Shumaker as to the character and the
quantity Of the goods received here"
Snyder admitted that he finally be-
came suspicious that everything was
not all right when the bills of the CON
tractors began piling up and he went
to the governor and expressed his sus-
piclons. The governor called Huston
before him. Snyder testified, and had
the architect swear as to the correct
ness of the bills.
Il am willing to swear that what I
have said here is correct as regards
Huston and others / have named"
added Snyder.