Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-04-08

that the said commissioners have need
lessly and extrsvasantly spent large
sums Of money on the lower road by a
contract with r. F. Moore. rumors hav-
ing become cdrrent that Mr.. Moore had
been given q contract for a four incl,
dressing of crushed stone. representing
about n mile of road. or to he exact.
$3.50 feet, as these are the figures given
in the engineers report. owing to the
nature Of said rumors. 7 felt It my duty
20 Investigate the same, and in so doins,
found the following facts: On visiting
the office of the department I asked the
clerk for tho privilege Of inspecting the
bills pertaining to the cost Of repairing
the lower road. found bills presented
by Mr.. Moore. with vouchers attached
for material and labor amounting tn
S5l213s To this amount was added az
per contract n further sum Of ten per
cent or $500 a., making the total cost
ssers3 on looking over the bills certain
items attracted my attention, one Of
which was. tho price allowed for crushed
stone. From the Paxter oiarries. namely
eighty-ave cents per ton, while at the
same time other bills showed that the
city was paying for stone from the
Phelps and willard quarries only seven
tvfve cents per ton thereby giving the
contractor Il further bonus Of $o29 on 900
tons of stone Another item Of expense
was for fortv-eight DAYS use Of a road
roller at ton dollars per day. including
ono man. Allowing for the services Of
this person ii would give a further bonus
OF 1878 to be added, bringing the total
amount to sl.1a4.i5 received. practically
representing a twenty-five per cent. mar
gin for the work. AS to allowing Mr..
Moore to use his own roller. I want to
say that no excuse should he accepted
by the commissioners because the city
purchased a new roller last year at an
expense Of $500. and It is q fact that all
our road work for the past fifteen years
was done with the old roller
Another item that II not considered in
the last figures representing margin. was
the charge for W. s. Blackburn as fore
man. al Sc per day, So that Mr.. Moore
could give his time to his other business
interests. To show that the commission
ers We're not justified in allowing this
extra price for stone used, I submit for
your consideration. and attach hereto
statement OF two analyses made of
stone representing the uuerries named.
by the United States geological survey.
Washington. n. G.. also by Prof Jacobs.
department of chemistry. University Of
Vermont Those tests show that the rod
stone has the greatest crushing strength.
with the percentage Of lime about the
same. Another reason is that these Same
officials have been in charge Of al! our
permanent road work for the last fifteen
Goa. therefore they should have no excuse
for the incurring OF this extra expense
last year.
STONE ANALYSIS
Phelps redstone. lime 2l.oI per cent
Silica. 25.21 per cent rushing strength.
1880 pounds: gray stone. Baxter farm.
lime 2l.5s per cent; Silica. 1872 per cent. ;
crushing strength $3.50 pounds.
In view Of the above conditions to-
gcther with the general complaint OF the
public. | think YOU must agree with me
that under the present management the
funds are not properly spent. and he
leve that II Is our duty to exercise the
powers given the city council by Sec 10
~ the city charter and | most earnestly
recommend that the two commissioners.
Mr. stevens and Mr. Henderson. whose
terms Of office do not expire this wear.
be asked to send In their resisnatons.
and in failing so to do. he requested to
appear before the city council and show
cause why they should not he removed.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AS a member Of the board OF aldermen
at the time a change was made from the
I-pt,ntp n notI do ~ rd ba-
ing strongly in favor OF the change. I
have naturally taken n deep interest In
it ever since. After a test Of fifteen years
It gives mo pleasure to say that the re-
cord it has made during this time should
remove all doubts as to the wisdom Of
the step taken when said change was
made. and | want to say that ! believe
It to be our duty. owing to it's import
ance. TO keep the fire department up to
IS highest state of efficiency. The char
acter of its membership was never bet
ter than II is to-day. The duties OF the
flremen are OF haza rdous nature. The
rules Of the department in order to
maintain the discipline necessary, are
very strict az for instance. member
cannot even go across the street without
permission and In addition Is obliged to
be on duty the twenty-four hours Of
each day. These conditions demand a
membership OF high order. and for
these reasons | believe they are entitled
to receive AT least as much pay for their
services as members OF the police depart
ment. The ordinary man receives s4s
per day for twenty-four hours duty.
Therefore. would recommend an in
crease Of pay on graded scale. accord
Ing to position and time Of service. This.
I believe they are entitled to as II would
remove any feeling Of unrest. which 7
know prevails at the present time. on ac-
count Of the small pay they are receive
ing and the present high cost Of living.
Another item Of expense which must be
incurred is the purchase Of new lad
der truck. as the old one Is in danger
Gus condition and liable at any time to
collapse. ms 1t did short time ago when
responding to an alarm 80 that IN case
Of fire in some Of our high buildings.
II this should happen, and as a result
human. lives would be lost any person
knowing these conditions and having au-
th9rity. to act and failing to do SO.
would he held responsible. a thing that
you and ! do not want to assume. In re-
kdTu 10 tHls IUdl'Vi Wouiu TcCoInHnetu
immediate action.
Another matter I want to call your at
tention 10 Is that the insurance now
carried by the city on it's property. As
You are aware. the insurance companies
doing business In our city. have always
insisted, and In an encouraging way. to
improve our department, promised lower
rates from time to time. but Instead OF
lower rates. the more We spend and the