New-York tribune., 1909-02-17
MORE GRAFT In SNOW
CITY. CLUB TO EDWARDS.
Charges OUerrdting Of Carts
FaOors Contract System.


sioner Edwards last night says that the snow re-
moval frauds recently unearthed were not the
only perpetrated against the city. ThS
charge is made that the carrying capacity Of carts
was greatly overrated and that the investigation
indicated that :'there has been systematic and
largely successful EFFORT the part of certain OF
the Manhattan contractors 20 secure tickets
graded higher than the measurement of their carts
allowed. and that much OF this overrating has gone
through unchallenged at the Office"
The statement finds fault with the checking sys-
tenn employed after the last snowfall, and says
that contractors did not perform their work prop
erly in that they left the streets too rough. 1t Is
suggested that every effort should be made to en-
force the contract sysem In preference TO the city
employing men and carts"
That Commissioner Edwards has met unusual
difficulties the statement admits, speaks Of his
work in prosecuting the recently discovered frauds
and urges that he use more drastic measures IN
other directions The City Club promises that more
representations on the same subject will be sent
| TO the Department of Street Cleaning.
The statement is signed by George McAneny,
| president Of the City Club. and Joseph NJ Prizes,
charplan of the clubs committee street clean
| ing, In part 1t follows;
The City Clubs Investigation of snow-removsl
! methods reveals situation far more serious than
has yet been shown. To remove the SO inches that
IelI in the double storm OF January 15-l7-the first
g aGr Enlch the ngures are compIete-wll cost tne
CT city 1 1S6Sa a OF S58 79o an inch The Appropriation @
| missioner Edwards's request will go 'on account
ing to 81 inches cost SOL so4 or s7 zoe an inch
Under the he area, system of the winter before for
a total fau Of % inches the cost was &.4G4lO, or
$500 an inch. The latter figures however, are of
notch of the extravagance that threw this system
into I5 disoSedit and brought It to an end; a.. 49,.
be- maze 1a Yfs59aEf foG esSea Fsh in the se haaer Of
the work the double" storm for instance hav-
| ing been followed by freezing weather. with al
tas cost Of the work The present year remains
enormously ESa y in excess Of that OF year ago: -.
smuggling in Of load tickets for loads never carried
its committee streets. has looked more partieE-
ing of the tickets the loads that have been car
ried. The results indicate that there has been
OF certain of the Manhattan contractors TO secure
s eke's graand higher than nan tne s ti q
ing has gone through unchanensed at the snow of-
=, The total cost OF the Manhattan, work alone on
e t storm Eo s Esa rsIS 9T %heh ~ s Ssps
ment and s15sooo is claimed by lhe M contractors rs
| the latter amount has been allowed Oyerrated
& f + T F5s @ 5 both !P ps ta psd SP eSey @ f
fort has been made TO verify them -. - A..
particular that the naxnum figures in the grading
OF carts too far apart is all that could be de-
TALLY all Of the work would be done by the con.
the oonraotors @ s are proteeted at every point The
regulation of the method of payment Is quite pre-
per cubic yard upon the actual waterline measure
s2t % Of each cart % 0F Tessf Ss for Pagent the
carts were to be marked, according 10 their con,
! not less than IL than yards: b at
least or less than 4: -C' at least OF less than
5; ID" at least or less than &. and e, yards
ings for any additional capacity gained through
the use of sideboards. Each cart is required 10
be designated by district number. IN separate
series for each contract, and registered at tne
Office OF the department.
The City Club understands that the department.
prepared for the winter with the intention ot OF
enforcing the scale measurements with the utrnost
Etrictness The conmonest types OF cart e1psciesa s
ing i5S cubic yards. OF 2o3 with sideooarqs ana ana
''briclI'' trucks, holding 16 yards or with side
boards, "a All OF these would fan in Class A
Commissioner CroWeIl wrote the club on November
q: mo truck is to be placed in class unless Il
holds at least cubic yards, without heaping
It expected that Of those rsSaning over A: few
would be rated anything but B. and that OF the
higher ratings, would be rare.
To ascertain how well this strictly defined system
Of measurement was observed the club sent out
inspectors on particular days Of each storm
! Their reports show % that the signs found upon
the carts not Of standard form, frequently
lacking one several Of the details required to
shown: (2) that the contractors, IN large pro
portion Of cases, permitted TO i'll IN and afflK
them themselves thus naming their own classih-
cation Gl that in many other cases the signs were
missing altogether, and ~ that oveTatng has
been almost systematic.
The clubs inspectors carried tapes and made
their own meas lrenents- Specimen figures from
among those reported VIII suffice to show how
the overrating has proceeded: