The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1913-04-25


This is the startling fact revealed by the report of
the Pomona grange the road building game it
operated in Commissioner Hamiltons district in
the past two years.
total OF $96, 4.50 for road engines and other
machinery, repairs, supplies and labor these ma
chimes.
And for all this vast amount of money only 1881
miles OF new roads were built!
Allowing for the original cost of the engines and
machinery the total cost to King county for less than
ID miles of road has been $66 68l917 852 So per
mile.
81 735 yard, for spreading gravel with lot of
and expensive machinery. Yet it is common knowl-
edge that the work be DONE and has been
done, and is being done by King county, outside
OF Hamilton's district, with ordinary teams and
wagons, at a cost of not exceeding $500 per mile!
In two years King county robbed, through
the medium OF this expensive machinery and these
traction engines, of approximately $4,000. The
people paid out $50 per cent than it would have
cost private person to do the same work.
The Grange investigators find
That local road foremen and supervisors permitted
to purchase from local retail merchants throughout
ond and third commissioners districts large part their
supplies and the monthly bills OF such merchants have been
paid without cquison from the county purchasing agent
and in great many instances without the O. X OF the
supervisor OF that district By this payers are
paying retail price for supplies which they paying
purchasing agent and assistant purchase for them
competitive market at wholesale.
That the pay rolls complete inasmuch they
do not explain when where the work done and they
compiled such careless is impossible
for anyone get detailed information upon examination
That conducted during the years covered in this in
vesgation the office OF the county purchasing agent is
useless and burden to tax payers inasmuch only
small percentage Of the purchases made through his
office,
That avoritsm is shown certain road foremcn p II
Harm Pat Courtney and NJ A. OBricn receiving $500 per
day the class Of work for which other forcn,cn re-
ceive 50 50 per day.
That certain supervisors, namely, Allen Clark per
med to work their teams jobs supervised bv them.
said Clark having worked least team in February
1918 placed the record OF the same on the paw roll
under the of Al Johnson who cmploye at the
time. OF Clark's livery stable at Kent
That Supervisor Clark placed his @ X on pavrols of
several foremen month after month who listed teams at S5 50
per day when SIS the going wage These several pay
rolls would have been allowed but for efficiency of the
auditors department which repeatedly discovered the items
and them to S..
That friendship rather than ability has been the rule
used in hiring county labor Games Wilson sold machinery
traction engnesand his SON T.. b. Wilson, ran fhc en-
ginc first at EnumclawD
That the OF traction engines for road building in this
county is impraccabe under the favorable circum-
sances The Pomona grange finds the roads upon which
have been hauling worse condition than before
and invariably require hauling OF gravel 10 repair
age done by tractors