The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-26
High School COntracf May Be Cancelled BY
 Board Of Education
Architect Disguised With Delays And DisaGreements Over Work Much Material Condemn ed-.Board Of Education Fails To Select Inspector

blasted and taken out.
 In the meantime rock taken from the plot had been inspected for quality by the architect and some condemned. It was asserted that an inferior quail ity had been used in the walls, but this was never condemned, although the sand which had been furnished by a local mason's supply house Naa condemned Following these disclpa- ures and the fact that an inferior quality Of filling brick had been consigned to Duriin & Laas, which was at once prohibited, yhe Board of ducation decided to install an inspec- tor of their own. This plan Was Dit terly fought by certain members of the board upon the grounds that it
 would divide authority with Archi- tect Rogers men and that friction was likely to engue. It was even tually decided to appoint g. school board inspector. At once candidates spring up like mushrooms over night. It is said today that there are no less than eight candidates backed bw wari- ous members each striving to appoint their own man, with the result tEat much bitterness of feeling has Been engendered
 Capping the climax today. it became known that a boatIoad on nearsy 60.- 900 facing bricks (the second load to arrive in Bridgeport were condenned. at least in part. At the site G wa1
 
 arisen out of the fact that the bricia were clipped and would have 10 be sorted. On the other hand others in charge at the spot pointed to the color ed that they were not acccrdiug tQ the original sample which waa 1Mna gray or terraQbtta.
 Although members of the Board oL Education were eEpecrinE to see the sewer pipes being laid at this time no work has haav7f 1,Acrf4r4 d y1S jr,trr-fr gation showed that Gibson 6 Co. the New York contractors, have mo inten- ton of beginning the work at the pres ent time. as they have asked the hoard the rock-hiils which lie between fhe gymnasium excavation and the boil |er-room. Whether technica1ity in the award of this contract wil1 cause the loss of several thousands of dol lars will likely be a matter for ths to clause in their contract which reads, 'The plumbers shall do the eK- cavating for sewers
 Whether this clause will be con strued as to apply to sewers only and to the removal of dirt exclusively, Or will be construed to- include blasting of rock to the depth of about s7 feet through solid rock remain to be de- termined.
 Members Bishop and -E7aveng have
  jump adjudicating matters brought be- fore them. Meeting after meetiae has been held at which the architect and the contractors and those involved in disputes have been present Words are alleged to have run high and oul-
 minated last week in Miss Durlrir tel ephoning instructions to her lawyers in New York to at once begin suit for slander against a we'll known firm Of lawyers who became involved.
 TT AL Board of Education, when seen today in company with Attorney William B. Boardman, said to as diYect question by a reporter for the Farmer, IT ann not satisfied with the way work has been going on at the high school, ana you may say that Miss Durkin will be told within the next 24 hours that she must either see that the work progresses in a more satisfactory man ner OF withdraw"
 Every facing brick upon the job has been condemned, not because they are clipped, but because they are not of proper quality. think we have every confidence in Architect Roger,
 here is not the slightest doubt in the minds of any of us that he is fully competent and working strictly in the interests of the city of Bridgeport as is his assistant, Nichols, who has not feared to condemn every piece of ma teriaI that has been found unsatiscac- tory.''
 MT. Boardman also admitted that ha was not personally satisfied with the manner in which the work has been done and tacitly acquiesced to the ad- missions made by MT. Havens in his presence.
 It was stated that there is no ques- tion whatever that Miss Durzin has ample financial backing and that from investigations made she has perform ed work in a competent manner in other cities. but the present work was admitted to be unsatisfactory to the board as well as the architect