The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-26

Ser1OuS StF110 DeGWeen m0mDeFS O1 the Board of Education, the possible cancellation of the High school con-
 tract with Durkin & Isaass the com tractors to whom the work was award ed, and possible suit against the city
 by the firm of contractors to whom the plumbing work was given. are revealed today.
 James Gamble Rogers, architect, has signified to members of the board that he is disgusted with the manner i'm which the work is being done on the high school, the necessity of con- de7nnirag much material which has so far entered into the construction of the basement, and, capping the climax today, quantity of new facing bricks have been condemned by his fnspec- tor, John Nichols, upon the ground that they are stchifpped," but winch it is asserted on the spot are not of the pie.
 Durlxin & Iaas, in recent
 ence with members of the bo--
 threatened suit for islander against one of the best known firms of attOr- neys in the city and propose to fight to finish the work they have begun.
 The plumbing contractors, Gibson & co. of New York. al1ege that they were awarded contract by the Board of Education which called for plumb ing work only. It is the belief of the members of the board who awarded the contract that they were to ex- cavate sufficiently to lay their pipes. As the depth of excavation in the forn of trenches that is demanded
 s4nre theaf pipes can be laid in the basennerlt runs 32 feet through stone and dirt and would require theSout- lay of many hundreds of dollars the plumbing contractors refuse to begin
 +1,ar 1aff fes1 in the courts
 The board of Education in the meantime is split almost as under over the appointments of an inspector to protect the city, having already post poned two special meetings which were to have resulted in this appoint rnerlt It is asserted that eight mem bers of the board each have a candi- date and that they cannot arrive at a satisfactory choice.
 It became known today that work on the high school excavation would have stopped indefinitely three weeks ago had not two local professional
 men. interested in the development of a suburban tract of land come to the front and dumped thousands of dol lars into the coffers of sub-contractOrs Robertson & Giovanni. who claim that payments to them through Durkin & Laas were held up upon trivial pre- texts, and who nad at the LlI1le l5rAoIh off every team that they had on the work.
 Members of the sub committee of the board. Elmer H. Havens, Nathan sieI w. Bishop and Howard w. ChaI-' lenger, are at their wits end to straighten out affairs and satisfy the contesting interests which daily call. and major matters. Most spirited meetings have been held at which. words ran high and the threats of suits for islander have been proTnt- nent topics of conversation
 James Gamble Rogers, the archi- tect whom both the members of the Education board, contractors and work men alike respect and admire, is to- day the keynote of the situation and if he pursues the policy he has ai- ready intimated in no unsparing words before several members of the board, including Messrs- Bishop and Ravens 1t is not unlikely q new con tractor will soon take over some of the work begun here. The constant friction and necessity of inspection and rejection has burdened him to the point where stringent measures are claimed to be necessary.
 The contract for building the hiGh school was awarded to. Durkin & Laas, of New York, on January B. 1914 Work began upon the plot shortly af- rewards by the removal and recon struction of the Major Kelly brick dwelling by Miss Durkin. one of the most brilliant female contractors in the east. The contract for the excava- ton was sublet to Robertson & Clio yanni who were to receive 0,0O0 for taking out the enormous quantity of dirt and rock The latter had to be sl blasted to a considerable depth on the west side for the purpose of making a. gymnasium. The work progressed for several months and finally came to a stop for several days. At the time and since the sub-contractors al- legged that though they were to re- ceive payments weekly from Dur kin and Laas they were seriously handicapped by constant disputes over figures and amounts of cubic yards of material supposed to have been ex- cavated.
 They were unable to go on with the work and would have withdrawn and begun suit for breach of contract had not the land development men, who had bargained for the waste dirt and rock become afraid that they might lose the material they had already paid for in advance. Foreseeing a loss, they began to make further ad- vances to the sub-contractors and the work was resumed. It is stated that the same conditions have since ob-- tained and that these outsiders at the present time have less than $5,00O invested, which will be returned to them as soon as the foundations are There remains about two Tvee1xez hefr,z-a f47a Ia zf 4zf