The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1916-06-03
TW0MBLY ( HENNEY WILL
COMPLETE THE TASK.
CITY COUNCIL DECIDES THAT CHARGES AGAINST ENGINEERS
AND MACHINERY ARE NOT SUBSTANI|ATED

Work on the new light and water
plant will proceed. The contract will
be carried out under the supervision
of Twombly & Henney, engineers.
Council in session last night gave
further hearing to those who have
been finding fault with the specifca-
tions for the plant, and heard the re-
plies of the engineers to the criti-
cisms. Mr.. David Henney asked the
council for definite understanding
as to the status of his firm in the
matter, and he was informed that his
firm would remain in charge.
Criticisms of the De La Vergne en-
gine and other machinery called for
in the specifications. and bitter at
tacks against Twombly & Henney,
were made by Mr.. H. w. Tucker, who
stated that his only object was to
save the city money. He had no de-
sire to persecule anyone, he said. He
opened his attack on Twsmbly &
Henney by.having the city clerk read
letter from Thomas B. Whitted,
who represents one of the engines
turned down by the city, and who
was recently before council making
complaint. The letter stated that the
specifications prepared by Twombly
& Henney had been laughed at by
reputable engineers. 1t attacked the
ability of the city's engineers, saying
that they had never carried to sue
cessful completion any piece of work.
"The city is stuck" the letter said. 1t
said that if the present plans were
carried out the Camps could afford to
raise their rates for current, mean
ing that the cost of producing cur
rent in the new plant, as designed,
would be so much higher. It stat
ed that Twombly & Henney had fail
ed on a sewer contract in Brooklyn,
N. Y.
Mr.. Tucker told council that he be-
Iieved that he could save the city
S21 900. He contended that with the
De La Vergne engine it would cost
the city three and quarter cents per
K. w. hour to produce current, and
proposed a conference of engineers to
see if this was, or was not true. Mr..
Tucker contended that the bond mon
ey is being used illegally in the erec-
ton of the new plant. He said that
the specifications contained errors,
and that, among other things, gen
orator and cooling tower were not
covered in the specifications.
Mr.. Henney, in reply to the charges
made by Mr.. Tucker, stated that his
firm had never had a sewerage con-
tract in Brooklyn, and he character
lied the statement in the letter of
Mr.. Whitted as a plain lie. The en-
gineer then gave council some evil
dence of the ability of Mr.. Twombly
and himself He said that it was but
fair that he do so, in view of the at
tacks. Mr.. Alex. Twombly, he said,
was good electrical engineer and a
good civil engineer, who for years
was chief engineer for S. D. Warren
& Co., large paper manufacturers.
Mentioning some of the work done by
himself, Mr.. Henney told council that
he had prepared the specifications for
the central lighting plant in Wash
| ington, which provides current for the
capitol building and grounds, the
congressional library, the House and
Senate office buildings, and the su-
preme court building. This, Mr..
Henney said, was a 1,250,000 con-