Honolulu star-bulletin., 1917-03-07

night at the capitol
(, molten instrncting the engineers to-
| submit all their data immediately.
The board members set silent for
tense moment or two and then Com
missioners Wakefield and Mcclellan
smoothed over the situation By saying
they were sure the disposition OF the
engineers Is to give the board every
assistance. and no motion was neces-
sary.
Il want II passed" declared Forbes
with heat. "it is not you who are
under fire-it Is me- am getting all
the blame and | want an opportunity
Of checking over all these figures
Later Commissioned Wakefield pass
ed motion which, in effect. carries
out Forbes demand, though carefully
and. courteously worded II was
unanimously passed.
Forbes New Plan Proposed
! Early in the session Forbes pro-
pose1 his alternative plan which, In
Erief, Is to extend Q concrete "siab"
/ or floor from the wharf landward to
solid ground This plan, he holds. will
give reinforced deck to carry the
4 working loads OF the wharf proper,
/ plus the superstructure loads, and At
/ the same time w.ll act as an anchor
age. In this connection Il Is to be
i remembered that the investigating en-
gineers dwelt largely on the necessity
for the anchorage" or plans for max
!, ing the Pier wall stable, after the
discovery OF the five-inch bulge" In
some portions.
| Under this new plan, the contract
or will do no more filling behind the
Pier wall. Piles will be driven there
4 to ealry the new reinforced deck" or
J concrete flooring.
/ Discussing this alternative plan.
! Forbes forced some Of the liyellest
incidents Of en- evening full Of tense
! moments He pointed his remarks
!. particularly at Gere and Armitage. He
tapparentlf considered that Engineer
Andrews had furnished the board with
/ more satisfactory and complete data
! than either Of the other two.
i Enuineers Stand BY ouns
/ For their part. the engineers came
back without hesitation whenever
criticism was leyeled their way. Once
| Gere said In q direct unimpassi0ned.
but unmistakable way:
Stick to facts, Mr.. Forbes
When he proposed his alternative
plan he called the engineers to the
| table and demanded that they pass on
J the merits OF his plan.
After some scrutiny, Gere said:
"Offhand and as . personal opinion.
should say this Is better than either
Of the other two. l should also say L
\ Is far more expensive
I'VE are prepared TO show Il isn't.
| Forbes retoTted.
Good, But Expensive
Armitage said about what Gere had
said, and Andrews added;
The plan is undoubtedly good, but
Il seems to me the cost would be ex-
cessive." He also added: We con-
1 sidered a similar plan early IN the
game, but discarded It because We be-
/ lieved the cost would be prohiDitiveE'
The matter Of cost data brought up
some OF the hveliest interchanges Of
the evening. Forbes in Q written
statement questioned the figures Gere
/, had submitted in the estimates Of the
Gere plan.
Apparently all OF the investigating
engineers took emphatic issue with
Forbes on these points They pointed
out what were declared to be errors IN
his own calculations, and so did mem
bers OF the board, particularly Com
missioner Wakefield To each such
charge Forbes answered that be
stands by his figures.
At one point Gere said he would
furnish his own data to IAN engin-
eer from this department but not 70
any office boy. sent down.
Forbes replied that ne considered
Ceres data so far shown entirely tn
adequate and that II should never
have been passed to the board IN the
meager form It was.
OIL on Troubled Waters
Members Of the board stood BY the
engineers on numerous occasions. and
when threatened storms arose, poured
oil en- the troubled waters and got over
each minor climsx OF tensIty
Forbes Plan In Detail
Superintendent FORBES statement 70
! the board last night contains much
technical discussion which Is confus-
ing to q layman. particularly without
reference sketches or blueprints. A
large part Of II was taken up with
figures to bear out various theories.
The portions which state his general
attitude on the engineering boards
reports as well as his own alternative
scheme 'are as follows:
There are several points about the
recommendations OF the board OF engi-
Deers which should be considered
.(al Where anchors are directly
,...l.. r4r.