The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 26, 1898, Page 16

16 THE SA FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, MARCH 26, 1898. FERRY DEPOT CONTRACTS FURNISH RICH BOOTY. A Summary of Profits That Have Accrued to Some of the Men Who Have Found Favor With the Honorable Gentlemen Who Have Misspent the State’s Funds. Changes Made to Promote Easier Means of Fraud. - Plans and Specifications Ignored Where Such Action Would Aid the Scramble for Plunder. For a series of days the duty of call- | charge for these changes ing attention to the manner of con- struction employed in giving to the State the ferry depot for which it had voted a liberal appropriation, has oc- cupied some space and attention. Neither has been wasted. Charges that public money was being squandered, that contractc with the connivance of the Harbor Commissioners had been lining their pockets, that the completed st ture will be a sham, a monument to shameless fraud, have been fully established. It is fair to say that the first evi- dence of crookedness, leading to a studiedand unbiased investigation, only gave an inkling of the whole truth. Every clew followed has led directly to some abuse of the confidence re- posed in the Commissioners. Little wonder that taxpayers are indignant and that the cornered rogues are try- ing to shift responsibility, and raise a storm of protest behind which they may hide. Not only have they been caught and exposed, but they have been clearly proved guilty of acts which seem to have all the color of crime. As to this point there is a duly consti- tuted body upon which the task of final determination must fall. Reference is had to the Grand Jury. To the eye the depot presents an as- pect imposing and almost noble. It stands as a gateway through which all traffic between San Francisco and the East must pa: Naturally it is the t tangible shape upon which the e of the traveler rests, and in leav- ing the city it is the last thing, save the lights and the outlined hills, to be seen. As a commercial focus it was deemed that it should be of grand proportions, of the best material and of the finest workmanship. It has these proportions; nothing more. From the foundation to the highe one in the tower the structure is a cheat. In every department of construction far as yet looked into, there has be the practice of fraud, open, -shame palpable. Denial is worse than use- less. So long had the wrongding pro- gressed undetected that the wrongdoers had grown bold cied security, and now the dreams have been rudely But they have the gold. There scems to have been from the first an implied understanding that a contractor undertaking to do certain work at a price utterly ruinous to him- golden dissipated. self, provided specifications be fol- lowed, had nothing to fear. It was to be his privilege not only to throw specifications to the wind, but to have a new set devised to suit. In this man- ner bidders were enabled to substitute cheap for expensive material, bad for good workmanship, cut out such work as they did not wish to perform, and in the end send in a bill for “extra A bill of this kind represented oftentimes an entirely fictitious outlay on the part They looted in fan- | of the contractor. In other words, when his friends of the Harbor Com- | mission allowed him to make such changes as he could well have afforded to acknowledge by a healthy reduction as though they had been an expense to him in- stead of an actual gain. Just what be- came of this gratuity Is not precisely known. Perhaps the Commissioners could be induced to lend a little light. If the contractors were permitted to keep it all then indeed is the generosity of the commission a thing past all comprehension. The initial swindle searched out relates to the stone. The Pacific Bridge Company, which, so far as this edifice is concerned, seems to consist of James McCarthy, had the contract at a figure mentioned in de- tail elsewhere. It was instructed to put in stone which cost $11,000 less, but it was paid at the original figure. The impression was sought to be sent broadcast that in accepting this gift McCarthy was a benefactor. President Colnon of the commission gave to this impression all the currency he could, and in an unintelligible way still de- fends it, when not engaged in defend- ing some other job equally audacious. In the grand nave the same favored contractor was told to put in marble for the glazed brick he had agreed to | put in, the brick, according to every other bidder, being more costly. He was also given the privilege of sub- stituting in the exterior end walls common brick worth $6 per 1000 for Roman pressed brick, which would have cost $75. He put in a floor so much less expensive than the one he had agreed to put in as to save him many thousands. And how much did the State save? Not a cent. The State paid McCarthy more for his cheap work than it had stipulated to pay for the good work planned, and in the in- scrutable wisdom of the Commission cast aside. The interior finish was to hav finished in oak and on this basis bids were made and the contract let. Bate- man Bros. got it. They concluded they would rather put in pine, worth about a quarter as much as oak. A few parti- been tions were added, but more were cut | One entire story it was decided to | out. leave untouched. And the reduction Not a cent. The contractors had the nerve to ask for an increase of pay, | and the architect had the nerve to rec- ommend it. The Commission was not to be outdone in nerve. It sanctioned the deal. This is only one of many items showing how under the kindly tutelage of the Commission the Batemans have flourished. In the galvanized iron work, which James Cronin put in considerably at an advance upon the price he could have been held to, there is evidence of the same thrift. Cronin got paid extra for work specified clearly in his con- tract, and much of the work was im- properly done at that. As to the plumbing, it must be char- acterized as rotten, unfit for any build- ing, a violation of health orinances, a disregard for specifications, both as to material and workmanship. Where did the undeserved profit go? Apparently all to the thrifty James Duffy. Per- haps he divided, but there will be op- from his bill, they also allowed him to | portunity later to find this out. To him i Ve e the Commissioners likely seem a set of haloed philanthropists. It is impossible to even mention here the various confidence games which have been praticed. Seemingly there is no end to them, except as there is a limit to the number of contracts. Ma- sonry, wood work, iron work, steam- heating, plumbing, as well as minor matters, each represent a distinctly fraudulent. transaction of which the State has been the victim, and to which the Commissioners, whose names adorn the corner-stone of the ferry building, have freely given or sold the boon of official sanction. Experts Pronounce the Work as Com- pleted Worse Than Worthless. While not so large in the matter of dollars and cents as some of the other contracts for work on the ferry build- ing, the contract for plumbing and gas fitting has proved equally as remuner- ative as others in the matter of illegiti- mate profits. As in other cases, this contract has been turned into a bonanza by means of numerous changes and omissions in the original plans and specifications, authorized by or acquiesced in by the Board of Harbor Commissioners. It is also apparent that the contractor has, on his own motion, used inferior mate- rial and workmanship, though all of the work has ostensibly been done un- der the eye of one or more agents of the board and has been accepted and paid for. The work as it stands in its completed state, according to the pub- lished statement of Chief Plumbing Inspector J. J. Sullivan of the Board of Health, should be condemned as a menace to public health. According to this same official, who is a recognized authority on such subjects, all of the plumbing in the building will have to be taken out within a year or two, as inches. After Commissioner Colnon had decided that a change must be made from bitumen to artificial stone, | the City Street Improvement Company sent in the following proposal: ““We hereby propose to pave the exits in the new ferry building, aggregating approximately 5125 square feet, with a 1% inch layer of Santa Cruz bitu- minous rock upon a one-inch binder nished by the board) for 7% cents a square foot, with the understanding the passenger waiting-room, aggregat- ing an area of 10,080 square feet, shall belong to us after we have taken up and removed the same.” The 2% inches of bitumen covering the 10,080 square feet of floor space has been “taken up and removed.” The new work has not yet been begun. The bargain that was made by the City Street Improvement Company can be seen at a glance. The State furnishes the materials and gives them 7% cents a square foot for putting down the bitumen, and then makes them a pres- ent of enough bitumen to cover 7500 square feet of space to the depth of a little more than an inch. In other words, the firm gets more than ample pay for doing the work and then gets enough “boot” to make the job com- pare favorably with other “sugges- tions” that have emanated from the same source. —_— DOORS THAT COST BIG MONEY. Doing Any Work. According to the original plans and specifications, the doors for the various exits and entrances to the ferry build- ing were to be constructed of the best steel, besides being fitted with proper counterweights and other necessary fittings. The contract for’ doing the work was let to the Risdon Iron Works, the price not being named, as the item was included in the blanket bid for all course of concrete (cement to be fur- | that the bituminous rock now covering | One Firm Allowed to Make $4000 Without | resulted in an aggregate saving to the contractor of considerably more than $10,000. One of the most striking in- stances of this nature was in the man- ner in which the galvanized iron was put on the inside and outside walls of "lhe‘ rear gallery, running the entire length of the building, and also on the inner walls of the wating room on the | first floor. The specifications under which the | contract was awarded specifically re- | quire that the galvanized iron cover- | ing of these walls shall be put on with flush joints, the edges being riveted to a heavy fish-plate and the whole fast- “ened to the iron framework of the building with galvanized iron clips. In- stead of doing this the contractor ig- nored the requirements of the specifi- | cations altogether. He lapped the edge of one sheet of iron over the edge of the sheet above it and nailed them to the wall as a farmer would nail shakes on a barn. The finished surface presents a rough and unsightly appearance. As a result of his evasion of this pro- vision In the specifications the contrac- tor effected a saving to himself of be- tween $5000 and $8000. The completed ‘work as it now stands will become loose in a short time on account of the draw- ing of the nails by reason of contrac- tion and expansion from heat and cold, and the entire covering of the walls will have to be removed. The specifications also call for the covering of all of the walls of the gal- lery and waiting room with galvanized iron. After the contract had been let | and the work was under way the con- tractor claimed that he was not re- | quired to cover the west walls of the gallery and waiting room. After be- coming hesitation the members of the Board of Harbor Commissioners and Architect Swain claimed to see the | force of Contractor Cronan’s reasoning and granted him $2978 for doing the work he had already been paid to do. Besides the things before enumerated Cronan was permitted to fit the build- ing with fixed instead of movable louvres, was allowed to omit the hy- draulic device for opening and closing same, was paid an exorbitant price for fitting open and closed windows in gal- leries leading to the ferry slips, and on C. F. McCARTHY, MASO TOTAL (Investigations AGGREGATE STEALINGS. Summary of the State’s Loss on Some Items of Construction. NRY CONTRACTOR— Profit .on: a2 8371= Contract 2l ... ..l S e R e s sk to bate),.................A 3 Saving to Contractor and Consequent Loss to State on Account of Changes, Omissions and Extras WILLIAM CRONAN, CONTRACTOR FOR GALVANIZED IRON WORK— Saving to Contractor and Consequent Loss to State on Account of Changes, Omissions and Extras............ TR EDWARD B. HINDS, CONTRACTOR FOR DOORS— Loss to State by Reason of Change in Plans BATEMAN BROS., CONTRACTORS FOR WOODWORK, ET Saving to Contractors and Consequent Loss to State on Account of Changes, Omissions and Extras W. W. MONTAGUE & CO., STEAM-HEATING CONTRACT— Saving to Contractors and Consequent Loss to State on Account of Changes, Omissions and Extras E. JAMES DUFFY, PLUMBING CONTRACTOR— Saving to Contractor and Consequent Loss to State on Account of Changes, 845,241 15,000 4,000 16,947 3,935 it is utterly worthless for the purpose for which it was intended. A few days ago Thomas J. Ford, a well-known expert on plumbing, was commissioned by The Call to compare the work as constructed with the plans and specifications under which thecon- tract was let. His report shows that the many changes that have been in- augurated and permitted have been put into effect at a cost to the State of an adequate plumbing system for a very costly building, and at a profit to the contractor of many thousands of dollars. plumbing as it now stands is the qual- ity of material used in the piping. The original specifications called for cast- iron pipe. The kind that has been used is wrought iron. Careful esti- mates show the saving of time, labor and material due to this change to rep- resent a net cash saving to the con- tractor of $925. Instead of deducting this amount from the amount of his contract price when the change was made, the Board of Harbor Commis- sioners paid the contractor $2063 extra for doing the work. This meant a net saving to the contractor on this one item of almost $3000. Another important provision in the specifications that has been disregard- ed is that relating to vent pipes. The specifications, as well as the regula- tions, of the Board of Health state that all vent pipes must run through the roof, and that none of the pipes shall be of less diameter than four inches. In the work as completed the roof and those that do are none of them of greater diameter than two inches. On this item of construction the contractor saved $325. In the fitting up of the numerous wash basins in the building the mar- ble slabs, safes and slats called for in the specifications have been omitted at a saving to the contractor of $1124. More than $1000 worth of closets have been left out where called for, and those that have been put in are of an- other and cheaper make than those originally called for. Extras amount- ing to more than $5000 have been au- thorized and paid for by the Commis- sioners. In one instance the masonry contractor was paid $1492 for doing work included in the plumber's con- tract. COLNON'S EUST-LY—EUGGESTIOL Paid a Good Price for a Pavement and Gave Some ‘‘Boot.” A costly suggestion that is laid at the door of Commissioner Colnon is the substitution of artificial stone pave- ment for the bitumen originally laid on the floor of the new ferry building. The bituminous rock that fell under the ban of Mr. Colnon’s disapproval was laid some time ago by the Pacific Paving Company at a cost to the State of 9% cents a square foot. The thick- ness of the bitumen as laid was 2% The principal defect in the system of | many of the vent pipes do not run to | ‘ of the structural ironwork in the build- ing. The Risdon Iron Works do not con- struct doors of this character, and in | order to make a proper estimate of the | cost so that they could include the | amount in the sum total of their bid, | the firm asked for estimates from con- | tractors who made a specialty of this | kind of work. By this means it was o | @scertained that the cost of the doors would be about $8000. After the contract had been let, the Harbor Commissioners, for reasons of | their own, concluded to change the ‘style of the doors from steel to wood. | satistactory plans were submitted to | Edward B. Hinds of 411 Mission streeet, and he was finally awarded the con- tract for furnishing the new style doors for $5570. Negotiations were then opened with the Risdon Iron Works, with the result that the firm was re- leased from the necessity of carrying out that part of their contract relatinz to doors. In consideration of this re- lease, the firm consented to deduct $4000 from the total amount of their contract price for all .iron work. This was agreed to. By entering into this agreement, the Harbor Commissioners allowed the Risdon Iron Works to make a net profit of about $4000. This being so, the wood- en doors for which Hinds was paid 70 represent a cost to the State of $9570, considerably more than steel | doors would have cost the Risdon Iron ‘Works at first hand. | AR GALVANIZED IRON CONTRACT. sions and Substitutions. The contract for doing the roofing | and galvanized iron work on the ferry | building was let to William Cronan for | the specified sum of $43,599. Up to the | present time he has been paid some- thing more than $10,000 for extra work | at prices that allowed him to make from 50 to 300 per cent profit on the amount of money expended. In every instance where he was granted author- ity for doing extra work the amounts involved were a little less than $3000. This enabled the Board of Harbor Commissioners to have the work done without the necessity of advertising for bids, as is required by law where the amount involved is more than $3000. In all of the cases where extra work was ordered on this cont: .ct the esti- mates of the contractor were approved by Architect Swain and Commissisoner | Colnon and his associates. From time to time the original plans and specifications under which the con- tract avas let were so changed as to permit the contractor to substitute in- ferior workmanship and materials at a great saving to himself. The in- stances where these changes were made and permitted are numerous and Much Profit Result;F_rom Changes, Eva- | BN EEEE-ENE-EEE0EEEENEOE-EEeS8RENa0a 1 the entire contract was allowed to sub- | stitute a light iron for the heavy qual- | ity specified by his contract, the latter | item effecting a saving to the contrac- | tor of $2261. LuaSe e SMALL CONTRACT—BIG PROFIT. Price Pald for the Big Heating Plant Out of All Just Proportion, Of the many jobs perpetrated in | connection with the ferry depot con- tracts, that which was successfully carried out in the installation of the steam-heating plant is the most con- | spicuous in proportion to the amount of money involved. The contract price for putting in the piping system was $5200. The amount saved by the con- tractors over and above a legitimate profit is estimated at $3430. It was generally understood among those contractors who put in bids for the work that the specifications had been prepared by the firm that ulti- mately secured the contract at a figure far below all competitors. The con- tract was awarded to the firm of W. | W. Montague & Co. The specifications | called for a low pressure, single-pipe system for all.of the floors except the ground floor, which was to be fitted with the double-pipe system. The work as completed shows that the two-pipe | system on the ground floor has been | entirely omitted and that a single-pipe | system has been put in instead. The specifications also provide that all pipes throughout shall be covered with magnesia sectional pipe covering. The completed work shows that all the | return pipes buried in the floor are de- | void of covering, being simply laid in trenches, no regard having been paid | to the covering clause. On this item the contractors effected a saving to | themselves of about $1000. Perhaps the most glaring fraud in connection with this contract is shown in the trenches made for the recep- tion of the return pipes. These trenches, instead of being cut large enough for the reception of the pipe with pipe covering on it, and graded toward the receiving tank, have been cut barely large enough in width to | receive the pipe, and of a uniform depth just sufficient to allow for a thin covering over the trenches. The heavy, ribbed cast-iron covers called for by the specifications have been omitted altogether. The saving to the con- | tractor in the cutting of the trenches in the concrete floor and the omission of the cast-iron covers amounts to about $2430. The same firm was granted the con- tract for furnishing and setting the radiators throughout the building for the sum of $2927. The cost of the work, when figured at.retail prices, thus al- lowing a jobber’s profit to the contrac. tor, is but $2422. As the contract was Architect E. R. Swain Gives His Official Sanction. Commissioner Colnon Acts as Chief Dispenser of the Good Things That Are Generously Handed Out. let by the Board of Harbor Commis- sioners without competition, it will be seen that the price they allowed per- mits the contractor to make a clear proilt of $505 over and above a legiti- mate profit. BATEMAN BROS. IN CLOVER. Commissioners to Them as Pliant as Clay | in the Hands of the Potter, Bateman Bros. could well afford to sing a paean of praise to the Harbor distinguished gentlemen have their vawning pockets been lined for work never performed. These contractors, as others, have basked in a profitable glow of favoritism. Of this the most recent example concerns the laying of certain pine flooring. The Batemans have been given the ¢ ntract at $1868. Any com- petent contractor would have been glad to get it at $467. These floors are for various offices, embracing an area of 11,676 feet. Such floor can be profitably laid at 3% cents. At 4 cents it would be regarded as a good thing. At the lat- ter figure it would come to a total of §467 04. The Batemans are to get 16 cents, or a total of $1868 16. The re- sult that for their benefit the State i to be put to a direct loss of $1401 easily determined but hard to explain. The change from oak to pine finish reeks with every evidence of rascality. For this change, a gift in token of which the contractors could well have afforded to present the State a substan- | tial rebate, they received an allowance of $2995 extra. Architect Swain coun- seled the Commission to this peculiar course. He may know the reason, but searchers after the truth have sought | vainly the shadow of a legitimate one. Swain fi d that the revised plan called for feet of pine partitions 12 feet in height, for which he al- lowed the contractors $3 per lineal foot. Under the work called for by the orig- inal plans he enumerates 3244 feet on the first and second floors. But what of the abandoned mezzanine which had been figured upon in the bidding? And he figured the oak at $420 per lineal foot, when pine was selling in open market at $20 per thousand feet, and oak at $120 per thousand feet. Here is enough to arouse a spirit of inquiry. Why is all mention of mezzanine par- titions omitted from the estimate made by Swain? The difference between what the architect conceived to be the value of the oak and the pine was $3821 70, of course in favor of the con- tractors. As an award of this amount could not have been made legally with- out calling for new bids the contractors knocked off $828 70. Very good of them, too. A summary of this strange pro- cedure shows that the State paid high for the privilege of acquiring a cheap wood in place of an expensive one. Bateman Bros. have been granted al- most $10,000 for extras. A sample job will sufficiently exploit the method. There were to have been six floors in the tower. The commission decided to leave them out and asked the Bate- mans to make a corresponding reduc- tion. The contractors were willing to relinquish $119 and this concession was satisfactorily. Afterward it was de- cided to put in one of these floors and for that floor alone the Batemans got $310. There seems no necessity for comment. Swain admits the part he took in it all, and repels what he terms an effort to make him out either a fody or a knave. M'CARTHY's HYPNOTIC GLANCE. Various Crooked and Profitable Jobs In the Masonry Contract. James McCarthy is one of the con- tractors whose hypnotic eye the Har- bor Commissioners have been induced to loot the State. He procured the con- | tract for all the masonry work in the Commissioners, for by the acts of those | Ferry depot. This, of course, included as a considerable item the exterior walls, which were to have been of Ore- gon graystone. Many others made bids, and the relative costof thevarious stones proposed became well known among the members of the craft. The cost of the Oregon product would have been to MeCarthy or any of his com- | petitors $11,000 more than the cost of Colusa sandstone. Yet, after the con- tract had been let, there was a change in material, the Colusa article being adopted. McCarthy was not even asked to share with the State this un- expected profit. There was no reduc- | tion made, and, so far as known, none | proposed. |large quantiti But the McCarthy cup of joy was destined to be filled to the brim. He had agreed to supply for the interior ies of terra cotta. His bid had been 12 cents a square foot, his lowest competitor having bid 22 cents. Contractors affirm that he could only have lived up to the original terms at serious loss. To his rescue flew the Commissioners. They abolished the terra cotta. For the white, glazed brick which had been designed to make the grand nave a place of beauty they sub- stituted marble. For Roman pressed brick at the ex- terior ends, worth $75 a thousand, they substituted common brick worth $6 a | thousand. For the floor to be support- | ed by arched tiling they substituted expanded metal. All these changes were for McCarthy's benefit, and yet, as if to flaunt their boldness in the face of the public, the Commissioners actually voted him $2416 extra. The changes in the finish of the nave meant to the contractor a gain of $13,- 893. The omission of terra cotta caps, plinths, bases and string courses was $3345 more to his advantage, while the alteration in the floor alone was at least an additional $12,000. But this was not all. So liberal had the Commissioners been in scattering among the contractors pay for bogus extras that danger appeared of the money running short. This was pecu- liar, as the appropriation had been am- ple, and something had to be done. Happy thought! Omit the mezza- nine story. It was so ordered. This story was to have contained thirty-five rooms, with terra cotta partitions. Mc- Carthy was not in favor of supplying it, although he had taken obligations to do so. In round numbers this was worth to him about $7000. Whatever impulse of gratitude he may have felt did not take the form of making resti- tution to the State. And this masonry contract is the one in which Colnon boasts of having saved to the people the sum of $53,000. How? Where is it? SMITHS' CASH STORE, 21 Market street, sells “STANDARD" shirts. - —_——.———— Of the 51,000 breweries estimated to be in the world, 26,000 are in Germany. = I = \4 | P =EE ¢