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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 22, 1904)
EPORT ON SEWER MAINE CLOTHING AND CHICAGO SHOE STORES , , 165-167 FIRST STREET. BETWEEN MORRISON AND YAMHILL ' IS SCANDALOUS WEINSTEIN'S THANKSGIVING OFFERING City Engineer Elliott, Responsible to the People for the Manner in Which Work Was Done, Seeks to Put Blame on His Subordinates. CONTRACTORS PROCEEDED WITHOUT SUPERVISION In One. Place, Where the Bottom Was Not Even Built in the Sewer, the Defense Is That It Was Due to an Oversight. With the disclosure of the true atata f affairs surrounding tha Tanner creek ewer the shadow of scandal la deepen ing and bids fair to envelop not only Contractor Rlner and Inspector James Cay wood, but City Engineer Klliott and "l assistant, George Scoggln. Every effort possible la being made to save City Engineer Klliott. Rumors are being freely circulated . that the Republican leaders of this city are using their utmost endeavors to protect him and to shoulder tha blame upon some other individual. City ' Englaeer Elliott in his report and In tie testimony before the council eom snlttee attempts to lay all the blame upon Inspector Cay wood. Ha says ha had tha greatest confidence In hla Inspector, and when told that tha contractor was building a good aewer he believed Ha excuses himself by saying that he has so much work to look after that It Is Impossible -to make more than a caaual Inspection of any one place of I work and that he haa to trust to the competency and Integrity of his Inspec tors that the work, la being properly ' pe 1 1 ot med . On the other hand. Mr. Caywood says that the blame should not rest on him alone. In an Interview today he stated that lie was under W. Uraden, another member of the city engineers depart ment, while doing the work. He stales that Braden was frequently In the sewer and went over the work. According to Caywood, George Scog glrut visited the sewer almost every night during Its construction, and that City Engineer Elliott was there very frequently. If the city engineer at tempted to lay the blame, on him he vowa he will make a written statement disclosing everything he knows about the aewer. Besides the city engineer stated to the executive board Uiat he knew of hla own Knowledge the work was all right. Caywood's Side of It. I Mr. Caywood States that he followed Instructions In constructing the sewer, and that frequently be turned man off whom he found to be Incompetent. At yesterday's session of the commit tee the reports that a pool existed among the contractors at the time the bids were first askad waa substantiated by the tes timony of M. Relnsteln and E. W. Rlner, formerly partners, known under tha firm name of the Independent Construction company." Both witnesses admitted there was a pool. The sum of 3,000 wss to be set aside by Mr. Relnsteln. who financed the company, to be divided "I will state that at various times when complaint, waa made to me by the Inspector in charge that workmen ware 7 nertormed alighting and neglecting to properly per tmr it.. .,, ur f.xmnA v. form the work. I instructed him to dla l .1... i.i charge anyone on the work who was alone. In an interview today he ststed ulitV " "y time of doln" anything that was not up to tha requirements of the specifications "I desire further to state that In no class of work does responsibility for ob taining results rest more on the In spector In charge than In the construe Uon of sewers as In this caae. "Work once done may be Inspected only by outward appearances, except the work be torn up again for the purpose. Mr. Elliott explains in detail the de fects ahown in the report of the rx perts. He states that every time he visited the sewer, the work done and the material uaed were In accordance with the' plans and specifications. Ha said, however, that casual Inspection could determine nothing at variance with the requirements. Defects which may have existed were not apparent. "Assurance was always given me," he continued, "by the Inspector fn charge that the work waa being performed on all parte of the sewer satisfactorily and strictly in accordance with the plans and specifications. 'Owing to tha nature of the work only that portion would be Inspected on my visits where the work was progress- ins;, reliance being- placed on the In spector In charge that those portions which were unable to be aeen were being properly done. among other contractors 1n the Poof t . v.l9cm -rwora. me The tool wss broken at the time the PTCJ". 1, Z. T , unl OI ki. i. -.. .f - mh. what f deemed his especial fitness, he are circulated freely today. It la known that leadera of the Republican forces In thla city are exerting every effort In hla behalf. Just what influence he will have over the committee Is a question. It is not known on whom tha committee will fasten the responsibility. While the testimony of the witnesses Is very damaging to Contractor Rlnec gnd Inspector Caywood, It Is equally damaging to City Engineer Elliott and to his chief assistant, George Seogglna. The committee la making out Ita report today, and tomorrow afternoon will submit it to the city council at a special meeting. In his report and also in hla testi mony before the council committee City Engineer Elliott attempted to fasten the enure blame upon Inspector Caywood. He aaya that he haa had ao much work on hand that It haa been impossible for him to attend personally to tha Inspec tion, other than to occasionally visit tha work and then he could see nothing wrong. In hla report he saya: bids were all rejected and new bids asked by the city executive board. Relnsteln was to get two thirds of the profits of the building of the aawer be cause he financed the company and put up the money for the Tool. Each of the ; contractors In the pool were to receive certain suras of money. R. M. Rlner, the father of E. W. Rlner, broke the ' pool by a lower bid Later ha took his son. E. W. Rlner. In with him on the I contract. i I from the report of the committee of experts and from the testimony of the witnesses brought before the council committee It seems clearly apparent . that the contractors Intended to defraud the property owners, and that they were allowed to do an Inferior piece of work on the big drain under the very eyes , of the city engineer's department. Rumors which were current yesterday 'that political Influence In being brought to bear to shield City Engineer Elliott "All roads lend to Fame," said Golden Gate, "but I shall meet queer people aa I ao. "Not everyone cares for hih-rade coffee, some prefer the cheap, rank kinds. Seme dealers prefer to hsndle bulk goods Instead of coffee packed In aroma tight tins. "I'm uniform In quality ; I was aged In my native country, I'm smooth drinking Hch-aromsticf I'm full weight (honest). With all this in my fsvor I cannot fall to please. Tm old on merit, merit will win!! WslMa, d with GOLDEN OATS COrrEf aetlelacliea. No I aad S Ik. areaaa.ligal Haa. Nevee 14 ia balk, i J. A. Foltfer (XL Co. aV.th.lta.-l Half a Cealary an rrancltc I being a brick and stone mason, the only one on the civil service list experienced in the construction of brick and stone sewers, "Having been led to believe by the as surance of the Inspector that the work was properly' done and apparently ao at all times when I visited the aame. and that the rumors of poor construction were unfounded, J requested that an Investigation of the work be made by the council. Took tha Inspector's Word. In his testimony before the commit tee, Mr. Klliott stated that he visited the sewer occasionally, and that appar ently everything was properly done. Ha took Inspector Caywood's word when the latter stated that ha waa holding the contractors strictly to the plana and speclficatlona. He aald he had implicit faith and confidence In Caywood, and took his word for everything. "If the report of the committee of ex perta Is found to be correct," queried W. B. Ayer, "do you consider that the sewer waa properly constructed"' Mr. Elliott No sir. If those things exist, I -think! they should be remedied before acceptance of the aawer. Mr. Ayer Do you think tha city's In terests are properly safeguarded by ac cepting a Job having the defects claimed there? Mr. Elliott No. air; I never would have accepted the Job If I had known those things existed. To a question asked by I J. Gold smith If he had to accept the report of the Inspector that la furnished htm by the civil service commission, be refused to' anawer. George Seogglna, the assistant city engineer, testified that tha contractora kept their men at work during the entire 24 hours of each day while the construction, of the sewer waa going on. Although the Inspector waa not there all the time, he waa expected to be on hand whenever the workmen were laying brick. Ha said tbey laid the brick whenever they were ready for it. In regard to the criticism that his speclficatlona were atuffed, he said thla waa impossible, aa there was no oppor tunity of atufflng them. Caywood's Damaging Evld.no. James Caywood, the Inspector, was the chief witness before tha council com mittee. His testimony waa exceedingly damaging, not only to himself, but to the entire engineering department. He confessed that he did not know how many barrels of cement were used In the work. He never counted them, but he could state approximately. He stated that lie gave Instructions to the work men now to mix the cement, but he wss not certain that they had done that way properly. He aald he could not be there all the time, but that he averaged about It lioors a day. The remain In 14 hours" work waa carried on without an inspector. To a question as to what he thought of tbe durability of the sewer, he stated: "Gentlemen, I think tbe aawer la as well constructed as any aewer, so far as the brick laying la concerned, and I have been on several sewers. I think the sewer will stand. At Alder street where thla bottom la left out, I will take the responsibility of saying that It waa an oversight It was overlooked." When shown a sample of the concrete which was taken from the sewer he admitted that It was not good. Hs aald he could net see why the bricks were loose: he had discharged two or three men for laying brick improperly. He did not know that tha contractors had followed his Instructions regarding the Invert to the old aawer. which waa left In place. Stone and concrete were to have been placed under the arch walla according to hla Inatructlona, and when told that no concrete had been placed there he stated that he had given ordera to that effect, but he did ae Our Thanksgiving Offering WITH EVERY 50 PURCHASE EVERY DAY THIS WEEK we will give numbered coupon. AT 8:80 P. M. SATURDAY EVE. those interested will meet at our store and select a plan of drawing the lucky number (duplicate number) ; the hicky holder can have with out a single reserve CHOICE OF ANY SUIT OR OVERCOAT In Our Large Stock Absolutely Free ! WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK? Postponed On account of a majority of our patron being unable to get here Wednesday afternoon at 4 p. m., and many others who wanted to buy but could not attend the drawing for the suit of clothes until Friday or Saturday, we shave decided to extend the contest until SATURDAY, NOV. 26, 8.30 P. M. Our patrons holding coupons for the drawing will please take notice. A coupon with any 60c purchase until 8:30 p. m. Saturday. OVERSTOCKED ! ... - . - . I . 1 y-ajpjgaaj TOO MANY GOODS A late season and the fact that we are anxious to make a change January , 1905, causes us to get generous as the Thanksgiving approaches, and Instead of the ax falling on Mr. Turkey, it falls on PRICES here and in many Instances are CUT HALF IIS TWO. We are slaughtering our $30,000 stock of Clothing, Shoes, Furnishings, etc. New goods arriving daily that we are slashing prices on. YOUR CAR FARE PAID If yes wfll vhrit ear itare aad bay hi worth of eraaaasiae we will par year ear far eaeerfaUy. will any ether arm de the auael If the valaea aad aaallty are art bare wkaa yea leak, eea't bay. ain't that fair I If they are, aad yea ae, yea eave you ear faro. N. & . WEINSTEIN I65K-I67 FIRST ST., BET. MORRISON AND YAMHILL All Cars Stop Within Ten Steps of Our Door. Transfers to All Parts of die City.. MAIL ORDERS AND WHOLESALE Wa pay partleular etteatlm t mall ordon ass wfll oo.ro rally gu aay esse, from tala steak, aa aawertlaea. Write aa aad we'll how you what gnat ear aad attention la paid to thi ataartmaat, Wo do a whale- waat to rtalaalaa their took should eeae ia we aaa offer. know whether they were carried out. "What do you think of the report r questioned Mr. Blgier. "If that report s true do you think tnat mis is a gooo aewer, and one the city ought to accept and pay for. ' hlr. Caywood. "lea, I ao. 1 ao not know why they should not. These peo rle aay It la poorly done. I can go to ny sewer In this town ana una mikw Mr. Blklen "I thought you. were working for the city, and not for the contractor." Mr. Caywood. "I waa working for tne city, yes. You asked me K i tnougm that aewer ought to do pare ior, ana j. ""vt'ailor. "In the face of all these defects, which you have psrtly acknowl- dged exist? You nave not oemw exist?" air. Caywood. ' Yes, i am going 10 gay these" people are oiaaea m ... of the city. I suppose I wa Inter viewed 60 times while on the sewer, mostly by people asking whether' the city was going to pay for It. and I told them I didn't know what the council wss going to do about It" Mr. Slgler. "Well, on your etatetnent. Mr. Caywood. you would be willing to accept a Job of work after It waa fin ished, and a report of thla kind bad been made upon It?" Mr. Caywood. "Yea, I think I would. B. W. Rlner. Interested with Ms father. H. M. Rlner, In the contract, teatlfled regarding tha work and at tempted to throw tha blame of the poor work on the drain upon hla enemies. He stated that threats had been made that he would have trouble before the work waa completed. He affirmed that he bad been "jobbed." He aald that he waa willing to go Into tha sewer with any fair engineer appointed by the council and repair tha defects. Many of the dafeota pointed out by the experts were not there, and tha absence of the block pavementa at the Alder Street manholi waa almply an oversight. QUESTION OF THE DAY: HOW MUCH ARE TURKEYS? a For awhile thla morning ft d 4 looked aa If there would be a d break In the prlcta on turkeya. 4 but the market steadied and noth d lng under 25 cents is being aaked d for good birds at the retail mar- a gets. a gome "culls" oontlnue to be sold for 22 and 22H cents. a The receipts today, were very large. d Aa matters now stand, the mar- d ket haa about equal cfianch" nf going up or down. Tomorrow! mornlng'a receipts will tell the tal ( FATHER WHO GAVE SON LIQUOR ?S IN HIDING Evidently fearing the consequences of supplying hla 14-year-old son with liquor. Al Hlnda ia aald to have'ltldden himself, ao far the polios have been unable to locate him. For this reason Police Judge Hogue postponed tha trial of Charles Malar, the saloonkeeper charged with selling beer to the boy, until Friday. Mater gave bonds yesterday. j "I waa hunting on Sunday, and waa not near the saloon at all." aald Maler. "I underatand the beer waa sold to the boy by the barkeeper. I have discharged the man and will never give htm employ ment again." While tha authorities are convinced that Mater is telling the truth, they aay that as beer waa sold by his agent he is responsible as tha owner of tha saloon. OFFICER TAYLOR'S ASSAILANTS GUILTY William Morgan and George Bowan. who started out one night a month ago to engage In the hold-up business, but made a mistake and tackled Officer Tom Taylor, were sentenced to a term of nine months each In tha county jail by Judge Cleland thla morning. Their trial before a jury laat week resulted In a verdict of simple assault. Tha court. In passing sentence, aald tha crime In tended waa very aerloua and gave the heavy semence, the maximum being one year in JalL WAIT TO I ATTSITOKB AXD Nineteen applicants for positions aa deputy auditors and clarka appeared for competitive examination before the civil service commission today. The re sult of tha examination will not be made known for several days. Seven subjects were included In the examination. The first subject waa 20 words of more than average difficulty to spell. Tha next was addition lengthwise and crosswise decimals and common fractions, per centage and tha statement of simple ac counts. ' Latter-writing, copying and other subjects ware Included. RAID MADE ON ANOTHER CHINESE LOTTERY DEN Another Chinese lottery San was raided laat night by Deputy Sheriff Hol llngs worth and four Chinamen war caught They wore arrested and brought to the county Jail, where thla morning they were placed under 1,000 bonds. The building entered was at the corner of Second and Alder streets. When the deputy sheriff pushed his way Into tha room, after traveling a long, dark hall way, he found Lea Foo. .Chan Ton. All See and Ah Joa busily engaged In drawing tha little paper balla from tha big vesael, which they Immediately dropped and attempted to escape. AH the paraphernalia, was captured, even the drawn tlcketa scattered on tbe floor. BOBS TO aSTLUH. Charles Miller, who left Philadelphia several daya ago to make hla home in Portland, arrived hare thla morning In an Insane condition and after being taken to tha eherlffs office, where he waa examined by Dr. H. Wilson, he was sent to the Mount Tabor sanitarium. Ha la accompanied by his wife, who aaya that during tha trip her husband became nervous and alctc They are well-to-do people, and evidently have plenty of money to pay expenses. Ha la a mechanic by trade. Astoria, Nov. 22. Sailed at 12:20 p. m. Steamer Northland, steamer Asuncion, schooner Joaeph Russ, schooner Hal ey 9', for San Francisco; barkenttne George C. Perkins, for San Pedro. BURGLARS FAIL TO GET ANY BOOTY HERE Two daring thieves entered tha home of J. Todd, at Ml Bast Eighth street, at t o'clock yesterday afternoon. They were seen by a neighbor, according to tha report of Patrolman White, who knocked on tbe door and frightened them away before they had time enough to do more than break open two children's banks and secure small amounts. Tha thiavaa first rang the front door bell, and receiving no reply want to Ota rear door and knocked There being no response, they entered tha house. No member of the family was at home. When tha neighbor knocked thsy bounded down a stairway and ran out the rear door In tha direction of MUwaukle etreet. Detective Snow and Kerrigan are investigating the affair. David Kunz, the Troutdale farmer who waa struck by an O. R. N. train yesterday morning, about two miles out of town, died at St. Vincent's hospital yesterday afternoon as tha result of hla Injuries. Death waa directly due to a clot of blood forming at the baae of the dkull, which waa fractured Hla wife waa with him when he died, and I left to support four little children. Kunz was one of the best known farm ers in tha region of Troutdale. wo rare bttatuabt Oskar Huber, director of works of the Lewis and Clark exposition, left laat evening for St. Loula In response to a telegram from President Goode. The object of the trip Is to obtain statuary and other features for tha 105 fair, and Mr. Huber will remain on tha ground until tha present expoeltlon la closed, se lecting what Is most needed for the local show. During his absence W. B. Scott will be acting director of works. BLAZIER GUILTY (Continued from Page One.) lection of a jury and all preliminary proceedings In the caae until It cum to the cross examination of tha de fendant. Eugene Blaaler, when District Attorney Manning took charge, with the result that there waa a rupture between tha two attorneys on tha side of tha prosecution. Manning had announced the conclusion of tha cross examination, when McGinn aaked If he might b allowed to ask a question or two. "No, you can't," aald Manning, nhe croaa examination haa closed." McGinn than appealed to the court for permission to ask the questions, but the court ruled that tha district attor ney bad charge of the case. a "Then you ask htm," said McGinn, turning to Manning, "whether ha owns the Parts house." 'No. I don't want to," aald Manning. "Ask him If ha sold that at the Barns' time ha aold hla gambling business, ' aald McGinn. "Will yon please leave tha room until I have conoluded thla case?" yelled Man ning to McGinn, and tha latter aald be would Immediately upon tha reconvening of tha court thla afternoon tha case of the state vs. Gus Krlckson was called. This is tha laat of tha gambling case sched uled for thla term ana will probably be concluded tomorrow. IBATTLE'S TAX BUBDHT. (Special Dispatch to Tta Journal ) Seattle. Wash., Nov. 22 The finance committee of the city council, which for tne past week ha been considering the tax levy for tha coming year, la face to face with 17 mills, an Increase of IS mills over the present rata. A Ouaranteed Oar for VUea. Tear drvggist will rofa Itehiag, blind, bleeding or pretndlag ptleo. r oruggiit win rorona mono ir I'uo Oiut t fall to cor yoa In 8 to 14 day. 8or. Yes, They're Here LOTS OF PIANOS Come in and look them over if you find anything that suits you we can make the price and terms so that they will appeal to you. Aside from the large shipments of new pianos just re ceived, we have several special bargains in used instruments. It will pay you to investigate, as the opportunity may not come again. Prices from $90 up. Terms Most any way to suit. Soulc Bros. Piano Co. Steinway and other pianos. 372-374 MORRISON STREET fiifitiifini rmii ii imi i ininniiTf rm r imn 11 lit t iHmm unii r i iiht ' 1 ! T , i