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Show j' , ! FACTS ABOUT THE CONDUIT i W Tho action of tho city council In de- j ! elding that extra work on tho Dig Cot- tonwood conduit to tho amount of . about $90,000 all told, Is the subject j of general conversation among those who take Interest In city affairs. Tho comments outsldo those of the ofllco holders and those directly Interested wero not favorable to the action . of council. The real conditions In regard to the conduit muddle are not well under-J stood by tho general public and tho object of tho daily papers seems to bo to keep the public mind In a befogged condition regarding them. Tho only thing that Is generally understood Is that thero is a muddle. Tho Tribune and its satelltes seek to throw tho entire en-tire blame on tho late administration and make It appear that Its blunders and venality Justifies tho present administration ad-ministration in expending that largo sum of monoy to correct tho mistakes. ! Tho Herald and News denies that tho ' former mayor and council made any( mistakes and charges that the ?00,000 ( extras is a grab for tho benefit of those interested. That the late administration is not by any means freo from blame is certain cer-tain and it is equally certain that tho present city authorities aro also culpable, culpa-ble, but hope to shield themselves by charging tho waste of the taxpayers' money to tho errors or worse of their predecessors. Tho facts aro that tho Morris administration In order to make political capital pushed tho preparation of tho plans and tho letting let-ting of tho contract without mature consideration. City Engineer Snow surveyed a route for tho conduit and recommended its adoption. Before that recommendation was acted upon Mr. Snow resigned and was succeed-Q succeed-Q ed as city engineer by Mr. Riter. Mr. Ititer entirely disapproved of Mr. . Snow's plan and mapped ,qut a new routo following more closely tho general gen-eral contour of tho hills. Mr. Rlter's other plans also differed very mater- lally from those of Mr. Snow. But I Mr. Riter was not given time to mature ma-ture his plans. The election was not very far off and the mayor, his coterie co-terie in tho council and the board of public works kept pushing tho ongi-neer ongi-neer to make somo recommendations and do something so that tho work could bo got under way before tho I election and "water" raised as a cry to boost Mr. Morris and his friends back into office. Acting largely on guesses and surmises the engineer formulated plans and specifications and so forth. Before these imtnaturo plans and specifications spe-cifications wero adopted by tho city council a consulting engineer (Mr. Doremus) was called In, but tht whole thing was in such crude and unfinished shape that it was entirely outsldo of tho provlnco of a consulting consult-ing engineer to pass upon It, in fact it was Impossible) for any consulting engineer to do so Intelligently, so that tho $2,500 feo for a consulting engineer engi-neer was entirely wasted and whatever what-ever services Mr. Doremus rendered in tho matter wero in tho capacity of third or fourth assistant engineer. With full knowledge of all that tho lato administration adopted tho altogether alto-gether Immature plans, let tho contract con-tract and put to work as many men as possible In order to mako voters for tho administration at tho November Novem-ber election. Even tho capacity of tho proposed conduit with duo regard to tho quantity of water that might bo stored in tho mountains In tho future fu-ture was entirely disregarded and little or nothing had been definitely ascertained as to-tho character of the soil through which tho conduit was to bo run.. On mere guest work It was decided to mako the conduit rectangular rectan-gular In form, four and a half feet deep and four feet wide with a carrying carry-ing capacity of flfty-flvo cubic feet per second. In this way tho w.ork was put In hand and pushed with all the expedition possiblo during the Hfo of the lato administration. On January 1 when tho now party took hold of affairs, it was discovered that tho conduit as far as it had been built was faulty in many places and leaked In thoso places. Immediately tho cry was raised that tho walls of the conduit wero not thick enough, that six Inches of cement was not sufficient suf-ficient and that tho cement should not only bo Increased In thickness in places, but that tho entire Insldo should be plastered. Less than two weeks after tho present officials stepped step-ped into ofllco tho now city engineer was ready with a recommendation to strengthen tho wnlls, plaster tho entire en-tire surface and cover over tho conduit. con-duit. Mr. Kclscy hero labored under similar disadvantages to those of his predecessor, Mr. Riter. Tho members of tho council who favored doing tho extra ex-tra work were in a tremendous hurry and pushed the engineer to make a report without delay. Ho did so, without ascertaining why It was tho part of tho conduit built leaked Jn somo places and not In others. Ho was not given an opportunity to ascertain as-certain whether or not tho thickness of the cement should bo Increased or whether It was necessary to plaster. Ho llko his predecessor, mndo a leap In tho dark, with, however, this fact In view that It would not injure tho efficiency and durability of the conduit con-duit to plaster and strengthen It, but without consideration as to whether It was at all necessary to expend the extra money. Tho council or at least a majority of them, had made up their minds that tho monoy was to bo spent and that Contractor Moran should got It and that tho whole thing would bo dono In a hurry. Nobody No-body yet knows whether It Is necessary neces-sary to strengthen tho masonry or not, but it is known that tho proper way, tho way that is universally adopted to mako such work very strong is not by a great thickness of cement, but with steel bars, and It is absolutely known that If tho cement of which tho conduit is mado had been properly mixed and properly applied as demanded by tho specifications, specifi-cations, there would bo no necessity for plastering. What tho board of nubile works and tho city council should have dono Instead of ordering plastering would have been to cah upon tho contractor to do tho work according to tho specifications. It Is stipulated that tho material for building the conduit shall consist of 1 part cement, 2 sand and 4 gravel. If these proportions are adhered to and tho mixing properly dono and the material properly applied thero will bo no leakage. In tho part already built where the i conditions havo obtained ob-tained thero Is no leakage. It Is only where tho material used did not contain con-tain tho Ingredients of tho proper kind, in tho proper proportions or was not skillfully mixed and applied that thero Is any leakage. Tho real object of tho plastering Is to cover up tho Inferior work of tho contractor I accepted by the political Inspectors nppolntcd to pass upon tho sufil- j clency of tho work. , If tho walls need strengthening In j places tho modern, most approved ,' and most economical method Is not to Incrcaso tho thickness of tho co- I ment or concreto but to uso steel bars. Thero aro moreover ( only a very few " 8pla""whtviVayMneed " strengthening and tho cost should be only trilling. That tho conduit should bo covered Is admitted, both In order to keep extornneous matter out of tho water and to provont largo variations in 1 temperaturo which would cauBO the cement to crack and boforo long ruin tho conduit entirely. If tho work is properly dono plastering plas-tering is unnecessary. Tho plastorlng is merely a dovlco to cover up tho poor work of tho contractor. But as tho city pays, what's tho odds? 1 |