Q. Did you examine? What portion of the walls did you examine ? A. We examined nearly all there was above the basement story. Q. I will ask you if the defects in those walls wasn't likely to be caused by being exposed to the weather? A. I should think not. Q. What experience have you had in regard to construction of walls? A. If there is a hard frost before the mortar is dry it will injure the mortar. Q. You may state if you have examined the specifications in regard to the walls, how the brick were to be laid? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did they keep within the specifications? A. I should think the mortar was not. Q. Have you examined the sand and lime there? A. Didn't see any lime; examined some sand-some bank sand and some river sand-not as good as our lake shore sand. Q. State the character of that sand. A. The largest pile of sand contained considerable loam. A. I should think not. Q. Can there be good work done with it? A. I should think not first-class work. Q. You may state, Mr. Wheelock, whether or not this is a first-class job the brick work on the State House? A. I should say the brick are well laid. Q. The balance of the work-the material? A. The material isn't good. Q. For making a first-class job? A. I should think not. Q. You may state, if you will, what proportion of that work is not good. A. Q. About one-half above foundation. Did you examine the foundation? A. Went down below, but 'twas pretty dark-couldn't tell much about it. Q. State whether, in your judgment, it would be safe and proper to erect such an extensive and weighty building, as the State House proposes to be, on those walls there? A. Well, sir, I think it would be preferable to take them down. Q. Have you examined the plans under which that State House has been erected, and proposes to be finished? A. I looked them all over in Mr. Piquenard's office, and I could see nothing wrong about the plans. Of course, I couldn't examine critically. Q. State whether those were the original plans by which the State House was built? A. I don't know, except what they told about it. Q. Who told you? A. Mr. Bolin-Starck; I talked with Mr. Piquenard — about that being the plan. Q. Have the plans been changed? A. Don't know. not Q. Don't know whether they worked according to the original plans or not? A. Do not; I suppose not from what they told me this measurer told me. Q. Did you see the plans? A. Yes, sir. Q. Was the work done in accordance with those plans-and the measurement? Q. According to those plans, and the way the work has been done, can you approximate what the building will cost? A. It will be nothing but guess work. Q. Your best judgment? A. We became satisfied among us that we would not dare to state less than six millions. Of course, it would depend largely upon how elaborately the work was done. Q. In accordance with the plans, and allowing reasonably for the construction, what, in your judgment, will be the probable cost? A. I wouldn't want to state less than six millions. Of course, I should have you understand the estimate is based somewhat on what has already been paid out. Q. I will ask you, if you were shown the manner in which this work was measured, whether or not it was measured in the ordinary way of measuring brick work? A. No, sir; it is more liberal than the usual mode of measuring. Q. State the usual way. A. Half openings-take out half openings. In very large openings take out all of them; in very large arches, instead of taking a straight line across the spring of the arch, we would run two lines from the spring of the arch to the center, and take that for the line; instead of taking a line from the spring of the archwhere it was twenty feet, or something like that. Q. What are the arches there? A. Twenty feet. Q. Was it possible to measure those walls, where they butt up against the stone work, with any kind of certainty ? A. I think it is. Q. State the manner in which they were measured. A. Mr. Starck told me he was informed those stone were a certain number of inches thick-some more, some less; he took an average of the thickness of the wall, and of the stone, and in that way took a very close average of the brick work. Q. Could it be measured in that way? A. I think it could; and if the gentleman has measured in that way, he has measured correctly. Q. From your conversation with him, what is your opinion of his competency? A. I should think him very competent. Questions by Mr. ROBINSON, Commissioner: Q. You say that about half those walls should be taken down? Does that include all the cross walls, back up against the stone? Does it include half of any other work? A. Should think not; I don't remember examining further it was the partitioning walls-the cross walls-I referred to. Q. Do you mean, Mr. Wheelock, that they ought to be taken out half way to the basement? Or do you mean that half of the walls should be taken entirely down? ; Q. Do you think the inside and cross walls are good or bad? A. Some of those are very good; I should think it is the corner this way-I went 'round that way and went into the west end; went through the building; Mr. Piquenard's office was over on the other end, opposite where we went in; the walls on the left hand side just beyond the dome very good indeed; you may see a very marked difference. Q. Two pretty large walls? A. Yes, sir. Q. That's a pretty fair wall-which one, the large or the small? A. I should think the large one; the mortar looks very white, very fair. Q. The other not so good? A. No, sir. Q. Is the brick itself good brick? A. They are not as good brick as we have in Chicago. Q. You have a pretty good opinion of Chicago, have you! (laughing). A. Take a Chicago brick and strike it, and it will ring like iron. Q. Are they good brick for this latitude? Q. Right amount of mortar put in? A. A little more mortar than I should like to see-should like to see a closer joint. Q. The fault consists in lime and sand, does it? A. Yes, sir. Q. Could there be good mortar made out of this lime and sand? A. I should think not. Q. Have you used the Lemont lime? A. I have discarded it altogether. Q. Don't regard it as good lime? A. No, sir. Q. Then the fault, as I understand, is in the mortar, and not in the brick or the work? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you notice the stone work? A. The foundation stone. Q. Did you notice the general appearance? A. Pretty fair work-some of the joints want trimming. Q. What is it worth to put brick in the wall-parties finding the brick and all the material? A. I am hardly competent to answer, because I don't know how much your clear sand would cost; I heard somebody else say he made an estimate-he says fourteen dollars a thousandthat's all I could say. Q. Eleven dollars and fifty cents would be very low, would it not? A. I should think so. Q. What was it worth to set those stone? Mr. ROBERTS: I suppose, Mr. Robinson, you are lawyer enough to know. I suppose you are no prosecutor. All I want to do is to get at the facts. We have no objections to the truth coming out. [To the witness.] Q. What was it worth to set the stone? A. Don't know. Q. You are an architect, not a builder? A. No, sir. Q. Well, is an architect necessarily a good judge of work? A. He ought to be; I have been a builder. Q. You have experience. Do you know an architect, Mr. Bauer? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know Mr. Carter ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Do you know a builder there by the name of Deekman ? A. Yes, sir. Q. What is their character ? A. Bauer and Carter are very good. Q. Deekman's character as a builder? A. Good as a stone contractor. Q. Would you have faith in their judgment, as much faith in their estimate, of the cost of a building, as you would have in their being good architects (and Deekman); would you have faith in their estimate and judgment? A. Yes, sir. Deekman has made several estimates, and finished some contracts in my office. Vol. I-105 |