all or the dredging alone of bid 32 be rejected or not rejected by the Secretary of War) by all that is fair, and by the complete and full opinion of the United States district attorney. In conclusion, I have to request that this paper, with the accompanying papers, may be laid before the honorable Secretary of War as early as possible, for a decision of the question as to whom the contract or contracts shall be awarded. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Colonel of Engineers, Brevet Major General. Number of bid. Number of bid. Name of bidder. B 13.-Abstract of bids for furnishing material and Class 3. Manufactured iron. 5,180 1-inch round, nut, and screw 2-washer 37,555 pounds. bolts, 7,124 bars 1-inch sq. iron for drift bolts; 364,637 pounds. 18,668 pounds spikes 8 and 10 inches long, and 4-inch in diameter. Abstract of bids for furnishing material and Nuts and screw wash er bolts, iron. a Bid for whole or none-so understood at the engineer office, Detroit. b In my first draught of abstract, I supposed this to be an honest bid from Sanborn himself, like other bids, and ter, May 7, to the engineer's department, I discovered that it was a shyster bid. Sanborn was a man of straw brouck & Conro.) I now reject the whole of this bid, No. 32, as a bid none but a trickster would palm off ng this abstract to the engineer department, June 11, 1867. I regret that such a bid should disgrace an abstract Additional remarks since my abstracts of May 7 and June 11: I now reject the bid for dredging because of c On a re-examination of the original bid it is discovered that a note accompanied the bid to the effect that articles the prices in his bid should be reduced as low as any other bidder; hence the corrections in Class 3. by classes separately. This abstract, as far as bids 21, 32, and 12 are concerned, is precisely like that sent May 7, 1867, excepting June 11, after I discovered the fraud in bid 32. In my abstract sent May 7 there was no classification either of material, or work, or labor; things to be bid Nor was there any classification in my advertisement. The classification I knew could be made in drawing been the practice in my office in numerous contracts I had before made, and all sanctioned in the department. Total cost of Class 3. doing work at St. Clair flats, Michigan. Classification of work to be done. All the different kinds of work or labor here below have such dependence on each other that they must be put in one class of labor-Class A. doing work at St. Clair flats, Michigan-Continued. for the whole or none, and so received it. After sending off that preliminary abstract and accompanying letin the matter. The bid had been made out and signed with Sanborn's name by Conro, who bid No. 21, (Hasupon the government. The whole chain of facts connected with it are fully set forth in my letter accompanyof mine. The bid, however, was understood at my office to have been for the whole or none. non-compliance in an essential feature with my advertisement to which this bid was in response. as he was not posted with the prices of iron, and bolts, and spikes in the States, he requested that for these This is the lowest responsible accepted bid for the work, whether regarded as to be awarded in aggregate or the parts seen in this in red ink and the remarks, and this is like the one I sent as my final official abstract or were numbered in items for more convenience in bidding intelligently and for computing costs in my office. up the contract to meet the conditions prescribed in section three of the law, as had, for the last two years, Not a word of objection had, to my knowledge, been raised there until the question of St. Clair flats came up. T. J. CRAM, Colonel Engineers. General T. J. CRAM, Copy of original bid No. 21. United States Engineer, Detroit, Michigan: We propose to furnish materials, and do the work, to construct the straight cut canal across the St. Clair flats, according to the plans now on file in your office, as follows: Rock elm or white oak piles, each.... White oak, rock elm, or soft pine, sheet piles, board measure. One-inch round screw-bolts, per pound.. Square iron, for drift-bolts.. Eight and ten-inch wrought spikes.. $3.75 23 00 12 073 10 Preparing and driving round piles, each... Preparing and driving sheet piles, each. Framing and putting in place the sawed timber of all sizes, per running foot.... Dredging for dikes, the earth to be measured in the excavation, per cubic yard..... 2 25 65 081 42 42 HASBROUCK & CONRO, Dredging between the dikes and placing the earth in the canal banks and the dikes, and measured in the excavation.... I certify the above to be a true copy of the original bid. T. J. CRAM, Colonel of Engineers, Brevet Major General. General T. J. CRAM, Copy of original bid No. 32. United States Engineers, &c.: I propose to furnish all materials and do the work for constructing the canal from the mouth of South Pass across the St. Clair flats, 300 feet wide, and the required depth, to be diked with piles and timber on both sides, in accordance with plans and specifications now on file at your office and advertisement, as follows: Round piles, each...... Sawed lumber and sheet piles, per M, board measure Round piles driven, each.. Sheet piles driven, each. $3.50 24 00 2 25 69 Dredging, measured in excavation, per cubic yard.. 34 GEORGE P. SANBORN, Milwaukee. JOHN J. DETON, of Milwaukee, for Bondsmen. O. J. HALL, of Milwaukee, I certify this to be a true copy of the bid 32, which was written out by Conro and signed by Conro with Sanborn's name. T. J. CRAM, Colonel of Engineers, Brevet Major General. Copy of original bid No. 12. DETROIT, April 10, 1867. SIR: I propose to furnish all the material and to do all the work, according to the advertisement for constructing a straight ship canal from the mouth of South Pass directly across the St. Clair flats, 300 feet wide by 13 feet deep, at the following rates: Round piles, each ... MATERIAL. Sheet piling, stringers, water sills, binders, caps, sidings, and crossties, per M, board measure... Round iron bolts, nuts, screws, and washers. Square iron ditto, per pound... Spike, wrought iron, per pound. WORK. Earth to be dredged from between the dikes and put into the dikes and into the canal banks beyond, measured in natural bed or cut.. Measured in the dikes or banks, for so dredging and placing the earth, per cubic yard...... Preparing and driving piles, each. Preparing and driving sheet piles, each.... Framing and putting in place all the sawed timber, per lineal foot... $350 19 00 11 051 08 38 39 2 S0 1 30 043 This bid is put in, paying duties on piles; if no duties, thirty cents less than in my bid. In case the front piling should be required to be driven battring, fifty cents per running foot extra. Sureties: E. TROWBRIDGE & HENDRY, Detroit. T. J. CRAM, Esq., JOHN BROWN. Col. Corps of Engineers, Brevet Maj. Gen. U. S. A., Sup't Harbor and River Improvements. NOTE. The figures in red, under the head "complete cost," show what Brown's total bid would amount to, at prices 7 cents, 5 cents, and 7 cents per pound for nut and screw bolts, iron, and spikes, such as Brown proposed in a note accompanying this bid, and referred to in my letter of 11th June to engineer department, and which note has since been disallowed by the department. T. J. CRAM. This is a true copy of the original bid. T. J. CRAM, Col. Corps Engineers, Brevet Major General. DETROIT, May 2, 1867. DEAR SIR: Not being fully posted in price of iron and bolts, I will say that, if I am fortunate enough to have the whole contract awarded to me, I will furnish those articles at as low a figure as any bid you may receive. My object in making this offer is that I may control the whole work, and then there could be no difficulty between contractors. General T. J. CRAM. JOHN BROWN. |