Place and contractor. Abstract of contracts, &c.—Continued. Labor and materials. RACINE, WIS. Price. Fred. M. Knapp, June 10, 1869. Three-inch pine plank, per thousand (B. M.). Four-inch pine plank, per thousand (B. M.). Wrought-iron spikes, per pound. Framing timber, per lineal foot.. Removing timbers of old pier, per lineal foot.. Putting government stone into cribs, per cord $15 00 15 00 18 33 04 06 10 02 1 50 24. 5 00 4.00 13 50 12 50 35 Amount of the estimated cost of the completion of the several lake harbor improvements under the superintendence of Brevet Colonel J. B. Wheeler, major of engineers, together with the sums asked for the next fiscal year. MILWAUKEE, WIS., December 24, 1868. GENERAL: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, on the 22d instant, of your letter of December 17, inclosing two communications from Mr. David Quinn, dated, respectively, November 25 and December 5, 1868, with instructions from you "to report all facts relative to the work, with amount and character of work done" at Eagle Harbor, Lake Superior. A contract was made with David Quinn, of Chicago, on the 10th day of August, 1867, to remove the rock from the entrance to Eagle Harbor, so as to obtain a depth of not less then fourteen (14) feet at low water. The work to be commenced on or before the 1st day of September, 1867, and finished by October 1, 1868. The engineer's estimate was eighteen hundred and three (1,803) cubic yards to be removed. The advertisement calling for proposals stated that it was "situated in the middle of the entrance, included within an area of two hundred and sixty (260) by one hundred and thirty (130) feet, and in a depth of water not less than ten (10) feet." A copy of this contract, with the advertisement attached, is on file in your office. At the time of bidding, and at other times when asked for, a copy of the map of Eagle Harbor, with this area, above mentioned, marked upon it, was shown to all persons desirous of knowing the location of the work. I am under the impression that Mr. Quinn was furnished with a tracing of this map, but have no record of the fact or his asking for it. Upon examining the records of this office I ascertain, from Mr. Bacon's letters to me and Mr. Quinn's letters, the following dates and facts, viz: That Mr. Quinn was at Eagle Harbor on the 10th of September, 1867, apparently to examine the locality, and did not notify Mr. Bacon, the assistant engineer in charge of this harbor, that he was to be there at that time. On the 24th of September, assistant Bacon writes from Eagle Harbor, that the contractor is not there, and gives his idea of the magnitude of the work. Mr. Bacon writes again from Eagle Harbor, on the 29th of October, that "Mr. Quinn had not as yet settled on his plan of operations," and recommends a remeasurement of the work. It appears that Mr. Quinn had returned to Eagle Harbor, leaving Milwaukee, Wis., on October 24th, and met Mr. Bacon on the 29th of October, 1867, at Eagle Harbor. On the 30th of November, Mr. Bacon writes that as soon as ice is firm enough that Mr. Quinn would try surface blasting; that Mr. Quinn has no fixed plan of operations; and that "Mr. Quinn's operations must of necessity be, for the first, in a measure experimental." On the 24th of January, 1868, Mr. Quinn had returned to Eagle Harbor, and on the 26th Mr. Bacon was there. On the 8th of February, Mr. Bacon transmitted a report, giving in detail the measurements of the work, calculations of the amount to be excavated and the exact location of the ranges, by which Mr. Quinn could work. He states that the ice did not form sufficiently strong until the latter part of January for him to make the survey required. At the same time he reports the want of success in surface blasting, as tried by Mr. Quinn. This failure of the surface blasting and the survey was reported by me to headquarters on February 13th. On February 9th Mr. Bacon left Eagle Harbor. Mr. Quinn appears to have abandoned all surface blasting during this month of February, and commenced the experiment of drilling holes in the rock and charging them with explosive compounds. Mr. Bacon writes on the 2d of March that Mr. Quinn writes him that "he is succeeding beyond his most sanguine expectations." In a letter to me of February 24th, Mr. Quinn states the same thing. On the 25th of March Mr. Bacon writes that the ice had broken up, and Mr. Quinn had left Eagle Harbor to procure machinery, &c., for drilling these holes by steam. In his report of March 31st Mr. Bacon refers to Mr. Quinn having wasted the greater part of February in his experiments of surface blasting, both with powder and nitro-glycerine. He reports very favorably upon the experiments made in drilling holes and charging them with nitroglycerine. He reports having measured 100 cubic yards of loose rock removed, and recommends payment for this amount. From this time to the latter part of May, 1868, nothing was done. Under date of June 22d Mr. Bacon reports Mr. Quinn at work; waiting for nitro-glycerine; and notices an absence of any matured plan of operations on the part of Mr. Quinn. On the 3d of August Mr. Quinn left for New York to see about his nitro-glycerine, that was still delayed. At this point we may consider the work as stopped by Mr. Quinn. Under date of September 30th Mr. Bacon writes that, in his opinion, the cause of Mr. Quinn's failure was his over-confidence, making him undervalue the magnitude of his work, and says that "in June Quinn thought the work more than half done," but that he (Bacon) thought that not more than one-seventh had been done. In November I sent Mr. Bacon to Eagle Harbor to measure up the work done, and under date of November 19th he reports 197 cubic yards of loose rock and gravel and 20 cubic yards of broken rock removed—in all, 217 cubic yards. Also from 400 to 450 holes drilled; which, allowing an average depth of four feet each, would give 1,800 feet of drilling done. This drilling can be done for one dollar and twenty-five cents per foot. Allowing him this liberal estimate, Mr. Bacon thinks that he has been paid in full for what he has done, in which I agree. The 217 cubic yards, at $58, would amount to $12,586; the 1,800 feet of drilling, at $1 25, would amount to $2,250; total $14,836. Mr. Quinn has received 90 per cent. of his contract price on 300 cubic yards, or $15,660. These payments being made respectively on May 13, July 24, and September 10, 1868, on estimates of Mr. Bacon. I append to this letter a copy of Mr. Bacon's report to me for November, with a summary of the season's work, that was prepared without any reference to the matter now before us, that goes over the whole ground, and is in itself a complete answer to your letter of December 17. The foregoing facts and Mr. Bacon's reports are sufficient, without my attempting to reply to Mr. Quinn's communications. In my opinion Mr. Quinn has failed to do the work, in consequence of ignorance and misapprehension of what he had to do, combined with a want of means or ability to procure sufficient funds to carry on the work under a systematic and well matured plan of operations. And I also think that he has been paid in full for all labor performed at Eagle Harbor, and that it would be wrong and unjust, even to Mr. Quinn himself, to extend the time of his contract. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Major General A. A. HUMPHREYS, Chief of Engineers, &c. P. S.-Mr. Quinn's letters to you are herewith returned. Eagle Harbor monthly report for November, 1868; being also the report for the close of the season. ONTONAGON, MICH., December 7, 1868. SIR: In making the regular monthly report for November, 1868, I will combine the report required by your letter of October 1, 1868, for the close of the working season. During the month of November, 1868, no work has been done or attempted at Eagle Harbor by the contractor, Mr. Quinn. His contract time expired on the 1st day of October, 1868, and his application for an extension of time has been refused by the Chief of Engineers. The work has been advertised to be re-let December 30, 1868, by advertisement dated October 12, 1868. This course will probably secure the completion of the work one or two years sooner than to leave it in the hands of Mr Quinn, and at a largely reduced cost. By your orders, I left Ontonagon on the 6th of November, 1868, and arrived at Eagle Harbor the next day, and remained there till November 19, then left for Ontonagon, and arrived November 22. During this visit at Eagle Harbor, I made as careful measurement and cross-sections of the proposed channel, in squares of ten feet, as was practicable; the results of which I transmitted to you under date of November 19, 1868. I will make those results, and the accompanying table of cuttings and calculation of contents, a part of this report, with the following extract from my letter of November 19, 1868: "I have completed the cross-sectioning of the proposed channel at this place, and will transmit the results of the measurements and calculations herewith. "There has been only two days since the day of my arrival (November 7) when anything could be done which would approach to accuracy. "My soundings were all made on the 12th and 18th of the present month. They are approximately accurate, but if the remaining excavation is to be let by the cubic yard, I would recommend a resurvey to be made when the ice is frozen to work on. "I made these soundings from a raft of about forty feet length, which we tried to hold in place with anchors and poles, but I could not do better than a close approximation to position. I would say that the estimate is sufficiently accurate for a settlement with Mr. Quinn, as the work of drilling done must be taken into the account to give him title to the pay already drawn, which could not have been drawn at all under a strict construction of the contract. The results show 217 cubic yards of rock removed. This is nearly all loose rock and pebbles; I would not estimate twenty yards of broken rock removed. The value of the 217 yards, compared with the whole work, is certainly not over 663 per cent. in proportion, these being equal to 145 yards. There are, perhaps, 400 to 450 holes drilled, averaging not over four feet each, or 1,800 feet. The highest estimate of the cost of such drilling is $1 25 per foot. Very many of these holes will be found useless in the progress of the work." I send the pay-rolls for the labor I have employed on the survey, amounting to $47. The contract with Mr. David Quinn for excavating the rock was executed August 10, 1867; the work having been assigned to him as the lowest responsible bidder, July 31, 1867. It was to begin by September 1, 1867, and be completed October 1, 1868. Mr. Quinn made two visits to Eagle Harbor during the season of 1867, but did no work, and made no preparation for work before the close of navigation. Very little could have been done excepting during about three weeks in October 1867, when the weather was very favorable. His plan, at the close of the season, was to work on the ice during the frozen season. He had no materials or machinery, such as drills, drilling machinery, powder, nitro-glycerine, &c., and it was impracticable to get a drilling machine, the nitro-glycerine, or the proper quality of powder, before the opening of navigation in 1868. As soon as the harbor was well frozen, in January, 1868, I made an accurate survey and soundings on and near the proposed channel, in order to determine the best location, and quantity of excavation. The survey and calculations were completed February 8, 1868 and I would here refer to the plan, table, and calculations, as reported under that date. From these results it was determined to locate the channel to be excavated, 80 feet wide, being from 25 feet to 105 feet, west of the Target range, and sections 10 to 17 inclusive. This would require 2,040 cubic yards of rock excavation. Mr. Quinn was present during the survey, and prepared to test his theory that the rock could be blasted by powder exploded on the surface. He had caused some experiments to be made in 1867, without any perceptible effect, and it was again manifest that he might as well explode powder on the water surface. Six or eight kegs of powder produced no perceptible effect on the rock. He exploded ten pounds of nitro-glycerine on the surface of the rock in about ten feet of the water with the same result. He then abandoned the plan on which he had depended, and proceeded to drilling. This he was obliged to do in the most primitive manner, with hammers first, and then spring poles. The ice season proved unusually short, lasting only from the latter part of January to about the 10th of March. He had a large force of men for a short time, drilling and grappling the loose rock. When the ice broke up, about 200 or 300 lineal feet of holes had been drilled, and about 100 cubic yards of the rock removed. He was then paid for 100 cubic yards of excavation at $58 per yard, less ten per cent.-$5,220. Nothing more was done to the work till June, 1868. Mr. Quinn then began drilling, with a good face, with spring poles, on rafts. No blasting was done in June, as he had made up his mind that nothing but nitro-glycerine would answer the purpose, and he could not obtain that, although it had been promised to be shipped from New York as early as May 15. Nitro-glycerine is undoubtedly preferable to powder, but powder could be made to do the work, as the rock is not difficult to drill or fracture. No blasting was done till about July 9, when Mr. Quinn obtained sixty pounds of nitro-glycerine from a mining company, at an enormous cost, and exploded about fifty cartridges in holes scattered without system, most of them being in the deeper parts of the excavation. As might have been expected, the results were not very satisfactory, although it proved the power of the explosive. Common sense would indicate that it would be better to begin blasting on a system to obtain a face. But all the drilling has been done at hap-hazard, trusting in the power of the oil to blow the rock to atoms, without system. Some of the charges produced a good effect, though in most cases the rock seems to be crushed, but not sufficiently broken to allow its ready removal. Mr. Quinn continued the work of drilling and picking up loose rock, with a diminished force, till about the middle of August, when all work was finally discontinued. He left, in pursuit of nitro-glycerine, August 3, and I have heard nothing directly from him since. On the 16th of July, 1868, 100 cubic yards of excavation was reported, and 90 per cent. has been paid, $5,220, making the total payments $10,440. Neither of the payments could have been made under a strict construction of the contract, but both were made at Mr. Quinn's urgent request, to assist in continuing the work. In my opinion these payments cover the full value of all the work done, estimating the whole job at $58 per cubic yard. The season of 1868, from early in May to the middle of August, was one of the most favorable that has been observed since the settlement of the country. Since the middle of August it has been extremely unfavorable. I am sorry to report so little work accomplished, and have indicated the causes of failure. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Colonel J. B. WHEELER, HENRY BACON, Assistant. Major of Engineers U. S. Army, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. |