} The amount of penalties imposed shall be granted by the députation permanente to the bureau of charity of the commune where the infraction occurred or to a hospital if one exists in the locality. ARTICLE 16. Commencement and completion of the work. The contractor shall commence the work within 10 days of the order that he shall receive from the administration; the work must be entirely finished the 1st of November, 1890, period at which it will be submitted to a provisory reception. The reception shall be in the presence of the commission aud shall be verified by a regular official report. ARTICLE 17. In the case where the contractor, by carelessness, ill-will, or lack of means shall refuse to comply within 10 days to the orders which may be given to him by the provincial engineer, the work will be proceeded with and the expenses resulting therefrom shall be deducted from the payment of the last quarter of the enterprise. ARTICLE 18. Fines and forfeits. For each day of delay beyond the time established the contractor shall be liable to a penalty of 20 france per day; if this delay reaches 30 days, on the 31st day the contractor shall forfeit all his right to the undertaking and all expenses resulting therefrom shall be at his charge. ARTICLE 19. Delay. The députation permanente alone accords an extension or delay in the finishing of the work. It alone also inflicts the penalties after having heard the province and the contractor interested. The penalties that the contractor will have incurred shall be turned into the provincial treasury. ARTICLE 20. The contractor will be held to guaranty his work for the term of 1 year from the time of the legal provisory reception; he will keep it in perfect order during that lapse of time. At the expiration of this time and before the route be recovered with a bed of sand 2 centimetres in thickness, the final reception shall take place. Works left in suspense shall be executed officially and their cost be withheld from the amount of the 5 per cent. held for guaranty. The final reception will take place in the presence of the commission and will be verified by a regular and detailed legal report. ARTICLE 21. The contractor can not, in any case, give over his undertaking to any one whatsoever, without the consent of the administration; the subcontractors that he may associate with himself will not be recognized by the administration. All infringements of the stipulations contained in the present conditions will be verified by the provincial engineer; the legal documents will be prepared in duplicate, of which one will be delivered at the real or chosen residence of the contractor against a receipt signed by him. The same mode of delivery will apply to other acts of which the notification must be verified in an official manner. In case of the absence of the contractor or his proxy, or upon the refusal to deliver the receipt, the delivery can be made at the residence, either by a registered letter through the post, at the expense of the contractor, or by the declaration of an agent of the direction establishing the delivery of the documents at the residence of the contractor. ARTICLE 23. All differences arising between the province, the provincial engineer, and the contractor shall be submitted to the commission, reserving appeal to the députation permanente, to whose decision the contractor must submit without further recourse. ARTICLE 24. Payments. The payments will be made quarterly, in proportion to the advancement of the work, reserving the amount of 5 per cent. to serve as guaranty and which will be paid at the final reception of the work, d duction having been made for the amounts officially expended, of which mention has been made in Article 17. The payments will be made in cash upon the certificates delivered by the provincial engineer verifying the portion to which the contractor is entitled. All payments made within 8 days following the delivery of each certificate will be considered as cash, Fifteen days before the estimated time of the delivery of each certificate the provincial engineer of the roads shall inform the commission of the delivery of this piece to the contractor. In case of delay in payment, there shall be 5 per cent. interest due to date from the eighth day after the emission of the certificate of reception, of which the contractor shall receive an official notice for his guidance. ARTICLE 25. Indemnities. No indemnity shall be allowed to the contractor on account of losses, injuries, damages caused by negligence, want of means, or bad workmanship, unless it can be established that the injuries or delays came from a superior power and were independent of his will. The contractor will be allowed to plead the superior power, whether for a claim of indemnity of any kind whatever, or to justify the nonexecution of any part of the work, or to obtain a remission of all or part of the penalties that he had incurred, only in case that, within 10 days of the circumstances or events from which may have resulted the obstacles or damages, he will have made kuown the situation to the administration. ARTICLE 26. The contractor shall comprise in his offer— 1. A sum of 1,134,35 francs for works unforeseen. 2. The expenses of printing, of advertising, of posters, of stamp and registering the conditions and legal contract of adjudication, valued at 200 francs. The payment of these expenses shall be made within 8 days following the approval of the legal contract. 3. Three per cent. upon the total of the amount of adjudication to the profit of the province. ARTICLE, 27. Security. In order to take part in the adjudication the competitors must deposit in the national bank the sum of 4,000 francs either in cash or national bonds. The receipt for the deposit must be annexed to the offer. Any offer to which this receipt is not annexed will not be considered. The restitution of the deposits to the unsuccessful competitors will be made, with the authority of the governor of the province, immediately after the approval of the adjudication. The amount deposited by the one obtaining the contract will remain in the national bank as security until the temporary reception of the work. ARTICLE 28. Method of adjudication. The assignment will be made upon the offers addressed to the greffier (notary).of the province of Antwerp, by registered letters placed in the post at least 1 day before the date fixed for the adjudication. The greffier, assisted by the delegates of the communal administration and chief engineer, will proceed to the opening of the offers in public session. The offers, which shall contain stipulations other than those provided for in the given conditions, will not be considered. The offers and the legal copy of adjudication will be submitted to the approval of the common council, and if necessary to that of the députation permanente. Prepared by provincial engineer. Antwerp, April 16, 1890. (Signed.) Seen and presented chief engineer, director. (Signature.) FORM OF OFFER. I, the undersigned (full name), contractor of public works, living at street, No. ——, do engage by this offer, under guaranty of all my property, real and personal, to undertake, upon the terms and provisions of the contract and conditions, all the work for the construction of a chaussée following the route No. 3 at Waerloos, in consideration of a sum of (indicate the amount in writing and in letters), putting on the work paving of the fourth sample (indicate the kind and origin of the paving stone). Made at (Signed.) the day of 18—. < DISTRICT OF WAERLOOS. Estimated expense of works to be executed in the construction of a carriage road following the route No. 3: While the Department of State is making such laudable efforts for the extension of our commerce and industry it behooves us not to lose sight of matters at home equally conducive to our prosperity. In order to lay clearly and concisely my subject before the Department I will do so by presenting two pictures. Americans who find themselves in Europe are struck with astonishment at the enormous loads drawn by horses and dogs here. One glance of the eye from the bulk just mentioned to the roads and half the wonder would be accounted for, because the roads have almost everything to do with it. We are too apt to ignore that which we trample under foot. The ancients knew and appreciated more the importance of good public roads than we do to-day, though at the present time in Europe this is a subject of first importance. Many of the roads built by the ancient Romans and traveled by the proud Roman conquerors remain to this day. This is particularly the case in Turkey, where they have, ever since the Roman era, been in use with little or no repair. Of the numerous evidences left by them of their greatness and civilization I deem these roads the seal and stamp. Belgium is divided into nine provinces, and each province is the seat of a wellorganized State government, presided over by a governor. Each of the nine proviuces, at each seat of government, has a bureau for roads and bridges whose chief gives his undivided attention to these things. The roads are most carefully engineered in the first place, heavy grades, even in mountainous localities, being carefully avoided. The roads are built in an oval form, and in most cases are paved with stones; in others gravel forms the road bed, and still in others gravel covers the stone, which, soon becoming hard and smooth, makes the best road bed of all others, because the jolts and noise of a paved road, which are both tiresome and disagreeable, are avoided, and then the wear and tear are not so great on the running gear, and this kind of road is decidedly more agreeable to pedestrians and possesses, in addition to other advantages enumerated, the advantage that if the gravel washes away the stones remain and a good road is always assured. The stones composing the roads are of a blunt wedge shape, 4 or 5 inches square, and are quickly laid and quickly taken up if necessary. These stones are uniform and regular in size, and, when placed, dirt is placed over the new pavement and then a large roller, drawn by four horses, is passed and repassed over it until the stones are well settled in their places and the crevices filled with earth. In constructing roads here regard is always paid to locality and liability to wash. Where there is no danger of washes stones are dispensed with altogether and an oval-shaped gravel road substituted at less cost, but in all cases the sides of the road receiving the drainage and where it is apt to show first symptoms of yielding to bad weather are carefully paved so that washes and gullies can not commence in that quarter. These roads are flanked on either side by two, and sometimes four, rows of shade The public roads of Belgium enter into successful competition with the railroads, |