Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 110, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1909 — Progress of Sternberg Dredges On Iroquois and Howe Bitches. [ARTICLE]

Progress of Sternberg Dredges On Iroquois and Howe Bitches.

The dredge installed by C. G. Sternberg & Sons to clean out the muck from the channel from above Burk’s bridge to the,. Groom bridge, has plowed its way down stream until it is now about a half mile below the Pullins’ bridge. It will keep digging until the Groom bridge is reached and will then be floated down stream to the scene of the rock ledge blasting at the Gangloff farm. This will necessitate the removal of the Groom and Halligan bridges and also of the Monon railroad bridge. It was at first expected to take the dredge to pieces and move it by wagon, but the railroad officials have always been on the most friendly terms with Mr. Sternberg and they have consented to let the dredge pass through their right-of-way. It is thought that the Groom bridge will be reached within three weeks, at least by the first of November and as B. J. Moore expects to have all the blasting done at the upper ledge before that time, the delay in getting the dredge down there will be made as short as possible. A break in one or two of the drills' caused a slight delay with Mr. Moore Monday, but he made a hurried trip to Chicago and is again on the job.

The Howe ditch is nearing completion. The big dredge Jias worked its way up stream to a mile and a quarter east of the range line road and only about a mile remains to be dug. This will be completed by near December Ist. The dredge will then be brought down steram, necessitating the removal again of all the bridges between the location of the Gilmore dredge and the outlet of the Howe ditch. If high enough water is available the dredge will then be brought back to the place it occupied last winter near the Stott Grant place. The conjecture as to how the Sternberg firm would come out on the Iroquois job in the matter of remuneration is still somewhat conjectural with the firm members themselves. E. G. Sternberg said this morning to the writer that figuring the interest on the money invested in dredges and the depreciation of their property they were undoubtedly losers on the job. They have, the tax payers and public will all agree, been most conscientious contractors, being desirous of fulfilling every feature of their contract and the fact-of going over the upper work again of their own initative shows their fairness. If they w’ere just working for a reputation they could point with commehdable pride at their record here, and it is safe to say that more conscientious men never did business with the public than Sternberg & Sons, based upon their Iroquois, contract. During the time this yyork has been going on they have had several other large contracts, and from them they have made money, but it is probable they . will get little more out of the Iroquois job than their actual expense of construction with nothing for their own time and, a great depreciation of their machinery. The contract price for the construction of the Iroquois was almost SIOO,OOO, and it is taking a big ris’k when the contractor barely gets through with a whole skin.