about the 20th day of March, 1877, Mr. Willbur himself filed a
statement of such extra work and material, in which he claimed for the
same the sum of $42,685.20.

Another statement made by Willbur, in February, 1878, presents a claim
on account of the same matters amounting to $47,159.62.

This claim, so variously stated, is based upon the allegation that
tiling and frames of greater thickness than were required by the
contract were put in the building. Although it is insisted by the
claimant that these thicker tiles and frames were directed to be put in,
or at least accepted by the person having charge of the construction of
the building for the Government, I hardly think it will be seriously
contended that the claimant has any legal claim against the United
States.

But, with a view of discovering whether, upon equitable grounds, the
claimant should be paid anything by the Government for glass and iron
of greater thickness than its contract with Bartlett, Robbins & Co.
required, and which had been put in its building by their subcontractor,
the Secretary of the Treasury in 1884 appointed a committee of three
persons to examine and report upon this claim of Willbur's, "with a view
of determining what portion, if any, it is proper for the Government
to pay."

On the 24th day of January, 1885, this committee made a report by which
they determined that there should be paid to the claimant on account of
the matters alleged the sum of $1,214.90.

This report was based upon the measurements, examinations, and estimates
of two experts, one selected by the claimant and the other by the
committee. The report was transmitted to the House of Representatives by
the Secretary of the Treasury and an appropriation asked to pay the
amount awarded.

But Mr. Willbur was not satisfied, and on the 6th day of January, 1885,
addressed a communication to the Secretary of the Treasury in which this
passage occurs:

I shall insist on a remeasurement of the entire work, as this is vital
to my claim. The excess which I furnished can only be ascertained by
weight instead of by measuring the thickness of the plates and frames.

At the second session of the Forty-ninth Congress, and early in 1886,
this claim was before the Senate Committee on Claims, and at the
instance of the committee this work was again examined by experts, who
came to the conclusion that the claimant was entitled to the sum of
$45,615.67 for the extra work wh