Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-14

witness, Frank Thompson, having put in an
appearance, he was at once sworn and placed
on the stand. Witness said he was brick
layer by trade, and had worked in the tunnel
on three separate engagements. There was no
fault to be found with the brickwork. Under
the dry-packing contract the stone was thrown
in. Witness never saw it hammered or forced
in. The mortar used by the bricklayers was
generally good, but occasionally it would have
too much sand in it, Witness complained Of it
whenever it was unsatisfactory. The quality
of brick used was good. Witness said that the
bricklayers used to run the arch up eight or
nine courses before the packers commenced to
fill up the space at the sides of the arch. There
were lots Of places where the packing was
ROLLED IN WITHOUT MORTAR.
In packing over the key it was almost Gus
tomary to build face wall at the end Of each
section SO as to give the work q finished appear
ance and to prevent the loose stone behind it
from rolling out. Witness stated very clearly
who were set to work at packing did not know
how to do the work. Had better men been en-
ployed there would have been better work.
During the past spring he moved from Howard
university to Rock creek east, and there was
much dry packing; most Of it, in fact, was dry.
what seemed to be a good deal Of work. Next
morning Inspector Briggs examined the work
and discovered
QUITE LARGE HOLE IN IT.
Col. Craighill-"What do you mean by quite
a large hole?"
Witness-"A place into which you could put
a government wagon"
Witness, continuing, said that it took three
days to properly pack the cavity. The work
was hurried to such an extent that it could not
possibly be good. Sub-contractor Palmer was
nlx Il ALL
who were at work in Rock creek that the men
in Champlain avenue were keying up great
length Of arch and packing it, too. Witness
told Palmer that more could not be done,
and at the same time be thorough. Wit
ness saw Col. Kerlin, the chief inspector,
every day in the tunnel. He knew when the
colonel was coming and when his lamp was Wis
ible it was customary to throw a quantity of
mortar over the dry stone and thus conceal the
bad work. The workmen were
DRIVEN TO DECEPTION By THE CONTRACTORs.
The conspiracy was thoroughly organized, and
its object was to deceive the government in
spectors. Witness said he never saw either
Beckwith or Quackenbush examine work. Wit
ness did not know Major Lydecker and could
not say, therefore, whether he had ever seen
the major in the tunnel. He saw Lieut.. Town
send once.
On being cross-examined by Capt. Chester,
witness reasserted that it was comparatively
easy for packer to deceive an inspector, and
he described just how it might be done. He
said that when he did less work than Palmer
thought he ought to do he always heard from
Sometimes he did more than his ''task, /" but he
got neither praise nor additional compensatisn
for 1t. Bad work was always done when the
inspector left the scaffold. None of the pack
ers in Witnesses gang were ever discharged for
bad work.
GIVEN THE WHOLE SNAP AWAY.
When the witness concluded his testimony
the court smiled, and one Of the officers in the
room remarked that Thompson had "given the
whole snap away"
CIVIL ENGINEER CORYELL WITNESS.
The next witness was Civil Engineer George
II. Coryell, at one time employed on the aque-
duct extension. He was engaged he said, by
Capt. Symons, in the latter part of September,
1884. His appointment was as an assistant en-
gineer and was dated October Is, 1884. Major
Lydecker then informed witness that
THERE HAD BEEN AN ERROR
in the line Of the tunnel and asked him il he
would bring together the two headings, which
at that time were travelling away from each
other. Witness then made a resurvey Of the
alignment and grades; he had to. The origi-
nal lines, if carried out, would have separated
the headings from 6 to 13 feet.
Witness said he looked in a general manher
after the tunnel construction. The number OF
had frequently asked that the force be in
creased.
General Ringer and the witness had quite a
lengthy technical colloquy on the subject OF
excavation, which ended without developing
much information. Witness said he knew of
BAD BRIcKwoRK
in several places in the tunnel. He had the
faulty work torn out and replaced by good
sound construction. He reported the work
men to Capt. Symons. The dry packing called for
by the first specifications was good. The NOR
tar packing had too large proportion Of stone.
Witness said he once recommended the discharge
of Inspector Lucas, but Major Lydecker did
not remove him because witness did not make
the recommendation in writing. The brick
work was good in nearly all instances, but the
masonry lining was, in witness opinion, toe
naturally come. The lining should be of iron.
THE BRICK LINING WAS LIABLE TO RUPTURE
If there were any vacant places above the arch
The witness made bold and persistent en-
deavor to condemn the whole scheme, and. in
spite of Colonel Craighill's efforts to bring him
back to the question, he succeeded in saying
that the tunnel was nothing more than an ex-
pensive hole and should never have been con-
structed.
III tQe course Oh CrOSS-e Xanl0atlOn Oy Capt
Chester witness said that he had frequently
made reports to Major Lydecker on various
important matters, but he had never received
any replies. He thought he was entitled to q
reply.
MUTUAL LOSS OF coNFIDENcI.
Lieut. Townsend-''Did you notice tina,
toward the close Of your connection with the
tunnel that Maj. Lydecker did not seem to have
viously?'
Witness-"That may be; I did not have any
confidence in him. The feeling was reciprocal.
Lieutenant Townsend-''Who was in charge
Of the tunnel?"
C0RYELL SAYS HE KNOWS MAJOR LYDRCHIR NEvEI
DID HIS DUTY.
Witness-'Major Lydecker waa supposed to
be in charge, but know he never did hi
duty"
The witness very evidently was not inclined
| to be anything like amiable toward the ieuten
| ant, and he answered many of the queries
rather brusquely. In his replies, he referred
more than once to bad work which had beer
| allowed by Inspector Kerlin, but made no spe
cific statements.
coRYELL WANTED TO CRoss-KxAMrNI IIHuTRNAN,
TOWNSEND.
"Can I ask few questions now?" aueriet
the witness, when his examination Was CON
cluded.
| "Of whom would you ask themr' said Gen
Ruger.
"Of Lieut.. Townsend"
''Oh, no." said the general, who was eyidentl,
rather tickled at the idea Of Coryelrs cross -ex
animation NJ the lieufanan< ssYnO, Fra,,vs,A :.