Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-06-28
CORR|E ON THE STAND
Carnegie and Co.'s Superintendent
Tells About Armor Plate Frauds.
SILL'S STATEMENT SUBSqANTIAfED
Deliberate Deception Practiced
in Making tho Tests.
\ CHAPTER OF INIQUITY

Superintendent Corrie OF the Carnegie ar
NOR plate shops was before the congress
sional invetigating committee today. He Is
the superintendent one degree higher than
Superintendent Cline. who has testified to
having changed the reports before they
went 10 Corrie and then to the government
officers. Corrie said he received reports
each morning from Superintendent Cline CT
the press shops. These reports were copied
in the record book and then a transcript of
the record, the original. was furnished
to the government officers. He received
these reports direct from Cline and pre-
sumed them to be correct, although he had
TO knowledge Of whether they We're correct
or incorrect.
Corrie said he had general direction of
pulling test plates. In September he d.
rected that the pulling should be according
to the government contract Before that
the directions in some cases were not In ac-
cordance with the contracts. The test ma
chine had been run very fast. giving a ten
sile strength of 1900 or 400 pounds greater
than existed.
Some of COrrie's Admissions.
This was meant a falsihcation?"
queries Representative Money.
Corrie admitted this to be the case. The
work was '.jockeyed' and manipulated"
in some instances.
Representative Money-"Did your supe-
riors konw Of thts?"
Superintendent Corrie-"Yes the general
superintendent knew Of II. We had spoken
Of It,"
Representative Mopey-"What was the
motive for the ,1ockeying.' manipulation
and deceiving Of government officers and
making false returnsr
Mr.. Corrie said he knew Of no motive
He had no stock in the company nor had
Schwab. to his knowledge. The .tockeying
covered minor details. and the plates would
have been accepted II submitted to the
ordnance bureau.
AS to test plates. they were treated at
times without reporting the fact to the
government officers, the witness said. 1t
was not reported, because the officers
| trying to bring plates up to the highest
standard. The company officials differed
as to how this could be done. Corrie ex-
perimented by re-treating the test specimen
plates.
| Believed They Knew Better.
Representative Dolliver questioned Corris
closely as to his right to give this treat
ment after the test plate had been chosen
by the government officers and was awaiting
their tests. The questions also brought out
that the group OF plates represented by the
test plate did not receive this re-treatmen1,
| Assistant Manager Hunsicker believed re-
treatment would improve a plate. ana hid
tendent Schwab. But the latter and Corrie
did not think So and In Ctrrte's opinion the
| re-treatment did not improve the test plate.
This re-treatment was not reported to the
company.
do you mean to say" asked Representa-
| tive Talbot. that this test plate was turn
ed over to the government and sent to
Indian Head for the government test with
out the re-treatment being reported to the
company
Il do answered Corrie.
Representative Dolliver asked Corrie what
assurance could be given In view Of the
| armor now on American war vessels was
worth anything. Corrie said that in q gen
eral way he knew the plates were good.
He knew this aside from any specific evt-
dence Of changed reports, falsifications. &C.
Returning to the altered reports Of Cline.
Corrie said in some instances he knew Of
Cline's changes. He did not know that
the reports were systematically changed
from the actual reports Of work done. Cline
was discharged because Capt. Sampson OF
the ordnance bureau demanded it.
wasn't .,e It pretty rough. ,,a asked Repre-
! charged and you retained?'
Corrie said he had not admitted know
Ing what Cline had done: Talbot specified
three plates. on which Corrie had directed
Cline to make retreatment.
The roughness. suggested Chairman
Cummings. amid laughter. consisted in
choosing Corrie to discharge Cline"
ne AOm1tA Oruerln8 rr0u0ulent work
Chairman Cummings read the testimony
of John Richard. a workman, that certain
fraudulent treatment of stretching a plate
had been ordered by Corrie. The latter
| stated that Richards evidence was true
Corrie said he did not know personally
that false specimens had been secretly SUBJ
stituted for the real specimens. He had
heard Of 1t in the works in such u way as
to believe 1t. but did not investigate II. He
had understood that the real specimen was
spoiled, so that some other specimen, from
another plate. was substituted as repre-
senting the plate from which the spoiled
specimen was taken. AS 1t did not occur
often he did not look into 1t.
Corrie denied the evidence Of workmen
that he had told them to get the govern
ment stamp. held by the naval officers
The man who had charge Of the testing
machne-where the ''jockeying'' was done
was H. S. Corrte. a cousin of the witness,
who made the tests from orders by Super
intendent Corrie.
The latter again explained the method of
running the test machine rapidly SO as to
have II record results up to the require
ments of the government contracts, and
Chairman Cummings characterized the pro-
cess as a deception on the government. A
recess was taken until $50 o'clock.