The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-16
CAPT. GILLETTE UNDER FIRE
Continued from Eighth Pagel

| timing the current"
! Tie training walls in the upper part of
| the river improvements were not built as
| are those in the lower part because the
same efficiency was not needed, he said,
| Piles were driven, eight feet apart and
| brush and stone were sunk there Material
| dug from the river was dumped behind the
/ Jetty, and in many cases formed natural
| banks. Lower down mattresses were used,
| because the jetties are more exposed to the
weather and the action of the water.
Capt. Gillette said the cord used in tying
| the bundles of brush which were in evil
| dence in court he had called spun yarn
| the day before. He corrected that testi-
mony, saying he believed it was known as
| lath yarn or such as is used in tying bun
| dies Of laths. It's strength, he said, might
| be inferred from the use to which it is
| put
Capt. Gillette then read the specifications
in the two contracts Of 1895 as to stone in
| terpreting the meaning of the four differ
| ent classes of stone mentioned. The fourth
! class stone should be Of a specific gravity
Of "a, he said or about $50 pounds to the
cubic foot The blocks must be of random
sizes, weighing from 10 to 80 pounds, while
! OF the third class stone it was required the
weight should be from % to 1000 pounds
In shape the blocks of the fourth class
| stone must be as nearly cubical as posi-
Bile.
Capt. Gillette went over all the features
of the contract relative to stone, but ne
| could not. testify as to the quality and
| character of the stone used because he had
not personally tested it. Florida stone,
! he said, was in some cases a light lime
| stone, in other cases fiinty and heavier.
Capt. Gillette said the orders with re-
! gard to the construction of the mattresses
| by the contractors had not been changed
| by him prior to the time that he inspected
| here Col Barr said he would turn the wit
ness over to the defense
! Col. Barr suggested a recess of half an
| hour, as he learned counsel for Capt. Car
| ter desired. to consult with reference to
| the deposition of Mr.. Twiggs. 1t was a
| question of doubt in the minds of counsel
| whether the deposition of the witness TAX
en- in Augusta, even with counsel for both
! sides present could legally be taken and
| presented to the court. That was the
| point upon which the elaboration would
| be made. Gen. Otis announced that there
| were no objections and the recess was
| taken
was called to order that the counsel for
| the accused were of the unanimous opin-
| ion that it would be a fatal error to allow
| Mr.. Twiggs deposition to be taken as
| suggested by the judge advocate, and the
! defense, he said, did not want any errors
| lowed such dispositions to be taken in
| reasonable cases, he stated, but those
| cases are limited by the express language
| Of the article. Anything in that direction
! outside of the article would be beyond
the express jurisdiction of the court.
| The defense he said, was fortified by
| Col. Winthrop, who said that where the
| conditions named in the article do not
exist such dispositions are excluded.
| Where a witness is within the state,
! therefore, his deposition cannot be taken
| for use before the court, and counsel for
! the accused could not consent. The pro-
| position, he said, was perfectly clear rea-
soning from the analogy of the civil law
| and the general proposition that under
certain specified conditions such deposit
| tons are allowed, but where those condi-
lions do not exist they are excluded. The
rule, he said, applied to a court of limi-
! ted jurisdiction and must be construed
| strictly. 1t would be useless, he said,
to introduce an unwarranted error in the
| case.
Col. Barr said, of course, it was not nee
essary for him to discuss the question. as
! counsel had declined to have the deposit
ton taken as suggested. He stated, how
ever that the jurisdiction of a court-mar-
| tlal was only limited as to certain persons.
| THE course 1 shall now be compelled
| to follow" he said, will be to ask au-
| thOrity from the Secretary of War for per-
mission for this court to proceed to Au-
! gusta, and to listen to the testimony of
this Witness should his condition justify
! his examination -
The cross-examination of Capt Gillette
| by Mr.. Blair then began. Mr.. Blair start
ed with Capt. Gillettes graduation from
| the West Point Military Academy in 1884,
asking him as to his different stations.
Capt. Gillette said he was first stationed
| at Willets Point, where he remained two
and half years. From there he went to
| Cincinnati, where he remained two days,
and was ordered to GAINESVILLE, O., where
| for five years he was engaged in river
work. He left GAINESVILLE in 1892 and went
| to Chicago and from there in September
| 1898, was engineer officer on the staff of
| Gen. Nelson A Miles. He went to San
| Francisco reaching there Sept. 6, 1893 and
remaining until July IL, 1897 His duties
| there were recorder and officer in charge
| of records and inspection of the California
Debris Commission, in which capacity he
| remained for four years.
During this time Capt. Gillette said
| he had to do with brush dams in the
| Sacramento and other rivers for the, de-
| tention of debris from hydraulic mines
Brush was there used, but not in the
| shape of mattresses. The brush was cut
| down as brush and placed in the dam with
| the butts down stream. For the last
| year and half he said he had been in
| charge of the construction OF mattresses
| in Humboldt Harbor, Cal, and of brush
| dams in the Sacramento river.
| Capt. Gillette was asked to describe the
character of mattresses he had to deal
with there.
Bundles of brush" he said, "were built
| into mattress on trestle right over the
| point where the mattress was to be sunk
| They were small mattresses, however
from 20 to 80 feet wide. The bundles of
| brush were put in place on top of the
| lower grillage and the whole compressed
as tightly as possible by screw power
The mattresses were about three feet
thick between the two grillages after COM
| preston"
OF the $1,75O,Ou for this improvement,
| Capt. Gillette said about three-ffths of il
had been expended up to the time he left
! and about 100000 of the amount was spent
under his control. In his report for 1927
he stated that he had superintended the
putting in of S.S12.2 cubic yards of mat
| tresses, and in the other half year he was
| there about half that. amount, or. alto.
gether, about 1900 cuNc yards
Had you at any other place experience
| in putting in such mattresses as are used
here?' Mr.. Blair asked
mo, sir" was the reply.