The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-01-21

work. The estimates given to-day l am
willing to swear to-"
Here is an item in your former es-
innate Mr.. Charlton said put down as
lobbying the river and harbor bill through
Congress, $4,000 Why did you put that
down in the cost of mattresses? Is that
| correct?"
i don't know anything about it," was
the reply. Il put it in thinking it might
possibly have been paid"
asked.
That's about the cost of it, I suppose,
was the reply
Then you put in this libellous statement
ABOUT the purchase OF Congress without
knowing what you Were saying?" was
asked.
Il did not know anything about it posi-
lively. 1t was simply hearsay," he said.
Hearsay from whom?' was asked
Some of their own men," was the reply.
1t was not meant that it was 10 buy Con-
gress, but to get the thing explained, 1
suppose"
Il suppose for charity then" comment
ed Mr.. Charlton. I'm spite of all that"
ne continued, you could not get the cost
beyond nine cents a square yard. ?"
NO sir" was the reply.
The witness stated that 1t took about
the same amount of brush to build a one
course Gillette mattress as it did to build
an eight-course Carter mattress. He
said first he thought he had, and then
that he knew he had made honest reports
OF his work. He took great deal of
pride in his work.
We'll, what was Accomplishment" Mr..
Charlton asked
What was intended to be accomplished"
was the reply. ut has undoubtedly been
a success"
He said possibly he might have reported
n ersa De-, 81 IL,
contract of 1896, and that the material was
good That, he said, meant plenty ac-
cording to the standard given him, and
not according TO the specifications 1t
was good material and sufficient to do it's
work. He had never stated that military
fascines would be of better service In the
river, he said. He thought they would
serve better, however, in getting the hight
| required.
Mr.. Cooper considered that a great err
ror had been made in the work at Cum
berland sound by putting in mattresses
OF the third design, and Mr.. Charlton sug-
gested that he had put his opinion against
mat OF Capt. Carter and of the chief of
| engineers.
In Savannah harbor, he said the rough
brush mattresses were better than the
| others, when the price was taken into con-
| s1deration. But when the price is the
same as for the fascine mattresses the
latter are the best, as the hight is secured
| by using them.
He considered the log mattress best for
| Cumberland sound work, or where the
bottom is hard, stone. Granite, he said,
| was better than Florida rock for the jetty
work because it is heavier In the Sa-
vannah harbor, he stated. the jetties built
of Florida rock had formed one solid mass
or a monolith. They We're solid masses
/ of shells so to speak. He did not con-
/ slider lichtDeSg desirable in rock
| Mr.. Cooper's estimates on the construc-
| ton of mats was on the idea that two a
day would be built. The reports showed
that fifteen or eighteen month had been
| built on the breakwater, an average, max
| ing allowances of about one in two days.
Mr.. Cooper admitted that in his estimates
| he had left out the elements of contract
ors risk, loss of mattresses, loss from
| storms, reflections and other matters. Nor
| had he taken into consideration the neces-
| sity of building trestle at Cumberland
sound. He said, however, that he was not
estimating on Cumberland sound
! There had been no change in the con-
struction of the bundles of brush, he said,
between the time he came here last and
| the time Capt. Gillette took charge. A
! few minor changes were made after the
storm of 1893. He was shown copies of
three letters. The first he said, he had
never seen; the second he thought he had,
]
| remembered having seen.
! He said he did not remember ever hav-
! ing made any deductions on account of
poor material. Mr.. Charlton then pro-
duced several reports which Mr. Cooper
| identified as his own, and in which de-
| auctions We're made because of improper
! material OF material that did not go into
| the work. There were three of these re-
ports introduced in evidence. Mr.. Cooper
! claimed that one of them was a clerical
| error and in the other cases he said the
mattresses were deducted from the meas
| urements.
The mats used on Tybee breakwater
he had described in his reports as mats
of the third design, and Inspector Daniels
had also described them the same way.
He explained that this meant the third
| design, as he understood them from in
| structions received from Capt Carter, and
not that the mattresses were in accord
ance with specifications.
A letter written by Mr.. Cooper with re-
gard to certain mat in the breakwater
which he said had been poorly made was
read 10 the court. The contractors the
letter stated, had been notified that such
mattresses would not be accepted.
This action, he said, also, was taken
in accordance with his instructions, ana
not under the specifications
do you mean to say" Mr.. Charlton
asked that you would do a thing that
was not right rather than lose your
placer
mo, sir; simply obeyed ORDERS" was
the reply.
"obeyed orders you thought wrong
rather than lose your placer" was asked.
Eyes, sir" was the reply.
He intimated that il was as much as a
private understanding with Capt Carter
| that led him to act as he did There
were other parties present, he said, when
the standard mat was shown him He
said he had been told to carry on the
work as ne found it, and he understood
the situation fully When he reported
that the material was good and sufficient.
it was, as he understood, good and suffi-
cent 10 mean in accordance with his in
structions.
Mr.. Cooper had stated that no mat
| tresses of the second design had been put
in the works in the Savannah river. A
report signed by him giving an account
of some mattresses of the second class
used in the work was introduced. He
said, though he had signed the report he
had not written 1t. The statement about
the mattresses of the second class, he said
was a clerical error. Other reports were
also introduced showing that he had re-
ported mattresses Of the second design
These, he said, were misstatements.
As It was about o'clock, the examina-