Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-03-26
STATE BRIDGE
tEEAND DEAL To
' START SOON
Investigation to be Conducted
by Attorney General and
Six State Legislators
TWO BRIDGE CASES
One for Sale of DonneIl Prop
erty Here; Other for Hack"
ensack Bridge

TRENTON, March 26.-NoW that
the legislature is over actloh 10
looked for shortly on the pfope u
.be bridge activities OF the ,It Uu':vu ~,
state Highway Commission. Lne N
yestigation is to be conducteo ~
farnev General Thomas f. McCrans
WI ~ r;,,neeI for the six members OF
the legislature, three senators en-
three assemblymen. who are chaiSeu
bv tha resolution passed by the Id"
,,o.lrars to do this work. II Is eA-
nacted that in the near future lile
Committee will confer Win lle a.
rornev general and at that tiliie
make known its plans as to the uale
for the start of the probe ana otiiei
details. ,,.a who
will not likely appear III person -
Colonel A. S. L. Doughty OIL bulllis
ION county, who is repofteu It
very seriously i'll at his nome - Ne
uoi1v This former highway coIlliiilo- e
sioner has been in bau health since
last summer, and at that time was
fNorced TO forego mis- duties anu tdhe
sa extended vacation in Canaua,
ufha other members, 1t IS ahtieI-
n,fed will all be subpoaeneo 10 dp-
pear They include George H. Duh
ION Of South River. who was III ti,e
chairman; Thomas V Dufty OF Fat
erson: George Paddock Mewath, i.
Thonas Z. Collins. Ell1apS.n' EN-
charles Seabrook, BridsetoIl,
enei Walter +. Whittemore' OIL N1m CIV
ton. and Benjamin L, farrlel " d
Sav City. Messrs. Whlttemore anu
f,1,,srhtv were classed as Repupiicau
,1,e,Ehers OF the commission, ali the
rest being Democrats. ,,4 t,ro
If IL a singular thing that but t~o
ot M actions for which the olu
BOARD was severely criticized III ,I eliE
,7,ess and on the stump Oh last 1Maii M
10 to he brought within the scope
~ "a. investigations. One OF these
;, whether the $23n,00O paid tor tne
anoroaches to the new AAiooS
ridge over the Raiitan river III
Middlesex county was an eAcessiVe
uayrnent, and the other VIII eAalilii.e ny
ibe circumstances surrounding the
nod of the contract for the con-
vtrnction of the temporary WOODEN
bridge over the Hackensack river
last June to John Ferris OF Jersey
Citv. p member of the commlsslon''
Who resigned from the board on tIle
dav his firm, StiHman, Delehanty q
Ferris. was given the job without
!, ,5varfising for bids. This was Done
on the explanation that the prloge'
which is a link in the Lincoln hlsn-
way between Newark and Jersey
CITY, had to built on an emersency
basis to meet traffic demands, .tne
r9ontract was awarded on a cost pius
+sr ner cent basis, and it is under
sfnod the total expenditure was over
SSO0,000. ., ~.
Although it has been charged by
ravarnor Silzer that million dol
lars was wasted by the former COM
,,,ission in the use of patented pave
,nents. the resolution which was
y.assed by the Republican majority
II the legislature, failed to lnclude
&al,thority for the probers TO go INTO
n bis subject. The reference 10 the
waste of a cool million relates 10 t,le
mse of Warranite pavement ana lne
eeiIure of the controlling forces 10
ss,ci,,de a probe of this feature OF
the old commissions activities, IS IN
dicative of the hold these patehLeu
Tavins influences had on the peo-
nTa,a representatives during the last
Whether or not a million dollars
=, one dollar was wasted, as
charged, the inconsistency OF exam
ming some OF the acts OF the oiu
hoard and ignoring others IN an N
vestigatiOn, was apparent het - 49,
Massage of the resolution. so lar as
Warranite pavement is concerned,
engineers OF high standing say 1t is
hier-class and very durable, put
what they object to is the heavy roy
alties and patented charges whlch lts
promoters demand.
When the probe resolution was
nassing the House of Assembly AS
semb man DeVoa of Middlesex'
pemc 4, offered an amendment 10
IncluA Thin the coming inVestiga-
lion ne acts of the old board
fut publican Floor Leader Corloo
of Atlantic, blocked the move and
sven refused to answer questions OF
MIR. DeVoe. The latter was acting at
III, suggestion of Former Chairman
George l.. Burton CT the ousted COM
mission, who had asked for a COM
plete investigation.
If is expected the attorney general
vyiIl take the testimony of Colonel
Doughty at his home, as his health
would not warrant mis- attending the
s,z.}s 81 ~ tde probe committee, ac-
cording to information here. fe -
expected also that one of the i'm
p,rtant witnesses will be Einar Bar
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