Evening star., 1939-06-05
Truck Change Cost
W.P. $1,500,000,
Probers Told
Investigator Describes
New York Contract
As 'SwindIe'
By BLAIR BOLLES.

Lie tutl dl government lOSL Sl,-
500 900 in four months as a result of
changed specifications for dump
trucks by the w. P. A. in New York
City, oroered by Col. Brehon Somer-
veil, the New York Works Progress
chief, and adhered to by him in the
face of repeated complaints by his
own workers, the House Appropri-
ations Committee heard today.
The story Of the trucks was told
in relays by Ralph Burton, commit
tee investigator, and Lancelot Arm
strong, Staten Island attorney, who
represented the Bronx IN. "
Trucking Association, when the con-
troversy over the changed specihca-
tions was raging-in the fall of
1887. Col. Somervell is still the
w. P. A. head in New York.
The loss came as the result of an
order issued by the w. P. A. in Au.
gust, 1887, that after that date only
dump trucks of 1885 models or later
could be used on w. P. A. jobs, Mr..
Burton and Mr.. Armstrong said.
AS a result of this order, con-
tractor in White River junction, Vt.
named S. H. Manning, bidding. from
a blind address on Long Island
won a contract which netted him
more than $4,000.
Calls Contract Swindle.
Mr.. Armstrong under oath labeled
this contract a 'sWindle," because,
he said, his trucks had only or
As cubic yard hauling capacity,
where the contract called for trucks
Of to 7 yards capacity. Further
more, the Witness testified, the Man.
ming trucks were Withdrawn from
the Orchard Beach Park job. Bronx
N. Y, to which they were assigned
nine days before the expiration of
the contract. Nevertheless, the Gov
ernment paid the money, he said.
Until the 1885 model order was
issued, Mr.. Armstrong said, Bronx
truckers were handling w. P A.
dump truck jobs in the Bronx, using
old trucks. In January, 1887, he
said, inspectors began to find min
ute fault with these trucks-laying
them off because the windshield
wiper was not operating Con a hot
day. or because the oil lantern used
as tail light on dump trucks lacked
kerosene Gin broad daylight.
One truck driver. Mr. Armstrong
was told that he lacked the
proper sort of tires on his truck.
He left the job and had grooves
burnt into his tires. When he re-
appeared on the Job the w. P. A.
checker told him according to Mr.
Armstrong;:
That's the kind of tires we want
on trucks around here"
Truckers Protest.
Irked at such treatment. the
Bronx Trucking Association, which,
Mr. Armstrong said, includes 80 per
cent of the truckers in the Bronx
protested to Col. Somervell Mr.
Armstrong reported him as saying:
Il intend to smoke these men
out"
The witness explained to the COM
mittee that these men" were the
Bronx truckers operating the old
dump trucks, which the colonel al
legedly dismissed as museum
pieces"
The colonel was building up his
case to show the old trucks were
costing too much money" Mr.. Arm
strong remarked to the committee.
He said the Bronx trucks were car
rying 81 loads day of to 7 cubic
yards each. at $l3 a day.
In October, 1897, when the Old
Orchard bid was made the Manning
trucks, which Col. Somervell admit
ted on the alleged grounds of greater
efficiency and less cost, hauled "a
loads of less than cubic yards
each at s2330 a day, Mr.. Arm
strong said Mr. Manning submitted
his bid on the basis of the 1885
model specification.
Vermont Trucks Used.
Only one trucking contractor in
New York could supply the late
models, Mr.. Armstrong said-one
Tufano. The Manning trucks came
in from New England with Vermont
license tags and driven by chauf-
feurs with Vermont permits, al
though, according to the witness,
previous w. P. A. practice prohibited
the use of trucks without New York
(See W. p. A., Pare A-1E.)