The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-04-22
COX DEFENDED
 ENGINEER DEPT,
eccntlnued from Page D

E &FaAN"AANAN tho suh.surlaea conditions Of the f dlkN9A
 coxs we had not taken steps to examine the sub-surfaoe Condl- tlonS.n
 "Dld you issue any Fenrlmand tO Che eleSlgn section
 we were acting on the Sunpasla ton that the army had made ex- hAuStlve studies, Apparently no one but Mir, Lane had any concern. While we knew the army had made very exhaustive studies, wo had reason Go believe tho army was satisfied with tho condition,
 "Did you make any check with the Arnyp"
 No Reason tO stop
 We had the feeling that since the job of being aS close Go com. pletion as it was, there was no reason Go stop building it."
 Ifs the danger of displacement of both the dike and boulevard O seri- ous matter from on engineering standpoint"
 &SSs W9WA0 bAkAksh @0e
 "rs tho design section operated on c sound engineering basis in failing to test the suhsurfaco or to confer with the people who nlaoe the tests9"
 "Yes, Wo knew the army was far better equipped to do it,"
 Cox Ends Testimony
 Cox concluded his testimony after being questioned about approving q $7l00 claim of the dammino Con. struetlon Co,, Providence, R. I, aS payment for idle equipment on two small bridge jobs In the town oi Ledyard.
 Asked by Corkey how he arrived at sending Q letter to the claims committee of the 1889 legislature fAvoring the payment, COX said:
 My Idea of the highway commits sioner's responsibility is to delegate authority to subordlnateS, I acc oepted their Judgment as to the proper rental rates."
 "You relied on what they had to sayp" asked Corkey.
 "Yes,"
 Asked whether he had ever visit cd the Ledyard projects, Cox said that he had, and could recall the visit Vivldly.
 "A plank broke and dropped mo in the river, and the water was ex- tremely cold" he said with Q smile,
 Corkey Examination
 The examination by Assistant Attorney General Richard Y. Corkey began after Cox presented c day-long series Of statements in which he defended administration of his department since 1888, and answered, point by point, the alle- gAtlons of the state.
 Cox read more than 70 pages of manuscript during his entire day on the stand yesterday, the first section of i6 pages dealing with the general administration of his do. partment, and the remc inder haV- Ing to do with the specific allega- tons of Attorney General Francis A. Pallott.
 Cox told of c meeting he held with Pallottl in January of thlS year concerning preparation of the states defense against c suit brought by tho dammino ConStruc- ton Go, for damages on c contract.
 T went to the attorney generals ofilce," Cox related, land was amazed at the torrent of language with which I waS greeted by the attorney general. The substance of his conversation was:
 This dammino claim, commiS. sioner, it's awful; it stinks. Com. missioner, I think you're honest, but you've got crooked men working for you"
 After reading his general state. nnent, Q section of which was ob. Jected to by Corkey, Cox went into detail on each of tho states charges against him.
 AS regards the collapse of tho Hartford dike, the suspended com- missioner said so far as he knew the highway department never re. ceiyed . warning . slide was pos- slble.
 Cox said tho actual failure of tho ar 3 twas Q shallow slide and not tn deep -seated type of failure' te- flied to by state witnesses early in the trial.
 The name of Deputy Highway Commissioner Prank Upman, Jr., who Is now acting commissioner, was injected into the hearing on 6 discusSi onof the Portland plant charge.
 Chief Defense Counsel Joseph r. Berry asked Cox who the business manager of the highway depart- inent was.
 "Upman," replied Cox.