Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 59, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 March 1910 — BADER TO PENITENTIARY FOR 2 TO 14 YEARS [ARTICLE]

BADER TO PENITENTIARY FOR 2 TO 14 YEARS

Judge Orders Sentence Carried Out. After Surveyor Reports Shortage in Other Bridges.

AU WORKMANSHIP WAS BAD ' i Ijt Court Would Have Suspended Sentence Had Other Bridges Conformed to Plans and Specifications.

e Clinton L. Bader, general manager of the Winamac Bridge'Co., who was found guilty by a Jasper county Jury two weeks ago, of having presented a false and fraudulent claim to the county in connection with the erection of a bridge over the Howe ditch in Milroy township, and who was denied a new trial by Judge H&nley, Monday afternoon, was takgn to Winamac this Thursday morning to arrange some business affairs and to bid* his family good bye before starting in to serve his sentence of from two to fourteen years in the penitentiary at v Michigan City. Following Judge Hanley's action in overruling the motions of Bader’s attorneys for a new triai and for an arrest of judgment, Bader was committed to the keeping of Sheriff Shirer. So general and pronounced was the regret for the convicted man because of his reputed high standing at his home, where every person seemed to testify to his probity, that Judge Hanley decided to institute an investigation of other bridges built in this county by the Winamac Bridge Co, and if he found that up to the time the bridge under discussion was built, the Winamac company had built its bridges right, he would suspend the sentence. Accordingly he sent County Surveyor Frank Osborne and Devere Yeoman to Keener township to measure four bridges constructed by the Winamac Bridge Co. They reported to him Wednesday evening to the effect that every one of the bridges had been materially cheapened, that the workmanship was poor and that Bader’s claim that his other work, was in accord with specifications wa% not based on fact. The surveyor and Mr. Yeoman reported that the bridges over the Tyler were from 6 to 9 inches .than called for in the specifications, that the eye beam was short and the L supports measured but 2Vi by 2 inches, whereas the specifications called for 2Vi by 3 inches. They found the trusses were of' proper size and the tubing also right. Bolts had been used instead of rivets in all bridges and the bolts had been inserted wrong : had the wrong kind of heads and that instead of having the head on the exposed side, the rough ends of the bolts wjth large washers and tap were ex--1 posed and made a very Unfavorable appearance. The bolts were poorly set. The hub guards were light in weight. The bridge lumber was put on indifferently And in one bridge 40 feet long, 16 boards ha 6 been turned with the heart side up. Some of the bridges were not set true the road and not locked straight on \ the eye beam, sp that one end of the bridge was about a foot wider than the other end. In the minds of the men who made the investigation the work was

. i careless, showed great Indifference of workmanship and either intentional wrong or criminal carelessness on the part of Mr. Bader or his engineers. One of the bridges over the Tyler ditch in Keener township was built by the Attica Bridge Co. The surveyoi and his assistant thought they would measure it. also. It was built from the same specifications exactly that the other bridges had heen. They found all the metal parts what the specifications called for, the bolts properly set, the bridge of proper width, the workmanship- perfect and the bridge apparently conforming in every material manner to the apecifl,cations. _ “ After. returning to Rensselaer the

inspectors went to a bridge over the Howe ditch in the southwest part of this township and there looked over a bridge that Bader’s company had built. It conformed in most particulars to The specifications, although the hub guard was 1 by 3-16 inch in dimensions whereas it should have been IV4 by % inch. This would have amounted to but little in the weight shortage. The general workmanship, however, was regarded an poor.— When this information was furnished to Judge Hanley, he decided to withhold the sentence no- longer and directed Sheriff Shirer to take Bader to Michigan City after he had had an opportunity to visit his home in Winamac and look after some of his business affairs. While Mr. Bader is regarded Pas a man in comfortable circumstances, he is said to have most of his means tied yp in the bridge business. He has a wife and five children, the oldest being 19 years of age and two of his daughters and one son being in high school.

Mr. Bader’s Winamac friends arq claiming that notwithstanding the fact that the other bridges are short ip several particulars that he was not an intentional party to fraud. That there is something mighty / wrong with the Winamac Bridge Co., however, is very evident by this report of the surveyoi and his assistant and whatever work may be given to them in the future should be scanned very carefully and if there is any method of making them liable for the shortage they should be compelled to settle with Jasper county. Bader may be as innocent, so far as his intention goes, as he claimed to be and as he convinced many after the trial that he was, but his ignorance of what his company was doing is inexcusable. Now, if he is innocent, the question will be asked, “Who is' the guilty one?’’ Is it the engineer, Charles Kelley, or who is it? The county commissioners of Jasper county can not escape censure. They should not have accepted bridges that were not right and while they may offer as an excuse that they believed from what examination they made, that they were right, they can not satisfy taxpayers with this sort of an excuse. They are the agents of the taxpayers and have failed to perform their duty in protecting the interests of their clientele.