Jasper County Democrat, Volume 12, Number 95, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 March 1910 — BRIDGE STEAL WAS GENERAL [ARTICLE]

BRIDGE STEAL WAS GENERAL

By Winamac Bridge Ce„ Ab Investigation Discloses. • ——— BADER TAKEN TO THE PEN. Thursday, After Judge Hanley Had Conducted a Little Investigation of Other Bridges Erected In This County By Bader’s Company, and Found Them All Short of Specifications. C. L. Bader, superintendent and general manager of the Winamac Bridge Co., is now a convict in the state penitentiary at Michigan City. Sheriff Shirer took the prisoner away Thursday morning on the milk train via Hammond, and after stopping off at Winamac to see his family and arrange a few brief business matters, he was taken on to Michigan City and turned over to the Warden of the prison to serve an indeterminate sentence of from two to fourteen years.

The final disposition of th£ Bader case was not made until Wednesday afternoon. Judge Hanley was loth to send the man to prison if there was any good reason why he should not go, and felt that if the Milroy tp., bridge was the only one his company had erected here that was short in specifications, and that Bader had gone ahead and put this particular bridge up 1-3 short on an agreement with the commissioners that it would be all right, as he is alleged to have said, and that' he' relied on the commissioners clearing him of the charge of graft instead of partially, at least, throwing him down at the crucial moment, as he alleged, then the court felt the man should not be sent to prison, and would have suspended sentence. For this reason Bader was held here a few days by the court, pneding a little investigation of its own. Judge Hanley secured the services of Devere Yeoman, son of A. K. Yeoman of south of town, who is a Purdue student in engineering, and sent him out Tuesday, with County Surveyor Osborne to assist him, to measure up some of the-bridges constructed in the county by the Winamac Bridge Co. Young Yeoman is competent, honest and thoroughly reliable, and the utmost confidence is placed in his findings.

They first went to Keener tp., where they inspected four bridges across .the Tyler ditch. These bridges are supposed to be all alike, the same plans and specifications covering each, and are supposed to be 40 foot span, 16 foot roadway. The first bridge they measured was up near W. H. Tyler’s farm. It was a fine piece of work, every part right up to specifications, a smooth, workmanlike job from start to finish. Even the planks were laid heart side down, as they should be, and not a thing could apparently have been done to better it. They were “stumped,” but in investigating further found, that this particular bridge was erected by the Attica Bridge Co., instead of the Winamac Co.

Three other bridges over the sanne ditch were put up by the Winamac Co,, and in<«-each of these*they found about the same general scaling down that had been done on the Milroy bridge, and a “bum’’ job on all of them. Practically all tfie structural work was short, where a 3 inch piece was called for a 2 inch being substituted, etc. Besides, the workmanship was rough and ugly. None of,the bridges were 16 feet wide, except one which was 16.8 at one end and 16 feet at the other. The other two were 15.3 ’and 15.8. The bridges had been cheapened 30 to 40 per cent, it is probable, although the amount they were short in

actual weight was not figured out. z M\r. Yeoman and Surveyor Osborne then went out south of Rensselaer to the Jacks bridge, across the Howe ditch. This bridge was put up by the Winamac Co., but after the protest had been made about the Milroy bridge, we are informed. This bridge was practically up to specifications, as was surmised. In the other bridges they found parts that should have been riveted that were bolted, and in some places such a thing as a % inch bolt-hole had a % inch bolt, etc., and in one where they examined the planking, 17 of the planks were turned heart side up, instead of the opposite as they should have been to insure the greatest wear. Messrs. Yeoman and Osborne finished their invetigation ana reported to Judge Hanley Wednesday afternoon, and after bearing their report it was all up with Bader, and he was taken away next morning to begin his sentence.