1852 1853 1854 D. Ralph Dedrick-For Defendant-Direct. Q. Did you ever see a permit, signed by Commissioner Colquohn, during the year 1929 and the year 1930 for the Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. Never. Q. Did you ever see any permit signed by George Herzog during those years for the same place? A. No, sir. Q. Mr. Dedrick, on or about March 3, 1930, were you acquainted with the fact that a claim had been served upon the City for damages by Moore and Kelly? A. No, I did not know that. It passed me some way. Q. Can you tell us what men, if any, the City of Yonkers had on the Nepperhan Avenue dump in December, 1929? A. I cannot recall those names now. There were two laborers there. Mr. Sweetman's payroll shows them. Q. If I mention the names Walsh and Peyton, do they mean anything to you? A. That is correct. Q. Who was the foreman in charge of that district? A. George Sweetman. Q. What work, if any, were those men doing in the month of December, 1929? A. They assisted in the dumping of those carts and the spreading of material about, so that it would not be lumpy and form hills. Q. Was there any watchman there maintained by the City of Yonkers? A. Just the two laborers in the daytime. Q. Do you know a man named Neary? A. I knew him when he lived. He is dead. Q. About how long ago did he die? A. Three months perhaps more than that-four months. Q. What did Neary do during December, 1929, and January and February and March, 1930? A. In 1929 he was watchman on Saunders Dock. He was transferred to the Central Avenue dump. D. Ralph Dedrick-For Defendant-Direct. Q. When did you transfer him? A. About the first of the year. Q. Did you do that personally? A. On orders of the Commissioner. Q. Of course. A. Yes. Q. That is with your personal knowledge? A. Oh, yes. Q. To your knowledge did you ever have Neary on the Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. He never was there in our time. Q. Do you know a man by the name of Ford? A. He is dead also. Q. What was Ford doing during 1929 and 1930? A. He was on penetration part of that time. I am not positive what part of it, but I am sure that part of the time he was a laborer on the Central Avenue dump. We tried to put those old men over there to work on light work. Neary was a man with two artificial legs, and we tried to give him a break. There was a shanty on the dump. We wanted him to be comfortable. Mr. Ford was a very old man. Q. Was Ford in 1929 or 1930 engaged on the Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. No, sir. 1855 1856 Q. It has been testified here that during those months in question that the City had four or five men working on the Nepperhan Avenue dump. Did you have any force like that there? A. No, 1857 sir. Q. Was there anybody under orders or by reason of any agreement with the City of Yonkers, that you know of, engaged in or permitted to pick Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. Do you mean put in there under orders from the City? Q. Yes. A. No. 1858 1859 1860 D. Ralph Dedrick-For Defendant-Direct. Q. You know what I mean when I say "pick the dump"? A. The dump was picked by everybody who wanted to pick. Q. It has been testified here that among those who had a permit to dump on this Nepperhan Avenue property from the City of Yonkers was the Smith Carpet Works. Did you ever know or ever see or have anything to do with such a permit as that on the Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. I never issued or heard of it, so far as the City is concerned. Q. And with regard to the Yonkers Electric Light & Power Company- A. The same answer. Q. And with regard to Kiff Brothers? A. The same answer. Q. In regard to the Habirshaw Company- A. I never heard of any permit there. Q. Did you ever see any permit of the Habirshaw Company for the Nepperhan Avenue dump? A. No. Q. What did you direct with regard to the disposition of automobile wrecks that were collected by your department? A. We directed them to be taken to the Kimball Avenue dump in the beginning of our administration, because there was a very deep pit there, and it was a good place to put them. The Lawrence people had no objection. When the Kimball Avenue dump was closed all the automobiles went to Central Avenue. Q. Was there anything done with them before they were taken to these spots? A. Sometimes we had to pick up cars that were obstructions on the street. If they were capable of being towed, we towed them to the Central Avenue dump without doing anything more with them, and burned them up on the dump. If they were down in the heart D. Ralph Dedrick-For Defendant-Direct. of the City, or at a garage, they were burned there, and then a ten-ton tractor was run over them, flattening them out, and then they were loaded on trucks and taken to the dump and dumped there. Q. I show you some photographs and ask you if they represent the actual burning of these machines on the Main Street dock by the department? A. Yes. I remember that. The Fire Department was called out at this one. Somebody turned in an alarm. Mr. Jordan: I offer these in evidence. By Mr. Lynch. Q. When were those taken? A. 1930. Q. What time? A. Let us see. Probably in the spring, counselor. Q. What time in the spring? A. I cannot tell you exactly. Q. After March? A. Yes. Q. 1930? A. Because Q. Was it after March, 1930? A. Yes. About March, 1930. Mr. Jordan: If there is any objection to them I will withdraw them. 1861 1862 A. He is talking about these particular pictures. 1863 Mr. Jordan: I am asking about these par ticular pictures. The Witness: That is my best recollec tion. Mr. Lynch: All right. (Three pictures were received in evidence and marked Defendant's Exhibits L, M and N, respectively.) 1864 D. Ralph Dedrick-For Defendant-Direct. By Mr. Jordan. Q. Mr. Dedrick, I call your attention to Plaintiffs' Exhibit 6 and I ask you to notice particularly the chassis of the car in the foreground of that picture, and I ask you if, to your knowledge, during the years 1929 or 1930, were automobiles abandoned on the streets handled so that they would be dumped in that manner on that property? A. Do you mean by the City? Q. By the City. A. No, sir. Q. I call your attention also to Plaintiffs' Exhibit 9 and I ask you to note the body of the automobile 1865 there in about the midsection, and I ask you if the 1866 City of Yonkers, through your department, would have handled that automobile in that fashion during the years 1929 or 1930? A. We would not. Q. I show you Defendant's Exhibit C and I ask you to note the hulks of automobiles along the front of Nepperhan Avenue, this property, and I ask you if those automobiles in that condition were deposited by your department in the years 1929 and 1930? A. No. Mr. Lynch: If you know. Mr. Lynch: To your knowledge? The Witness: We have too much pride in the City to do a job like that. By Mr. Jordan. Q. To your knowledge they were not? A. No, they were not. A. Q. Now the question is, Commissioner Dedrick, do you know whether they were or were not? They were not. |