New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-01-20

10 get out of plumb; the lime was mixed win
loan instead Of sRpd the stone used lot tue ioun-
dston was not the usual stone used Tor houses Oh
that class | thought there was some littie sahu
used in the mortar for the basement Out 10 tue
foundation | don't think there was any: In my
opinion the timbers were not NJ all salIaoie lo1
houses Of that size. The balance OF Mr.. Ueer
testimony correspondent with the evidence OF tne
previous witnesses. III, -.
Robert Merton, being sworn, says Ees'uo d.
No Il Jersey-st | am brlcklayer and mas
! was at work on buildings IN Twentieth 81 eA'
scty in the rear Of the buildings IN questloh ny
attention was drawn 70 the buildings snort tlme
before they fell; acarpenter working on our build
ing told me to come along and look al the east
gable end of the building, and on looking 81 tne
wall found it 70 overriding about two feet SIX
inches; / then examined the gable end oil the
west side and found that that wall leaned tue
same way; the rear wall found to bulge at the
east corner, and sll the party walls the same
spoke to Mr.. Fleming, the foreman, and asked
him how came the walls to get 50 crooked ne re-
piled that the walls were as straight as could De
up TO Yesterday, meaning the day before y ne
told me that the stone wall was built on neap
Of mud, and was settling down; he talked ABOUT
bracing up the gable end that was overhsnglngi
l saw the buildings fall the east gable end gave
way first.
John T. COnOrer, sworn-Says heresldes at 7s2
Greenwich ST.; | am a master mason and saw the
buildings in question for the last two weeks, and
noticed, on the day the buildings fell, that the
gable end was sagged out some eighteen inches
The other part of witness s testimony was almost
in substance similar to the previous witness.
James Trainer, sworn-Says he resides at 10
Twenty.eighth st.; | am a labOrer; l was en-
ployed ct the buildings IN making morter had
been engaged from the first commencement oil the
brick work on the 10th OF November; / used the
best of sand to mix with the lime, and little
| 4 4 NOT mt mn a | sand.
| put more lime in the Winter season than do
in Summer; 10 one barrel of lime pat one load
and half of sand, and two barrels OF loan; the
loan came from the cellars; have been making
morter for the last nine years.
Patrick Duffy, sworn-Says he resides at ~
Second av.; was laborer engaged at the build
ngs in question my business was to make NOR
tar had no particular way OF making the NOR
tar; sometimes put more loan, ami sometimes
none / never had any directions or orders no"
TO make the mortar l made it myself, as have
ALWAYS made it loan is put in almost all mortar
sometimes l have made mortar without loan, only
sand little loan makes the mortar work bet
ter; the brcklayers never found any fault with
the mortar; | have been employed in making
mortar the last eight or nine years.
arthur M0ody, sworn-Says he resides ct 10
West Eighteenth-st.; l keep a grocery store, and
ride sand and dig out cellars; get from So od TO
Is a load for sand l furnished from 10 to leo
loads of sand for the buildings in question andtour
houses in Twenty second ST. the greater part was
delivered in Twenty-trstst.; got 4s load at the
buildings in Twenty first ST. from what saw, the
mortar was principally made with sand and ap-
peared to be of good quality l never saw any
loan mixed with the mortar in Twenty first 81;
have received $50 on account OF the sand deliy-
cred, and have due me s6i, which amount was
to have received this week
John b. jenkins, being sworn, says reside
at "A Twentieth street; | am master mason by
trade l visited the ruins yesterday examined
the mortar, and considered there was too much
loan in it; thought there was enough lime; when
there is too much loan it dries dusty, and don
hold =; the buildings have been run up IN too much
haste, and the mortar used hot, In frosty weather
which is unsafe | noticed one frosty day when 1t
was too cold for my men to work one passing by
these buildings, some ten or twelve men at work
on one wall l thought, then, they were working
with too much haste, and that some accident
would happen; considered the bulldingsunsate Tor
men to work on, and Of the poorest class OF build
ings, from the appearance of the materials used,
and the workmanship.
HUH Trainer sworn-I reside at No Fourth
st.; / am mason; / was engaged at work on the
buildings in question, in laying brick; L thought
the mortar was pretty good; l have worked bet
ter and have worked worse l call it about the
average mortar just before the building fell, Ed
ward Flemming, the foreman, called me down
from the top OF the building; hurried down the
ladder, and we went to the east gable end and he
sdersbly more he requested me to get some
timbers and prop up the wall as quick as could
L Immediately ran for the timbers, but before l
returned with the stay the whole fthe walls fell;
they fell from the west 10 the east; did not give
any alarm TO the men on the building as thought
could prop the wall in time TO save il; did not
consider it dangerous until the foreman called me
down; / have often had walls 70 sag out and yet
never fall / have used much worse mortar in
NewYor than that used on these houses
Juror On what buildings have you worked
with such mortar
WitReSs-I decline to answer that question; /
don wish TO condemn any mans buildings.
JuyOr-Where were the buildings situated
IVitness-I don't think it's right for me to an
swer that question.
Coroner-Nou must answer the question.
Witncss-I would rather not well, It was IN
the neigbborhood of Perry st.
JuroT-Wel, l don't wish to press the question
any further
The witness acknowledged to having worked at
laying bricks when it was freezing hard. At the
conclusion Of the testimony Of this witness, it be-
ing then after FIVE o'clock, the Coroner adjourned
any further proceedings until ten o'clock on Mon
day morning.
To-day the evidence on the part Of the defend
ants, Spencer, Flemming and Thomas will be
presented.