Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-12-09

-'N" A'AnS a." ohtSN5Ot Nho - N''N0
time as architect in the construction OF the State
Univelsity,) testified before the COMMITTEES that
he 50 had examined the drawings Of the trussas
(Silloways marked A. B. c. The truss A is
materially improved and strengthened by the
additions (made by Richaris.) 1.-The truss
marked B, as drawn by Silloway, is entirely an
sufficient, aud in my judgment ,couM hare broken
dopn under the weight it was intended to sup
port"
Grldley j. F. Bryant, (and no man needs to
be told who he ISL testified to the Committee
that . | am firmly impressed in che belief that
without the additional strengthening, one of
these trusses would have oholly failed, and the
other two trussas would have probably failed to
support the dome and APPENDICES
William P. Parrott, an eminent civil engineer
OF Boston, testified that the trusses were INSULT
cient, and would have fallen beneath the weight
Of the cupola and dome.
Yet all this testimony is discarded by the
Committee. for no apparent reason save that u
case could not be made out. ,oih it. When We
consider that the enquiry before the Committee
was whether the Superintendent ought 10 be CEN
sured for strengthening the trusses, it must strike
every free mind as most remarkable finding on
the testimony
The catastrophe which befel the new Arsenal
in the city of New York, on the morning of the
18th ultimo. has no tcrrors for the Raw Frank
lin W. 0lmstead, who signs g for majority
of Committee as
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"
On the 22d ult. correspondent In New York
| thus writes to the Boston Journal
The fall Of the new Arsenal, on Seventh
Avenue, must BIZ regarded MS provdential, 1t
fell at one clock on Friday morning, the day
after Thanksgiving. Had that immense roof
fallen in the daytime, great numbers must have
been hurt Had it stood one week more, till
evacuation day, then the crash would have been
awful. The building was 30 tar completed that
the military Of New York were 10 meet in it on
the day of their great display, which is on the
18th OF November, the day that the Britsi. lett
our city, to the great comfort of the Knckcr-
bockers. With the tendency to fall which the
building then had, it must have come down on
the devoted heads of the New York soldiers, and
the calamity would have been dreadful. 1t has
long been the opinion of builders, and it has
been freely expressed, that the timbers used III
the construction of the roof were not strong
lenough to hold up such Il roof, and slated Al
that. BM the anSluer ,0aS that d neU principle
had been introduced, and a trial of the new in
veRtion was thus to be made, and it has beef
tried, and the result is before the world but
who shall pay the cost causes delicate ques
ton in law. If the contractor agreed to builC
the edisice according to plans and speclfca
tions, and has done so, is he liabla? And
the architect has made an error, and is not pc
cuniarily responsible for the damage he ha
doae, will not the State pocket the loss"
A calamity as terrible might have happene
to the new Capitol of Vermont But fortunate
ly through the foresight of Mr.. Joseph R. Rich
anis, the then newly-appointed architect, it ha
been averted-the opinion of Robert Gunnison
the " Master Carpenter" who has framed tn
roofs of II couple of Factories and Meetin
House to the contrary notwithstanding.
To sea an ecclesi.stic huckster in politics (wh
could not probably tell the difference betwee
the drawings for bridge and church steeple
set his opinion against the experience and ski
of architects and builders, and report that tn
Committee are unable to discover why the fir
truss were not suitable" and this for the pul
pose of accusing man in the discharge Of
difficult and responsible public trust, smells to
much OF the h3uisition and Star Chamber t
commend itself to any man who regards or r.
spects fairness or justice.
1t is true, and we admit it, that sundry PEI
sons certified that in their opinion, Silloway
trusses were sufficient for their purposes, b,
who they were, or where they hailed frem, nj
body knew. For aught that appeared befol
the Committee, the names of these persol
might have been copied from the tomb-stones
, some country grave yard in Massachusetts,,
more of them appeared before any authority
s,oear to the truth of their statement IT
:" Master Carpenter" is the only man TIN
could anywhere be found to swear to their su
, fciency,-and yet this Reverend Prelate ar
| :" a majority" of his Committee saw no reasc
why they should not endorse them as suitable
"oh most lame and mpotent conclusion"
We shall speak of this matter again.
JUSTICE