Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1860-01-21

Ailt WV lIf SIlUVlN lIlllk IT WIS ltli an illNh
wide at the top and quarter OF an inch at the
bottom; the building seemed to settle of from
the crack. had never thought tn, crack seri
Gus, and had never strengthened the wallis but
iron trusses had been put in, some of them near
the crack. / thought the building was weak
and that the walls were weak, but apprehended
no trouble. Did not think the building was as
strong as such buildings usually are.
WILLIAM BARBER was employed in laying the
foundations of the mill; foundations extended
below the top soil from three TO five feet; soil
at the bottom was like that at the top, scottish
loan, sand, etc. Witnesses thought it was
different foundation from what he was used to
constructing, and that it was insufficient The
foundation of the Bay State mills was laid some
thing like twenty-five feet deep; that of the
Pacific mills about five feet; and that of the
Atlantic the same. There was water in the ex-
cavation all the time the foundation was being
laid. AT the south end towards the river the
ground was quicksand and spongy. The south
end was lower, and the foundation was stepped
up along the higher ground. The wall was
about six feet wide at the bottom and four and
half at the top. Thought the brick walls were
too thin at the time; the windows were so large
there was insufficient support between them.
The brick pilasters to support the floor timbers
were carried up only to stories, and in the high
er stories projections were thrown out of the
wall.
JonN b. TUTTLE of Lowell was one of the firm
that put up the brick work tpr the Pembcrton.
Had nothing to do with the foundations. While
we we've building the mill we got our water to
drink from the foot of the foundation wall.
Thought at the time the water came from the
canal, but have had some doubts about it since,
as in about two months there was drouth and
the water dried up. Think it must have been
spring. The pilasters in the fourth story were
projected out eight inches, and in the second
story they were dropped to four inches. Or
deIs then came from Mr. Bgelow ths engn Ter
of the coporation,) to dispense with the pilas-
tiers altogether. When the timbers for the up
per stories came they were too short. and we
were ordered TO put projections npon the walls
to rest the timbers upon. Expressed my opin-
ion at the time and many times, and have never
changed it, that the walls were too weak for
such building | told Mr. Bigeow so when
we were building it; told Mr. Putnam, one of
the owners, so in Boston; told many others the
same. Don't know of any other large mill with
walls so weak as the Pemberon, and never want
to hear of one. The building was much cut up
with windows, which weakened il. We had or
ders every day from Capt Bigelow and Benjamin
Coolidge, the engineers. We generally have
built mills twenty eight inches including a space
OF four inches on the first story, dropping to six
inches at the top. Witness expressed some
doubt about finding out from the appearance of
the foundation now, if it should be cleared,
whether the foundation gave way or not. The
usual width of mills is forty weight feet There
were irons on the end of the floor timbers turn
ed up, but they did not connect with the outer
walls. 1t would have added strength to the
building had they been screwed through the
/ ha r n
corner of the building, and if that chimney
swayed off SO as to make crack from the bot.
tom to the top, it would weaken that part of
the building very much In my opinion, steam
chimney ought never to be connected with the
building. The quality of the brick used was
very poor indeed witness complained several
times to Capt Bigelow of the poor quality of
the materials. The water was running freely
in the foundation walls for two months: we
could hear it running through the stones We
dug ont small place about as low as the bot
tom of the wall inside, to dip water from TO
drink. Witness considered that water running
at the bottom of foundation wall in this way
would be dangerous, inasmuch as it might I'M
dermind the wall Witness explained that where
the upper floor timbers were put in upon the
projections thrown out Of the inner wall, the
whole wall was made solid about eighteen inch
es below the timber. The tmbers were so short
that they entered but little distance into the
wall, and rested mainly upon the brick proiec-
tons. When the timbers were brought and
were discovered to be too short, tho wall had
been carried so high that it was necessary to
tear down in those places where the timhcrs
were to rest and build in the projections anew
STEPHEN WALLACE of Lowell, mason who
helped construct the mill, testified that he had
worked at his business 26 years, and never up
on building of this size with such weak walls.
The walls were of about the strength suitable
to two story buildings, but he said he had never
heard that the intention was to limit the build
ing to three stories. The crack near the Chin
ney was caused before left the work. and at
attributed it to high wind we had the day be-
fore The mortar we used was good. The
bricks were hard TO lay, but made solid work
after they were done. The walls would have
been much stronger, had the pilaslers been con-
tinued to the top. did not consider the walls
safe for such building as that, | frequently
expressed myself so TO the hands and others.
HORACE KNOWLES had the carpenter work
for the Pemberton mill, working under the Or
ders OF Capt Bigeow, the engineer of the cor.
poration. Have been engaged in buildngtwenty
or thirty mills in Lowell and Lawrence. The
mill was wider than any other | ever worked
upon, and needed thicker walls. DO not re-
member that | ever worked upon any building
with such thin walls. Never saw a mill with
SO much space tor windows; it very materially
weakened the walls. Never expressed any opn
ion as to the insecurity of the brick work. but
have as to other parts. Though the Snoring
was not strong enough. The caps resting up
on the pillars were insufficient to give the sun
port required of them. l thought the pillars
were not large enough; Mr. Dodge, my partner.
expressed the same Opinion They ware l;,blo