The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-05
CITY INTELLIGENCE,
Iron ADDrrlolAl LOCAL Irl,s SEE ovr.rD, ,.on. ,

or,g N
@ an nquest on Saturday into the case of the late
CaVe-in OF the bridge over the sluice of The
tOL tOng COCK OF the Messrs. s & W. Welsh, Un.
fortunately, the Messrs Welsh had not them
serves been subp@uaed, and feeling that their
presence would be an ndehcacy under the cir
cumstanGes, they were not present
.lu 0tnu Lownsbury, bridge builder, who con-
sIucted the wharf, testified that in his opinion
three outer piles gave way. One hundfed and
one teet OF the wharf was constructed on piles.
Inere e were twenty-siX rows, sixteen in row
except at the inner and outer end of the sluice
Where they were double; the wharf was built I'm
substantial manner according to Chief En-.
Eiheer hnedss' specifications; the current cut
!hrough the sluice and through the piles carrv-
ing them away; he thought 1t was in a safe CON
dluon to receive heavy load; on the day of
Inc accident he and his son were sent for to see
aDout portion OF the wharf settling and an
examination was to have been made next dav.
he attributed the settling to a leak, -
Franklin Ayre testified to driving the piles at
hard bottom, and to driving them well; called
1eW Gays ago TO examine the piles bat the
police would not let him see them notwitb.
standing that he told tnem who he was and
why he wanted to see the piles; It was to his
interest TO do his work well, and he did so on
To Juror-I brought all the piles to hard
bottom before l stopped driving them; there
was tWelve or hlteen feet OF mud, and when l
started the piles they went eighteen inches at
blow, and towards the last they did not 90 more
than one inch; Iputrtngs on thepiles, aud drove
them well.
tie barque Czarina, and knew nothing of the
cause OF the wharf Caving n; watchmau
spoke OF the necessity OF repairing 1T, as it mad
settled on the south side, and he had to stop
dlscharging cargo, as the sugar could not be put
where 1t had rained; he saw Captain Merryman
come along and stop at the place where it set
tied; he went ashore to talk with the captain,
and before he reached him he saw the wharf
settle and the captain disappear, and hogsheads
tumbling every way; he did not consider the
wharf unsafe at the time; the watchman said
that there was leak, but whether ne meant the
ealth hau washed away, or q leak through the
platform, he did not knew; all the planks that
had come up to the surface were whole and not
broken; he could not tell whether it settled at
the sluice or inside of it. Mr.. Welsh said the
sluice was Is feet wide, and if that was the case
1T must have given way at the piling; the watch
man said the. sluice was 25 leet,. but witness
looked at the timber that covered it. and it was
only 20 feet long; he had seen one of the piles
that came up, and it had point to it, but the
pie was broken; some OF the piles could be
seen at low water, and they leaned; the wharf
did not settle from the time the Watchman
spoke TO him until it fell.
Jacob West deposed that he was coopering
sugar on the wharf, and saw the wharf giving
way, ana started TO run, but iell into O hole;
the earth scattered over him, and he saw cask
coming down and showed himself away from IL;
the cask struck Mr.. Porter, who was in the same
hole with him, and carried him down; there
were about $50 hogsheads on the wharf, and he
considered the wharf safe when he was work
ing there.
WlllldU .. fOrIer tesClueu tnat ne was cooper
ing on the wharf, when the ground broke along
side of him, and he ran and fell down a hole,
when the DIRT fell into the sluice; he tried TO
grab Mr.. Vests leg, when hogshead fell and
broke his shoulder-blade; he never heard that
the wharf was weak, or wanted repairing, and
he had been working there for three or four
months.
10 Juror-Never took notice of any part
of the wharf having settled; saw the leak in
the corner, and thought one cart load of dirt
would have filed 1t up.
Christian Lownsbury deposed that he was one
of the contractors that built the wharf. On the
day of the accident Mr.. Welsh wrote him note,
and he went down and saw place had settled
on the south side, and concluded the dirt had
washed out from under the platform He in
tended TO examine II the next day, but felt as
safe there as he did in the room. His opinion
was that three or four outer rows OF piles had
been cut under by the current, which started
them from the bottom, and the whole thing
went. The current was very strong at the
sluice, the tide. setting up and down very
swiftly. Some eight or ten piles in the thirty
feet water had started from their bottoms, and
the dirt washed out He believed Strickland
Kneass gave the plan, and he built the wharf
from the plan. He sounded TOR the solid pier,
ana not so much for the piles, as there was no
necessity for it. The piles were out rather far
ther than they should have been, but he const
dered them safe. He had talked to his brothel
about this. Additional materials had been put
in the wharf beyond the plan, and everything
was done TO strengthen it, The entire length o.
the wharf new and Old Yves three hundred and
age perceptible, and he did not consider thu
leakage he saw that morning OF any importance
To Juror-The piles we're driven down foul
or five feet into the hard gravel, which appeared
to be the bed of the river; he thought that wheI
pier was put outside it threw the curren
through the suice with great force; when the
outside piles were driven they only went througl
about foot of mud and they were driven a
far as they could be driven; it was no interes
- to him not TO drive them, as he employed Mr.
Ayre with a steam pile-drlver, aud he ham
mered away at them until told to stop; MI
Welsh stated there was n little settling OF tn
wharf when he sent for him; there was n
bole but the place had only settled a foot 0
fifteen inches and he did not think there wa
danger, or he would not have walked about
for half hour; the watchman called his after
tiOn to a little crack in the wharf, and he tol
him that came from the settling; the tide woul
not permit an examination under the wharf
the tune he was there aud the tide would hay
permitted boat to go through the sluice ne,
day.
job Archer testified to driving the two outsiC
rows OF which were broken down. The pill
were iOrty.hVe or fifty feet lone, and they we
driven as far into the ground as they could
gOt-about five or six feet deep. The solid pi
outside caused a heavy current to run throuE
the sluiCe. he felt satisfied that the piles Wou
not settle from any weight placed on them, al
had no idea they would be washed away by Il
water. Some OF the piles jumped up after tn
had been struck five or six blows; but when
was done driving them they staid there un
the contractor cut them OIL
Mr.. Baisley testified that he helped TO bul
the wharf, and he believed the Workmansh
was as good as could be done; the piles we
clamped, capped, and screW-5olted as strong
as they could be; the pile referred to by t
mate was not a whole pile, but half one, Whe
IL had broken of; he had examined the pill
. now Standing and they appeared to be all GOO