The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-08
CITY INTELLIGENCE
IEOR ADDITIONAL LOCAL ITEMS SEE INSIDE PAsus

j
THH MEAD ALLEY WHARF DrsAsTER--CoN-
TIEEUATIoN OF THE CoRoNER's INvEsTrG ALTON
.LSOL1oneE Danlels resumed the Investigation In
the late disaster at Mead alley wharf This lie
morning: The following additional evidence
William Welsh made the following state.
Gentlemen:-our chief clerk MT n T5o1niaS ~ aso'i at
your hrst meeting furnished ali the testimony that
pPsled Pa statement which we understand is expected
The wharf which was:the seat of the unfortunate
NIT for S about year @ ago In the per
fo was required that suiee or tdeway sixteen (6}
end OF the wharf lGwas the western or inner side
Sas % snsee the accident occurred supposed TO have
two strong piles that driven close toEether 10
the plan for the wharf with specaeato5s in dsta
ana also gave his personal oversight TO its oonstruc
He is the Chief Engineer OF this clty has high soIen
servedly, universal confidence Messrs s. & O. Towns
PS and ehs did MhS bs they are wharf
and In strict accordance with the plan and specfca-
stanpa i The wharf was In three parts, OF uniform
The outer ls2 ieet was crib-work sunk In about
tortyhve (a5l eet water then sluice of sixteen 8)
by steam plle-drver into a solid foundation The
RReT n9 Guy on little above low
platform OF heavy timber placed thereon; then
inner part (of i2o feet( was old wharf crb.woFk
%b S eaT or Rsr et deeP of the
For long while AFTER wharf is built the earth
work IS never perfectly wser-tsht, washes some
checked such washes and redied the snrfsoe and on
the day before the calamity, after heavy rain they
water standing that prevented its use for landing
rownd Asked leave S q n Se GePqe
sion with cart-load Of cinders, but Of our frm
and about an an hour before the accident gave his
missed to stop any leak ii such could be found, at the
In consequence of the puddle of rain water there
was no sugar on the portion Of the wharf which nrst
earth on the wharf is seven times as reat as thai Of
all the sugar ever on i AZ one time. -, ,,,,,,-
To the oOroner's S%Gs jury gs1u'S D. ~ '" 1'N'h'
Strickland r. Kneass sworn-Drew up the
318 feet in length; 1t contained two slu1ces ac-
cording to the plans as designated 10y the Board
and is l26 feet from the head OF the dock, or at
the end of the old dock, which old wharf was
width 40 feet; beyond this sluice-way is pier,
built upon pile-work, about lOl feet long and 70
crib built of solid wharfing 81 by 10;
this pile-work was built of piles placed
four feet from centre TO Genre, the length
down to the solid material; the tops OF the piles
nTo1g tbe an1 mon the toS NICK o tmSer
about ten inches thick was placed and bolted
n0 ae nar1 asSa of Of fne Pine on sne se
stuff; the piles of the wharf were tied together
by this platform, which, laid O. on IT., the top, re- re,
sluice double the number of piles were driven
in and clamped in the same way; 1t is my inn
preston that the current affected the first
three or four piles, and washed the founda-
ton away; yesterday sounded at the end Of
the wharf as it now stands on both sides and
found that there only fourteen feet at the
end of the pile work, as 1t now stands, showing
that that portion that had been torn Off had
not been wahed away. had the greatest conf
dence in Messrs: Lounsbury, who built the
wharf The piles think were driven in four,
five, or six feet. My opinion of the cause is
that 1t was from the ebb tide coming against
the pier and turning through that suice
and washing the foundation away from the
outer row piles. The flood tide had exactly
the same effect. In reconstructing the wharf
would make q different arrangement. would
place a solid pier there, on account of the cur
rent
The jury rendered the following verdict
That the said John Cunningham, Charles N.
Edwards and Hudson B. Merryman came to
their death by being drowned by the breaking
down of the wharf of MessrB. s. & w. Welsh, at
the foot of Mead alley, river Delaware.
, From the evidence elected before your jury II
appears that the material and workmanship
was good We also of the opinion that the
disaster was caused by the strong current wash
ing away the foundation and undermining the
outer rows of piles along the sluice-way, caus
ing them to give way.