The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-05-02
Fail OF the Roof OF the New York
PostofHee Building-Two Men XIII

fblI o. tuo h0Ot OI I've NeW IoFh
Postofiee Buildfng-Two Men XIII
ed.
NRw YORK. Nay IA section of the
roof on the northeast corner Of the new
postof1cs building tell at two o'clock this
afternoon while the men were at work
removing the supports which had been
placed under it while making repairs.
TIE scene OF the accident was an un-
finished room adjoining those under the
dome. At the time Of the accident there
were ten men at work in the room and
they had nearly completed their lsbors
when, without warning, the whole Sec
tion of the roof which covered them
fell bodily, tearing the iron girders
from their sockets and completely
covering the men with concrete, which
composed the filling of the root.
Dense clouds of dust filed the hall.
ways and gave the impression 10 those
On the lower floor that the building WAS
on fire and the alarm was sent, out,
calling the fire department to the scene
Edward 81. Dougherty, general foreman
of the work, hastily collected his men
and commenced to work removing the
mas of concrete and iron, not knowing
how many Of his lsbore's had been buried
under it. A section of police from the
City Hall were quickly at the scene
of the disaster. Chss A. Robinson, y
laborer, was The first one found in the
ruins and was taken out dead. John
Colli ter was next found with both arms
broken and otherwise injured. Den mis-
Fleming was taken out in an uncon-
scious state. Foreman Dougherty then
got lis men together and called the
roll, when it was found that Max Hinsel
and Henry Jones were slightly
injured and man named Patrick
Johnson, who commenced work this
morning, was missing, and search was
begun IN hopes of finding him alive, but
the nature of tho material was such as to
seriously retard the progress of the work
men. At last, in the most remote corner
of the room, where the principal weight
seemed to have fallen, his body was
found. The dead and wounded were
removed to Chambers Street Hospital.
Thos. A Oakspatt. supervising inspector
in charge o: the building. on being
asked the cause of the accident, said
that there was brick wall
partially supporting the dome which
was cracked, and it was thought that ii
hsd been settling for some months, and
bad caused defex IN the ceiling below.
An iron truss OF the same kind as those
sdjoinsng had been placed in position to
support 1t. He was in the room about
halt al hour before the accident oc-
Cured, and all the braces had been re.
moved. He was sitting in his office
when he heard the crash, and thinking
that it WAS the court room which had
fallen, he ran across the nall, and look
ing up, saw that the ceiling was settling
rapidly and expected to see 1t fall.
He then ran up stairs and discovered
that section of the root had fallen. He
thought that upon examination it would
be found that there was flaw In the
iron truss.
Edward II. Depgherty, general fore
man, was also OF the opinion that there
was flaw in the truss.
In the United States Circuit Court
room. undornealb, the ceiling is very
badly cracked, Ind it Is thought that the
greater part of 1t will have to be taken
down. The post morLem examination
on the bodies of Robinson and johnson
will be held Tomorrow morning.
The Tunes says: A representative of
Supervising Architect Mullet ascribes
the accident to the fact that the truss was
improperly put up. 1t wss used as
glrder and the weight was thrown on the
lower side of it, instead of tue upper, as
1t should have been. II Was stated by
this authority that mir j. j. Hill, super
intending architect, on Monday examin-
ed the truss and pronounced 1t all right.
One person 10 control says he WAS not
aware, until he saw the piece of root
after the accident, that 1t WIS OF such
immense thickness, and his own judgment
would not have approved such roof or
placed 1t where 1t was.
MIR. r. Il. Oakspott, inspector e( ms;e.
rial under Supervising Architect j. j.
Hill, said to Times reporter: AIN
unable to speak with certainty
rs to the cause Of the accI-
dent. There was brick wall directly
under where the roof desce, ded, when
was cracked. There were slight f,sures
in it at two poio,s when | took charge
of the building, ana as It's weight Was
causing detection In the ceiling OF the
District Court room underneath 1t was
decided 10 remove il, and snpply its
place rs support 10 the lire proof
roof With an iron truss Of the same car
ryng capacity, slmils: 10 that used at
carrying like weights in other parts
of the building. Before the brick
partition Was removed the truss
were put in position to support the roof,
and when these were taken away, alter
the truss was fixed. the roof Tel! In; why
l cannot say until alter an investigation
has been made, but my lmpre: sion Is ths.
there must have been flaw IN the iron.
a. B. Muliet, superylolng architect,
SAYS that his opinion OF The cause ls
that al error Was done 10 using
a suspensory truss as Il girder, and he
afflrms that Nj. Hull, supervIsiE 6
architect, is resp,s sjbIe lor this, rs lie
WAS consulted on the matter by OakspoL
before its po.itlOn was decided upon.
Dennis Fleming, injured by the scci-
dent at The Postotlice to-day, died th!s
evening.
The ID. d v. Railroad Accident.