The New York herald., 1878-07-12
Contractor Byron and Inspector 0'Brlen
Censured by the COrOner'S Jury.
A CIVIL ENGINEERS VIEWS.
Scathng Aragnment Of the Department
oi Public Works.

'
bell sad he wished to explain OF the testimony
ho gave The day. Hc desired to givo the Jury
list OF bridges constructed upou tho PLAN Among
them the transverse bridge IN the Central Park,
which had the same rise and span. All OF. this was
excluded by the Coroner irrelevant.
William Law, Of No 343 East Forty second street,
swore that he was carpenter and builder; saw the
arcn In course of erection; knew nothing about the
hling; knew tncre was no solid nIing OF masonry
behind the arches; tho arcn overloaded with hl-
ing tho north sde; witness the filing least
twoc day; the niisng cellar DIRT ana stone: the
mason work was poor, and In the opinion Of witness
the mortar also OF bad quality; there should have
been ramocks or iron braces nsci ted In the masonry
Herman Endoman, q chemist OF No. 253 West
Thirty-fith street. called and exhibited to the
jury jar OF cement from tho fallen arch which he
had analyzed He explained that eleven per cent oi
water had boon found, but had ovaporated. The dry
sesduun consisted OF sand and clay, TO- 81 per cont
silica, 4l5 cent; ALUMINIUM and iron L. 80 per cent;
lime, g. 80 per cent; magnesium, q y per cent;
water and organic aIkalies, 80 per cent. Witness
was Dot prepared TO say whether she adhesive qual
ties OF the cement were good or bad
Patrick McNanus, laborer, OF TO 4o6 East Sixty
sixth street, testified that the 10Th Of June he
went under tho arch to take of, his shoes He had
scarcely left tho spot when the fell He had
socn Lynch sitting on stone reading a paper, and
notiiied his OF tue circumstance.
Jeremiah OConnor, OF No. 3O4 East Twenty-second
street. been employed the construction OF tho
arch and nad mixed the mortar two barrels Ut sand
were used to Que OF cement; there wos plsntiipl
ruRrmxn TESTIMONY
5. J.. kiue, No $50 East Forty second street, o
carpenter and builder, said no mad been at the work
avery aay during the period OF construction was not
sufficiently versed In masonry to give his opinions
expert but saw what he believed to good .olld
touudation stone at the base OF the arch thought
the mortar was very poor and the heavy rains had
disintogra,ed IL; the hips OF Tho arch loaded
hoaVt Nv w tha hotno
aganst the banks; Ior several days previous the
accident witness noticed depression OF tho north
side OF the ch and no believed the ''ccntre iling-
corresponding TO the keyssohehnd been put in while
| the arch was IN that shape.
Harrison H. Crane, OF NO. 34l East Forty second
street, did not know any thing about the matter and
was dismissed alter beng sworn.
Joseph Richardson, OF No. stone street. who was
sworn az the request OF Commissioner Campbell les.
tined that he mason by trade and had xanined
| been master mason sinee 1887 the filling seemed
10 Kim to be uneven II would havA ossn ali rght If
places where the side tue cut projeced
| the arch was not solid; at all others is
WAS nlsa unevony on the north part or .Se
| filing was dumped from cart and part OF It was
| snovclled In.
The jury then rot,red, ana alter lengthy dsibcra-
tion returned und handed IN thsir verdict, winch
| to the effect that Jeremiah Il. Byron. the con-
| tractor, carclcssiy loaded the arch uneveny and
thereby caused It's ial. They csnsursa Inspector
| o'Breu Tor not ordering the removal oil the
loading soon as he saw IT, and tho system that per-
mits tho absence OF an inspector Mt any time during
tho progress of work which lie nad been appointed
| supcrintcnd They recommended The Immediate In
specton by competent engineors OF the remainder Of
the arch.
| COMMENTS OF CIVIL EAoINEER ON THE DE-
SIGN, CONS RUCTIoN AND MATERIAL OF THE
| DEATH TRAP.
NKw YORK. July IL, 1875
| To THE EDITOR TmE HERALD:-
The SURPRISE excite ement aud unfavorab.e com
ments the engineering OF the Department oil Public
Works. caused by the iail OF the archway in OF
construction over tho subway Forty second street.
between First and Second avenues, under the guild
ancs OF Allan Campbell, Commissioner OF Public
Works, has given rise to some very absurd theories
a. TO tho real OF the unlocked for crash. by
which valuable lives were lost. Having had con.
siderable experience In designing and building stonc
brick and timber bridges for railroad conpanies &C.,
and having visited the scene Of the unfortunate
Disaster Idesire to give the public the result my
Investigations, measurements aud calculations,
coupled with u few remarks on the composition
desiRnatcd ''cement," which Jailed to keep any two
bricks together In the crash OF this celebrated arch
Tho arch is Of the fiat, eIliptca form, known among
civil engineers and scientific men by tho techicaI
name oil ''ellipse within ellipsc." II has a
span OF 30 feet and rise OF 10 feet
from the centre oi tho springng limo 10 the
Tho thicknoss OF tho brick work In tho loot
10 ncnes ITS main circumference at right angles from
abutment TO the other is 81 feet The sectional
of the face OF the arch 81 square fee. Tho
weight Of q section $50 feet iength) Of the brick
work Is 2s6 tons nearly, allowing 1l5 pounds every
cubic loot OF brick work. About onehsif OF the abu,
mcnts on each side Is composed OF good building
stone. dressed square at both sides ends 1t is
what is generally termed rock faced second class
sonry. Tho other half OF the abutmcnts which lies
between tho taco and the rock excavations on
either side s composed OF ruobie masonry OF a very
Inferior sind mere rubbish. Tho dune nsions OF the
abutmonts are at tho bottom 40 icet at the top or
sprinsing OF tho afch, Ieet, ana In height about
fees. Tho arch being eInpcai shall then say there
Is given eIlipsc whose transverse diameter Is Az
feet and conjugale diameter 20 iosI Oi all Tho
curves treated OF IN the conic sections the epsc 10
the graceful aud pleasing whom presented 10 the
spectator win all its charms OF beauty and nnish In
bridge oil proper proportions OF good workmanship.
Win tho introduction Of the railroad the elliptic
form OF arch came vcry much into Ia the
construction OF stone, brick and iron grder
bridges. Groas care, however, should DO
takcn TO AVOID The danger OF sacrificing the
elements Of strength through rigia motives.
The Tor adopting rise Of 10 loot the Forty
second street tusnel arcn In preference to IL feet
inches Is incomprehcnsplc. The latter the min
mum rise In arch Of tho elliptic form dus
" ioet span indeed 10 isss 10 the usual practice The
scestinc cipsc treated OF In the COME sections hav
ing uAvcfse diameter OF 40 icct must have as IT'S
n,nmum cont gate diameter % iecl Tha, IT, en-
poying tue properties OF the cpse, this arch should
have rise Of IL foot Inches Instead oi 10 loeI
Therefore, any deviation however small from that pro-
portion Is departure from the proportions OF tho
supse, ani hence the hgure becomes what is tschp.
caiiy known among scieDtilc men as an epsc withiu
nn eilipsc. fbe ~ritor is, however, wiins 10 mt
HAT elliptic arch ono of ~ foet spaa
with rise .. ony 10 feci, may DO constructed IN
u manner become almost ,indcsiructDIe Dy using
nrst class Pbilsdephia bricks (fsiateo properly laid
10 the usuaI msnucf, With headers ana strctchcrs,
using the best Portland cement Win good sBsrp ssud
mixed IA the prVportion Vt one barrel oi cement 10
Ot sanu, strongly counteriug aud comentiug tue
"A gusst rou