The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-09-10

brick objected to.
l had a conversation with Mr..
Halves, one of the contractors who
erected said building, on the morning
Of the 9th inst, Mr.. J. g. Abney and
Mr.. Gannett being present at the time.
1 said to Nj. Halves: ''That was a bad
job" abiding to the erection of the
building, all of us being in the rear Of
and close to said building. He said,
she was damned glad of 1t, and hoped
to God l would lose every dollar / had"
1 told him that she had the best of it
row." That was all the conversation
1 had with him. Here the jury
was shown the contract entered into
between himself and said Dawson &
Halves for the erection Of said build
ing.) Mr.. Connors, another contrac-
tor, at the time I was proposing to
build the building, offered to build 1t
for 800 or $500 less than Dawson &
Halves offered to build it for, but I
told him he could not furnish the kind
of material and put up the building 1
wanted for that price.
After closing the testimony Of the
above named witness, A. G. McGregor
and F. w. Cooper, of the jury, were
instructed by the jury to employ sufi-
cient force to clean away the rubbish
from the center wall between the build
ings, to enable the jury, If possible. to
ascertain the cause of the falling Of
said structure at the next session of
the inquest.
HERMAN HAAS
was the next witness. He was sworn,
and said: I am chief of the fire depart
ment In Cheyenne. l was present at
the ruins Of the Delmonico hotel and
Washington meat market on the night
of the 9th inst, a very short time after
said buildings fell, and personally su-
perintended the removal of many of the
persons who were buried in said ruins.
Among those removed I saw the body
Of G.. ]. F. Van de Sande. 1t was life
less; also saw the bodies Of two small
children which were also removed
from said buildings in a ~lifeless condi-
ton. I was informed they were the
children of Mrs. Bell, who was the
proprietress of the boarding house kept
in the second story of the hotel build
ing aforesaid.
In answer to the question propounded
by one of the jurymen as to whether or
not witness knew the immediate cause
Of the falling of said building, witness
said: [ was informed it was a brick
wall that separated the two fallen
buildings, and while l do not know for
a certainty what was the immediate
cause Of the falling of said buildings, 1
believe that it vas owing to defective
materials-brick and mortar-used in
the construction of the parti wall be-
tween said buildings.
e. F. ROBERTS,,
sworn-I reside in the city of Cheyenne.
l was in the first room, or ground floor,
Of the building known as the Delmon-
leo hotel. Was there In company with
Miss Zehner, Mr.. Wasserman, Mr.. and
Mrs. Gaylord Bell. The room we were
in at the time Of the falling of said
building was the ground floor, or first
story, Of said hotel, and was used for
a music store. At the time the build
ing commenced to fall we were stand
ing near the rear of the room near the
stove. Had Just finished singing a
sentence, when I discovered the plas-
tering on the wall, where the board
ceiling Joined to 1t, begin to crumble
and fall. l halloed to my companions
to run, and at the same instant started
myself. Mrs. Bell was then standing
near the front of the store room. We
all reached the street in safety, and
the conclusion occasloned by the fall
ing buildings threw me down on my
hands in the street.
In answer to the question as to
whether he knew what was the imme-
date cause Of the falling of the
buildings, witness answered.: 1 do not
know what was the immediate cause of
the falling of the buildings, but my
opinion is that was caused by the
shrinking Of the timbers of which it
was constructed, and an insufficient
support Of the same.
A. @. M'oREaoR,
one of the jurors, being duly sworn,
said: At the time the workmen were
constructing the middle wall between
the Washington meat market and the
Delmonico hotel in the fall of 1875, 1
was passing said building. and observ-
ing the character of the brick aud NOR
tar being used, L observed to the work
men that they could not use that kind
Of material for nae II I were building,
and they replied, / wa no longer super
intending the erection OF government
buildings, and that this was no govern
ment building, which l I understood was
as much as to say that ! had nothing
to do with 1t.
Question by the coroner: WAS the
material suitable for such purpose as it
was there being used, and did you think
so at that timer"
Answer: sit was not, and thought
SO at that time"
I have followed the business of build
er about twelve years, and was about
six years master mechanic In the quar-
termaster's department at Camp Carlin,
w. 7.
CUES. We're those bricks used in the
construction of that parti wall, in your
opinion, good bricks and sufficiently