New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-11-10

necessary papers were made out on Monday, ana
they would have been served yesterday had IL not
been legal holiday"
"Do you think the Bureau is TO blame ior ho'
having inspected the building before ~.
al suppose that the Bureau will be blamed. But
let me tell Won the facts in the case In the first place.
the building was not considered unsafe. AS soon as
the inspection was made the Bureau took steps 10
remedy the evil 1t might be asked why an inspec-
tion was not made before. In answer to that say
this: The duties of the Bureau do not require that
an inspector should enter every building without
some kind of idea notification that IL may DO
unsafe and especially in the case OF buildings tna'
look and are Thought to be safe, as this building
was Then again the work of the Bureau has been
largely increased while the force and expenditures
have been decreased Since the beginning oil the
wear. 8. 934 complaints or notices have oeeh To
ceived of which 30 per cent have been ATTENDED, TO-
in spite of political opposition"
els political pressure brought to bear upon tine
Burean TO prevent the repairing of buildings that
are considered unsafeW
"You have no idea how persistent tho owners OF
buildings are They bring politicians of all creeds
and Influence to try to induce the Department not
IN condemn their buildings. In fact, political OPP
nocition is what we have TO work hardest against.
Take two cases we had brought into the courts this
season. where the verdict was gwen against
the Bureau. The point raiseu Wy
ms was that bad mortar was pe-
ing nsed The verdict went against us and the COLI
tractor continued to use the mortar, which kho"
is rotten despite the verdict of the court Ihese
buildings are now in course OF CONSTRUCTION i no
Rureau ia powerlcss and yet they are lkely 10 Ia'
and rrobably will fall in the course OF tlme. -,
"Wlnt is your opinion as to to the cause OIL INC
disaster ~ -. abou1d rot have
beon mt on as buildings are rarely put up-at
leaqt Il was a rare thing nj the time that was Dult
with walls strong enough 10 Dear such III "'''
''0"' PRESIDENT GoRMAN's OPINION.
John J. German the president OF the Fire Depart
ment did not think that the Inspector OF BUILDINGS
was 70 blame for the accident as he consdered IL
one of those calamtes that happen in spite oil men
best efforts He thought that precautions had been
taken in the present case. He was emphatic IL MS
opinion that the Department had too much WORK
Producing the pay rolls. he said fou see by THESE
80 5O5 53 n month, S3O,OG6 36 a year ne
number of employees Is twenty seven; hei"re r tne
Department was consolida ed WIN inc rlle
Department there were elghty-three PeTs 9no
upou the pay roll, who were pald fo%ooo
year. So that while TINS great ied ~ tba
amount of business for the Department 10 atenu 10
has increased enormously because there Is nore
building gongon IN New1 ork tnan was stSi or
| do not think that was the reason why Ihe
building was not examined before; Dnt IL WIS
Thought TO be a safe one. The tremen IN that as
trict had not made a report rs 10 its unsafe con,
dition and they certainly would nave done so hau
they considered II unsafe
ONE THEORY AS TO TIE CAUSE or TIE ACCIDENT.
F. King, foreman Of Engine Company No 10.
which has its house in South Fifth-ave, two blocks
from where the buildings stood, and in whose DIS
trict they were. was found at his enginc-honse on
the sick list. He talked integently about the dis
aster 81 have known the building since | was n
bov he said 81 have been in ii several times, and
always thought il was safe; at least never thought
otherwise II is our custom 10 keep well informed
regarding buildings in our own district for our own
safety in case they get on hre. never eAhinIneu
this building particularly because II was tehe-
mont house, and we give more attention 20 thosgg
buildings that have great weights upon each nooI;
"What is your opinion TO the cause OF the accl-
dentr w,.nou.r ,ho lido :. bicb
the cellar has or less water IN ~ ms WAFER
comes from brick sewer which is in Canal-st. Ihe
reason why know about II Is that when was
boy lot of Us youngs eTs used 10 SWIM ia the
cellar as the water would ebb ana now JUST the
sams AS nj the wharyes This being the case, think
that the water undermined the foundations ana tho
| building collapsed"
THE BUILDING BUREAU BLAMED.
| James o'Bren, the owner OF the corner building,
could not be found His partner IN the liquor shop,
Philip Holland, was seen. He spoke bitterly
against the Building Bureau, which he considered TO
| blame in the matter. lie said: q" | am not inter
ested in the building itself as IL was owned by Dir.
| OBren but / am associated with Mr. OBrien In
| the Uouor business Sometime ago noticed sew
eral cracks in the walls and lately gave notice to
the Bureau that the building needed repairing. My
partner was waiting for the necessary papers when
| this accident happened.
"If Won considered the building unsafe why did
| Won not inform the OccupantsP
Because we did not think IL was as unsafe as II
has proved To he. We considered IL needed repair
| ing and that IL the reason why we informed tho
| Building Bureau" -
| "Then how can You blame the Bureau
| because | think the Bureaus experts should
| have been able 10 tell whether the building was so
unsafe And then again they kept us waiting for the
| papers"
| K TRIBUNE reporter called on julius Levy, the
| owner of No. 80 Grand-st., at his house. No. 23i
East Broadway. and got his version OF the accident
| which was in substance az follows: The binding
| was built OF brick aud wood and was considered 10
| be a safe one. In his opinion il would not have
| fallen had ii not been for the building
| on the corner. This he believed had
| dragged his down. The Building Bureau had been
| told That repairs were needed, but the necessary
papers had not been received; therefore the owners
could not make the repairs When the question was
asked whether il was not probable that the water
flowing continually In and out of the cellar had I'M
defmined the foundation of the party wall Mr..
| Levy replied: "N0 indeed, that could not have
caused the accident, because IT Was usual tor the
| water To flow in and out That had been going on
for some time, and everything had been done that
| could be done 10 stop it. III IL had not been for
| O'Brieps house falling the other would not have
| gone. IL was not thought that there was any dan
ger in fact but only that the house needed repair
| ing. Otherwise the occupants would have been in
| formed of their danger"