New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-04-14
THE QUESTION OF RESPONSIBILITY.

ROTTEN BRICKS AND MUD USbD IN ihN pCh@D
INGs-wHKRE WAS THE DISTRICT iNsPFCfoRf
Inspector D'Oench, of the Bureau of Buildings.
reached the place of disaster abont p m' ana MADE
careful survey nf the ruins He had the plans OF the
buildings with him They had been filed at the bureau
n November approved by Inspector Esterhrook ON
December The specifications were Tor twehty-iour
tenement houses each five stories in height and dc
signed TO hold families GOtthod Haug OF no l'Ioo
Thrd-ave. was put down as the owner ana tio atcn
tect was George W. Splitter. OF No 33S East Eighty
sixth-st The name OF tue builder was et hiauS' INC
estimated cost OF each house was $4,000, ana tue
ground dimensions 25 by SO feet Mr.. DOench
said: Tho plans and specifications are all right, and
have ascertaned the beams and walls correspond IN
thickness with the specifications The trouble has been
I'm the workmanship Any see that the mortar
was worthless aud the walls were not properly pnIt'
Robert Mackey is the examiner for this district o lie
has been here only two months. Ii Is the examiners
duty to see buildings erected according to
the Specifications and that the mortar used Is up to tue
standard. but examiner has so many buildings TO
watch that he cannot Of all tho cheating HAT Il
done In district don't 20 speak further ABOUT
this matter until have made thorough invesilghoh
THE houses fell because they was rotten. said Plp
Hausnan a builder. Of No. 542 West Forty -ninth-st
They were refuse Look at the bricks that were
being used They are bricks but halves and
quarters and chunks OF bricks. poorly burnt-th" mr
able OGal OF brickyard. Tnis stun Is what the walls
were being constructed or But though that Is enough
to condemn any bdding. II the public safety II con-
sidered at ALL by the worst feature Of this
case You these brickbats are almost clean Ihere
is 10 them at all The stun used In laying The
bricks wall simply wet dirt IL II called oan'
aud IL tho clancy stua eXcavated from the cellars after
the ROCKS were blasted the found itons THIS loan Is
fine dirt Sand and lime make mortar fourth part OF
tie line required to good mortar with sand will
mix this loaln while wet IA somewhat sticky 70
soon as 1t gets dry hold at all That IL what
allied these buildings. The walls were made OF briCk-
bats, stuck together with dry Dirt
All the builders and present corroboratcd these
statements Said This loan when wet Is mud;
when dry, II Is powder. And thousands OF tenement
houses and ats for eo poor people being put In
this city with Just stun All these houses that you
sec about mere built OF rotten bricks aud mud"
Late In the afternoon the police arrested Charles
Frank Of No l,4l5 dave, the boss brcklayer,
and locked him up In the Forty -seventh-st station
Charles sohwager. brckayer OF No i39 West Fifty
hirl-st was detained the station as witness
The latter the who shook his fist AT Budensek
and told him he ought u he hung. lie said to
TRIBUNE reporter: -The mortar In all those houses was
made from the loan dug out OF the cellars II was $50
sticky that could hardly use IT, Frank protested
several tunes and told Buddensek that the walls were
not safe but Bud lcrsiek sad the loan must be used
The men coud work with large trowcs In laying the
bricks and quit work for time because could not
earn decent wages with such mortar In building the
walls we had BRICK in places by putting In waste
frozen bricks In building the wall and part OF the
fourth story buged bay that hal to be taken down
and rebuilt.
Charles Frank was unwilling talk about the work on
The houses. but when erstOOd that he likely to
be held responsible for death OF some wOrkmen. he
said: don't how could be made To sdicr for
ths my orders TO what materials were
We're .hose materials goodf" be asked.
"I don't want 10 say. Anybody can Judge Dy looking
Was loan used instead OF sandT
@Yes. | told Mr.. BuldeDsck that we ought to have
sharp sand for tho MORTAR but he SAID we must use the
l0ai Now and then load OF sand was sent because We
had to have TO make the mortar york at all
don't ike tell this, becauso IL Will prevent me- from
getting work was Obliged 10 DO ~ was 'ou ia oroer
TO support my family" 49,
Dii you inform the Examiner OF Buldlngsp
"No lie could lind that out for himself, thougi C.
lie about the buildings nearly every day, but
didn't know his name don't thnk nc looked very
closely Mr.. Buddensek talked " hD when their backs
might be trouble with the BuidiDgs burean about the
use OF loan IN mortar but he said he would that
there vas no interference with the WORK. - T..
When did discover that the h0uses were gong 10
fallP
and August Miller. the boss carpenter. went TO WORK
with 10 shore up In tho cellar OF one house
nearest Eegentl-ave' .
eli, soire Of the men thought the houses
SAFE but didn't know that the houses were going TO
fall"
Did you suppose the houses would be safe when they
were tui+iodT
going to put myself In danger, and will not say
anything more about TINS matter now"
Frank hickset German. OF middle age with brown
hair and beard and secpyl0oking gray ewes. lie ap-
pearea to be nurh worried ODkaccount or his arrest last
night and anxiouy inquired how many OF the workDen
believed 10 have been killed lie said he did not
how many carpenters were working In the h0lses
@ " on