Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1885-04-17
Eight Buildings Collapse.

Eight tive-story tenement houses on
the south side of West Sixty-second
street, New York, that had recently
been put under roof, fell down Mon
day afternoon, while efforts were being
made to brace them up, that the yield
ing foundations might be made secure.
The wreck was complete; not stick re-
manned standing, not a timber remained
whole i'm the entire row. Half hun
dred workmen were at work In or about
the buildings ut the time. The most
superficial examination Of the debris
showed the cause of the disaster to be
wretched workmanship and poor ma
terial. The mortar contained little or
no sand, but loan or mud instead, and
was wholly unfit for use. This and the
fact that the building had been erected
during the cold weather of wet and
frozen bricks were directly the cause
of the collapse. The builder, Chas. A.
Buddensick, who was responsible, left
the neighborhood in carriage imme'
diately after the disaster, and drove to
his residence In East SeveEty-seventh
street. Where he went from there no
body could learn. The police, who ar
rested the master bricklayer, Charles
Frank, could not find the builder. Bud
densick has been for years In trouble
with the authorities OH account of the
"skin" buildings he has put up.
The erection Of the buildings had
been going on since last December dur
ing all the cold weather. The fourth
story walls showed weakness In sud-
den thaw before the fifth-stOry was reach
ed and had to be taken down. Work
men were forbidden to carry home
scraps OF timber left By the carpenters.
BY the builders orders these were to
be used In filling in the walls to save
bricks, which were sometimes put In
by the armful. When good thaw set
In the walls began TO weaken and steps
were taken to brace them up from both
ends so that they would stick together
until the roofs could be put on and the
end walls rebuilt. Monday morning It.
was seen that three houses at the west
end were in imminent danger Of fall
ing. The foundations had bulgel no.
tlceably, and the walls were shaky.
Builder Buddcnsick's attention was
called TO the matter. He set men to
work to fix up the walls and founda-
ton. Four stonemdsons and Is car
penters were at work on this when the
crash came. There were roofers, paint
ers, fathers and plumbers, numbering
perhaps 80, at work about the premises
at the time.
About 3.l5 shout of warning went
up that brought pale faces to many
windows. The end building toward
Eleventh avenue was seen to totter then
fall. Both foundation side walls had
fallen out, and the body of the house,
deprived of its support, fell in between
to the cellar. The building adjoining
it, having nothing to lean upon, fell
next. Then the whole row followed,
like line Of card houses, with roar
that seemed to last many minutes, as
one after the other of the buildings went
down after its neighbor. Workmen in
buildings for blocks around, and peo-
pie living within half-a-mile were
startled by the noise and shock, and In
very short time the locality of the
paper dwellings was packed with an
excited populaoe, whose threats Of VEN
geance on the reckless builder filled
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