New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-12
A CRASH AT A NEW ARMORY
THE WIND BLOWS DOWN A WALL
. BIG WRECK AT THE srn nEGIMENTs USrIN.
IsHED BUILDING-NOBoDY HURT.

n BIZ WRECK AT ST1f REGINESTS
IsHED BUILDINC-EoBoDY HURT.
There wa terrific crash that sounded like one Of
the proverbal claps Of thunder that come out Of .
clear sky at about 10 O'Clock yesterday morning.
followed by thick cloud OF dust, and when IL cleared
away nearly the entire wall of the eh Regiment
Armory Building, at Ninety -fourth-st and Madison
ave. was lying In ruins the c1Ound inside The side
walls. II was most remarkable accident, and fort,
una'ely there was no within reach Of the wall
when IT fell
The armory is a huge affair and its lines are laid
out as strong fortress, which It IS designed to
resemble 1t takes I'm the entire block between Park
and Madison avcs. and Ninety fourth and Ninety
fifth sfs except space OF about seventy-fve feet
the Madsona ave. end. The front Is in Park ave. and
is'cven with the street line The cOrners stone Of the
building was laid October 10, in the presence Of
Governor lill. Mayor Hewitt and a large number
Of military and civilians The front and side
walls were at this time about twenty feet high and
the rear wall was few feet higher. The work hes
been rapidly pushed since then by large force Of
men, with the idea Of getting the structure avanced
as much possible before the inclement weather Of
the winter months set I'm.
Some Of the heavy iron girders which spanned tho
side walls gotten in position a support for
the roof, and the rear wall had reached a height OF
seventy-One feet Friday since which time the rain
had ihterfercd with the work. This wall within
about ten feet Of the grder. The other walls
had reached about forty feet and several workers
busy with the masons fitting in the beams and
girdcs. The walls thirty-two inches thick and
far be learned the best mortar and finest
sand were used to fiji In with. The walls were not
braced In any way, they were deemed TO be sufic-
ently heavy and strong to Withstand any shock until
firmly joined together at the top by iron framework
The walls exposed and unprotected on both sides.
THE wATCHMAN's MARROW ESCAPE.
A few moments before 10 O'Clock yesterday morn
ing one Of the watchmen on the premises who is knowr
"Pete,7 and refused for some unknown rea on.
to tell the rest OF his name. had occasion to pass
through a small door in the Madisonave. end of the
building Just as lie got inside, brick fell at his
feet Thinking that II had been knocked loose by
guy rope, he slackened up the rope lttlc and while
he was making the end fast shower Of bricks
fell around him, and he made dash for the street.
lie did not get ont any too soon. for small section
Of the wall landed where he had been standing, ana
would certainly have killed him.
The wind this time blowing fercely out
Of the west, and according to the statement OK
Henry Maxcy who lives in Ninety-thiidst, near
Park-ave and was On his way to church, going
through Madlsonave., it was almost impossible To
walk against IL. The wind, which had suddenly
increased, veered quickly from west TO north and
back again, and it struck against the end OF tho
armory with tremendous force. Mr. MaAey hah
almost reached the amory when the wind brought
him to a standsuL Everything that was loose was
sent spinning. and carried along win IT, Ii h"i
the twisting movement or a NhllWihu Inc i''f
wall of the armory met the full force OF the oias',
and IFS effect was seen in a second. convulsiVe
shock seemed TO pass through II and II tremDled
The tremulDus motion continued, then the massN'
wall swayed at the top and about ten feet OF IL "a'
broken off. When 1t struck the ground the eai'n
seemed TO shake for a second and then the wall
broke off near the side ends with terrific report
and fell inward.
NOBODY BURIED IN THE RUINS
The noise heard for long distance, and IN a
short time there was large crowd Pre>rnt ~ap'Mh .
OConnor of the Egh;yeighth Street Station, With 4
squad of men, came up and forced the crowd back to
safe distance. 1t rumored that there were sew
era people buried in the ruins. and this aided 10 .e
excitement The police speedily became sssnen 'a. ,s
there was no one near the wall al the time ana the
statement of the watchman showed the impossl9nly
excepting a section each end. which was supported
by a tower-llke structure, maidng the hnsh 10 % me
side wall IN the rrar TIE M Use where the w'rAmen
had all their tools and the boiler and engine were
DESTROYED The bricks landed tea in nEpaf + 9ape Hn
placed in that shape to make walk compaiauVey
used again RE loss is varousIy estimated a, from
$4,000 to 10000. The building originally was TO
next september. This accident will cause delay Of
several months and it viii bc much orgcr If the side
walls have been Injured
OPINIONS ON THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT
While there were many opinions expressed as to
the reason OF the accident of which suggested
imperfect building materials and faulty construction,
that OF John DiwOrh the foreman, who was at the
building every day, is certainly entitled to respect
lie saws that there doubt that the high wind did
the business Mr. Dilworth admitted that the wall
would still have been standing II it had been braced
on tho inside. There is cellar TO the building
and the walls rest directly upon bed rock Some
blasting was necessary TO level the ground, but this
was all done before the walls were begun. The wall
could not have been undermined by wafer. and there
was no chance for to flow against the foundation
Ths most plausible theory IS that the mortar had nor
set sufficiently resist the action of the hard rain OF
saturday, which beat directly against the inside OF
the wall and the mortar that was not washed out was
thoroughly saturated with moisture and weakened 10
such extent that IL could not stand up against
the terrific force OF the Wind The archect Is JOhh
r. Thomas. He could not be- found. Isaac n HOPPER
the builder. said that the only explanation he cOuid
give was that the heavy rain of saturday had weakened
wal and thar when tb" strong wind came yester-
day the wall went down before II.