Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-28
THE ARBITRATORS DISAGREE.
Tha Old B. & o. Buildings Fate Left With
M. L. Malone rs Umpire-Probnbly IL Is
Coming Down.


Tha Old B. & o. Buildings Fate Left With
M. L. Malone rs Umpire-Probnbly IL Is
Coming Down.
Mr.. NIL. Malone, the umpirein the arbi-
tration board appointed to investigate as to
the advisability Of ordering the razingof the
Roseburg building, at the corner Of Fifth
avenue ard Wood street, will probably
make his report to-day. His decision will
probably be to heeffect that the building is
unsafe, and must come down.
The report will be made to ]. O. Brown,
Chief of the Department of Public Safety,
and the question will be settled finally.
The owner of the building has agreed to
abide by their decision, and, even if he
wished to, it is not likely that he could
have any recourse to law. IF Mr.. Malone
says the building must come down, there
will be no alternative but to dismantle it.
If the owner does not do so the City Engl-
neer will be instructed to proceedto tear it
down in the name of the city and by the
authority of the Department of Public
Safety.
Mr.. Malone was seen at his residence last
evening and asked what bis decision would
be. He refused to say, as he had not fully
made up his mind He said:
did not receive the opinions of Mr.. hatcher
and Mr.. Balph, the arbitrators, until late in the
afternoon of yesterday. and could not do any
thing with the reports then. To-day l was
called as witness in court and did not have
moments time to examine the reports know
the public is awaiting the report of the Arbi-
tration Board, but we are doing our best to
have it ready as soon as possible. If had my
mind made up it would be discourteous to pub
lish the report until itwas first submitted to
Chief Brown for his perusal.
While know what the report of the arbitra-
tors are, it would not do for me to decide one
way or the other before carefully weighing each
point. Both reports are similar in regard to
the facts The details are not the same, and
both Mr. hatcher and Mr.. Balph look at the
matter from different points of observation.
If one of them thinks the building Is safe. and
the other thinks it is not, then will have to de-
eide who is right. Both men are expert builders,
and it will be a delicate matter to say which one
Is wrong. While the building may be q little
unsafe the question to be determined is, is it
menace to human life and property? We
should not condemn any mans building and
order it torn down unless it is absolutely neces-
sary. No, L cannot say whether the arbitrators
think the building should come down or not.
have already stated that the building is out
OF plumb as much as three inches. whether
or not this is dangerous and necessitates the
destruction Of the building am not prepared
to say.
Early in the afternoon it was learned by
a DISPATCH reporter that the arbitrators
had disagreed in their opinions as to
whether the building should come down or
not. Each was supposed not to know what
the other was doing, but they found out
nevertheless. Both state in their reports
that the building is away out of plumb, but
one does not think this is sufficient to war
Balph's opinion is to the effect that the
building must come down, while Mr..
hatcher thinks it should not. Both of the
gentlemen give good reasons for their opin-
ions, and the umpire will have to decide
which one is in the right.