Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-12
AS TOACYCLONE'S WRECK.
They ASsail the Coroner and His
Jury for Alleged Errors,
AND LAY 1T ALL 10 PROVIDENCE.
A Red BOT but Entirely Unanimous Meet
ing and its Result.
WHAT MR. SHARON SAYS OF IGNORANCE

The Builders Exchange has denounced
Coroner Mcdowell for his finding in the
recent Wiley building disaster. At a
special meeting yesterday of the members of
the Exchange the Coroner was roundly
abused for the verdict of the jury. A reso-
luton was adopted and placed on the books
of the Exchange, and a copy with the seal
of the organization ordered sent to the Cor
oner for his perusaL. ...
A few DAYS after the rendition of the ver-
dict of the Coroner's jury the President of
the Exchange called the Directors together
and sent out notice of special meeting to
consider the verdict. After much discus
sion committee of six of the leading men,
bers of the Exchange was appointed to
make a detailed examination of the ma
teriaI used in the Wiley building and re-
port at special meeting of the entire Ex-
change. The committee was composed of
the very best builders in the city. Each
member was the foremost representative of
his particular branch of the business. They
went quietly to work, secured samples of all
the material used and analyzed them. The
mortar was given 10 a competent chemist
and an impartial examination of everything
was made. The members of the committee
completed the examination Saturday last
and yesterday made their report. The re-
port was as follows:
THE EXPERT VERDICT.
Your committee have carefully examined
the stenographic report of the evidence pro-
duced before the Coroner's jury on the disaster
at the Wiley building, and we find that there
was no evidence offered before the jury which
in any way shows that the contractors or own
ers, or any persons connected with the erection
of the building, were responsible for the dis
aster.
When the report was read one of the
members jumped to his feet and made
motion to adopt it. The report was then
put in the shape Of resolution, and mo-
tion made to adopt it as the unanimous SEN
timent of the members of the Exchange.
This was carried with an amendment to send
copy of the resolution to the Coroner
The object of the investigation by the Ex-
change was not for the purpose of protecting
member of the craft. Mr.. Huekestein, al
though member of the Exchange, is not
the most popular man in it, and there can
be no question of sentiment in tue matter
The majority of the members were confident
that the disaster was not the fault of poor
material or workmanship, and to contradict
the verdict OF the Coroner's jury they were
willing to be put to great expense.
AT the meeting yesterday the members of
the committee stated that everything that
went into the building was first class, and
the Coroner's verdict was at variance with
the facts They produced the specifications
for the material, and found that parts of the
work had been done in a better manner than
had been specified. This was particularly
the case with the walls, which were thicker
than they needed to have been.
HE CALLED 1T RED HOT.
After the meeting W. S. Sharon, editor of
the Builders Gazette, said:
1--WE had red hot meeting, and nearly
every person there expressed his indigna-
ton at the Coroner's verdict. We have
kept our mouths closed about the matter
until we made an investigation and found
we had room to talk. There can be no
question about the result of the investiga-
tion.- The members of the committee are
first class men, of many years experience
and they certainly have the ability to Judge.
AC
can be found in the United States.
"They made a fair examination of everv-
thing. The walls were found to be better
and thicker than were called for in the |
specifications, and everything else was up
TO the handle. The specifications called for
irst-class workmanship and materials, and
the committee found that the contractor had
lived up to them in every respect. The |
resolution was adopted without one dissent
IL l. Il. o. IN Z
he has made mistake
SEVERE CRITICISM.
In the current issue of his paper, Mr., |
Sharon says:
Who can contemplate a more disgraceful in |
suit to the dignity of the law than the proceed
ing of the Allegheny County Coroner in the |
WiHey-Weldin- building catastrophe? 1t is a |
shame that such proceedings should be per- |
mitted in the land of free schools. Just look a |
moment, Coroner not above the ordinary in |
telligence Of the every day laborer. a Jury con-
sisting of men who know no more about the |
erection of building than the Arabs, sitting |
in Judgment on The plans of a skilled and /
learned architect, and the carrying out of his |
specifications by skilled builders! Certainly |
this is the climax of the sheerest nonsense. |
They might as well condemn the Almighty by |
finding the wind guilty of blowing too hard.
Under what statute could the architect |
builder or owner be tried. if they should IN
their verdict flnd either guilty of gross neglect?
There is wide range in diversity of opinion in /
respect to winter building. In Norway build !
ings are erected, and have been for centuries, |
where the thermometer was 40 degrees below /
Zero and buildings are in perfect state of pres
ervation that have stood for l.OOO years.
The following named members of the
Exchange left last night for Philadelphia |
to attend the convention of the National |
Association of Builders, to be held at Phil |
adelphia beginning to-day: W. S. Sharon,
T. j. Hamilton, Mr.. Murphy (of Murphy |
& Hamilton), Robert Mawhinney S. A. |
Steel, NJ. W. Kaufman, A Rasner and |
Reese Lindsay. They go as visitors, and |
not as delegates from the local Exchange !
A full report of the programme of the con-
vention was published in THE DISPATCH
some weeks ago.
The banquet of the Pittsburg Exchange,
which was to have been held within the
next few weeks, has been declared of.