New-York tribune., 1891-08-29
ryE.WITNESSES EXAMINED
TIE p1sTRIoT-ATToRNEY'S INVESTIGATION
BEGINS.
-.r,rSs HOW THE PARK PLACE BUILDING FELL
TROUBLE ABOUT INSURANCE.

.ox and Robert Townsend. Assistant pls'Ao''1N'
.s.nsv examined number Of witnesses yesterday wIo
,nog or were supposed to know something ABOUT "'o
anse Of the Park Place disaster The Investigator
oerelv preliminary to the Coroners inquest when
,r he held on Tuesday the purpose being 10 ma
w ,st what witnesses had any evidence OF vaiue 10
give. 90. p,,,,o,-aev Brook
,ras first examined lie had been quoted rs ue'
,nr that he left the employ Of Liebler MASS wv
ors ago because he afraid that tho o'u1 a
-, fall. Gramlich said that he secured po." ',
nlace and therefore gave up his situation ~" building
4 Maass's lie hao never S''"S'
GAS dangerous. 49,. s,,v tbc
wa,,er Lee. broker Of No. 61 Park Place saw 'o
n,,,c tau henr seated in his Office, winch i !"s.
'~n,sltc the TAYLOR Building, at the uiic' "
oprr nsrs pedfor1 that he was confident that 10 eA
.,oson had taken place. lie said VI nss' ',,,d,nS
r1ndows on the second floor of the I"SIol noarS
-. ont Then the wall fell forward hoa, :, ,ha
' I'D mise which, I am certain, was CAUSE" - -,
g. ~. ., the falling building. The dust was "''"H
,hronch nv window before heard a NOISE ,,ro,vn,
rdor,ck Z Cbapn a reporter. toii INC lo 80,
- At Was coming down the steps Oh l"o -, -"
pace station Of the elevated ro"d ~ - o,rloson
I' no.rd deem rumbllng sound like an eNpl0so.,
80 under the earth. 1 looked down r"n - ,ho
,i,hin a second or two saw 'ilo N0"' .nou,n nm
rS,nc nitc6 forward while tmbers were 'nlo".' ~ r
puii.i'e ~, ,o there was an explosion beioro .,o
"" ~, rnero was no gradual dropping Va "o
~ The wall seemed to go down Ill . 9o.o a,.o
pncAs s tno fire until about five minutes l'cr
ho.rnr the rumbling sound r,oops
heHi"e levy WEIGHTS. ON THE FLoON9'
,Aeodore A. Lebler, OF Liebler % ~ M''"s' ,a,ohinc
nAnro were on the fourth floor t"o pc ,roicbinc
zach. about fifty cases OF paper "eien."e
noV ~ 40 ", rounds: 1000 llthograph stones
Io'OV ~ ,ko nounds each, and six hahu p'c9sos' y"
rom eoor we're six large presses, io'r Vi V"oln
o,.hinr five tons each and two we'snhna o.,,I
We Ho had always regarded the pu'iuine "' e'''''
safe. .,... ,vtness,s partner had
also no reason for believing that ,ne ~ D"it tS ei,v
II, last saturday, as sound as any =" r ~ ~ e. y-
u". 80 ss tbe first witness was Charles " SheneS'
I ,oo Iatavette.ave Brooklyn, printer sI NO.
"a and 10 College Place and No 90 r"'A -. is
~ "nU - a noise ON the day OF the acciuehV al"
sa,r kind OF luminous mist III inc "ii' - ."Nn,nr
49, h,,ldinr catch fire. The flames "eio VI e
nat a creeping or crawling Kho, anu ~,eS ,tSa.ion
yelOped all the ruins he ""
In the fallen structure A.. orosor+otIve
.. " Iardne architects, of No. i 262 BroadWay'
,~,o made the plans for the fallen Dm"Lns All To-
r,ad Iardine who was the architect OF inc Pl"'0' -
&, rrrone and is not expected back lot t"o "'o'
- 1870 Mr.. Van Norden was draughVsniah io' 'I0
Al Mrs Eliza c. Crocker and Mrs. sarah A.
DulE
- pocoankamp was the mason and John COeArdh'
~ ,s now dead was the carpenter There were
100 superficial square feet on the thnd ana lour'A
snnrs each safe load on these hooIe
,rOnIa he 200 pounds foot This applied only 10
soad v,4,pbt. however. With moving weight such
as moving machinery, not more than loo PouiuN
toot sbonld have been put on the noorS'
~, Won Nor1en said that the building had not been
$500. mn 10 he occppied by Htographers who used heaVy
presses in their business.
OTHERS WHO WERE EXAMINED.
Other witnesses who were examined were B. New
.rt cicar manufacturer, of Seventy -tllTd-st. ana
second-aye. E. j. Mullaly, printer, No. o4 fdrh
place: Frederick Hoffman, shipping clerk NO Oh FarA
place: j. Frederick Doty, No. 24l GreehWlchsV Ioi'i
G. Klein, jeweller, No. 247 Greenwlch,st % JONI
Gilmore umbrellas No. 247 Greenwich-st.; George
1Shnn wsitar in Peteysens restaurant; Louis Ferein
,.shiar in the same restaurant; Wlihain
Dietz,sr regular customer at the restaurant ;
prnard FdeIbrook dishwasher at PeterSens and Henry
uonne ~ No ST Frankfortst. To-day, representa-
tyes of insurance companies will be examined
II is significant of the present management OF uhe
Fire Department that nearly every responsible oioe
connected Herewith was absent from his post Wheh
the disaster occurred and that most Of them commune
IN he ont of the city, The list Of absentees lhcuueS
the president Of the Fire Board, Tammany sacneDl
Henry D. Purroy; Hugh Bonner, Chel Oh 'ie Iiio
Department, and John McCabe, deputy chlel' Odrl
Jussen. secretary Of the department, ana Johh H.
Byrnes, assistant secretary; Fire MarshM james
Mitchell and Assistant Fire Marshal Frank jacob :
Medical officer Frank L. Ives; William L. Hndley, at
torney of the Fire Department, and j. Elhot smith,
srnerintendent of the Fire Alarm Telegraph. Thomas
] grady. Superintendent Of the Bureau of Buildings
Inspection was also absent when the disaster nap
bened and did not appear until two days after"aio'
He is in fact about the only important Official belong
ing 10 the Fire Department now in town. Reporters
G,IT ct hfc nflt
,erdav. and we're unable 10 learn Of him anywhere
,, These facts are remarkably interesting TO prop
vbolders taxpayers and citizens generally who are
lahoyinc under the impression that the oidcers VINO
draw high salaries from the city are attending TO the
suties and caring for the interests which they are
paid to protect
INDIGNANT POLICY HOLDERS
II has been rumored that the insurance companies
which carried risks on the Taylor Budlhg womu hO'
pay the insurance In fact, 1t Is su tat tie seoie
tarv Of the Board Of Underwriters issued notice 10 al
~ the opnanies interested not to recognize at present
any claim made The policies carried by those VINO
were tenants In the building all read ALIKE ana OK
pressly say that il building colapseS ana Hire Ioi
lows the risk shall cease the moment inc DuI"s lai
and before the fire begins. This provision II reiuiS
enforced would nvadate any claim made against "i'
companies for Insurance.
There is a movement on foot, however, headed pJ
H. IL. Bowman, president and treasurer of the Petei
Adams Company, and the Adams d Bishop Company
10 compel the insurance TO be paid. Both companies
represented by Mr.. Bowman manufacture paper and
carry insurance upon their plant and stock amounting
10 100000. Mr. Bowman said that he would Win
draw his insurance from every company interested
which refused pay the claims OF the former tenants
Of the building. Not only that, but the insurance o
100000 upon real estate owned by him would be
withdrawn.
AS to this insurance. Mr.. Bowman continued, q
have this 70 say: An inspector of the Board of I'm
derwHters went through the ruined building less than
SIX months ago. He made no complaint about the
buudlng or the arrangement Of the presses. lie
examined the building from top 10 bottom. Tie com
panies TOOK the risk at very high premium, and The
occupants Of the building paid what was demanded
paFucularly Liebler Mass. Now, when calamity
comes, these insurance companies avail themselves OF
an obscure clause in the policies think it is swndline