New-York tribune., 1891-08-28
WHAT OWNERS SHOULD DO.
THEY SHOULD INFORM THE BUILDING DE-
PARTMENT OF WEIGHTS OF FLOORS.
FURTHER TALKS or THE SUBJECT OF OVER
WEIGHTED STRUCTURES AND De-

WEIGHTED STRUCTURES AND DE-
FEcTIvE WORK.
Thomas J. Brady. tho superintendent OF the Bureau
NJ Building Inspection, at the scene oil the dsaSter
IN Park Place again yesterday. Fire Commissioner
robbins went there with him. and 50 did Inspector
Magnus Schwartz, within whose district the Iayior
buldlng was. Commissioner EicShof was there later
in the day. They are all trying TO gather moro
facts TO help form conclusion 10 what caused the
buding to fall. superintendent BRADY no longer de
n,e, that tho tremendous weight OF the printing presses
rendered the building unsafe but he cnGs still TO the
theory that, though this may have been 50, 10 was "'
explosion Of naphtha benzino that caused the oo"
fall in the first instance and ho viii say so IN MS rc
mort unless some evidence should appear between now
and the time Of the completion Of the document "
prove otherwise.
Fire Marshall Mitchell has not appeared at his ONCE
since before Saturday. He Is away on HIS Vocauo''
and Deputy Frank has full charge In his aosohcc'
Il is he VINO VIII frame the report which the law aiso
demands from this department, but 1t VIII deai Only
with the cause Of the fire. Mr. Franh VsiNu "~
ruins yesterday, and In the Office, at Fire HeaaqN'o''
Tho Tribune reporter was informed that ne hao ho'
vet prepared his statement for the Information OF to
Board OF Fire Commissioner
John H. Byrnes, assistant secretary OF the boe''i'
said that the next meeting Of the Commissioners wouu
bc on ar- second Tuesday In September "Mr. MUCH,
els report may be ready before tcn.' said he ana
may be already completed, for all know-thoush 90
not think that 1t Is In any case, II wonid 10. 70
courteous is II permissible TO allow is puoho
ton until the Commissioners have first pcrused uno
document As to the report of the superintendent
that beongs TO different department; but am ccr
tain that has not been handed IN yet for IL 10 nv"
yvould be certain to pass through my hands"
Enoch Vrceland the first deputy superintendent Vi
the Bureau OF Buildings was examining pile OF IN
nectors reports concerning the condition OF Duiuso
IN various parts OF the city when the reporter asheo
him what the department intended to DO wl'h Iie ou
ing No As vesey-st, adjoining No. 49, where excsva-
tons arc making by Lawrence j. Callahan for an eA-
tension Of No. Al.
al have ordered a new inspection OF that, SAID ne
ato he made tomorrow morning. The wall between
No As and where No 43 stood is party wai-tnat is,
II was common to both buildings and now tha1 NO. I'd
has been pulled down. about TO sec II c o"ner
OF No. 45 cannot be compelled TO carry ouV our iu
structions From the reports which we ha'e reoeieu
concerning the condition Of that building we recommend
that underplnnng be done TO avert 'hc pi''"o0
danger Of the wall falling
jnMr vrceland said the reporter, will you please
explain. for the benefit Of lay minds, what under
pinning meansi'
at means lust thls,' said he: The foundation OF
the new building which Mr.. Callahan is gong to put up
may be deeper down than the foundation OF NO. 49, ana
10 nnderpn the wall OF that building means 10 SILK
the foundation to the level of depth as that OF e
adjoining building. This is done by excavatng under
the prcsent ofundation and putting IN shores and
needles Will, the addition Is being made Inc
SHORES are the upright beams, and the needles are
the ones placed crosswisc.'
"Mr. Callahan says that he wonders the building
didn't fall. Did you hear report as TO Its unsafe
condition. n
"oh, yes: and before it was pulled down we bed
directed that the necessary changes to insure safety
- dAnl
occurrence In Park Place has caused inquiries to pour
in upoa rs from all quarters we'll founded ana
some not Now, as 10 the manner IN which the WORK
OF this department Is done, i able to Inform you
that there not building supposed to be or reported
IN hsve be-n unsafe about which We have been Qucs
toned by reporters by any other persons but VIC
have been enabled to show that in each particular case
tho building has been under our surveillance ana
careful inspection made to that the alterations
which we demand to carried out, or nre In
course OF being carried OUT
a ain those inspectors districts where the houses
are almost exclusively places OF dwelling, what are
the conditions demanding that fire escapes be put In y
"In the case OF building three stories in height
and where two families i've each floor above the
first floor. we demand that fire escapes be placed
in the rear II party wall is between two houses
one fr,escape that Is common to both houses VIII
be sufficient but II there be four families on moor
there are generally freescapes in front and rear
"Can you show record OF places in the city where
printing presses are operation, and where floors are
likely to be overweiGhtedF u
We have no such record said Mr.. Vreeland
"Whcre the heavy weghtIng Of floors is usual the
law obliges the owner TO place In conspicuous place
a notice Of the exact weight that is on the hoors
Does II compel the owner to inform this Department
10 the same eNectf'
aThat indeed is a pertinent question: said Mr.
vrceland "and to the point in fact. 1t touches the
whole trouble. The law does not obllge the owners
to do anything OF the Sort and powerless In tho
natter
~Woud Won favor such change in tho law 7"
al would. most decidedly; and until there is such
change do not how owners OF buildings can DC
made 10 discharge in a complete way the rspoh-
sIhIity devolving upon them. An enactment OF thae
kind would be such powerful auxiliary TO this De
partment that with It In operation, no such thing as
the Park Place disaster could occur"
Have You received complaints Of any places whose
condition might be said to resemble that Of the Taylor
Building before II fclll"
Mr. vreeland examined the records carefully ana
tod the reporter that at the present tme they were
enforcing the orders Of the Department concern
ing alterations to be made In building
in Thomas ST. where large number OF people arc
employed daily. at is large hardware store and
nrinng establishment" said he, "at Nos. 62, "a ana
ca Thomas-st which runs through 10 Duane-st. The
first floor In the building is heavily loaded with hard
waro. the second loor Is weighted down with 1fteen
hucc printing presses Weighing dbout eight tons each
and an immense stock Of paper, and the report which
have received goes to say continued Mr.. Vree
land, that tho vibration caused by said pnnthg
presses is particularly liable to make the building uh-
safc.' on August II sent to the second deputy Oh
tbl. department, Mr. Macklney to make survey OF
the building and the Now York Chapter OF the Ameri-
can Institute OF Architects sent Napoleon lie Brun TO
make survey also; while Jesse Powers represented
the owner. 1t found that the column OF the
westerly row and basement leans toward tie front to
An extent OF one or two inches in eight feet six inches
in height We have ordered the bringing back OF the
westerly Of basement columns to the PLUMP i'ho'
proper care to be taken OF the upper floors while doing
so further by putting in additional columns or glrders
in each bay that is between che columns and walls
and between the columns also making three rows ad-
dtona in all in basement and in first sgory,
these columns 10 be the line with the pres