St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-15
REPLY TO JOHNSON.
The Trades Assembly and the
Building Inspector.

The Trades Assembly and the
Building Inspector.
The committee of the trades and labor
assembly, who Investigated and re-
ported upon the Shepard building dis
aster, last evening ISSUED the following
letter. which speaks for itself:
AS the action of the trades assembly in
reference to the disaster in the Shepard
building has been the subject of much critic
ism by Binding Inspector johnson and his
friends, we consider it proper for the COM
mittee to say few words in reply.
In the first place Mr. johnson makes q
general charge of prejudice and unfairHess
against the assembly. That is, as we would
infer from the general tone of his remarks,
the action was taken in the interest of some
rival candidate for the Office to which he
aspres for reelection. This is absolutely
without foundation. 1t matters not tOthe
trades assembly who is Mr.. Johnsons sue
cessor. so that he De competent and trust
worthy.
One of the claims of Inspector johnson is
that he had no power in the prem seS. The
committee desiring full information on the
subject. called on the city clerk and re-
guested a copy of the law defining the duties
of the building inspector, which he kindly
furnished. The law reads as follows:
at shall not be lawful for any person or
persons to erect construct or build, or cause
to be erected, constructed or built, any brick,
iron. granite marble or stone building. OF 70
alter any sucn building to make 1t sub
stantiaily new building. unless the said
building shall have been inspected from time
to time by the inspector of buildings. and 8
certificate furnished by him that the said
house or building is properly constructed
and in all respects safe and secure; and
should said inspector award such certificate
to any person or persons for any house or
building not constructed according 10 the
provisions OF this ordinance, the bond given
by such inspector shall be declared TO be for
feited and the whole principal sum therein
nsmed shall become due and payable, and
such inspector shall De forthwith dismissed
from office by the common council, and the
vacancy thus created filed; and the said
principal sum shall be collected by due
process of law, aud the same held TO the use
OF any perEon or persons, either in an indi-
vidual or corporate capacity, who may be
injured or sustain any damage thereby.
As to the cause OF the accident Inspector
johnson has had several theories. First. he
claimed the freezing and thawlng weakened
| The wall and caused it to fall But, discover
! ing that he could find no support for this
| idea, he was soon forced to claim that the
| disaster resulted from the wind alone. This
| claim seems TO us absurd for several reasons.
| In the first place, the partition wall that fell
was protected from the wind by the west end
| wall and in this wall most of the shutters
were still on the windows, with the eXcep-
| ton of the top story. 1t was also protected
| by the building directly opposite the west
| end, it being of about the same height as the
| Shepard building. In this connection il is
also we'll 10 remember that the wall fell III
| both directions, killing men on both sides,
| which is another circumstance showing the
| absurdity or the claim that it was blown
! over by sudden gust of wind.
After full and thorough investigation, the
| committee is still of its original opinion
| that the intense heat rendered the walls un
! safe, and so weakened them that they fell OF
| their own weight The fact that the walls
! are now all securely Draced shows that the
owners and the contractors have finally come
| to the same conclusion as the committee
! and are of the opinion that the walls above
| the second story are unsafe. Perhaps, after
| a sufficient length OF time. Building Inspector
| Johnson will also come to the same conclu
| sion.
Inspector johnson states that the mem
! bers of the assembly are not practical build
| ers, and not familiar with the subject. The
| committee that investigated the matter wa:
made up of painter. bricklayer. cornice
| maker, plasterer and carpenter-men who
| have spent their lives working on and erect
| ing buildings. If practical men are not ex
perts. what does Mr.. Johnson call an expert
| Mr. Barnard, chairman of the committee wa:
selected on account of his wide experiences
| in connection with burned buildings.
! In conclusion. we will say that the assem-
! bly, and the committee have been actuateC
! by a regard for the sacredness Of human life
| In this instance we believe that unjustifiabl
| chances were taken by the building in
| spector. For the future we trust that tn
| terrible result in this case will serve as
warning. and we cannot coincide with thos
who desire to gloss over the negligence an,
misjudgment of public official.
| Tim COns