St. Paul daily globe., 1891-12-11
WHO is TO BLAME?
Getting to the Bottom Of the
Great Wall-Falling
Horror.
The Contractor and the Fire
Chief Tell What They
Know.
An Architect Admits What
Wind Alone viii Ae-
eOmplish.
George Morrison, the Ninth
George Morrison, the Ninth
Victim, Died at the Hos
pital.

with witnesses and persons anxious of
hearing the evidence to be given. The
jury, consisting of Col. A. Allen, Coun-
ty Commissioner Martin, Charles PaSsa-
want, S. B. Woolwortn, Charles f.
Push and c. L. Mccarthy, took their
seats at o'clock, and were instructed
by the coroner as to their duties.
County Attorney O'brien and City At
tOrney Lawler represented the state and
city respectively, while Attorney Cy
Wellington watched the proceedings in
the interest Of the owner of the build
ingS. d. G.. Shepherd and Contractor
Wilkin.
The first witness called was w. J.
Lehman, of 339 Hoffman avenue, who
testified to working at the scene of the
accident last Friday. He saw the wall
totter and fall, and heard Foreman
Lauer cry Look out boys" He con-
sldered the walls safe or he would not
have worked there. He had noticed
curve in the wall, but did not think it
WAS dangerous. John D0ugherty, a
special police officer, was then called.
He was not present when the wall fell,
but few minutes before he was on the
spot and spoke about the condition of
the walls to another officer. lie had
noticed the wall was out of plumb, and
also sprung, but could not say to what
extent. He did not notice any strong
gust of wind at the time of the accident,
though the wind was blowing freely. +.
j. Wilkin, being sworn, said:
The Contractors Story.
lam contractor and builder, and had the
contract for clearing the ruins of debris l
had sixty men at work. | was not present
when the wall fell. but had been there all
ffan fnrn
ruins when heard of the accident l could
not at first belive it. NV opinion is that
terribly strong wind had blown the wall
down. l examined the wall after the fire
and before my men set to work, and found it
was perfectly secure. 1t was plumb and
showed no signs of cracks. The wall had
iron tie rods an inch and half in diameter
III the middle of the brick work on each
story, and on the corners of the building the
rods were linked with the rods of the other
walls.
Examined by Mr.. O'Buen: The examina-
ton / made of the wall was bv sight from the
third floor of the Grggs building, which was
intact On the other side of the wall where
the Farwell building was all the floors had
fallen in. 1t was possible for a brick and
mortar wall to be damaged by fire. The
changes in the weather do not think had
affected the wall. The wall could not be
stayed until the debris had been cleared
away. i'll order TO make a foundation for the
stay timbers
Examined by Mr. Wellington: I was in
the ruins every dav previous to the aceicent
ana saw no sign of danger had the con-
tract Tor erecting the walls OF the building
When 1t was put up. I have erected many
walls. and inspected walls after fires, and
never had an accident
Questioned by Juryman Martin: Il in
tended 10 brace the Third street wall, as
considered 1t dangerous, but did not intend
TO brace the fire wall which fell. He could
not account for the wall he considered safe
falling. and the wall he considered unsafe
not falling He did not think his judgment
was at fault From his experience of the ac-
cldent he would. under similar circum-
stances IN future, order his men to cease
work in wind storm
MT Martin-The fact that you built this
wall, did 1t not bias your mind as to the the
ory that the wall was safe?
The Witness-Yes. it did
Frank Waters, 459 Carroll street, and
Jack Aymer, S66 Hope street, clerks for
Farwell, OZmun * Co, testified as to
| seeing the wall fall, and assisting to re-
move the dead and injured. Their evil
dence threw but little light on the sub
| Ject as TO the cause OF the accident.
The Fire Chiefs Views.
Chief John Jackson, of the fire de-
| partment, was then called and testified
as follows:
The fire originated on the fourth floor of
! and WacoutR. and when / arrived OH the
| SPOT after the alarm the fire was i'll the fifth
story. The ire got through the wall which
| divided the Griggs building itself,in the cen
! ter and rear. 1t burned for two hours in the
| Griggs building when ii .erept into the Far
| well building through stove pipe holes which
| ran through the fire wall on each of three
upper stories The fire started on the top
| floor of the Farwell building, and completely
| gutted it. The partition wall in the Griggs
! building fell about an hour after the fire
| broke out and two hours later the
| east and rear walls of the Farwell
| building collapsed. One could look right
| through the stove-pipe holes in the fire wall
from one building to another. / had twenty
streams of water playing on the buildings,
| including the water tower. The mercury
| was below zero and a steady wind was
| blowing. ! Kept my men out of the alley so
that if a wall should fall they would have
| been unable to escape there. I-6id not think
| II was dangerous for men TO clear Debris
from the ruins after the fire. Most of the
| water went right through the buildings and
| but little fell on the Iire walls What did
| strike it do not consider would affect it. 1
do not know the cause of the wall falling.
BassfoPd Fences.
E. P. BaSsfoTd, the architect who
drew the plans for the building, was
| then examined, and the witness testified
| that he visited the premises many times
| while in course of erection. He had not
/
| wall which fell was very Strong, tWen-
| ty-four inches at the base and twelve
| inches at the top. 1t was built of hard
| burned brick and mortar. The walls
! were built to carry weight on each floor
| of 400 pounds TO the square foot, but had
| carried 1,50O pounds per foot, and were
not affected.
Mr.. O'Brien then put series of ques-
| tions to witness, which were not an
SWered i'll manner satisfactory to the
! county attorney. Mr.. Bassford fenced"
for a time. until MIR. O'Brien said: 'If
| you will be less willy and will answer
| my questions it will benefit all parties
| concerned" The witness. after being
questioned at length. admitted that wall
| similar to the fire wall standing with
out The supports of the floors and ioists.
if entirely uninjured or affected by fire.
| would net be safe, and would be liable
TO be blown down in heavy wind.
He did not think fire would in
| jure a wall like the fire wall,
it would benefit it. perhaps, by burn
ing some Of the bricks which might not
have been properly burned i'm the
kiln" Changes in weather would affect
it. It was the proper thing to sustain>a
wall by bracing it after a fire with
heavy timbers OH each side, and it was
always necessary TO clear away debris
in order TO find solid foundation for
the timber stays. A wind blowing
twenty-eight miles an hour would blow
down such wall in its condition of
not being braced up. Could not say
how long it would take to clear enough
debris to put in the timber braces.
Old Probabilities.
Sergeant Lyons. of the United States
weather bureau, was then called to
prove the velocity and direction OF the
wind on last Friday when the wall fell .
The witness produced his recording
charts and said that from 10 in the
morning until in the afternoon the
velocity of the wind ranged from IL
miles TO . miles. At 10 o'clock the
velocity was II miles: at IL. Is miles; at
mid day, q miles; at l, the hour of the
accident. 23$4 miles; at 2. 20 miles; at 8,
% miles. and at 4. % miles an hour.
| Tho wind biaVS, cfaaHV fr0yn tho couth