New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-09-10
COMING NEARER TO Il VERDICT
WAS IT WEAKNESS OR ExPLosIoNp
ADDITIONAL TESTIMONY AS TO THE CAUSE OF
THE PARK PLACE DISASTER.

,nnrT1oNAL TESTIMONY AS TO THE CAUSE OF
THE PARK PLACE DISASTER.
coropor uanlys efforts, with the aid Of a fury to
,,oer the cause of the disaster In Park Place were
continued Yesterday in Part " Of the City Court The
erst witness was James Irwin, painter Of NO 300
iIoncockst brooklyn whose place OF business was
At No 60 Park Place. He had stayed in the Taylor
building for eleven years, mp TO February l. when nc
fortunately moved. But fear that the building was
unsafe formed no part Of his reasons for removing
lilo often saw barrels Of benzine carried into the build
inp and had seen steam escaping from boiler In the
Collar His impressions were that the building would
bo Unsafe In case Of fire. owing to the liability OF inc
central columns to bend II Overheated, and cause
collapse Several witnesses described the accident.
giving conflicting testimony. some heard terrible
rumbling underground noises preceding tho ialL
Other heard scarcely any noise. one witness saw t'
walls fall outward. beginning with the fourth. The
afth third and second stories then fell Joseph
Parker. who had been an artleryman In the army.
Thought the noise was caused by an explosion OF
dynamite.
George NJ s. Horton, publisher, No. II Park Place
was in his Office opposite the scene. lie heard
peculiar cracking sound which he described rs more
like the clashing Of wires than the falling OF brlcks
and timbers. The bullying out Of the upper windows
was the first visible sign Of the collapse In I'VE
seconds the walls fell outward Dust obstructed his
vision temporarily. lie did not think it was steam
The witness heard explosion.
Thomas Farley, captain of Truck Is, had charge or
the search for bodies and discovered six corpseS all
were men and badly burned. Michael H. sleVlh'
captain of Engine 5, gave similar testimony
George A. benjamin, who said that he was an eX-
pert I'm explosions a practical student Of science, ana
author of the article on Presses in the EncycOpeda
Britannica testified that he had examined the case anu
believed that the collapse had been caused by an eX-
ploson of bezine In the store where Rosenfed manu-
featured rubber cement. lie gave instances OF MS
experience with explosions. Benzne was highly eA-
plosive. Mr.. benjamin made has lnvesugauoh' he
said. OF his own vOlition.
Mr. ROsenfeld Oh being recalled, admitted having
benzne in his store, but said that had been bought
in small quantities from day TO day as 1t was re-
qulred.
Louis Stream tailor of No. e45,Greenwtch-st, heard
the noise Of an explosion he stood in the door OF
his shop Rushing the oornetO find the cause he
saw the TAYLOR Building bulge outward au inc
secondsory cornice and then fall With crash IhIee
seconds occurred between the sound ana te
collapse. Twelve minutes before this, Mr.
Stream said he passed ROSenfelds place and saw two
barrels on the sidewalk on one was stencilled
Benzne7 in black letters. Both barrels were painted
blue, and had white heads. The barrel marked
aBenzineo had Rosenfed's name it, also stencihed
I'm black. The witness riddled with crosS-queS-
lions by Assistant Distrlct-AttOney Bedford, Mr.
Townsend aud several jurymen, but5he adhered to his
benZne story.
Deputy Coroner Donlin described the condition OF
the bodies taken from the building Their conuluoh
Indicated that they had been killed by the falling OF
tbe buildlng and had not been burned to death. J.
F. Dots who had sold Resented prepared rubber Tor
making rubber cement, recalled and said that
he had sold Resented 500 to 500 pounds every six
months sufficient to manufacture five or six barrels
Of cement.
Fire Marshal James Mitchell produced articles said
4la aI1rnin a
If lauid bronze one of brown mixture and bottle
Of drv bronze powder supposed to have belonged 70
Rosenfeld Mr.. Mitchell performed eNperlments IN
the presence OF the jury to show the lnnamHiaDe
character Of these manufactures lie lighted portions
of the contents of the bottles and they burned SLOWLY
hut there was no sign of explosion. 49,
The inquest was adjourned until 1Os30 THIS morn morn
ing when it IS expected the testimony VIII 9e enaeu.
Mr. DixCn one OF the Jury, requested 10 test
he strength of the iron columns and plates, ana give
his conclusions as expert to his associates To-Day:
Captain Leo foreman Of the jury, SAID tDat TIC thOush'
a verdict would be reached to-day.