Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-16


The inquest INTO the results Of last Friday dis
as,er was continued yesterday afternoon at
o'clock at Willard Hall The first witness OF the
afternoon was Jas ii. Dony, the printer from the
record and pension division, who was on As Wit
ness when the morning session closed. He was
sent back to the Office to see il he could find the
original copy Of the printed proposals and
specifications. He was unable to find the origi-
nal papers from which the matter was set mp.
He said at the afternoon session that he had not
been able to find the originals, though 1t was
not customary to destroy such papers. The
ones IN question had probably been nisiaid-
He did not remember having placed them on
file.
CHAs. ". PERKrSa
Chas. W. Perkins, builder Of about thirty
years experience in this city, was the next W.T.
ness He said he had known Ford's fheater
ever since il was built and had been in 1t three
times since 10 fell In his opinion the ounding
fell because Of improper underpinning. lnree
Of the columns had been underpinned, tnougn
he did not see how this could have oeen zone
successfully without snoring up the floors The
first column on the left. as one entered from
10th street. was undermined, and to this fact
alone the accident was due. The floors shouio
have been shored up and he - Praeucai
pairs without snoring. He did not see how the
three columns that were underpinned could
have stood as they did without snoring. Inc
brick and mortar work seemed to him TO nave
been in good condition.
In answer to a question from Mr.. Warner
the witness said that the building was strong
enough under ordinary circumstances, but that
the floors In any building would have fallen
treated as these floors we're.
DAVID p cIssELI-
David P. Cisseil builder and practical
bricklayar Of forty years experience, was next
called to testify. He said that he had put up
in the ueighborhood of 500 buildings, large and
small, among them the Portland Flats, the
Louise Home the Georgetown Convent ana
other large buildings. He had had consider
able experience in UNDERMINING houses
Mr. Cissell said that ON the Wednesday De-
fore the accident he was In the theater TO see
about q bid for laying foundation for dyn-
amo in the building He found number OF
men making an excavation and was surprised
to find that the work was being done by con-
tract and not by DAYS labor. One man was en-
gagged III uuderpinning wall, but be did not
digging had already been completed. He did
not go back again to the building until Tuesday
of this week, when he made an examination OF
the buiItliu, to ascertain the cause OF the acci
dent
CAUSED By USsKILLFUL WORK.
He said that he thought tina. the accident wal
caused by the unskillful manner in which fh'
work was done. Considering the character Of
the building and all that the work was abou
the worst he had ever seen.
The dirt had been removed in the excavation
about eight feet Of the twelve that was to b
dug. Not more than four feet should hav'
been removed as this would have left four fee
on each side that he could get In for tn
purpose Of underpinning. Then he would hav
put up two Shores The work should have beef
begun from the front instead Of the rear, a
the front was the weakest part.
To make his explanation the more compre
hensive Mr.. Cissell drew a rough sketch Of tn
work and then went on to show how the wor
should have been done BY a careful builder.
Mr. CisseIl again stated that he saw no shor
ing in the building the day when he wa
first there nor had he seen any signs OF shorIn
since He did not consider the UNDERMINING
solid piece Of work 1t should not have bee
attempted without snoring anyhow.
20 you MINK YOU gu Wou1 Mo
IT Son'. ,h,nI r ren,d " sail Mr. CisselI.
,,vr e.. :, r.s ro..,..s 70 nv
", w. ,.-,,,
oerAAe .ne Joo "i'nou' suois'
Il do.
Mr.. Cissell said that he considered the wor
In any of the piers was inferior. and TINS fac
could have been discovered by any one OF an
1890
any Of the joints. The cement was very poe
indeed, no better than line plaster. The SAM
too, was OF poor qualisy. he couid crump
49,. - fa.,,I1 49, ,,etectad the yferie
character Of the work at glance. The join
were unnecessarily large and the bricks wei
not Of qunhty that ne rouia nave . nkea; ,ne
ere co rouea. ~. ~. S.s.n,s - ,ha VOL
LIN " M 49, ~ - s,rcsd
Atse "nuys wouiu Ia :, aoNo srasc;.,
s' ~ aor,'., . 10y ~ that .or
sum W pOpeE s;. s;r,.si, 40 ha Sa
ous ne aeoneu s ~ uo ;n III. rsr,;cn,.r cas-
ros n.aue ah! es ~ =. ~. I-n,ern,,
NOV ~. ~ ~. ,..,.r,n. ~ ~
n,ns ne reHniueo ANYWAY %" """so o~' "AN
Piesssn. ~o, A.. .,,s;,r .a,r
ne W asAea w1esne. .ns ou ";n,s "a H. :.
.h". ~ n,'S ~. s.va has, d.ngsrnns A. All
s~ ~oe.1 nv IN ~ 49,, tassn Wit
s P.opeI P,.s;n.. ~ Ia h,,Is;n, ought no.
p.;sS VIZ O1o
COLUMBUS THOMAS
Columbus Thomas, another builder Of me
xh., . ouarser of q century's experience, f
-, C:-.u =: a.. ~;.,..., .h.;,
io"eu n,. o'eA ~ VIC
SAID tnat ne was oiooer ZOE une JOY IN W
ton His bid was about y. No. OF wnicn =
was on an estimate Tor snoring. Inc We
should never have been at'emp'eu %'ns