New-York tribune., 1896-09-28
THE U4DISON.4TE ACCIDENT.
WELDING DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS riND
EXTREMELY FAULTY CONSTRO'IloN ~
Dr- THE CAI'SE OF THE COLLAPSE

EXTREMELY FAl LIZ 'c.>'i ~
RE TIE CAUSE OF THE COLLAPSE.
Patrick Roche of the firm OF shannon "o..''
oo,,roc,,rs who were building the nathouse at NO
o7s Madison ave- that collapsed SATURDAY "''''
oon uos arrested at 2 o'clock yesterday morn
,,, ~, contain Dean Of the Fast Eighty-egh'h-
CT station. and Policeman Hickey wh'e 'n
tering his house. at No. I'll Nest o"'-
ordfortv-thir,l-s, The policemen had got MS a"-
dress and were watching for him. lie was taken
N the police station and locked up. 1eS'eI""'
morning he was taken to Harlem Court ana re-
r,arded to the custody Of the Coroner Ihere WIS
no examination and Roche. In the absence VI '
sci refused TO talk. He was taken before 'oio"o,
Fi,zpatrick who paroled him in the CUSTODY u
Thomas Graham. an architect OF tish'S -''"'"'''
and Madison-ave. ~ -
dozen workmen under the charge OF - !
car,oan & Sons of No 52s East Seventccnth-st
started TO work late yesterday afternoon ''n'',s
down what remained OF the structure J.
coulcan a. Sons are employed by the Buidihg ''-
nartmcnt 70 do emergency work OF this character.
BEFORE they started Superintendent 'onstapi' anu
.ssls,ant Superintcndent Rutherford MAD" an eN-
animation Of the building, and, with the al" u an
other officer took number OF pho'ogr"pnS' ~ Nv
uscd later on Mr.. Rutherford remained ahou' ''''
building and watched the work OF h'mo'''""'
When asked what he thought Of the construction
~ tho building he remarked. "Ruddenseiks WORK
wasn, in II with this" The whole building ne
said was a piece OF himsy construction !" VIC
first place the foundations were not properly 'a''
and couId not have supported the building Il thc
upper work had been perfect A.
The whole region east OF the Metropohtah M"-
souno Of Art in Central Park east TO Second-aVc.
and including the Eighties and Nineues' anu
a part Of the Seventies. was al one 'li'' '
hollow with a gully running through II. ',',
hos hoen Allied in. so that earth and rock solid
enough 10 support building OF any slz" ht' ~"
about twenty-five feet below the surface. Inc
lavinp OF the foundation was contracted for win
an Italian firm. TLcy went down oh! S'N ''''
and then did poor work
INSPECTOR T. G. Walsh. OF the BUILDING Depart
mon, reported this and ordered the builders 10
uoke a hotter foundation Just about the time ne
dld this he was transferred 10 another ds'tct
In some way the violation Of the building IN"
was overlooked. Inspector Thane. who lives al
White Plains took Mr. Walshs place. The foun'a-
ton was laid several weeks ago. ana should he
set by this time but Mr. Rutherford found that
the work had been carelcssy done. and that the
cement and mortar used crumbled easily.
The brick work above was being done by shannon
Roche This. Mr. Rutherford said was no bet
ter than the foundation. Rosendalc cement was
used and not properly mixed. the sand was not
good and was used in too large quantities In pro-
norton 10 the lime As the workmen tore down
the remaining brick wall II could be easily seen
how unstable the work was altogether. They
easily tore bricks away from the wall with their
hands only When parts OF the wall were thrown
down with crowbars the bricks were left clean.
the mortar knocking Off I'm the shock Of the
tumble Mr. Rutherford said that these bricks
had evidently not been watercd before they were
laid.
The building law had been nagranty violated all
through the building he said In the wall that fell
| we're spots where mortar had been used the
| outside OF the wall only and broken bricks used
in the interior. Mr.. Rutherford said that he found
| fourteen courses laid without mortar
Another fagrant violation OF the law was In the
|
brick Hues must have tile Innings. When the walls
were torn down It was found that the fues were
| lined only at the top. where they could be ex.
| amned Mr. Galligan called attention to the fact
that the qiss though o, snicent M sIse h@d not
lie In the street mixed until the lime was dead
| The mortar from between the bricks had no CO.
The title owner OF the building which collapsed
| Is Mrs. l.. D. Rogers. OF No l49 West Eighty first
st. Frank H. Hawkins OF F'fteenth-st.. between
Second and Third aves.. was acting as her agent
| could not be learned definitely who were the
| tractors for doing the foundation work.
Thane was responsible for not detecting tho rotten
work in the building. lie say he would not say
the building inspectors had too much work to do to
to It al all q Sprs s a"cb % aSk oT r9T
day. and builders who want TO do rotten work can
easily keep raGR of them ana fGyer n oyer h the & hna
that can be given TO each building Is 80 short that
| q proper inspection cannot be made
| Mr. Roche after his release by the Coroner made
| a short visit to the OF the wreck yesterday
afternoon Thomas Graham also made an examina-
| tion OF the premises. He lays the whole bams
upon the defective foundation. He said that the
walls. placed az they were. would have stood with
out mortar at all # the foundation had been solid
lie said that the falling Of the wall without crack
or warning OF any kind showed that II the
! fault OF the foundation Mr.. Rutherford agreed
with him IN this and showed how the front walls.
nronerly placed on foundations, hadstood. But he
| maintained that the brick work was not done ac-
cOrding TO law - ,, ~,
prcn attorney for the building Department, were
| also at the building YESTERDAY. MI; NtwpurRer re-
fnsed 10 make any statement for Mr.. Roche or for
himself but promised give out a statement for
Roche when the latter Is taken before Coroner Fitz-
nairick to-day at o'clock. No further arrests were
! made yesterday.