Evening star., 1896-10-01
THE ALERT BUILDING.
9he Charges Regarding Defective
Construction Denied by Officials.

The Commissioners have ordered an in
veSt1gatIon Of the Albert building, 12f1
Pennsylvania avenue, which was severely
damaged during the storm, and which
wrecked two other buildings and resulted
in the loss Of a human life. 1t has been
charged that the owner of the building
violated he building regulations, and ii
is for the purpose Of fixing the blame that
the investigation has been ordered.
The specific charge is that the west wall
of the building fell because 1t was not
properly anchored, according to the re-
quirements of the building regulations.
The Commissioners today received the
following letter upon the subject:
Ito the Honorable Commissioners d. c.:
"Gentlemen: Your attention is directed to
the cause of the fall of the west wall of
the Albert building on Pennsylvania avenue
between 18th and 18th streets on the even
ing OF the 10Th Of September. If you will
examine for yourselves you can plainly
see that the building regulations were
grossly violated, and l may say criminally
violated, in not having the proper anchors
as provided for such structures by your
regulations, and the east wall now stand
ing is equally as faulty for the same rea-
son and should be promptly condemned as
living on the east.
1.-The building regulations say, section 4,
paragraph 5, side end and party walls
shall be anchored at each tier of beams at
intervals Of ten feet with good, strong
wrought iron anchors, half an inch thick,
one inch wide, we'll secured to side walls
and fastened to the side Of beams by not
less than two wrought iron nails, quarter
of an inch in diameter, etc, etc.
Now, had this been done as required, and
where the iron girdcrs rested on the walls
had there been anchors bolted to these at
the ends, the wall would have been there
,,,ytn
every good citizen should do, who has the
elfare of the community and the safety
Of the citizens at heart.
There Is too much of this loose building
going on in this city, and it is becoming
dangerous to travel in the streets If 1
were building inspector there are lots of
buildings in this city which would be con-
demned at once. Hoping this letter will
receive attention, as l am sure it ought
am with great respect,
Your obedient servant,
JOHN H. HOWLETT, Builder
Mr.. Brady's Statement.
A reporter Of The Star interviewed Build
afternoon. He said:
There is absolutely no truth in the
charge. The building regulations have been
complied with in every particular in the
construction Of that building The beams
were auCHoreu III dcCOTudHce WIFI the reSu-
lations, and the construction is first class
in every particular. To meet the charge
more specifically, I need only call your
attention to one feature of the construc-
ton, that feature which appertains more
directly to the charges. There are num-
Der of iron beams in the building running
transversely the width of the structure.
They are supported by three beams-one in
the center and one at each end. Further,
at the ends of these transverse beams q
U-shaped anchor is introduced, which en-
cages the walls on each side. These an
chors are Of thT:e-Quarter-inch iron rods
and fully substantial. This is what the
building department always requires in the
construction of building, and which, as
1 have already said, was complied with in
the Albert building.
This morning made a careful inspection
of the building and plumoed the walls.
found everything properly constructed, and
the wall below the caved portion perfectly
plumb. The evidence of the anchors hav-
ing been in place is shown by the remain
ing portions still in the beams. The eX-
posed front and the closed rear of the
building at the time of the storm is, in my
opinion. responsible for the collapse of the
est wall. You see the wind struck the
building diagonally, and its great force was
brought directly against the west wall.
wish to reiterate that the construction of
the building was in every way f1rst-class,
and further. that the building regulations
were observed to the letter.
A Merchants Views.
A Pennsylvania avenue merchant, writing
to The Star, takes a different view of the
construction Of the building. He says:
'Who should be responsible for the loss
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