The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-06-04
FITE STORIES
Fatal Collapse Of Mammoth Tanks
in New York,
FWO MEN INsTANTLY KILIED.

ThirteCu Othef w ofNmen ElnpipNeu
in the Building Had Narrow u capes.
Trying to- Fnsten the Responsibility.
Three Men Placed Under Arrest.
New York. June 4.-Five enormous
tanks, each containing $4,000 gallons of
water, fell nvo stories through the
new building OF David S. Brown g Co,
soap manufacturers, at Twelfth ave-
nue.. Fifty-frst and Fifty-second
streets yesterday burying two men un-
der thousands of tons of debris. The
body OF William Frazer 40 years old,
a surveyor in the employ of the otis
Elevator company was subsequently
taken from the ruins Jacob jacobson
a carpenter. is missing, and his body
is probably beneath the debris.
The FIVE tanks shot through the five
floors like n stone dropping through
so much space. They We're each 13 by
10 feet square by 20 feet in height,
were made of sheet iron and were a
quarter of an inch thick. To prevent
the water from bulging their sides
stout iron bands had been placed inside
of each tank
The fall of the tanks, carrying with
them five floors Of iron and woodwork,
was heard for several blocks around.
They carried down iron girders and
beams a foot in width and four inches
in thickness, swapping them as if they
were pipestems. There was no stop
ping as they struck the floors in sue
cession, so enormous was the weight
There were Is men in the building at
the time of the accident. They were
scattered around the factory, and
there was not a seconds warning Of the
fall Of the tanks. They had been fill
ing with water for testing, and were
nearly full.
The building was nearly ready for
/ occupancy. The tanks We're to have
/ contained soap fat, and We're put in by
/ the Coatesville Iron works, of Coates
/ vile, Pa.
Agent John S. Jackson, of the Penn
sylvania iron firm, said that the
/ breaking of the bands on the inside of
the tanks had probably been caused by
the settling of the floor. Police Cap
! tain Schmittberger said that the tanks
/ had been filled too full
Architect Kilburn said that he had
! personal charge of the construction of
/ the building, which had been planned
| by him, and that it was one of the
! finest buildings of it's kind he had ever
seen. The walls of the factory were a
I third thicker than the specifications
/ had called for. All the work was of the
best material and workmanship, and NJ
expense had been spared in the con
struction of portion of the new build
ing or in fitting it up as a factory He
could give no opinions as to what
caused the accident.
A1avandar TlYpvvr1 masonry
contractor said that the accident was
probably due to defective girders. He
said that the masonry was first class
in every respect and had been put VI
4. under close supervision.
Ext United States superintendent of
Buildings Hugh Angler, now with the
street cleaning department of this city,
took up some of the mortar in the
refuse and pronounced it of bad quail
ity. ITS nothing but mud" he said
/ Samples of the mortar will be eX-
amined by experts
Colonel David S. Brown, the owner
of the building, said that he could no
account for the collapse of the wal
and floor "I know" said he, thai
according to the plans the work on the
building was as near perfect as il
could be- and I do not see what coulC
have caused the floor to give way. J.
was made especially to hold these
tanks, of which there We're IA. i
seems to me that the fault must lie il
the iron work"
There is some discussion as to th'
combined weight of the tanks on tn
floor and the weight the floor shoulC
sustain. 1t is said by a representative
Of the CotesviIe Iron works that foo
should have sustained a weight of 2
times the weight of one of the file
tanks
!, Alexander Brown, the brick con
tractor; Henry T.. Kilburn, the arch
b tect, and Archie Hamilton, inspectc
. for the iron work contractors, were al
j. rested charged with homicide.
l rsr.-.ss---- -, Is.,..slI l.. :.