Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-06-04
TWO MEN KILLED.
TEEY ARE BURIED UNDER THOU
SANDS OF Tons or DEBRIS.
WRECK OF A NEW BUILDING.
Five Enormous TANKS Fail Five
stories Through the structure,
Stamping Iron Beams ~ if They
Are Pipc-stcms.

NEW YORK. June S.-Five enormous
tanks each containing 1900 gallons Of
water. fen five stories through the now
n,,iqiue OF David > Brown & Co.. soap
manufacturers. at Twelfth avenue. Fifty
orsi and Fifty-second streets this morn
irg buryine two men under thousands Of
tons OF debris.
The BODY OF william Frazer, 40 years
o,d q surveyor IN the employ Of the Otis
Elevator company. was taken from the
riins this afternoon. Jacob jacobson, a
carpenter IS missing.
,rb. nlaco was nearly ready for occu-
,.,cv. The tanks were TO have con-
talned soap rat They We're put In by the
Cotesvlle Iron-Works, OF Cotesyille, Pa.
Alexander Brown. the brick contractor;
Henry +. Knburn. the architect, and
Archie Hamilton. inspector for the iron
work contractors. were arrested charged
with homicide.
The five tanks shot through the FIVE
floors ike a stone dropping through so
much space.
There were fifteen men in the buhding
at the time Of the accident. Ihey were
sca.terod around the factory. Inere was
not a seconds warning Of the ran OF the
ranks. They had been filling them with
water for testing. and were nearly iuli'
The tanks were each 13 by Is feet square
lv % feet I'm height. They were made OF
shcet-iron. and were a quarter Of an men
thick. To prevent the water from bulg-
in,. their sides. stout iron bands had been
,.f.r.T inside OF each tank
The fam of the tanks. carrying with
Them five floors Of iron and WOODWORK,
,yas heard for several blocks around.
Al the fan of the tanks thev carried
down iron cirders and beams foot in
width and four inches I'm thickness. snap
ping them as il they were pipe-stems
There was nO stopping, as they struck
tle floors in succession, so enormous was
the weilht OF The tanks. All of the men
who had been inside the building were got
together and counted. II was found tnat
two were missing. They were JACOBSON
and Frazer.
A wrecking firm undertook the removal
of the debris At o'clock Frazer's body
was partially uncovered and three hours
later it was taken out.
Tf-1 BLAME.
Coroner Fitzpatrick said that it was
rrobabiy the bulging of the tanks which
had caused the dislodgment Of the wall
and caused the fan of the tanks and
floors. Ascent John :. Jackson. Of the
PENNSYLVANIA iron frm said that the
breaking Of the bands OH the inside Of
the tanks had probably been caused by
the settling of the floor. Police-Captain
s.hmittberser said that the tanks had
been filled too full. and that Jackson
would be arrested for it.
Architect Knburn said that he had per-
sonal charge of the construction Of the
building. which had been planned by him.
and that IL was one Of the finest
BUILDINGS of It's kind ne had ever seen
The walls Of the factory were "A third
thicker than the specifications had called
for. AN the work was Of the best ma
terial and workmanship. and no expense
had been spared in the construction OF
the building or i'm fitting it up as fac
tory. He could give 10 opinion as 20
what caused the accident.
Alexander Brown. the masonry con-
tractor. said that the masonry was first
class in every respect, ana had been put
up under close supervision.
Another phase was put on the qucs-
ton Of inculpatlon by the decision OF eN-
United States superintendent of Build
ings Hugh Angler. now with the street
Cleaning Department Of this city He
took UP some OF the mortar in the re-
fuse. and pronounced it of bad quality.
cts nothing but mud" he said. Samples
Of the mortar Will be examined by eX-
pcrts
District-Attorney Olcott will attend the
inquest. and viii prosecute those re-
sponsible for the disaster.
There is some discussion as 10 the
combined weight of the tanks on the
floor. and the weight the floor should
sustain IL was said by "a representative
OF the Cotesville Iron-Works that the
floor should have sustained a weight Of
twenty times the weight of one Of the
filled tanks.