Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-04
THE DANGEROUS WALLS
Contractor Allen Still Employed at the
Ruined Power House.
Force of Men Removing the Impede
ments to Ira mc-PrObabi lity Of
Removing the SmOkestack.

When Contractor Allen and his force of
fen begar work on the ruired walls of the
power station this morning two dangerous
portions of the structure remained to be
dynamited. ard a small part of the south
wall to be pulled down by rope and wind
lass Traffic on E street and 18th street
was resumed at an early hour this morn
ing, and the trains of the Washington and
Mt Vernon electric road were enabled to
leave their usual starting place at the cor
ner of 1312 and E streets. The first named
thoroushfare remained closed to al traffic
except the electric cars up to late this af-
terEoon. while D street was impas sable on
account of the dangerous condition of the
south wall of the building. 1t is expected
that by late this evening d street viii he
cleared of the debris and triffic resumed on
that thoroughfsre.
Foundation Blown Out.
The first point of attack this morning
was at the high wall and two AUDITING
walls In front of the smokestack The
work of drilling and snoring I'D the base
CT the wall was dangerous in the extreme.
cut through the precautions observed not
single injury was reported. The charge
was heavy one, but the iron girders were
so interlaced in the upper portion of the
structure that the wall did not show the
snShtest effect of the explosion save for a
rev d1siodged bricks. A close examination
revealed the fact. however, that the foun-
cation had been blown completely out and
1t was only question of few minutes be-
fore the wall toppled. First came. few
more bricks, then the top of a window
opening, and, finally with a roar and a
crash which raised a blanket of dust and
art. the whole structure came down talk
ing with 1t several smaller portions of the
inner walls on either side of it.
Fire in the Debris.
Near the front door furnace of fire is
hIr ni,o
up clouds of smoke and sparks, while the
whole area of the ruins gives evidence of
the intense heat buried far underneath.
The COAL which is located at the southeast
corner of the building is smoking. and
there Is every likelihood of fire there.
contractor Allen stated this morning that
ne received no orders regarding the dispo-
siuon or the smokestack. He said that in
IT'S present shape it is not a menace TO
safety, and as far as he knew it was u1,in-
Jured- Should the traction company decide
To have 1t taken down the work in all prob
ability will be done by dynamite Mr. Al
zen said he could make the huge pile fall
horthward or into the center of the ruins
ana 1 mat ne could take it down with per-
iect safety and much more economically
hy dynamite than by any other rnethcd
should this step be taken 1t is more thai
hkely that the work of drilling will be be-
gun tomorrow morning. 1t will take some
time. as the charge will necessarily have
10 De heavy one, on account of the thick
ness OF the walls. Smoke was dfsc,rnIhIe
tcoay coming from the stack
Used Rope and WindIass,
AFTER the dangerous portion In front of
the smokestack had been disposed of Con-
usctor Allen put his men at work on the
southeast corner with rope and windlass.
ana this part was taken down. Then the
erilling was begun on the wall next to the
southwest corner, and 1t is proba Die that
these charges will be exploded about 3.sO
COCK Ihls will dispose of all the por-
ioLs OF the ruins that have been consid-
eied dangerous, and soon as 49, and ID
streets are cleared traffic may be resumed
without fear of injury either to pedestrians
CT vehicles
Superintendent CARL stated to a Star re-
porter this afternoon that the smokestack
would be allowed to stand for some time
at any rate unt'i 1t is learned what dis
position Is to Re made of the site. Mr.
CARL considered the stack perfectly safe
and said that he would not hesitate to
build a new plant around it The stack
may, therefore, be left for the use of the
company itself, or for new tenant of
the site, should it be decided to build
pAnt there requiring the use of machinery
Salvage Probable.
With regard to what might be saved out
of the mass of twisted and broken ma
chinery Mr.. CARL said that in his opinion
there was nothing that could be of any
use in the future. The fly wheels were
warped and could not be used again for
fear of a flaw developing and causing seri-
Gus injury The engines, so far as he coull
see, were badly damaged. The furnaces
and boilers had not been examined, and, in
deed. the machiI cry had been given but a
casual examination by Mr.. CARL in going
over the ground with the insurance man.
The heavy beams, iron and wood that
had fallen on top of the boilers have I'M
doubtedly made them unfit for USE the
superintendent said, and with the excep-
ticn Of a few boiler tubes. 1t is not ex-
pected that anything will be saved in this
part Of the structure. Considerable coal
was also lost. and what is left may be de-
stroyed by fire before 1t can be removed.
In winter. 1t is generally the case that a
thousand tons are stored in this corner,
but II is not likely that anywhere near
that quantity was on hand when the fire
occurred. as the winter sunnly had moi