New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-22
PARK AVENUE CAVES IN.
Continued from first page.

Continued from first page.
her three daughters left their home hurriedly by
way Of the roof. They gained the roof Of Mr.
Dresser's house in safety, and made their way
TO the street through the home of the latter.
Mrs. Crawford lives in a large building. once
owned by the late Coils p Huntington. In the
private boarding house which she manages live
Z. Strong, a retired business man; }. +. Hunt,
wool merchant. and j. p. Howard. Fifth
ave jeweller.
COULD NOT BE GUARDED AGAINST.
From information gained from subway officials
1t seems that the slipping Of the stone was an
Cnheard Of circumstance, one which human
foresight could not have anticipated OF guarded
against. 1t resulted, they said, from a curious
geological formation The wall Of apparently
solid rock or the east side Of the tunnel shaft
which runs under the sidewalk the east
side Of the avenue, had been carefully examined
by experts and found 10 he sound. on Wednes-
day Workmen saw a crack in the rock. Closer
scrutiny revealed the fact that IN the stone was
a body Of shale half as large as rOOm,' which
lay diagonally across the bed Of the rock at an
angle Of about 10 degrees and which from
north to south Engineers call this accidental
formation false stratum. According to the
subway authorities, the dropping of this stratum
into the tunnel was an accident which could in
10 JDSSlDIe way nave Det0 anticipated. lNeN
pooh-poohed the theory that the heavy blasting
which had for months disturbed householders
Immediately above the tunnel was in any way
responsible for the movement Of the rock Prop
erty owners yesterday argued just as strongly
that the repeated firing Of dynamite cartridges
was the direct cause Of the slide.
The rapid transit tunnel. which lies in
single bed on EoUrth-avc., splits At Thirty
fourth-st, where Park-aye. begins. and con-
unues north as far Forty-frst-st. A two
track tunnel runs on either side and well below
the cut through which the Metropolitan Street
Railway cars Al the point where the cave
in occurred, between Thirty-seventh and Thirty
eighth SITS, the east branch of the subway tun-
mel passes under the stoCps and sidewalk of the
east side Of PaTk-aVe. The top or the tunnel
IS forty feet below The sidewalk ana The nun
mel Is twenty feet IN height. The stratum Of
rock which caused the damage ran diagonally
into The ditch from a point near the surface,
the house line The tunnel had been bored past
this point, and. said Contractor Shaler yester-
day. blasting there had practically ceased. The
last stick OF dynamite fired, he said. had been
set of Wednesday noon.
USED SMALL CHARGES.
1.-THE men were simply trimming the walls,
and were using small charges, 5she added. The
last stick had been fired at noon The slide be-
gan at o'clock six hours later; therefore, the
setting off of the explosive could not have
caused the caye-in."
Other subway officials agreed with Mr.. Shaler.
Those whose houses had been condemned pre-
ferred TO believe that the entire avenue between
Thirty fourth and Forty-second SITS, had been so
shaken by constant explosions that the very
heart Of the rock for many feet beyond the
tunnel bed had been dangerously shocked
Yesterday forenoon a 6-lnch Waterplpe
snapped Captain Delaney Immediately mott
NED the Water Department of the accident and
the main was closed. The Gas Department was
also notified.
Shortly after the first cave-in, a squad of po-
lice arrived. When Inspector Thompson was
Informed of the accident, he FASTENED 10 the
spot and Immediately ordered ten more blue
coats TO report for duty about the block, and
detail OF police was sent through the houses to
provide against possible thievery. When the
buildings first threatened Mir. Shaler, who
has charge of that section OF the tunnel. and
who indicted account of the explosion of
January -, placed the work of protecting the
tunnel and the private property in the hands Of
Joseph Cody. While Mr.. COdy's men ere work
fng in front of No. 80 trying TO find a place to
plant their supporting beams. they had a
ROY escape from being crushed by tons of
brownstone that crashed down into the eXca-
walton. il after the second cavern that
their homes. Mrs. Devoe of No. %, was hys-
terical she made her way to her carriage
Suddenly she thought OF a eat which had been
left behind, and sent her cOlored fOOtmau for the
pet. Most Of those VINO vacated their homes
appeared with their arms filled with valuahes.
The sidewalk in front Of Nos. % and 81 had
partially disappeared by o'clock in the after
noon.
At o'clock another portion of the front wall
of No. % fell with crash just Mrs Burn
ham, who lives in No. 81. with her daughter
and son-in-law Mr.. and Mrs. Dresser returned
nothing of the accident She found Mr.. Ores
ser taking snapshot pictures of the wreck. He
was confident that his house would not sink into
the hole.