The Washington times., 1902-09-28
Tons of Stone Sills, in An
tieipation of Removal OF
Giant Derrick, Hoisted to
Upper Floors and Placed
on Beams, the Outer Ends
of Which Were Supported
by Temporary Timber.


menace to those beneath.
Although there were forty men work
ing upon the building at the time, and
at least a dozen passing through the
covered passageway on the pavement
Immediately In front of the building,
but one was injured. and his wounds
were not Of serious nature. The one
victim Is Washington Gordon, colored
laborer, residing at 144S T Street north
west. Gordon received several severe
scalp wounds, but after they were
dressed 1t the Eemergency Hospital he
returned to the building and watched
the work Of removing the debris.
Escape of Workmen Miraculous.
The escape of many of the men from
serious injury. il not death, is little
short of miraculous. Several jumped
In time to escape the falling material.
one, It is said, leaping from the fourth
story to roof several floors below.
The most wonderful experience, how
ever. was that of W. MarliHg, a brick
layer, VIII, -7as at work on heavy sup
porting pier adjoining the Ebbitt House.
Hearing the warning crash, he jumped
into a window frame that was sheltered
by an overhanging beam and crouched
there in a corner as the heavy material
shot over his head into the street. He
afterward made his way to the street
without q scratch.
The accident is attributed to the
placing OF. too many heavy stone
stills upon the metal beams, which were
supported only by temporary braces.
These latter, it is said, had been calcu-
lated to carry only the weight of the
beams. ana were never intended to sup
port any considerable dead load In
stead Of 400 or 500 pounds weight to
support, those beneath the stone sills
were carrying, 1t is alleged, as many
thousand pounds.
Derrick Removes Debris.
The police were quickly on the scene,
and roping the street oil, kept the crowd
on the block until all danger of further
accident was past. This occupied the
entire day. and was completed at the
close OF working hours. Had it not been
for the specially constructed derrick in
use on the building the work off clearing
away the wreckage would have occupied
the greater portion of week, and would
have been attended with grave danger.
The original estimate of the damage
done-$l, ,000-is now considered exces-
sive, as the total cost Of replacing the
damaged portion will probably be several
hundred dollars within that amount.
With all Of. the thousands Of pounds of
material that went crashing to the pave
ment. but nine bricks. by actual count,
were disturbed.
The Willard office building is opposite
the New Willard Hotel. on Fourteenth
Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue
and f Street northwest, and adjoins on
the south the Ebbitt House. 1t has been
under course of construction for several
months past for Mr.. Henry A. Willard
ana u designed to be a modern structure
In every respect. 1t is not what is termed
q steel structure, but is waIl-bearins
structure-that is. the outer ends of the
moor beams are anchored in a heavy
brick wall that carries the entire weight
OF the side of the building.
Timber Supports Makeshifts.
Mr.. James A. McGill, the contractor
Tor the ironwork. was subject to a pen
atty OF $25 day for every day over the
contract time required in placing the
metal In position. He was anxious to
complete the work and had arranged sor
the derrick and engines to be moved to
another building yesterday afternoon,
following the placing In position of the
last roof truss. The work of the iron
men had been somewhat DELAYED by the
failure Of the bricklayers to carry the |
walls up fast enough, and In the hurry |
the expedient was adopted of placing |
timoer supports under the outer edge |
OF the floor beams 10 carry the weight
until the brick wall should be built nm (
TO It's support. These small timbers
carried the weight of four floors. and
according to the computing engineer OF
tne Building Inspectors Office. Mr.. C.
X sosn.eFgS}3e< %sss aszsa2s xsx<sae <a
carry the weight for which they were
designed
The immense derrick which had been
erected upon structure specially de-
signed and erected for the purpose. and
which had Its foundation at the base
of the building. was to have been re-
moved yesterday afternoon, and the ma
sons IN charge of the stonework took
advantage of its idle moments to hoist
by steam the heavy sills that otherwise
they would have had to lift five stories
with hand derrick
Accident Due to Overlooking.
These stone sills were raised to the
nth floor and placed in a pile In the
center Of the front of the building. where
they coald easily be distributed and
placed In position by hand derricks. It
was due TO this overlooking that the ac-
cident occurred.
There seems TO have been some mis-
Btvings as to the security of the sup :
ports. for when the workmen started to +,
work yesterday they were directed to !