New-York tribune., 1903-01-31
THREE HOUSES SETTLE.'
Puk-aue Houses 4guin Beng
.Shored Up by Night.

IL was discovered yesterday. result OF the
Investigations of the inspectors and engineers
of the Buildings Department under the direction
of Superintendent Stewart. after IL was founo
that Charles T. Barney's house had settled, as
told elsewhere in these columns. that three more
houses the east side OF Park-ave. oet"een
Thirty eighth and Thirty ninth sts had settieo
an inch. A large force of men have been put 10
work by Canavan Brothers. the contractors en-
gagged i'm snoring uI Mr. Barneys NOME an"
they are rapidly putting in position the push
ing' braces. to support the front walls or the
three houses.
Adjoining Mr.. Barney's house on the nortn 10
that of George H. Byrd at No 80 Park-ave..
and north of It, at No II. that OF II. d. ROD
bins. These pushing braces are planted In
the pavement and are literally supported py 'ne
tunnel the building of which has caused the
trouble Buffers" are placed against the walls
of the houses and against these buffers the ends
of the braces are laid slanting at an angle OF
45 degrees These braces do not prevent the
houses from settling, but insure the walls from
cracking while the settling is going on Inc
walls have now settled inch. but the en-
gineers who have investigated the condltons
say that they cannot settle more tnan TWO
inches more 1t may be necessary to needle
the buildings. that is support them on founoa-
tions of huge timbers-
T. o. McGiIl representing Superintendent
Stewart had personal charge of the work Ior
the Buildings Department last night
There Is nothing alarming about this settiing'
and people should not be frightened because
they see a. large force of men braeing up some
buildings" he said THE only real danger Is
injury to the buildings themselves. Our en-
gineers and those of the Rapid Transit Com
mission, as far as they have investigated say
that the total depth TO which the walls can
settle is three inches. OF course. that means
great deal to the walls of building. and II they
were not properly shored UP the damage In time
might reach thousands of dollars
..The investigation showed that the rapid
transit engineers had overlooked one thing, and
that was the disintegration Of the rock between
the tunnel and the house line. The trouble with
the houses on the block between Thirty-sev-
enth and Thirty-eighth SITS, and in the accident
which cost Major Shaler his life, was that there
was mica in the rock which formed the foun-
dation of the street at that part OF Park-aVe
When the tunnel dug through IT was IN
tended that this rock should form the wall, nut
ON account of the mica it broke through IN
several places, causing a landslide that under-
mined the houses. The contractors then put IN
steel braces for a distance of three blocks
where this mica was found. and this steel WORK
was covered with cement to make a SOLID wall
This was supposed to form as solid Iounoa-
ton for the houses could be round But;
while this work was going the air worked
into the mica and gradually disintegrated the
rock You see, it has taken about year Tor IL
to settle When this rock disintegrates II De
comes like powder, and goes into soma mass
When the settling is over with. the foundations
will have more solidity than they ever had
The homes of w. 2. Bliss. NO l5; Dr- George
E, WbeaIock No 10 and Mrs. Sarah A. Town
send at No. Il Park-ave. have not been affected
bv the settling and for the present at least Will
not be shored up
In spite of the cold. biting wind that swept
the high elevation of Park-ave. last night, a
large number of people surrounded the barney
house to watch the work. Many carriages
stopped. and their owners inquired of bystand-
ers il Mr. Barney other residents had oeen
compelled to leave their homes