Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-03
WAS REPORTED UNSAFE
DEATH IN COLLAPSED BUILDING
DUE TO CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE.
New York Stirred Up Over Yesterdays
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Built I'm
der Continued Protests.

A dispatch from New York last night
says: In the collapse of the Darlington, an
eleven-story apartment hotel building on
West 46th street report of which appeared
in The Star yesterday, fourteen persons are
known to have been killed and many in
jured. Lying in the basement under the
giant tangle of twisted iron beams brick
and mortar there are in all probably many
other workmen. Two great derricks were
tearing away at the mass of wreckage last
night, while gangs of workmen were search
ing for bodies John l.. Jordan, deputy su-
perintendent of buildings, said, however,
that he did not expect to get down to the
cellar, where most of the dead are, before
today.
Overloaded Floors.
|, Coroner Scholer and Assistant District At
torneys Rand and Train were on the spot
half an hour after the collapse and began
an investigation at once. The cause of the
disaster generally accepted is the overload
ing of the floors. Foreman James Halpin,
in charge of the iron workers, stated that
! there was large quantity of cement and
other building material on the fifth floor,
and that on the ninth floor were eighty
three iron beams which were to have been
the building. Halpin is under arrest, and a
search Is being made for Pole and
Schwandtner, composing the firm which
held the contract for the iron work, and Eu-
gene f. Allison of the Allison Realty Com
pany. owner and constructor of the hotel
Swarmed With Workmen.
The steel framework had been erected as
far as the eleventh floor, and the structure
was swarming with iron workers. masons
and laborers, when, without an instant's
warning, the upper floor sagged and col
| lapsed, and the whole structure fell with a
crash that was heard for blocks and shook
all the buildings in the vicinity.
There had been sixteen violations of the
building code filed against this building by
the inspectors of the buildings department
since November. There was great difficulty
about the original plans. which, submitted
last April, were rejected After consider
able alteration they were reSubmitted and
approved in August.
Neglect Was in Evidence
Everything pointed to neglect in the erec-
ton of the building. Experienced ironwork-
ers said that the steel Orders and beams
were too light for SO large a structure, and
pointed out that instead of being riveted to-
gether. as is customary, they were bolted.
These bolts were loose in their sockets when
the beams were hauled out Of the wreckage
The plans for the building were filed by
the firm of Neville & Bagge, architects, and
called for the construction of a fireproofed
building. twelve stories in height, with a
frontage of 30 feet and a depth of 100, of
steel, brick and stone, of a height unfinished
of 149 feet. The approximate building cost,
exclusive of the plot, was named at $3.50, 600
About Forty at Work.
Until the debris is cleared away entirely it
will not be known definitely just how many
men were killed. The foreman, Halpin, said
there We're about forty men at work on the
building. When the firemen first arrived in
answer to the alarms turned in they went to
every portion of the pile of twisted iron and
splintered woodwork, crawling under jut-
ting beams. Absolute silence was enjoined,
and for half an hour firemen and police
tried to get answers to their callings from
under the heap.
The collapse came about 100 Pm Ac-
cording to eyewitnesses, there was no
warning. The steel framework seemed to
sway then crumbled, and like d!Smantled
card house. the steel beams and the brick
walls fell with a thunderous crash of stone
and iron.
Patrick Murphy, the engineer Of the hoist
ing engine, and six wOrkmen were arrested
and held as witnesses. Representatives of
the district attorneys Office examined the
wreck tonight and began an investigation
to place the responsibility for the disaster.
Escapes in Adjoining Buildings.
Adjoining the collapsed building on the
west is the four-story brownstone residence
of Harold Brown. Some of the huge iron
beams struck the side of the house and
stove holes in the wall and roof and dis
lodged a part of the brownstone front
which was thrown to the street The oc-
cupants escaped uninjured
On the east side is house occupied by A.
Walpole Cragie as a school for boys The
pupils had gone home to luncheon a few
minutes before the crash occurred. Some
of the beams struck the house, tearing off
a portion of the roof and smashing holes
in the side walls.
Mrs. Savage's Marrow Escape.