The Minneapolis journal., 1904-12-27
CORONER'S JURY
ASKS QUESTIONS
Building Inspector Houghton, His
Assistants and Advisers
Are Quizzed.
ALL THOUGHT THE WALL
THE SAFEST ONE OF ALL
Inquest Attended by the County
Attorney and Owners Of
Burned Building.

Burned Building.
possible. the responsibility for the fall
ing-wan fatalities Of last week, began
this morning at the county morgue.
The specific case under consideration
is that Of the death Of James Hamil-
ton, and upon the finding n this s. case as
authorities. The jury is made up as
Langdon Stone company, former city
building inspector; Wallace G. Nyss
secretary public affairs committee Com
mercial clSb, Mq Lewis g Giert?en, @ attor. tor
key, manager the Berkey oompanys
Perl B. Rhoads, deputy city assessor,
and r. P. Williams, father of Coroner
Williams.
Fourteen witnesses were examined IN
all, the evidence being confined. solely
had actually been on the ground, either
before or after the accident. 1t was
decided to examine all the witnesses at
one session, and it was lis pm, when
the jury took an adjournment until 2:3o.
The building inspector, the represen-
tatives of the Hale Homestead com 1
pany, which owned the Peck building,
were present in person and were repre-
|sented by counsel City Engineer AM
drew Rinker, Fire Chief J. r. Canter-
bury and several architects and build Z
ers were present. .,.-
Lundquist Inspected Works.
Andrew N. Lundquist, assistant
building inspector, was the first wit
ness. 49,.
stDid you inspect the Peck wall ~
asked DR.. Williams, opening the In
quiry.
Eyes, sir; the day after the fire. Build
| ing Inspector Houghton and f. y. Fur
long, another assistant, were with me.
On account Of the smoke we did not ex-
anime the Peck wall as thoroly as pos
sible. We4,examined the wall the next 1.
/ day and every day thereafter. In fact,
IyTe were there all the time urging the
work to be pushed as rapidly as pos
sible. Our first attention was given to
the Bintliff building, the First avenue
front, which appeared to be in the most
dangerous condition: When we exam
|ined the Peck wall we found that
it was plumb and straight. We
watched it constantly to see if there
WAS any indication of weakness. After
the fire had subsided and the smoke
had gone we examined the side wall
of the Peck building from the inside
and found that the brick had not been
injured by the fire. -
i Says Wall Was Strong.
"How do you account for your mis-
1 Ijudgment9' inquired DR.. Williams.
'SWell, it may have been misjudg-
ment, but the wall seemed safe. The
wall is now lying in sections on the
, ground, one Of these sections being
fourteen feet across. This shows that
, the wall was strong, and not weak, The
/ wall was supported on both ends by
7 brick walls at right angles
tsWhat should be, done to protect q
building after fre?"
ssI would build staging to the top
! and take it down, and that is what we
Q were trying to have done
5, bra.gS meSg19 IL not the wall have besa
'It would not have been possible to
3 obtain, timbers long enough to brace that
;. 51How thick was this walls" asked
J. NJ. Hazen, juror, who was formerly
building inspector.
inches; second and third stories, seven
:; teen inches, and the fourth and fifth
:. g stories, twelve inches.'
EHow long from front to rearg'' con.
Q "The wall was 157 feet long,
u "When the .ioists fell, did they take
6 any brick with them?''
: "In few places, but not to any ex-
. TENT
J. length, five stories high, without any
e ioists, a safe waIlY'' asked Mr.. Hazen.
e r'I consider an old wall safer than q
t t neT " ( oHe;' fter . ares,,
e eyes, if the fire has done no more
damage than in this case.
! Tenants Not Notified.
t Francis D: Furlong, assistant building
0 inspector, and George Cook Of the con
). tracing firm which is taking down the
il walls followed Mr.. Lundquist.
IS 'tWas any notice given to the people
o in the Crocker building that the Peck
wall was dangerousg' asked Lewis A.
J. Giertsen, juror, of Mr.. Furlong.
IS Not to my knowledge y replied the
d witness.
It "Has the building inspector authority
e5Ssr asfsd RsedPMs Mr. eue Ha
HYes, sir;
CHOW, you don't mean that, inter
rupted George P. Flannery, an attorney
;e You mean that the building nspectol
II may give warnings and post cards, but
# he can It order people out of buildings
st Mr.. Furlong admitted that this is what
he meant.
ii "What is the effect to building il
t. case the basement is filled with wa
le terQo asked Mr.. Gjertsen.
It might endanger the foundation
p- "And if this water froze would i
m not also harm the foundation9
ut - Yes, it would. ~
a Contractor Testifes
George Cook Of Pike & Cook en-
i, ployed to take down the walls, wa
~ y next. He had examined the walls car.
TT Til fully. On the day after the fire thi
nf was not possible on account of tn
ful examination was made. The wa
that fell was considered the safest {
all
an Did you notice if the wall was o,
he OF plumbs was asked.
ZEN : 1t was not out OF plumb.