The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-12
WAS ANYBODY TO BLAME,

The collapse of the big department store in Albany. N. Y.. last Tuesday adds another to the list of great dis asters for which the verdict will prob- ably be that no one was to blame. Such a verdict may be legally satisfactory, but 1t will hardly satisfy the public and especially those whose loved ones lost their lives through the occurrence. It Is hardly possible that the whole centre of such an immense building could col lapse from floor to cellar. carrying in It's ruins three hundred or more per- sons, and no blame attach to anybody.
 We are informed that a rigid and impartial investigation is to be made, and 1t Is to be hoped that this will be done. If the inquiry is thorough ana the whole truth Is made known. we think it not improbable that 1t will be found that the building was known to be unsafe, or else that no pains had been taken to ascertain whether it was safe or not. We have not forgotten the slocum and Bennington disasters, and the known facts that in each case hu- man lives were lost for want of care on the part of those who were responsible for the condition of the vessels.
 If all the facts can be brought out, 1t may be found that the owners or managers of the building had never taken any steps to ascertain if 1t was of strength sufficient to bear the im- mense weight 1t had to carry. or it may be Srousht out that it was in 8 danger ous condition and that the fact was known and disregarded. In either case, there Is a heavy responsibility resting on some person or persons for the deaths and injuries caused by the catas- trophe. If there are guilty persons, they should be found out and punished It would be a good and needed example, and one that might have a good effect in the future.
 We note that the Mayor of Albany de- clares in very positive language that the catastrophe could not have occur red without gross carelessness." In the same spirit The New York Mail holds that 'qt was gross carelessness in the building department of that city to allow thin walled old dwellings to be converted to the strain of department store uses without being made over or adequately strengthened" Something of the kind Is continually occurring. The advance in business, the increase in population and in the price of land is causing business men and others to look out for some way of enlarging space without buying more grounds or building a new houae. One of the plans that is usually first to suggest itself Is to add one or more stories to the old building. This is a dangerous experi- ment because an ordinary building or one or two stories. If planned by good architect and put ur by competent builder is strong enough for the uses to which a house of that size is usually put. The addition of one or more sto- ries is always a risk, just as It Is risk to place a greater burden on horses back than the animal can safely carry.
 It is the same when an old house Is converted to a different use from that originally designed. and the language of The Mail. as above quoted, indicates that an old building had been converted into a department store, with more than three hundred employees in it. This was an act that can only be regarded as criminal carelessness. A building suf- fciently strong and we'll constructed to be thoroughly safe for all purposes to which a dwelling is put. including fur niture, would certainly not be consid- cred safe or suitable building to hold such amount of miscellaneous merchan- disc as would require the services of three hundred or more employees. A competent and conscientious architect would have protested. and 0 reliable building inspector would have prevent ed such a change until the house had been sufficiently strengthened to permit the additional strain without danger.
 But this Is one of many occurrences where lives are lost through want of care. After the catastrophe occurs we hear a great deal about injuries and | Investigations. but of precautionary measures there seems to be an almost total lack. The time to provide against danger Is before. not after. the harm Is done. There may be some one held re- sponsible at Albany. but we doubt it.