New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-03-20

dren. half clothed rushed in panic into the
street
They found that all the rear wall had fallen
from roof to basement foundations, leaving a
heap Of beams, bricks. etc. The noise shook the
| neighborhood for blocks and 1t was half an
hour before the binding cloud Of gritty dust
subsidized. Unanimously the tenants decided that
+1ea ASK of.saa,ainiz IN the sajolrtag nousss
was too great. and. looking up they turned their
effects over to the police, and sought refuge
wherever they could, friends taking the women
and children in and the men making such shift
as they could
Inspector Taylor of the Buildings Department,
who was on the scene said the whole building
might in.
While the houses in Harlem were falling, a
similar collapse occurred in The Bronx. A new
five story new law f1athouse is building in
16Sth-st., about 100 feet east OF Boston Road.
The roof was on. Policeman Zankl, of the
Morrisania station, who was two blocks away
heard crash and felt the ground tremble under
him. Then he a white mushroom cloud Of
dust ascending slyward, and ran for it.
He found a bareheaded crowd looking at what
had been the entire south wall of the airshaft
1t had melted down to a pile OF bricks and
mortar. A crack in the easterly wall warned
explorers to get out. 1t was feared that high
wind would cause the whole structure 70 col
lapse. The contractors are Weber & Higgins
and the owners of the property Veirloom &
Carson.
The police of the East SSth-st station last
night made three arrests for the LexingtOn-ave.
collapse. Two painters were taken into Gus
tody, charged with violating the Sunday law,
and the night Waterman was arrested on sus-
picion. The latter was Cornelius Hayes, of No.
21S East S5th-st. He was bailed by his en-
ployer Samuel d. Davis. the contractor of the
Samuel Malamuth. of No. $50 East 4th-st.
and Louis Shanin. of No. 30 Canal-st., tb"
painters, were at work the third floor OF
the building when the rear wall fell They
scurried to the front and were able to descend
to the street.
Chief Buildings Inspector German was at the
scene of the big collapse soon after 1t was re
ported to the police. He believed that the cause
was the warm weather following cold.
The emergency crew Of the Buildings Depart
ment shored up the walls.
Later Davis was arrested. He was bailed out
USING FROZEN MORTAR A VIOLATION
Deputy Inspector John L. Jordan. of the
Buildings Department. at his home, the Wal
ton, Coumbus-ave. and 7Oth-st., last night. at
tributed the collapse to the use of freezing NOR
tar which melted under the influence of the
wave.
There is a section in the building code which
makes it a violation Of the law to erect build
ings during freezing weather" he said. 1T has
been the need of additional inspectors in the
department to provide against just such viola
lions that compelled Buildings Superintendent
Hopper to ask for twenty-five additional in
6pectorS
1T has been the rule in the Buildings Depart
ment when violation Of this nature is discov-
cred that the inspector making the discovery
shall order work stopped and file a report Of the
violation. 1 do not know whether violation re-
ports were filed in these cases reported to-day.
When an inspector files such report the build
er has ten days to comply with the code
1T is an easy matter for builders to violate
that section of the code relating to the of
freezing mortar winter work. inspec-
tor of the Buildings Department can be seen for
several blocks.
Chief Inspector German refused TO discuss
the coIlapses Buildings superintendent Hop
per is still Florida.