The Washington times., 1908-06-10
]. Blake Clark DiSclaimS
Responsibility for Collapse
That Killed Two.
WALLS WERE "GRI t."
WITNESS TESTIFIES
Tells of Warning Given Builder,
and Says Regulations of Dis
trict Were Obeyed.

An absolute disclaimer OF all blame
was made by Building Inspector J.
Blake Clark this morning at the In
quest held 10 determine the resDousibiI- .
ity for the collapse yesterday morning
9f the apartment house al Twentieth
and p streets. which caused the death Of
two men and injury 10 six others.
Clark. IN reply 70 questions, said he
thought the concrete work was rushed
and insecure forming To support tine
concre-e cuused the collapse
Although the building is in the ter
rltory 70 which Clark is assigned he
maintained at the inquiry. which was
held az the morgue that he mad dis
charged his duties TO the fullest extent
and could for no reason be held cuIp-
able.
He declared in the san breath that
the walls Of the building were green.
the cement work rushed beyond the
safety point and that the building regu-
lations of the District were being OBJ
served.
Coroner hewitt presided at the in
quest. Seated beside him were Com
missioners Macfarland and West who
wh''s taking no official part in the pro-
ceedings. assisted the coroner with fire.
queat suggestions as TO questions he
might ask the witness.
The cC-oner's jury was composed Of
George Mule. Henry Hanforth. S. O.
CornweH, Henry Kess, Frank J. Acker
and A. J. Hauforth.
Assistant Corporation Counsel Frank
II. stevens was present for the Dis
tFict
Attorney S w. BraEdenburg looked
after the interests Of the a. 5. Reavs /
Sheet Metal Cornice Company and At
t0rneys ". A. COOmbe and James Pad
GET represented Richard West. the col
ored victim OF the collapse.
Inspector Testihes.
Inspector CIar6. who was supervising
TIE construction of the building. was
TIE first witness He was examined AT
length b. Coroner hewitt. He was first
asked to state the authority which he
exercised over a building in course Of
construction end then was closely cues
toned as 10 the supervision OF this par
tlcuIar building.
He said emphatiCally when asked II
he regarded any OF the work as dubious.
that the permits issued by the building
department had been lived up to and lc
reiterated this at frequent intervals
during his testimony. lie said that he
considered tho brick work a fairly good
job and the iron work up 10 the stan
dard, as was the concrete when he had
an opportunity 10 inspect it,
1T is utterly impossible" he said.
"for q msIi 20 be on the Jos all the time
having such territory as 1 have and
am not there"
Mr.. Clark said that he had made
eight official visits since May l, which
was within the building requirements
providing tnat an inspector snail make
At least one visit a week.
Bars Work Apart.
He was then questioned On the iron re-
enforcement bars used in the building.
These are supposed TO be placed six
inches apart. according to the plgus ap-
proved by the building inspectors Of
nce, but Mr.. Clark said that very fire.
qucntly these bars slushed apart by the
wet concrete. He said that additional
permits had been issued when the plan
was changed TO make a six-story house
instead Of a five-story house. The build
ing regulations provide that in such
cases the lower wall be strengthened
either by thickening or by REINFORCED
beams. This mad not been done. he said.
but the neglect to do so was no viola
ton of the permit. because the sixth
story had not yet been reached.
Mr.. Clark said that he had warned the
contractors that they were ramming the
concrete too near the walls on the
fourth floor. He said he thought The
cement was put IN before the walls We're
ready to stand alone, as they were not
vet settled. But, he said, there are no
regulations covering I.lts point IN the
building laws,
Concrete Rushed Too Much.
In your estimation" asked Coroner
Nevitt. were they rushing this work
too rapIdly?''
Inspector Clark paused a moment, and
then said:
''Well, not the brick VIC K, but think
the concrete was rushed
What was the cause of the coTapse?'
Insecure forming To secure con-
crete"
whose duty was it to look out for
this?"
well, it was the contractors dutv
He was supposed to look out for II him
self"
Blames "Green" Walls.
Ar,kur \. Poynter, deputy building
inspector. the next witness called.
could not give the exact cause of tie
collapse, but he thought it was because
of the green walls. He said il might
have been caused by the bulging Of one
of the piers or a dropping Of the con-
| crete forms" He told of an agree