The San Francisco call., 1909-01-12
DEFECTS MAKE
STATE HOSPITAL
A DFATHTRAP
Building Trades Council Com-
plains OF Receiving Strue-
ture at Agnews
Concrete Work Cracked and a
Layer of Sawdust Lies Be-
tween CrumbIing Walls
Especial Dispatch 10 The Call

Especial Dispatch 10 The Call
THE CALL HEADQUARTERS,
SACRAMENTO, Jan. II. That
the recently constructed receiving hospii-
tai of the Agneps insane asylum is a
dcdthtrdp for its helpless inmates.
That the reinforced concrete nails
mere faulty poured and could be de-
tached in big CHUNKS By hand.
That layer of sapdust lies between
the basement nall and the DaH Of the
first floor.
That the nails are. cracked and have
holes IN them big enough to look
through.
That these defects mere hastily hid
den behind snledring of cement to de-
ceipe the Inspector.
That The contractor admitted that il
mas the Dorst concrete building he had
sper seen.
These are some of the startling
charges made by the state building
trades council against +. O. Engstrom
of Los Angeles, who has the contract
for building the receiving hospital at
Agnew. In the form of affidavits made
by workingmen employed on the job
these charges were filed with the gov
ernor for investigation by Cleveland L.
Dam, attorney for the building trades
council, this afternoon.
Asks Governor to Act
Engstrom is an open shop contractor
whom the building trades council has
been lighting bitterly, bur Dam de-
clares that the charges are serious
enough to be considered on their own
merits and would like Governor GiIlett
to send a special message to the legis-
Iature about them.
Gunder p Dammen, carpenter and
builder, is the principal afiant. AS an
employe of Engstrom at Agnew he
deposed that the gravel used in the
reinforced concrete work was dirty, of
inferior quality and mixed with soil
and adobe that prevented cohesion; that
the pipes for distributing the gravel
clogged and were flushed with water.
which washed the cement away; that
when the walls were stripped, big
patches of gravel and rock, wholly free
from cement. were visible and had to
be covered with hasty coating before
the inspector came around.
Wall Full of Pockets
Hulius Jackobson. a carpenter. de-
poses that the concrete was improperly
distributed so that there was gravel
in one part of the wall, sand in an
other and cement at the farther ends.
washed there by water poured through
the pipes. He says further that half
OF the wall was full of pockets and
holes extending clear through and that
sand and gravel could be removed by
the hand. He says that when he tried
to patch the wall from the inside the
cement ran through and fell on the
ground outside.
Albert Thorsen, carpenter, swears
that one day Engstrom, the contractor,
said: Il have seen great many con-
crete buildings, but this one is the
worst 1 ever saw
One Floor CrumbIes
J. NJ. Benefited, San Jose carpenter.
deposes that in places he could see
through the wallis. and that owing to
faulty construction, one room on the
lower floor crumbled, caved and fell.
E. E. Potter, carpenter and builder
OF San Jose, corroborates this state
ment about the collapse of the floor.
He adds that Engstrom failed to use
mesh wire, as required by the speci-
fications, and that in some places the
walls were less than four instead of
the specified six inches thick
Gust Halvorsen and Gustav j. Lee.
carpenters of San Francisco; j. A. Rid
dell, the foreman on the building; p. w.
Boyle. plasterer; C. T. Newly, a hod
carrier. and ]. f. Walker, carpenter,
all of San Jose, add corroborative at
fidavits to those cited
Accompanying these affldavits was a
letter signed by P. II. Mccarthy. presi-
dent, and Q. A. Tveitmoe. secretary of
the state building trades council, asking
that the governor begin an investiga-
tion Of Engstrom's work
GiIiett Not Familiar
II have not yet had time TO study the
affidavits.' said Governor Gillett when
asked about the charges filed by Dam.
"and am so busy that I will probably
not get around to them for couple Of
days. Engstrom is under good and sur
ficient bonds for this work. There is
day work and contract work going on
at Agnew at the same time, and I was
under the impression that the contract
work was the more satisfactory of the
two. Beyond passing on the plans when