Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1909-10-28
Madison, Oct. 81

The above verdict was rendered
yesterday afternoon by jury com
prising George H. Breitenbach, John
J. Pecher, George Fess, E. F. Ester,
NJ. L. Dunn and Samuel Hilsenhoff at
the inquest held into the death of
Mr. Logan, who was killed by the
falling of the first course of the corn
ice over the west portico of the west
wing of the capitol, on Sunday after
noon.
Apparently, the stone that fell,
lacked weighing and was not anch-
Ored, as several witnesses testified
that the block, which had been hoist
ed by the derrick, touched the wall.
Immediately the stone began to crack
and Logan came down with the waH.
On the whole, the testimony did NOT
throw much light on the cause of the
accident. Lew F. Porter. secretary
of the capitol building commission
could not give the exact cause. as he
had not made an examination of the
accident, that matter being entirely
in the hands Of the capitol architect
he could and accompanied them TO
the top floor of the west wing, where
they examined the ruined brick wall
Coroner Lynch had hoped to ascertain
! the probable cause of the falling of
the wall from John MOir superintend-
! ent of construction for the Woodbury.
| Granite company, but Mr.. MOir said
he would not make an investigation
until today upon the arrival of east
ern representative of the company.
Tells of Accident.
| Frank Bliss, helper to Logan, testi-
fed that he assisted in the placing
of all stones on the pediment part.
The stone that had been raised by
the derrick was to fill out the center
of the course which he and Logan
were setting. According to Bliss, the
stone in the course projected out a
foot but the heaviest part was back
| toward the wall. Asked if he ever
had any fear that the wall would fan,
he replied:
mot bit"
Did Logan ever fear that the wall
would fall?" asked the coroner.
''He never said a word about it, -
said Bliss.
Bliss said that Logan sent him ar
ter few chips of granite, and that
while carrying out the orders of the
foreman, he heard the wall crack. AS
! he glanced at Logan, the wall began
| to raise in the rear and he jumped
! backwards through a window in the
gable. He said he heard Logan make
an cutlery but could not understand
| what he said. Logan was on the
outer edge of the wall in a kneeling
| position when the wall gave way.
| Bliss testified that Logan made no eff
fort to get back when the stone be-
gan to raise in the rear and he slid
Off Bliss stated that the face of the
stone which had been hoisted was
just coming down on the wall but
the stone proper had not touched the
rear part of the cornice. Bliss main
tanned that this incident could not
have had anything to do with the
falling of the wall. AS far as he
knew, the mortar which is used In
placing stone, is of good quality
Not a Drinking Man.
In order to remove any suspicion
that Logan might have drank liquor
on Sunday, Coroner Lynch asked the
witness;
do you know if Logan was much
Of drinking man?'
HE was not" declared the wit
ness.
did he have any liquor with him
on the building on Sunday"
mo, sir, he did not
Coroner Lynch said it had been re-
ported that the derrick slipped and
that the stone struck the wall. Bliss
denied that such was the case. In
his opinion, not one-fourth of the
weight of the stone rested on the
wall. He again asserted that he did
not think this had anything to do with
the falling Of the wall He had no
idea as to what caused the accident
Mentions Probable Causes.
Mr.. Porter said at the outset that
Architect George B. Post is employed
by the state to look after the con-
struction of the capital, and that he
did not make an investigation of the
accident He testified that the de-
tails of the stones are worked out by
the contractor and submitted to the
architect for approval Stone might
be laid without the consent or know
ledge of the architect, he said, but
Mr.. Post has a man on the grounds
who looks after the work. Asked
whether he could give the probable
cause of the accident, Mr.. Porter
advanced the following theories:
The wall might have fallen as re-
| suit of some shock during the con-
struction.
It might have fallen because the
stone had been set along the outer
edge with not enough weight on the
| inside to counterbalance it.
1t may be that some anchors hao
been left out.
If the stone had been built toward
the center of the gable instead of
laying it straight across the course,