Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-04-16
EARTH UNDER FOUNDATION
GIVES WAY, TEARING OUT SIDE
OF LYNN BUILDING
UNUSUAL ACCIDENT MIGHT
HAVE PROVED CATASTROPHE
Occupants Of Building Given Warning
BY Cracking Of Walls and Got Out
Before Crash Comes-suiId'ns Old,
and Without Joist Anehors-Dam-
age About $1,000.


somewhere near were burning oriskly
averted what might have been a
catastrope to occupants OF the Dr. r. q
LINN business building at l32 West
7:l5 o'clock. the west wall ana the
south end of the building crashed out
ward and fell into a mass OF debris in
the excavation for the basement under
the new B. F. Cummings building on
the next lot to the west,
Drs E. c. and A r. Lynn, who oc-
cupy the lower floor of the building.
and Mr.. and Mrs A. L. NanTine and
the latters sister, Mrs G.. w. Pittenger.
y no live UP stairs. had left the build
ing when it seemed sure that the west
wall would not stand over night.
Notice Cracking Noises.
At about 5 o'clock the Van Tines
and Mrs. Pittenger went TO supper,
locking the hall door of the apartments
as they were accustomed to. At about
E 80. when Mrs. Van Tine and her sis
ter returned to their apartments, they
had no sooner opened the door than
they found they could not close it A
cracking noise was heard, as tho the
building was settling. Mrs. Van Tine
describes it best by saying that it
sounded as tho a fire were burning
somewhere near. She became alarmed.
thinking that the foundation might
have been weakened by the excavating
on the lot to the west, and called DR..
Lynn on the telephone. DR.. A r. Lynn
came down town at once. and also
noticed the cracking noises at inter-
walls He ordered the Van Tines out
of the house. and summoned his broth
er. the owner of the building, and Mr..
Cummings They arrived in time to
see the building heave out from the
bottom. carrying with it half Of the
west wall and part of the south end.
Exposed to view were the interiors Of
the Van Tine dining room and south
bed room.
Building Says Eighteen Inches.
The Lynn building sagged about
eighteen inches in the middle when the
earth gave way beneath the building.
The west wall Of the building, which is
old had been noticed Monday to be
bullying about six inches. but as the
eXcavating for the new building had
been done carefully, and had not been
carried underneath the Lynn building.
it was believed that the building would
be safe until the concrete workers were
on hand this morning and would get
the mixture in. This work would have
been finished at II o'clock today had
not the wall fallen.
interior Presents Sorry Sight.
The interior Of the building pre-
scented a sorry sight From the extreme
north end OF the lower floor, in the
reception room and office of the Drs.
Lynn. crack in the west wall began
and extended along its entire length.
widening toward the center OF the
building to distance of ten inches.
Half way back was the laboratory of
the Drs. Lynn. the interior of which
was practically wrecked. From this on
10 the south end of the building the
wall fell away entirely. The floor
dropped to distance of eighteen
inches at the lowest point in the center
Upstairs the rooms were damaged
even more extensively. Half OF the
west wall went out opposite the dining
room and all Of the west wall in the
rear bed room fell, together with half
of the south wall The ceiling was
cracked the entire length Of the build
ing. Some OF the contents of the bed
room went down with the wreckage
and among these was a picture of Mrs
Pittenger's only SON who is dead This
loss was felt deeply by the mother. Is
it vas the only picture she had and as
II was done On glass could not have es-
capped being broken and destroyed. No
signs of the trinket had been found
this morning, altho a search had been
made for it.
Loss to Building About $1,000.
AS nearly as could be estimated bv
contractors and others who were at the
building this morning it will require
about $1,000 to put the building back in
its former shape. Elmer Peterson. who
helped remodel the building for George
Wanberg in 1903. said that the west
wall was considered unsafe at that
time, as it was very old. and unsup-
ported by basement foundation or joist
anchors. The only new part of the
building, upon its being remodeled nine
years ago, was the front wall and fac
ing.
The Van Tines, who moved out of
the upstairs apartments today. took up
temporary quarters in the Cummings
flats on North First street.
CIoudburst Near st. Anthony,
While this part of the county was
visited with cOmDarafi ye1,- 1;obt eh1-,