New-York tribune., 1912-01-13
HARD At WORK TO AVERT
COLLAPSE Of FIRE RUIN
interior Crash, 1t Is Feared,
Would Be Worse than the
Fire Itself.
A BELMONT VAULT EMPTIED
Search for Bodies of Walsh and
Others Killed in Equitable
Disaster Still With
out Success.

Disaster Still With
out Success.
Between death and a billion dollars ~
vreckcrs shaved desperately yesterday 10
avert an interior collapse of the Equhta"'o
ruin. Incidentally. they helped n score oi
fremcn burrow for the body OF Battai'oN
chief Walsh. nut without success up to
late hour last night.
The danger from on interior collapse oil
the burned building. involving a calaS
tropbe far greater than the fire itseii' IS
really imminent, according to ChaIIt
Judge. mspcctor for the Bureau Of Buhd-
ings. vino is IN active charge Of the 'u''I-
ing's demolition. 1t was not the outer vans
of The shell, he said, which threatened 10
fan. but the floors still spanning a portion
of tie interior. These floors are supported
throughout by the old-fashioned cast lIo"
beams abolished years ago III puI'o''iN
construction. The knees" Of these beams
the little elbows. that is, at the top OF the
beams. which support the steel 'l' beams
on which the floors rest, have either
snapped or cracked, Mr.. Judge said IN -
per cent of the cases he has examined ana
he has gone over the building with the
minute care Of an expert.
The real menace, said he, lies IN the
hinge nile of debris resting on the third
moor just hack of the centre of the bulIu-
ing formed by the collapse at this point
of the roof and the five upper stories
some Of this rubbish, composed Of granite
blocks. T. beams and a tangled mass oI
almost every description Of wreckaGe, over
flowed into the open space in the CeGa'
street side. reaching down TO the basement"
but enough Of it lodged on the third moor
10 put very serious strain on the beams
supporting that floor and everything uhuer
IL. The slightest additional weight Wou'u
cause that floor 20 collapse, i'm my opinion
and carry with IT all the floors below 1t ana
the floors which are still standing on the
Pine street side.
Delicate Treatment Necessary.
I'VE are obliged. therefore, to treat our
task most delicately. The first thing
did was TO order the men to shore up TINS
third floor and the first and second toors
beneath it with heavy beams reaching
from the basement. l forbade them an
soluteIv TO throw another ounce OF DEBRIS
on the pile already resting there, but IN
stead had them begin clearing from the
tor, of the pile and carrying the wreckage
In baskets TO windows. 10 be cast INTO lhe
street If they began clearing from the
bottom, say, instead, and let the mass
above settle as they eXcavated the f'-
suit would be jar TO the whole house
Of cards which would bring it down
around our ears.
As for the outside walk, they're built
rrettv solid and seem safe as they stand
They're what are known as the old-fash-
toned bearing wall type, built like for
tiGcation at the base and capable OF sup
porting by themselves large part of the
burden of the building. In the event OF
an interior collapse they would probably
he dragged inward and fall on top Of the
hcap. eburying my men. one of the fore"
men suggested this morning that | attach
chains TO them and pull them in on top
Of the ruins to get rid Of them, but ! re-
fused. of course, because that would I'm
,ncdiatelv cause that interior collapse
which We are working like fends to pre-
vent"
These outer walls particularly that one
facing Cedar street have been shored up.
as a matter of fact, to remove the re-
motcst danger to the public in 'he streets
and in the tall buildings surrounding the
n Equitable skeleton. Cables attaching
\ them 10 the interior Of the building and
" wooden braces supporting them on the
outside make it pretty certain that they
will collapse inward If they collapse at all.
- Search for Walsh Hampered.
The need for great care and selection in
removing the wrcckage hampers the search
for Chief Walsh's body, which the frcmen
%ho saw their comrade last think is at the
base Of the pyramid Of material resting on
the third floor The intense cold is another
obstacle. As Supervising Inspector Cul-
gin. Of the Bureau Of Buildings, said:
Walsh might be found in five minutes
or five days. il he's where the firemen say
ne Is we ought 10 get 10 him pretty quick.
But all this talk of his being found alive
or OF our finding alive any OF the men who
arc missing is absurd. sad as the fact may
be. Even il they had been spared by the
hre and the falling wreckage they could
not have escaped being frozen TO death"
Miss Anita NiedeT. nineteen years old.
daughter Of Francis Joseph Nieder, special
custodian of the vaults Of the Mercantile
Safe Deposit Company, accompanied Father
Mclean, the fire chaplain TO the scene of
her fathers tomb yesterday, for Nieder is
counted among those missing in the ruins.
Miss Nieder had told the chaplain that her
mother was convinced the father was alive,
that he had been caught in the sub-cellar
of the vaults. Father Mclean persuaded
her 10 go down 10 the Equitable Building
with him and satisfy herself that no hope
of his being found alive remained.
The young girl big eyed and pale, stood
silently in the doorway Of No 1l5 Broad
way. and for some time gazed at that huge
ice-incrusted mausoleum across the street
Finally she turned 10 Father Mclean, say
ing in quiet voice:
I'm satisfied. father. I'll so home and
tell mother she mustn't hope any more"
Number of Dead in Doubt
The Bureau Of Buildings is still in the
dark as TO how many bodies it must be on
the lookout for behind those inScrutable
walls.
"The report is that there are four" said
Mr.. Culgin. but the Police and Fire de-
partments can give no definite informa-
ton"
The fourth, il is now thought. is a negro
porter The other three are Walsh, Nieder
and John Campion. the watchman, whose
hands are frozen 10 the steel bars OF an
outer door of the Mercantile Safe Deposit
vaults.
The searchers for Chief Walsh's body
discovered a 6remans lantern and glove
yesterday. which for a time encouraged
them 10 think they were near their COM
rade. but the hours dragged on without
further discovery. Deputy Chief Binns kept
small force of his hremen at the heart
breaking job all night. working side by
eide With tho ,Thnrnpson- ~ a rrett ugrcckers