New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-08-24
Two Investigations On To-
day to Fix Blame for
Bronx Crash.
OTHER STRUCTURES
MAY BE FAULTY
Workers Erecting Houses
Buried Under Debris
Contractor ParOled.

Two Investigations will be begun to-
day by Bronx County officials to deter
mine responsibility for the collapse of
a section of five story brick apartment
house under construction at Marion
Avenue, near 1sSth Street, In which two
workmen were killed and sixteen others
were injured yesterday. District At
torney Francis Martin and Coroner
William J. Flynn announced that they
would make careful inquiries to deter
mine whether workmen were exposed to
similar dangers in other new buildings
in that borough. =,
OF the injured men in Fordham Hos
pital, four. who have fractured skulls,
are in critical condition. The dead
were William Clancy, of 3O2 East Sew
enty-ninth Street, and Paul de Chris
TOPPER, of 300 Brook Avenue, who died
from injuries after removal to Fordham
Hospital. Both were bricklayers.
Faulty Construction Blamed.
"The collapse might be attributed
principally to faulty construction,
was the preliminary verdict OF James
f. Meehan, an architect and contractor,
TCLdlHGQ dS tABtAN ANt Wv
Office. "The concentrated weight of the
walls of the upper stories rested on
a girder spanning the arcned vestibule.
This construction did not distribute
the stress; it carried the bulk Of the
weight to weak corner Of the south
ern wing -,
Coroner Flynn, who has been In the
plumbing and building business for
more than twenty years, said that his
investigation would include study of
the plans, the materials used In con-
struction, and the inspection of the
structure by the Bronx Bureau OF
Buildings.
at would be unjust for me to com
ment on the cause of the collapse until
after the inquest" he said. 81 shall
begin to examine witnesses in my office
tomorrow morning at III O'CLOCK.
Among those who have voluntarily
agreed to testify are S. M. Chase, owner
of the building; Jacob c. Polstein, OF
Loewy & Polstein, 620 West 18TH
Street, the contractors; William Heaph,
the foreman in charge of the section
which collapsed inspectors from the
Bureau of Buildings, and several work
men who escaped injury. All the wit
nesses were paroled on their own re-
cOBnlLkHCes
John Cameron, eighty years old, was
working at $3.50 A. NJ. in his back yard
garden, which runs close to the new
/ apartment house.
al heard a cracking noise" he said,
Cooked up and saw the wall begin to
I tut out at the fourth story on the south
| side. Before ! could shout at the work
men on the scaffolding the wall tumbled
ov.r into Marion Avenue"
Firemen Rescue Injured.
Firemen from Engine Company SO,
under Battalion Chief Thomas F. Bar
rett, worked until p. m. clearing away
/ the debris and removing the injured to
ambulances from Lincoln, Lebanon and
/ Fordham hospitals. Assisting in the
rescue work were John B. Borgstede.
/ Commissioner Of Public Works in The
Bronx and acting Borough President,
and Jacob c. Vreeland, chief inspector
of the Bureau of Buildings. Joseph j.
Dunno and Charles A. P. Jehle, inspec-
tors of Mr.. Vreeland's staff, are expect
ed to be witnesses before the Coroner
to-day.
After accomplishing their main task
the firemen pulled down the remaining
walls of the section which had col
lapsed. Portions of the northern half
, of the building Will also be demollsheu,
Chief Barrett said, because 1t is feared
that repetition of yesterdays acct
dent is possible.
Mr.. Heaph, who received severe lace
rations about the head and face, spent
last night on a cot in the Bronx County
iail. Coroner Flynn explained that
Heaph preferred the Jail to hospital
accommodations and had been placed in
Sheriff O'Brien's care at his own re-
quest. He is not under arrest.
The District Attorneys office refused
to discuss the accident further than to
admit that the books of the contractors
and set of palms for the building had
been seized.