The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-03-17
TRIAL is RESUMED
Montlnued from PAGE one.l

introduced and which reads as fol-
lows;
Wiring.
Stage all open knob and cleat work and
Fl, in very bad shape. For example the wir-
ing to one lamp socket in the toilet at the
socket is seen through the wood wall with
out any tube or hushing- Wiring under
stage IN very bad shape and no way Of
clan made the statement that when a fuse
blew out he could not tell where II was
any more than to go and hunt until he
found some place where a fuse was out
Dressing rooms all open work. and, like
: the rest of the building. in bad shape.
or east one, are not standard. Auditorium
part of the house is open wiring and IN
bad shape, and in my Judgment not safe
{ Ing or at least very little of it complies
with the requirements Of rule So of the
National Electrical Code.
Fire Escape.
Metallic stairway on north side not
standard. For instance. the hand rail on
the outside Is bolted with one bic bolt to
each upright. Not solid and in case of
panic would not hold the crowd, or rather
prevent the people from pushing off. Part
) Of the main supports are Joined on the
escape by L-inch bolts through the sup
port and stringer of the escape. In case
of large crowd these bolts would shear
off At the top gallery platform Of escape
is false platform. The first platform was
set about one foot below the floor level
and this platform made to bring It
up to the level. The false platform is not
braced enough to carry any load and
should be rebuilt. Stairway used for
cape on the south side of building is
wooden affair and should have been re-
moved years ago.
In my Judgment this house is not safe
! and with the escapes in their present con-
. dition are not sufficient to take care of
J. f. COLLINS,
Deputy State Factory Inspector.
Exits Not Safe.
On cross examination the witness
stated that improvements were made
on the iron firescape on the building
after his report was made. He could
not state whether or not larger bolts
were put in. He said that in his opin-
ion the wooden stairway and its plat
forms were not safe; that there were
holes on the platform and steps large
enough to catch a persons heel.
On cross examination attorneys for
the Crawfords made Collins give a re-
view of his life from the time he
came to Topeka at two years of age.
They attempted to make him state
that his report was based entirely
upon the national electrical code
which had ,been made a standard by
the state legislature but which has
since been declared unconstitutional
by the state supreme court.
The witness said that his report was
made in conformity with the national
, electrical code only in so far as the
wiring was concerned and that code
had nothing to do with the report
/ made on the fire escape and the
wooden stairway. He explained that the
state labor department was operating
under the national electrical code al
that time because the legislator had
passed law requiring it to do so and
, that the department was so operating
under instructions from the attorney
general He said that his department
I had no way of knowing that the courts
would later declare the law unconsti-
tutional.
On redirect examination Collins
stated that he found wires run thru
wall holes without protection ami that
these would have been considered un-
safe even if he had not been working
under the standard set by the ma
tional electrical code.
Collins was still on the stand when
the court recessed at noon