New-York tribune., 1921-12-01
Five Builders
Arrested for
Theater Crash
Sub Contractors Charged
With Using Inferior Ma
terial in Building Which
Crushed Workers to Death
Seventh Body Is Found
Two Owners Previously
Seized Are Released i'm
$4,000 Bail Each

Another body was recovered ycster
day from the mass of twisted steel and
broken brick at Bedford and Park ave
nues, Brooklyn. where the unfinished
American Thcater collapsed on Tuesday
and buried the men working upon it in
the ruins. This brings the total num-
Der of known dead in the disaster to
seven, while eleven Of the workmen,
critically injured, are in three Brook
lyn hospitals.
Positive Identification of the latest
victim dug out of the wreckage has
not yet been made, but the body is be-
lieved to be that of George Smith,
thirty years old, lath worker, Of 1l10
Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn.
District Attorney Harry L. Lewis of
Brooklyn moved swiftly yesterday in
his investigation to determine whether
criminal negligence was in any way
responsible for the disaster. Late in
the afternoon five sub-contractors were
placed under arrest on his orders on
charges of homicide contained in an
ferior material in constructing thea
ter that collapsed, killing seven men,
on November 29, 1921"
Lewis Inspects Wreckage
The Kings County prosecutor refused
to make any statement regarding his in
vcstigation other than to voice his de-
termination to fix the blame where it
belonged 1t is known, however, that
during the day he went into an the
details concerning the brick, stone and
structural steel used in the building.
He left early in the evening to in
spect the wreckage. it is understood
that he will next investigate whether
the BUILDINGS Department inspectors
performed t.. ,ir duty. He took charge
of the site and refused to permit any
one to enter other than those engaged
in the task Of digging for bodies.
The five men arrested are Charles
y. Pluckheim, Of 20S3 Lexington Ave
nue., Manhattan, and James Kavanaugh,
of IL Kingsland Place, Elmhurst, cree
tors Of the steel work, and Severe,
Michael and Vito Cannella, brothers,
of 1916 Herkimer Street, Brooklyn, the
mason sub-contractors.
All five were taken to the Vernon
Avenue police station. They were ar
rested by Detectives Robert Daley, Mi
chael Abt and Frank Wolter. They
will be arraigned in the Gates Avenue
court this morning.
Sylvester Rosenthal and Samuel Mos
kowitz, the owners and building con-
tractors Of the theater, were arraigned
before Magistrate Liota yesterday,
charged with manslaughter in the first
degree and held for examination with
out bail. Later in the day their coun-
sci obtained q writ of habeas corpus
and they appeared before Supreme
Court Justice Kelby. who released them
on bail of $1,000 each.
Brick and Steel Blamed
The different groups engaged in the
construction of the collapsed building
are blaming each other for the wreck
The steel workers are alleging that the
mortar used in the brick work was in
feror. and the brick contractors are
blaming the steel.
In this connection Joseph Giambalvo.
counsel for the three Cannella broth
ers, said central column supporting
a cantilever girder had collapsed, car
rying with it the girder and other steel
beams, which resulted in the north
wall collapsng He said that in the
opinion of his clients this central col
umn was not properly braced.
District Attorney Lewis is investi-
quire why such a thing was per
nitted by the Building Department if
the charge is found to be true.
1t was said that one workman still
is missing. This is man named Nc
Neil. His son told the police that he
was not absolutely sure that his father
was at worl, on the theater.
Dr.. Charles Wuest Kings County
Medical Examiner, assisted by DR.. En-
nest NJ. Vaughan, Of the District Attor-
ney's staff, examined the seven bodies
in the Kings County Morgue yester-
day. They performed an autopsy on
the body of Philip Stein, one O the
sub-contractors in charge Of cement
believed to be true in the other cases,
as the bodies did not bear any marks