Evening star., 1922-02-10

Failure of the top chord in truss
T12 was blamed for the collapse of
the roof of the Knickerbocker Thea
ing architect of the building, when he
took the stand yesterday afternoon at
the coroner's inquest to fix the blame
for the disaster
Mr.. Geare's testimony was in dirsct
opposition to that of the board OF
Army and Navy experts, and also to
that of ]. H. Ford, the steel designer
and contractor for the roof supports.
He admitted to the jury, during
questioning by Maj Gordon, United
States district attorney. that he did
not make full inspections to deter
mine whether the building was in all
respects secure, saying that 1T was
the duty of the supervising architect
merely to make daily visit to the
building.
Cannot Find Specifications.
Asked what had become of the
specifications for the building, he said
he could not find them, but admitted
that such specifications were written
He did admit, however, that the steel
although he attempted to show the
jury that all his plans contained fun
dimensions. He could not say that
the redesigned steel work contained
any more steel that that provided In
the original plans.
Mr.. Geare was questioned at some
length regarding the failure to tie
the Columbia road and stage walls to-
Eether. failure to do which was at
tackled by the board Of Army and
Navy engineers. Geare did not re-
member that he gave instructions to
either do this or not to do so.
William G. Carpenter said he did
not see anything wrong with the iron
work in any way, shape or form. Car
penter was an ironworker on the
building.
Architect on Stand.
Reginald W. Geare, the architect of
the knickerbocker. next was called.
He said he had been an architect for
about twelve years. prepared at
George Washington University. and
took the beauX arts course. He did
not receive a degree.
The plans and details of specifica-
ffons for the theater were prepared
by him. he testified, answering ques-
tions by Maj Gordon. He was then
the preparation of the plans. after
first telling the jury that he was in
charge of the construction.
After the first set of plans the build
ing did not proceed for about year,
witness said. They were prepared
Cassidy. After a years time Mr..
Crandal and others took over the
ground. Smallwood and Cassidy, he
said, sold the permit to Crandall and
him. Another set of plans giving
more details was later prepared. he
declared.
Mr.. Geare took up each set of plans
and explained them to the jury, under
questioning by Maj. Gordon.
The name of Costigan appeared on
the plans as the District official who
approved them.
The plans were made. he said. by
M. S. Rich.
Declares Dimensions shown.
''I have heard it said there were no
dimensions on my plans" witness
went on. Il want to show you that
they were fully dimensioned," he
said, pointing to dimensions on each
plan.
same plans was filed with the appli-
cation for a permit.
Did the steel plans show dimen-
sions?" asked Gordon.
NO. sir. The steel plans are trac-
ings of these. These have the di-
cuu JUST =" hSA liiO
steel is to be set.
I'D like to show you how care
fully the Columbia road wall was
provided for" he continued, showing &
the jury the details on the plans.
THE blueprints are an exact copy
of the originals" asked Mr.. Hart,
assistant corporation counsel.
Yes"
He said the original drawings are
submitted to the building department
with the blueprints.
After the permit was issued, con-
tracts were let, he said, and then he
asked sfor bids from about six con-
tractors, and could remember only
the names of the Weller Construc-
/. ton Company and Frank L. Wagner.
Questioned further by Gordon, he
remembered the Melton Construction
Company. the Boyle Robertson Com
pany and William E. Mooney.
Frank l.. Wagner Contractor.
The contract was let to Frank l..
Wagner to construct the building,
he testified. Witness said the con-
tractor kept him informed of the
names of subcontractors, who were
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