The Washington herald., 1922-02-06
AS OTHERS SEE
OUR INSPECTION
OF BUILDINGS
Kipling Applied to the
Knickerbocker
Tragedy.
MONDAY. FEBRUaRy q. Isz,.

sWave Phnse IN the Boentinnftcn uf
sound will b. the subject OF a
lecture by Prof. c. Il. Sezshore.
University Of Iowa. now with tn.
National Research Council. before
the Bureau OF Standards Physics
Club. Bureau Of Standards. today.
$40 o'clock
"oh. it's Tommy this and it's Tommy
that. and it's Tommy. damn your
soul!
-But it's the thin red line Of 'eroes
when the drums begin TO roll"
That's what Kipling said. before
the great war. Of the British public
and it's soldiers.
The Engineering News-Record.
editoriaIly. applies IL TO the knicx-
erbocker Theater.
when hundreds lie dead. the peo-
ple-and their newspapers - see
clearly the Importance Of their
building departments" says this
civil engineering weekly. when
budgets are being made. short
sighted taxpayers loom large in the
legislators mind"
Washington is not the only city
that has had a theater disaster re-
Gently. Brooklyn was the scene or
a failure in November. not 50 seri-
f; Gus as the Knickerbocker. il is true.
| Seven wers killed while the build
| ing was under construction. The
matter Is now In the courts The
Engineering Sews-Record tells of
q scene there:
II developed that the plan exam
iner Of the building department who
approved the design OF the thester
is paid 1.ss a year. The magis-
trate was shocked. Your approval
of the plans was fnaI? There was
no one else to check or question
your conclusions?" he asked the OK
sminer. Evidently he thought that
technical knowledge worth less than
I $4,000 year Is not Of high quality.
I or dependable. To the extent that
! the design for the structure played
a part in bringing about the col
lapse and causing the death OF seven
workmen, the examination and ap-
proval Of the plans obviously con
nected itself in the magistrates
mind with the fatal outcome A
much more serious duty and re-
sponsibility rested upon This eN-
9miner than his salary Of Sl.Sst in
dicated, as the magistrate expressed
in the remark: a man CARRYING
YOU responsibility and exercising II
properly" said the magistrate
should receive at least $4,000 a
year"
such is the opinion Of a ju-
dicially minded Iayman on technical
responsibility and adequate COM
pensation therefor" says the News
Record. Engineers themselves have
urged this view time and again. and
have pointed out that placing heavy
responsibility on men for grossly
inadequate pay leads very surely u
deterioration and debasemont OF the
work. But public authorities are
deaf to this argument and 30 are
many private employers. unfortu-
nately. Engineers in river and har-
Dor work. the technical men Of the
Bureau of Standards. and the Patent
once experts are as pertinent eN-
amples as this particular building
plan examiner. Their hght Go pre-
vent destruction OF the service by
inadequate compensation has gen
orally been in vain"
About the Enickerbocker disaster
d
! general disposition to blame the
building department Of the city for
lsXity. II comments:
And yet the head OF that build
ing department receives less than
a dapper, responsibility-free bond
salesman. and the wages Of the
( man who passed on the Enicker-
booker design or repairs. IL there
were any. would be despised by
many a skilled laborer with only
himself to care for"
In the health department. the
water department. the municipal
architects office, the police and FIRE
| departments. and the other depart
ments Of the District government
| there are men who are laborinE
day after day under responsible
tics and inadequate salaries similar
TO those OF the building inspection
department We do not hear about
them often. II an epidemic Of dis
case, a lack OF water. a fire. or a
crime wave occurs. they will feel
tho burden of publicity.
IL those who have the power Of
remedyinE conditions in the build .
I ing department - that means the
members OF Congress who arc also
/ residents Of Washington and likely
TO suffer along with the others
here-intend 10 take action 70 pre-
vent another Knickerbocker diSas-
ter. let them also use a safety
| first attitude toward the whole
| District government