The Washington herald., 1922-02-14
U.S.. ENGINEERS
SCOUT CEARE'S
CRASH THEORY
Theater Roof Couldn't
Have Fallen Due to Steel
Flaw, Col. Kelly Says.
Continued from Page One.

Continued from Page One.
tipped the steel bearing plate on
which It rested in the wall. break
ing the tile beneath through the
concentrated load, gradually pull
Ing an adjoining beam from its
place. and finally giving way, jerk
ing the main truss from Its bearing
yin the Columbia road wall and
buckling truss TIE, drawing the
remainder OF the roof. in a rotating
movement TO the south and east.
Conditions Described.
Col Kelly described conditions
found in the bearing points Of the
beams and trusses on the walls
which caused the committee to
reach their conclusion.
Referring again to the theory Of
the split steel which Mr..
Geare propounded, he declared the
bending of the truss on either side
Of the break indicated the truss
had been under a severe strain be-
fore the split had taken place.
The curvatures on each side OF
the split shows the truss was un-
der a severe strain before the break
occurred, and the steel gave way
at the natural point" Col. Kelly de-
cleared.
Col. Kelly said the theory Of the
government engineers coincideo
with the theory of Z. c. Ruebsam'
former State Department engineer,
and now in private business, that
the collapse was due to failure OF
the steel structure to rest properly
on the wall. although the reasons
for the collapse did not agree.
Ruebsam, who is the first witness
D to name any party as responsible
for the crash-he named ]. H. Ford
, declared the roof collapsed be-
cause OF insufficient steel design
ing" He said he had Investigated
the collapse for the Crandan Thea
ter Company.
Additional evidence of what he
termed inferior work" brought out
by Col. Kelly yesterday included
q statement that IL appeared from
conditions OF the ruins that tenn
porary bolts, usually used to hold
the steel in place until supple
mented by rivets, had apparently
been used in connecting the main
trusses with the auxiliary trusses
and beams" He said he had taken
photographs to substantiate his
opinion.
Geare's Final Statement.
oeare's final appearance on the
stand was marked by his request to
explain what seemed to he ''an err
roneous opinion received by the
public from testimony he had pre-
viously given" He stood Just In
front of the jurx box. his voice
NA1 rNk ~ NJ
he had fought on the night of the
disaster to save lives and had acted
"as a red-blooded man should act"
Il did walk straight to the flaw
in steel upon which I based my
theory for the collapse, as I told
'the jury" he said. After fighting
to get into the scene of horror.
which I shall never forget, I walked
right into the truss sticking up
frem the ruins and saw the broken
piece of steel in the top chord. ]
had been told there were only about
ten people left in the building. II
was 10 o'clock. shortly after the
accident 1 called attention to the
break to a man near me. Then ]
heard women crying and aided
them out. I saw a man lying dead
nearby under a slab and was hor-
ror stricken. I had the slab re-
moved. then attempted to get
derricks and machinery on the
grounds to get the heavy steel from
the people beneath"
He told how he had used tele-
phones in calling technical experts
and contractors in attempting &c
get lifting machinery to the scene
without avail He said he returned
to the wreckage and aided in res
cue work until sunrise, before re-
turning home.
Il don't want to live and have II
hanging over my head that 1 went
to the grounds and opened an in
vestiEation into the wreck while
women and children were dying
around me. l stumbled onto the
broken piece of steel and examined
il only a second 1 feel 1 did ev-
erything I could" Geare concluded
emotion in his voice choking off his
last words as he walked away from
/ the jurors.
Offering no apologies for hi:
| work. praising the high standard:
set by himself and his subcontrac'
tors. Frank l.. Wagner, contractor
in a statement, said:
"I had no suspicious as to the
stability of the Knickerbocke Ell
TheateT. For ! wOuiQ COnSlucT
self a most inhuman brute IL haG
permitted my relatives and friend:
to have entered the building, think
ing for one second it was not alb
solutely safe. Only a week before
this accident occupied a seat ir
the orchestra row of the thester
in company with my wife. my son
my daughter. my sister and hel
family. Surely I would not have
risked their lives and mine"
Wagner praised the work OF hi:
subcontractors, detailing their pre-
yfous records and his own previou:
record, in which he pointed out
that he was contractor for the
Army and Navy Club and numer-
ous other buildings of the city anC
country. He showed that his gross
proits for the theater building were
S2.7s9.l2, from which he had tc
deduct his own compensation anC
nav office overhead expenses.
l. SURELY there can be no charge
of profiteering or collusion In con-
nection with this building. at least,
wagner remarked. He then read
over the list of subcontractors. H,
named Donald N. Wallace as hi.
nersonal representative. and as su
perintendent in charge Of construc
tion.
Il would like to say that Mr.
Geare. the architect, reserved al
rights to approve Of all sub-con
tractors hired by me. and made us'
-. -Eohts oivIpp 0arsOpal an