The Washington herald., 1922-02-25
WILCONFIRM
FIRST PROBEOF
THEATER RUINS
Report Of Architects
Committee Ready for
Grand Jury.
WILL RECOMMEND
CHANGES IN CODE
-.
Col. Keller Continues His
Investigation Of Closed
Playhouses.

Evidence before the coroner's
jury which held nine men RESPONSE
bic for the Knickerbocker Theater
collapse will be corroborsted by j
report to be submitted to district
Attorney Gordon today by the
Washington Chapter of the Ameri-
can Institute of Architects.
The report of Washington Chap
ter. based on a three weeks survey
of the ruins and plans of the thea
ter will coincide largely with the
report of the joint board of army
and navy engineers. submitted TO
the grand jury Thursday by Col.
william Kelly and previously given
to coroner's jury. as to the cause
and the death of ninety-seven per-
sons.
Chapter Approves Report.
The report of the special COM
mittee of the chapter. headed by
Municipal Architect Albert l.. Har-
ris, was submitted TO the chapter
OH anu approved
with minor changes. The final re-
port will be given to District At
torney Gordon and Engineer Com
missioner Keller today. The Ameri-
can Institute of Architects includ s
leading members of this profession
and prominent architects of the Dis
trict.
In addition TO outlining a series
of faults in construction and de-
signing" the report of the archi-
tects will also include a number of
recommendations relative to revis-
ion of the building code. it is un-
derstood.
Snowden Ashford. former NUM-
cipal architect, was named chair
man of a special committee desig-
mated by the chapter to cooperate
In revision of the building code,
should their services be asked by
the District. Other members of the
srecial committee include Frank
Pierson and Charles Gregg.
Inspected seventy fve Theaters,
The committee which conducted
the intensive survey into the col
lapse OF the Knickerbocker Thea
,er included, besides Municipal Ar
chitect Harris, Edward Dom, jr.,
and Frank Pierson. Mr.. Dom was
also a member of the special COM
mittee called upon by Engineer
Commissioner Keller TO conduct the
inspection OF the seventy-ave the
aters of the District.
Reginald W. Geare, architect of
the Knickerbocker Theater, was not
a member of Washington Chapter
of the American Institute OF Archi-
tects.
Engineer Commissioner Keller
yesterday continued investigation
of the seven theaters ordered closed
last Saturday night, with engineers
employed by owners of the theaters
and special engineers called in'u
service by the District
Cosmos License Reissued.
Col. Keller personally inspected
the Cosmos Theater last night. The
license for operation of the theater
was reissued following the inspec-
ton. Col. Keller will personally
inspect each of the theaters. fol-
Lowing repair work. before they are
permitted to open, he said yester-
day.
Repair work on the Metropolitan
Theater is held up pending confer
ences between engineers of Harry
NJ. Crandall and government cngi-
necrs working with the District. Tne
two bodies of engineers met with
Col. Keller last night. but no indi-
cation of when the theater would
be permitted 10 reopen its doors
was Offered by Col. Keller or Mr..
Crandall at the conclusion OF the
The grand jury which opened its
into the Knickerbock-
er disaster on Thursday. under the
direction of District Attorney Cor
don, was forced to postpone fur
ther hearings until Monday.
VIII Push Investigation.
The case will be given precedence
over all other matters at this time
and will be pushed through to a cUn-
clusion before the close of next
week. Distric: Attorney Gordon de-
clared yesterday.
Maj Gordon did not Indicate
whether he would summon members
of the architects committee before
the grand july. He said he would
Indicate his course of action follow
ing receipt OF toe report of the
TODAY or Monday.
The report holds unusual signifi-
canoe. it Is believed, in light of the
placed on the archt-
tect for the ruined theater by the
coroner's jury. The coroner's jury
acted on testimony largely built
about evidence presented by Col.
william Kelly, U. S. A. Engineer
Corps. speaking for the joint board
of army and navy engineers. This
evidence outlined twenty-one pieces
of evidence OF faulty construction
and designing
Found Weak Points.
"Our report agrees in the main
with that of the army and navy
We found many weak
points In both construction and de-
signing. all outlined by the engi-
neers. and, perhaps a few more" one
member OF the committee which
the Investigation for the
said last night. Their re-
port Is expected to be completed
today.
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