Evening star., 1922-02-07

Inform tiOn Through Computation.
The witness had been working on
the plans ever since the collapse. he
told the jury. and what information
he had obtained was through compu-
tation. Examination of the plans and
later of the steel work on the site of
the ruins showed. he testified. that in
the case of the main truss it was nine
inches shorter than the plans would
indicate by computation. The weight
of the steel was not specified, he -tsS,
titled.
j. f. Donaldson. an irOnworker on
the building when it was under con-
Struction, testified that he noticed the
shortness of the beams over the
stage when they were put in place.
and said that he would never go into
the building again. He reported the
fact to the superintendent on the
building, he testified. and was laughed
at. Others with him at the time
heard him make the statement, he
said. He was on the end of the beam
over the stage, where. he said. it
Tapped over the tile work by only
one or two inches.
Mai. Brown, assistant District en-
gineer commissioner. could not tell
what caused the accident. and neither
could Building Inspector Healy, both
of whom were on the stand.
The inquest was specifically over
the body of Miss Mary Ethel Atkin-
son, and the result will determine the
cause in the cases of the ninety-seven
other dead
Three Hundred Present.
Six men, their faces showing plain
ly the responsibility they feel. sat be-
fore a crowd of three hundred per-
sons in the boardroOm of the District
building and listened with knitted
brows to the testimony upon which
they mnSt render verdict in the
Knickerbocker disaster.
There was noticeable absence of
women from the room, and the men
who made up the audience leaned for
ward with grave attention to catch
the words of the witnesses as they
unfolded their stories
An atmosphere of gravity perraded
the scene as Coroner j. Ramsay hewitt
and District Attorney Gordon queS-
toned witnesses to bring out salient
points.
Although every seat in the spacious
chamber was taken and many stood
in the open spaces around the walls.
there was not the rush~for seats
early in the morning that had been
anticipated. -.
At one end of the stage sat the
jury. its attention riveted on the wit
ness chair.
witnesses SuDpOenaeOs
Beside the jury on the platform
We're seated District Attorney Cor
don. Coroner hewitt and Corporation
Counsels stephens and Hart. Com
missioners Rudolph and oyster also
attended the morning session as in
dividuals. Pressure of other work
kept Engineer Commissioner Keller
busy in his office.
Approximately thirty witnesses,
who had been subpoenaed by the cor
Oner to testify, were in the office of
Commissioner Oyster. from which
they were called one by one by the
coroner.
Officials of the coroner's office said
the inquiry now being conducted into
the knickerbocker catastrophe is by
far the most important and elaborate
inquest that a District coroner has ever
been called upon to hold.
In the Terra Gotta railroad wreck,
which was the nearest approach to the
Knckerbocker case, only half as many
persons were killed The inquest i'm
fire engine house on the water front.
hut was not attended by as large a
throng as filled the boardroom of the
District building today.
From present indications the inquest
will continue at least until tomorrow
evening.
Describes Falling Roof.
1,
read his report of the examination of
the body of Miss Atkinson. saying it
showed bruises, and that death was
due to n fractured skull.
X. T. McCord of the internal revenue
bureau said he entered the knicker-
booker Theater about s o'clock and
remained until the roof fell. He was
sitting in a section of the balcony
seats, on the 18th street side, about
the center of the row. He was with
his wife and daughter.
Coroner Nevitt told him to detail his
story. He said he noticed a movement
in the roof to the left of the screen
1t seemed that plaster was giving
away. he said, and he saw haze, like
fine plaster falling Then it hung
down about seven or eight feet square
That occupied about five seconds, he
estimated. Then the movement spread
to the left. toward the wall. The roof
then seemed to hang down at almost
an angle of thirty degrees. The move
lncnt was then toward the balcony.
Then the whole roof came down with
a crash. The whole movement was
toward the balcony. He said he closed