The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-02-08

and trttSses in the evidence of Col
WiIIidm Kelly reuiet1ed beIoto, are
explained IN the diagram. OF the
roof plans on pdpe 3. Beams Bal
and B-22 ran from a truss ertend-
ing east aud tcest Nedr the front
center Of the baildin1, connecting
seith the Columbia road and stage
pdils, respectively. TrHss TIL, the
main truss. ran from the Columbia
road todH through the center of the
building. Beams B-21 and B-22
icere connected tcith truss Tia
tohich buckIcd foIloWin0 the fdiIare
Of the beams.
Failure of proper connection be-
tween the curved Columbia road
wall and stage wall of the Knicker-
booker Theater. permitting a steel
beam to slip from place, caused the
crash of the roof. members of the
coroner's jury were told yesterday
afternoon by Col. william Kelly.
Engineer Corps. U. S. A, speaking
for the JOINT board of inquiry in
vestigating the disaster for District
Attorney Gordon.
How the nange of the steel beam
! to the left of the stage slipped
slowly from place through five
years Of expansion and contraction
Of the Columbia road wall. and hung
for some time, perhaps, by a mere
corner of the narrow fange con-
Meeting the beam with the wall. is
surmised in the story told by Col
Kelly. yesterday. His story was
Icorroborated by other members OF
the committee. including Comdr G..
a. Mckay. Civil Engineer Corps, U.
$. N: Maj. L. E. Oliver, Engineer
Corps. U. S. A; II. F. Bessey, civil
engineer aide. bureau of yards and
docks, and Joseph Michaelson, de-
signing engineer. bureau of yards
and docks.
Col. Kelly Explains Collapse.
The testimony presented by Col.
Kelly before the jury, and which
will be placed by District Attorney
Gordon before the grand jury as the
governments official cause for the
collapse. follows:
The evidence OF the wreckage in
dicates collapse of the roof was pre-
cipitated by failure at the wall-bear-
fng of roof-beam B-2l. rhen at the
Withdrawing Of roof-beam B-2s. fol-
lowed by buckling of the top chord
OF truss T-l2, which. with the de-
fection Of the roof slab, pulled the
main truss. TIL. from its bear
ing. These trusses in falling rotated
in general direction toward the CEN
| ter Of the main floor of the theater.
Tho NUal1 80 N =
B-22 moved each toward the other
The immediate cause of such move
ment probably was, first, the failure
of the wall-bearing under beam Bal,
permitting this beam to settle and
producing excessive detection of the
reinforced concrete roof slab. which
pulled the Withdrawing end of beam
BE sidewise from its socket and
toward Columbia road. Indications
are that the wall-bearing Of beam
B-2l, which failed first, failed slowly.
-Four Bolts Give Way.
Beams B-21 and B-2e and the roof
above them fen, rotating around the
connection Of the beams to the top
chord Of truss Tia When the lower
fianges Of these rotating beams bore
against the truss, the four bolts at
each beam connection were ruptured,
through tension The failure OF these
bolts released the top chord of truss
T-l2 from the lateral support of the
roof-beams connected to the other
end OF these same bolts; that is, from
the lateral supports of beams i'm
panelied between trusses T-12 and
T-l3: this permitted the upper chord
TO buckle toward the stage, this
ouckiing being accelerated by shock
slab.
The buckling of the ton chord ~
truss T-l2 precipitated the col
| lapse OF this truss. and this with
the increase in load and detection
OF the roof slab pulled the main
truss TIL from its insecure wall
bearing, which was on eskew.
Expansion Moves Wall.
Considering again the wall bear
ing of roof beam B-s1, this beam
entered the wall at an angle of
about so degrees. and the original
bearing which this beam had was
probably decreased as a result of
successive expansions and contrac-
tions of roof slab and structure
resulting from changes in tempera-
| ture. The high and Unsupported
Columbia road wall was the only
side wall not stiftened by inter-
mediate floors. When sthe roof
would expand at times of rising
temperature, the natural relief was
to move the top of this wall out
ward, the greatest movement prob
| ably occurring near the Junction of
the Columbia road wall to thesstage
| wall.
There was no bond between the
tile wall over the proscenium arch
at the stage and the Columbia road
tile wall. though there was some
bond below the level of the arch.
As the roof would contract with
falling temperature. II was more
difficult for the wall to return be-
cause Of its circular or horizontal
\ arch resistance. and because Of the
manner in which truss TIL bore
on the Intel. The main roof slab
at line of connection with the tile
U