Evening star., 1922-02-12
FAVORS FULL TEST
OF BUILDINGS HERE
Mr.. ZihIman Drafting R8o-
luton to Insure Public
Safety.
FINDS LAW UNENF0RCED
Code Should Have Prevented Dis.
aster, He Says-Engineer Reports
Theater Walls Defective.

AhoEouGh Investigation of av..,,
tneater' church. hall and other nlacss
OF public gathering in the nattona1
capital with a view to ascertainin1
any structural defects and ere
hazards and making complete pro-
lection for the safety Of those who
may gather therein. is proposed in
2 resolution which Representative N
1ihiman Of Maryland.is drafting.
He will soon ask Congress- IN .et
up commission of nationally recoR-
nized authorities to take charge Of
such a general survey. of the build
ings. both public and private. in the
capital, several at least OF which.
Representative Zihlman says. are
known to be ''fre-traps," though
housing priceless government docu-
ments. He believes that this COM
mission should be made up of such
men as Elliott Woods. architect of
the Capitol; Maj. Gen. Lansing H.
Beach. chief Of engineers of the
Army. and one or more of the best
building contractors in the country.
Sure Congress VIII Act.
Representative Zihlman expresses
the conviction that he can get such
a resolution passed, as the best way
in which Congress can act for the
protection Of human life against a
repetition Of such q calamity as
startled the nation two weeks ago,
when the roof of the Knickerbocker
Theater collapsed. He believes that
such action by direction of Congress
here in the National Capital viii set
an example for other communities
throughout the country to make sure
that buildings in which large num-
bers of people gather are absolutely
safe.
In discussing his intention to do all
that lies in his power, as q member
of Congress and a member of the
House District committee. to protect
the public against hazards in thea
ters and other buildings. due to
faulty construction or fire hazards,
Representative Zihlman said:
ttGkO1AlAVAh O0AkASASA~
"Since the Knickerbocker disaster
I have carefully looked over the build
ing regulations Of the District OF
Columbia, and find that the act OF
1873 gives the COMMISSIONERS the
right to make and enforce such build
ing regulations as they deem advis-
able, and the regulations SO made
shall have the same force and effect
within the District as IL enacted by
Congress. The regulations SO made
have been supplemented from time to
time by acts Of Congress.
.sWhile the regulations here are not
entirely as explicit or as carefully
drawn as the building code in many
other large cities, at the same time
there is sufficient law and regulation
now in force to have prevented 9
catastrophe such as occurred, If the ex.
fsting code had been enforced.
at would seem that the regulation.
and laws on the subject were disre.
garded in the construction Of this
theater, and that no attention wa,
paid to the safeguards and restric-
tions laid down by law. On page
IL, section 3, Of the building code.
It is provided that the assistant
inspectors Of buildings shall. unde,
the direction Of the inspector Of
buildings, examine all Buildings IL
course Of erection as often as feasible
to insure sufficient supervision.
~
Notice Of Changes Required.
'Tn section g., on the same page,
the inspector of buildings and his as.
sistants shall see that the work Il
done in accordance with the law and
regulations; that the material used
10. up to the standard required By
these regulations: that the work Il
1Continued On Pags 3 Column 81