Evening star., 1922-02-08

|. With the preciseness of a military
strategist detailing the plan for the
humiliation of an enemy, Col. Will
liam Kelly yesterday, with curt, de-
liberateness, unfolded before the cor
oner's jury investigating the knick-
erbocker disaster the cause of the
catastrophe.
And then he left with the spectators
the telling that some people erred
in fact, he told them 80. When he
detailed "twenty-one important de-
fects in the building, as he read each
one he paused. while the spectators
had an opportunity to digest each
one, and when he concluded by re-
marking that.it was "evidently di-
rect result of the failure sufficiently
to provide for the unusual condi-
tiuns existing at the juncture of the
curved Columbia road and stage
walls" a look of awe passed through
the board room.
Col. Kelly. wearing four gold
service chevrons. indicating TWO
wears of service with the American
expeditionary forces during the
world war. by a plan detailed the
technical explanations of the disaster
Then, following questions OF Mai.
peyton Gordon, United States dlS-
trict attorney. he Interpreted them
into the language of layman. so
simple that any one not trained IN
building, or with no knowledge OF
the technical terms of trusses, beams.
channels, lintels, hard-burned, tile.
bonding, etc. could understand them.
Findings OF Board.
1t was not the opinion of Col. Kelly
that was being presented to the jury,
hut the findings Of fact as a result
of study and mathematica deduc-
tions of the plans and physical ex-
service and civilian experts. In ad-
dition to Col. Kelly. there was Com
mander 6. A. Mckay, Civil Engineer
Corps, United States Navy: Maj. l.. f.
Oliver, Corps of Engineers. United
States Army; r. +. Bessy, civil engi-
neering aid. bureau OF yards and
docks. Navy Department. and J.
Michaelson, designing engineer.
bureau of yards and docks.
Col Kelly told the jury that the
failure started at the junction of the
Columbia road and stage walls.
This was a point to the left of the
stage. Eye witnesses to the first
break had testified that that was the
point where the first crack was
noticed.
Col. Kelly then told the jury that
had the construction of the roof been
proper and in accordance with sound
engineering practices. the failure of
this beam would only have been local,
and the entire roof would not have
come down.
He explained that the trusses were
not properly built to Withstand the
stresses put on them. The braces,
which were supposed to take up the
strain throughout the truss. were
merely 'stiffeners," and there were
not the necessary tie plates to throw
any local strain throughout the truss.
Pictures Aid Explanation.
When some particularly technical
point was explained from the plans,
Col. Kelly would produce pictures
which would show graphically just
what he meant, in clear and con-
else manner.
When the beam to the Columbia
road wall failed, it came slowly, he
said. according to indications, and
this in turn let down the whole roof
structure. rupturing bolts which
bound the beams to the trusses;
failure to "tie" the Columbia road
and the stage walls. The successive
changes of temperature during the
five. years which the building stood.
he said. had caused expansion of the
it expanded the absence of a tie made
| it difficult for it to come back.
This expansion, he said. was not
more than three-Quarters Of an inch.
! If it had been greater it would have
been noticeable by cracks in the Co
lumbia road wall. He explained that
the circular construction of tho CO.
lumbia road wall alone made it diff
| f1cult to come back after periods of
| expansion. 1t was this expansion
| which decreased the wall bearing of
beam B-21, the unseating OF which
| was blamed for the entire roof COL
| lapse. This conclusion, he said, was