Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-03-22

toward general construction problems
Mulholland, facing the jurors. an
swered in detail. The composition of
the concrete used; the kind OF gravel;
the engineering features OF the struc-
ture all came in for discussion.
st. Francis dam was not reinforced,
he said Such dams are never rein
forced.
as there a dam in California that
is reinforced" a juror asked.
mo, not single one" Mulholland
replied.
was there any dirt mixed in the
concrete?
II there was, the chief engineer
surely knew nothing CT it. And there
was no decomposed granite in it,
either. for there is no granite in
that section.
At any rate, Mulholland said, the
quality of the goods still is to pe
found there.
The west side oil the dam, he be-
lieved, was the first TO give way
The east wing had gone out when
a tremendous pressure Of water
created by swirling throwback OF
current, caronled against the eastward
bulwark OF the. arch
When hint OF challenge came
that he might have known something
to cause him apprehension, Mulhol-
lands voide rose strong and vibrant.
There never had been o hint Of
such a catastrophe impending" he
said. He branded as false all rumors
that persons in the valley below,
persons employed in taking care OF
the dam, threatened to move away
because OF danger Absolutely no
such rumors ever were spread through
the valley" he said. why, man
alive, had I thought such a thing
might happen, 1 would have been the
first, the very first, sir, to spread
the alarm. 1 would have sent a
regular Paul Revere alarm ringing
through every foot OF that valley"
! The witness declared it would have
taken two months to have emptied
the reservoir in safety
Mulllolland was released from the
stand just before the noon recess.
Coroner Frank Nance said he would
not be recalled.
| The engineers testimony was pre-
ceded by that OF Ray Rising, sole
survivor Of a family of five which
lived in the Santa Clara river valley,
and John r. Richards, president OF
the Los Angeles board OF water apd
power commissioners.
Fifty witnesses have Deen sum-
moned and the inquest is expected
to continue for several days.
That there were no written Specifi
fO
crete mix used in the dam, was the
testimony late today OF James Phil
lips, construction engineer who was
employed on the st. Francis DAM
erection. He and Stanley Dunnan
another engineer, testified that Null
holland issued most of the orders
concerning the actual methods and
means employed.
Dunhan) also declsI u .-la. the
engineers in charge OF the job were
the only inspectors on the JOB at
any time during the dams construc-
ton.
Phillips, who is employed by me
city bureau OF water and power
also testified to there having been
crack i'll the concrete at the west
end of the dam which had been
filled with oakum He testified that
the seepage from the dam amounted
to but $50 cubic feet an hour, and
that on recent inspection he found
that the west buttrcs5, winch las
been declared probably to have given
way because Of seepage softened
foundations, had not sunk in the
slightest.
After the first day of the inquest
was ended Coroner Nance announced
that his jury would visit the site OF
the disaster tomorrow. On the jury
are five engineers. two contractors,
one appraiser and one insurance man.
The county grand JUly tomorrow