New Britain herald., 1928-11-02
STRAND WINS SUIT
 OVER BOYS DEATH
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trespasser. Mir. Pick argued. that evidence was produced wherein tt was shown that the passway was owned by the Connecticut company and that it was used as a pubic highway for pedestrians only, that people working in \ factory adla- cent the properties involved ana children from the school at Chest- nut street used tho passway at all times. Furthermore if the passway was the property of tho Connecticut company, John Bernardo was not . trespasser on Strand theater grounds and had | perfect right to be there' where he came after hearing . hrs alarm bell, to sec whether he could be of any assistance.
 Dan Finn Is Witness
 Prior to the arguments. a numoer o, witnesses for the defense were -heard. among them Dan Finn, man. aeer of the theater at the time ot the accident. who testified what happened in the theateI. his testi- mony corroborating with that or Deputy, Fire Chief Michael souney'
 Other witnesses testified as to the operation of tho ventilatins sys- tenn and its construction.
 1A Witnesses Testify
 Ten witnesses for the plaintiff testified yesterday afternoon, among them the parents of the victim of tho accident. Mayor Angelo M. Paonessa. Deputy Fire Chief Michael J. souney. Police Sergeant Thomas J. Feeney and Building Inspector Arthur N. Rutherford. .. ......
 Sergeant Feeney. the first to testi- fy at the afternoon session. related his story of investigation. having been sent to the scene of the acct- dent with two officers. He found, he testified, the pile of sheet metal in the passageway. part of 1t resting on the fence of the Connecticut com panys yard and the other end rest ing against the east wall Of the Strand theater building He went to the roof of the building to examine tho penthouse. where he found that the roof was torn off. Questioned whether the police received any other calls that evening about dam ego done to property by the high wind. the sergeant testified that there were no other accidents Of any type recorded in the police head quarters to his knowledge.
 Mayor Submits Broken Bolt
 Mayor Paonessa, who was sum- moned to appear as witness for the plaintiff testified that he went to in- vestigate the scene the following morning with tho building inspector and found nothing but the frame of the penthouse on the main roof of the building He introduced . bolt which hs picked up near the pent- house as evidence of the type of bolts used by tho builders of the ventilat- ing system in joining the sheet metal roof to tho frame. On cross examin- ation the mayor stated that in his opinion tho bolts which were of three -eighth's inch variety. did not seem sturdy enough to hold down tho tremendous weight of the roof, which according to other testimony weighed 800 pounds. The bolt intro- dueed by the mayor bore evidence of being broken and twisted by some tremendous force.
 Not Sufficiently Anchored
 Mir. Rutherford. who was at the ecene of the accident about a half hour after 1t had happened testified that he was called by the police and | upon reaching the roof of the buila- ing observed that the remaining por- tions of the psnt- were shaken and advised the manager to take caution that the rest would not blow | off. He also stated on direct exam 1 nation that after examining the penthouse hs found that the over hang of the roof was not sufficient | to withstand strong wind. that the bolts were not large enough and l that the roof apparently was not sufficiently anchored. On cross- examination the witness testified l that in his opinion the point of fail- ure was at the bolts, that they were rot strong enough to hold down the i roof.
 Counsel for the defense. Attroney Berry asked Rutherford why. when the permit was issued to build the penthouse and the inspection made | by him after it's completion. nothing Nas said to the owners of the build. |