Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-03
SCHOOL CRASH
ROW SEEN CLOSED
WITHOUT HEARING
District Officials and Con-
tractors Leave Blame
Upon Each Other.
STEEL PRESIDENT
DENIES RESPONSIBILITY
Charges Bring District Answer
of Violations Of Build
ing Code.

District Building yesterday the AFFAIR
of the structural steel at the Roosevelt
High School which blew down IN
brisk wind is regarded as closed IN
cident There will be no public hear
ings in the matter-no investigation be-
yond what has already been done.
The steel work was blown down on
Wednesday, April %, but the gale which
did the work is as nothing compared to
the gale of words which has been blow
ing since. Yesterday was marked by
an exchange between District officials
and the contractor who was putting up
the steel work, each blaming the other
for the collapse. Apparently the only
thing which will now revive the dis
cussion is a lawsuit This is strongly
limited by the fact that the steel erec-
ton contractor has engaged lawyer
who added his voice to the contractors
accusations against District officials
and others.
The principal reason for the furry
yesterday was an open letter, pub
lished in the newspapers, in which
Heron Todd, president of company
bearing his name, sought to exculpate
himself from the blame for the fact
that the steel his company was putting
I'D blew down by blaming the Dis
trict architectural officials and the Ma
tional Construction Co, which had the
contract to build the school,
Sub Contract for Steel.
The National company let sub
contract for the steel to the Lehigh
Construction Co. That concern fabri-
Gated the steel and again Sublet a con-
tract for putting the fabricated steel up
to the Heron Todd Co. The Heron
Todd Co. is bonded to the Lehigh COM
pany, which In turn is bonded to the
National company. which in turn Is
bonded to the District for faithful pcI-
Torrance of the respective contracts.
The loss is said to involve about $4,000,
and the contractor Tor his surety) who
turns out to be at fault will .have to
make this good. If the District turns
out to be at fault. then the District will
have to make it good.
The complaints in Mr.. Todds open
letter were for the most part directed
against the National Construction Co
AS for the District, he made the point
that the plans for the school in several
respects violated the District building
code. end that sthrough faulty inSpec-
ton on the part of the building inspec-
tor employed by the municipal archi-
tect, the National Construction Co. was
allowed to put up improper work which
gave the Todd company an insufficient
and unsafe basis upon which to erect
their STEEL
1Lle dLSW6E Oh the as maze
yesterday by Assistant Engineer Com
missioner H. L. Robb, is that the plans
were good. that the building code was
not violated, and that although the in
Spector may have fallen down on his
job in one particular, this was not the
proximate cause of the disaster, which
would have been averted if the Todd
Co. had not in turn violated another
section of the building code.
Summary Of Charges.
Taking up the charges against the
District specifically, together with the
answers offered by Mai. Robb, who has
supervision of all of the Districts con-
struction work, they may be summarized
as follows:
Charge-The column footings on
which the columns which fell were
placed we're not built level. There was
9 difference as much as 81 of an inch
in level between some of the column
footings
4 Answer-This may be so, but it is
Impossible to tell now. The crash dis
torted the column footings, and meas
urements of levels now would not indi-
cate whether or not the foottngs were
level before the crash.
Charge-The column slabs were not
planed, as required by the building
code.
Answer-This is specifically denied.
Charge-More bracing for the col.
umns had been demanded.
Answer-These are not the type Of
columns which require bracing. The
building code however, provides thai
in order TO maintain safety during con-
Struction, steel work should be tenn
porarily braced If the Heron Todd Co
had insufficient bra cling while the work
was in progress, they themselves were
violating the building code.
Charge-Brick work should have beer
ordered done simultaneously with thu
Steel work.
Answer-This charge is admitted
The inspector should have insisted that
the brick work be put up Immediately
after the erection Of the columns
However. failure 10 do this was not the
proximate cause Of the fall. II the
columns had been properly guyed, they
would not have fallen.
Charge-In accordance with the
building code the columns should have
been secured TO the foundations with
4 Inch bolts, whereas the specifica-
tons prepared by the municipal archi-
tect's Office called for q Inch bolts.
Answer-This section of the code Is
qualified by a sentence, not mentioned
in the charge, that in this type Of con-
struction the bolts may be omitted al
together.
General answer TO all chargeS-Ever
assuming the truth OF all charges, they
should have been made to the munich
pal architect. or some representative oil
the District, before the work wa
Ftarted No such complaint either in
writing or verbally, was in fact made.
comic touch was lent to the wholt
proceeding yesterday morning by the
disappearance" of the building in
Spector assigned to the JOB, Lewis j
Newman When officials Of the Office
read of the charges in the paper they
hastily summoned Mr.. Newman TO re-
port at the office. The reply was tha
Mr.. Newman had not showed up at tht
Job. Calls by telephone to his homt
remained unanswered. A general look.
out was sent for Newman, but HI
turned up serenely some time later anC
explained that he had not collected hi
pay on Friday and that he had gont
TO the District Building from his hom'
20 get it before reporting on the Jol
for work. While frantic telephone call
were being made from the fourth foo
Of the District Building in an effort u
locate him, Mr.. Newman was on tt.
ground floor receiving his pay check