Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-08
OEHMANN'S OFFICE
TO WATCH SCHOOLS
Building Inspector Ordered
to Supervise Construction
of All Future Structures.

Engineer Commissioner John G. Cot
walls today instructed Building In
spector John w. Oehmann to make in
spections Of the plans and periodical
inspections of construction work on all
municipal buildings to be built here
after.
These buildings are now inspected by
inspectors appointed by and responsible
to the municipal architect, who has
been subject to no control from the
building inspectors once. The order
issued today was net an order by the
Board OF Commissioners, but one BY
Maj. Gotwals personally. As this IS
understood at the District Building, II
is not q permanent order in the sense
that q Commissioners order would be
and apparently 1t viii expire with the
close Of Mai. Gotwafs term CT once
unless his successor should choose TO
continue 1t In force.
Plans for Four Studied.
Plans for four new schools. were stimuli
taneously forwarded to Col. Oehmann
for check by his once. The four
schools which will inaugurate the new
check and double-check system are the
woodbridge addition at Carleton street
and Central avenue northeast; the 3: p.
Janney addition on Albemarle street
between Forty-first and Forty-second
streets; the Benjamin Stoddert, . new
tWo-Story school to be built at Fortieth
and Calvert streets, and the Phoebe
Hearst, another new two-story structure
at Thirty-seventh and Tilden streets.
The aspects of the plans and con-
struction TO- which the building In
spector's office was ordered to direct
special attention are safety OF con.
struction methods and suitability OF
materials.
The examination to be made by the
building inspectors ONCE OF the roof
of the Mckinley High School, at Second
and T streets northeast, will be under
taken on Monday, starting at about
lO;3O O'Clock. The blueprintS for this
building we're turned over yesterday to
Heron Todd, the steel contractor, VINO
volunteered the charge that the roof OF
the school building was unsafe, a charge
which he later publicly retracted aftsr
measurement of the steel members OF
the roof by his own employees. THESE
measurements were not the most accu-
rate that could be made, however, ana
the building inspector was ordered 10
make the measurements with hfgh-pre-
cision leveling instruments.
Newman in Charge Of Test.
Mr.. Todd was asked to mark with an
*" or ks" the spot or spots where
he thought the roof or Its supporting
steel work showed signs OF weakness.
These places will be carefully measured
and the results reported to the Com
missioners.
The man in charge of the work VIII
be William Newman, an inspector In
Col. Oehmann's Office, for whom Mr..
Todd is said to have worked as an APP
prentice boy many years ago when Mr..
Newman was in the contracting buSi-
ness
The Board Of Inquiry appointed by
the Commissioners to report on the
safety of the present type of steel con-
struction used in Washington schools
both during erection and after compile
ton of the buildings is expected to
make It's report shortly, but Engineer
Commissioner Gotwals said this morn
ing that IL would not be in before to-
morrow. Assistant Engineer Commits
sioner Donald A. Dawson Is the chair
man Of this board.