Evening star., 1947-12-21
Increase 10 Be Souqhl
In Staff Of District
Building Inspector

Building Inspector
District officials said yesterday
they would ask Congress to increase
the staff of the Building Inspectors
ONCE and require license Of con-
struction engineers here, as a re-
suit of last Tuesdays collapse of the
Empire Building.
A wrecking crew of 20 men pre-
pared to return at daylight this
morning to the seven-storey apart
ment structure at Ninth street and
New York avenue NV, to clear the
tangle of debris under which at
least three bodies still may be
buried.
Working beneath sagging roof,
braced from above by cables strung
from outer walls to steel girders,
the crew was to start removing
heavy rubbble but did not expect
to locate any of the bodies until
tomorrow at the earliest.
AS soon as certain further safe
guards are provided, crews will op-
crate on three-shift 24-hour basis,
Murray T. Shipp. president of the
Pines Wrecking Co. of Arlington,
announced. Mr.. Shipp, whose COM
pany took over the job yesterday,
said night operations were too dan
gerous now.
Personnel Shortage Cited.
Meanwhile, Brig. Gen. Gordon R.
Young, Engineer Commissioner,
cited a severe" personnel shortage
in the office of Building Inspector
Robert H. Davis. He said he had
heard "rumors" that many con-
tractors and builders 60 ahead with
unlicensed work because they cannot
afford to wait for permits from the
short-staffed, worked Office.
Gen. Young declared the loss of at
least four important official papers
pertinent to the history of the 54-
year-old Empire Building is only one
problem arising from the conditions
in the office.
Besides asking Congress to allot
more funds to provide additional
employees in the Building Inspectors
office, Gen. Young said he would
back legislation to require the IL
censing of engineers before they can
operate in the District. At present
anyone who can obtain a permit
may do construction work in Wash
ington, he explained.
Legislation Pushed.
On another move in the investiga-
tion of the collapse of an interior
section of the Empire Building,
which had pproximately $50 ten
ants in 81 apartments, Gen. Young
announced that all proceedings at
the scene would be independently
checked" --.
r. D. Kinney, plan examiner in
the building department. is super
vising all such operations but some
agency outside of the District gov
eminent" also will be asked to sup
plement this work, Gen. Young said.
This probably will be representa-
tive of a private professional engi-
neering firm or a Federal Govern
ment agent, possibly from the Bu-
reau of Standards, he indicated.
This supplementary independent
supervision, Gen. Young added, is
being provided because Of wide
spread public interest, rumors OF
irregularities, and as a protection to
the building department.
Mr.. Davis also will be assisted by
: an investigating board, headed by
Mr.. Davis and including representa-
tives of the corporation counsels
office, and three citizens, an archi-
tect, an engineer and a builder
This group will meet in Gen.
, Young's office at 1890 am. tomor-
row.
Four Papers Missing.
Investigation of the collapse has
been hindered by loss of four official
papers. District officials said these
we're:
A building inspectors report on
completion of remodeling work done
on the lower floors of the Empire
Building last year; two building per-
mits issued when the building was
fairly new for structural changes,
and the original plans for the build
ing.
Since the building was construct
ed in 1893 by Van and Tanner, a
firm no longer in existence, the
original plans cannot be obtained
from the builder and cannot be
found in the files of the Building
Inspectors Office.
The investigators will have to re-
construct the Empire Building on
paper, step by step, as wreckers un-
cover the debris. Only when they
have some idea of how the building
was constructed will the investi-
gators begin to know why the COL
lance pne,1rro1