Evening star., 1947-12-31
EmpirePro'bers
Clues Of
.a||.Ren1oval
Board. Investigating
Building Collapse
. In Recess Today

Of q special flye-man investigation
board sought to pin down charges
that part OF a load-bearing first
floor wall was removed from the
The board got this indication at
It's first public hearing yesterday
afternoon from Harry Atkinson,
3439 Fourteenth street NV. a
builder.
He said he, was called in during
the autumn of 1916 to discuss re-
modelling of the ground floors
corner with the proprietor
Of a restaurant then occupying that
space, and Nick Papanicolas, owner
of the building, at Ninth street and
New York avenue NV.
Declined Job.
Mr.. Atkinson indicated he was
asked to remove part OF load
bearing wall. He declined to take
on the job, he said. because 1t
couldn't be done'-or could be
done only at a prohibitive price.
Had the change been made, he
said, the building would have re-
quired new underpinning, including
the installation OF steel beams.
1T would have taken plenty OF
Steel" Mr.. Atkinson said, and ]
mean big steel"
Mr.. Papanicolas and his brother
George, who acts as his attorney
were interested listeners as Mr.. At
kinson went on to say he noticed
later, in passing the building. that
some alterations had been made
Mr.. Atkinson did not specify pre-
cisely what the alterations were ano
was unable to identify their location
when shown photographs OF that
section of the building as 1t ap-
peared at the time OF the collapse
which brought death to four ten
ants on December Is.
He asserted, however, that beams
used to underpin the building In
these alterations were OF four-by-
four inch steel. Mr.. Atkinson said
he would have used eight-by -eight
or 12-by-12-inch steel.
When the failure occurred. the
part of the building referred to by
Mr.. Atkinson was occupied by the
City Finance Co. 1t Is over this
area that the structure collapsed.
Drawing. to be Prepared.
The board decided to see II Mr.
Atkinson could make his testimony
more precise when confronted with
. scale drawing of the buildings
groundplan as 1t is believed to have
appeared at the time Of the failure
Stewart Beall. an engineer, the
boards new chairman, announced
the panel will prepare such a draw .
Ing. He then adjourned the hear.
ing, saying the date Of the next
public session will be announced
later.
Mr.. Atkinson's was not the only
yesterday which seemed
to show that, over a period Of many
years, successive alterations may
i1ate chfpped deeply into the build
ing's vital underpinninss.
George L. Goodacre, $50 Connec.
ticut avenue, Chevy Chase, Nd, tole
the board he opened lunchroom ir
the corner space in 1905. Three
years later, after acquiring thu
space next door, formerly occupied
by Wallace's Cigar Store, Mr.. Good
acre saio he cut an opening 10 or l:
feet wide in the wall separating thu
two rooms. A smaller opening wa!
cut In the same wall to give acces!
to the kitchen, Mr.. Goodacre added
Walls Declared Identical.
Mr.. Beall said today the wall de.
scribed by Mr.. Goodacre was thu
same load-bearing wall rs the ont
referred to by Mr.. Atkinson. Thu
testimony suggested, he added, tina
the wall had been cut first wher
Mr.. Goodacre had the restaurant
and that the cuts had been widenet
in 1916. Mr.. Beall said there ap'
peared TO be no record Of 4 permi
issued for the original alteration II
1908.
Mr.. Goodacre told reporter HI
could not remember details of th'
arrangements 40 years ago, but hat
assumed the contractor making thu
alterations had received = proper
permit for the work.
After o last-minute decision Il
open the session to the public. yes.
terday's hearing began at AIS pm
with the startling testimony o.
George F. Linkins. = member Of th'
rental agency firm which handlee
the Empire property between 1873;
and 1945, who said another grount
floor wall had disappeared since tn,
building was turned over to tn,
present owner.
Mr.. Linkins showed the board
in photographs and with drawings
how this wall had bisected the cor.
ner space, forming an angle ir
the center of the area where 9
pillar stood at the time of the col.
lapse.
Importance Doubted.
Chairman Beall declared, how.
ever, the boards investigations hae
indicated the structure mentioned
by Mr.. Linkins was actually 4 par.
tition rather than q wall, and not 8
weight-bearing part Of the building
The board doubts, Mr.. Beall said
that removal of this partition coulc
have affected the stability Of the
Empire Building.
He added that the board has mo-
completed its check of the Building
Inspectors files and does not know
whether a permit actually was issuec
for this work or for work such a.
that described by Mr.. Atkinson
Building Inspector Robert H. Davis
does not think such permits were
issued.
Mr.. Davis resigned his chairman.
ship Of. the committee ~ the hear.
ing opened yesterday. announcing
he felt. his appointment by the
Commissioners had applied only tc
the period Of the boards organi-
zation The group then elected Mr.
Bean as its chairman.
Other members Of the panel are
Chester II. Gray, principal assistant
corporation counsel; w. B. Glen.
mer, builder, and A. Hamilton VIII