Evening star., 1948-03-18
Empire Report
ToSpur Action
On Inspections
Gen. Young Studies
Findings to Tighten
Up in Office
By Jerry O'Leoy, Jr.

The report of the Commissioners
special board of inquiry into the
Empire Building collapse calls for
corrective action" within the
Building Inspectors Office, Engi-
neer c missioner Gordon r.
Young said late yesterday.
Such measures will be recon-
mended as soon as he completes a
careful study of the boards find-
ings.
Gen. Young characterized as
poor staffwork" the efforts of the
Building Inspectors Office in 1882,
when the last in series of cuts was
made into the key flrst-floor wall
of the ill-fated building at Ninth
street and New York avenue NV.
THE report indicates two bulls
were made by the Building Inspec-
tors Office in 1882" Gen. Young
declared, First, no qualified struc-
tural designer or engineer went to
the Empire Building to see if the
permit drawings for the alterations
we're correct. We now know these
drawings failed to show the enorm-
GUS weight carried by the first-floor
wall, or pier.
Had these drawings shown the
bearing nature of the pier, the de-
sign would have been redesigned.
Wrong Rubber Stamp.
Secondly, a rubber stamp ap-
propriate to another situation en-
tirely was used on'the permit, and
it was never discovered that the
pier was made of soft brick and
masonry when it actually should
have been constructed of hard-burn
brick"
Gen. Young said the rubber
stamp specifying hard-burn brick Is
used for alterations when 1t is nee
essary to erect such a pier. In this
case, he explained, the soft brick
wall already was standing and was
being shortened.
The special board of inquiry, in
it's report to the city heads yester-
day, blamed the December 16 coll
lapse on the fact that the pier
crumbled under its overload and
brought down the other seven
stories of the building in a heap of
rubble. Four persons were killed
and IL injured.
Report Held Excellent"
| Gen. Young. who selected the
board, said the report is excellent"
He added the board has earned
the gratitude of the Commissioners
and the community. The board
chairman was Stewart Beall, engi.
neer. He was assisted by Building
Inspector Robert H. Davis, Assist
ant Corporation Counsel Chester
H. Gray, A. Hamilton Wilson, archi-
tect, and W. B. Clemmer, builder.
In its report, the board did not
fix the degree of responsibility for
1 the collapse, because of the involve
ment of SO many persons" 1t spe-
flcially named these employees of the
building inspectors Office as having
handled the 1882 alterations which
saw the pier shortened to a width
of 5 feet inches; Hugh Dollins,
engineer -computer, and inspectors
Oscar Estep and William Newman.
When the Empire was built in 1893,
the wall was 33 feet long.
Drawings accompanying a permit
on February /, 1882, for the altera-
tions to the pier, the, report said.
contained a note inserted by Mr..
Dollins to the effect that piers un-
der beams (are) to be of hard
burned brick and one-third cement
sand mortar"
The drawing failed to indicate the
true conditions existing in regard
to construction loads above the Sec
ond floor and failed further to in
diate the true loading conditions
as they occurred at the second floor
level, according to the report. Gen.
Young said he does not know who
prepared the drawing on which the
permit was based.
The actual work was done by the
late Moss C. Lee, a contractor, the
report said, adding that he per-
formed the work indicated on the
permit drawing, but did not rebuild
the pier in accordance with Mr..
Dollins' note. The report says the
field inspections reports made by
Mr.. Estep and Mr.. Newman indicate
the work was performed in accord
ance with the drawings.
Meanwhile, Coroner A. Magruder
Macdonald is studying a copy of
the boards report. He would not
say whether he plans to hold in
quests into the deaths resulting from
the collapse.
II