| About five minutes past nine o'clock, while some twenty-five men were working on the building under the direction of Mr. James Lackey of the firm of Taylor and Lackey, the contractors, a long 70-foot truss at the east end of the building suddenly gave way and with a crash the whole roof collapsed, falling to the ground in a mass of broken beams and timbers.
Almost directly under the truss which gave way first, stood Mr. Lackey and two men to whom he was giving directions as to bracing up the truss. These men were Jack Hill and C. Chas. The latter heard the warning sound of breaking timbers, and sprang towards the door. Just as he reached the side of the building, a mass of falling debris fell on the spot where he had been standing but a second before. Hill could not get away in time and was caught under some girders and roofing and seriously hurt. Mr. Lackey was also caught in the wreck and pinned down under a section of fallen roof. He escaped with only a nasty cut on the head. But for the fortunate way in which the timbers fell just at that spot, he would have been instantly killed.
A number of men who were working near the western end of the building sprang for the windows and doors as soon as the first ominous crash was heard and escaped in safety with barely a second to spare before the whole roof tumbled in.
The men caught in the wreck and pinned down under the debris were released as quickly as possible, and Dr. Arthur S. McElroy of Fourth Avenue was hastily summoned. | Hill was removed to the Protestant Hospital in the ambulance and Delorme and McLackey were taken home in cabs. News of the disaster quickly spread and contractor Taylor, Architect M. C. Edey and a number of aldermen, including Messrs. Askwith, Campbell, Storey and Rosenthal, were soon on hand.
Architect Edey was asked by The Journal as to the cause of the collapse. He attributed it to the breaking of one or more of the iron truss rods through contraction by the severe cold, thus letting the whole weight of the roof fall upon the wooden spans of British Colombia fir. One of these iron truss rods snapped off yesterday and the workmen were engaged in adding to the support of the wooden truss when the whole structure gave way. Mr. Edey considered that the materials used in construction in so far as the timbers were concerned were of the best, and that the plans for the building paid due regard to safety and strength. He thought that perhaps there might have been some defect in the iron rods. The length of the shaft, 70 feet, is more than usual for buildings where the framework is not of steel and Mr. Eady regretted that the city had not been rich enough to call for steel girders in the specifications.
Contractor Taylor said that his part of the contract would have been completed in two days more. The firm undertook the erection of the building for $9,000. Mr. Taylor estimated the damage at $4,000. All the walls are still standing but the north and west walls are in a precarious condition and will have to be pulled down. Just who will have to bear the loss is yet to be determined. |