September 28, 1901
This concluded the examination of Mr. Tooker, who asked for and was granted permis- sion to make the following statement:-
This staff
was
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
what weight would come upon the walls by the proposed additions.
267
permit for the alterations and additions propos- ed. Under the Building Ordinance Mr. Bowley Mr. Bowley-Would you have thought it submitted that the Director of Public Works necessary to examine the foundations?-Well, had absolute discretion in the matter of granting or refusing permits for additions or alterations it would have been a prudent thing to do.
Do you think the carrying on of a black-to old buildings, yet no one in the Public smith's trade would tend to weaken the walls
-Light smithy work would not weaken them, so long as there was no machinery attached to the walls in carrying on the work. -
Would the operation of taking down a cross- wall and moving staircases have a weakening effect?-Well, it would have a disturbing effect on connected whatever walls the cross wall was
with.
K
His Worship-With reference to the adding we are told that 189 of stories to houses, Chinese houses were so raised during the year | 1900. That appears to be a very great num- ber-greater than ever I thought. It means one every second day,
WELS
CAUSA
The
no
"I arrived in the Colony in April, 1890, and was placed in charge of Building Ordinance work and also of work carried out under the heading Annual Recurreut Expenditure.' That includ.
Works Department ever took the trouble to ed maintenance of Governmont buildings, main-
find out whether the requirements of the Ordin-` ance as to such alterations and additions were tenance the public cemetery, maintenance of
being fulfilled. From the beginning to the end the Praya wall and piers, maintenance of
no one ever thought to go and look at the lighthouses, maintenance of all roads in the
foundations, and it appeared as though the Colony, lighting the city with gas, maintenance of public recreation ground, and maintenance
foundations had nothing whatever to do with the matter. The plans, after the formal ap- of other works of a miscellaneous nature. Mr
proval of the Director of Public Works, were Brown was then Surveyor, and my staff consist- ed at that time of one assistant engineer, two
handed to the contractor or architect, and then the work of hacking and cutting the old party overseers of roads, three overseers of bui.dings, ́one overseer in charge of the cemetery, aud
wall was commenced, till by degrees this death- one overseer of Building Ordinance work,
trap, warranted to hold 55 people, was erected. No one ever inspected the work, from the com. besides two or three native foreman. Mr
mencement to the finish. This was a matter which Cooper succeeded Mr. Brown in 1991, and he
This concluded the case, and Mr. Bowley not only concerned the tenants; it concerned the gave me then another assistant engineer, and
man in the street, who supposed that the Public added maintenance of telegraphs to my work. proceeded to review the evidence. As he men-
maintained
the tioned in re-opening the enquiry, it was quite Works Department in this Colony protected till up time I went on leave in March, 1897, clear that the deaths of these nufortunate him against houses falling upon him.
continued Mr. Bowley, I returned to the Colony in March, 1898, and people were caused by the collapse of the houses. Ordinance said,
"the Director of Public Works shall Mr. Ormsby, who was then Director of Public and he took it that the object of the enquiry that Works, told me I would have to do with one to find out why the hopes collapsed. inspect a building during alterations." It
overwhelm- In his opinion they had had ussistant engineer-Mr. Hazeland, who was
wus the duty of the official in charge to nearly all his time on Building Ordinance working evidence from several expert engineers refuse to sign these permits until he had Mr. Ormsby added to my work maintenance of that the real was the faulty con- satisfied himself on all points. It was buildings in the New Territory and maintenance struction of the party wall between the two excuse in law, because a man had no time to do of telegraphs in the New Territory. I was
houses. That being so, the enquiry really a certain duty, that that daty should remain invalided home in October, 1898, and returned limited itself to the finding out of the canse of undone. If he had no time to inspect the again to the Colony in December, 1899. My the falling of the party wall, and his Worshipuilding it was in his power to refuse to sign staff then consisted of one assistant engineer.
would doubtless be of the opinion that its fall the pormit, or he might have referred the matter was brought about to a very great extent, if not to the Government and thrown the responsibi- two overseers of roads, four overseers of build-
Mr. Bowley submitted that the ings, one overseer of the cemetery, one overseer altogether, by the addition of an extra story lity on it. of the recreation ground, and a few native fore-comprising heavy beams and brick work. There persons to blame in the matter of the collapse men. The principal overseer of Government were, perhaps, minor causes, such as the soak- were: In the first place, the architect on whose buildings resigned in June, 1900, and his place ing of rain into the building and the vibra-professional knowledge the owner relied, but was not filled up at the time. It was not tilltion caused by the work in the blacksmith's who made no examination at all of the houses 1st November, 1990, that an assistant over-shop, but in spite of these Mr. Eowley said he concerned; secondly, the official 'responsible in seer was appointed locally to look after would'submit that the main cause of the col the Public Works Department, who, without Government building work. In the mean-lapse was the addition of the new story to this making any examination whatever, passed the time the principal overseer of roads, in old building, which was erected in 1878, and plans; and thirdly, the head of the Department; October, 1900, went home on
who had allowed the staff in charge of the duties sick leave, was originally a three-story house. Built, as
were in those days, of blue brick. of the Building Ordinance to dwindle down but died on the passage. His place was not houses filled up until the other day, and I was left with it had somehow, or other stood the wear and gradually, although the work was increasing, He had one overseer of roads and telegraphs all over tear of usage and climate for some twenty- until it consisted of Mr. Crisp. the Colony and of telegraphs in the New two years. Recently it changed hands, and actually taken away the assistant engineer Territory until the beginning of 1901, when I the purchaser, seeing what was going on every-in charge of building work and appointed where in the Colony, thought he would do the nobody save one overseer who had just come out was given the services of an assistant overscer.
same as other house-owners and add another to the Colony and hardly knew his way about He was a sick man and could do very little, and
In this way the Building Ordinance was taken away again in February, 1901, thus story. Before carrying out his idea ho took the street. leaving me with one overseer for roads and professional opinioù as to its feasibility, and had been allowed to dwindle down to a telegraphs until about the middle of the year,
went to work to find out if the walls were (arce. Mr. Bowley, in conclusion, asked his when I got the assistance of Mr. Carroll, who strong enough. The architect, who must have Worship to bring in a verdict, in addition to was formerly overseer of sewers. He worked known how old the building was, did not take his previous finding, that the deaths of these with me for about a month and then had to go warning by the many collapses that had pre-people were due to the adding of a new story to home on sick leave. I was again left with one viously taken place, and thought it sufficient to the rotten party wall, and that the architect overseer of roads and telegraphs until just send an overseer to look after the matter, with who recommended the addition and the parties recently, when another overseer was appointed no instructions to make a careful examination who sanctioned it were guilty of gross ne- for roads and two more Portuguese foreman. of the building, but simply to look at the walls. | gligence.
The overseer went there and spent twenty That is all I have to say.”
minutes in each house. He never thought to look at the foundations, or even to scrape away the whitewash from any part of the walls, and did not even plumb them except with his eye. He did not ent into them to ascertain their solidity-he Mr. F. A. Hazeland, Police Magistrate, on simply looked at them. Then along came the the 25th inst, returned the following verdict draughtsman to measure the houses. He spent as to the Cochrane Street house collapse fifteen minutes of his valuable time there, and į The evidence in this enquiry does not disclose took three measurements-breadth, depth, and what was the immediate cause of the collapse of height of each floor. From these three mea- No. 32 and No. 34, Cochrane Street on the surements he drow up the elaborate plans that night of the 14th day of August, 1901. had been produced in Court, each of them. The following conditions and circumstances absolutely incorrect in several respects. The in my opinion probably contributed to the said time he spent in each house was fifteeu collapse: minutes. Then the plans were made out, (1) The existence of a blacksmith shop on the omitting some important information that ground floor of No. 32, Cochrane Street. It should have been included. They did not show was proved in evidence that vibration has a two old cross walls that had to come down, and tendency to weaken the walls of a house. no foundations whatever except to the new wall. (2) On the ground floor of No. 34, Cochrane The height of the wall itself was mere guess-work Street was a cockloft used by the tenant, who -in one plan, no staircases were shown at all. was a contractor, for storing beams and planks. These plans were thought to be sufficient to send up to the Public Works Department, where they were given a cursory glance to by that very much overworked official, the Executive Engineer under the Building Ordinance. They then went to the Medical Officer of Health, whose only doubts were as to the height of the walls in respect of the width of the street. Accordingly an overseer was sent to measure the width of the street to satisfy the Medical Officer of Health, and the Director of Public Works, 'or, rather, Mr. Tooker on his behalf, issued a
Mr. Bowley--I should like to ask Mr. Tooker one question. When Mr. Crisp arrived Mr. Xavier gave over all his duties to him -Yes.
I want to know why this was done.-Mr. Ormsby told him to do it.
Hon. W. Chatham, Acting Director of Public Works, said he was absent from the Colony from May, 1900, to March, 1901. Before becoming Acting Director of Public Works he had had nothing to do with the Building Ordinance, and therefore had had nothing to do with the two houses in Coch- rane Street until after the collapse. He had inspected the remains of the houses since the collapse, and in his opinion the only cause of the accident was the badly-built party wall between the two houses. The addition of a new story, witness had very little doubt, contributed to the collapse. The foundations of the party vall had been opened; and witness, from what he saw, thought they appeared to be good strong enough to bear the weight of another story. The ground under the foundations.was good. Had witness been consulted as to the feasibility of adding another story to these houses, he, as a professional man, would have considered it necessary to examine the walls carefully, knowing the building to be an old one, and if the walls, from an external examina tion in the first instance, and an internal examination afterwards by cutting them open, were found satisfactory, he would then calculate
mere
His Worship-I shall have to take a little time to consider the evidence, and will give my verdict on Wednesday morning at ten o'clock.
VERDICT.
!
(3) The defective construction of the party wall between No: 32 and No. 34, Cochrane Street. It was proved in evidence that the said party wall was badly bonded, and that the heart of the said wall was hollow and filled up with small pieces of bricks.
(4) The existence of an extra story, which was put on each of the said houses six or seven months prior to the collapse.
(5) That the showery weather prior to the collapse, hot one hour and then a heavy shower, would have caused a considerable contraction
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