Monday, November 10, 2008
Building collapse remains a mystery
Tom Angleberger
The New River Valley-based reporter answers your questions Mondays in his column, What's on Your Mind?
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Q: What is the story on an explosion that took place at the Griggs Packing Co. in Roanoke about 1920? Photos have recently surfaced showing destroyed buildings.
-- Twig Gravely, Roanoke
A: The photos do indeed look like the aftermath of an explosion, but officials at that time never determined what caused the fatal building collapse.
In March 1920, the Griggs Packing Co., on Franklin Road, was undergoing a major expansion to increase its storage area for apples and the capacity to make and store ice.
Both Griggs employees and construction workers were in the area when something happened to a two-story building that was getting a new wing. Survivors, eyewitnesses and experts were never able to say what that something was -- beyond the obvious fact that the building had collapsed.
"It happened so quick that I did not know what it was," a construction worker told The Roanoke Times. "It got me so quick that I could not tell whether it was an explosion or what."
"I looked up and it looked like a big storm coming up," said another construction worker. "And I saw the elevator scaffold go up. Then I ran as hard as I could go. The noise reminded me of a peal of thunder."
The newspaper also reported that "a tower watchman at the Franklin Road railroad crossing ... said that his attention was attracted by rafters and other timber being hurled into the air." Also, a boxcar on a siding near the ice plant was "practically torn to pieces."
Yet, a reporter who described the scene noted that "whatever took place did not have sufficient force to eject the parts far from the spot."
"The three brick walls of the new wing caved in, crashing to the ground. The old wing is busted and twisted in front."
In the rubble, four men were found dead. One, who had been eating dinner, was found still sitting with an unbroken bottle of milk nearby. Another was found alive, but died before he could be taken to a hospital.
Because of the deaths, a coroner's jury was held. "Experts in architecture, brick and steel structure were present and every detail was figured out, but none could come to any definite conclusion as to what caused the collapse," the Roanoke World-News reported.
There was quite a bit of ammonia present -- enough that at one point the search for victims had to be called off. But the coroner's jury must have discounted the gas, because they specifically ruled out an explosion as the cause.
In an odd footnote that may be of interest, one news story contains information about the photographers that arrived to capture the scene -- presumably including the person who took the photos you found.
Note: Thanks to Roanoke Times researcher Belinda Harris, who very cleverly found the old Roanoke Times and Roanoke World-News accounts of this largely forgotten tragedy for us.
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I took a beating over last week's article about crude oil prices. Using data from the U.S. Department of Energy, I confirmed that gasoline prices were higher than they were compared with the last time crude oil prices had been as low as they were in October.
But then I offered a few caveats, which sent readers to their computers to tell me how wrong I was to make any excuses for Big Oil.
"Your caveat has a hole in it ... if current gas prices lag the crude market for the reasons you stated, then explain why prices shoot up at the threat of a hurricane, an uprising in Mogadishu or a threatening speech from Iran," wrote O.T. Campbell of Smith Mountain Lake.
"For instance the day before Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast the price of gasoline went up by 20 cents per gallon in Meadows of Dan and much more in other places in Virginia and the USA," Tony Rogozinski wrote. "The refiner and distributors had already incurred their costs for the fuel that was in the tanks and had no justification to charge more for it!"
"You totally missed the mark," Brian Wilson wrote. "You had to have gotten your explanation from the National Petroleum Marketers Association."
No, I didn't get the answer from the gas companies, but I agree that I may have made them sound a little more benevolent than they really are.
But I still don't want to paint them as price gougers. As much as I hated spending $50 to fill up my tank, I don't think they did anything worse than charging as much as the market will bear.
Just remember that when it comes to gas or stocks -- or two other commodities I've received questions about: coffee and coleslaw -- or just about anything else, the price may have little to do with the actual value and a lot more to do with the amount we're willing to pay.
In truth, the gas companies may be doing us a disservice by lowering the prices so quickly. We may have been on the verge of doing something about our oil addiction, but now with gas so cheap again we'll probably lose our momentum.
Got a question? Got an answer? Call Tom Angleberger at 777-6476 or send an e-mail to woym@roanoke.com. Don't forget to provide your full name, its proper spelling and your hometown.
Look for Tom Angleberger's column on Mondays.
