americana
19-05-2008, 11:31 PM
Well, I was at the New York Public Library today doing research for something else I'm writing (not at all related to 9/11, but an utterly frivolous and fun topic).
While waiting for bound periodicals to be delivered for me, I found two intriguing articles in the online database for The New York Times:
The first appeared in The New York Times, February 15, 1968, entitled "Critics Impugned on Trade Center"
under the heading "Principal Objections"
Richard Roth of the architectural firm of Emery Roth & Sons issued the statement defending the safety of the twin towers, which the firm, in association with Minoru Yamasaki, designed for the center.
Mr. Roth said that a structural analysis by the firm of Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson had found that if a tower were hit by an airliner at 600 miles a hour, the damage to the tower would be only local and its occupants outside the immediate area of impact would not be endangered.
END QUOTE
The second article from The New York Times is entitled BOMB EXPLODES AT TRADE CENTER, dated May 31, 1970. Enjoy.
Trailer at Construction Site is Damaged by Blast
by George Dugan
A 50-foot office trailer parked near the construction site of the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan was severely damaged early yesterday by a bomb.
A loud blast, accompanied by smoke and an orange-red flash, blew a two-foot hole in the bottom of the trailer and destroyed $3,000 worth of blueprints and other papers. Window panes were shattered in a two-block area.
A deputy fire chief, Arthur Laufer, who arrived at the scene minutes after the explosion at 2:26 A.M. said there was little doubt that a bomb had caused the damage "because you could smell gunpowder as soon as we arrived there."
The blast was the latest in a series of bombings in the city in the last two years. The targets have included the offices of major corporations, theaters, stores and government buildings. At least one of two explosions have occurred here this year in what the police have described as bomb factories run by young radicals.
The trailer, owned by the Tishman Realty Company, general contractor for the Trade Center, was parked at the corner of Liberty and Greenwich Streets, about 1,800 feet from the construction site.
. . .
Abe Levine, deputy construction manager for the Tishman Company, said that his organization had received several bomb threats in recent weeks. The most recent, he said, was made last Wednesday. It was reported to the police and the site was evacuated later that day.
Animosity between opponents of the war in Indochina and construction workers has run high since May 8, when scores of hard-hatted men stormed City Hall and beat dozens of antiwar demonstrators.
Trailer Was Locked
The police speculated that yesterday's bomb might have been placed under the trailer.
The last persons to leave the trailer before the blast were three men in a surveying party. They locked it at 12:45 A.M. yesterday. Allen Lindquist, chief of the group of field engineers, said that his men frequently worked at night and never failed to lock the trailer when they were through.
A number of persons heard the blast, among them 15 members of a security force guarding the area. One of the guards, who was two blocks away, heard the blast and called the police. Another guard, Paul Walt, said the explosion was "very loud with a lot of smoke and a flash."
One witness questioned by the police was two blocks from the blast, at a gas station. He said he saw an old car pulling away from the area and heard a squeal of tires.
XXX
I leave any conclusions up to you, but I found both bits rather informative.
While waiting for bound periodicals to be delivered for me, I found two intriguing articles in the online database for The New York Times:
The first appeared in The New York Times, February 15, 1968, entitled "Critics Impugned on Trade Center"
under the heading "Principal Objections"
Richard Roth of the architectural firm of Emery Roth & Sons issued the statement defending the safety of the twin towers, which the firm, in association with Minoru Yamasaki, designed for the center.
Mr. Roth said that a structural analysis by the firm of Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson had found that if a tower were hit by an airliner at 600 miles a hour, the damage to the tower would be only local and its occupants outside the immediate area of impact would not be endangered.
END QUOTE
The second article from The New York Times is entitled BOMB EXPLODES AT TRADE CENTER, dated May 31, 1970. Enjoy.
Trailer at Construction Site is Damaged by Blast
by George Dugan
A 50-foot office trailer parked near the construction site of the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan was severely damaged early yesterday by a bomb.
A loud blast, accompanied by smoke and an orange-red flash, blew a two-foot hole in the bottom of the trailer and destroyed $3,000 worth of blueprints and other papers. Window panes were shattered in a two-block area.
A deputy fire chief, Arthur Laufer, who arrived at the scene minutes after the explosion at 2:26 A.M. said there was little doubt that a bomb had caused the damage "because you could smell gunpowder as soon as we arrived there."
The blast was the latest in a series of bombings in the city in the last two years. The targets have included the offices of major corporations, theaters, stores and government buildings. At least one of two explosions have occurred here this year in what the police have described as bomb factories run by young radicals.
The trailer, owned by the Tishman Realty Company, general contractor for the Trade Center, was parked at the corner of Liberty and Greenwich Streets, about 1,800 feet from the construction site.
. . .
Abe Levine, deputy construction manager for the Tishman Company, said that his organization had received several bomb threats in recent weeks. The most recent, he said, was made last Wednesday. It was reported to the police and the site was evacuated later that day.
Animosity between opponents of the war in Indochina and construction workers has run high since May 8, when scores of hard-hatted men stormed City Hall and beat dozens of antiwar demonstrators.
Trailer Was Locked
The police speculated that yesterday's bomb might have been placed under the trailer.
The last persons to leave the trailer before the blast were three men in a surveying party. They locked it at 12:45 A.M. yesterday. Allen Lindquist, chief of the group of field engineers, said that his men frequently worked at night and never failed to lock the trailer when they were through.
A number of persons heard the blast, among them 15 members of a security force guarding the area. One of the guards, who was two blocks away, heard the blast and called the police. Another guard, Paul Walt, said the explosion was "very loud with a lot of smoke and a flash."
One witness questioned by the police was two blocks from the blast, at a gas station. He said he saw an old car pulling away from the area and heard a squeal of tires.
XXX
I leave any conclusions up to you, but I found both bits rather informative.