"Did either of these gentlemen find anything to object to in the method of construction?"
"I never heard of any objection. Nothing was ever said to me. The inspectors might have talked to the contractors. But I don't think any one of them did."
"Have you reason to believe that there was any collusion between the inspectors and the Graves Company?"
Every one in the room knew that there must have been collusion. Nevertheless, the architect, after hesitation, said:—
"I shan't answer that, sir."
"You refuse to reply?"
"See here, Mr. Coroner! I am here to tell you what I know about the Glenmore,—at least so far as it concerns my own responsibility, my own work. But I am not here to testify against the Graves Construction Company. Understand that!"
"Well, I should say that you and the Graves Company were pretty well mixed in this matter. You were an officer of the corporation which employed the Graves Company to build a hotel on your plans. Could there be any closer connection than that, do you think?"
To this observation Hart made no reply, and finally the member of the jury who had interposed before put another question to the witness:—
"You have told us that the Glenmore was not properly built, was not what it pretended to be, a fire-proof building, and generally violated the ordinance for that class of building. Do you consider yourself in any way responsible for those violations?"