Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 3—The Southern Cross, September 6,1984
Cathedral Bell Towers
Malfunction Of Strain Gauge Causes Evacuation Of St. Vincent's
BY GILLIAN BROWN
St. Vincent’s School, Savannah, was evacuated August
23 due to a change in the read-out from a strain gauge
used to monitor stress on the bell towers of the Cathedral
of St. John the Baptist, which stands next door. Police
barricades were erected to close off Abercom Street as a
safety precaution, while engineers checked the cathedral
structure which has been undergoing repairs.
By early evening the same day, engineers from Atlanta
had arrived to check the gauge. The news was good: the
problem was due to a malfunction in the gauge. The bell
towers had not undergone a major shift, and there was no
further danger to the public.
James R. Fincher, President of Quo Modo Inc. of
Atlanta, the Consulting Engineer and Design Engineer for
the cathedral project confirmed Aug. 24 that the problem
reported the day before had been due to a malfunction in
the gauge system.
The monitoring of tension in the bell towers will
continue on a manual basis until a replacement can be
found for the faulty strain gauge.
This was his explanation of the situation on Aug. 23
which caused evacaution of St. Vincent’s School and the
closing off of Abercom Street:
“On the initiation of this project we had two main jobs.
One is underpinning of the bell towers and the other is
putting in an auxiliary support for the first truss over the
sanctuary. The underpinning of the towers is such a
situation that we know we are going to get some
additional movements, so we put two high-strength tie
rods in, very high up in the towers, for two purposes: one,
to control this movement while work is in progress, and
two, to monitor the force by putting in some electrical
strain gauges. We initially set a certain force in the rods
and that way we can watch it and see if it changes - either
increases or backs off. That gives us some idea of what is
happening while they do the work.
“Aug. 23 about 9:00 a.m. I got a call from the Steel
Foreman that there had been a sudden shift in one of the
gauges. On questioning him I found that the other gauge
had not shifted by any significant amount. By following
up and getting some more information from him it
appeared to me immediately that there was a 99 percent
chance that this was a gauge malfunction and that there
was actually no increase in the force in the rod as had
been indicated. However, it was put in for the purpose of
acting as a check valve or safety valve, and until we
verified that that was what had happened we didn’t want
to take any chances. The Steel Foreman had already
gotten the people out and I confirmed that that was the
proper procedure. I got the engineer from the firm who
had installed the gauges initially to come down to
Savannah, and later that afternoon he confirmed that it
was a malfunction in the gauge system.
“We will continue to monitor the force on a temporary
basis, doing a manual monitoring until we can get a
replacement and do continuous recording again.
“The foundation work he tells me will be completed in
about a week to 10 days. He has essentially finished all
except one comer in the north tower and about two
comers in the south bell tower, to he is close to being
finished with that.
“The gauges will stay in until we have finished the steel
work, which will probably be in another month or so at
minimum.
“The action taken in evacuating the school and
blocking off the street was justified. ‘When you have any
doubts the only safe thing to do is to go the safe route,
and that’s what they did.’”
New Abortion Method Prevents "Live Births", Doctor Says
BY GRETCHEN KEISER
ATLANTA (NC) - A new abortion method, developed
in Atlanta, injects an adult dose of the drug digoxin
directly into a fetus’s heart, causing it to stop and killing
the baby in the womb.
The method has been used almost 600 times in an
Atlanta hospital and has cut down the number of live
births following abortion, according to Dr. James Waters,
former medical director of Midtown Hospital in Atlanta,
where the method was developed.
Waters presented a report on the method Aug. 16 at a
two-day conference sponsored by the Emory University
Family Planning Program and held at Grady Memorial
Hospital in Atlanta. The method was being used for late
second-trimester abortions (20 to 24 weeks gestation).
Waters was released from Midtown Hospital in early
August for undisclosed reasons.
Waters said the hospital has no reported cases of live
births since 1983. For the three years prior to that, the
hospital recorded a total of 14 attempted abortions which
resulted in live births.
Thomas Allibone, administrator of the Midtown
Hospital, refused to confirm or deny that the procedure,
called digoxin induction abortion, was currently being
used.
“If it is, I won’t say yes. If it isn’t I won’t say no. We’re
not going to give any more information,” Allibone told
The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Archdiocese of
Atlanta.
“Dr. Waters was working on (the procedure) on an
experimental basis,” said Allibone, who refused to
disclose why Waters had been released.
Allibone, who said the Emory University seminar was
given without the knowledge of Midtown Hospital, also
refused to discuss whether or not women who received
digoxin induction abortions were aware they were taking
part in an experimental procedure and gave their consent.
Waters presented statistics which compared the
effectiveness of 203 cases of digoxin induction abortions
with an equal number of saline induction abortions, where
a salt solution is injected into the amniotic sac, killing the
fetus and inducing labor.
He said the new method was safer for women than
saline induction and was completely successful at killing
the baby before delivery.
Waters said other methods of abortion used during the
late stages of pregnancy sometimes result in live births.
The live birth baby in saline abortions has already been
exposed to a “very toxic medication which severely
depresses them and damages them,” Waters said.
The report also showed fewer post-abortion
complications with digoxin induction.
In saline abortions, 47.5 percent of 203 cases were
“incomplete,” meaning the placenta was not discharged
and had to be removed. In digoxin induction cases, only
26.6 were incomplete.
Waters said he learned the procedure from an
unidentified doctor in Kansas.
Normally, digoxin is used to correct and control
abnormal heartbeats and heart failure in adults and
children. According to the 1984 Physicians Desk
Reference, it is approved by the federal Food and Drug
Administration for use to treat heart failure and to correct
dangerous variation in the heart rate.
Coastal Empire "Habitat For Humanity
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“Bless this spot, on which we will build our first
house,” was the prayer of Father Liam Collins, Paatorof
Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Savannah, at a ample
ceremony unveiling a sign announcing the site of a modest
home to be built by the Coastal Empire “Habitat for
Humanity” group.
Tom McLaughlin, spokesman for Habitat for
Humanity, said that homes built by the group are sold at
cost, interest free, and with no government assitance, as a
means of assisting low income families to become home
owners. Building costs are kept at a mimimum through
the use of volunteer labor and the help of the
owners-to-be.
Founded at Koinonia Farm, near Americus, Ga. the
Habitat for Humanity movement has provided the
impetus for construction of homes in many different parts
of the United States and in Third World countries. The
Coastal Empire group, formed in the Fall of 1983,
purchased its first lots in the Cuyler neighborhood, on
West 35th Street. They plan to break ground for the new
house in October.
The group is seeking “partners” who will help by
making contributions, giving spiritual support, offering
building materials at cost or at discount, providing “no
interest” loans and by volunteering time. Contact Habitat
for Humanity at 902 West 36th Street, Savannah, Ga.
31401.
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HABITAT FOR Humanity unveils its sign: on Baptist Church. To the right, Tom McLaughlin
the left of the sign are Father Liam Collins and and Mrs. Gertrude Greene,
the Rev. L.S. Aiken, Pastor of First Mt. Sinai