New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-01-13
igure), getting tragcally out Of bed, be
smothered in the blanketsf
wIPyTNG FROM THE FLAMES.

A WARNING FROM THE FJAhES
Thorough that is the only word which
describes the verdict of the coroners jury III
the case of the victims of the Centre-st' hre'
The findings are really only three IN nuihDei
I. A highly inhammable fluid was freely anu
carelessly used in the upper stories OIL tne
burned building; 2. The fre-escapes on the
outside of the building were inadequate anu
broken; g. No provision had been mace ior
the warning of employees of fire, or for INFORM
ing them beforehand of any means or escape
That the floors of the printing were
saturated with benzine used in cleaning Type
and that this dangerous fluid was constantly
handled by ignorant boys, while means OF
ignition were plentiful in the room, may seeih
q thing incredible. This criminal careiesshess
is warning; but it seems so much more
matter of mere incident than the con-
dition of the building itself that it is likely to
be overlooked. We must pause to ask-How
MANY wooden floors of factories and work
shops are sprinkled daily with infiammable
liquidsi A more serious (because more COM
mon) feature of this special case was the III
perfect condition of the horoscopes. llose
slender, dizzy ladders. bolted to the perpen-
dicular walls of buildings, known as " lire
;. sanesn are dangerous contrivances at best
Timid women, delirious with terror, have
burned to death before now rather tRap tEa 3
to them. But when these are Covered with
ice and reach but part way to the ground, they
are delusion and a snare. The panic-stricEen
Girls in the Center-st. printing house, In their
sudden peril, took advantage of just such
broken, icy escape; some got OFT allve; the
flames and the falling walls cut Oft the retreat
of the others.
How many buildings used for manufacturing
or industrial purposes in this city are wholly
upproyided with means of escape IN case OIL
fire Superintendent Macgregors Inspectors
have hardly begun their labors, and yet they
have found nearly one hundred and fifty build
ings in the lower part of the city which are
positively and fatally unsafe in contingency
like that which licked up the Centre-st. build
ing. The majority of these are unprovlded
with any apparatus for escape; IN many IN
stances there are neither scuttles nor ladders
leading to the roof. In planning the structures
where hundreds of people work ten or Twelve
hours day, the emergency of lire which
might cut off the only stairway has been lott
as completely out of all calculation as III the
builders had been planning mausoleum.
How many more workshops are there in the
city like that in which poor man, cut Off
from the stairway actually burned to death
at a window in full view of a hOrrifed crowd
in the street below2
Now that these death-traps have been pub
licly pointed out, neglect to remedy their de-
fects will be held hereafter to be a crime.
There is no Sinking that responsibility. No
body supposes that anything but thoughtless-
ness and ignorance lie at the bottom of this
neglect but the neglect is criminal and now
that it has been exposed and notified to the
proprietOrs and lessees, it can no longer be
condoned If the lesson of the Centre-st.
calamity means anything, it means that men
must not put employees in high buildings with
out making these provisions against fire: l..
Broad and ample stairways; 2. Strong and con-
tinuous outside fre-escapes; 3. Ineligible
printed directions, which may enable en-
ployes to flee in case of danger. Are these
things too much to ask? The man who dares
neglect them may, before another week ends,
be called upon to answer for more lives lost
in the flames.