The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1874-10-05
THE GRANITE MILL DISASTER.
Verdict Of the Coronel,, jury.

FALL RIVER, MASS, October 3.-The
CorOners verdict on the Granite Mil dis.
aster was rendered this afternoon. The
Jurors find that the Fire Department were
ss promptly on hand as could be expected
from the confusion oi the alarm, caused
by striking four different boxes at about
the same time, but that the hooks and
ladders included In the Fire Department
were insufficient in an emergency of this
kind, and poorly handled on this occasion.
Tho many reports concerning other
branches Of the department are unlound-
ed. 1t is apparent that due prccaution
was not used In giving the alarm TO per.
sons at work In tho sixth story. Had
such alarm been given and the care tndi.
Gated taken, tho lives OF all persons in
that story might have been saved, not.
withstanding thero was but one escape
therelrom, viz: the tower stairs. 1t Is re-.
markable that the fire being discovered In
the mule room in the fourth story, among
all the men employed there, as well as
those IN the fifth story, TO whom there can
be no doubt the alarm was general, not
one had presence oImind enough TO warn
his fellow operators in the sixth story 10
flee from their fiery fate, and had even
the male operatives In the sixth story not
become panic stricken at the first alarm
Of the tire,thAt reached them, they might
have led all the women aud children in
their charge down the tower stairs in
safety.
Tho evidence fully shows that all ap-
pliances for extiuguishing fires in all the
stories, such as tanks, pumps and pipes,
and horizontal pipes and hose in the var.
ious rooms were in this mill apparently
ready for use on the morning OF the fire,
but apparently water was wanting in
them and the hose and pipes were useless
in the fourth story at this time
In the construction OF the mill the jur-
ors believe it to have been the aim OF the
corporation TO provide every facility that
money could purchsae and the lessons oi
the past furnish, Tor the escape OF help
from the mill in case Of fire. But 1t was
proved Colclusively that there were not
ample means Of escape from the attic
Had there been, loss OF life would have
been avoided, and tho jurors suggest, as
an additional means ot safety and escape,
that in case Of fire it should bes so arrang.
ed that an alarm struck In any story
should reach all others in the mill.
From tie evidence the jurors say that
it clearly and indubitably appears that
the means Of escape by doors from every
story was free and unOb3tructed, except
by smoke and flame, there being no locks
or bolts on any door communicating with
any room, excepting the lower door lead
ing 10 the tower, and that is always open
during the time the helpi is engaged. The
approximate cause oil the death oil James
Turner and the twenty-five others, on the
morning in question, was caused by the
burning Of the mill, they either being des.
troyed by the fire inside, or killed by
lespiDg to the ground from the mill.
The jurors conclude their verdict as fol.
lows: "Let the Lesson not pass unheed-
ed, either 10 mill owners or the public in
general, that human life is precious, and
all means that tend to save, either parti-
cularly or generally, the precious boon to
the poorest mortal, has the sanction Of
all mankind, an example in Him who died
for ALL"