, 1874-09-21
THE FALL RIVER DISASTER.

klo Fall Nlvor coto1l-n1il1. which woro printed III
Tho laHt lHsuo OF THE TRIBUNE, hnvo scarcely
parallel In tho annaa Of great accidents III this
country. Thoio hnye bccu othegs whore tho loss |
Of lifo waY creator and tho destruction Of prop
orty much lnoro widespread, but ilono In which |
tho circumstances hayo boen more pitfablo aud !
lcart-rcndiug. This wns not only holocaust of |
working pooplo compelled 10 submit to labor oftho
most wearing aud coasoless kind. aud to what !
oyer. .extortiona toir task-1nnstora might aoe lit |
to make, but they were mostly little Gill
dren with whom 1nbor vas necessity. who wore
compelled to wear out their young liVos IN toll
or 20 without bread mud clothing; Nttio children
who kuew nothing OF schooldays Of youthful
sports, Of pleasant vacationB, who heard no
hounds but the whir mud hum OF machinery III
tho great mill, who saw no s'ghts but tho loom
or tho spool at which they worked. Tint these
lltt1o onos,, who havo becn doomed TO toll over
since lhoy have boon large enough to work, antl
whose lives have known no pleasure, shonld
have boon sacrificed, is ono Of thoso mysterious
tlisnonsationB Of Providence which NO ale cour-
solod to accept, although we cannot understand
thon.
1t is not vol, however, nor ia It humane, to ro-
fer this disaster entirely to proyidential dispen-
sation. Thetc is nn eleineut OF hun'an ro-
sponaiblity in IT, aud tho authorities Of tho State
Of Massachusetts, which makes large protcnslon
to philanthropy cannot afford to lot this disaster
pass without making strict Investigation, not
only to fix tho responsibility in this case but to
prevent = repetition IN future. There arc many
other cotton mills In Fall River built and runllke
tho Granite Mll. They arc just rs liabo to
burn any dny, and, il thoy do sake fire, thoro iB
every probability that tho 1osa OF life will be ~
lorge, il not larger. II IL not difficult to tx tho
responsibility io this case. Avery brief glanco
At t]1e focts will royea 1t. The fire broke out on
tito fourth floor Of tho mill near tho tower,
running through the centre Of tho building and
containing tho staircase, With landing
on ouch floor, being tho only mode OF
egress from within, On this floor loo
operatives were at work. Some Of them weto
ia tine to escape by tho stairs, but
the oliucss of the floors and general combus:i-
bility OF everything in tho room soon spread The
fire to these stairs. In the attcB, OF 9th aoor,
wero thirty young children, who woro employed
warping and spooling cotton. Aa the t1aues and
smoke had no other largo outlet. they woro
naturally sucked into this tower, ard 30 quichly
shot up tho stairs.to this floor that their first
warning Of danger was tic hugo column OF
smoke and flames pouring up into
tho room and kiud!ing tho roof-bcatnn
overhead. Thoy rushed to tho staircase only to
bo confronted with the fire. and then to the
window over GO feet from thu ground. Doatl
pccmed inevitable hero also. III addition to the
means Of ogress By tho contral Staircase 1t sp
pears that there wero iron ladders loading Il
scuttles which opened out on tho roof, and fon
fire escape, two on each gab1e-end Of tho mill
II the operatives on this fifth floor had boon cool
headed and strong mcn, they could undoubtcd1
have saved thomBciyea, bnt they wore not
They wero littlo girls who lad not droalnnd o
danger, aud who. seeing tho flames above. be
low, and a1l about them. half-sulrocatol an
blinded with smoke, aud crazel With the scream
and wills, woro seized with panic, as oldc
porsonB might have boon. Firo-laddors, frt
escnres mud ropes we're equally useless. The
must either so1nan and bo burned or hurl then
selves from the windows to be killed. or tol
riby n.nuglod. Tho means for escal
wero therefore rendered unavailable in tho tirs
place by tho heat, tlames and t%loIe, whic
cut oil tho ordinary ogress, and in tho aecon
place by panic which was 30 viol int TINT Il
heed was takou Of tho extraordinary ivacautiol
which had boon provided until 1t was too lato,'
m emergency which ought to hive bee
foreseon. IAoao facts fix tho rosponslbN
upon the propriotors. They Ind not provide
safe, convenient aud spacious naoalls Of OK
from the mills, and for this deficit thoy should
held liable. To build mill az this MAS bull
in which 700 human beings were
work, with practically but one meauB Of ogre
from it, was simply nlofciess and reckless @
= posure Of that human life to danger wh
:. might come at any moment. Iron stalrcasos
tho outside of the building, with landings
each story communicating with tho floors
=, lnrge doors, or lowers outside CT tho mill co
tanning Bta,rcasoa connected with tho buiti
- by iron bridges a. each story. in addition 70 t
~ ooutral staircase in tho building would ha
provided ample means Of escape, col
layo boon bullt at trilling o1pen
mud In case Of fatality tho propr
m tors could not bave boon held reBpou
n bic. The plain duty Of auch propriotors is
r. mako their buildings rs secure as possible, a
1t the plain duty Of tho Lawmakers is to ipsp
such promises and compel them to make life
T. cure by evcry available procautlon. Tho >esst
H. Of thls disaster arc plain enough to road. It
IL loo l4to now to restore to their homes tho p
10 lts!o creatures who hayo besu 80 sndde
no spatohed out OF o1iatenco, or to avert tue
as long sorrow which must dayken these hunl
ea households. But there arc more mills In
,ts River and otlor New Englaha towus Aunaf
lat and Thousands OF other ohildron aro today
In work in the attlcs Of theso groat buildings,
ng posed probably to aimilur danger. Tho fats
he their little companions who Aavo gone pioadH