St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-06
DOWN WITH THE WIRE
The Coroner's Jury Returns q
Verdict on the Tribune
Fire.
City Officials We're Derelict
If the Building Was a
Mandatory.
Overhead Wires Were Re-
Sponsible for at Least
One Death.
The Building Company Held
Morally Responsible for the
Death Of the Men.

| at the Tribune tire returned their YER
diet. 1t is by far the most vOluminOus
verdict ever rendered by cOrOner'S
! jury in Minnesota. The jury believes
that the Tribune building properly be-
longed to that class of buildings known
as manufactures, and that the fire es-
cape law applied to that building, con-
seQuently the city officials were negli-
gent in not enforcing the law relative
to fire escapes. The jury finds that at
| least one death would not have been
caused had it not been for the electric
| wires overhead. The verdict in full is
| as follows:
/ An inQuisition taken at the city of Mime
| apOlis county OF Hennepin. on the I'd, Sd,
! 4th and 9th days of December, 1889, before
| +. E. Towers VI. D.. coroner for said county,
on the bodies of Milton Pickett James lgoe,
| Robert McCutcheon, Edward Olson, William
| Millman, W. Miles and Z. J. Jenkinson, ~
| ing then dead. by the oaths of the Jurors,
| whose names are hereunJO subscribed. who
| on being sworn TO inquire OF behalf OF the
state of Minnesota when. how and by what
| means the said Milton Pickett, William Mill
! man, James Igoe ". Miles. X. McCutcheOn,
! Edward Olson and +. JenkinsOn upon their
| oath do say that the aboye-named deceased
! came TO their death from falling from the
| Tribune building on the night of saturday,
| Nov. 80. 1889, during the fire which de
! StrOyed the abOve-na med building. Further
more, We, the said jurors, do find from the
| evidence adduced before US the follow
| ing, to-wlt: That the fire which de
| stToved the Tribune building aforesaid
| originated in the rooms designated and
| known as the Republican league rooms, stu
| ated and being in the third story of the said
| building. and at the extreme northwest cor
| ner Of said building. That the said fire WAS
| discovered at about 1910 p. m. of said Nov
| 80. That the origin of said fire is unknown
( TO the Jury. That the said fire swept up the
! staircase TO the top of the building, in such
| short space of time as to cut off the sa d
| staircase from the persons employed al d
! then being IN the rooms on the sixth al u
| seventh floors of said building as means Of
| egress. That this staircase runs down by the
| side of the elevator, and IN the same well
| with the elevator. That this elevator, this
! staircase and metallic standpipe fire esca pc.
| situated on the north end Of the building.
| were the only means of egTesS known TO the
| persons so employed and then bein0 on the
| sixth and seventh floors of the building.
! That after the staircase and elevator had
! been shut off by the fire as means of egress,
| then was left but the one avenue Of escape,
namely, the standpipe ladder. That the fire
| broke out in the portion of the building
| near this fire escape. That the fire ragged so
| fierce in this part OF the building that
! twenty-five or more OF the people employed
| and being in the building were unable TO
| reach this fire escape. That the men who
did reach this fire escape, had been so
| nearly smOthered by smoke, and were
so severely burned by the fire as 10 render
! them. or some of them, too weak to avail
| themselves of this mode of escape with
! safety. That this latter particularly applies
| to the condition of William Millman. de-
! ceased, and Witness Charles Alf Williams,
| the last man to attempt the descent on this
| fire-escape That the elevator was operated
! and run by Elevator Man smith and then by
Stereotyper Holt during the fire to the very
| last moment possible, taking men down with
| all possible expedition until the fire had
! utterly shut off this means of escape.
| 1t has been testified by A. B. Nettleton, one
| of the original owners of the building, that
| about four years ago patent folding metallic
| ladder was placed in the composing room of
| the Tribune on the seventh floor. That this
| ladder was capable of reaching to the lower
| WindoWsill of the windows Of the fifth floor
! and that a ike ladder was st the same time
placed in room on the fifth floor, and that
| this latter ladder was capable of reaching TO
! the ground. 1t has also been testified by
| Witness Frank Hoover, a compositor who
has been continuously employed on the sew
| enth floor einCe the Tribune moved into the
| building that the ladder was not known to
him to have been in this composing room for
| two and a half years last passed, but that it
| was about the date mentioned by Witness
| Nettleton. 1t has been testified by Witness
| Charles Alf Williams, the managing editor Of
! the Tribune, who had been employed OH the
| Tribune from the time of the papers first
! occupancy of the building up to two years
| ago, and again ever since last June, that he
! never had any knowledge of the existence of
! this ladder 1t was testified by Witness
| Myers, a compositor who has been continu
| ousiy employed in the composing room for
| four years last passed, that he never heard
| any intimation of the existence of the ladder.
| ComposiIor Highly. who has been employed
"off and on" in the building for several
| years testified that he never heard of the
| ladder
Il has been shown by Witness Nettleton,
| by Witness Hazen and many Others that the
| staircase was constructed entirely Uf wood,
| and was therefore inflamable.
1t has been testified by Witness HaZen, the
| city building inspector, that the building
should have been supplied with another
| testified that as building inspector no meas
ures were taken by him to secure another
| fire escape. 1t was testified by Deputy In
| spectOr McHale. who had been assigned the
| duty Of inspecting buildings with regard 10
| fire escapes, that he had never attempted TO
| get another fire escape put on the building.
| 1t has been testified by many witnesses that
the Printers uniCn and the Trades and
| Labor assembly, some four years ago, ap-
pointed committee to wait upon the own
| ers Of the building and the city officials with
| a view to securing additional fire escapes;
| that such committee did this Office, and
that this committee was Informed that the
! building conformed to the law. and that MIR.
| Nettleton, the president of the Tribune
Building company, claimed the building to
be good slOwburning structure, and that it
was not mandatory employing men and
| women. and therefore the law did not require
| additional fire escapes. II was testified Dy
| Witness Stetson chief of the fire department.
| that the committee from the Trades assem-
| bly, called upon him. and that he thereupon
| sent notice to Mr.. Nettleton to put an ad
| ditional fire escape, and that he sent Mr..
| Netteton q copy of the law treating on fire
escapes That subsequently he called upon
Mr.. NettleIon and IudsOn n. Cross, his at
| torney, and requested additional fire escspes.
and that the two latter again said the build
ing was not mandatory, and therefore
did not come within the meaning of the law.
Again it has been shown that the folding
ladder, was placed in the building shortly
after these conferences.
1t was shown by Witness E. A. Stevens as
| follows:
Previous to 1888 there was no ordinance
or statute relative to fire escapes; in 1853 an
act for the preservation OF life and the pro-
lection of travellers was passed by the legis-
| lature, and it was made the special duty of
the chief of the fire department, ire marsal
| and chief OF police to see 1t was enforced.
| 1t provides that for each $500 superficial
feet Of area there should be II2-inch stand
| pipe, with hose connected on the inside on
| each floor, and kept at all times in readiness
for use; for 5000 superficial feet, 2l2-inch
stand pipe with metallic ladder from first
| story to the roof, and, in addition, for each
forty employees above the second floor, one
non-combustible STAIR or, in lieu Of stairway,
one additional metallic ladder or fire escape
for each twenty persons employed, the lad
ders 20 run from the roof 10 within twelve
feet of the ground, the stand pipes ladders
ana stsirways to be erected by the owners,
and other appliances furnished by the lesees
! the penalty for violation, after thirty days
| notice given 10y the chief Of the fire depart
ment fire marshall or chief of police, a fine
of not to exceed 500. or imprisonment for
| ninety DAYS; the act was general in rs terms
and applied to all buildings whether already
| erected or TO be erected; this statute was APP
| proved March %. 1888.
Whether or not it would apply to that
| building would depend upon whether or not
il was a mandatory; the courts hold that
anything that can be patented or copyrighted
is a manufactured article, and there is no
doubt that q newspaper is open to copy
right; on Oct. IL, 1888, an ordinance of The
city council was approved, creating the Office
of fire marshal. and imposing the duties of
| the office ON the chief of the fire denarim nnt