Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-12-09
FACTORY INSPECTION.
Report of the State Inspector Flo
 the Past Year.

Report of the State Inspector For the Past Year.
 The state inspector of factories has just returned his report to Governor Btllkeley. He says
 During the year which has just closed l have visited 5O9 factories, in which the whole number of operatives employed was 63, Al. Work was temporarily sus pended in twenty places for the purpose of making necessary repairs. A thor ough inspection was made of the re- maining 4S9 factories, and it was found that in 197 of them there was full com pliance with the law ill all its details. Changes of some kind were ordered Tn 292, the whole number of orders given be ing 710. It should not be inferred, however, from the large number of orders given, that all of these establish ments were in bad condition. Many of ries in the state, and the defects found were of minor character.
 or the 71O orders given, 619 were fully complied with. Notices of com pliance or noncompliance have not been received as to 91 orders but it is prob- able that in most cases they were ex- ecuted, either in whole or in part. These cases will be investigated unless notice is received that the work ordered has been performed.
 The want of better means of egress in case of fire is one of the first defects to be noticed in some workshops. Many of the escapes which are now found on factory buildings are improperly con. structed, and some of them are SO placed that they would not be available in time of need. Some are located in the angles formed by the towers and main buildings, bringing the stairways and escapes in such close proximity that fire in such localities might cut off both avenues to safety. Many of them have nearly perpendicular ladders of iron or wood, which are entirely unfit for the use of women and children. It should also be said that the passage ways lead ing to the fire escapes are not always kept free from obstructions.
 The number of elevators and hoist ways inspected during the year was 37O. Some of them were found to be in an unsafe condition. Seventy orders were given, most of them for the better pro- tection of the openings.
 During the year an effort has been made to collect statistics in regard to factory operatives. Blanks for reports were sent to the agents of all factories in which had reason to believe that oper- atives had met with personal injuries Items of information were returned to me in fifty cases, but many of the re- ports were not full and my time has not permitted me to make personal investigation in every case. An unwillingness to furnish informa- tion or permit investigation has been manifested in some cases, and it is probable that the number of acci- dents which occurred is much larger than the number reported at this office. It is believed, however, that reDorts of all fatal cases have been obtained. The whole number of accidents reported was fifty. Ten persons were killed and some of the remaining forty were seriously injured. Many of these persons contri- buted to their own injuries by neglect, carelessness or disobedience of orders. In some cases the accidents would not have occurred if suitable safeguards had been provided.