Evening journal., 1893-07-17
FIRE MARSHAL BLAMED
He Drove Firemen to Their
Death, Says Pres. Skinner.
BALMURPHY ALONE INFAULT

Emphatic Statement of President Skinner,
of the Company Owning ChicagO's
Burned Building, who Insists That a
Blunder Was Made After Repeated
Warnings.
CHICAGO, July 17.-John B. Skinner,
president Of the Hercules Iron Works,
the company owning the cold storage
building burned last Monday, lays the
blame for the terrible loss of life upon
Assistant Fire Marshal Murphy. He in
sists that the blunder was made in the
face of repeated warnings from employees
in the building Captain Fitzpatrick
was with Marshal Murphy. The men,
Mr.. Skinner declares, would not listen
to the sdmonitions of men who knew the
structure and the danger of an ascent to
the tower
There is one side of this fire case that
has not yet been told, said Mr.. Skinner
yesterday. Il suppose it will all come
out before the coroner if the case is
gone fully into and the coroner keeps
his promise that he will 90 to the bottom
of the affair. There was absolutely no
excuse for the loss of single life.
The fremen were informed by our EN-
ployes that there was FIRE below before
they went up into the tower. They were
begged not 10 go up and the danger was
pointed out in advance, when there was
plenty of time to order down such as
were already up
Warned to Keep Down.
Among those who warned them aud
who is ready to testify to the fact is
Walter M. Donaldson, the Office manager
of the part of storage and ice depart.
ment. He went into the tower and
fully informed himself of the state of
the FIRE before the men arrived.
Donaldson had been present during
nearly the whole period of construction,
was familiar with the building and was
in every way competent to act as a guide
to the fire fighters He could not have
been mistaken for an outsider either
las soon as the fremen arrived he
hunted up Captain Fitzpatrick and found
him on the rink floor with his men,
some of whom were armed wirh axes.
He asked the captain to chop a hole
below and turn the hose on the fire in
the lower part of the tower. He
emphasized and repeated his statement
that the bottom was the place to fight
the fire.
Not Warm Enough There.
"To these directions and entreaties
Captain Fitzpatrick answered: lyon
go to HI, I'm running this thing
"He was trying at the time to carry
three leads of hose up at once and was
not making headway. Notwithstand
ing his rebuff, Donaldson, appreciating
the situation and the necessity for
greater haste, begged him to get up
one Captain Fitzpatrick answered he
would get three up or none.
Another Employees Testimony.
"a. ]. Dranch," continued Mr.. Skin
ner, Gin response to a request for the
names of the other witnesses, one of our
men, also asked Captain Fitzpatrick to
work on the base of the tower and fight
the fire which was already there. The
captain, for an answer fetched him a
backhanded blow with the fiat of his
hand which knocked him eight or ten
feet.
In Spite of All He Drove Them to Death.
'Mr. Alsip, the architect, was one
who also advised the men of the danger
and told them the fire was below before
they went up, ard begged them not to
ascend. Marshal Murphy stood there
and in spite of this information actually
drove his men to their deaths.
Upon the information we had given
them some of the fremen hesitated and
demurred. The marshal was heard tc
shout to them by at least two of our
people: Get up there you d d
towards
''He drove them to their deaths
There is no question about it. We are
prepared to prove it, and it must al
come out at the inquest. AS soon as
heard the statement of our men, right
after the fire, l went Immediately over
to Higginbotham's office and told him
what / state here "