Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-11-29

10 a. m. n 5 p. M, and factories,
stores, storehouses and other buildings
in the city, between the hours of Z
a. m. and 6 D. M, for the purpose OF
asc~ertaining all violations of ordinances
designed for the more effectual preven-
ton of fires. 1t shall be lawful for
him, in the daytime, to enter into or
upon any lands or buildings for the
examination of hoistways. t~rapdoors,
fireplaces, hearths. ohimneys, stoves
and pipes thereto.
1T shall be his duty = : to direct
the owner or occupant of any defective
building, by written or printed notice.
to alter the same in such manner and
within such reasonable time, by day,
as he may deem necessary"
The law provides that If the owner
or occupant of a defective building re-
fuses to make alteration to make the
structure safe, the superintendent shall
make complaint against him and in the
case of his conviction he shall be pun
ished.
Just here the point arises that since
the passage of this ordinance there
was created the State Department Of
Labor, under which comes the super
vision of factories for the purpose of
seeing that human life is properly safe
guarded therein. The State department
tool to itself many duties formerly
performed by the city superintendent
of buildings. There has apparently
been either a shifting or a division of
responsibility.
In the case of an old building deemed
unsafe or dangerous, the city superin-
tendent of buildings is not the final
authority under the local ordinance.
He must report the buildings he be-
lieves unsafe or dangerous to the COM
mittee on construction and alteration
of buildings of the Common Council
If the committee concurs with the SUI
perintendent it shall report to the pres
ident of the Common Council n the
Council shall finally determine what
shall be done with the complaint.
mo such building or other structure
shall be ordered to be pulled down or
removed" says the law, 'or to be
made safe and secure, either wholly
or partially, unless two-thirds of all
the members of the said Council by
resolution shall so direct"
That the interior condition of the
building was such as to contribute to
the rapid spread of the fire was shown
again today when a member OF the
fire department said: Twenty years
ago I was an apprentice working for
one of the firms that then occupied the
building, and I remember that a lot
of us used to get at one end of the floor
and with a little run we would slide
the whole length of the room, just as
| the children do on the streets after
the rain has frozen on the sidewalks.
Floors Saturated with OIL.
THE floors were so saturated with
oil that they were as smooth as glass,
n in the years hat have passed
since then there has certainly been no
Improvement. | often shuddered to
think what would happen to that build
ing if it ever caught fire, for 1 knew
what the inside conditions were and
the fire on Saturday spread just as l
had thought it would"
The Rev. James c.. Howard, pastor
of the Halsey Street NJ. E. Church,
who was one of the first arrivals at the
fire, was a visitor at fire headquarters
today, and during his visit he looked
at the working of the fire-alarm tele-
graph system. When asked about his
experiences at the fire he said that
what impressed him most was the ex-
cellent work done by the firemen and