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


landing not less than twenty-fcur
,,ehes souare at the head and foot OF
each staIrray, the stairway opening ON
each platform shall be of a size sum
eient to provide clear headwayj the VIII
do.xs or openings upon each balcony
.har be of easy access and sufficiently
large to permit easy passage through
them and shall be kept anobstructed;
when the top of the window sill IL more
than two feet above the floor of build
ing. inside steps shall be provided.
Plainly the law says that on the
High street factory there should have
been at least two fire-escapes in the
front and two in the rear of the build
ing. Technically, if the third and
fourth floors consisted of one large
room the law would have been COM
piled with, but the diagram which APP
pears elsewhere in this newspaper
shows that the fourth floor, occupied
by the Wolf Company. was divided into
three rooms by partitions, thereby
blocking a getaway" as iremen put
egress. The third floor had even less
means OF egress. The Anchor Lamp
Company, occupying the Orange street
half of the floor, was divided into two
rooms and the other half of the floor
was occupied by C. H.. Redman. On
both floors there were more than
twenty-five persons employed, some
thing like 100 on each. So far as the
side of the building occupied by Red
man was concerned there was no fire.
escape at all. Firemen. policemen n
others declare that six escapes would
be necessary to make the situation an
adequate one.
Stories of Witnesses.
fsve-vitnesses tell how the girls
r,,shed to the one escape on the Orange
street end of the front of the building.
hut could not reach it because the fire
wa raging mostly in that part of the
building. There they were trapped.
Thew were forced to jump or be burned
alive. Some met death both ways
Had there been escapes or the n of
the building nearest Central avenue 1t
is declared no lives would have been
lost, for it was some m before me
flames extended to that section. That
feature, as the chief contributing cause
of the great loss of life, will form the
basis of the inquiry to fix the blame.
Declines to Discuss Case.
Prosecutor Motifs attention was
called to the factory law, but declined
to discuss it at the present time. He
declared that he would direct the at
tention of both the coroner's and the
grand iuries to the State law.
r~-1l d ah1honh first assistant
prosecutor. was likewise non-com-
municative. In reference to the fact
that the State labor law appears to
have peer violated by the erection of
partitions in the floor occupied by the
Wolf Company, he called attention to
the fact that the law referred to walls,
not partitions.
He also pointed out the fact that,
while Under the Law ire-escapes were
required for each Sc .)arate room, a fire.
escape hat covered two windows, one
on either side of a partition, would be
ample under the law.
Mr.. Lehlbach refused to discuss the
matter any further. following the line
of Prosecutor Mott in this respect
Today the coroner's jury visited the
factory ruins of the High street fire,
where the search for bodies continues.
The coroner appointed to hold the in
quest, DIR. Steiner, pointed out to the
jurors the many violations of the fac
tory and building avs that had exist
ID The foreman of the jury, Charles
W. Heilmann, who was at the head Of
the jury that inquired into the Clifton
avenue trolley car disaster of 1903,
there was a wholesale slaughter
of High School pupils, is considered a
valuable juryman in this instance 1t
was largely due to the drastic recon-
mendations of Mr.. Heilmann that the
Lackawanna railroad was compelled
to abolish grade crossings. The other
members of the jury to probe the fac
tory fire have all been appointed. They
are William j. Hughes, j. Martin
Roll, Charles E. Cameron, Philip Lin
derman and George w. Jagle.
Jurors Meet at Court House.
The jurors met at the Court House
last night and had a short conference
with Prosecutor Mott, after they lac
visited the home of one Of the victims,
Carrie Robrecht, 9 Hampden street.
Here, with County Physician McKen-
zie and Charles F. Hummel, constable
from the sheriff's Office. the jury viewed
the body OF the young oma
Coroner Steiner said after the in
quest had officially begun:
THE jury merely received the oath
customary in such cases and viewed
the remains. Nothing was lone aside
from that. After today we will adjourn
for a week or ten days to secure such
evidence as our investigation seems to
make necessary. These sessions will
be public and everything will be done
to give the broadcast publicity to the
proceedings.
Beyond this we have no set plans,
but we will investigate every possible
lead that may aid in getting at the
desired results and our efforts will be
untiring. When we have secured all
the evidence we can gather we will pre-
sent it to the Grand Jury through
Prosecutor Mott"
Coroner Steiner is empowered to sum-
mon Witnesses the same as any court.