The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-03-27
SWEAT SHOP GIRLS
WERE LOCKED IN
TO PERISH
New Horror Added to Satur-
days Holocaust
DEAD NUMBER ABOUT $50
Shirt Waist Factory was finder Box
and Fire Escapes Of No
DEAD NUMBER ABOUT $50

New York, March 26.-What will
go down in history as the fire disaster
OF Washington Square, entered upon
its aftermath tonight with 81 OF near
ly $50 victims identified The official
death list has been lessened, rather
than increased.
Revised count showed 141 dead to-
night, with twelve women and girls
at deaths door in the hospitals. One
hundred and fifty, all told will per
haps cover the casualties, when those
whose hurts and burns seem fatal
shall have joined their fellow workers
now in the pine collins of the pauper
dead, Careful counting still rates the
female victims at approximately ten
to every one male Broadly speaking
they were Jewish and Italian, living
either ON the East side or in a small
Italian quarter near the scene OF the
fire
Nearly all of the dead were under
80 years of age, the large majority
between II and %. Many were only
16 and few Is years old.
District Attorney Whitman was re-
sponsible for the statement that some
one might be indicted. The investi-
cation which he started On Saturday
night with two OF his { stants in
charge of the work was car d on
yesterday by these two, and by q
third member of the distri- attor
ney's staff. They reported frequent
ly to the district attorney and by
nightfall sufficient facts had beer
turned over to him to show that doors
leading from the workshops on the
eighth, ninth, and tenth floors to the
stairways leading to the street haC
been kept locked-locked it was
charged by some of the girls who haC
escaped the death that overlook their
fellow workers, simply that the tired
girl operators might not slip out in
TO the halls in working hours and
there snatch a moments respite from
the drudgery Of running a sewing ma
chine.
The coroner and the grand jurymer
began their investigation today be
fore the embers died in the burned
building They touched shoulders
with the district attorneys men
building department agents, Fire
Chief Croker, Commissioner Waldo
and their helpers. There will be Z
thorough probing and a fixing of The
blame, II blame there be and 1t cal
be fixed Said District Attorney Whit
man:
IF what Chief Croker tells me il
correct, then someone is criminalll
liable, and whoever IL is, whether
he one or dozen, shall be prosecu
ted | never saw anything more hoI
rible in my life"
There are many buildings in thi
city in which even worse condition
prevail" declared Commissioners Wa
do. ION this building there was onl
one outside iron balcony fire escap
with treads eighteen inches wide an
so constructed that persons enterin
on the fire escapes by windows woul
have to close the iron shutters befor
they could escape. There were tw
enclosed ireproof stairs, only suffi
iently wide Tor one person to descen
ut a time and with winding steps &
the turns. Entrances to the stail
were blocked by partitions. Fro
indications gates and doors appear
have been locked at the time of Il
fire" "The building ITSELF sal
Commissioner Waldo, Seemed to cor
ply with the law governing the ere
ton OF fireproof structures The ow
er OF the building, j. j. Asch of Soul
Norwalk, Conn, apparently had o
served the regulations of the buildil
department"