The Oskaloosa herald., 1911-03-30
Pathetic Facts Revealed at In.
quest in New York.
NO CHANCE TO ESCAPE DEATH
Allegation Made That the Arrange
ment Of the Workroom Was
Death Trap-Many Bodies Of
the Victims Identified.

inquiry INTO the causes or the AsCh
building disaster
IL was shown that the poor girls In
that panic rush to escape from the
flames found traps at every turn.
1t seemed that the very arrange.
ment of the workroom was trap,
with 700 women, damned back to
back at their machines, when the
panic started, the narrow aisles be-
came blocked with chairs and the
girls were in confusion before they
even started for the doors. Then
there was the scarcity OF exits, the
inward opening doors and the death
trap fire escapes"
The fire, without any question,
started from a cigarette or a match
thrown into pile Of lawn clippings
light cotton sutton the Greene
street side of the building" said Mar.
shall Beers. There was no gasoline
| about the place, so far as / could
learn and the machinery power was
| furnished by electric motors. But |
can prove that cigarette smoking was
no uncommon practice among the
men employed in the factory. found
the stains Of the cigarettes in places
where they had been laid down by
the smokers.
The fire started at 4:40 o'clock.
Samuel Bernstein, the superintendent
for the Triangle company, and a boy
tried to put 1t out with buckets OF
water, but fought it for only minute
| and half. The alarm was not turned
In for five minutes.
while Bernstein was fighting the
| fire, Edward Brown, the machinist,
was trying to get the girls in line to
| march to the fire escape and to the
elevator doors. But the poor things, in
most cases, understood only Yiddish
and did not know what he was saying
| to them"
Many Victims Identified.
Eighty-six bodies of TAI victims Of
the holocaust have been identi-
| fed. Sixteen of the bodies we're those
Of men. There are IL injured in the
hospitals.
New York, March 2S.-Eighty-six
bodies Of 141 victims OF fire in a
ten-story loft building on Washing.
ton place have been identified. Six.
teen of the bodies were those of men.
There are twelve injured In the hos
pitfalls.
District Attorney whitman started
an official investigation to fix the re-
sponsibility for the horror in which
several hundred Shirtwaist makers,
mostly women, were entrapped by fire
on the three top floors. No arrests
have been considered by the district
attorney of any person In connection
with the fire, and none will be made
until the facts disclosed in the inves.
tigation give sufficient evidence for
taking this action.
The building department was called
on for report on the burned build
ing and every other department that
Is in any way concerned also will be
required TO make a detailed report.
Never a Fire Drill in the Factory.
Fire Marshal Beers began his off.
cial investigation and summoned the
proprietors of the Triangle Waist com
pany and several employees OF the
firm to testify. He has been busy col
lecting all available Information re-
garding conditions in the factory
when the fire started and will inquire
particularly into the truth of state.
ments that doors leading to the exits
we're locked.
so far as have been able to dis
cover" said Mr.. Beers, there has
never been a fire drill In this factory
In my opinion It would take the 700
girls three hours to reach the street
by the FIRE escape that was used in
the building. I can say that the shut
tiers INSTRUCTED this fire escape.
It is definitely known that the Are
started on the eighth floor of the
building near a window at the north.
east corner. The fire began under a
cutting table in a scrap heap. and is
thought to have been started by a
cigarette.
Crowds began to assemble at the
morgue to view the bodies. fifty.two
in all. At least half of the corpses
we're unTeCOgnlLdDlS anu III many
cases only small trinket or a shred
OF clothing is left to show who the
unfortunate was. Some of these
bodies probably will never be claimed.
The victims, living alone In furnished
rooms or little fats, may have had no
friends and few acquaintances.
Managers Of the Triangle Waist
company. which occupied the burned
floors, deny that the iron doors lead.
ing to the elevators and stairs were
locked.
Only One Fire Escape.
The fact that there was only one
fire escape on the building will come
in for careful investigation to de.
termine what city Official is to blame.
Borough President McAneny. In re.
viewing the investigation made fol.
lowing the recent Newark IRE horror,
said that the Ansch building was not
included in the list OF those buildings
returned as having inadequate IRE
sscaps fAcilitisA