Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1913-07-23

| small lire III l110 SuDuIDbs 1OAAoC-
ouently only the employees of the
postoffice, which adjoins the factory,
and those in neighboring factories
were present to render aid.
Paterson Man a Hero.
Among tho heroes OF the disaster
is Charles Contesse, of Paterson. N.
J. He was here visiting, and seeing
the fire break out, dashed into the
factory, aiding the girls to escape.
He was badly bruised and terribly
burned. His recovery is doubtful.
"It was a miracle, an act of God,
that permitted me to get out" said
Mrs. Florence Smith, who escaped
from the top floor. Mrs. Smith was
burned about the face and arms, but
she said last night that her burns
were not serious.
when tie gong sounded we
thought it was a signal for the fire
drill that we have been having re-
Gently. There was not the least bit
of confusion. We followed the rules
that had been laid down for us, rose
at the signal, showed back our chairs
and moved our tables as we had been
instructed to do so as to have the
aisles clear.
"Then we formed two by two and
in a long line went down the winding
stairway to the third floor One fore
man, Mr.. Dimmick, led the way. AS
we went down the stairs we could
lcok to the floor below We saw
smoke then coming from beneath us.
oh ,s..I
saw the flames. They were coming
up the stairway. We knew then that
it was no use to continue Mr.. Dim
mick said: Girls, we will have to
take to the fire-escapes' There was
no confusion.
No Panic Even on Fire-escapes.
Even when we were outside, the
girls continued to act without panic.
1 was way in the rear, the second
from the last. We went down the
fire escape to the second floor, and,
so far as l could see, there was no
crowding. The heat was then be-
coming intense.
LAS we reached a spot about OPP
posite the second floor there was a
burst of flame. 1t swept through a
rear window, and from the noise that
accompanied it 1 judged that the
heat had smashed the glass. / held
on as long as / could endure the heat.
Then 1 swung out over an electric
light wire and let my body rest on
it. It sagged down, but l held to the
railing with my hands. They were
| badly blistered. Finally three men
appeared from across the street and
told me to drop and they would catch
me. did so and did not even strike
the ground. The men stood me on
my feet and then helped me to a
drug store. l did not know until
then that l was burned at all. l
did not look back. | had seen
enough"
Mrs Smith said that Dimmick and
the forewoman, Miss Nellie Connors,
showed great bravery and carefully
looked after the girls as they were
leaving the floor.
See Girls Jumping from Window.
The first fire company to arrive
was attracted to the scene as 1t was
passing down an adjacent street to
the first alarm by seeing girls jump
ing from the upper windows
Many of the employees were of
Slovak and Italian origin and highly
excitabe. The flames fed by bits of
cotton shreds of cloth and the usual
debris Of an overall factory swept
through the four stories with cyclonic
velocity and whipped out of the
windows in huge sheets, licking up
the fire escapes, shrivelling the cling
ing human forms like withered leaves,
sending them tumbling to theAearth.
Vain efforts were made to drag
the dying and dead from beneath the
rain of fire. The awful heat, which
in few seconds had ignited the post
office, 200 feet distant, and half a
dozen business buildings and factories
in the vicinity, kept the rescuers
. away.
Some of the victims were seized by
the arms or legs, but SO badly were
they burned that the flesh rolled from
their bones in the hands of the res
cuers and it was necessary to place
them in blankets before they could
, be carried to places Of safety. All OF
the ambulances in the city were hur-
riedly summoned. Automobiles were
/ pressed into service to carry the liv.
, ing and dying to the hospitals.
Girl Tells Story of Fire.
} Miss Crolty, Is years old, of Port
Jervis, is in the hospital with a
fractured spine, resulting from jump
ing from the fourth story. Two OF
her sisters are among the dead. Miss
Crolty Is conscious and said:
1--WE were all at work on the tor
floor when the alarm was sounded
There were probably eighty of us
we had had several test alarms with
in the past few weeks and the girls
had come to regard 1t as joke. Some
.. of them were annoyed when they hat
to leave their piecework to respond
to test call, so when the bell rams
/ said to the girl next to me thai
is another fire drill We spent 9
few seconds getting ready to leave
just how long could not tell, but Il
was some time. We moved slowly
and put on some things and ther
when the signal was given, we started
for the stairway. We did not hurry
until we saw a man on the landing
clappng his hands and saying, hurry
J girls, hurry Then we saw The
. smoke. When we got to the thirt
. floor and some of the girls got scared
. then all turned and ran back up tn,
stairs to the top floor. We rushed
3 for the rear stairway, but by this time
these were also in flames. From tina
time on 1t wa a fight for life. Som,
girls struggled for the fire escape
others fought for window. Their,