The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1913-07-29
INVESTIGATING THE RECENT
BINGHAMTON FIRE,

Reed B. Freeman, stockholder, di-
rector, president and general mana
ger of the Binghamton Clothing COM
pany, was the principal witness on
the second day of the Coroner's in
quest into the fire which destroyed
his building and cost the lives of
about forty persons. He waived i'm
munity and testified freely, although
much of his testimony was of such
nature that it could be used against
him in subsequent proceedings.
His examination lasted two hours.
In answer to direct questions Free
man admitted that the only fire pro-
lection provided in his factory were
pals of water. The number on each
floor he did not know, but thought
there were about nine buckets to
each floor"
He said he never read the labor
law and pleaded ignorance of section
S3C of Chapter 1874, which specifical-
ly provides that "All waste materials,
cuttings and rubbish shall be entire
ly ren4ys.o5 from a factory building
at least once in each day." He testi-
fed, as did other witnesses, that cut
tings of cotton and wooden cloths
were sent to the cellar in chutes,
where they were received, bagged
and stored for weeks at time be-
fore being disposed of.
Freeman admitted that if there
had been a standpipe and a hose on
the first floor the fire might have
been extinguished before it did much
damage, and he said he considered
his duty ended with providing fire
Grn hic
ployees. ue cever considered it ad-
visable to install additional fire es-
capes, or improve his fire escapes,
saying that all such details were del
egated to Sidney Dimmock, who lost
his life in the fire. He had never in
vestigated the merits of automatic
sprinklers, chemical extinguishers or
other fire fighting apparatus, he said,
and the only improvement he had
made in the factory after Trianlg
fire was to change doors so they all
opened out
In the event of fire destroying the
single staircase between the third
and fourth floors, Freeman said, he
thought the eighty girls on the
fourth floor could have escaped by
means of the fire escape and the fire
department ladders, and he never
had examined into the merits of fire.
proof partitions or walls for the
staircases.
Freeman's attention was first call
ed to the fire when his wife rushed
into his Office on the first floor
screaming that the place was on fire,
and he Immediately ran out to the
stairway, where the flames were, and
ordered one of the men to throw
water on the blaze. He said the
flames seemed to come from some
place under the stairs.
He gathered up number of in
fiammable raincoat samples and ran
with them into the next room, and
when he returned the flames and
smoke drove him back into the office
and out to the street. Freeman had
no idea of what might have caused
the fire.
Reed B. Freeman and Frank Free
man, cutter, who are not relatives,
testified that the fire did not origi-
nate on the shelf between the first
and second floors, but apparently
came from the flooring under the
shelf. This testimony changed the
hypothesis that carelessly thrown
match or lighted cigarette was the
cause of the fire and the line of
questions asked seem to indicate
that the District Attorney is of the
impression that it started in bags
of cuttings in the cellar.
There was $4,000 insurance car
ried on the stock and $1,000 on the
fixtures, machinery and tools, all
through one agency.