The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-07-23


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burns. 80 far a. can be learned the
factory had always been passed placid
Iiy by the inspectors. none OF whom
ever saw any potential danger. Tho
| president OF the concern. Mr.. Free
man. insisted tonight that ''the build
4 jn9 had always been fsxAraed ii
/ safe. = and s"tbat no one hAd ever Med
4 complaint against him"
/ Whatsoever the inspectors may have
| thought about Its safety, thu facts are
that the factory was inadeduately pro-
vided with fire escapes. There were
! i..sr TIVE narrow iren flights Of Had
ders, one zig-zagging up the north
side. the other climbing the south
wall. II the unfortunate girls had
used those escapes calmly and DELHI
eratcly, II is doubtful II they could
have made their way to the street. all
of them, In less than twenty minutes.
The single stairway in the back was
of wood and was sheathed with wood.
It was afire three minutes after Mrs.
Freeman's scream told the girls In the
lower floors that they were in peril.
The elevator was put out of service
at the very start. The flames ball
lconed up that fiue, and its only use
was to speed death and agony.
Thought to Re False Alarm.
| The fire started just before 3
o'clock. Mrs. Freeman was in the
main office of the factory on the
ground floor with e. ]. Lawrence, the
bookkeeper, and some clerks. Sud
denly they heard the whirring Jangle
Of the automobile fire alarm. Mrs.
Freeman glanced UP idly from her
newspaper. saying to young Law
renee:
There's another false alarm"
What she meant was that the alarm
had been rung to send the girls to the
| station for fire drills. There had been
fire drill. II appears, few days
ago. No one was quite certain just
what day. Lawrence, having no sus-
picion of trouble, paid no attention to
the insistent gong, and went on with
his work.
It occurred to Mrs. Freeman to step
| outside the office, Barely over the
| threshold. she started back, frightened
and amazed. Before her eyes smoke
was rolling up from the basement. and
srurts of flame were driving through
the elevator shaft
TITS Are. real fire." Mrs. Freeman
screamed. She ran to the foot of the
stairway. clutching her skirts away
from fire that was spreading over the
ground floor
| Girls" she cried as loudly as she
could pitch her voice. Girls, the fac
tory is burning. Run Tor your lives"
| 1t was this cry that probably saved
the lives OF some of the girls on the
second floor. They came pell-mel IL,
nll In disorder. stumbling and falling
down the stairs. but unframed, the
few that were lucky enough to be
working near the ground.
| Bookkeeper Lawrence was by then
at the telephone, raging because he
found it difficult to get the number Of
the central fire station. Finally the
voice of the operator murmured In
his ear. He woke her up with a rush.
She called the central fire station.
The fireman operator swore hope
lessly. His company was out in War
rem street responding to an alarm
from that quarter. already the fourth
of the day. Lawrence dropped the
phone with the assurance from the
central station man that he would
call the whole department.
Flames Worked Quickly.
Telephoning took hardly three min
utes But in that flash of time. the
great factory was ablaze practically
from cellar to roof. When the first
engine came racing into Wall street
with Chief Hoag shouting commands
to his men. the firemen saw at once
that there was little they could 60
Fire was running over all floors.
Girls were streaming from the en-
trance on Wall street, some with
their clothes afire. all hysterica1 from
fright. They stumbled and fell and
were picked up by policemen and fire
men and carried to the ambulances.
All at once, 1t seemed, occurred
what the crowds in the street looked
for. Girls appeared at the windows
and hurled themselves out. Theil
bodies were crushed against the bricl
paved streets. Two girls showed
against the rosy windows on the Wal
street side Of the fourth floor. One
seemed to be carrying or supporting
the other. The larger girl showed hel
friend through the window. The bod.
dropped like stone for sixty feet
The other girl 'leaped out and wa.
dead when she was picked up.
On the north and east sides the girl.
were trying desperately to reach thu
fire escapes. From the roofs of near
by buildings, people who first reached
such elevations saw the girls stag
gering and weaving over the floors
their arms crossed before their eyes
vainly trying to protect their sigh
from fame and smoke. The watcher
saw them labor toward the Window
and fall before they could get there
overwhelmed by the rush OF fame
Very few Of the girls had time ever
to get to the fire escapes The flames
rushed upward so suddenly ant
spread so sweepingly that the work
ers were trapped almost at their ma
chimes.
Fire from the burning rags and
waste clutched at their feet and drag
ged them down. Fire ran up thei,
clothing and charred them in a min
ute. There was fire wherever they
turned.
Thousands of people massed around
the burning factory saw these things
and worse. They saw four girls burn
to death at the top of the fire escape
on the north side OF the building
They saw a girl appear on the roof
attempt to leap and then fall back
into the furnace at her feet. They
saw the east fire escape choked with
girls who tore at each other in the in
sanity Of terror. Several of these
| e