The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1913-07-23
Many Go Back to Rescue Ar.
ticles They Had Left.
AT LEAST FIFTY BURN ALIVE
Panic and Failure to Realize
Danger Caused Most Deaths.
Could Empty Building in 20
Seconds-Dri1ls Unpopular.

Binghamton, July 23--The exact
number of persons who perished in the
fire at the Binghamton Clothing COM
pany yesterday may never be Known
The list of employees is in the ruins.
Only half a dozen bodies recovered
have been identified
a careful estimate today place the
number of those in the building at the
time the fire started at H. OF these
only 53 are known to have been saved.
City officials admit the death toll may
reach 60 lives
Six dead have been identified; Is bod
les, charred beyond recognition, are
at the morgue; seven injured are IN
the hospital; 46 slightly injured are
safe at their homes. Eleven have been
reported by relatives as missing and
q others are unaccounted for. Mrs.
Ida Prentiss died today and Mrs Mary
Benny, another of the injured is not
expected to recover.
Charred Bits of Human Flesh.
Crowds gathered today and silently
watched the men working in the debris
under the direction of Mayor Irving.
here and there and shortly before noon
a body was recovered burned beyond
recognition. Frederick J. Meagher, di-
vision attorney, said today an investi-
the responsibility for the disaster.
Mayor Irving will issue a proclamation
calling for general observance of a
day to be set apart for funerals. AS
many of the bodies are unrecogniZable,
a public funeral will be conducted by
the city and the unknown dead will be
buried in a plot upon which a shaft will
be erected. Frank S. Ash, of Bing-
hamton, an inspector for the state la
Dor department, said today that the
fire escapes on the building were of a
type approved by the state regula-
tons
Binghamton, N Y, July 23.-At
daybreak today big force of city en-
ployees began to search for the dead,
entombed beneath the Smoldering
ruins of the overall factory of the
Binghamton Clothing company. Not
until the tangled mass of brick and
steel has been removed will the full
extent of yesterdays tragedy be
known Conservative estimates place
the number of dead at more than
women and girls, were trapped in the
burning walls. Of these only Al are
known to have escaped Sixteen
charred bodies as yet unidentified.
were recovered last night.
The list of the 134 employees of the
company who were on the payroll
Saturday, some of whom were on va
cation, is in the safe under the ruins,
making the task or compiling the list
of dead more difficult
The loss by fire and water to the
buildings and stock of five concerns
is estimated at more than 100000,
largely covered by insurance. The
postoff1ce. built about 20 years ago.
was badly damaged but the mails
were saved. A temporary Office has
been esta blished in a nearby garage.
The loss of the Binghamton Cloth
ing company of which Reed B. Free
1
$4,000, all covered by insurance This
does not include the building, which
was rented
Thought 1t Only Drill
The heavy loss of life is believed to
have been largely due to the fact that
the employees, believing that one of
the frequent fire drills was being held,
were slow in leaving the building
Even when it became known that the
building was on fire many returned to
the dressing rooms on the upper floors
for clothing and valuableS.
The flames spread rapidly and the
intensity of the heat prevented the
hremen from getting within fighting
range of the building until rescue was
impossible. Women and girls, too weak
to go further dropped exhausted from
the fire escape in the rear and literal
ly roasted to death, portions of the
bodies dropping into the streets. 9th
erS jumped and were killed Half a
dozen of the panic stricken girls rush
ed into the elevator which was stand
ing on the fourth floor. A moment
later all dropped to their death. Only
the efficacy of the Binghamton fire de-
partment prevented the spread of the
flames to business blocks lining Wa
ter street between Court and Henry
streets In the building occupied by
the McAllor Drug company was a
large amount of highly explosive chem
icais Steel doors and shutters pre-
vented the fire from reaching the build
ing. Volunteer fremen employed in
the shops along the line of the Erie
railroad, who were in the city for their
annual tournament, aided the local fire
men In holiday clothes they assisted
in running lines of hose to the tops of
band concert scheduled for last night
was abandoned
Girls Did Not Like Drills.
Reed B. Freeman, president of the
B1nghamton Clothing company, esti-
mates there were 120 employees in the
building when the fire started. Eighty
per cent of the girls employed were
Americans. The girls are said to have
disliked the fire drills which forced
them to appear in the streets in their
rough working clothes Many of them,
it is said. We're proud spirited and did
not like this
when the alarm sounded" said
Reed B. Freeman, president of the
overall concern. most of the girls took
their tine-some to don their coats
belongings
But for this fact, 1 believe nearly
all would have been saved In the last
fire drill we had the entire building