The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1913-07-24
MILL FIRE Laid
TO INCENDIARIES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.

nine-inch upper walls. The floors which
curled like cardboard at the first touch
| of flame were Of double maple placed
upon 3xl2 inch joists, set eighteen inches
apart from center to center.
The sewing machines on the fourth
floor were run by belts from a shaft
turned from the steam engine in the
vided power for the dynamo which pro-
duced the electricity with which the cut
ting machines on the third floor were
operated. There was no gasoline engine
in the building, and. according to Mr..
Freeman, there was only two gallons OF
gasoline in the building. and that was on
the fourth floor, tightly encased in a'pro-
tected can.
Employer II Beloved.
In a random effort to nx the cause of
the fire Mr.. Freeman suggests q cigar
cite. He says it may be that q cigarette
still smoldering was thrown beneath the
steps by one of the men who had taken
a quiet smoke.
Nothing more pathetic than the sight
of the venerable mill owner today might
be pictured. He threw open the doors OF
his pretty white and buff house in Pine
Street and sent forth. word that .he
wished TO see all the girls who were able
to come to him. Ten years have added
themselves to his face and figure.
STOPPED. trembling, and most Of the time
unable to speak. he received his girls
one by one as they came to his home.
Late in the afternoon Little Helen Nc
Nulty, the telephone operator. came In
shyly, and with her hands extended. The
old man tried to rise and failed, his
arms straightened toward the pretty girl
and tears flowed down his cheeks In Q
torrent.
THE fire didn't get you, Helen, child"
he sobbed. "Oh, how gladly I would die
IL I could see all the other girls come
in with you"
And Helen. like all the rest, touched
the old mans hand reverently and went
out. A more beloved employer has never
existed.
II cannot believe that any one set fire
to the factory and murdered fifty inno-
cent persons" said Mr.. Freeman. Il
was in my Office. and my attention was
called to the smoke beneath the stair
way. Mr.. Lawrence, my bookkeeper. and
Mrs Freeman came over to me and said
that the place was on fire. The fire shot
out from beneath the stairway. There
was nothing beneath the stirway except
two bicycles. Where the fire came from
No Hot hHO", Uut suOI Up
beneath the stairs and licked like a
flash across the ceiling. 1t struck a shelf
of plush and a dense black smoke rolled
through the lower floor.
ALFRED Decker. foreman of the cutting
department, was on the stairs. He ran
over TO the push button which rings the
fire bells and pressed. Sydney Dimmock,
who organized the fire drills. and who
was in charge of the third floor, came
rushing downstairs to see why the bell
was being rung.
1T was his work to spring the signals
at drill time. and he was angry, but as
soon as he saw the smoke he rushed back
He ran to the fourth floor and began to
plead with the girls to hurry. We have
not seen Dimmock since. He died shoul-
der to shoulder with Nellie Conner. Both
were willing to die II they could save the
girls"
According to all the girls seen today.
the floors of the building were well OIL
soaked, the lubricating oil from the ma
chimes and the belt shafts having soaked
almost the entire floor.
Helen McNulty, the telephone operator,
Is one of the girls who say that the floors
were oil-soaked, and Mr.. Freeman does
not deny it. He says that all the lint and
scraps of wooden and cotton goods were
swept up every day and carried out Of
the building, but the oil-soaked floors,
he says. were undoubtedly ready prey 10
the flames.