Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-09

construction. The buildings are so
constructed as to allow for plenty of
yard space outside.
Proud of System.
Mr.. Robinson, who appeared to take
i great, pride in the system which he
/ and Mr. 'Fredericks have perfected,
explained at length the manner in
which the plant is protected, showing
his visitors the various precautions
which have been taken for the safe
guarding of employees and the method
Iy which a blaze in the plant would
be fought.
THE entire building" said he, ''is
protected by the Gamewell fire alarm
system and the fire alarm can be ad-
justed so that it will call out the en-
ployes of one floor only, assemble a
portion of the employees for drill or
call out all the employees and the fire
brigade. The factory is also pro-
tected with the alarm which calls out
| the city fire department
I'm addition to the fire alarm system
we have fusible iron doors, sprinkler
system, which is inspected four times
in every twenty-four hours; fire
blankets, which may be thrown over
the head OF a girl whose hair may be
blazing; buckets of water and sand
at available points. We also have
water power system which gives us
| 1884, 900 gallons of water for immediate
use in case of need. This water is
stored in a concrete reservoir in the
| yard.
"At each of the exits are red lights,
which are kept burning constantly,
and ladders which run up on the out
side of the buildings, from the ground
to the roof, may be lighted by the
mere pressing of button. The lights
on the ladders nearest the ground are
! kept lighted day and night, so that
employees fighting fires will not be
! Obliged to work in the dark.
As a further precaution against
| fire. we can turn off the gas in the
entire plant by merely turning
! valve on the outside In the yard is
a fire pump which will throw l,ooo
gallons of water a minute, ana we
have four hose stations equipped with
fire plugs similar to those in ;he city
streets. to which members of the city
fire department attach their lines OF
hose, In addition to our paid fire de-
partment we have salvage corps
which may be called upon whenever
/ necessary
Before sounding an alarm which
| would start employees of the fourth
floor to the stairways Mr.. Robinson
said that. because the weather was
| inclement. he would not send them all
the way to the street, but would-halt
them at the entrances to the lower
| floor. While the fire chief and few
of the heads of departments knew a
test was about to be made, the en-
ployes could not be certain whether
there was fire in the building or
| not when the alarm sounded.
Hurried into Line.
There was the clang of gong, and
| instantly every employe left his OF
| her place and hurried into line. Fne
vo,,np men assigned to fire stations
| took their positions, the foremen ana
| assistants stood at the entrances to
| tho several aisles, and the workers,
mos,lv Young women, marched out.
while on the faces of few of the
girls there was look of fear, most OF
| them were entirely calm. fhere was
NO manic nor undue crowding, and in
ahont five minutes they had lett the
room. had returned and were back at
work as though no untoward incident
had disturbed them
~ was noticed that not one OF the
girls stopped TO get her nat OF coat
although the dressing rooms are open
as further protection against nre'
and they could have done so win
It'll, loss of time. The rules of the
est blishment, however, strictly pro
hihit anv delay after an alarm has
hae,, sounded. Jacob Holman. fore
man on the floor, aided in getting the
| 225 girls ont. -, -.
on the second floor, where there are
| ana GIRLS the floor was cleared in one
nin1lte and thirty-two seconds, but
several minutes had to be allowed to
get the workers back at their posts.
Whenever a test drill is given at
tba nIant-each of the members OF the
FIRE squad is allowed fifty cents. This
means an outlay of $15 by the con.
CORR whenever there is general
aIar11 in the plant. Estimating that
each of the employees loses from five
~, Ton minutes in leaving the building
ana returning, the loss in time would
nroha hIv total from $35 to $50 addi-
tional The factory management,
however. is more than willing to give
weekly fire drills, as they give en-
moves a greater sense of security and
they. can work without being in con-
stant dread of fire.
Another test to show the speed with
which hose lines could be run up on
fhe outside of the building was made.
This was accomplished in one minute
and a half II was noticeable that
the entire plant was kept in almost
perfect condition., and there was no
rubbish to be seen anywhere. The
appearance Of the floors also indicated