Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-09
FIRE PREVENTION
NJ DRILL AN ASSET
t-vV-
State Factory Inspection De-
partment Demands Ef-
ficient Protection.
SYSTEM AS INSURANCE
FOR INDUSTRIAL FIRMS
Efficiency Has Been Demon
strated, but There Is Still
Room for Improvement.

If the factory owners of the State
OF New Jersey could be brought to a
proper realization of the immense
benefits to be derived by them from
a. proper observance of fire prevention
regulations in thDir plants, the work
of the Department of Labor, which
has supervision of manufacturing
concerns where large numbers of men
and women are employed would be
cut in half" said w J. E. Seder to-
day.
Mr. Seder. who resides in Newark
is an aide to Colonel Lewis T. Bryant,
commissioner of the Department of
Labor, and Is factory supervisor.
his principal efforts being confined to
looking after the great manufactur-
ing plants in this city, although his
jurisdiction is statewide. To him is
due in large measure the credit for
placing fire escapes and fire towers
on the principal buildings of this
city.
After years of experience in fire
prevention WORK, Mr.. Seder has be-
come so interested in the subject that
he talks about 1t by day, dreams of it
at night and is continually preaching
to factory owners the need for the
exercise of every possible precaution
to prevent fire He has come to feel
that in some manner, he is personal
ly responsible for the lives and safe
tv of the thousands upon thousands
OF men and women who work in the
great factories. Without adequate
fire protection, he realizes that any
one of these places may become the
scene of a disastrous confiagration
with an appalling loss of life.
In order to safeguard the workers
who are daily producing the wealth
Of a great city. Supervisor Seder. un-
der the direction of Colonel Bryant,
has established a system of fire drills
in the factories and is seeking by
every means possible to accustom
employees In these places to leaving at
the sound. of the fire alarm without
confusion.
Has Been Successful.
That he has succeeded to a remark
able degree in many of the larger
factories and is making gratifying
progress in the smaller ones, was
demonstrated yesterday by a series
of tests made at various factories.
The first of these tests was made at
the plant of the General Electric
Company, at Seventeenth avenue and
Boyd street.
Accompanied by reporter of the
Evening Star, Supervisor Seder vis-
tied the factory, which is believed to
have the best system of fire protec-
tion in the entire state. IF there is
any better in the United States. Mr..
Seder said he had not heard of it, In
order to break in as little as possible
upon the usual daily routine of the
plant, the supervisor had announced
his intended visit in advance.
Upon entering the office of the
William r. Robinson keen eyed
young man who has been appointed
fire chief for the plant. which en-
ploys at the present time 900 persons,
Of which eighty per cent are women
and girls. The company turns out
incandescent lamps and uses more
gas daily than any other concern in
Newark. This fact alone would in
dicate at once the need of ADEQUATE
fire protection.
]. ID. Frederieks is manager of the
plant and not only employs fire
chief but has organized three fire
squads of nine men each, with two
assistant chiefs and a pump man, who
are under the command of Mr.. Rob-
inson. The law requires that fire
drills be held in each factory at least
once month, but here drills are held
III the various departments at least
once week and sometimes oftener.
The factory is built l. shape, with a
depth of $50 feet from Seventeenth to
Eighteenth avenues. This building
has width of eighty feet and has a
wing on Eighteenth avenue which is
so by 160 feet The entire building is
practically made up of four separate
structures, all connected and all five
stories, and of brick and concrete