Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-11
HOTEL, WHERE SIX
BURNED TO DEATH,
CALLED FIRE TRAP
Atlantic City Coroner
Finds the Overbrook Lack
ed Safety Devices
NO ALARMS, NO LIGHTS

ATLANTIC CITY, Feb. II. Witness
after witness. before the Coroners in
quest today, testified that the Overbrook.
the five-story brick and frame hotel in
which six persons lost their lives a week
ago this morning, lacked almost every
thing In the way Of the Commohest safety
devices
According to the testimony:
There was no fire hose, nor was there
any fire gong to alarm sleeping guests.
Some of the oldest employees thought
they had at one time seen a fire eX-
tinguisher, but they we're not certain
about II.
The single night bellboy was cX-
pected to look about the hotel more or
less, but there was no regular system
OF inspection.
There were two fire-escapes on the
tive-story structure, one in the cX-
treme rear which the guests could not
reach and the other i'm a iivc-foot
areaway separating the old frame Sec
tIon of the house and the new brick
front on Pacific avenue. useless be-
cause Of the many confusing turns in
the hallway.
There were no red lights TO mark
the exits on the third and fourth
floors of the doomed building
There were wire fire-escapes for in
dividual use in most of the sleeping
rooms, but for the most part they
were kept in closets. Nobody APP
parently ever saw n posted notice to
describe to guests how the escapes
should be used
Thomas Epps. the night bellhop. the
only employc on duty in the front of the
hotel on the morning of the blaze, said he
never even saw one of the individual
escapes.
Miss Edith Miller, OF Philadelphia, one
of the guests. gave the inquiry a sensa-
tional turn at its outset by refusing to
answer questions from the jury. She was
in hystcrical condition, but managed to
tell how she was awakened by smoke in
her fourth-hoor room and remained Mt a
window until firemcn took her down a
ladder. She heard no telephone alarm
and did not know there was an Individual
escape in her room.
Miss Louise Murphy, Roland Park, Md.
denied that there was any telephone
alarm in her room She was awakened
by noise on the floor above.
Warren l.. Ridgway, owner of the Over
brook, said there were individual escapes
In all rooms when he leased the hotel to
Richard II. Mott, and two exterior fire
escapes. One Of these ran only to the
roof of the dining room, but there was
n ladder to reach the ground at the end
of the building.
Ridgway said. had been approved by the
Building Department.
Richard II. Mott lessee OF the Over
brook could not be present because of n
nervous collapse Frank Morales, po-
lice clerk, read statement in which
Mott said he was awakened by tcle-
phone call and Immediately afterward no.
titled of the fire by Miss Ella Lawrence,
the housekceper.
Mott admitted in his statement there
were neither fire hose nor fire gongs in
the buildings and that the elevator was
out of order.
Harry Dorazio, night engineer, who dis
covered the fire when 1t was small af.
fair in the bakeshop told how he ran
TO arouse Nicholas Deray. the chief en-.
gineer, and how they tried to fight the
blaze with the puny stream of a section OF
garden hose that was TOO short Dorazio
said 1t was then 4:45 o'clock.
81 asked Thomas Epps. the belboy.
whether he had sounded an alarm" De.
ray said, land he replied that he had"