Evening star., 1929-12-04
JAMES P. NOONAN
VICTIM OF BLAZE
Labor Leader SuccumbS to
Burns Received in Apart
ment Fire.

James P. Noonan, 50 years old, NTH
vice president of the American Fedora
ton Of Labor, died at the Emergency
Hospital today from burns sustained
when fire gutted the living room Of his
apartment at the Wisteria Mansions.
ll01 l. street, shortly before 4 o'clock
this morning.
Mr.. Noonan died at 9:45 am, five
hours after he was found lying in a
on the floor Of the bathroom in his
apartment. He was a member Of the
American committee at the world power
conference held In London in 1924, and
was president of the International
Brotherhood Of Electrical Workers.
Groans Awakened NeighbOrs.
Groans coming from the Noonan
apartment, located on the fourth floor
of the Wisteria Mansions, awakened
Mr.. and Mrs. I. Eisman, occupants of
neighboring apartment on the same
floor. Believing Mr. Noonan Il be Ill, they
summoned Emmett Stevens, colored ele-
vator boy, who opened the door with q
master key. Smoke poured from the
open doorway, while flames were seen
licking at the furnishing in the living
room beyond
Stevens made an effort to dash into
but he was beaten back by the flames.
fire alarm was turned in, while a
second followed soon after the arrival
Of the first apparatus.
Firemen discovered Mr.. Nconan living
In the bath room and carried him from
the blazing apartment. DR.. Francis
Gilfoy and members of Fire Rescue
Squad No. administered first-aid
treatment and ordered him removed to
the hospital. Little hope was held for
his recovery from the time he was ad-
mitted to the institution.
Fire Started in Couch.
The fire is believed to have originated
at the couch in the living room and It
Is presumed that Mr.. Noonan came in,
lay down upon the couch to take a
smoke and fell asleep. his cigarette
faIIlng on the couch and igniting it.
1t is presumed he awakened and
crawled into the bathroom to escape
from the burning room.
1t was said at his once in the
Machinists' Building. 1900 Fifteenth
street. this morning that Mr.. Noonan
had planned to attend railroad organ
ization meeting last night,
Firemen managed to confine the
blaze to the Noonan apartment.
Mr.. Noonan is survived by his widow.
who Is now in Florida. and two sons,
all of whom reside in st. Louis. Mrs.
Noonan made her home in that CITY.
1t is said, because of the numerous
travels of her husband to carry out his
many duties with the several organiza-
tions with which he is connected. e.
forts were being made to reach her
today.
Served on Many Committees. g.
Mr.. Noonan, who was born in St
Louis on December Is, 1878, has served
on many national committees includ-
ing Hoover'S st. Lawrence Waterway
commission, the United States commit.
tee on seasonal employment in build
Ing industry in 1924. Of which President
Hoover was q member; the national
public safety committee in 1924, the
industrial lighting committee Of the Ma
tional Research Society the same year,
the Penn Giant Power Commission, also
in 1924.
He has been president of the Inter-
national Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers since 1919 and q member of
the executive council of the American
Federation of Labor since 1924. Mr..
Noonan has served on the executive
council Of the building trades, Depart
years, while in 1922 he was q member
Of the jurisdictional board OF awards
for the building trades industry.
Mr.. Noonan was the labor delegate on
the American committee at the World
Peace Conference in London and he
was author Of the paper on "Labor's
Part in Power Production" which was
submitted to the conference. He has
been editor in chief of the Electrical
Workers journal, an ex-officio post, for
10 years.
He was an active member Of the
Benevolent and Protective Order Of
Elks. He also held membership in the
Congressional Country Club
Mr.. Noonan, the son of a farmer,
left school after completing the ele-
mentary grades and began work in
mill at the age of II. He quit his posi-
ton at the mill to enlist in the 9Th
United States Cavalry at the outbreak
of the Spanish American War, during
which he served as a private. At the
end of the war he entered the elec-
trical trade.