Evening star., 1944-07-08
Circus Fire-Fiehting
Facilities Inadequate,
investigator Says

investigator Says
BY the Associated Press.
HARTFORD, Conn, July g.
The death list of the Nations
greatest circus disaster was
placec at 152 today as authori-
ties proceeded swiftly with an
announced determination to fix
responsibility, If any, for the
tragic loss of life"
Although scores of performers,
workers and spectators already have
been questioned and five persons
charged with manslaughter, various
investigating agencies sought out
still others to tell their versions OF
Thursdays blazing inferno in the
Ringing Bros .-Barnum g. Bailey
big top.
The intention Of Investigators to
attempt to fix responsibility, as
we'll as determine the cause. was
announced by States Attorney Hugh
M. Alcorn, jr.. in a formal state
ment in which he said additional
arrests probably would be made
after an adjourned fire marshal's
hearing and coroners inquest.
Equipment Called Inadequate.
All persons connected with the
circus were ordered to remain avail
able pending the inquest, set for
Tuesday.
Mr.. Alcorn declared it appeared
from the preliminary inquiries that
there was inadequate fire-fighting
equipment" on the circus grounds,
manned by inadequate personnel"
There Is also in our possession"
he added in the statement, issued
late yesterday, information that
the tent itself had been in use only
since the road show started this sea-
son and that it had been treated
with paraffin which was diluted
with gasoline. making the entire
tent highly inflammable.
| Insurance Commissioner w. Ellery
Allyn also stepped into the inquiry
with an announcement that his de-
partment was looking into the public
liability insurance coverage on the
circus.
The amount OF damage resulting
from the quick-spreading flames,
which destroyed the tent and turned
5000 spectators into screaming
hysterical mass, has not been de-
termined, but the circus insurance
brokers announced at Sarasota, Fla.
last night that the loss was fully
covered.
| Members OF the firm of Ludwig
Il Walpole said the coverage in
cluded fire and liability, and that
excess coverage was carried by
Lloyds of London.
AS the investigations proceeded
the ordeal of trying to identity
burned and charred bodies neared
an end for sorroWing relatives and
friends. At the State Armory, con-
verted into a temporary morgue.
officials announced last night that
all but II Of the 127 bodies taken
there had been Identified.
The possibility remained. however,
that some of the bodies never would
be identified and Mayor William H
Mortensen said it might be neces-
sary to give a municipal funeral for
these.
Penicillin Shipment Expected.
The Mayor said that although
the park department favored a mass
burial OF identified bodies, he wanted
individual graves for all. Final de-
clsion will be withheld for a day or
two. he added, in hopes of further
ldentifications.
Among those identified last night
was Edwin G. Woodward. dean of
agriculture at the University of
Connecticut.
tMr. Woodward's brother
Thompson E. Woodward, lives at
680l Pineway drive. Hyattsville.
Md. and is employed in the Agri-
culture Departments Bureau of
Dairy InduStriesJ
Medical science. meanwhile. en-
ployed every known device in an
effort to save the lives Of the 225
injured. A shipment of penicillin
was expected to arrive today for
treatment of persons who failed to
respond to sulfa drugs.
Red Cross specialists in disaster
relief work came from Boston and
New York. Offers of help poured in
from many cities.
Many Methods Of Identificati ton.
The unidentified dead have been
removed to the refrigerated moreue
OF the Hartford Hospital.
The transfer was made necessary
by the intense heat in the State
Armory drill shed, which had been
used as a temporary morgue, DR..
Walter Weissenborn, county medical
examiner said.
approximately one-third of the
f1re victims were identified through
use of dental charts. some of them
sent by dentists hundreds of miles
from Hartford.
Abdominal operati ton scars also
aloed identification. In many cases,
the age OF victims was determined
by bone formation.
Rings, watches and other jewelry
proved especially helpful, number
OF the women wore initiated wedding
rings. In only few instances
clothing and shoes had not been
burned or torn from the bodies.
DR.. Weissenborn said today he
feared the remaining bodies never
would be identified, although par
ents and relatives still were being
admitted to the hospital morgue
this morning.
One mother identified her young
daughter by the color and texture
of few locks of hair.