156 COMMISSION ON BUILDING DISTRICTS 



The area " undetermined " should be definitely restricted, and the in re- 

 stricted area on the waterfront should be narrowed. 



Statement by Henry Moskowitz, President, Municipal Civil Service 



Commission, May 25, 1916 

 Exits in factory loft buildings 



1 have had experience as Secretary of the Joint Board of Sanitary 

 Control, which makes semi-annual inspections in the cloak and suit industry 

 and the dress and waist industry. 



The number of operatives in the busy season for the two industries, 

 I should say, is fifty thousand for the cloak and suit industry and thirty-five 

 thousand for the dress and waist industry, making a total of eighty-five 

 thousand operatives. 



The effect of congested factory conditions among the high loft 

 buildings is bad for a number of reasons, One of the chief difficulties in 

 these loft buildings is, the inadequate elevator accommodations. ' As a 

 consequence the girls are compelled to go up on the freight elevators in the 

 back of the building during the rush hours. It is very difficult to provide 

 adequate safety from fire in these buildings without a fire wall. This at 

 least the majority of them do not have. They simply have stairs and 

 fire escapes for exits. In general I think that the average factory loft 

 building is unsafe above the eighth floor. In case of a fire, the exit facilities 

 would be inadequate. 



In certain buildings employers have refused to order fire drills on 

 account of the danger attached to possible panic and also the danger of 

 actually walking down the stairs. 



The present form of fire escape is not only dangerous but it is difficult 

 to handle, especially in those factories where girls are working. The girls 

 are more nervous and more liable to become panic stricken than men. Then 

 the fire escape is very inadequate. 



The fireproof enclosed stairways, the fire towers, and even the so-called 

 smokeproof towers, in my judgment, are less smokeproof than advertised. 

 We have found in a great many cases that what was deemed an adequate 

 exit in case of fire proved inadequate under special circumstances. I long 

 ago came to the conclusion that we shall never have adequate safetv from 

 fire unless we have a fire wall or some arrangement on the principle of a 

 fire wall. 



I haven't found any fireproof building I could call reasonably sale. 



Lunch facilities in loft buildings 



The lunch service for these factory workers is not adequate from a 

 health standpoint. In some of the newer buildings there are provisions for 

 lunch rooms. But that depends upon the good will and the point of view 

 of the manufacturer. The rents are very high and they want to use the 

 maximum space. As a consequence the girls have in manv factories inade- 

 quate lunch rooms, so they eat their lunches at their machines, among the 

 garments that they are sewing. As a result they sometimes make grease 

 spots on the new garments. One of the frequent causes of dispute between 

 employer and worker is that the girl has made grease spots on the garments 

 while eating her lunch. 



Such public restaurants as may lie found in the locality are so jammed 



