by Lynne | Jul 31, 2012 | The Triangle Murders - Forensics
Forensic science, often called forensics, is the application of science to the legal system.
This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action. The word itself is derived from the Latin forensis, meaning “of or before the forum.” In Roman times, criminals would present their case before a group of individuals in the Forum.
Today, with the preponderance of CSI programs and movies, forensics is a household word. Law enforcement and crime-lab teams, however, view these programs as a hindrance since it colors the public’s (and the jury’s) view of the real work involved.
In 1911, fire forensics (in fact, all forensics) was in its infancy. In The Triangle Murders, Cormac Mead searched the two destroyed floors at the Triangle factory for evidence that would prove his wife was murdered. If he suspected arson, what would he have been looking for? Probably things similar to what fire investigators look for today when investigating fires: evidence of accelerants, igniters, pieces of a bomb and explosive residues (if an explosion is suspected), point of origin, and point of entry and exit of the arsonist (if arson is suspected.) Interestingly, unlike crime suspects who are innocent until proven guilty, fires are considered suspicious until proven otherwise.
An officer stands at the Asch Building’s 9th floor window after the Triangle fire. Sewing machines, drive shafts, and other wreckage of the Triangle factory fire are piled in the center of the blaze-scoured room. (Photographer: Brown Brothers, 1911, Copyright: Kheel Center, Cornell University, http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/.)
This officer could have been Cormac Mead.
The 240 employees sewing shirtwaists on the ninth floor had their escape blocked by paired sewing machines on 75-foot long tables, back-to-back chairs and work baskets in the aisles. Walking space was so inadequate that many had to waste precious time climbing over tables to get to the stairs, fire escape, elevators and windows that might lead to safety. (Photographer: Brown Brothers, 1911 Copyright: Kheel Center, Cornell University, http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/.)
It is also rumored that some doors were locked to keep the garment workers from stealing.
by Lynne | Jul 24, 2012 | The Triangle Murders - History
Short but Deadly Burn
Did you realize that the fire at the Triangle factory lasted only half an hour, from the initial spark to final burning embers?
Near closing time, the fire erupted on the eighth floor in a bin of scrap materials and fabrics. A steady flow of wind rushed through the elevator shafts from the street and fed the flames. Smoke began its way upward to the ninth floor. Garment workers, seamstresses, mostly women and young girls, raced to the exit door on Washington Place. It was locked.
Later, some claimed the doors were kept locked so the girls didn’t steal the fabrics. Within minutes the eighth and ninth floors were raging infernos. In my next blog, I’ll talk about the forensics of fire.
by Lynne | Jul 23, 2012 | Did You Know?
From TIME EXPOSURE: Did you know. . . ?
Dunker Church, famous scene of battle at Antietam, Sharpsburg, Maryland, 1863
. . . that many believe John Wilkes Booth was not the leader of the Lincoln assassination plot, and not just a zealot who acted on personal beliefs. Rather, he was a pawn in a larger conspiracy and was, perhaps, hired by an organization who had motives other than political?
. . . that Alexander Gardner, Civil War photographer and photojournalist extraordinaire, did indeed work in an official capacity with Allan Pinkerton and the new intelligence network that was the forerunner of the Secret Service?
. . . that on the eve of the first battle of Manassas in 1861, only one assistant surgeon was assigned to a regiment of twelve hundred men?
by Lynne | Jul 4, 2012 | Did You Know?
From The Triangle Murders:
Did you know that the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of March 25, 1911 was for ninety years the deadliest workplace disaster in New York history? 146 people were killed in the fire, 140 identified victims, 6 unidentified.
A year before the hundredth anniversary of the fire I was visiting my hometown of New York City and staying in Greenwich Village. On my walks in the neighborhood, I came across the Asch Building (now the Brown Building at NYU) on Greene Street and Washington Place.
I read the plaque on the building. I was hooked. I wanted to know more about the fire, how it happened, why it happened and why so many people died. So I started to research the facts and fictionalize a story around the disaster. But like my other books, the mystery that took place in the past had to be solved today by modern technology.
An officer stands at the Asch Building’s 9th floor window after the Triangle fire. Sewing machines, drive shafts, and other wreckage of the Triangle factory fire are piled in the center of the blaze-scoured room. (Photographer: Brown Brothers, 1911, Copyright: Kheel Center, Cornell University, http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/.)
The 240 employees sewing shirtwaists on the ninth floor had their escape blocked by paired sewing machines on 75-foot long tables, back-to-back chairs and work baskets in the aisles. Walking space was so inadequate that many had to waste precious time climbing over tables to get to the stairs, fire escape, elevators and windows that might lead to safety. (Photographer: Brown Brothers, 1911 Copyright: Kheel Center, Cornell University, http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/.)
