Working in the mills and factories was dangerous in the past. There were no safety regulations and when a fire broke out, it was total mayhem. In the story reported below in 1907, six boys were found dead after a fire broke out in a cotton factory.
Murder of the Innocents Again
Cotton Factory Burned and Bodies of Six Cremated
Mill No. 1 of the extensive plant of the Cocheco Manufacturing company, manufacturers of cotton goods, burned today, causing a financial loss estimated between $500,000 and $600,000 and possibly a loss of life. The fire, the origin of which is unknown, broke out after 500 operatives began work and spread rapidly. Several workmen and women jumped from the windows sustaining injuries. Others were taken from windows in the upper stories. Persons thus rescued reported that some had been overcome by smoke in the burning building and firemen immediately began search, which was without result, until the flames drove them outside of the walls. Meanwhile officials of the mill are trying to locate all employees.
Six bodies have been found in the ruins of Cocheco mill. They were those of boys employed in the mule room.
Source: Albuquerque evening citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.), 26 Jan. 1907.
