Eight New York factory workers found themselves unexpectedly imprisoned after the workday ended in March 1901.
The men, employees of the Manhattan Bagging Company on Sullivan Street, were still working on the upper floors when the last porter locked the building and went home. By the time they realized what had happened, every door was shut against them.
For three hours, the trapped workers tried to find a way out before resorting to shouting from the windows. Their cries finally reached a former employee, who alerted police. A patrolman had to fetch a 35-foot ladder from a fire truck company five blocks away before the men could climb down from the second story.
After their strange confinement, the freed workers headed straight for a restaurant.
Locked Doors Imprisoned Them
NEW YORK CITY, New York. — Eight men, employees of the Manhattan Bagging Company, at No. 140 Sullivan Street, were locked in the building for three hours last night, until a policeman got a 35-foot ladder and let them out.
The men were working on upper floors at 6 o’clock, when the last porter locked all the doors and left. When they found themselves locked in, they tried all sorts of devices to get out, and then shouted out the windows.
They at last made themselves heard by David Marler, a former employee, who told the police of the MacDougal Street Station.
Policeman Petty had to go to the quarters of Truck No. 20, five blocks away, for a ladder.
The men descended from the second story and went to a restaurant at once.
Source: New York Tribune. New York, N.Y. March 10, 1901.
