DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

BULLETIN 418

THE FIRE TAX AND

WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

IN THE UNITED STATES

BY

HERBERT M. WILSON

AND

JOHN L. COCHRANE

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1910

CONTENTS.

Purpose of the investigation...............................:...............

Scope and general results of inquiry.......................................

Cooperation by experts..............................,........'..............

Method of gathering statistics..............................................

Sources of statistics for cities..........................................

Sources of statistics for rural districts...................................

Sources of statistics showing cost of fire protection....................... 9

Results of the inquiry...................................................... 1.1

The fire waste in the United States...................................... 11

Amount of the fire tax............................................. 11

Analysis of fire losses in the United States.......................... 13

Losses on frame and brick buildings in city and country......... 13

Losses by conflagrations........................................ 15

Lives lost.................................................... 15

Causes of the fire waste in the United States........................ 16

Frame buildings............................................... 16

Faulty construction............................................. 18

Cost of fire protection............................................. 18

Cost of increased water supply.................................. 18

Excessive cost of maintaining fire departments................... 20

Cost of private fire protection................................... 20

Marine losses.............:.......................;................ 21

The fire waste in European cities. ......................i............... 21

European and American fire losses compared............................. 23

Excessive American fire loss........................................ 23

- Excessive per capita loss in cities ................................... 24

Excessive cost of fire protection in the United States..........:..... 24

How to reduce fire losses................................................ 25

Waste of natural resources by fire........................'.................... 26

Waste of structural materials other than that by fire......................... 28

Survey publications on structural materials................................ 29
TABLES.

Page. 

TABLE 1. Fire losses in the United States for 1907........................... 12

2. Annual fire losses in the United States for thirty-three years 1875-

1907...................:...................................... 13

3. Fire losses in brick, iron, and stone buildings in the United States

as compared with those in frame buildings..................... 16

4. Per capita fire loss for 1907 in eleven States where timber is scarce

and in eleven States where timber is plentiful.................. 17

5. Per capita fire losses for 1907 in the United States by geographical

divisions...................................................... 17

6. Cost of construction of waterworks systems, 1907.................. 18

7. Capital invested for fire protection and annual loss and expense on

account of fire in the United States in 1907..................... 20

8. Fire losses in cities of Europe .................................... 22

9. Fire losses in six European countries. ............................. 23

10. Comparison of loss and outlay in the United States on account of 

fires, with probable annual loss and expense if buildings were as 

nearly fireproof as in Europe ................................... 23

11. Per capita fire losses in American and European cities, classified

according to population......................................... 24

12. Fire losses in American and European cities of the same size...... 24

13. Comparison of annual cost of maintenance of fire departments in

European and American cities............................. i... 25

4
THE FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL 

MATERIALS IN THE UNITED STATES.

By H. M. WILSON and J. L. COCHRANE.

PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION.

The United States Government is the owner of buildings costing 

more than $300,000,000 and is spending each year more than 

$20,000,000 in new buildings. In the construction of these buildings the Government endeavors to maintain as high a standard of

efficiency as can be obtained with economical design, for all of them 

are intended to be of a permanent and enduring nature. This work 

is of such magnitude and importance that the Government can afford 

to take no risks either in methods of construction or in materials to 

be used; therefore it has been found necessary to make a general 

investigation of materials used in construction work.

An important part of the investigation is designed to show the 

fire resistance or the fireproof qualities of the materials employed and 

their strength at different temperatures. The Government does not 

insure its buildings against loss by fire but endeavors to provide 

against such loss by making them fireproof, for the expense of insurance would be very great. It is estimated that if the public 

buildings of the United States were insured it would cost the Government more than $600,000 each year.

The Geological Survey, through its technologic branch, has been 

charged with the conduct of these investigations, which include tests 

of the fire-resisting and fireproofmg qualities of building stones, brick, 

architectural tile, reinforced concrete, and other materials tests 

made with a view to procuring information for the Supervising 

Architect of the Treasury, who has under his care buildings valued 

at more than $200,000,000. In some of these tests the materials 

are subjected to ordinary fire temperature about 1,000° F. and 

to conflagration temperatures of about 1,700°; and the heated 

material is then drenched with water from a fire hose and its behavior 

is observed. Measurements are also made of the rate at which temperatures are transmitted from fire on one side to the other side of 

walls constructed of various materials and of different thicknesses. 

The purpose of these investigations is to meet the Government's own

5
6 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

needs as the greatest consumer of structural materials, but the 

results will be generally useful to States and municipalities and to 

the people of the whole country.

The results already obtained direct attention to the necessity of 

using cheaper fireproof materials, so that property owners may be 

encouraged to construct buildings that will better resist fire. They 

also show the necessity of better building codes in cities and especially 

of a better enforcement of the codes already enacted if the present 

enormous fire losses are to be diminished. -The investigations indicate that fireproof buildings will be constructed at less expense in 

the future than in the past, and that the difference in cost between 

fireproof and inflammable buildings will soon cease to be an encouragement to flimsy construction.

SCOPE AND GENERAL RESULTS OF INQUIRY.

The contrast between the small losses by fire to government buildings, due to the great care taken to make them fireproof, and the 

immense losses reported from the country as a whole led the Geological Survey to conduct an inquiry into fire losses in the United States 

and their exact cost to the people. This inquiry covered not only 

the value of the property destroyed by fire but also the cost of maintaining fire departments, the amount of insurance premiums paid 

less the amounts returned, the cost of protective agencies, the additional cost of water supplies, etc.

The investigation disclosed the fact that the total cost of fires in 

the United States in 1907 amounted to almost one-half the cost of 

new buildings constructed in the country for the year. The total 

cost of the fires, excluding that of forest fires and marine losses but 

including excess cost of fire protection due to bad construction, and 

excess premiums over insurance paid, amounted to over $456,435,000,

a tax on the people exceeding the total value of the gold, silver, 

copper, and petroleum produced in the United States in that year. 

The cost of building construction in forty-nine leading cities of the 

United States reporting a total population of less than 18,000,000 

amounted, in 1907, to $661,076,286, and the cost of building construction for the entire country in the same year is conservatively 

estimated at $1,000,000,000. Thus it will be seen that nearly onehalf the value of all the new buildings constructed within one year 

is destroyed by fire. The total fire cost in this country is five times 

as much per capita as in any country of Europe. This fire cost was 

greater than the value of the real property and improvements in any 

one of the following States: Maine, West Virginia, North Carolina, 

North Dakota, South Dakota, Alabama, Louisiana, Montana.

The actual fire losses due to the destruction of buildings and their 

contents amounted to $215,084,709, a per capita loss for the United
COOPERATION BY EXPERTS. 7

States of $2.51. The per capita losses in the cities of the six leading 

European countries amounted to but 33 cents, or about one-eighth 

of the per capita loss sustained in the United States. In addition 

to this waste of wealth and natural resources, 1,449 persons were 

killed and 5,654 were injured in fires.

COOPERATION BY EXPERTS.

The data on which the present report is based were the result of 

a statistical inquiry which involved the mailing of about 20,000 circulars and the tabulation and study of the resulting replies. Careful 

study was also made of the statistics gathered by the Fire Underwriters' Association .in its reports on conflagration hazards, the 

statistics of the Spectators' Year Book, the Chronicle fire tables, 

and the census reports.

As a preliminary to this inquiry, personal interviews were had, 

early in 1908, with a number of persons qualified to advise as to the 

scope and character of the investigation. Valuable suggestions were 

received regarding the inquiry into fire losses from Messrs. Charles A. 

Hexamer, chairman board of consulting experts, National Board of 

Fire Underwriters, Philadelphia; C. U. Crosby, chairman National 

Fire Protective Association, New York; H. K. Miller, general agent 

National Board of Fire Underwriters' Association, New York; 

George W. Babb, chairman executive committee, National Board of 

Fire Underwriters' Association, New York; J. E. Curtis, consultingengineer, Fire Protective Association, New York; and W. H. Merrill, 

manager Underwriters' Laboratories, Chicago.

Advice and suggestions regarding the nature of the inquiry and 

the conditions affecting the design of public water supplies, with a 

view to separating the items which may properly be considered as 

chargeable to domestic service and ordinary fire protection from the 

additional expenditures involved in procuring water supplies adequate 

to the prevention of conflagrations, were received from Prof. George 

F. Swain, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mass.; 

Messrs. John R. Freeman, consulting hydraulic engineer, Providence, 

R. I.; John T. Fanning, consulting engineer, Minneapolis, Minn.; 

Ben C. Adkins, city engineer, St. Louis, Mo.; Walter H. McFarland, 

superintendent water department, Washington, D. C.; and a number 

of other hydraulic engineers and superintendents of waterworks, who 

offered to furnish valuable information and to comment on the replies received.

To all of the above and to the many others who furnished assistance and advice in connection with replies to the circulars of inquiry 

the authors are indebted and wish to express their regret that the 

limited time and funds available have prevented the gathering of 

more complete data.
8 FIKE TAX AND WASTE OP STRUCTURAL MATERIALS. 

METHOD OF GATHERING STATISTICS. 

SOURCES OF STATISTICS FOR CITIES.

Requests for official records of fire loss were sent to the chiefs of 

fire departments in 5,175 incorporated places in the United States 

(all places having a population of 1,000 or more), with the result 

that 1,000 replies were received. Four thousand second requests 

were sent out, and to these 1,796 fire chiefs responded, making a 

total of 2,796 cities and villages heard from out of 5,175. These 

2,796 cities and villages.contain a population of 34,102,453.

A sample of the form sent to fire chiefs is given below.

No. ...... « (Confidential.)

[Return this sheet to the United States .Geological Survey (Technologic Branch).]

STATISTICS OP LOSSES BY FIRE AND CAUSES OF FIRES DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1907. 

City, ............ County, ............ State, ............

LOSSES BY FIRE.

Total fire loss on buildings, $.......... On contents, $..........

Fires in fireproof buildings (brick, iron, stone), No. ...... Loss on these buildings,

|.......... On contents, $..........

Fires in partially fireproof buildings, No. ...... Loss on buildings, $.......... On

contents, $..........

Fires in frame buildings, No. ...... Loss on buildings, $.......... On contents,

Fires confined to building or place of origin, No. ...... Fires extending to adjoining

buildings, No. ......

Losses on buildings and contents in which fires originated, $.......... Exposure

losses, i. e., on adjoining buildings and contents, $..........

Lives lost in fires (including firemen), No. ...... Persons injured, No. ......

Total cost of maintenance of fire departments, $........ Cost of private fire protection, automatic sprinklers, watchmen, etc., in your city, $..........

CAUSES OF FIRES.

Defective flues, No. ....... Incendiary, No. ....... Unknown, No. ......

Date, ............

Signature of the person furnishing information: ...................................

NOTE: Please send your annual report for 1907, in addition to answering these 

questions, to H. M. WILSON, Chief Engineer, Technologic Branch, U. S. Geological 

Survey, Washington, D. C.

It was with the greatest difficulty that figures were obtained showing separately the losses on frame and brick buildings, on buildings 

and contents, and the losses on buildings in which fire'did not originate, 

many of the fire chiefs sending merely an estimate of the total loss. 

After much correspondence 2,300 out of the 2,796 chiefs who replied 

originally gave the detailed figures.
METHOD OF GATHERING STATISTICS. 9 

SOURCES OF STATISTICS FOR RURAL DISTRICTS.

In order to obtain a correct estimate of the losses in the rural districts, 5,000 blanks were sent to postmasters located in counties that 

were strictly rural, the aim being to exclude all counties that contained 

large villages. The blanks were apportioned among the various 

States according to their percentages of rural population, the State 

with a large farming population getting more than the State whose 

population centered mainly in the cities. Responses were received 

from 1,898 postmasters, representing a population of 1,410,383.

A sample of the form sent to postmasters is given below.

No. ...... . (Confidential.)

[Return this sheet to the United States Geological Survey (Technologic Branch).]

STATISTICS OF LOSSES BY FIRE AND CAUSES OP FIRES DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1907.

Township or district, ............ State, ............ Population, ............

LOSSES BY FIRE.

Total fire loss on buildings, $.......... On contents, $..........

Frame buildings burned, No. ...... Loss on frame buildings, $.......... On contents, $..........

Loss from haystack fires, $..........

Lives lost in fires, No. ......

Persons injured, No. ......

CAUSES OF FIRES.

Lightning, No. .;..... Incendiary, No. ...... Lamps, No. ...... Unknown,

No. ......

Date, ............

Signature of the person furnishing information: ..................................

Thus it will be seen that reports were received from 4,694 cities, 

villages, and rural communities having a total population of 

35,512,836.

SOURCES OF STATISTICS SHOWING COST OF FIRE PROTECTION.

In order to ascertain the cost imposed upon the country by fires 

above that represented by simple fire waste or destruction of property 

and the cost of public fire fighting departments, insurance losses, etc., 

careful statistical inquiry was made as to the additional cost of constructing and maintaining city water supplies required for protection 

against conflagration above .the cost requisite to proper domestic supply, street sprinkling, and the incidental fire service necessary to 

restrict a fire within the building in which it originates. Information was also procured regarding the cost of private fire protective 

measures such as automatic fire sprinklers, fire extinguishers and 

15693 Bull. 418 10 2
10 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

grenades, private watchmen's services; imposed by the risks of inflammable construction, and the losses to the country from marine fires 

and disasters.

Endeavors to procure data showing the cost of private fire protection were not very successful, for the statements received from the 

manufacturers of automatic sprinklers, fire extinguishers, etc., were 

only estimates of the cost of private watch service derived from special 

investigations.

Data of losses from marine disasters were procured by obtaining 

the total amount of insurance paid by American companies and the 

total amount paid by foreign companies doing United States business.

Five thousand seven hundred blank reports were mailed to engineers and superintendents of waterworks in an endeavor to obtain 

information with respect to the cost of constructing each plant, the 

amount chargeable to domestic service, and the amount chargeable 

to fire service, as shown in the following blank:

No. ......

[Keturn this sheet to the United States Geological Survey (Technologic Branch).]

1. Name of city, ............ State, ............

2. Population, ............ Year, 19..

3. a. Total estimated cost of distributing system, $..........

b. Number of feet of various sizes of pipe' in distributing system or tons of metal

in same, ..........

c. Estimated cost of distributing system if necessaity for fire service were omitted

and only domestic supply required, $..........

d. Weight of metal under same conditions, .......... tons.

4. a. Total estimated cost of water supply, by pumping or.reservoirs and gravity flow, 

for above distributing system, $..........

b. Estimated cost for domestic requirements only (see 3 c), $.....'.....

5. a. Total number of fire hydrants in your system (3 a), ......

b. How many could be dispensed with (see 3 c), ......

6. If you have or contemplate a separate high-pressure fire system, what is its estimated value? $..........

The above data may, if you prefer, be given on the basis of cost per capita for each 

item.

(Signed) .............................

Address ........................

............. 1908. , .

Fifteen hundred replies were received, only a small percentage of 

which were complete enough for use in tabulation. The total cost 

of such water supplies was therefore obtained from the census reports 

on municipal finance for cities having a population of over 30,000 and 

owning waterworks; the remainder of the data was obtained from 

the Spectator's Yearbook;
BESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 11

The total cost of waterworks systems in the United States, as thus 

determined, was segregated to show the total cost in each of five 

geographical districts of the United States, namely, the Middle and 

New England States/ the Southern and Southeastern' States, the 

Central States, the Rocky Mountain or arid region, and the Pacific 

Slope States, as the cost differs greatly in different sections of the 

country.

The total cost of the waterworks systems in each of the geographical divisions was .then subdivided to show the total cost in cities 

according to the following classification by population: (1) 100,000 

or more; (2) 30,000 to 100,000; (3) 5,000 to 30,000; (4) under 5,000.

This same classification was followed in tabulating the reports 

received from engineers and superintendents who gave in detail the 

information sought. This detailed information for each geographical 

division and each class of cities was then applied to the total cost of

waterworks systems for the corresponding geographical divisions and 

class of cities.

The statistics gathered show the additional cost necessitated by 

fire protection. These results are not based on the idea that waterworks are constructed for two purposes of equal importance, namely, 

domestic water service and fire protection service; nor on the assumed cost of constructing a waterworks system for fire protection 

alone; they are presented rather with the idea of showing how much 

additional expense was incurred in construction in order to secure 

ample protection against conflagrations.

RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY.

THE FIRE WASTE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

AMOUNT OF THE FIRE TAX.

The 2,976 cities and villages from which reports were received, with 

a population aggregating 34,102,453, reported a fire loss of $86,476,029, 

a per capita loss of $2.54; the postmasters in rural districts reported 

a total loss of $3,519,769, a per capita loss of $2.49; making a total 

loss of $89,995,798, a per capita loss for cities, villages, and rural 

districts from which returns were received of $2.51, an index sum 

that would give an aggregate loss for the United States in 1907 of 

$215,084,709. The significance of these figures is realized when it is 

known that the average per capita loss in the cities of the six leading 

nations of Europe amounts to 33 cents.

The total loss on buildings in the United Stateswas $109,156,894 and 

on contents $105,927,815. There were fires in 36,140 brick, iron, and 

stone buildings, with a loss of $31,092,687 on the buildings and 

$37,332,580 on the contents, and in 129,117 frame buildings, with a loss 

of $78,064,207 on the buildings and $68,595,235 on the contents. In
12 FIEE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

cities and villages with a population of 1,000 or more there were 

6,324 fires that extended beyond the building of origin, with a total 

exposure loss of $13,913,694. The loss on fires that were confined 

to the building of origin in the cities and villages amounted to 

$93,179,589.

In addition to the great loss of property, 1,449 persons lost 'their 

lives in fires during the year and 5,654 were injured.

In discussing this waste, Mr. Charles Whiting Baker, editor of the 

Engineering News, New York, in an address before the national 

engineering societies on "Conservation of natural resources," March 

24, 1909, said: .

"The buildings consumed, if placed on lots of 65 feet frontage, 

would line both sides of a street extending from New York to Chicago. 

A person journeying along this street of desolation would pass in 

every thousand feet a ruin from which an injured person was taken. 

At every three-quarters of a mile in this journey he would encounter 

the charred remains of a human being who had been burned to death."

The fire losses are summarized in Table 1.

TABLE 1. Fire losses in the United States for 1907. 

[Statistics gathered by the United States Geological Survey.]

Total fire loss. ................................................

Buildings. . ...................:..........................

Brick, etc., buildings . ........................................

Buildings. ...............................................

Contents .................................................

Frame buildings .............................................

Buildings. ...............................................

Number of fires .................................

Number of fires in frame buildings ............... . .

Loss per capita. ..............................................

Total.

$215,084,709

109,156,894 

105, 927, 815

68,425,267

31,092,687 

37,332,580

146,659,442

78,064,207 

68,595,235

165,257

36, 140 

129, 117

2.51

Urban.

8107,093,283

50,173,625 

56,919,558

48,908,744

19, 816, 474 

29,092,270

58,184,539

30,357,151 

27,827,388

105, 406

25, 297 

80, 109

2.54

Rural.

$107,991,426

58,983,269 

49, 008, 157

19,516,523

11,276,213 

8,240,310

88,474,903

47, 707, 056 

40,767,847

59,851

10,843 

49,008

2.49

The total loss from fire in the United States during 1907, 

$215,084,709, represents a waste of nearly $600,000 for every day of 

the year, of $25,000 for every hour of the day. The term "waste" 

is used because the fire loss is absolutely irretrievable and constitutes 

a tremendous drain upon the natural resources of the country. The 

insurance on a burned building does not bring back the property 

that was destroyed; it simply equalizes the loss between all others 

whose property is insured. And the money paid by the insurance 

companies does not by any means cover the total losses sustained. 

Some underwriters declare that from 75 to 80 per cent of all property
EESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 13

is insured, but two state fire marshals disagree with this statement 

after tabulating the fire losses for their states. D. S. Creamer, the 

state fire marshal of Ohio, finds that but 52 per cent of the property 

is covered by insurance. This statement seems to be borne out by 

the annual report of the National Board of Fire Underwriters for 

1907, which gives as the total losses paid by all companies during the 

year, $114,164,469.

The fire waste for the last thirty-three years, according to the 

National Board of Fire Underwriters, reached the tremendous total 

of $4,484,326,831.

Fearful as it is to contemplate this great destruction of the natural 

resources of this country, the situation becomes more appalling when 

it is realized that this waste is increasing by leaps and bounds with 

each succeeding year. The National Board of Fire Underwriters 

gives the following estimates of the fire waste for the last thirty-three' 

years:

TABLE 2. Annual fire losses in tne United States for thirty-three years, 1875-1907.

[Compiled toy the National Board of Fire Underwriters.]

Year.

1875................

1876................

1877................

1878................

1879................

1880................

1881................

1882................

1883................

1884................

1885................

Loss.

$78,102,285

64,630,600

68,265,800

64,315,900

77,703,700

74,643,400

81,280,900

84,505,024

100, 149, 228

110,008,611

102,818,796

Year.

1886...............

1887.........'......

1888...............

1889...............

1890...............

1891 ...............

1892...............

1893...............

1894...............

1895...............

1896...............

Loss.

8104,924,750

120,283,055

110,885,665

123,046,833

108,993,792

143,764,967

151,516,098

167,544,370

140,006,484

142,110,233

118,737,420

Year.

1897...............

1898...............

1899...............

1900...............

1901...............

1902...............

1903...............

1904...............

1905...............

1907.......:.......

Loss.

$116,354,575

130,593,905

153,597,830

160,929,805

165,817,810

161,078,040

145,302,155

229,198,050

165,221,650

199,383,300

In the last thirty-three years, therefore, as shown by Table 2, the 

total value of property destroyed by fire amounted to $4,484,000,000, 

and the figures obtained in this inquiry show that it is reasonable to 

assume that fully as much money was spent in fire protection, making a total of almost $9,000,000,000 in thirty-three years.

ANALYSIS OF FIRE LOSSES IN THE UNITED STATES. 

LOSSES ON FRAME AND BRICK BUILDINGS IN CITY AND COUNTRY.

In an analysis of the fire loss the fact stands out prominently that 

much of it is due to fires that extend beyond the limit of the buildings in which they started. It is impossible from the figures obtained 

during the inquiry to give any definite statement as to the amount 

of the losses due to exposure, but some years ago prominent underwriters estimated that at least 27 per cent of the fire loss comes 

from fires that extend beyond the buildings in which they originate. 

These losses are undoubtedly due to the inflammable construction of
14 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

buildings, for in Europe, where fireproof construction prevails, there is 

no such loss from this source, fires being more readily confined to the 

buildings in which they started. It is even more notable that only 

$68,000,000 of the loss.in the United States was on buildings of brick, 

concrete, stone, and other slow-burning construction material, while 

double that amount, or about $148,000,000, was on frame buildings.

It will be seen from Table 1 (p. 12) that the loss is rather evenly 

divided between the urban and the rural population, the total loss 

in the cities and villages amounting to $107,093,283 and in the 

rural districts to $107,991,426. The total urban population is estimated at 42,160,710 and the rural at 43,162,051. The big losses 

in the cities and villages are not surprising, for in these are located 

many large buildings filled with millions of dollars' worth of property. 

These buildings are subject to an additional risk because they adjoin 

or are near one another. In the rural districts the buildings are 

widely separated and contain property that does not compare in 

value with that in the cities, yet the losses are as great in these 

districts. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this condition 

is that the remarkable efficiency of the fire departments of the cities 

prevents a much greater loss than really occurs and that the absence 

of fire-fighting apparatus in the rural districts permits the loss in 

fires to be total.

This fact is plainly shown in the total building loss of the country, 

the fire departments keeping the loss in cities and villages down to 

$50,173,625, while fires in the rural districts consumed buildings 

valued at $58,983,269.

The contents loss in the cities and villages was $56,919,658 as 

against $49,008,157 in the rural districts, which again proves the 

contention in spite of the great loss in the rural districts, as it is well

known that the value of the property in city buildings is many times 

greater than that in buildings in rural communities.

The losses on brick, stone, and steel buildings in the cities and 

villages amounted to $19,816,474 and on contents to $29,092,270; in 

the rural districts the losses on these buildings were $11,276,213 

and on the contents $8,240,310. The much heavier losses in the 

cities and villages on the brick, stone, and steel buildings are undoubtedly due to the few buildings of this character in the rural 

districts in comparison to the number in the cities.

The losses on frame buildings in the cities and villages amounted 

to $30,357,151 and on the contents to $27,827,388; in the farming 

communities the losses on these buildings reached a total of 

$47,707,056 and on the contents $40,767,847. This once more tells 

of the efficiency of the fire departments in coping with the flames 

in cities and villages and the utter lack of fire protection in the rural 

districts.
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY.. 15 

LOSSES BY CONFLAGRATIONS.

Since the year 1866 the losses by conflagrations in the United States 

have amounted to $936,551,135, according to tables prepared by 

the National Board of Fire Underwriters. By "conflagrations" is 

meant all fires involving a loss of half a million or more dollars. 

According to the same authority the conflagrations of 1907 cost the 

United States $18,475,000. The loss by conflagration in 1908 exceeded that of the preceding year by a large sum, one conflagration 

alone, that at Chelsea, Mass., on April 12 and 13, involving an insurance loss of $8,846,879, as reported by the underwriting companies 

to the Massachusetts insurance commissioner.

The notable conflagrations of the United States have been those 

at Chicago in 1871; Boston, 1872; Baltimore, 1904; and San Francisco on April 18, 1906. The earthquake and fire at San Francisco 

resulted in a total property loss of $350,000,000, exceeding in amount 

that of any previous similar disaster in the history of the world.

The fact that no other country suffers such enormous conflagration 

losses has led to a general investigation of the causes by fire underwriters, fire marshals, officials of States and municipalities, and 

students of economic conditions, and the conclusion reached is that 

the great loss is due mainly to poor and defective construction of 

buildings and equipment. The investigation has further disclosed 

the probability that an increase in the number and severity of conflagrations may be expected until there is a decided improvement 

in methods of construction.

The danger of conflagration is present in every city and village 

of the United States, and with it the possibility of large loss of life. 

The most efficient fire department in the country is ^powerless when 

once a fire gets under considerable headway in a locality where 

bad construction prevails.

The Ohio fire marshal, in his annual report for 1907,.in urging 

new building codes for Cleveland and Cincinnati, the two largest 

cities of the State, says: "Either city may at any time suffer a 

conflagration costing $300,000,000."

The October, 1908, quarterly .of the National Fire Protection 

Association says:

The average American city is full of fire traps. Buildings of great areas without 

fire cut-offs, with large floor openings, with unprotected windows, and with very 

combustible contents are too numerous to prove the exception to any rule. These 

are conflagration breeders. Fire travels through them rapidly and under certain 

conditions can get beyond even the best fire department, and, sweeping through the 

unprotected windows of surrounding buildings, will soon cause a conflagration.

LIVES LOST.

During the year 1907, according to information gathered by the 

United States Geological Survey, fires caused the death of 1,449 

persons and the injury of 5,654. These figures are incomplete 

and perhaps do not represent more than half the persons who were
16 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

victims of fires. Many fire chiefs of large cities failed to report any 

deaths because such were not properly included in their annual 

reports. It is safe to assume that with the fire losses of the United 

States from five to seven times as great as those in Europe, the 

number of persons killed and injured here is from five to seven times 

greater than in Europe. The cause of this again, in many instances, 

is faulty construction of buildings and inappreciation on the part of 

cities of the responsibility to safeguard the lives of their citizens, or 

ignorance of what is demanded to protect against fire.

The fire at the Iroquois theater in Chicago, December 30, 1903, in 

which 600 persons lost their lives, was a terrible object lesson, yet 

this was not sufficient to stop these disasters. January 13, 1908, 

fire in an opera house at Boyertown, Pa., cost the lives of nearly 200 

women and children. Two months later, March 4, 1908, 165 children were burned to death in a schoolhouse at Collinwood, Ohio. If 

the buildings destroyed had been properly constructed and equipped 

none of these lives would have been lost.

CAUSES OF THE FIRE WASTE IN THE UNITED STATES. 

FRAME BUILDINGS.

The great fire waste in the United States is undoubtedly due to 

the predominance of frame buildings. In most European cities 

frame buildings are positively prohibited within the limits of municipalities, and but very few are erected in the rural districts, owing to 

the scarcity and the high price of timber. In the United States the 

conditions have been exactly reversed. Lumber, at least until 

recently, has been the cheaper material, besides being more easily 

worked than brick, stone, or steel. The result has been that the 

greater number of the homes of the country and many factory buildings, warehouses, etc., have been made out of lumber.

Or the total losses sustained in the United States in 1907 more 

than two-thirds' was due to the construction of frame buildings. 

The exact losses were $146,695,442 in frame buildings and $68,425,267 

in brick, stone, and steel buildings, as shown by Table 3.

TABLE 3. Fire losses in the United States in 1907 in brick, iron, and stone buildings, as 

compared with those in frame buildings.

[Statistics gathered toy the United States Geological Survey.]

Number of fires in frame buildings. .......................................... 129,117

Number of fires in brick, iron, and stone buildings.......................... 36,140

Building loss. ................................................................

Losses on 

brick, iron, 

and stone 

buildings.

331,092,687

37,332,580

68,425,267

Losses on 

frame 

buildings.

878,064,207

68,595,442

146,659,649
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 17

Another illustration of the influence of frame buildings on the fire 

loss of the country is suggested by grouping eleven States which are 

practically treeless and comparing them with eleven States in which 

there is still an abundance of timber, the argument being that there 

will be a greater proportion of frame buildings in the States where 

lumber is plentiful because of its cheaper price. The States in which 

there is a supply of lumber show an increased per capita loss of 59 

cents over the per capita of the treeless States, as seen by Table 4.

TABLE 4. Per capita fire loss for 1907 in eleven States where timber is scarce and in 

eleven States where timber is plentiful.

[Statistics gathered by the United States Geological Survey.]

Group 1. States In which timber Is scarce:

Iowa. Illinois, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, 

South Dakota, Rhode island, Kansas, Nebraska, and North

Group 2. States in which timber is plentiful: 

Washington, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Arkansas, 

Michigan, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon, and North Carolina.

Total 

population.

16,785,460

25,569,533

Total 

fire loss.

$38,606,558

73,895,950

Loss per 

capita.

$2.30

2.89

The remarkable feature is the per capita loss in the South-Central 

States Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, namely, $3.66, more than $1 in 

excess of the per capita loss in any of the other divisions. All of 

the States in this division except Oklahoma contain much timber 

and therefore many frame buildings. These States also have the 

handicap of inefficient fire protection as compared with the States 

of the North and East. The total losses and the loss per capita 

according to geographic'divisions are shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5. Per capita fire losses for 1907 in the United States by geographical divisions. 

[Statistics gathered by the United States Geological Survey.]

Geographic division.

North Atlantic:

Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania ....

South Atlantic:

Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida .....

North Central:

Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa,

Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas..

South Central:

Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas,

Oklahoma, Arkansas .................... J ..................

Western:

Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah,

Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and California.......

Total population.

23,779,013

11,574,988

29,026,645

16,368,558

4,783,557

Total fire 

loss.

859,447,532

25,349,223

68,793,148

59,908,922

12,676,426

Fire loss 

per 

capita.

$2.50

2.19

2.37

3. 66

2.65
18 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

FAULTY CONSTRUCTION.

Although the prevailing use of lumber as a material of construction is one cause of the great fire waste of the United States, there 

is another cause lying back of this faulty construction and equipment. The list of causes of fires is headed by defective chimneys, 

flues, fireplaces, and heating and lighting apparatus faults of 

construction and equipment. Matches, sparks, and explosions figure 

prominently in the list and are followed by incendiarism, electricity, 

and lightning. Nearly one-fourth of the fires are labeled "unknown 

cause," which indicates forcibly the listless attitude not only of the 

general public toward this waste, but also of the men who are 

directly charged with protecting property against fire the officials 

of municipalities and others.

COST OF FIRE PROTECTION.

The incidental losses by fire comprise the insurance loss the difference between the total premiums paid and the amounts paid to 

the insured; the annual expense of so much of the city water-supply 

service as is primarily necessary to furnish fire protection, in excess 

of the service estimated as necessary for domestic consumption; the 

annual expense of fire departments, and the annual expense of 

private fire protection.

COST OF INCREASED WATER SUPPLY.

To the question, What proportion of the cost of construction of 

waterworks should be legitimately charged to domestic service and 

what proportion to fire-protection service? engineers generally will 

reply that the cost should be equally divided except in the larger 

cities, where a much greater proportion should be charged to domestic 

service.

The results of this inquiry, incomplete.though it is, would indicate

that, for the whole United States, an average of 22 per cent of 

the total expenditure for public water supplies, or less than onefourth of the total cost of waterworks systems, is due to additional 

supplies necessary for protection against fires of such magnitude 

as may be propagated beyond the building of origin. The distribution of the cost of waterworks systems is shown in Table 6.

TABLE 6. Cost of construction of waterworks systems, 1907.

CLASSIFICATION BY SIZE OF CITIES.

100,000 and over. ........................

30,000 to 100,000. ........................

5,000 to 30,000. ..........................

Under 5,000. ............................

Cost per 

capita.

$27. 21

32.72

29.06

23.60

16.59

Total cost 

of system.

$1,129,247,532

591,222,244

184, 803, 174

235,718,456

117,503,268

Amount 

chargeable 

to domestic 

service.

$883, 575, 856

501,528,003

141,922,615

160,973,462

79,151,776

Amount 

chargeable 

to fire 

service.

3245,671,676

89,694,241

42, 880, 559

74, 744, 996

86,351,492

Cost of 

entire distributing 

system.

$468,022,552

223, 965, 694

86,195,257

102,127,820

55, 733, 781
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 19

TABLE 6. Cost of construction of waterworks systems, 1907 Con tinned v 

CLASSIFICATION BY SIZE OF CITIES-Continuecl.

Total for United States...

30,000 to 100,000................

5,000 to 30,000..................

Under 5,000....................

'

Total for United States...

5,000 to 30,000..................

Under 5,000....................

Total tons 

of pipe.

7,097,800

2,940,147 

1,690,756 

1,095,237 

765, 660

Distributing 

system 

chargeable 

to domestic 

service.

$340,785,884

172, 885, 262 

62,772,404 

67,167,220 

37,960,998

Source of 

water 

supply, 

domestic.

$542,789,972

320,642,741 

79, 150, 211 

93,806,242 

41,190,778

Source of 

 water 

supply, 

fire.

§66,482,220

10,426,609 

12, 128, 180 

30,282,556 

13,644,869

Tons of 

pipe, 

domestic.

5,080,873

2, 124, 536 

1,261,173 

1, 174, 753 

520,411

Number of hydrants.

420,394

130, 366 

70, 756 

131,713 

87,559

Distributing 

system 

chargeable 

to fire.

$127,236,668

51,080,432 

23,422,853 

34,960,600 

17,772,783

Number of hydrants, 

fire 

service.

350,152

82,462 

63,494 

118,773 

85,423

Tons of 

pipe, fire.

2,016,927

815,611 

435,583 

520, 484 

245,249

Cost of 

hydrants, 

fire service.

$29,761,400

8,246,200 

5,079,520 

9,501,840 

6,933,840

Source of 

water 

supply.

8609,272,192

339,069,350 

91.276,397 

124,089,798 

54,835,647

Value of established or 

contemplated 

high-pressure 

fire system.

$22,191,388

19,941,388 

2,250,000

CLASSIFICATION BY GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS.

Cost per 

capita.

Total cost 

of system.

Amount 

chargeable 

to domestic

service.

Amount

chargeable

to fire

service.

Cost of 

entire distributing 

system.

Total for United States. $27.21 $1,129,247,532 $883,575,856 $245,671,676 $468,022,552

Middle and New England States........

Central States...........................

Southern and Southeastern States.......

Rocky Mountain and Western States....

Pacific Slope States......................

32.19

20.35

19:34 

63.77 

28.96

623,221,159

308,163,578

75,737,475

60,509,780

61,615,540

513,311,626

222,577,226

52,755,453

48,402,652

46,528,899

109,909,533

85,586,352

22,982,022

12,107,128

15,086,641

221,338,976

158,648,237

36,362,061

25,920,674

25,752,604

Total tons 

of pipe.

Distributing

system

chargeable

to domestic

service.

Tons of

Pipe,

domestic.

Distributing 

system

chargeable 

to fire.

Tons of 

pipe, fire.

Source of 

water 

supply.

Total for United States...

Middle and New England States 

Central States.................

Southern and Southeastern

States.......................

Rocky Mountain and Western

States.......................

Pacific Slope States............

7,097,800 $340,785,884 5,080,873 $127,236,668 2,016,927 609,272,192

2,897,936

2,747,968

576,568

457,639

417,689

167,435,756

111,455,490

24,467,490

18,979,767

18,447,381

2,117,261

1,925,764

398,775

323,624

315,449

53,903,220

47,192,747

11,894,571

6,940,907

7,305,223

780,075

822,204

177,793

134,015

102,240

374,435,475

134,312,281

34,619,874

30,903,186

35,001,376

Source of

water

supply,

domestic.

Source of

water

supply,

fire.

Number of hydrants.

Number of hydrants,

fire 

service.

Cost of 

hydrants, 

fire service.

Value of established or 

contemplated 

high-pressure 

fire system.

Total for United States...

Middle and New England States 

Central States.................

Southern and Southeastern

States.......................

Rocky Mountain and Western

States.......................

Pacific Slope States............

$542,789,972 $66,482,220 420,394 350,152 $29,761,400 $22,191,388

345,875.870 

111,121)736

28,287,963

29,422,885

28,081,518

28,559,605

23,190,545

6,331,911

1,480,301

6,919,858

123,855

186,730

40,540

46,894 

22/375

108,879

148,496

37,090

45,249

10,438

9,248,320

12,710,060

3,255,540

3,685,920- 

861,560

18,198,388

2,493,000

1,500,000
20 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

EXCESSIVE COST OF MAINTAINING FIRE DEPARTMENTS.

It will be incidentally noted that fire protection involves the use 

of 2,000,000 tons of metal, having a value in excess of $127,000,000, 

and the metal in 350,000 hydrants, having a value of $30,000,000, all 

of which is wasted on account of the need of preparing to fight fires 

of a kind which, because of the inflammable character of building 

construction in this country, would develop into conflagrations 

without adequate water service and fire departments.

The capital invested for fire protection and the annual loss and 

expense on account of fire in the United States in 1907 is shown in 

Table 7.

TABLE 7. Capital invested for fire protection and annual loss and expense on account, of 

fire in the United States, 1907.

FIRE LOSS.

Total fire loss .............................................................

FIRE PROTECTION.

Insurance.

Waterworks. 

Total cost of waterworks chargeable to fire service ........'................

Hydrants (350,152) ....................................... 29, 761, 400

Maintenance. ............................................ 8, 465, 487

Fire departments.

Total cost of fire departments. ............................................

Private fire protection. 

Total cost of private fire extinguishers, automatic sprinklers, etc........

Investment in 

construction 

and equipment.

6 $245, 671, 676

107,063,524

50,000,000

402,735,200

Annual loss 

and expense.

3215,084,709

n 1 Afi fif\A QRO

28,856,235

is nnft fiftn

456,486,151

a The amount paid by insurance companies on account of fire loss was* 3114,164,469, and the amount 

received by them in premiums was $259,768,831.

& This is 22 per cent of the total cost of water systems, domestic and fire service combined.

c $245,671,676, cost of waterworks chargeable to fire service, capitalized at 4 per cent, is equal to an annual 

charge of $9,826,867.

d 8107,063,524, cost of fire departments, capitalized at 4 per cent, is equal to an annual charge of $4,282,540.

«Interest on investment, cost of watchmen, etc.

COST OF PRIVATE FIRE PROTECTION.

The estimated cost of private fire protection, including capital 

invested in construction and equipment, aggregates about $50,000,000, 

and the annual interest on this sum and the annual cost of watchmen's, services amount to about $18,000,000.
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 21 

MARINE LOSSES.

The data procured to show losses by marine disasters give an aggregate for the year 1907 of $11,621,827, representing the total amount 

of insurance paid by American companies and the total amount paid 

by foreign companies doing business in the United States. A portion 

of this amount, however, may include some Canadian insurance or 

some duplication.

THE FIRE WASTE IN EUROPEAN CITIES.

The inquiry covered not only the cost of fires in the United States, 

but also the general cost in Europe. In 1905 the Bureau of Manufactures of the Department of Commerce and Labor sent letters of 

instruction to all the principal United States consular officers in 

Europe requesting information concerning the fire losses in European 

cities; also a statement regarding the fire-insurance practice in th.OSG 

cities. Unfortunately, the statistics gathered were not all for the 

same year, some cities reporting for 1901, others for 1903, and still 

others for 1904, and a few failing to make any report. It is stated, 

however, that there is but little variation from year to year in the 

fixe losses of the European cities, and for this reason the figures were 

tabulated. , . Cities of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Norway, Russia, 

Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, with a reported population of 

19,913,816, had a loss of but $9,582,340 a per capita of 48 cents. 

Russia had the highest loss, $3,100,823 in a population of 2,673,427, a 

per capita loss of $1.16. If the United States had Europe's per capita 

of 48 cents in a total population estimated by the Census Bureau for 

1907 as 85,532,761, the total fire waste in this country for the year 

would amount to $41,055,725, a saving of natural resources to the 

extent of $174,028,984. With the maximum per capita loss in 

Europe, $1.16 (in Russia), the fire waste in the United States would 

amount to $99,218,002, or $116,314,759 less than it did.

The principal reason for the great difference between the amount 

of fire waste in the United States and Europe is that there are but 

few frame buildings in Europe, and practically none in the great 

.cities.

Consul Hossfeld, of Trieste, Austria-Hungary, in his official report 

to the State Department on the fire losses in the city he represents, 

said:

The laws of Trieste and its territory prohibit the construction of wooden buildings. 

Only sheds and buildings of a temporary nature may be constructed of wood, such as 

are intended to serve as a shelter for workmen or for the storage of materials while 

permanent buildings are being constructed.
22 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

Consul Harold S. Van Buren, of Nice, France, wrote:

There may be a few sheds of wood or detached stables of a temporary character, but 

not sufficient to form a portion of the statistics.

Consul John C. Covert, of Lyons, stated:

An official in the office of the mayor informed me,that there are no wooden buildings 

in the city except a few old sheds, constructed without permission and permitted to 

remain, as they are in open fields and of no danger, being some distance from other 

buildings. ' .

Consul-General Frank H. Mason wrote concerning Berlin, Germany:

The comparative immunity of Berlin from disastrous fires results not from the 

efficiency of its fire department although it does promptly and well what work it 

has to do but from the absence of wooden houses and the solid, careful construction 

of all kinds of stone and brick buildings under the rigid scrutiny of the building 

police.

Other consuls invariably report, "There are no wooden buildings 

in the city."

The following statement is made in Special Consular Reports, 

Volume 38, Bureau of Manufactures, Department of Commerce and 

Labor, in discussing fire insurance in foreign countries:

In Europe the fire insurance laws are remarkable, chiefly because they compel 

insurance in some countries, while in all cities they prevent great losses by insisting 

on the erection of only stone and brick buildings. The fire department systems are 

ridiculously inadequate as compared with those of American cities, yet the net 

results are better. French law compels insurance against fife not only for the benefit 

of the owner, but for his neighbor.

In Germany building insurance is compulsory, and in some kingdoms it is a government monopoly. Russia has an elaborate system 

of central and local government insurance and compels the insurance 

of all buildings. In some of the Cantons of Switzerland insurance 

against loss by fire is compulsory.

The fire loss in the cities of some of the countries of Europe is 

shown in Table 8.

TABLE 8. Fire losses in cities of Europe. 

[Statistics gathered by the Bureau of Manufactures.]

Country. Population 

of cities.

1QO 0(27

2,673,427

4,319,816

312,987

7,446,447

222,373

715,712

4,029,116

19,913,265

Fire loss.

«79 q=K

3,100,823

1,795,750

178,766

1 839 AtY)

207,000

192, 500

2,202,744

9,582,340

Loss per 

capita.

SO. 37

1.16

.42

.57

9^

<M

97

.55

.48

a Losses for 1904.

6 Some cities of country report for 1903; others for 1904.

c Losses for 1903.

d France reports for 1904 with exception of.city of Lyons, which is'for 1901.
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 23

Some time after these statistics were prepared the National Board 

of Fire Underwriters obtained permission from the State Department 

to send their own queries to the consular officers in Europe, with the 

result that figures showing the fire losses in six countries were 

.obtained, some of them for a period of several years. These figures 

showed the surprisingly low per capita loss of 33 cents for the six 

countries and are given in Table 9.

TABLE 9. Fire losses in six European countries. 

[Statistics gathered by the National Board of Fire Underwriters.]

Country.

Germany . ........ l .......... ..............................

Italy.......................................................

Switzerland. ................... ... ...... ......

Years.

1898-1902

1901

1900-1904

1902

1901-1904

Annual 

average.

$7,601,389

660,924

11,699,275

27,655,600

4,112,725

OQO QA4

Population, 1901.

26,150,597

2,588,919

38,595,500

56,367,178

32,449,754

3,325,023

Loss per 

capita.

$0.29

.26

.30

.49

.12

.30

Average loss per capita ....................................................................... 33 cents

EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN FIRE LOSSES COMPARED. 

EXCESSIVE AMERICAN FIRE LOSS.

The results obtained indicate that the total annual cost of fires in 

the United States if buildings were as nearly fireproof as in Europe 

would be $90,000,000, and therefore that the United States is paying 

annually a preventable tax of more than $366,000,000, or nearly 

enough to build a Panama Canal each year. The figures are set 

forth in Table 10.

TABLE 10. Comparison of loss and outlay in the United States on account of fires in 

1907 with probable annual loss and expense if buildings were as nearly fireproof as in 

Europe.

Annual expense of waterworks chargeable to fire service .

Actual loss.

Total.

$215,084,709

145,604,362

28,856,235 

48,940,845 

18,000,000

456,486,151 

215,084,709 

241,401,442

Per 

capita.

55.34 

2.54 

2.82

Probable annual loss 

under European conditions.

, Total.

$41,000,000 

28,000,000 

6,000,000 

10,000,000 

5,000,000

90,000,000 

41,000,000 

49,000,000

Per 

capita.

$1.05 

.48 

.57
FIBE TAX AND WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

EXCESSIVE PER CAPITA LOSS IN CITIES.

Another comparison, which is perhaps even more interesting as 

illustrating America's needless waste and Europe's prudence, is given 

in Table 11, showing the per capita loss in cities of the United States 

and Europe arranged in classes according to population.

TABLE 11. Per capita fire losses in 1907 in American and European cities, classified

according to population.

[Statistics for the United States gathered by the Geological Survey and for Europe by the Bureau of Manufactures.]

Population.

Over 300,000. ........................................................................

100,000 to 300,000 ....................................................................

50,000 to 100,000. ....................................................................

30,000 to 50,000. ........................ :...^........................................

10,000 to 30,000. .....................................................................

Under 10,000 ........................................................................

United 

States.

$2.24

2.14

2.47

3.28

2.37

3.47

Europe.

SO. 05

.37

1.67

.72

.81

By comparing American and European cities of the 'same size the 

per capita losses shown in Table 12 are found.

TABLE 12. Fire losses in American and in European cities of the same size.

(Statistics gathered by Geological Survey and Bureau of Manufactures. Each of the foreign cities is 

compared with the American city marked by the same numeral.]

EUROPEAN LOSSES FOR 1904.

City.

1. Paris, France. ................................................

2. Frankfort, Germany. .........................................

4. Birmingham, England ........................................

5. Sheffield, England ............................................

6. Toulon, France. .............

7. Bremen, Germany.. ..........................................

10. Etterbeck, Belgium. .......................................:..

Population.

2,714,068 

324, 500 

1,500,000 

550,000 

426,686

101,602

203, 847 

63,678 

31,121 

23,992

Fire loss.

$1, 266, 282 

99,492 

2, 128, 541 

226,506 

75,989

55,391

78, 372 

106, 150 

22,349 

19,504

Loss per 

capita.

$0.47 

.31 

1.42 

.41 

.18 

.55 

.38 

1.67 

.72 

.81

UNITED STATES LOSSES FOR 1907.

1. Chicago, 111.... . ...............................................

2. Cincinnati, Ohio. .............................................

3. Philadelphia, Pa. .............................................

4. Baltimore, Md ................................................

5. Cleveland, Ohio. ..............................................

6. Atlanta, Ga. ..................................................

7. St. Paul, Minn. . ..............................................

9. Oshkosh, Wis. ..................... ..........................

10. Easton, Pa.. ..................................................

2,049,185

345,230

1, 441, 735

553,669

460,000

104, 984

204,000

63, 957

31,033

25,238

$3,937,105

1,971,217

' 2,093,522

. 916,603

515, 194

225, 237

522,447

1%, 702

80,500

32,073

$1.43

5.70

1.45

1.66

1.12

2.15

2.56

3.08

2.59

1.27

EXCESSIVE COST OF FIRE PROTECTION IN THE UNITED STATES.

The average annual cost of maintaining fire departments in European cities and in American cities is shown in Table 13, from which it 

appears that the cost in European cities is 20 cents per capita, and 

in corresponding cities in the United States $1.53 per capita, or seven
RESULTS OF THE INQUIRY. 25

and one-half times as great. It is reasonable to assume that when 

building construction in the United States shall have reached a condition similar to that in .Europe our annual cost on this item alone 

may be reduced from more than $25,000,000 to $3,000,000, or to 

less than one-seventh of the present total. In like manner Table 10, 

giving the annual cost of fire in the United States in comparison with 

similar cost in Europe, shows that the total per capita cost in this 

country is nearly five times that in Europe, indicating a possibility 

of reducing the grand total of these costs from $456,000,000 to 

$90,000,000, or nearly one-fifth of the present total. It will be noted 

that the per capita costs in this country and in Europe, which make 

up these total figures, are almost equally divided between the fire 

losses and the annual expense of fire protection, and that the ratio 

of these in the United States and in Europe is nearly the same.

TABLE is. Comparison of annual cost of maintenance of fire departments in European

and in American cities.

City.

Milan, Italy ..........................................

Cities in United States having population of 100,000

Population.

171,000

458,037

1,888,848

422, 738

6,580,616

1, 313, 300

2,714,068

311,043

723,322

491,460

15,074,432

16,883,435

Cost of maintenance.

179,002 m.= 842,602

509,609 m.= 121,286

2,035,346 m.= 484,412

465,571 m.= 110,805

£254,045 =1,238,469

578,503 r. = 295,036

2,925,334 f. = 564,589

269,164 K.= 72,135

281,544 K.= 57,123

431,253 1. => 83,231

3,069,688

25,764,386

Cost per 

capita.

SO. 25

.26

.26

.26

.19

.22

.21

93

.06

.17

.20

1 ^Q

HOW TO REDUCE FIRE LOSSES.

The enormous waste due to fire may possibly be reduced 

1. By tests and investigations made to determine the relative 

fire resistance of building materials and the relative rates of heat 

conductivity of such materials and by the development of systems 

of construction which will offer the maximum resistance to fire.' 

The tests should have in view the classification of building materials 

in the order of merit and the possibility of cheapening the cost of 

construction by using those best suited to the purpose, inasmuch as 

the cheaper materials are now often not employed through lack of 

knowledge of their availability.

2. By the dissemination of information regarding the more noninflammable building materials, their strength and durability, the 

methods of utilizing them in construction, and the availability of 

the most suitable of these materials at places near the locality at 

which they are wanted.
26 FIKE TAX AND WASTE OF STEUCTUEAL MATEEIALS.

3.. By the enactment and enforcement of building codes with a 

view to. insuring more fire-resistant and more nearly fireproof construction. In many European cities the erection of wooden buildings 

is prohibited, and the oversight of brick, stone, steel, and cement 

construction is such as to diminish the danger from fire due to defective flues, poor electric wiring, arid other faults of construction, and 

to make it unlikely for a fire to spread beyond the building in which 

it originates.

WASTE OF NATURAL RESOURCES BY FIRE.

Aside from the enormous and unnecessary tax that is paid by the 

people by reason of fire losses, there is another loss of large consequence to the future of the country^ the waste of natural resources 

due to destruction by fire.

The timber supply of the United States is rapidly approaching 

exhaustion and, unless means are taken to limit the waste (a great 

deal of it through fire) and to replenish the supply through reforestation, the timber resources of the country will be exhausted within the 

next quarter of a century. The known supplies of high-grace iron 

ore in this country, estimated at more than 4,788,000,000 tons, can 

not be expected to last beyond the middle of this century unless 

the present increasing rate of consumption is curtailed. There are 

in addition about 75,000,000,000 tons of low-grade iron ore which 

will undoubtedly be used to some extent as the price of iron advances. 

The supplies of stone, sand, gravel, clay, cement, lime, and slate are 

practically inexhaustible, and as the supplies of timber and iron are 

depleted and the prices of these are increased it is evident that the 

United States must turn to concrete-making materials, clay products, 

and building stone as substitutes for wood and iron.

Another waste of structural materials that is closely related to 

the fire loss is that involved in the use of iron and steel that are 

placed underground in city water mains or used in pumping plants 

to provide a water supply for conflagration protection in excess of 

that needed for ordinary uses. The investigations reported herein 

indicate that 22 per cent of the total expenditure on behalf of public 

water supply is due to additional service necessary for protection 

against fires of such magnitude that they may spread beyond the 

building in which they started. There are 2,000,000 tons of metal, 

valued at $127,000,000, and 350,000 hydrants, valued at nearly 

$30,000,000, in the systems provided for fighting fires of conflagration dimensions.

The mineral materials available for structural purposes may be 

divided into two classes (1) iron, steel, copper, nickel, and their
WASTE OF NATURAL RESOURCES BY FIRE. 27

manufactures, the supplies of which are limited and which are themselves subject to destruction through weathering, fire, and other 

causes; (2) stone, clay products, and cement and concrete manufactures, which are less subject to destructive agencies and the supplies of which are practically inexhaustible.

In building and construction work the substitution of the materials of the second group for the more commonly used wood and metal 

manufactures should be encouraged as having an important influence 

on the preservation of the supplies of the more perishable and scarcer 

materials. The use of building stone and clay and cement products in 

this country has been restricted by competition with the much 

cheaper wood products and the more easily fabricated and more 

available metal products. Improved methods of preparing the raw 

materials for use in building construction are, however, rapidly 

diminishing the difference in cost, and careful investigation as to their

structural qualities and the more suitable structural forms would 

have an important influence in further reducing this difference in 

cost and in enlarging the use of the more permanent materials.

Within the last decade the value of the cement manufactures of 

this country has increased from $9,859,000 to $55,803,00.0, or nearly 

sixfold. In the same time the value of the clay products has increased 

from $74,487,000 to $183,942,000,. or has nearly doubled, and that 

of the building stone has increased from $26,635,000'to $71,106,000, 

or has nearly trebled. As the Government, through its investigations is determining the strength, durability, and fire-resisting properties of these materials and the more suitable forms for their use, 'and 

is disseminating information relative to their comparative cheapness 

and great permanence, a still greater relative increase in their use 

may be confidently, expected in the near future.

Within the last few years marvelous strides have been made in the 

substitution of iron and steel for wood as a result of the careful investigations of their properties .made by engineers, physicists, and 

chemists, and the great amount of attention paid to their fabrication 

by manufacturers and architects.' More recently the engineering 

and technical professions have advanced to a great extent the uses of 

cement in concrete manufactures. But in a much greater period 

little has been done toward ascertaining the physical and chemical 

properties and the best modes of manufacture and use of clay products and stone. Undoubtedly great progress in the use of all these 

materials may now be reasonably expected with proper encouragement from the Government as an exampler in its method of studying, 

testing, and using them.
28 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OP STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

WASTE OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS OTHER THAN 

THAT BY FIRE.

The waste of natural mineral resources used in building and engineering construction is of three kinds. That from fire losses has 

already been mentioned. The other two are (1) that due to improper 

and wasteful methods of mining and preparing for market, and (2) 

that due to the use of excessive amounts in structural forms because 

of ignorance of the strength and durability of the materials.

The large waste of mineral products due to uneconomical and inefficient methods of manufacture, including waste of fuel, as in the 

burning of cement or of clay products, and in the preparation of coke 

used in refining iron ores, will be reduced by improvements that will 

be made in the natural development of the various manufacturing 

industries concerned.

On account of the waste of structural materials due to lack of 

knowledge of their strength the present systems of construction 

are highly expensive, many engineers and architects adopting working 

stresses for concrete and metal construction from one-fourth. to as 

low as one-eighth the actual working strength of the material. This 

means that from three to six times the amount of such material that 

is necessary may be used in structural work. Moreover, materials 

of superior quality may be little used because of this lack of information as to their properties. The average architect, engineer, or 

contractor does not take chances in using unfamiliar materials or 

designs, but confines himself to those which he knows have proved 

successful.

Most of the information heretofore available concerning the strength 

and suitability of building materials has. been procured by individuals 

and has been based on insufficient data and tests. The Government, 

as the largest consumer of these materials, should, as a matter of 

economy, conduct exhaustive tests of the kinds which have proved 

so successful under the Forest Service in determining the woods most 

suitable for each particular use. These tests should be conducted 

with a view to establishing the physical properties of the materials 

and to suggesting improved methods of manufacture which may not 

only prove economical, but which may also improve the quality of 

the materials in use and extend their life. They should afford information relative to the most fire-resisting and fireproof forms of construction, the former for the prevention of conflagrations due to 

secondary or exposure fires and the latter for the prevention of the 

destruction of the building in which the fire may originate. They 

should also include extended investigations made with a view to 

prevent the loss of structural materials exposed to the action of salt 

water, of alkalies in the. arid regions, or similar destructive agencies. 

Not until a better knowledge is had as to the structural material
WASTE OTHER THAN BY FIRE LOSSES. 29

appropriate for any particular purpose, be it steel, iron, cement 

manufactures, or clay products, will it be possible to reduce the 

wasteful consumption.

The investigations in progress by the Geological Survey indicate 

that smaller quantities of cement-making materials, of gravel and 

sand suitable for concrete structures, and of clay suitable for making 

brick will suffice, and also show how construction can be done at 

least cost. Already, not only in treeless regions, but elsewhere also, 

the use of such materials is rapidly increasing.

SURVEY PUBLICATIONS ON STRUCTURAL MATERIALS.

The following reports of the Geological Survey relate to structural 

materials, etc. A copy of any except those that are priced can be 

had free by applying to the Director, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington, D. C. The others can be obtained by sending price, in cash, 

to Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

BULLETIN 243.. Cement materials and industry of the United States, by E. C. Eckel.

1905. 395 pp., 15 pis. 65c. 

BULLETIN 249. Limestones of southwestern Pennsylvania, by F. G. Clapp. 1905.

52 pp., 7 pis. 

BULLETIN 260. Contributions to economic geology, 1904. 1905. Contains several

papers on structural materials. 40c. 

BULLETIN 275. Slate deposits and slate industry of the United States, by T. N. Dale,

with sections by E. C. Eckel, W. F. Hillebrand, and A. T. Coons. 1906. 154

pp. 15c.

BULLETIN 313. The granites of Maine, by T. N. Dale. 1907. 202 pp., 14 pis. 

BULLETIN 314. Report on progress of investigations of mineral resources of Alaska in

1906, by A. H. Brooks and others. 1907. 235 pp., 4 pis. Contains a paper on

building stones, etc., of southeastern Alaska. 30c. 

BULLETIN 315. Contributions to economic geology, 1906, pt. 1. 1907. 504 pp.,

4 pis. Contains several papers on structural materials. 50c. 

BULLETIN 324. The San Francisco earthquake and fire of April 18, 1906, and their

effects on structures and structural materials, by G. K. Gilbert, R. L. Humphrey, ,T. S. Sewell, and Frank Soule. 1907. 170 pp. 50c. 

BULLETIN 329. Organization, equipment, and operation of the structural material?

testing laboratories at St. Louis, by R. L. Humphrey. 1908. 85-pp. 

BULLETIN 331. Portland cement mortars and their constituent materials; results

of tests made at the structural materials testing laboratories, St. Louis, Mo., by

R. L. Humphrey and William Jordan, jr. 1908. 130 pp. 25c. 

BULLETIN 340. Contributions to economic geology, 1907, pt. 1. 1908. Contains

several papers on structural materials. 

B ULLETIN 344. Thestrength of concrete beams; results of tests made at the structural

materials testing laboratories, St. Louis, Mo., by R. L. Humphrey. 1908. 58 pp. 

BULLETIN 345. Mineral resources of Alaska in 1907, by A. H. Brooks and others.

1908. 294 pp., 5 pis. Contains a paper on building stones of southeastern

Alaska. 45c.

.BULLETIN 351. The clays of Arkansas, by .T. C. Branner. 1908. 247 pp., 1 pi. 

BULLETIN 354. Chief commercial granites of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and

Rhode Island, by T. N. Dale. 1908. 228 pp., 9 pis.
30 FIRE TAX AND WASTE OF STBUCTURAL MATEEIALS.

BULLETIN 370. The fire-resistive properties of various building materials, by R. L.

Humphrey. 1909. 99 pp., 39 pis. ' 

BULLETIN 380. Contributions to economic geology, 1908, pt. 1. 1909. 440 pp.,

2 pis. Contains several papers on structural materials. 

BULLETIN 387. Structural materials near Portland, Oreg., and Seattle and Tacoma,

Wash., by N. H. Barton. 1909. 33 pp.. 

BULLETIN 388. The colloid matter of clay and its measurement, by H. E. Ashley.

1909. 65" pp.

BULLETIN 394. Papers on the conservation of mineral resources. 1909. 214 pp. 

BULLETIN 404. The granites of Vermont, by T. N. Dale. 1909. 138 pp., 5 pis. 

WATER-SUPPLY PAPER 143. Experiments on steel-concrete pipes on a working scale,

by J. H. Quinton. 1905. 61 pp., 4 pis. 5c. 

MINERAL RESOURCES U. S. for 1901 (70c), 1902, 1903 (70c), 1904,1905 ($1), 1906 (50c),

1907, pt. 2 ($1), and 1908, pt. 2. Contains statistics of production of building

stones, cement, and clay. The volume for 1906 contains Advances in cement

technology, by E. C. Eckel, pp. 897-905. 

PROFESSIONAL PAPER 11. The clays of the United States east of the Mississippi

River, by Heinrich Ries. 1903. 298 pp. 40c. 

SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, pt. 4. Technology of the clay industry, by Heinrich

Ries, pp. 523-575,.4 pis. 1895. $1.20. 

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, pt. 1, g. 1896. Glacial brick clays of Rhode Island

and southeastern Massachusetts, by N. S. Shaler, J. B. Woodworth, and C. F.

Marbut, pp. 951-1004, pis. Ixi-lxii. 

NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT, pt. 6 (continued). 1898. Kaolins and fire clays of

Europe, by Heinrich Ries, pp: 377-400. 

TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT, pt. 3, n. 1901. Portland cement industry in

Michigan, by I. C. Russell, pp. 629-685, pis. xliv-xlvi.

o