Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1850-1859, 1852-07-23
Fire Proof Houses.

Almost every day-says the .Sc'eai5ic
Amcrican-we hear Of the destruction by
fire of some factory, store, or important
public building, in some part Of ouI
country. In the newspaper accounts, it is
generally stated, $50 much was covered
bv insurance." in such and such an Insu-
rance Company. No property can be
covered by insurance in the raa! sense of
the term; that which is lost by frc may be
covered to the owners by insurance, but it
Is lost to the country anl the world forever.
Here is large building which cost the
labor of hundred men working for u
hundred days to erect; if that building be
burned down, although insured, can it rc-
store the Labor which was expended upon
it? No; that which is lost by Gre-,ha;
Is, good property--is 4 loss TO the whole
country; for houses and buildings are bat
stored up labor, and when they are con
sunsi by fire, the whole labor must be
performed over again. In very many ca
ses 10 money, toll, rcr Skill can restore
that which is consumed When I valuable
library is burned up by fire, Ike the ole
recently destroyed in Washington, 1t i
impossible 10 estimate the loss, for much
thu, is sacred, aud Of the greatest impor-
4nco to posterity, pcrishcs beyond the
possibility Of restoration. If the Library
Of the Now York Historical Society were
10 be burned down now, all the wealth i'll
our country could not restore it to the
same condition again. Since the destrUc-
tion BY fire Of every valuable building, or
property, is loss to cur country and the
world, it well becomes every city, every
company, and every property owner, to
look well tc the prevention and protection
of houses from being consumed fire. In
surancc is i tax-it is nothing more nor
less, and il is not light one by any means.
The best insurance on property i. fire
proof structure, and the attention Of all
corporations and associations, should be
directed to encourage the construction of
more thorough fire proof buildings in our
cities. We know that more attention Is
now devoted to the erection of such build
ings than there was some years ago; We
rejoice at this, still there is not enoug h o.
general attention paid to the subject yet
or We should not be receiving intelligence
almost every morning, Of a destructive
conaagration in some city or village of ou
land. 1t is not the outside walls of bricl
or stone, with iron shutters, which make
building fire-proof; many such building
are anything but fre-proof inside. Ever.
PIT Of building should BE- constructed o.
frc-procf principles /; the joists, &c, shoul
Re made Of iron, and every part should b
efectually guarded against fire, and moth
ing left to conjecture upon that penny-wis
and pound-foolish principle, of paying al
insurance tax for confagrations.
Immediately after the fire at the corne
Of Sixth and Chesnut, numbers Of citizen:
alarmed at the insecurity of the Stat
House, proposed that immediate step
should be taken to render it and the ac
joining buildings fre-proof, but this in
rortant matter has since been cntirel
overlooked, and We presume nothing wi
Re done in relation to it, ur,il ano.h,
threatening fire occurs in thc vicinity.
n,i'ui C1y k:m.