New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-04-03
THE PROPOsEP FIRE LAW

| II ne Edo, G. IL E 7. Tyss.e
CIR All lersons who. Ike nysek arr eoaae Tel vii
building operations in the City viii no doubt be Pen
20 zee tie present FIRE Law. With its smAdmel's az
antndnerts Of amendments. coiifsd cosisnsei int
ore good law that all Understand The p1blic,ol
a drss Of such lsv in TIE TR1TSK of the 5l,t cit
wa therefore hailed By ne as the beginning Of suss
good end In examining this draf hsvsver I fni In IL
msny in;s that VII ADM, OF material -odiacs Tho
following notes made OF what occurred :, in reading
il over, llsce i az yOur disuossl
In section ], some provision shoui be made for pile
oundaiors In section 3 ali stores and stsrthp,ses sre
required to have l01l2 inch griers there may
row stores ior hight business, which beng OF bat few
stores III hight would be sufficiently strong With giers
OF less SIZE stores 80 feet wide be buih witt oct
eitGeT there fhOuld BE two IL such cases Tbs gbsr
must TN ron Front 20 rear how does this apply
stores II permits iron grders and besuls on voossn
Toss and the sane Of any vekt 2nch brick obs.
Section requires stone bands in all cellar piers ts
the magnify Of Instances, is unnecessary in dwelling
houses Section provides for the thickness Of walls hat
not IN the right manner IN determining the thcknesi of
well, tie only pfl0sophca plan is count from the up
downward As thus: from the highest peak Of the rocf
~ o feet down not less than inches hi k for 20 fees
below this point. y inches thick; and all below
Ills, 20 iDeses flick. This would suit building,
Of whatt blight ard would make stronger walls, and
he Lore sa;scory TO builders than the present arrange
mint An exception should provide tina, in stores the
upper stories only MIGHT nave walls eight inches thick
twelve inches Section Elk also provides ths
shan be made in any outside, party partition walls.
shan oe mue nj ah Nns, ST. - a"''S ""d '.rae-s
Granting that this DOES not apply to doors ana Windows
there are vet rna1v here small ia partition
walls Of dwellings verysdesrable and could be made
without material dermeni 30 their strength. There ia
no provision made Tor the thickness Of partition walls
in DIV eags other buildings except stores-e1cepting,
indeed the general specification that requires partition
walls exceeding 20 feel in hight, to be 10 inches Thick to
the under side Of the second tier Of beams But even
here partition walls from this point upward may be four
inches tlcS wihou infringing any of the provisions OF
this draft olsw The proportion OF lime and sand in NOR
1
consider the lime deficient Section nine provides that all
cornces shall be returned against the front Of the building
which is placed and extending across two
or more buildings The policy OF this restriction does not
appear since cornces even when returned. always
unnecessarily tramme the architect in beautfyng fronts
ard combining many in one like the stores in BroaiSay
above Walker It on the east side Il 1. also que yton
whether iron cOnces as now constructed Tor store fronts
are 80 DANGEROUS 10 require q restriction that
would prevent their use altogether for If their
weight within the line Of the wall must be as great that
without the expense would be much greater thsn that OF
stone At present they anchored to the walk AMI the
weight of wall above sussans them. BY Section IL there
cannot be brick stable shop or any building other than
dwelling 80 feet in hight built on any part Of the
sand without having iron shutters in the rear except
churches and Government buildn.s This certainly can
not be necessary in the upper part of the City Section ID
rrovdCs that oil Iimmers and headers in floors Of
stores must be hung in stirup-irons IA regards
rimmers this is technical error As the trim. ners
Crs: but there are many short headers in the
floors Of that do not require strrups and te re
ftlIcfOn would Dc OfOad 1T IL dpheu ~
of hosways Stair, and openings for Light ~ the
wording Of Section H. all Windows and doors must have
nte thus forbiddng the simple arch which is so com
mon and proper enough over Window This u an
overnight believe for cannot think il il the intention
TO forbid them altogether In restricting the size OF lin
s the size prescribed for iron as for stone-s
should be considered.
1t is altogether unnece sary thai the ordinary window
ptle for stores front and should be Of the whole
thickness of the wall tlis would add immensely to the
ezrensc without being any better than the ordinary iGtle
with the back arch There is provision also that all
liptles shall have arches turned them pre- sumo
that this wa- intended apply only to the long iron ne
beams although it stands it applies 10 all ntles
Section prohibits bay windows Of wood above the s
story If might without danger be seredto apply toosy
windows above the second story The penalty of $500
for infacton of the law is visited journeymen and
apprentices as well others is doubtful whether this
is judcious.
These are few Of the considerations which have occur
red 10 me Messrs Edors that ought to DO attended TO IN
framing a now law and have thought II would be best
TO submit them the public i'll order that by discussion
tie law might be made as perfect as possible H.