, 1859-11-28

The fill ef the new Music Hail, in course OF
erection, on tho nlley between tho Post Ofico
aud Clark street, during tho storm on Friday
evening last revealed defects Of structure
which have caused congratulations On all
hands that the catastrophe happened before
the building was completed md before tho
lives Of scores perhaps hundreds. Of human
beings wcrc imperillcd By tho negligence or
criminal carelcssness Of tho builder. We nfc
glad TINT it is down; md when the work Of
Reconstruction conlmences, we trust that tic
authorities charged with that duty will see 10
it that the cxnc: requirements Of the Fire Orli-
nance are complied with, and that tho mortar
which is supposed to cement the bricks .ogeth-
CT. Is SO made that when thoroughly dry, it
will not crumble beneath the fingers, like a
lump Of moist kaud. We are sure that the
owner Of the property could not bave been
aware Of tho way in which lis contractors
wczo proceeding, else ha would not havo wait
ed for the storm to undo what they had accom-
plisl,ed.
While We are on this matter, let us say that
ir ,so city in America is safety In building rs
much neglected as here. The ordinances
adopted ty tllc Council are sufficient to insure
dcccut regard for citizens exemption from
d1nger; indeed they mako up in stringeucy Of
letter what tho officers Of the city lack in rig
idity Of execution. Tie result is that nobody
complies with the LAW, aud that the most
shameful departures from all that prudence
Dictates in architecture, goes on year aftcr
year wholly uupunished. Ater every fire in
which lifo is pcriled or lost by lalc
built thin, llastily-constructed walls; in
which the flames spread from structure to
STRUCTURE along wooden corniccs that oycrhang
our most costly buildings, there is brief out
cry for the enforcement Of the Law; but il tho
very next building that goes up, tho errors cf
tho past arc copied with alarming exoggcra-
tions. It is time that tic offenders were check.
ed. There is handsome, commcdious, and
expensive building now being erected Oh Ram
dolpA street, a'nlost in the rear Of this Office,
in which one Of the plaincst and most neces-
eary provisions or the ordinance has been ri.
olatcd. II is that block Of stores aEd hall
on the Kipgsbury estate; and we point it Gut
among hundreds Of others because tue owners
ought to be informed Of their mistake, and be-
cause they are able to correct it. Covering a
front Of eighty feet on Randolph, it Inns not a
single division wall from ono side to the other,
though cut up into four stores; but this
would not perhaps tc fatal il the following Sec
ton Of tic ordinance were not utterly disrc-
sorded:
FIFTH. There shall not be more than thiriy
feet space between the party or outside wallis Of
any building unless such building shall be sup.
ported by iron or other columns or supports Of
fire.rroof material.
That block, is, owing to this neglect, only a
tiudsr i1eap inviting copdagra.ion, aud during
4 flre, the unnecess 1T destruction Of perhaps
score Of human lives. We call tho attention
Of tho proper authorities not only to this but
to all other cases in which the regulations
Of tho city are so defle1. It is time that a
rIuf1u in this matter vas ipuururatcd.