Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-05-23

ROCKETS, WATTERsOE PURyIs,
rHt ... Banner. ..
TRAvts WINHAM
For Press and Times CO.
Nashville Tenn. Jan. -. 1857.
H. - ...#
FTREs AND INSURANCEs IN ENG
LAND
The following, from the Pail Mall Gazette,
is interesting TO property owners and the
insurance interest:
although the Select Committee Of the
House Of Commons on FIRE protection has
had only a few meetings, the evidence
elected fully justi6es Mr.. McLagau's mo-
ton for its appointment Not only, as
Mr.. Michigan then showed, are fires more
frequent than they used 10 be, but there is
suspicious increase Of mysterious cases.
That there are more fires is due, in some
measure, to the fact that there are more
houses. and also to the careless use Of cheap
combustibles, such a. lucifers, petroleum,
lamps. etc. Mr.. J. C. Bnnyan, barrister,
one of the witnesses examined by the com
mittee. suggested heavy stamp duty on
every box Of matches, and the Chancellor
Of the Exehequer might possibly find it
worth while 10 consider whether he could
moi provide for further reduction of the
Gre dnty by an impost on lucifers and fusees.
Again. although precautions are enforced in
the storing Of gunpowder and petroleum,
there are no rnles "a 10 turpentIne oil is
often found in close contiguity TO jute or
cotton, and nitrate of soda and sulphur
exposed 10 contact with water. What
asks Mr.. G.. y. T. Young, is the use OF
merely limiting the cubic contents Of a
room 2 Take lutte, thai is slowed in bulk:
IL is slowed 70 that one cannot get round il
or through it, aud in case of spontaneous
combustion you find the result of that
towing when mischief has taken place
The classification of goods said the
surveyor Of an insurance office, Is a most
important precautiOn In the docks they
used TO store oil and cotton in the same
warehouse. That is a most mischievOus
thing. IL little oil gets over the cotton
then there is fire Immediately. In the
London Docks the goods were miscella-
neously stored; each warehouse had some
.altpetre in il a fire took place, aud each
warehouse exploded in turn, so that the fire
went on to the others' Then dwelling
houses are allowed TO be built in a very
slight and careless manner. 4 could men
ton said one witness, three houses that
ndse Twice OF litEtN AlhifN "a WIN. 1 OAA
could kick them down with your foot and
If YOU throw q match into the place IT j.
gone. a great many fires said another
stiffness, a practical builder, occur ia
consequence of the mal-ConstruCied fines
and the stoves which they nse they shut
out the heat, which passes up a fue that
was never intended 10 receive snch heat.
/ recollect three churches that have burned
down through their tiues. ! have known
ire travel two feet in an old brick wall 10
catch hold Of bit fdry timber In some
cases the very precautions which are taken
increase the danger and mischief Of fires
Iron roofs, for instance, expand when heated
and throw down the walls, carrying the
conhagration 90 the neighboring buildings
That (says the witness last quoted) was
illustrated in a remarkable manner in the
last fire that took place in the Jute ware
house az the West India Dock. lt was a large
warehouse with an iron roof The roof
expanded, cracked the walls, and, falling
against them, only Just failed 20 push them
down. Had the walls given way the fire
would have spread along the whole quay
and IL has been decided 10 have no more
iron roofs for that reason. Again, the late
Mr.. Cubbitt had two buildings adjoining
each Other. one was fire proof and the other
was an ordinary building He filed them
with ioiners work. A fire took pace. The
fire proof one came down, and the other
remained AZ il was with the roof off
Several of the witnesses recommended a
revision OF the Metropolis Building act 90
as TO render its provisions more stringent
and comprehensive.
The large proportion--over thirty per
cent Of fires which are returned as due 10
causes unknown, coupled with the fact that
80 many of them happen in insured buil-
dings, is certainly suspicious. The late
Mr. Braidwood had a very strong conviction |
that willful fre-raising was widely practiced. /
The large premiums paid on tumble-down |
premises, the short interval between the |
commencement Of the insurance and the |
fire the unaccountable disappearance of all |
tracesof the large quantities Of goods alleged |
10 have been burned, the doubtful character
and embarrassed circumstances of the occu-
pants. these and other circumstances |
frequently pointed 20 deliberate arson. !
Mr. Payne. the city coroner, who at one
fine held inquests ON fires, declared that |
twenty per cent. ofthem were clearly willtul. |
Mr.. r. e. Smith, secretary TO the Scottish |
Union Insurance Company, stated 20 the |
committee now sitting that he believed |
ere raising with a view 10 defraud the |
insurance offices had been reduced TO 4 |
system, and was practiced by organized |
gangs. /
81 recolIect the said a number Of |
foreigners located themselves at the east |
end Of London some ten or twelve years ago |
they were foreign jews for no other 4
purpose than defrauding the insurance |
companies. believe there were sixty fires /
in one year among these men We had few |
and paid the money they threat
ened IA, and went to law, and we have lways /
had feeling Of the importance Of not ap- /
pearing TO be htigious TO the public We |
bent 10 circumstance though We knew that |
" hat We paid was moi due,
Another witness, Mr. &. 4. Young, gives
another instance
"a FIRE was reported, and il was my duty
10 visit il 1t was suspected 30 be an inoen- /
diary ire. The superintendent Of the town
department went with me, and We found at
Two totally different places train laid the
FIRE bad occurred, but Il had been got under
pretty soon, and there was not much damage
done. The fire officers do not prosecute
under these circum stances. IL is simply a
money question with the oficers; they are
not the correctors Of the public morals II
they took proceedings it would be said they
did so only 10 escape paying the insurance
money.
cit is quite obvious from the evidence
that the insurance officers are afraid of the |
odium which would attach 10 any prosecu-
ton under such circumstances ifii happen 10
break down. They look at the question as
a matter Of business and come tothe con
elusion that taking all things into account
Il is much better 10 save LAYERS bills and
reckon frauds among the other risks OF their
business. Several Of the Witnesses suggest
The establishment Of a court, either in con-
pection with the police magistrates, the
ooropers, or the board Of works, 10 investi-
cate all eases Of d e which are reported by
sorne competent authority TO be suspicious.
In several Of the American cities an ofhc,
oalled FIRE marshal Is charged With this