The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1870-09-22
VOLUME e---No. 13.
Protection AeaiRst Fire.

The Yorkville Enquirer gives some practical
hints on this important subject, and alth0ugh
the article is partially local in Its eharattef ws
think it DESERVES more general circulation:
1t is an.undeniable fact that the fire of last
week would have. been far more destructive but
for the supply of water furnished from cisterh
constructed by private enterprise. DR.. ]. F.
Lindsay, about year ago, dug acistern holding
5000 gallons of water, for the protection of his
property in case of fire. The expense, although
considerable, was justified by the result. The
owner of this cisternhad the. satisfaction of sa-
wing not only his oWHi tf6perty but thousands
of dollars belonging to others. When the fire
broke out, DIR. Lindsays first care was to USE
the water in his cistern to moisten the roofs of
his dwelling hoise and outbnildings thorough
| ly, and then to moisten the roofs of his .imme-
diate neighbors. By the time this had been
accomplished, the fire was nearly opposite. The
cistern was then made public, line to carry
buckets was formed and in half an hour the fire
was checked, although,several old frame build
ings still remained in its 'front.' After the fire
was certainly checked, we visited this cistgth
and found it to be dt least ohe:ihird full of
water. if,,
The moral of this statement of facts is that
the first essential for fighting fire is plentiful
supply Of water. Without this engines are. 6f
no use, and with it they may often be dis
pensed with: Had the owners of the build
ings which were burnt possessed cisterns of
water, Or had there been q few public cisterns,
the fire could have beeri stopped much sooner:
As it was, hundreds of men were compelled
to see their utmost exertions Useless for want.
of water
There arg two methods by which this danger
ho od no f5,f1ita,. ffhn
the construction of cistsfis at public expense;
either by private contribution or general tax
so that capacious cisterns may be located, at
convenient distances, all over our town. BUD
by far the best way is for owners to build their
own cisterns, or for two or three neighbors to.
combine and build one for mutual proteeti5i,
In the latter case, the owners are Independent
of the public; and their investment answers, to
a great e&tEht. all the purposes of a fire insu-
rance They have, moreover, the right, which
is denied in other circumstances, of protecting
themselves first and others afterwards. Inas-
much as they have, While others have not, fore-
seen the evil dsy and provided against 1t, 1t
would be manifesGly unjust to use their supply
Of water until they have no further use for it.
Such c;sterns, ranging from 5000 to 10, 900
gallons capacity; cost FROM 500 to $3.50, accor-
ding to capacity. A number. of small cisterns
would probably be more servieeable than few
large ones, on account of furnishing more &C
cessible points for water carriers to 60 to-; but,
on the other hand, large cisterns cost less in
proportion than small ones.
The lesson of the late fire may be studied
with advantage by the country as well as the
town. How many homes there are in the coun-
try, which have almost no supply of water to
guard against sudden fire. The majority of
these are unprotected by insurance, and for the
very reason that the means of fighting fire are
scarce, which makes the rates of Insurance
higher in proportion. The cheapest plan to
protect country houses, especially where there
are numerous outbuildings occupied by hired
hands, is to construct one or two capacious els
near as to render the locality too hot during
fire. With good force pump costing s25, fifty
or hundred feet of hose costing fifty cents
foot, and cistern costing S100-or $3.50 in all,
most country houses can be effectually guafded
against destruction by fire: Is not the protees
tiOn cheap? !..g s.i=. =