New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-12-28
FIRES AND FIRELAWS,

FIRES AND FTRE-LAWS
A correspondent calls attention this morn
ing to the ineficiency of the fire-laws, and
urges the necessity of legislative action in
regard to them. His suggestions are well
worth considering. We have Superintendent
of Buildings to whom the plans OF every new
structure must be submitted; but his power
to enforce such alterations as safety may re-
Guire seems 10 be very strictly limited. There
is Fire Marshal who examines buildings
occasionally, to see that due precautions are
taken against fire; but no has little or no
authority 70 remedy the defects he may dis
cover. Between the right of the owner to do
what he pleases with his own house, and the
right Of the public 10 be protected In life and
property, the law, or at least the adrnlnlstra-
ton of it, leans too much to the side
of the individual landlord. The time
has come when an enlightened popu-
lar opinion demands closer restrictions
upon builders, for the good Of the community.
An unsafe structure is a nuisance to the
neighborhood, end government is just as much
bound to abate it as to abolish a pest-hOuse
or to prevent the opening of bone-boilmg
establishment in the heart of Broadway. An
absolutely fire-proof building may be unattaln-
able--though of that We are by no means
snre-but it is certainly possible to avoid the
danger of extensive cOnfagrations, by strictly
limiting the use.of cOmbustible material, and
by q system of construction which may tend
TO confine a fire to the building in which 1t
originally breaks forth. The Tabernacle was
protected against flying cinders from the out
side, but not from flames within. The sheet
iron covering Of Mr. Baruum's Circus con-
stituted a furnace in which the fire that ran
rapidly around the wooden fittings was nursed
into fury and then the iron crumbied
to ruins, and let loose the conflagration among
the adjoining houses The Centre-st. Printing
House had wooden floors saturated with ben
zinc and the buildings all around it held out
abundant fuel upon which the blaze could
fasteu. So it was with all the fires which have
made the last two weeks memorable. The
sculptor, Hiram Powers, shows how an extern
sive disaster of this kind has been rendered
impossible in Florence by the use of brick
floors, and by covering the joists, and rafters
with brick. By this device fire can be con-
fined not merely to one house, but to one
story of a house. "NO house." he says, " has
." been burnt within the City of Florence
during my residence hero OF thirty-fve
"years"
Now, the law should be so amended that
not only can architects be compelled to take
for the future some such precaution as this
suggested by Mr.. Powers, but the proper Of
fcer can force owners to make alterations in
buildings already standing. We cannot Oblige
every house owner in New-YoTk to rip out all
the timber flooring and put down brick; but
there are certain crying faults of construction
that we can remedy, and that it is our duty
TO remedy at whatever cost. These are espe-
cially the faults which endanger human life.
The wretched fre-trap in Centre-st., with its
one wooden staircase and its defective fire.
escapes, and the still worse tenement in Mer-
cer-st., are blots upon our legislation. There
is probably not ward in the city in which
dangers such as these which have just been
brought so strikingly to our notice are not
encountered by hundreds. of human beings
every day. A good building law can put all
end to them, and commission of competent
engineers men of the highest character, above
the suspicion Of dishonesty and unfalrness,
should be appointed to make a thorough ex-
animation of the city, and to report where
reforms are needed.
1Htu we WANT lnOIc oIIlDgtHt law W puulSu
carelessness. Railway and navigation COM
panies are held responsible for the safety of
their passengers; is there any reason why
manufacturers should not be answerable for
the lives of their work-people, and hotel
keepers for the lives of their servants and
guestsf The law makes it the duty of such
people to provide ample means of escape in
case of fire; if they neglect this duty and
lives are lost or bodily injury sustained in
consequence, why should they not be liable in
damagesf They stand in nearly the same re-
latlon to those under their charge that COM
mon carriers occupy with respect to travellers.
The factory hand makes an implicit contract
|, with the employer to be protected against
avoidabe danger during the hours of work;
the guest has bargain with the hotel-keeper
to be safely housed for the time of his stay.
The landlord is held responsible for robberies
committed under his roof; it is monstrous that
no should not be mulcted for the much greater
injury incurred through his criminal reckless
ness or Ignorance.
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CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.