The New York herald., 1872-12-27
A Legal Authority ON Corrugated Iro1
Cages and the Building Law.

Legal Authority ON Corrugated Iroa
Cages and the Buiiding Law.
Mr.. Macgregor, the Superintendent q
Buildings, feeling hurt at the HERALD hav-
ing classed the corrugated cage now being
erected for the Rev. Mr.. Hepworth with the
corrugated cages lately burned to the ground.
writes to say that the law is to blame. He has
been laboring in his Department for ten years.
he says, to procure more stringent building
law, and thus far has only been able to obtain
it in part. Few people would have suspected
that this terrible struggle of decade had
been going on; and fewer still that the part
which he did obtain made any very percepti-
BILE difference in the result to the public safety.
Leaving aside this wonderful struggle and its
outcome, we may return to Mr. Hep
worth's new church It has sixteen inch
brick walls and excellent fues, but its
roof is not, as he desired, freproof.
The corrugated iron sheeting is only
for ornament. The perfection of the
flues is his strong point. Now, the fues ne
cessarily pass up by the tinder-box roof, and
this will give some idea Of Mr. Macgregor's
high ideal. If the Superintendent thinks that
the shortcoming Of the law alone is to blame
he need not SO ingeniously apologize for the
ornamental nature Of the corrugated iron, nor
fall into ecstasies over the fues, which, in
their proximity to wooden superstructure.
constitute permanent source of danger. Aa
Mr. Macgregor represents himself, he is .
helpless official tied down by the law, and per.
petually in danger of being denounced as
high-handed oppressor by the city press, a.
well as by the architects and builders. should
he stir 9 band t9 gaye the public. The
HERALD, too, he darkly intimates, has been
more copious in that species Of criticism than
any other paper. AS we'll as wa remember
any criticisms the HERALD may have made, 50
far as Mr.. Macgregor is concerned, were quite
the reverse Of what he now processes to fear.
The uptown man-trap which fell like house
of cards while being built, certainly did not
blame him for being more stringent than the
law allowed. It was quite the contrary. II
Mr.. Macgregor is content with carrying out
even what he considers defective law, it is no
reason that the rest of the community should
be. "No one will assume" says Mr.. Mac
gregor, "that the corrugated iron covering
rendered that building (Barnums) less fire.
proof" This is very bold, no doubt, but it is
as thin as the iron itself. Iron has such a
fre-proof sound about it that heAopes to bear
down all comment under the word but ths
experience of the two fires indicates that the
corrugated shell, when once it's wooden
contents are ignited, tends, by furnishing
temporary furnace, to increase the ierceness
of the flames. Having performed that part OF
the work, the shell quickly curls up with the
contained heat, and allows the work Of de-
struction to be communicated wherever tho
wind listeth. This is what Mr.. Macgregor
charmingly calls novel, It may be to MIR.
Macgregor. We wish him, however, to bs
consoled. The lessons of the Boston fire and
the late series in the city will, we hope, in
duce the Legislature to encircle him or hia
successor with such powers that when build
ing is burned the Superintendent will not ba
able to fall back upon the defects of the law
for his excuse. When he blames the Comp
troller for cutting down his estimates he may
certainly have justice on his side It is q
serious matter to think that parsimony should
leave the city even partially undefended in SO
important matter. We should be glad to
learn more on this head. We cannot think,
however, that he has made anything like q
good case for Mr. Hepworths new corrugated
cage.