New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-11-21
Observation-Disclosures LOSS BY FIRE.

DISPROPORTIONATE LOSS BY FIRE.
The record Of the year which is about to
| close, while it does not so far present so
formidable catalogue of losses by fire in the
great ccnters of population and industry as
some of its immediate predecessors, is not
after all very encouraging one in respect to
the recurrence of such disasters. No one can
examine it without concluding that III this
| country, fires are increasing much more rapidly
than is warranted by the increase of business
| done and values exposed to loss.
The statistics of insurance show that-leav-
ing out of the account all the losses of COM
panies which have bankrupted them-the losses
by fire in foreign countries bear the same pro-
norton to the premiums received by insurance
companies as in this country. But while these
percentages of loss are so very nearly equal
the rates of premium are very unequal. With
out going into detail, it is sufficient for our
| present purpose that the premiums for fire
| insurance charged in this country are ut least
double those charged abroad, and they are
steadily and necessarily increasing 1t follows
that the ratio of loss by fire to amount insured
is in this country twice rs great as in foreign
countries. How far this dspTop0rtionate loss Is
| preventable, what are its causes, and what the
remedies, if any, are questions quite as vital
| To the citizen as to the fire underwater. ultl-
matcly the loss falls upon the community,
whether insurance intervenes to protect the
| individual or not and it ia better to spend
our energies in discovering the causes OF the
loss than in disputing whether it shall be paid
in the shape of increased premiums on our in
dustry.
The headI0ng haste with which all our en-
terprises are begun and carried forward makes
us reckless people A majority OF all the
fires, the causes Of which are ascertamed with
certainty originate in sheer carclessness-
carelessnes5 in the construction of buildings IN
the arrangement and Use of heating and light
ing apparatus and in the handling of dan
gerOus substances. Reckless haste, and still
more reckless greed, in the absence Of the
vigilant control of law, put up buildings of
such fimsy material, with such slender par
ttion walls, and such gaping creyices in chin
ney and hue, that the wonder only is that the
fire comes 50 seldom when it is so constantly
invited. This evil Is by no means confined to
the humber class of structures In some re-
spects, and these such rs reasonable caution
and trivial outlay would have prevented,
the most imposing edfces are the most faulty.
The speculations induced by the war led to
the hastv erection and expansion Of towns in
preparation for population and prosperity
which has never come, OF coming has departed.
buildings in such localities usually heavily
mortgaged, and either badly occupied or not
occupied at all, are not desirable property, and
.h, 10 no has
available.
This haste with which new towns spring up
and grow into cities also prevents on the part
of the underwater that thorough knowledge
of both the character of the risks and of the
applicants, which is an essential safeguard
against the inviting offer Of premium upon
incendarism. This one fact places our under
writers at great disadvantage as compared
with those of older countries; and the disad-
vantage of the underwater is here, to
greater or less extent, the peril Of the COM
munity.
The greater difficulty in this country in de-
tecting and furnishing the crime of arson than
exists under the police systems OF the old world
contributes in no small degree to make life
and property insecure In some countries of
Europe the cause Of every fire is investigated
and the underwater is prohibited from paying
until the fire is shown to have been an honest
one. The rule being impartial. the inquisition
damages neither the reputation nor the bust
ness of the insured. In this country, close
investigation into the cause of fire is seldom
made unless the underwriters make it on sus-
picion; and when they come into court to
resist claim believed to be dishonest our
courts and juries regard them with disfayOr.
This indirect but powerful encouragement of
incendiarsm much increases the frequency,
and much more the destructiyeness of fires
for when the origin of the fire is incendiary,
the material is expressly prepared not only to
kindle but to burn. The remedy for this
proltc source of loss by fire is clearly within
our reach.
The readiness with which new inventions
and discoveries are adopted into general use
in this country, is not without its measure of
influence in increasing the hazard OF fire.
Steam has come into almost universal use.
Railways shoot along our thOroughfares, and
engine-fres burn day and night beneath
stately structure and open street Patent
heating and lighting contrivances are in con-
slant uso by people who have neither the
sense to regulate nor to fear them. Lucifer
matches vindicate their title by playing the
"deviln in improper places and careless hands.
New chemical products and combinations, the
properties and possibilities of which are but
little known, enter into every process OF IMAM
ufaeture and make our teeming factories and
towering warehouses magazines of combusti
bles-often in the midst of crowded cities, the
quicker to spread desolatiOn when the fire
ignites.
And, worst of all, petroleum, its products