The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-01-01
rFron the Ny. Trlbup,
Loss by FiFe-DlSpFOP0Fti0n OF Less
flmeiy facts agd SUGGESTIONS.

Loss by EiFe-DlSprOs > s0Fti0n or Less
timely facts aud suggestions.
The record Of the year which
about 10 close while il does not so fa
present so formidable Catalogue O
losses by fire in the great centers O
population and industry As some o
It's Immediate predecessors, is no
after all very encouraging one in re
sPect 20 the recurrence of such disas
tiers. No one can examine il withou
concluding that, in this country, firt!
are increasing much more rapidly
than is warranted by the increase o
business done snd values expOsed e
loss.
The statistics of insurance Show
that-leaviug out of the account all
the losses of companies which have
bankrupted them-the losses by fire
IN foreign countries lear the same
proportion 10 the premiums received
l Oy insurance companies as in this
country. But while these percentages
of loss are so very nearly equal, the
rates Of premium are so very unequal.
I Without going into detail, il is SUI
I ficient for our present purpose that the
/ premiums for fire insurance charged
IN this country are st least double
those charged abroad, and they are
steadily and necessarily increasing
1t follows that the ratio of loss by fire
| 10 amount insured is in this country
twice as great as in foreign countries
How far this disproportiOnate loss is
| preveDtable, what are its causes, and
what the remedies, il any, ale ques-
fInmE nnTfa - q vital m tho 11f 20.
the fire underwater. Ultimately the
loss falls upon the com mmunity, wheth-
er Insurance intervenes to protect the
individual or not; and it is better to
spend our energies in discovering the
causes of the loss than in .dispnting
whether it shall be paid in the shape
of increased premiums an-ouE iasor-
anee, or an increased tax upon our
industry.
The headlOng haste with which all
our enterprises are begun and car
ried forward makes us a reckless peo-
pie. A majority of all the fires, the
causes of which are ascertained with
certainty, originate in sheer careless
ness-carelessae aesS in the construction
of buildings, ia the arrangement and
use Of heating aud lighting appara-
tus, and in the handling Of dangerous
substances. Reckless haste anu still
more reckless greed, in the absence of
the vigilant control Of law, put up
buildings of such fiimsy material,
with such slender partition walls, and
such gaping crevices in chimney and
tiue, that the wonder only is that the
ire comes so seldom when il is so
constantly invited. This evil is by
no means confined to the humber
class OF structures. In some respects,
and these, such as reasonable caution
and u trivial outlay would have pre-
vented, the most imposing edifiees
are the most faulty. The specuia-
tions induced by the war led to the
hasty erection and expansion Of
towns in preparation for population
and prosperity which have never
come, or coming have departed.
Buildings in such localities, usually
heavily mOrtgaged, aud either badly
occupied or not occupied at all, are
not desirable property, and often the
usurer is the only cash purchaser
available.
The haste with which new towns
spring up and grow into cities pre-
vents, on the part of the underwater,
that thorough knowledge of both the
character Of the risks and of the ap-
plicants, which is an essential safe
guard against the unwilling offer Of
premium on incendiarism. This one
fact places our underwriters at great
disadvantage as compared with those
of other countries; and the dis3dvan-
tage of the underwater is here, to a
greater or less extent, the peril of the
community.
The greater difficulty in this cOuu-
try in detecting and punishing the
crime of arson than exists under the
police systems of the old world, con-
tributes in no small degree to make
life and property insecure. In some
countries of Europe the cause of eve
ry fire is investigated, and the under
writer is prohibited from paying until
the fire is shown to have been an hon.
est one. The rule being impartial, it
damages neither the reputation nor
the business of the insured. In this
country close investigation into the
cause of a fire is seldom made, unless
the underwriters make II on suspi-
cion; and, when they come into
COuIL 10 EEE1SI u OCAACNGA " LC
dishonest, our courts and iuries regard
them with disfavOr. This indirect
but powerful encouragement Ofincen-
diarlsm much increases the frequen-
cy, and much more the destructive
ness of fires; for when the origin of
the fire is ineendiary, the material is
expressly prepared not only to kindle,
but to burn. The remedy for this
prolific source of loss by fire is clearly
within our reach.
The readiness with which new in
ventions 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 c,me into almost univer-
sal use. Railways shoot along our
thOroughfares, and engine fires burn
day and night beneath stately struc-
ture aud open street. Patent heating
and lighting eOntrivances are in COLI
slant use by people having neither
the sense to regulate nor to fear them.
Lucifer matches vindieate their title
by ''playing the devil" in improper
places and careless hands. New
chemical products and combinations.
the properties and possibilities Of
which are but little known, enter in
to every process of manufacture and
make cur teeming factories and tow
eriDg warehouses magazines OF COM
bustibles-often in the midst Of
crowded cities, the quicker to spread
desolatiOn when the fire ignites.
And worst of all, petroleum, its pro-
ducts and their adulteratiOns, add
their innumerable pcrils to the exist
ing dangers. Its transportation costs
the frequent loss of railway trains, de-
pots and docks; its storage endangers
every warehouse where it is harbored;
and its use entails an annual loss Of
millions. AS true "demon of the
In Nd % II has an tarod rnnra than half