, 1874-03-15

| CAN ARuuDINGBE BE MADE FIREePROOF !?
;. In 1880 3 huge warehouse WIS built in Lon.
| don. 1t Was intended as storeroom for the
| lace5 aud pictures, aud jewels, and rare fu1ni-
/ turo. and costly carriages OF the nobility and
! gentry Of England. 4 receptacle for all the
! arts, it WIS appropriately enough named the
Pantcchncon. Tie utmost caro- WIS taken to
| make it absolutely t1zo-proof. Tho iron pillars
were solid, and rested upon ono another, with
no Intervening floors, 80 that they formed q
seriec Of columns reachin., from foundation to
roof. The wood hoors wero covered with iron
plates resting on felt. Tho ceilings were Iatbed
with iron. aud covered with concrete that
was supposed to be able to resist the
fercest heat. Tho chin1ey hues we're lined
with iron. The stairs were Of stone.
The doors were all OF wrouglt-iron. Tho
party-walls were either Of brick or iron. -Four
iron walls ran actoss the building from east to
west, like the walls which divido vessel into COM
partments. Each Of the tive spaces thus bound
ed could be entirely shut of from the Others
Each was divided, by thinner iron walls, into
warehouses and single rootns Persons whose
goods filed room lad the key to it themselves.
Tho only gas in the building Was in the oticos at
the entrance. The place MAS generally closed at
dusk. Tho only lights uscd in it afterwards wero
sa'ety~lamps. 1t had water-tanks and hose, but
no hydrants. Tho goods sto,ed III it wore worth
millions Of pounds.
At 1 O'Clock in the afternoon of Friday. Feb.
l3, g Rlight fire was discovered in ono OF tho in
ner rooms. There Was scarcity of water The
f1e spread. The alarna was given. In fifteen
minutes the London Fire~Bngade was at work,
The water supply continued scanty. Before long
the hope OF saring the building or it's contents
was given up. 1t o'clock Saturday morning
the fire died for inck OF fuel Only pieces Of the
outside walls we're left standing and ~ tho whola
place seemed to have crump1ed in" The English
papers and reviews arc full Of editorials and
On the lessons taught by such a I
FIRE. Chicago figures, Of course, as an awful |
warning. The Saturday Reriezo thinks we
win probably burn up again, while the |
Spectator says, with that delightful accuracy |
which always marks English statements about |
This country: fTrinity Church, Chicago,
building Of red brick only, stood the fire out
bravely, though the flames licked it's walls and
felt none the worse for scorching to which it
had been acclnatizod." English architects,
Builders, and editors seem to agreo on the fol-
lowing points, which We commend to the attan-
ion 0. city which WAS burned for lack OF atten-
ion to them: Iron, ss a protection against fire,
8 delasion and snare. Iron pillars arc
wholly untrustworthy, because they bend when
heated. When coated with plaster, their resist-
ng capacity il more than doubled Iron beams
'4pand very quickly when exposed to fire.. and
70 throw down walls. Wooden beams, properly
sometimes etand heat much better
han iron ones do. Concrete aud tile floors ara
etter than stone. Brick is BY far the best fire.
esister. Yet it is vain to expect to savo build
ngs which contain oombustible goods from COP
agratious, though ws build with greatest care,
Inless there are bydrants on every floor and
reat pressure OF water within them.