, 1874-09-18

TUG city, comprising, only Btreeta Of 30 fest
snd moro IN width; il bnilt up ~
tlio walls wou! Htapd after tho titnbor or wooa.-
work ,yas completely consumed Many powerful
atoaa'-puinpsy aro distributed all through this
district, tho wator-lsres ero au.rlo Tor any ro-
proof. Takug all those th!ugs into constaore.
tion, un,,teid tflat toEo nro ITO Bnior risks i.s
any city III thfa country tllan tl,oso contained
within this Atflct. Wo,l1l It 10 for tho lntorost
collont risks "a ,neo hora oirosod 'Ihoy should
hold OH to this in any eyont, no matter II tliey
discarded oyerY other l1ortIun Of tho city. They
carlsot afford 10 loao thih inauranno. It IL tho
"crcan," Of NIL risks except tisoae absolutely
iAulatnd.
Now. az to,o,ns tho SECOND Of thoso intorcsta,
tllu elevators. THEY have tl.s advantage: ), thsy
are GENERALLY ntlrcy dctacl,osl from other b.lid-
lnge, aud covcrod with incombastiblo matorta1a.
They oSe moreover at tho wlsarvos, whore water
III readily ;obtaiuotl III limited quantities, mud
most OF .FAon have atcam-punps Of tho,r own.
Froiu theso considerations It would Moon that
they woro good. fair rl.Aa for any insurance
company.
Thirdly, lhn lun13er-alstrlct on Twenty ty-soconl
sttcot. Wore n fire to got ulldor full hcn@lwny III
Ills district. 1t might provo vary Borloua afair.
ett! ttlero nrc soino flenc1lta OF protection hero
Apb rst, TIP II long tiiBtaueo from tAo river, and
nll parts nro Accessible 10 stonm hro-0nGlnea Or
tny-boata. 1nInany Of tho manufacturing ostat'-
lislments OIL tho north aldo Of !fwentv-second
street tera nro steam pumps Of great elicioncy.
local Byston Of wntcrwor1s, on the Holly plan,
could 10 easily catalsAcl evo,l it no ottlcr class
contributed but tho lnbordoalosa,. at,d tho out.
ley ccn!l he In n few years saYctlbY tho reduced
rate Of insurance. Tboroforo, although thia ts-
trck IL NOW conbidcre1 and ,s very dangerous,
1t can ut very moderate ont'ay ho mnsan roaBon-
nbiy safe.
Tho fourth :tliRtrict comprising, tho 1loaYy and
valuable manufacturing establishments, may ho
considered as III tho truck Of \ swcnpings tire on
tho West Side, ,nfn al wanting somo olIootual
n1ennB of protection ngnnat such II contingency.
Atoqt OF lilo establishments aro making prepara-
tionH to Introduce ntoa1l tiro-pnlnpB. mid sumo
have them already III llse. They are bottcr
guarded on tho south than tl,oy wore boforo tho
iireat Fire. aud will, think, boz III r. tolcrably
safe com,ition, by tho building Of tho NOW wator
works aud the construction Of the tunnel under
the city. ..........
Tlo conclusions I draw. from theae statononts
nro: First, that no better riakB can bo found
than oso I'll tito South Division or first district.
Secondly, tliat the elevators nro roaBonably safo
risks, and very desirable ones At tho present
rates.. Thirdly, that, while lnmbor-riskB tntiat
be considered TIL very dangerous and it may not
bo desirable for Eastern companies to take them,
thoy cau bo daslly provided with such facilities
for tho suppression Of fires Is to cauRe thc.n TO
cease to be source OF danger to tho ross OF tho
city. IaHtly, as to tho manufacturing district,
their eafety must depend upon utitlzluE Bucl,
moans as they hare for the oxtinguiahnent Of
lrca. End tho general improvement Of methotla
Which, 1t il hoped, timo will bring undor tho
efforta Of tis City Government.
CHICAGO, Sept. 1874. OBSERVATION.