Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-02-03
PROBATION AGAINST FIRES.

"hat the Board of Underwriters WAN
Done-iaints to Owners of Buildings
towering OF Rates.
At the regular monthly meeting Of
the board OF Underwriters, lately held
III New York, the subject of rates OF
surveys of warehouses, stores and
dwellings, in the city was discussed. As
the report OF the Board is of importance
to all owners of buildings, we give the
proceedings for their consideration.
Ihe great fires in Chicago and Bos-
ton have spurred the Board of Insur-
anoe and it's agents to revise the
schedule of rates of insurance on I'M
safe buildings; to require the moditica-
ton OF plans of Mansard roofs; the in
PRODUCTION of iron shutters on ware
houses not provided with them; the
substitution OF trap-dC ors, to be closed
at night, on all hatchways; the removal
OF all exterior matter on buildings cal
culated to spread fire and induce a
general confagration, and also provid-
ing for the internal improvements of
warehouses and storage buildings by the
closing Of communications between
stores and floors by brick walls and iron
doors. Many OF the proposed altera-
t1ons have been made, some of an ex-
pensive character, and in the large
warehouses and hotels costing large
sums OF money; but the result has iusti-
fed the Board of Underwriters in re-
duclng the rates of risks SO far that the
average rate in 1874 was made rs per
cent, against IS per cent in 1873"
" Vertical pipes have been erected ON
the fronts of nearly 100 of the promi-
nent buildings in New York and Brook
lyn, whereby water can be taken from
the street main pipes, thrown on each
floor OF the buildings or piped from the
top of the houses During a trial of
these pipes at one of the storage stores
a stream of water was thrown through
a a-inch nozzle seventy feet, while the
same engine power applied to hose lead
ing from the same hydrant to the same
roof would not throw a stream more
than forty feet. The pipes are, there
fore, approved. The committee further
report, III relation to Mansard roofs on
warehouses, that Ill remain of the
original 205. These are scattered
through a district of valuable build
ings filed with merchandise. The fur
Their erection of such structures has
been prohibited by law.
The committee recommend firm adj
herence to high tariffs on such Guild
ings until they are altered or removed.
The committee acknowledge that the
Fire Department Of this city is we'll
trained and skillful, but do not consider
the valuable part Of the city as fire
proof Or free from the dangers of a
widespread conhagration. There are
miles of narrow streets, and the build
lngs on either side are filled with valua.
BILE merchandise lin some instances
close TO windows unprotected by iron
shutters,) frame Mansards, &C., ready
to scatter flaming brands, with other
tinder-like exposures, that need re-
The committee recommend the re-
moval, as far as possible, of all causes
that may tend to the spread of fire,
thereby lessening the chances of Grip
ping the agencies used to extinguish it.
All new buildings are frequently
visited and examined in course of con-
struction, and improvements insisted
upon when necessary ......
Of two hundred and nine cases found
unsafe one hundred and sixty eight
were corrected. The source Of the
greatest number Of fires from heating
apparatus is from smoke-hues."
The committee report that during the
past year, l 1853 buildings were improved
and altered, in compliance with the re-
CURED standard SO as to be more safe
against fire.