, 1875-12-27

1ho communication written by Mr.. ALEx-
AspEa Sullivan, Secretary Of the Board Of
Public Works Of this city, 10 tho manager Of
London insurance company, which WINS
printed in tho last issue Of The TRIBUNE.
contains some facts Of primo Importance
touching Tho security OF Chicago against
tlrcs' completely answers the carping cri.i.
c'sms OF the New York press, mud ought to
be sufficient iuduccment for INSURANCE. CON.
ranies 10 reduce their rates. First, as 70.
CARDS tho security of Chicago against fire.
The total pipe laid from april l, 1874, to
Dec. Z, 1875. wns 309,172 feet, or III n,lca
nntl 1,212 feet; 4G,533 feet of finch pine
have been taken MP and thrown away nni
larger pipc substituted. Tho mean diameter
Of the pipe laid in 1872 was 7.s1 inchos, md
tho mean diameter now is s.G1 inches. Since
April, 1879, tho delivering capncity Of Chi
cago'a water-pipo Inns been increased q
per cent. At tho time Of tho Great
Fro there were 1,552 ltydrauts; now there
aro 2,Ko7. Then, Chicago had 272
miles Of watcr-piro now 1t has 4os
miles. In addition to this, tho city is
now surrounded by sc and q inch mains,
from whicl, pipes radiato in every direction,
frequently tipped by hydrants. a new tun-
nel has been constructed. Tho fro limits
have been made commensurate with tho limits
of tho city. The wooden buildings burned
in the two great fires have been hive been ro.
placed by brick aud stone structures. In
ereEy possible way, Chicago has protected
herself. until gho has become ono Of the
safest, If not tho safest, city in tho Union.
MIR. suII1vANs report furnishes another
important fact in it's complete answer
to tho critics Of the Now York
stamp. On Doe. Z, 1876, Chicago Ind
2,157,78s feet Of pipe, and on Nov. y, 1876,
Now York had but 2,17s,73o feet. In other
words, Chicago had 40s miles and New York
+l2 miles, md during 1874 and 1875 Chicago
Ind four times aa much pipo as New York.
The smaller-sizcd pipes in Chicago aro moro
efficient than those in New York, for tho rca-
son that they are connected ut every street.
crossing, while in New York there is no
system Of inter-connection. We commend
these facts to tho Now York 1KorM in answer
TO its criticisms, as we'll na to tho recent
statements mado by the Committee Of East
ernt Underwriters.
In viow of these unanswerable facts, thern
In no good reason why tho insurance CON-
panies should not roduce their rates. The
figures furnished by the secrota,y Of tho
Board show that Chicago il not only more
secure than New York, but TINT, rs comparcd
with my other city in this country, It il a
first-class risk. Since tho July fire.. thcro
havo been scarcely any fires worth mention,
and tho loss has been very small. They have
already saved In their extra rites mora than
they lost in the July fire. In addition to all
those reasons, it may be urged that thu Fire
Department was mover better oIIicercd and
equipped than now, nor has it ever
reached higher tlegreo Of efficiency.
Its promptneRs and thoroughncss have
been tested ovor and over again. Tie outlay
which Chicago has nado, the resources Which
she las collected with that outlay, tho policy
which sllo ia pursuing with regard to security
from fire, and tho profitable field which size
now of1ers for underwriting, should lend tho
insurance companies to ral,ce their rates cor
respondingly. Chicago deserves it by what
she has done and is still doing