The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-03-11

means, bot n u WY unoodhEhoa thing for
ono Of these residences 10 burn up. And II .
fire OCCURS In ono OF them the height Of the
house is not 30 great a. to prevent the fire.
men reaching It's topmost stories with their
ladders and with streams Of water. The
chances Of putting out tho fire are OF the
best, and there is very little risk OF loss OF
life on account OF the flames.
Tho liabilities to fire are OF course multi
piled In an apartment house occupied by
many families instead Of by one family only.
And the occupants arc in more personal dam
ger when fire occurs, because 30 many OF
them arc crowded Into single structure.
Land being 80 costly, the only way to make
an apartment house profitable Is to run 1t up
toward the sky, so that It's occupants shall
live In layers, OF which there may BIO six,
seven, eight, and ten or more The conse-
quence Is that the building gets so high that
no ladders within the command OF flremen
will reach to the top Of 1t. Neither can
streams OF water be sent to 80 great IN eleva-
tlon. Tho height also necessltates elevators,
and most Of these arc 30 constructed that
they aid tho progress OF the flames which
quickly run up tho shaft In which the eleva-
tor Is placed and through which 1t moves.
Unless a lofty apartment house provided
with an elevator Is really fireproof, and
II the chance OF the communication Of fire
from story to story through tho elevator
shaft is not obviated by proper construc-
ton, the many inhabitants OF the house are
unquestionably in far more danger from fire
than family occupying single dwelling.
There Is moro risk Of fire, and when 1t oc-
ours their lives are In greater peril Their
opportunities for escape, especially II they
are on the upper stories, are much less than
those Of family living In one Of our ordinary
four-story private dwelling houses.
1t is necessary. therefore, that the con-
struction Of all apartment or tenement
houses which are not as fireproof rs such
buildings can BIO rendered should be abso-
lutcly forbidden. Their owners should be re-
Quired to so build the elevators that fire
shall not be communicated through their
shafts, and approved safety escape APP
planes should be provided in sufficient
quantity, and kept in proper order.
In spite Of laws to secure the necessary
ends, it Is not probable, however, that we
shall find the public thoroughly alive to the
need OF them and their proper enforcement
until one OF the elegant apartment houses
which are so fast multiplying up town is
burned up. along with large number of its
inhabitants. But the insurance people, We be-
licve, are little anxious about some of these
snowy structures. and lenders Of money on
mortgage are much more shy of them than
they used to be. The theory Of the lenders,
however, is not so much that these great
apartment houses are in danger from fire, as
that their rapid multiplication is making it
probable that they will be far less profitable
in the future than they are now; that the rates
OF rent for their apartments must come down.
The higher tho buildings and the more
crowded the population OF New York the
greater is the necessity for the rigid enforce
mcnt OF every rule Of precaution against fire.