St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-04
Fire. roof iuGS.


dreds OF enterprisng business men.
Such tremendous catastrophe does not
often occur. but may be always apprehended
while people continue to erect buildings for
public or private use constructed for the
most part of material that yields readily to
the devOuring element.
1t is the next thing to useless to maintain,
at great public cost, an efficient fire de-
partment SO long as architects and
builders, through the cupidity Of owners,
are permitted to rear huge piles OF COM
bustibleS that spark from a passing loco
motive may ignite and a prevailing gale fan
into such fury that it can only be controlled
when there is nothing left for the fire to
feed upon.
In times gone by people were excusable
for erecting buildings that were terror to
the Insurance companies. for they did not
know how to make them more than approx
imately tire-proOf. Walls, to be sure. were
constructed of brick or stone. the roof of
slate or some other non-intiammable mate
rial, but floors. partitions, ETC.. were
Of wood that burned like finder when op-
portunity offered. But in this progressive
age buildings can be made FIRE proof if the
builders will take the necessary trouble and
incur the requisite expense. And right
here it might not be amss to mention that
the losses by fire in the United States dur
ing the year 1885 amounted, in round num-
bers, to SOB. 900. O00 consequently it would
seem to be worth while to take some trouble
and incur some expense in order to avoid
the duplication Of Snch holocaust.
1t is rather surprising that this matter Of
fire. proof buildings has not received more
general attention. The Americans are a
practical people. and have the reputation of
looking sharply after the almighty dollar.
yet, nevertheless. outside the chief cities
where municipal enactments, to greater or
less extent, prohibit the erection of the
more intiammable structures-they go on.
year in and year out, concentrating the
wherewthal for stupendous and most ex-
pensiye bontres. relying upon that frail
reed-the insurance cOmpany-fOr indem
nifty when their own culpable careleSsness
results in loss. There is but one explana-
ton for this state of things: A certain per-
centage of wooden buildings, by happy
accident, escape destruction by fire every
year, and therefore every owner of such
structure infers that he will be among the
lucky, until flash of lightning or the pipe
of his employe starts blaze that consumes
his valuable property.
The time has not yet come when all, or a
majority, perhaps, of structures i'll city and
country should or could be constructed of
fire proof material. but it will come in the
course of a generation, and in the mean
while all public, Office or mercantile build
ingS in any town big enough to sport pres
ident and board OF trustees should be i'm
pervious to fire. And there should be no
mistake about this matter. either. The
builder of business block in one of our
prairie cities (?) ought to be compelled by
law and ordinance to so construct it that
when fire broke out in the wooden shanty
quarter it would have to stop when it
reached his premises. Such a municipal
regulation would give a frontier town a
mighty prestige, and, moreover. attract
thther conservative capital that would not
seek investment in localities where less
practical notions governed.
There are various descriptions of fire.
PROBING adapted to all kinds of buildings,
which cannot be even mentioned here, but
one of the Twin Cities. st. Paul, chances
to boast of an establishment that turns
out as good an article of -prOOting-pOS-
sibly better One-as can be found in any
of the old states. The article is terra
Gotta lumber" and is made by the Mime
sofa Terra Gotta Lumber company.
A little more than two years ago this
company was established at the Minnesota
capital with Hon. Edward Rice -one of
our most highly esteemed ctlzenS-aS pres
ident, and Ii. A. Boardman-a business
man of exceptionally high standing-aS
general manager, position he was emf
nently qualified to fill. Since its establish
ment it has been turning out a fire-prOof
building material that architects who have
TO
itiedly as what they want for the purpose
indicated. This is strong praise, but is
fully deserved all the same.
In recent private letter-from which
the writer is permitted to quOte-Mr.
Boardman aptly describes this material and
suggests its uses as follows:
1t is called lumber because it can be
treated in some respects as wood; it is more
properly porous brick or earthenware, be-
ing mixture Of clay and SaWduSt, which
by mechanical processes is formed into
various shapes, then dried and burned, the
latter treatment eliminating the sawdust and
leaving a product filled with countless cells
or pores.
The combination of novel and useful
properties characterzng terra Gotta lumber
give it an almost unlimited range of en-
ployment in science, art and mechanics. 1t
is indeStructibe by fire, water, frost acids,
gases or age. 1t is conductor of heat,
cold. sound and electricity. 1t neither
expands nor shr nks under extraordinary
changes of temperature. 1t will resist the hot
test flame for any given length of time. Its
weight is about one half that of brick. Ii
has been subjected to very severe tests as
to strength and successfully filed every re-
quirement.
In the construction of lofty buildings St.
Paul and Minneapolis are falling into
line with the older aud larger cities,
and it is significant fact that
buildings of this description, when
fire proof, have been entirely Tor nearly SOY
rented from the date of their completion,
while others, lacking adequate protection,
are usually adorned with the legend ''of-
fees for rent"
1t must not be supposed that terra Gotta
lumber is restricted to use on large scale
only; on the contrary it is adapted to the
smallest houses as well as to the largest
business blocks, and during the past season
several small houses have been erected with
a view to demonstrating the fact that it can
be used as a substitute for wood. and at no
material increase. if any, in cost.
Let us. then, have tire-prOOf buildings OF
terra Gotta lumber-till something better
offers-in the city, and so far as may be, in
the country also. and thereby avoid an i'm
mense annual loss by CONGREGATIONS and
probably fearful sacrifice of human life
also.
The st. Paul National Bank