Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1886-06-17
FIRES.
Cause ana Prevention-e800 900
Worth of Property Daily De-
afrOved.

Il
Cause ana Prevention--e8oo 900
Worth of Property Daily De-
| stroyed.
Statistics regard the origin Of fires in
this country, says The Boston Adver-
Gser, shows that incendiarism is by far
the most important of the causes which
lead to the immense waste of our ma
tional wealth that now takes place each
year. This cont mptible crime is said
to have caused so per cent. of the fires
which occurred in 1884. Other leading
causes enumerated are defective fues,
matches, explosions of lamps, spon-
taneous combustion, stoves and stove
pipes, ashes, gas jets, fireworks, fur
naces, and explosion Of varnish, volatile
oils, etc. In a compact and sensible
circular lately issued by a leading New
York fire-insurance company these
various causes are considered separately,
and valuable advice is given to agents
and those insuring regarding simple
precautions to take against them.
Under the existing system of insur-
ance the public has come to consider
losses by fire as matter which con-
Germs the insurance companies much
more than it touches the people as a
whole. This view is so clearly errone-
Gus that it scarcely needs refutation.
Anyone who pays insurance rates must
understand, on reflection, that the mon-
ey given by the companies to cover a
loss caused by incendiarsm or careless
ness is collected from him and others like
him, and that if fires occurred only hall
as often rs they now occur the COM
panies would soon lower their rates,
because they would need less money TO
pay losses. AS a matter of fact, ever
dollars worth of property burned
leaves the country dollar poorer. In
1884 the country destroyed on an aver
age 100000 worth of property every
day throughout the year. Since 1876
enough has been burned to cancel more
than half of the present national debt.
The advice of the New York company
ought, consequently, to be studied with
as much diligence by the public as by
the agents, for whom it is specially in
tended. In discussing incendiarism,
the pamphlet in question takes the
ground that the main temptation to burn
ones own property arises from overin-
surfing. 1t directs its agents to investi-
gate for themselves the value of every
piece of property presented to them for
insurance, and never to insure for more
than Is per cent. of n fair market price.
How many companies are there in tho
country that can pretend to say that o
part of their policies are not on overin-
sured property? Of defective flues, the
circular points out that most of the
fires caused by them are due to reckless
building. The bricks are not carefully
laid, and their joints are not properly
pointed inside. Chimneys are not given
time to settle before being incased in
wood. Flues built in attics, or on ioists,
with stoveppes entering them vertical
ly, are specifically condemned. All
woodwork exposed to fues should be
framed around them, leaving two inch
es of air space. Special demand is made
that matches should always be kept in
metal receptacles, and never left where
mice can reach tn m.
Lamp explosions are charged mainly
to the use of low grade oils, which con-
tain substances that under heat give out
highly explosive gases. These gases
fill the part Of the lamp not
filled by the oil, and if they communi-
cate with the burning part of the wick
an explosion follows. Even good oils
are dangerous when the supply in the
| lamp is allowed to run low and the lamp
is left turned down, so that the metal
part of the burner becomes unduly
Gated. The practice of blowing out
lamps is sharply condemned, as is that
of filling lamps when lighted lamp or
other flame Is near. Spontaneous COM
bustion is generally due to the close
contact of animal or vegetable fibers.
| The circular expresses the strongest
disapprobation of the false economy
which leads people to hoard paint rags,
oil rags, and similar articles. The risk
| is too great for the insignificant saving
made. If such objects must be pre-
served they should be kept in metal,
and not left over night where they can
| do harm.
The advice as to stoves and stoves
pipes, is like much of the rest, simple,
but as failure to follow it will cost the
country large sums yearly, it is worth
reading: "All woodwork or lath and
plaster partitions within eighteen inches
of stoves or within ten inches of stove
pipes should be protected with metal
with an air space of one half inch be-
tween the metal and the surface pro-
| tected." II this clause were made a
condition in policies on ordinary dwell
lighthouses there would be very few
people who would not have to invest at
once in little more galvanized iron.
In fitting stovepipes the joints in the
| pipe should always overlap toward the
stove. Other parts of this suggestive
| little circular condemn wooden fire
boards, open stove holes in atticS,
wooden receptacles for ashes, wooden
cold-air flues tor furnaces, oil-stover
and swinging gas-jets in cellars or near
wooden ceilings or partitions. Special
cautions are also devoted to carelessly-
placed furnace flues and steam-pipes.
The circular is prepared by men who
have made close and lifelong study
of the causes of fires. Much of their
advice indicates that they believe fools
to be numerous in our population; but
there are few, even among the over
cautious, who can read this little
pamphlet through without becoming
conscious of some element of folly in
their own household arrangements.
Figures on Liquor.