New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-04
FIRES AND INSURANCE COMPANIES.

Largo and destructive fires have been Tin
commonly frequent in this city and Brooklyn
during the last few years, and investigations
into their causes have invariably shown that
they were due to inexcusable carcleesness.
Ii is the fashion nowadays, when any APP
Mailing catastrophe occurs such as a great lire
or a terrible railroad disaster, to ascribc it to
what the lawyers call the Act of God" A
clever writer in "Sciencc" recently consumed
several columns of that paper in an effort to
show that all the terrible railroad slaughtcrs
of the last dozen years should be laid at the
door of this mysterious law of disorder. A
more mischicvous and dcmoralizing doctrine
could not be preached Human responsibility
is not to be laid aside with shrug OF the
shoulders. Persons to whom is intrusted The
management of great properties that hold Tor
safe keeping the lives of others must under
stand that their duty does not end with the
FORMULATION of a series of rules. They must
omit no prccaution or eXpcdicnt that will be
likely to enforce obedience to rules
Certainly if there is place where the ex-
trcmest measures to prevent fires should be
taken il is i'm those institutions which assume
TO care for the helpless. Carclessncss and
neglect here arc criminal. 1t is not known
who was directly or chiefly at fault Tor the
burning of the crippled childrcn's hospital Sun
day night where flames appeared in two dis
tinct places 1t is supposed that lighted
cigar was the original incendiary, and physl-
clan from whose room the smoke first camc
admits he had been smoking there an hour
or so before the flames broke out. Whether 1t
was his cigar that did the work or not, 1t Is
great offence that he should smoke at all In
his ROOM OF course, he might smoke every
day for century without burning down the
hospital, but where there is fire there is always
danger, and in hospital for crippled children
the danger should be reduced to the minimum
Tn this reduction the cigar luxury should be the
first to 20. On Monday fire broke out in the
st. Johns Hospital, in Brooklyn, which was
almost reduced to ashes only four years ago.
when thirteen children lost their lives. "A
ouadrennial fire in an orphan asylum indicates
bad management.
There is no doubt that reckless competition
among the fire insurance companies Is respon-
sible for many calamities in stores and other
pIaccs of business. In their eager scramble
for business the companies have pursued a
cutthroat policy, dividing commissions and IN
other ways reducing rates against each other
until insurance has become so cheap that In
many cases the destruction of property would
prove distinct gain to its owner The Broad
way block and its contents which were con-
sumcd on Monday were heavily insured. The
owners of stock and real estate which are
carrying heavy lines Of insurance have not SO
much interest in seeing to it that flucs. heaters
stoves. lamps and other means of ignition are
kept in proper order as they would have
were insurance more expensive and difficult
to obtain Perhaps when few companies are
Forced to suspcnd business on account of losses
tbcv will come to their senses and adopt a
tariff rate in good faith II they do not, nc
sympathy need be wasted on them.