The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1889-02-17
GUARDING AGAINST FIRES.
The Proposed Ordinance Regu-
lating Oil warehouses.
Ceuneiim<n Darie and Burns SPEAK
Of It's Prsvisians-From an
Insurance sssndpoinf.

The necessity Of taking some action in
regard TO the proper storage Of OH had be-
come 50 psessinxiy spp8rsaf that an oedi
nance. watch makes provision fer the
proper Disposal OF eofnbGsfihIes, Was In
trodRced Al the Council meeting Friday
night said Mr.. D. z. Dare, chairman az
the Council committee on ire and water
yesterday. The city aad 70 do either ore
Of t.o thiaes-ga into the storage business
Itself O. aElgH oshers 70 DO -. The frss
method seemed % ne unwiSe, for two rea-
sons. L woald have been uxurpatscn Of
the ensiuexs rights Of private individuals.
and II would have added to the cost cf Goa,
oil. Dealers IN oil, petroleum. efr. natHr.
ally desire 70 control their own hEss-
had an attempt been made 10
restrict upcaiy the privileges OF one or two
of them, notably the standard on Com
rzany, ey the passage Of an ordinance re-
curing them 20 place their stores IN the
hands OF the city. they woald have with
drawn their business from the city TIE
Business arrangements OF the standard and
Eagle oil companies sre nov satisfactory
70 the public, and ST tha, is necessary now
IS 10 require them 10 render their ware
houses rs free from danger OF FIRE as posi-
bic. The manager Of the standard on
~ 8kEA0s2>C L. kAfa4x mt AfzAl NE - E0rf-EEN
sansEea with the rec airerHentS OF the pro-
posed ordinance. and that be win comply
VITA them BY constructing q safe building
further from the harbor
III VIII not be necessary for me 20 make
any extended explanation of the proyis
ions OF the ordinances. for q perussl OF the
sections VIII. ! think. convince everyone
OF their reasonablsness and wisdom =
DECREASE or INSURANCE..
The ordinance proposed by Councilman
Durie seems to ne to be the best for all
parties that could hare beea suggested, .
said Councilman Burns.
1T was laid over for one week to sscer-
tain what the sentiment OF the public is.
am satisfied il viii be found unanimous
in its favor for the reason that its require
ments are reasonable and sensible, aud
there are no unusual provisions attached
10 IL
..As az abstract insurance proposition. a
warehouse or barn for the storage of hay.
is much more dangerous TO surrounding
property than an oil warehouse. The basis
Of Insurance rates for brick structure of
the former kind is 225 per cent, and for
wooden building $50 per cent The rate
on brick hay warehouses is per cent and
for q wooden building 6 per cent
Buildings adjacent 10 oiI.store houses
made of brick have = per cent added 10
tnelr basfsSrRte Tor Ea-f00t exposure. and
u per cent for wooden warehouse; aud the
additional rate for ln-foot exposure
from hay barn of brick is X per cent.
aud for wooden barn is = per cent. Not.
withstanGiDg these rates consider that
the danger from an oil warehouse located
on the water front is much greater than
from a hay building. for the reason, well
understood here, that in case of IRE the
burning oil running from the warehouse
would spread out over the harbor aud
would probably fire the whole water 'front.'
Every one remembers the time when
Scbwabacher's oil warehouse. near the
Yesler wharf, burned four or FIVE years
ago. The burning liquid ran down into
the water and quickly spread around
amongst the adjacent wharyes AS IL hap
pened, the tide was very low and the guam
ufy of oil very small. or q
widespread and disastrous confederation
must have ensued.
Now, If oil warehouses are moved back
from the waterfront the calculations of in
surance adi1sters on the relative risks from
oil and hay warehouses viii be without
this uneonsidered element of danger, and
viii be correct. The rates of insurance
viii be comparatively low, and the risk of
IRE 10 adjoining buildings win be small i
think Councilman Durie's ordinance is a
wise one and IL should pass"