The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-12
HOTEL FIRES.
Remarkable Precautions
of Some New York
City Houses.

AADhNA
of course a great calamity and was due
to a combination of circumstances that
could hardly occur again in a hundred
years. In the first place it happened
at an hour after luncheon and before
| dinner, and nearly every servant was
on the roof of the building to witness
the St. Patrick day parade, instead
Of being about in the different depart
ments of the hotel There seemed to
be no means in the hotel to call out
the fire department and when one of
the employees endeavored to cross the
street to ring in the alarm, the police
man on duty refused to let him pass
the lines. and thirty-four minutes We're
lost in reaching the fire alarm box. But
the action of some of the newspapers
in New York in startling the public by
sensational headlines and declaring that
nearly all hotels are more or less fire
traps and after such declarations to
send out their agents and solicitors to
solicit write-ups of the absolute safe
ty of them at so much a line, smacks
about as much of blackmail as any
thing ever heard. Hotel men are not
LOOlS. L HSy nave more at STAKE lHdiL
any guest; the lives of their own fami-
lies, their property and their business
reputation, all depend upon the care
and safeguards they are able to provide
for the safety of guests and their pro-
perty.
1t is well known fact that the rail-
way statistics of this country show that
life is safer on a railroad than in any
other location. Poor's Railroad Manu-
al makes the interesting statement that
IN 1897 only one person was killed out
OF each 2,204,70S passengers carried on
the railroad for twelve months.
The statistics are not at hand, but It
is very probable that life in the large
hotels conducted by responsible parties
where the usual precautions are observ-
ed, Will show as large a proportion of
safety over other class of buildings as
the foregoing railroad statistics.
BY studying the statement of one Of
the largest down town hotels in New
YORK, 1t would seem that the prophet
or has exhausted every means possible
to render the loss of life impossible 1t
Is an admitted fact that there is no
such thing as fire proof hotel. The
burning of the carpets and furniture
IN any hotel will alone suffocate and
purn, and it is serious question
whether the twelve to twenty story
sky scrapers with only one or two
stairways and narrow halls, are as
safe as some of the older structures
with their broad halls and numerous
stalrWays from all points, and the ad-
ditional fire escapes outside from every
part Of the buildings.
AS an example of the care taken in
this respect the regulations of one Of
the old and well known New York hO-
tells, IN respect to fires, are appended:
The particular attention of guests is
called to the means of alarm and escape
IN case of fire. and the methods adopted
for safety at this hotel.
Forty-two patrol stations are estab-
| l1Shed in different parts of the house,
which neceSSitate the patroling of every
nail and corridor from the basement to
attic. Two watchmen ara appointed, who
make this work their sole business. These
patrol stations connect by direct wire with
the private office, and report the watch
man s presence every two minutes. They
| are numbered from l to ~, and must be
rung in consecutive order, and each sta
ton connects with the general alarm.
Thirty-four large electric gongs are
placed In the different wings and halls,
which are rung from the office. There are
also 300 private bells, placed in each room
above the third floor, and these will be
found to be most important auxiliary.
| These gongs or bells are tested every
week. In addition to these, there are also
six large steel factory gOngs, which are
rung from the cashiers desk who is on
duty the entire night. They are placed so
that they may be heard throughout the
entire building.
There are two large tanks on the upper
floors, holding 1900 gallons of water each
supplying six-inch standpipes from the
tanks to the sub-cellars, with branches to
different parts of the house connecting
with twenty lines of hose leading from
the main line and branches of fixed pipes
There are placed in different parts Of the
q 0f av Mo -,1
so as to be within sight of every room OF
the house. A pail of water will often put
out a fire at its beginning, and this is a
means of safety that everybody knows
how to use.
Every other suit of rooms on the side has
independent fire escapes from the top floor
to the street. On the front balconies with
double ladders are placed at each end
and in the centre of the building On the
sides of the building there is access from
each end of the halls to the adjoining
buildings and Independent outlets from
there to the street.
A special alarm private wire is connect
ed from the office directly to the fire de-
lpartment and can be called at a moments
notice. Steam is maintained a all hours
| of the day and night, and duplex pumps
are connected with the tanks and pine
| service in all parts of the house
In addition to the main stairway. there
| are stairways from each end of the front
hall, also a broad stairway from the cen
trail wing, also stairway from the two
south halls.
Maps showing all staircases, balconies.
| fire escapes and adjoining roof connec-
! lions are placed in all rooms
The entire kitchen. bakery and pastry
cooks departments are located in build
| ing entirely outside the hotel proper.
| The main building is divided once in
every eighteen feet by substantial brick
walls, running up from the basement to
| the roof. These walls are three feet thick
| in the basement and twelve inches thick