Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-05-25
A Ps.L,ric CAUSE OF FIRES.
Detective Fiues in Country Districts "'' -
Fault for Man,.

tai ignition Of matches caieieaS'1
around. the throwing of lgEtcu i''.,'o
es or cigars into waste paper
and iaocndiarisni. A very iaHso
portion or the fires occurring III o"'n
ings. especially in the country o'"
tricts. however, are attributed, anu ~"
doubt correctly. to defective CHIMNEY
nucs' IN tie country districts OF Hia'"'
and Mar%a chusctts. IL Is safe to say u
very large proportion OF the Hre'
originate from this cause, ana -
/ passing strange that the people VINO
rebuild these houses are not awe ~
, this prolific source of danger. bnt con-
tnuc 10 employ old method puiidc's
who rebuild in the same old way.
Indeed. II would seem that people
have become SO Indifferent TO TINS
source Of danger that they nave come
/ to regard a fire from such difc''ioh
as a kind Of disponsa ton o. providence
as 4 ncmethint which could not d"
foreseen. and. therefore, not PROVIDED
against They do not realize tnat
their cnimneys are improperly con-
! structed, ana, in fleet. do not seem To
care Il IL 81 if . sort Of fat2lism on
shrouded their lives. and made them
! content To take the chances of what
Nigh; happen. And yet. If t4ey con-
I, templatcd the risks they run as utterly
uncallCd FOR. in, olv!lg the loss "f
property surely. and life possibly-and
could loot; at. In" situation rs they
would II Il were tho ease OF a man
who bored Il hole in the bottom of his
boat, and expected IL To keen ailoat. or
| that Of the man who bestrode limb
and sawed IL off between himself and
the trec-they might realize In meas
ure their own folly. If not stupidity.
! Now. why are the M iority ~ chin
MY flucs defectiycp There are many
good reasons u be alleged. In the first
place. how many OF the3c country
! ChimncyS are properly constructor
Many of them are not built proportion
| aily. The nucs ate often narrowed u
| places where they should IL widcncd
81 that the iraucht is uncTen "r made
quate. Many Of the tiurs are crooked
ana clEoWcd upon Corbciing inside or
| outside the structure. They are built
If brick mostly. often only one brick
in thickness. ana then. IN order to Oh
! tain = plaster finish. If the chimney Is
! in the middle Of the house, II IL sur
rounded with wood Turing. nni then
lathcd and piastcrcd over. In attach
ing the Turing nails are driven into the
plaster between the bricks. often going
through into the nuc.
| Now let US see what may take place
| from such q ConStruCtion-nnt At once.
OF course. but in time Hot fires in win
/ ter heat the fiues To n dcgre" that In
the course ~ several year carbonizcs
the wood Of the Turing ana laths and
puts them in condition To be ignted
at 4 comparatively low temperature.
| This Is not liable 10 occur from every
| nail driven. but from n spark or heated
| nail under certain condition. There
are several ways by which this may
! happen. If the chimney Is closely
| bound to the floors, tn" rocking Of the
house IN high winds VII tend To crack
| il. and some of these ruptures may
| allow sparks To pHss through. Then II
| tho chimney Is double iiuel. and only
one is used to carry on the smokes
ana gases Of n hot IRE or fires and the
| other Is unused and consequently cold.
| the heated hue will tend to so warp
the chimney as to crack it in places.
Added to these things is the fact that
! the gases from combustion or wool
| and coal have n tendency to crystalline
| and Eranuate the mortar holding the
bricks together. ana 1t can tc seen
how surely and readily tie way is pre-
! pared for the escape Of sparks out Of
the iiue and on To woodwork most cas-
! lily Euited-in almost the condition OF
| finder. in fact.
Then in the turns and slopes Of the
nues there is n tendency to the acCum-
ul1tion of SCOT. There is only one way
Of cleaning such chimneys effectively.
and that is by burning them out. When
the SCOT in the elbows or slipping sec
| lions Of the flues accumulatcS 20 a GER
tain extent 1t is apt to iEnitc-to go
off, of it's own accord. In the sections
| where the SCOT has accumulated ana
become consolidated like coal the fire
in such eases Ia very HOT. and the
nails from the Turing are likely soon
to become red hot ana ignite the fur
ring. Well. the chimney is burned out
clean. at any rate. and the family
goes to bed unsuspcious Of the conse-
qucnccs. to be reused from sleep an
hour or two later by fire and smoke
ana compelled To 50 out into the cold
and perhaps frosty night III their night
clothes. barely escaping with their
lives and saving nothing.
How often do we read accounts ot
happenings similar To this. at times at
tended by lamcntabe loss of life from
suffocation or from cremation.
a chimney. to lie properly Constucte,
of brick. should swing clear of every
thing inside the house. and only be suf
ficiently connected with the roof by lib
eral Hastings To keep the water on
| ~ n Vshar
the horse Is of wood. as In the Countr,
is mostly lie case. although man.
wooden houses are built in the towns an,
cities also. Tho thicker the walls of tn
flucs the better. and they should b.
straight and proportional. Hard and no
soft brick should be used, and the brick
laid Hat. not on edge. The chime,
should be plaStcrcd or ccmentcd. both in
side and out. and no Turing used on tn
| outside. or, if il were desired to rla st"T
metal Turing and Iathing should he EN-
pioyed. smooth finish inside should b.
insisted on. But even with the best con
struction of brick and mortar alone
chimney is often liable to rapture fror
some one of the causes named Is thcr
no way by which a chimney can lie mad
absolutely secure it may he asked. TIL
answer is, there is. but II will cost NOR
to build il in such n way.
| And here we come to the root Of tn
. trouble in this matter of defective fuc.
and where the blame actually rests. PEG
pie who have houses built want to get tn
chmneys In them erected at as small
cost as possible. and cut down the pric
reduce the cost of construction .y slight
ing his work in pIares whar, il N,