Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1902-01-29


1t Is striking cpa,n,. utsry on the mar
sei4ia- r1che~ sno resources af this e~an
tty u ours that The UEssted states has b. ea
ahle, aafsa4 The past tseBty--fx year, 20
sustain fire isz- ~ almost three biIitons
III a"iiers, and has been ourtns aiI that
time. barely enps. iea> OF The drain No
other nation coaid taud It, ard no ether
rsyiiixrd nation would For nearly esess
dollar Of this appalling loss has been
caused ~ nrgisgsnee and crime and zone
- tbs crime has teen nc. .nrsged b l@N
4 study ~ the figB'es eonisiHsd in the
..Chron Gle FIRE Table Tor 1901 work
reIsting to tbe annual nrs waste since
1915 Will evidence the fact that the foe
e ting statement Is n esagg- sti DIR
ins he year 1900 there acre 1928 dre-
q hsch burned fos oo2 q ees- OF property
and destroyed value represented bs s1eo,
50 SO An ana st. oi the cause Of there
fis.s sbo~s that q is per cent Of The
% albef originated from .ach a. detective
Cues smoke stacks. ogerhsAasd
slows and stosepipes, ifiction IN asa
ehinssy, faulty inst iieo or d. eBersted
el etrie ~iIss zni lights. OIL -toye scct
dsnt,. and exi losions OF gasoline, chem
ic4l-. dust, etc
Such common causes as lamp accidents.
sparks, careless use OF matches. cigars,
cigarettes and sobaero sipe-, sshss. IA /
coals, epea 8 e-p seeS and gate. plumb
49,, farasee~, c@uases and gas T., ~sss
rs>pansf Hie ior 3 s. PER cent 4 The Io~s
sre peris exposed t. fire originating On
- hef p ru1ses Nas DESTROYED to ihe en-
tent Of q 60 per cent Fires originating
frogl cs4uae aud mischief. snch as incenci
sf1ssn. tremp~. bGsgiars. druuksn men
nstc-. and n,i-ch eeon~ chiiefeu. were
re- p'nsifss tet s 50 PR cent OF the 10 =.
Fires 1T sRknos 81 igin burned Fl Is per
ceat It Is vsiimaieo, bo~esvr. that a.
least 80 ger csat Of the fires OF nnknos Is
er sta arr causes by tncendiarie=
OF the csn~es which may be considered
unavoidable, iiz ntn ng was responsible
for Is per cent 81 the loss epontan
eoas enm BOSTON cause AS per cent. the
resu OF careless or ignorant handling OF
,nfammabie mater al From The fore
going PERCENTAGE ls will be seen tbst
nearly all a - are preventabIe That they
are not pSeeented, Is due in large mpssure
To the iset that The people of this coun-
try are ignorant or Indifferent IS to he
rea~ons Tor an annual absolute waste,
shieh has averaged almost s1s0 900 900 in
t~snty SIX years
It seems 10 be a popular fall sey that a
dr. insurance Icy ibs emnine= ali loss,
During ths pat twenty Xix years the IRE
sn-utance c mpsnies have pa d to the
property owners OF this country sum
sggregatiDg something over s17oo 10000
The differences stweent e amount OF the
property loss, which l. placed in the Fire
tables" It ~ $50, Oh, and the amount
distribute d by the insurance companies
represents what has been borne directly
by fire sufferers, The companies hare col
lerted from policy holders and therefore
fr IN the thrifty Of this country the
amount which they have paid in losses
The sooner he public at large appreciates
these facts. the sooner viii the time arrive
- hen the general prosperity viii be en-
HANGED by decided les-ening OF this an
necessary drain.
In 1919 the fire waste amounted to al
most ties 900 COO and over s1o5 600 COO was
paid In insurance In that year. y bich
it win be remembered was one of great
commercial dsaster, there @ers 81 1855
fires, burning 81 o35 piece. OF property.
The average proper loss per q wss a,
76i. nd the average insurance loss, s3,oi2.
The value OF the operty burned then
decreased until In 1897 the pr, perty loss
aggregated about sIls.3oo coo The fires
4 tbat.s.ar- hoseyer, numbered 50 77e and
burned II 7i0 risks The following year
the loss va. over si3o 600 600. There W. re
50 soi fires. burning 81 o62 RISKS In 1899,
toe loss was over sl53,0oo. coz, the number
OF fires IS 73i, snd the number OF risks
burned, 1o5 3i2 Ia 1910. the loss per fire
was 81 o31.
Thu it viii he seen that the number OF
small fires Is on tie increa-e The year
1873 was one OF many great fires; 1900 o.
comparatively few. The decrease in The
number OF great hres can be accounted
| for In part By the prevalence of nreprooi
construction, the equipm' MT OF all mod
ern mercantile risks ~ith fire preyen ing
and suppressing devices, such as sprlpk-
ler-. standpipes, automatic alarms, etc ;
also. by the added number and greater
efficiency of fire departments in cities and
tosns all over the country. The increase
1 in the number OF sm-il fires can be &C
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