The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-25
FRIDAY, DEoEMBER aS, 1908.
sHA1L sUcE rH1Nas coNr1NUEp

The papers recently gave details of a horrible holocaust in Nashville whereby a number of negro girls were burned to death in a womans dormitory connected with the Walden school It is but anoth- CT of those stories which have become so dfeadfully familiar to newspaper readers of late years. A badly constructed build ing, no fire escapes, crowded with inmates, fire at dead of night-the result can al- ways be anticipated. The horrors of help less women and girls being roasted in full view of those who are powerless to help them-it is not necessary to go into the sIckening details. All who read the pa- pers are familiar with them. It will be talked of and discussed for a few days and then forgotten until there Is another accident to renew interest in such things. It will pass as tale that is told and only those who suffered will remem- ber it's horrors
 Is it possible that public sentiment will remain indifferent to incidents of this nature and make no effort to check or prevent them? Somebody is to blame in all such cases, and it ought to be possi- ble not only to locate and punish .--0se who are at fault but to guard against such horrible scenes. Almost every day we read something of the kind. A church, a theatre. hotel. school-house-some structure in which a crowd is assembled is burned and people are roasted to death in the flames. No fire extinguishers, no fire-escapes and no means of egress for a portion of the inmates. The accounts of such cases might be stereotyped and kept for use, only changing names and dates.
 We are continually reading of the erec- tion of "'fire-proof' buildings. Details of construction are published and with much positivity the assurance is given that the building is absolutely safe. Then we are also continually reading of the burning of one of these "fre-proof' buildings, with the usual result. The number of victims may vary but the details are very much alike in all the cases
 Perhaps an absolutely fire-proof build ing is a myth, as long as any inhammable material is used. The walls may be per- fectly constructed of brick or stone or metal. The columns and beams and gird- CTS may be of iron or steel, and yet the building will not be fire-proof There will be wooden floors and joists, usually of dry pine; perhaps the partition walls are lath- ed with pine laths; the furnishings are all of material that will burn easily; the metal girders expand from the heat of burning floors and furniture, the walls are pushed out and the roof falls in. The result is inevitable. There may be a good fire department and 1t may do it's whole duty, but there will be death and loss of property.
 To say, as a contemporary does. that there should be more rigid building reg ulations'' only partly expresses it. It is not sufficient that every building intended for any kind of public use should be as nearly fire-proof as 1t is possible to make it; for that is not the entire need It should be made a criminal act of negli- gence to fail to provide all such buildings with ample and accessible fire-escapes. This can be done, it ought to be done and there should be a penalty for failure. If the house must burn down it is criminal negligence to permit the inmates to be burned Until some one, or some com pany or corporation is properly and ade- quately punished for such incidents as that at Nashville the burnings will go on. Precept and argument appear to be of no avail but prosecution and conviction might do good.