Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-02-03
INSPECTING. SALT
LAKE BUILDINGS.
Electrical Expert Finds the Local
Business Blocks Very
Dangerous
MUST DO RE.wIRINC At ONCE.
Unless il Is Done Insurance Rates
Will be Raised Inside of the
Next Sixty Days.

G. A. Gaines the electrical inspector
for the board OF fire underwriters of the
Pacific, Is continuing to inspect the
buildings Of. salt Lake with the result
that he has found several that are in
bad condition through defective wiring,
notably two business blocks on East
Temple street, one on First and one on
Second South streets. II Is stated that
several others will be encountered be-
fore the inspection Is complete. Owing
to the. competition among the wiring
Establishments there Is said to be very
much defective work In Salt Lake In
the direction of Improper insulation OF
the wires, bad wire, no bushes through
hidden wood work and other defects. In
this connection an electrician today told
n very humorous story relative TO wiz
ing.
He affirmed that A local firm took
the job OF wiring a house IN the south
east part of the city ana IN course OF
events sent a young man, a stranger,
from Denver, To do the work. The fel-
low returned to the shop and reported
that he had completed the job, drew his
pay aud disappeared. When the owner
OF the house came 10 connect up he
found that instead Of wiring the house
the energetic stranger had jambed
couple OF bushes through the ceiling IN
each ROOM, inserted two short pieces OF
wire so that the ends hung down
and let IL 10 at that. Tho
expert electrician then sold all the wire
he had with him to DO the job, also his
tools, and went west 10 grow up with
the country.
While there is nothing quite as raw
as this IN the business, neverthe ess
some Of the work encountered Is said 10
he very bad, to say the least Those
buildings which do not come up 10 the
regulations are being marked and the
owners notified that unless there Is a
change for the better the insurance on
them will be raised In 90 days. In this
connection there Is being a lively inter-
est shown among the various electrical
houses IN the city and Mr.. Gaines IS
being followed closely. AS soon as II
gets noised around that certain build
ing does not come up to requirements
the electricians get hot on the trail Of
the owner for the contract Of rewriting,
so between the inspector and the Q 60
trlcians the life OF the proprietor of Ger.
tain buildings Is not a happy one.
Defective wiring has long since been
recognized as a hazard to be reckoned
with by fire insurance companies. Ac.
cordlng 10 the report issued by the elec.
trlcal bureau OF the National Board Of
Fire Underwriters Jan. IL for the pre-
ceding three months l6S fires. aggregAt-
ing losses OF over $4,000 were directly
traced to this source, while reports
have been received during the same
period Of l27 additional fires. losses
aggregatlug sl.i26OG0, supposed 10 have
been due TO electricity, but they are not
Included In this report as the causes
could not besdeflnltely proven as cleo
trical principally because the fires des-
troyed the conclusive evidences OF their
origins. The report includes the Iro-
quOls theater disaster and half-t0nes
OF the arc lamp which cause the holO-
caust are reproduced
Among the freak electric fires cited
Is the case in the Dolly block, where
tailors electric pressing iron was left
with the current turned on Others in
clude the grounding OF a circuit on q
gas pipe Ia the cellar, a lighted mean.
descent lamp shut up IN q folding bed,
cutout Installed in fixture canopy
making contact with gas pipe blowing
Of fuse in attachment plug in show
window, short circuit OF $50 volt feeders
caused by accumulated dirt and mOs.
ture, and many others.