New-York tribune., 1905-07-09
PROTECTING EXTERNAL OPENINGS.
Wire Glass Has Proved Itself Fire Re-
tardant.

There is one department Of freproof construction
TO which, for some inexpIcable reason, sufficient
attention being given, either by architects.
owners or builders, and that is the light and ven
tiiatiou openings in otherwise freproof external
walls and al sides are to be seen-erected, or
in course OF erection-mercantie structures which,
despite their reproof walls, floor arches and roofs
menace 70 surfoQndlhg pIopeLCS S, n . oISe @ -e
goods or furnishings within them should take hre'
and to themselves well, owing TO the fatal Ia
cilftv with which flames leap from story 10 story
through the window openings, and whlch are a4so
theul-the firetrap survivals Of an earlier period.
And yet the remedy has been at hand any time
within the last eight years. II Is the autOrlatlc
metal framed wire glass window. This admits
ngh[ 1T ana eroo4 a the reproof building in case of
attack from without, holds fire which origi-
Advocates of this valuable invention feel that the
National Board 9f OF bev admit that the board
has recommended its use, but they complain that II
OF premiums where IL is employed. They ma fault
with recommendation given metal ciaa shutteis; m 1
that these will be found closed when the fire fend
nh light and air it Is too much to expect OF faIlibe
human agencies that they WI pc InsIagy Z S1ose9s
per cent Of fires occur in the daytlhe sS
bnrIdings with ordinary window glass and wooden
frames have been gutted OF their contents by fire,
arches standing In such cases the constituent
companies of the National Board Of Fire Insurance
TTnderwrfters have perhaps saved trife III pre-
urns but they have suffered heavily in IRE losses
s. H Pomeroy, authority on the subject,
commenting on the failure OF the underwriters to
see the expedency OF actively promoting. instead
Of merely recommending the Of wire glass.
says:
They appear TO consider the wire glass window
as still on probation, although IL is nearly ten
years since It introduced, and it has long since
passed the experimental stage. and in praotica!
tests has, IN innuuerable instances, demonstrated
its positive value. To maintain this attitude with
assumption OF fairness, they have, at inter-
vals set ap one (possble) objection after another,
onIv 70 have proved in practical tests falla
coIs Their latest doubt-it has hardly assumed the
--oFa radia-
fion the wire glass may focus heat of sufficient in
tensty TO reach the point of gnton that Is in case
OF fire without structure, the wire glass; TocaSsng
iike q burning glass, may set IRE TO its con-
tents even though the dre be across an alley
yUsv or street: when II be readily seen that
the afr currents that the fire itself sets up would
Sirf1ise the heat and render it innocuous. Per-
Sans IN the fulluess OF time, and when II has
Sec~saced in IRE losses enough OF its constitu-
ertss n1onev the board will discover that the
glass IS better safeguard than some
Of tbose devices, the installation OF which il
encourages By reduction OF premiums. The links
that hold the wire glass window open FOR ventila-
tton f0r instance will fuse at the same terpera-
t,Sra that unseals the sprinkler, but the former
,rIl shen present barrier to the flames. even or
which often the latter neither checks
nor nglisheE lack OF the water supply upon
yhtch m Is like the fire curtain, the pump and the
fra derarrroent absolutely dependent for eff
ress OF the conhagration was not checked until II
reached the electrical transformer station, which
had rnasSrIy walls and wire glass windows and
skylights" Then he added. 'I would like 10 sug-
eest the expediency, or, rather the necessity of
placing creproof windows CO nre escapes both as