The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-02-25
Il BUILDERS DUTY
4 TO HIS NEIGHBORS
The Subject Of FI,ebro0f Buildings one IN winch
PROPERTY Oapters Are Zuterested--lts Bearing
= Jb0n Insurance Rates. Some Lessons of Big
Fires That Are Timely iv Aliwzeabolis Noe.

necessary capital Second. the architect.
the material men and the contractor must
all work together. Better results would be
obtained if this entire work was let to
one good general contractor, for when it.
Is let out to the different trades they CO
not work together, and by the time each
trade is thru, the many parts of the build |
ing have been weakened and rendered |
worthless so far as reproOfing is con- |
cerned. 1t was no uncommon thing to see
vault or partition cut into to install
some plumbing, electric wires or heating
pipes, and as a, result the contents of the
vault would be destroyed. On one build !
ing, five bay windows of wood were built
on the side Of a granite wall, which caused
loss of at least $4,000 to the granite, as
the other openings on the same side and
equally exposed were damaged but little.
Iron mulions and metal ties have surely
sounded their death knell. These cast
mullions, being exposed to the extreme
heat, expanded and forced their ends thru
the terra Gotta stills and caps. running
many a cap and sill that otherwise were
not damaged. Many Of the buildings were
not fire proofed between the ceiling and
roof. Several buildings had no fire-proof-
ing on the lower fanges of the beams, and
when the plastering dropped off they were
subjected to the heat. Others were
fastened on with metal strips whicha
loosened and dropped off.
There Is many lesson to be learned as
a result Of the Baltimore fire, and the
Wide-aWake manufacturer of building ma
terial will seek to make none but the
best, and he will see that it is properly
put in place, as in the future much will
depend upon the kind Of material and the
| manner of construction, in fixing Of rates
for Insurance. The material that has
stood the test can be spelled with five
letters, and that is "brick." Next comes
! terra Gotta, and is folwed by porous and
semi-porous tile.
The floor arches stood we'll, where prop
| erly put In, but column and girder cover
| ing, partitions and wall lining in many
places failed, not SO much ON account OF
the material. but due largely to poor con-
struction and lightness Of material.
Where brick was used to back up the
inside of walls but little damage accrued,
but where tile was used it was poorly con-
structed. Granite and marble, wherever
heat came in contact with them, cracked
and scaled off. r.
! Structural steel has in this instance
proved all and more than was ever claimed
for it, as on the whole in the 1re-proof
structures 1t has not suffered over a 5
per cent damage. The freaks Of the fire
can be explained only by the different
shapes and construction of the buildings
and the changing of the wind. These tall
buildings acted fues carried the
heat away from some Of the lower build
1ngs that surrounded them.
i Another lesson to be learned from this
fire is that too much care cannot be taken
in the proper construction and the secur-
ing and putting on Of proof material
and the old adage that ''the chain is only
as strong as its weakest link has proved
itself true in this case.