The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-01-18
WATCHFUL GHOULS ROB
DYING WOMAN OF GEMS
FIRE ORDINANCE
WILL Be STRICT
Aldermen Are Determined to
Make All Buildings as Safe
as Possible.
Special Committee Will Start To-
morrow to Inspect Hotels
and Other Structures.

morrow to Inspect Hotels
and Other Structures.
Minneapolis will have an ordinance
which will make every building IN the
city as safe as possible, short Of COM
plete fireproof construction.
The aldermen are In q mood to pass
some very stringent. regulations and to
vest the building inspector with the
fullest authority for their enforcement;
At the meeting today Of the special
committee to investigate the condition
of hotels and office buildings the
spirit of the aldermen was one OF de-
termination to go. as tar as the law
nances to safeguard life from destruc-
The o. committee will make thoro in
,vestigation Of every important hotel In
the city, as well as the office buildings
and many of the industrial plants more
than three stories in height. me sta r.
the the West hotel. The aldermen were
gested that a definite line of inspec..
ton be pursued and to that end Chief
J. R. Canterbury, Of the fire depart
ment, and building Inspector :; =.
! ings which should be inspected and
/ Law out a route Of inspection. It was
! decided to meet two hours each day
until the entire list had been covered
1 and it is estimated that from twelve to
fourteen days will be required for the
w. What City Can Do.
CITY Attorney Frank Healy was
asked several questions as to the ground
which an ordinance relating to build
he declared that fre-escapes could be
ordered on any building, even on those
of ireproof construction, and that any
precautions for making fre-escapes per-
fectly safe and accessible could be en-
forced. a. :.
The Enclosure Of elevator shafts !, in 2
f1eproof material could be competed
lights could be ordered over all light
: wells, elevator shafts or. stairway
i shafts. He was doubtful if existing
buildings could be condemned abso-
: lutely IF the condemnation meant the
: confscation Of property
y Under the ruling ct the city attorney re-
owners Of buildings to provide hallway
i Heading directly to the fre-escapes. II
| is well-known that many f1re-escapes are
practically useless, as they lead from
rooms which are likely to be locked
t when most needed.
An Important Feature.
The aldermen consider this most
1 important feature and it will be one
; Of the strong features in the proposed
e ordinance. It will also provide that fire
d escapes shall not pass any. window OF
E opening in the walls which do not lead
directly to the escape, as all such open
' ( ings are a source Of danger in the
: event of fire. Skylights Of the same
q pattern used over the stage in thea
! ters will also be ordered.
Q Chief Canterbury explained that IN
had been an opening in the top Of the
elevator shaft the smoke and fire would
: have gone thru as in a chimney and
: the fire would not have spread thru the
s sixth and seventh floors. He also made
!. the point that passenger elevators II
: hotels and office buildings should not
. extend to the Easements, as there was
. greater danger from the basement thar
!: any other portion Of the building ano
s the spread of fire. This also was an
s other lesson learned from the West
$. hotel catastrophe. -.
81 Worked Three Years.
!. Building Inspector James G. Hough
!. ton stated that he had attempted fol
{ three years to have fire escapes at
:. tached to one Of the largest office
4 buildings in the city without SUCCESS
S The aldermen vowed that TINS oulldint
!. would receive special attention during
s their tour Of inspection, as there ar
I. several other dangerous features com
$ plained against.
$ Attention was called by Mr.. Canter
!. bury to one of the leading. hotels in tn
3 city which was recently visited by lire
. The door leading from the hotel prepee
: be nailed and the servants had to b
!. conducted thru the kitchen to max
81 thor escape. In a general way mos
s of the downtown hotels were. .specif
8 cally condemned by the fire CHIEF, III
!. marshal and building inspector Tor e y;
/. proof construction to begin with, an
3 In addition, the fire escapes, when the
. exist. are not readily accessible, Will
!. the arrangement of halls, elevators an
: stairways is not such as to give propt
s protection to the inmates.
+. The practice Of building stalrWaII
!. around the elevator shaits was sLl9h &
!. two means Of escape be entirely SCI
/. arate, but they should be, as far
. moved from each other as the size
the building would permit.
!. Building Inspector Houghton su
I. gested that all provisions of the pr
posed ordinance should be mandato1
and retroactive as far as the law 9
lows To leave the enforcement as
matter of discretion with officials WI
not the best policy, as it left a big lie
!. way for opposition and lnterferen
|. and greatly hampered the authority
& his and other departments.
!. TRIBUTE TO OLD IRoNsIDEs.
!. washington, Jan. 1S-The house unite
8 in a tribute to the frigate Constitute
!. on converting today. The chaplain
!. his prayer eulogized the old ship.
was followed by the adoption of res
: luton from the committee on rules q
3 recting the house committee on nav
8 affairs to ascertain the annual cost
. proper care for the old frigate.
3 Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 1S.-T
|. Herald today says that w. J. Guth,
= of Butte, representing financial interes
i. Of Butte and Boston, has secured