Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-10
SALVAGE CORPS
NEED OF HOUR
rontInn. d don, rnae one.

AAWNA FNaN WhNt
goes up to the top of these big build
ings. or most of It, has got to find its
way to the lowest level Unless the
furniture and fixtures and other prop
erty on the floors below are protected
they are sure to become wet. Give us a
protective department and this sort OF
damage will be greatly reduced
II do not know how much II would
cost. OF necessity there would have to
be a station centrally located, one or
two wagons, a crew of eight or ten
men and the equipment which would
not be very expensive. The Insurance
companies ought certainly to do their
part. 1t means a large reduction i'm
their losses. The merchants ought to
take this up and keep 1t agong. 1t is
an improvement that we need greatly"
Commissioner Gives Views
Commissioner Martin BetousM be-
lieves that the fire insurance companies
should be asked to provide the mer-
chants and property owners with a
| pr effective department. and defray the
expense of its maintenance
There is bound to be a loss from
water at almost every fire." he said.
| ''If one-half of the water that leaves
the hose reaches the fire 1t is doing
good work. In San Francisco they had
a salvage corps for twenty or thirty
years l don't know what the city has
new, but before the fire there were
three companies. They were equipped
with thousands of yards Of tarpaulins,
chemical extinguishers and other things
needed, and oftentimespI have seen
them reach a fire and begin their work
even before the fire department could
arrive. This protective department
was maintained by the insurance COM
panies. The men were well drilled,
fhnrOttuh1u tIpdarGfnn5
and saved hundreds of thousands of
dollars worth of property every year.
''In a city the size of Los Angeles
there should be a protective depart
ment corps. We have a large COM
m ercial district that needs this form
of protection. Large fires may break
out at any time. Because of electric
wiring they are likely to occur more
often than they did years ago.
Should Reduce Premium
ct am in favor of sending a communi-
cation to the board of fire underwriters
asking them to provide the city with a
department. They did it for San Fran
cisco and as much should be done for |
Los Angeles"
Standing shoulder to shoulder with |
Mr.. Betouski is Commissioner Anthony
Schwamm. He asserts that insurance
ra tes have been raised to point where
they are exorbitant and that 1t is high |
time that the insurance companies gave
something in return. He desires that
the city have a protective department
first, then, if in other cities the insur-
arce companies are providing this
form of insurance that they shall show
the same liberality to Los Angeles.
'I am in favor of conducting a
thorough investigat tion of how eastern
cities handle this situation" he said,
land then with some precedent for
Los Angeles to get in and do something.
IF the business men can save the
amount in premiums / would like to
see the city pay the expenses and
establish the department at once. In
sUrance rates have been raised % per
cent, and what have the insurance COM
panies given us in return? They haven't
given us anything.
Approves of Herald's Plan
Because of this reason that the in
Surance companies should defray the
expense. We have passed that stage
in our history where we are placed on
the map as a country town. We de-
mand an up-to-date metropolitan SER
vice in this regard. The civic organ
izations ought to take up the fight and
push 1t to a successful issue. We shall
gain nothing by doing nothing. Once
the system is established the city will
never abolish 1t. 1t will be SO valuable
that it will always remain as one of I
our institutions. L am as much in
favor of the board getting to work on
this as are my colleagues"
Commissioner Wren gives the move
ment, which has been started in The
Herald, his hearty approval. '"The
Herald in advocating a protective de-
partment is advocating good thing"
he said. From the point of one in the
insurance business Mr.. Wren realizes
the benefits that would accrue to the !
city. He is of the opinion that the in
surance companies will be willing to do .
their part but he is desirous Of know
ing how the departments are MAIN j
tained in other large cities before Los c
Angeles undertakes to procure a de- I
partment of it's own. i
To Study in Other Cities r
'At meeting of the board Friday" c
he said, II shall advocate AN investiga-
ton along these lines. Also 1 shall ask C
that communication be addressed to
the Fire Underwriters associat ation of o
the Pacific coast asking that organize
tion as to it's opinion on the proposed :
improvement, and if favorable to it
what assistance it will be willing to
give the city.
I'm every fire there is loss to some
one. The one who is burned out may
have his loss covered by insurance, but
that only means that some one else Il
loses. A fire insurance company is C
nothing more nor less than a co-opera-
tive institution. 1 don't know whether !
the establishment of a salvage corps n
would reduce the insurance in Los An I
geles or not and / don't know how =
the Underwriters association will stand !
on the question, but in the past 1t has
always stood behind any movement !
that tends to reduce the fire risk !
Where there is little risk naturally the a
rate is lower.
"In the Chamber of Commerce fire y
Chief Lips and his men did the best !
they could. The fire was In a difficult a
place to reach and the use of much \
water was necessary, What was needed
at that fire was a salvage corps, and
salvage corps we did not have"
4S1