Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-24
Havoc WROUGHT By FIRE
Flimsy Construction Of Buildings ExaOts
the Usual Penalty.
INSURANCE COMPANIES GET TIE stNeH
NssabIs Examples - WsaIth wastes
IN cheap wat-rtaI-P~<wsasac
aad Proas I'm Fi--proof
Coastructton-

with the viEor. sarnestness and kn0wi-
sdrs chnracterfstfc ~ an apostle of the
cause. r ". Fitzpatrick. the noted advo-
cate u fire-proof construction OF buildings.
reviews IN the open court the drs ravages
uf last year and finds abundant material
IN the ruins 20 form an exhibit OF American
waste. In part. he says:
Nero destroyed Rome to arnuse himself
a little pastirne that cost that nation many
millions Of its gold coins. French and other
revolutionarfes burned many cities; the
Russians fired MOSCOW merely to cause
that other devastator Napoleon. some In
convenience. and in more recent wars whole
cities have likewise been destroyed for
strategic or other alleged reasons. but In
our day and environment all our great con-
iagrations have been attributed TO acci-
dent. Erruneousiy however: for the real
culprit's name IL stupidity.
Penalty Exasted.
The tribute levied upun us BY fire has
reached an appalling figure. something ire
mendoua. and, mark you. unlike most
'Iossss' that arr. after all. mere exchanges
OF money or values from one mans or set
Of mems pockets to other pockets. this loss
N absolute; all that remains after IRE Is
suokei And SO far with all Wanted
.inventivenass. no one has been able to turn
tha latter commodity into any commercial
use.
TabuIations may be convincing. but Ger
tainIy are awf1lly tiresoms reading. so let
as eachaw them. But can well anord
TO give a minutes time 10 a glance at the
matter OF the cost Of FIRE. merely consider
ing IL in it's general aspect and in round
figures.
We actually have invested at the present
moment rA3n.0oQ0oo in the IL $4,000 build
inEs Of which the nation boasts. Russia
has 1900 more buildings than we. but the
total value Of all its structures is but *
5oo.O0o000 Omitted Kingdom 7.1V.0oe build
tngs; France 100000; Germany aOo.0eo;
Holland i.000.00W 50 that We can smelly say
that we are the greatest builders OF the
axe. Yet OF all those millions OF our build
inrs there are barely 1900 that can lay any
claim 70 being modern. up-eO-date. and IRE
-==s=.sng IN tha extent that their steel
frame and structural parts cannot be over
much damaged by fire. though all else about
them is lust as inhammable and damage
able as the fiirnaiest construction OF Slav'
Monaghan. or other so-called seni-oarnar-
ian. In all this great country OF ours
there are probably not twenty what can
riKhtfuIly be called moderately ire-proof
buiIdiugs and they are generally warehouses
or structures Of aucn character Ut tht
paiIlions OF homes, throughout the land pal
aces or cottages. where we house thoss
who are dearest 10 our hearts ana our
most valued material possessions. there are
but 800 that would Withstand for even a
little while against even a moderately MOI
IRE. and there are certainly not over ten
that are IRE proof.
intelligence. progressiveness. leadership
ara words we frequently hear applied. aye
that we constantly use in describing our
selves. what application have they TO our
Eeuerally accepted mode of constructing
buildings? True. we have evolved TINS
..skyuct-aper::'' no OTTER people on earth
have the conveniences in their homes nor
do any other people bring such Skin &c
hear in the utilization OF every inch OF
spnce as we do but at the same time
let not those things make as overconceited
for We have to acknowledge that nowhere
else. not even in China or Japan. th'
lands OF paper houses. Is the annual mr.
loss in bulk or pro rata. anywhere neal
our own.
Folly at FIimsy CsnstruetiOn.
And what does this folly OF niInsy build
ing cost u.s. In the irst place, nearly 7.oS
lives are annually sacrificed to the god o.
-. In property we have offered up ovei
nGnao.Oo worth in value on that sans