The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-07
THE FOLLY OF FIRE;
HOW TO AVOID IT.
Fire-Proof Buildings Better Than
Insurance Certainly Got to
Go With 1t.
EPUREl 81 3 UslNEsss VIEW
An Expert Talks TO q AZ III Times
Dispatch Correspondent on
Serious Subjects.

WASHINGTON. d. c.. July 6.-Re-
ferring to the appeal that was made
recently to the Mayor OF every city
In the country BY the international
Society of Building. Commissioners,
urging the better construction Of
buildings and more strenuous steps
executive officer, Architect Fitzpatrick,
was interviewed by a Times-Dispatch
correspondent. In lamenting the gem
cral apathy that seems to be felt to-
ward the subject, Mr.. Fitzpatrick made
some telling comparisons and gave
some most astounding data.
IN buying a suit or Clothes" said
he, do you select the shoddy, cheap
looking cotton things, that are but lit
tie better than paper, and that you
know will lose their color and shape
after few days wear; or do you
look for clothes of good materials that
feel wooleny, that will keep their
shape and look natty ten times as
long as WIN the cotton ones, and whose
Initial cost is but trihe more?, II
you don't know the dierence between
the good and the poor clothing, whose
fault Is It, and isn't 1t to your best
Interest olearn something about the
matter without delay. or take some
one with; you who can advise sagely?
Same Way in buildings.
I'm buildings the conditions are ex-
actly the same. tits absolutely incon,-
p;'ehenslble why a man who lays any
claim to business persplcacity will de-
l1berately invest his money In some
thing that is shoddy, that Is ever a
source of worry and expense. and that
stands a Very great chance OF being
utterly destroy ed-the so called cheap
building. Like tho Inferior suit OF
clothes. 1t is the poorest kind OF In
vestment. and, adhering to the same
comparison itSis certainly sad COM
mentary upon our Intelligence that
over $4O0,o00.oO0 year are being placed
In what can be called 'shoddy' construc-
ton, while probably there are millions
O? suits Of ms shoddy clothing being
made to fill the demand that has beer
created therefor by some ono who
profits by that demand, Mt the sore
expense of an enslly-beguiled public.
''The answer is made that insurance
insures those buildings. Tt does moth.
/ Ing Of the kind. Insurance ia but &
gamble the average man Is trapped into
| and generally. with merely the hop.
that the loss he feels certain may oc-
cur will not be q total one. The chance
OF the buildings standing by reason OF
It's insurance Is actually diminished
rather than Improved. G
The Only Thing to DO.
1.-THE only thing to do Is to built
our new buildings better and revamr
our old ones just as quickly and al
we'll as we can. Our iosses have got
ten to the point where they are abso
.fIutely unbearable. That Is somethint
that even the least obseryant OF ou
people must realize, Insurance has be
come almost MS unbearable as taxes
The cost of living, everything, has beer
! much Increased by that one factor ii
cur commercial economies, the craze TO
| shoddy construction. 1900 W
4 "Thoroughly flraproof building Is, tn,
only sensible. reasonable economical
4 way of doing things. IT ultimatel!
I means great saving. and even tn
d initial cost is hut trihe over that o
. shoddy construction. And when l sa,
'freproof,' mean not only that tn
i building should he constructed OF I'm
Y damageable az we'll as lncombustlbl
materials but they must be properl,
put together and the whole designed ii
iContlnueCi on SECOND pagal