New-York tribune., 1908-03-15
HONE FIRE EDCC4TION'
Panic, .4Iscoys To Be Reckoned 7rith,
Greatest Danger.
- che Editor Of The Tribune.

To che Editor Of The Tribune
81. The sppa Hing school disaster IN Coiln"oou'
.,tia the reports OF which have been hlilhs Hls
,,hrc press and the minds OF our people VIII III d
lor riule have lost interest except TO those whose
BONES have been made jesclate through the deaths
o.+r,s- dear ones Such calamities serve TO steady
m fo~ : time making US cautious and anxious TO
find mems Of averting their repetition; out soon
ve relapse into cur easysoing methods and become
en,i-erv Indifferent assuming. of course. that the
-ronar authorities are doing their best ana mus
soua-5nc ourselves with consciences-
This staggering calamity scarcely calls to Inlnu
-t,e steamer Slocum or the Windsor Hotel. or a
number OF other fires which have shocked the
country within few years May Ii not be well 10
keen the subject before our people long enough 10
develop spirit of fire defence and through popu-
Jar fire education reduce our enormous loss OF NIe
ami property from this cause
The rress reports Of expressions Of some Of our
public officials TO fire escapes. etc are simply
borrfrvina 10 those who have given time and
thought 10 such things and have acquired prac-
teal knowledge Of fire matters Il Is monstrous 10
claim that fire drill. be it perfect. is a
sufficient protection for our children in case OF
school house fires It is on par with the stand
-aken bz another Official fev- ago. viz. that
the fire drill should ne cut out on account of the
tine lost by it
Parents should seriously consider the safety or
their children who are subjected conditions eX-
Ire discipline Of an inspection parade is not what
W. have To consider but the sense destroying panic
which Genes with smoke and fire and pain: the
terror thai overccmes strong men, and sometimes
makes beasts even Of tle mildest Why expect
from children the coolness and judgment Of
adults? There were no children in the Charity
Bazaar in Paris. a few years ago when such a
large number OF lives were lost There neither
oIes=d door nor stair fire escape 10 be passed
The tripping Of woman caused the terrible
death roll. The many hundreds Of lives lost IN a
great oren field in Russia few years ago had not
even fire or smoke TO hurry them to their death
At the opening Of the Brooklyn Bridge many lives
were lost and hundreds were injured one person
tripped. and although there were only a lew steps
20 descend the people piled up twenty or lnlrtF
feet deep. The nles Of your paper would ill vol
telling Of kindred horrors all Of them the re
sult Of d lack Of fire education
Bette listen the reasoning and warning OF
those who have studied such matters, who have
roundered in water and smoke and back draft
and have felt the unbearable pain of flame Such
can put themselves in the places Of panic
stricken children and evolve tn" best means
for safeguarding them.
In the opinion Of one VINO has made life study
Of fire work il is worse than criminal TO make a
stand against outside IRE escapes for school
houses The have are insufficient: for max"
them ever SO ample and drill the children ever 80
perfectly still have the ever present element ot
panic, that our tblilFtn anu ti'l'
parents lacking in individual fire knowledge
The IRE escar,e most needed is fire and smoke
proof verands extending around the entire outside
walls. This should be built even with the windows
and doors % each story and have ample means "f
descent
The schooIhouse Of the future viii he Of the re
ceding wall type the front wall al each floor being
back from the front line Of the one below 1t
sufficiently for clear promenade. OF course ali
these things cost money, but are not the chliofeh
worth iI2 There Is great need Of an organization
formed the humanitarian lines of First aid 20
the injured take up the matter OF house hre
education. The instructors should be experienced
hrenen of The modern school. Ex-Fire Commis-
sioner Lantry made a strong plea for fire lessons
tn our pubic schools Quick and good results cooio
oe obtained through public school free lectures
Up 70 a few years ago. and for several 'ions
years there lecture OF this character III tiie
course which doing good work IN nre ecu
cation. Such lectures and many of them should be
given throughout The entire city and, Ia TACT
throughout the whole country. Such a iloNeiHeilI
would make the home the fire fighting unit lnteih-
gently equipped TO auxiliary 10 our iife-
men by getting TO them prompt, intelligent liie
alarms and holding, so far as they couIo' tAe i'e
II check until tie arrival OF the nremen
Such systems are now being extensively worheu
OUT In some communities and with very grahlyiHs
results under the supervision of the local nre ON
csIs The saving Of property Is being cohlil1u0ii'
Ire apparatus builders and students Of fire matters.
Ine saving life from fire comes home TO US an
snd We should meet the issue by training our
minds 10 il
There were 443 lives lost in this city in 1891 from
burnS. scalds and fires. These figures are normal
es we had great life destroying fires IN tnat Pc
foc- They are taken from the Board or HeaIlh
reports There is also larger life loss from causes
Which could De reduced If people were trained
n HE safeguarding This ratio, II carried through
VII he country, would sum up an avoidable death
icfs OF eight thousand ten thousand
Surely should 90 some serious thinking and
sone active work toward lessening these deplor-
soae yearly losses If We take the monetary side
VI tne subject hnG from President Burchela 8
annual report 10 the Board OF National Fire Under
writer's last year that the actual recorded IRE
'osses in this country for the previous thirty-t~o
wears Cs75-l5) 81 00o- In this con-
eeuon Vs should consider that the resultant losses
efe cflen greater than the sctUal FIRE losses max
a's totSl losses beyond computation
THOMAS r. TUI1E-
New YORK. March lG