The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15
MANY SCHOOLS IN
 DANGER OF FIRE CoIIinwood Disaster Might De-
 cur In Any Tewn FIRE TRAPS ARE COMMON So Says Richard L. Humphrey, En- gineer in Charge of Structural Material investigations for
 the Government.
FIRE TRAPS ARE COMMON

Washington, March 4.-(speeial)-Ca. tastrophes such as those at Collinwood O, and Boyertown. Pa, are possible ir nearly every city and village in tn. United States, according to Richard l. Humphrey, engineer in charge of the structural materials laboratories of the government. He declares it is providen- tial that more of these holocausts have not occurred. MT. Humphrey, in his off eial capacity, in charge of the structural material investigations being conducted by the technologic branch of the United States geological survey, has made d thorough study of fre-proofng and is therefore well qualified to speak on this subject.
 ''The shocking catastrophe of Collin wood. O., which sent d thrill of horror into every home in the coun- try, did not result from exceptional conditions, but conditions that are to be found in thousands of instances through out the United States. The same or even worse fire traps prevail in every village and town, and, indeed, in many of the large cities. Even where municipal laws are supposed to govern the erection of such structures, the conditions are often worse than in Collinwood. Such calam- ities as we have had the few months of this year do not come as matter Of sur prise to anyone Versed in the subject. The only suprise is that these catastro- phes do not occur more frequently throughout this great country.
 sThe newspapers are now filled with statements made by school officials, call ing attention to the necessity of fire drills that these fire drills will prevent the loss of life from fire. Necessary and ex- cellent as they are in their place, nothing could be more fallacious than such d general proposition. What is needed, as has been repeatedly pointed out, Is the erection of structures which have the greatest resistance to fire. From what ! can learn the fire drill at Collinwood had started but the school building was such a flimsy finder box that the fire travelled through the railways and up the stairs faster than any possible fire drill. In such a building, and there are many of them, the fire will always win the race over the frantic children. Had the in-- terior of the CollinWood school been reasonably fire-proof the loss of life would have been very much less and possibly no lives would have been lost.
 Laws should be enacted to prohibit the erection of anything except a struc- ture of the highest fire-resisting type, especially when it is to be used as a school, hospital, theatre, or other struc- ture in which people assembly in large numbers, who in the event of a great fire, such as happened at Collinwood would be to a certain extent helpless In our hospitals and public schools it would appear unwise to erect structures of more than two stories in height. In such build tsarr fa adr In rrig cfaf f-r1rra would have one or two chutes or tubes leading from the top story to the ground These would prove not only much safer than fire escapes, but also a much more rapid means of exit.
 ''The question of the height of buildings and the character of the interior struc- lures is continually agitating public off cials, but commercial interests seem to dominate, and buildings are erected that are known not to be the most safe for the purpose. This condition pertains as much to municipal structures as to any other class of buildings. It is a fact that the money available for schools hospitals and other municipal structures is usually inadequate for the purpose, and the off cials in charge in order to keep within the appropriation, are forced to erect cheap finsy buildings that are not fire proof.
 While the relative fire-resisting qual- ities of fireproof materials is not yet en- tirely established, it is fact that these properties are sufficiently well known to permit the erection of reasonably fire proof structures. Yet in the face of all this, buildings are continually being erected with materials known not to pos sess an adequate resistance to fire, and these buildings are menace to the cities 3n which they are erected.
 "The city of New York is full of fire traps, and it is a miracle that a great freh as not wiped out the greater part of the business district
 ..rhe remedy for these conditions is not in elaborate systems for fighting fire, any elaborate fire drills, which may or may not be effectively carried out but In the enactment of strict municipal laws compelling the erection of structures en- tirely fre-proofed with materials of the highest quality, and especially in the pre- vention of the erection of fimsy struc- lures, where women and children gather in large number, as for example, schools, theatres, hospitals and similar buildings Unless such action is taken greater calam- dties than those at CollinwoOd and Boyer town, attended by even greater loss of life, will undoubtedly occur.
 '"The continual increase in the height of buildings, TOT office or mercantile pur- poses, as for example In the city of New York, give rise to many problems. One of the most important is the question of handling through the streets the immense population crowded in a very small dis trict As this congestion increases through the erection of these great build |. Ings it will be necessary in the near future to double-deck the streets in order to accommodate this immense population and .I.. k~ kt.~Ixr +
 ton facilities. It Is apparent, therefore that a great calamity in the shape of a fire such as visited Baltimore and San Francisco must necessarily be the means of destroying the lives of many people who would be unable to get away in safety with the facilities now existing
 Buildings should not be erected so