The morning journal-courier., 1908-04-22
Insurance Press Shows Up Startling Facts Regarding Fire Appliances in
 Schools.
NEW HAVEN IN GUILTY LIST
Included Among 1900 Cities and Towns That Arc Called Ncgli- gcnt-Record of Deaths
 by Fire.

According to statements made in q
 special number of the Insurance Press
 a paper devoted to the interests of fro
 insurance. and dealing with the school
 fires throughout the country in the
 past three months, and the lessons to
 be drawn thercfrom. something
 should be done at once to remedy the
 existing conditions in this and other
 cities During, the past twelve weeks
 there havc been llfty-threc fires in
 educational institutions of the United States and Canada. In these fires the
 lives of 165 pupils and students were
 lost. 164 at the Collinwood, Ohio. dis
 aster, and ono in Fraternity house
 fire at Cornell, and besides this the
 lives of several thousand persons
 were put in jeopardy. the narrowcst
 escape being in fire at Adrian. Mo-,
 in which the boiler in tho basement
 exploded. tearing away the floor and 4 precipitatlng sixty children into the
 cellar where many of thcm were bad ! ly burned or scalded. The financial
 loss totals million.
 The names of about 1.9O0 towns and
 cities are published and the statement
 is made that investigation warrants
 the asserticu that Arc protective appli.
 ances are needed in the schools in
 these places. Connecticut has not ! been overlooked. New Haven. An isonia, Bridgeport, Bristol, Derby, 1 Hartford. Merldcn, Middletown, Nau- slgatuck. New Britain, New London. \ tsNorwalk, Norwich, Putnam. south 4,Norwalk. Stamford, Torrington. Wat s,erbury and Willimantic are the Con ..necticut cities and towns that are said .to be defective in fire appliances. It lis stated that the question of the safe ity of the lives of students in 322 col- N1eges and universities has scarcely 'Abeen considhred. The statement says. " Few students living in dormitories Elan go to bed at night under assur- Rance that they are protected from fire aperils How frequently dormitories hburn Is indicated by tho record of re- stent months. The list shows that flres ,zihave occurred within period of three Nnonths in no fewer than nineteen Estates and one territory, namely, a a.icorga. North Carolina, Ohio, New aYork West Virginia, Connecticut. Nir- |t tRinia Idaho, South Dakota. Kansas, Massachusetts, Texas, Iowa. Kentucky, N Indiana. New Jersey. Tennessee. Mis- l4eouri Pennsylvania and New Mexico. VI n some of the states mentioned, two lspr more fires have occurred in this tWfass of buildings. In Canada sevcr- tAp disastrous fires have taken place 9f uring the first three months of 1908. lN Tn the same period, public school Fpuildings have been on fire in as many 'Ws eighteen states--names of localities Stnd other particulars arc given in the 5sable--nsmely. Wisconsin Iowa. Cali s;3ornia, oregon. Illinois, West Virgin 2&, Missouri, Ohio, New York. Nebras- ffa. Washington, New Jersey. Kansas, V &SIaryland. Texas, Pennsylvania, Mich s)Hyan, Mississippi. As in the preceding Slfase, several states reported more #F han one fire
 3 The paper says the pressing need 11lff/ the hour is to make the existing I ,hool buildings as safe, from the I oint of fire protection, as modern Ihethods will permit most all build 5Ilgs being built at this time being of %I %Isreproof construction. It is suggest
 l that automatic sprinklers be in- 33 alled.
 ;I In New Haven the board of edu- z ation has plans underway to make 4ne school buildings in the city as fire Iroof as possible. Architect von sf eren is drawing up the plans for the 4 terations ordered by the building in- Doctor.