New-York tribune., 1908-01-31
FIRE RISK TOO GREAT.
Insurance Expert Makes Plea tor
Retter Projection Here.

A well known insurance expert pointed out yes
,e-dav that the city Of New York is me ere@eeat
,yr,ost,red realty holder IN the five eorouehs' aho
.hat some of the buildings priceless as monuments
IN the growth Of the city. were ouNl i"iis DeA0i
1rerroof structures were known
The report Of the Commissioners Of 1akes anu
Assessments for the last fiscal year shows tla' e
,,roperty OF the city was valued AT ssl4,e's'"' o
sc batzVeen 81 ooeeo and s5,eaon worth mas peeh
80 sa,ce June 1897 Aside from the value OF the
,s,a the buildings would easily, according 10 a
,o,servative estimate, reach value OF haiI
billion dollars -, ,h,e o;,v
,-o,er4,- except the municipal ferryboats foho"-
a.. .ts custom the city did not wish 10 insure the
-er-,hoats against fire, and asked for pohcles
against damage by collision or wreck Inc coiii
ranies however insisted on the regular coihoiha
lion marine and fire insurance. So it happens ta'
The ferryboats would not be 'o'ai 40Ss IA
OF fire. The expert continued;
This is not plea that the city should insure us
property. In fact. the companies are caNo
millions of dollars worth Of policies and relsis
many offers. Under the conditions we itaIe 49,
TO exist for years feel the risk here is too great
What we want IS better fire protection Ihe lTe
fighters are escelled in efficiency by no s'iiiiia.
holv Of men anywhere We have asked asai aHS. ~
.rasn that good apparatus be given to them Oil'l
the rotten hose is replaced and the other mateElH
brought I'D to the legal standard Ne" 1oih - 4
danger of a coRhagration any day
.spFe insurance men are accused or belhs se'ii9iI
.r this matter but are not fighting tor 'he
BUSINESS of others? Take the drygoods secuoh- -
FIRE starting there and cleaning up an area as iaI
as that uiped out by the Baltimore IRE "ouIu
mean q loss of a billion dollars. The insurance
oornpanies could pay s5Gaoe0,oIo; then they weuIa
stan for lack of funds. The property owners "o~id
zst fron1 10 TO 30 per cent their policles' ac-
,nrding TO the resources Of the companies IN WHICH
they had insured
.rThe owners would lose more than the insurance
r,-nnsnies So would the banks. trust companies
md other Institutions that lend money on really
for their mortgages covered by insurance Po+l-
ctes The companies that guarantee lhoTtsae"'
covered by insurance would suffer. 1his We"
leaves ont the possible loss of life, and deals only
with the business proposition And 1t seems oan
business 10 have expensive water mains ana al
xhe same time hose that can't stand the pressure
These OF TIrons were expressed in the presence
of a man who took part in preparing the evidence
for the National Board OF Fire Underwriters COM
,rltttee that was made public two weeks age He
nereed with The statements, and remarked that
"a little study Of conditions makes them self-eV1-
dent.
There was much speculation yesterday as 70 ne
preliminary report that is being finished by the
commissioners of Accounts regarding the burst
ing Of hose at the Parker Building fire. The gen
eral understanding is that the Mayor "llI receive
tbs Es.sTs a feE days. The next step Nlll pe
taken when the Commissioners of Accounts hold
a hearing, in a month SO. on the general eenaI-
tons IN The Fire Department.