The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-01-18

Confronted by such startling figures we naturally look for the cause, and it is easy to find. This country Is filled with buildings so faultily and fimsily | constructed that they are a constant menace.
 Thousands of Firetraps.
 'In our large cities are thousands of fretraps, any one of which may at any time cause a conflagration that will wipe out millions of dollars worth of property and destroy the lives of many people.
 Our villages and hamlets are for the most part a collection of firetraps. In many instances our theatres and assem- blaze halls are on the upper floors of frame buildings. It is a crime against humanity to permit public assemblages , above the first floor In any building that is not fireproof.
 Tt is a crime to have a public meet ing place in any building that Is not freproof The sooner the authorities are brought to such a realiza ton of this as will lead to the adoption of ade- quate laws and their rigid enforcement. the sooner will these terrible holo- causts cease.
 "The people of Cleveland have had one fearful lesson in the past year in the burning of the Collinwood school house in which the lives of more than 150 little children were lost While tins may be charged up to bad con- struction, those responsible for the con- ditions which permit such structures to exist and to be occupied for such pur- poses should be criminally liable.
 Opera House Fire.
 "One year ago tomorrow another frightful object lesson was afforded in the fire which destroyed the Boyer town, Pa, opera house and resulted in the death of nearly 200 women and children who were unable to escape.
 Instead of profiting by these awful experiences, as would naturally be sup posed the country, after the horror of the disaster has ceased to attract at tention, lapses into an indifference which can only be removed by another similar disaster.
 Scattered all over this country are Collinwood school houses and Boyer town opera houses and these disas- ters will recur until these buildings are removed and our methods of construc- ting are changed
 Tn 1906, according to the census au- thorities, more than 5000 persons died from burns in this country.
 "Deplorable as is the needless and criminal loss of life in fires there is an other phase of the question that is most serious-the enormous drain on our na- tural resources resulting from the am nual destruction of millions of dollars worth of property by fire. which is not possible under European standards. Last April, con1agration at Chelsea. Mass, resulted in an insurance loss of more than SS,000000. Such conflagra- ] tions are possible in practically every 1 big city in the country. The fire mar shal of Ohio, MT. D. s. Creamer, states in his annual report for 1907 that a confagration costing $500, 900 is en- i tirely possible at any time in this city of Cleveland, and in your sister city Cincinnati.
 Cheap Buildings. These conditions are often attributed to a desire on the part of property owners to erect their buildings as cheapl vas possible in order to obtain the highest return from their invest ment. While this may be true in some cases, think the real reason is that we have not as yet outgrown our prim- itive conditions which necessarily pre- vail In newly settled countries. Proper, conservative and safe building laws are the result of years of experience and 1 that is why Europe shows up to such advantage when compared to this coun- | try.
 While our building knowledge has 1 hardly developed into science, we are learning rapidly the methods and ma terials necessary to secure the safety l desired. The American people are not l allow in adopting improvements when | once their value is established In the l last few years we have made won derful strides toward better construc- tion under the helpful guidance of the l United States government For many 1 years the federal officials have real ized the seriousness of these conditions and the utter lack of knowledge con- l corning the properties of building ma | terials. With the government spend l ing 100000 annually in the con struction> of public works, 1t was found ] necessary to inaugurate an elaborate series of experiments. in order that tn e money could be expended wisely, for ! the government does not insure it's buildings, but rather strives to make l them f1reproof.
 1 Best Materials. The task of finding out the best l materials for such structures was as- signed several years ago to the tech : nologie branch of the United States 1 geological survey, under the direction 1 of Dr. Joseph A. Holmes, expert in
 
 l tinued up to the present time and al- though they have been conducted pri- marily in behalf of the government l the results have been given freely to l builders, engineers, architects and tn e 1 public generally.
 Tn the revision of the building laws 1 of the country, the progress has been 1 extremely slow for the reason that a certain inertia must be overcome in re- I oi,,1{ t,ar4 ~l.- = existing laws The influence of various interests opposed to this revision for commercial reasons has been another factor in preventing the adoption of | better laws. Adequate laws are tn e l essntial in bringing about the con- ditions that will prevent the big am nual fire losses. Laws must be enacted l that will not only regulate new con struction, but that will invest in the building authorities the right to con demn structures whose very existence are menace to public safety.
 Constant Danger.
 This is especially true in great cities like New York, where the presence of | innumerable firetraps Is a constant dan ger, which unless eliminated may some day result in confagration that will sweep the city. Laws, no matter how perfect they may be, can be of no real value unless they are rigidly en- forced. Many existing laws if en- forced would prevent the erection of 1 many dangerous structures.
 If the public would refuse to make use of a building known to be a fire trap they would apply an effective remedy"
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