Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-03
Some Things You Want to Know

makes wood the chief building material.
The greater number Of the buildings are
erected where there Is neither supervision
nor machinery TO enforce the regulations
II they existed. And houses are not built
to last forever. A farmer builds a barn
with the definite idea Of making Il do
until / get enough money TO put up big
barn" An artisan builds cottage which
az no time is sufficiently opaque to OBJ
sCure the vision OF the better house TO be
built the ruins Of this one in a few
years. The merchant looks forward to a
progress from smaller to larger buildings
as a matter Of course. And the man who
builds to rent does 1t as quickly and as
cheaply as possible. In this phase OF Amer
lean life Is TO be found one grain OF com
fort with respect to losses by fire-many OF
the buildings burned would soon be razed
anyhow to make room for others.
Statistics show that rural communities,
on account OF poor construction and no fire
protection, suffer most from fire loss. That
portion OF the country where timber is
abundant suffers more than the sections
where the timber is exhausted, or where
there never was much wood. Small cities
suffer more in comparison than do large
cities, largely on account Of the greater
lenient building laws The southern states
lose more than any other geographical sec
tion, largely because the climate does not
compel adequate arrangements for heating.
The open fireplaces do their deadly work.
The insurance companies collect IN one
.'ear $3.50, 900, 900 more in premiums than they
pay back for losses, yet they claim that
they do not make money. The expense of
administration is heavy. And then a con-
flagration like that OF san Francisco will
wipe out a surplus Of years. The National
Boerd of Fire Underwriters asserts that
the San Francisco earthquake wiped cut
every dollar Of profits from underwriting
the companies had made since 1880, and
| SIS 10000 more. But of course the COM
psnies had made money by the use OF the
capital paid into their Golfers by policy
holders, and they do not depend altogether
on underwriting profits.
II is not possible to stop all losses BY
| fire, but II is possible greatly to curtail
! the enormous drain upon American re-
| sources entailed by fires which have their
/ origin in carelessness.- Building codes
should be supplied and enforced, even In
rural districts and wherever possible ne =
| construction should be fireproof. waste
OF $25, 10000 and loss Of twice that much
every year by fire is too much for even rich
America to pay. And then there is the
great loss of life due to bad construction
| il is not necessary to repeat the tragic
tales Of the Iroquols theater. the Boyer.
town moving picture show and the Col
! linwood school.
The enormity Of the loss by fire was thu,
| forcibly illustrated by Charles Whiting
| Baker, editor of the Engineering News
The buildings consumed by fire In on,
year, II placed on lots CT slxty-fivs fee
frontage would line both sides Of a stree
! extending from New York to Chicago. 4
person journeying along this street Of desc
lation would pass in every 1000 feet ruil
from which injured person was taken
At every three-querters OF a mile in thl
Journey he would encounter the charred re
mains of a human being who had beeI
/ burned to death"
TOmOTrow-Ths Fur Industry.