Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-27
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very much mystery i'll the cause Of that
fire after all.
eve had persons tell me that the causes
of the fires which occurred In their houses
could not be explained; In some instances
that there had been nobody in the house
when the fire had broken out. l got them
to tell me the most minute circumstances
that happened just before they left their
houses. Did they dress hurriedly by n
light, and was this near a curtain? Did
they strike match to look for some arti-
Gle Of clothing in dark closet? Yes.
Well. 1t is the easiest thing In the world
for spark from a match to fall upon
dust or Int and smolder there until a
blaze is the result
You will find. by the way, many fire
men of experience who laugh at the idea
that fires can be and are caused by rats
nibbling the heads of matches. For two
years after my entering the fire depart
ment this was my point Of view. / re-
member getting into an argument with
the insurance people In the case Of one
fire in regard to this point. I happened
to be walking along p street one day,
however and had just passed small
lunchroom. / heard the engines coming
I'D the street, and was surprised when
they stopped and the men entered the
lunchroom. I went in. thinking 1t a false
alarm, and found the proprietor leading
the men upstairs
Going into a room on the top floor,
saw smoke coming from the junction of
floor and wall in one corner. I got the
men to cut the floor in this place. and at
length succeeded in locating what was
evidently rats nest, around which was
a mass Of old rags and any quantity OF
curiosity 1 had the floor taken up for a
considerable area and found matches
strewn all over between the boards and
the ceiling beneath. Tho rats had con-
verted the whole place into regular hre'
trap.
',Since then have never laughed at the
idea of rats causing fires by nibblins
match heads. and l have always ADVISED
people to keep their matches in metal
cases. 1t is the PHOSPHORUS In the lat
ter that the rats like, and to obtain this
they will make dangerous excursions.
A record OF every fire that occurs, with
all evidence bearing upon Its origin. Is
kept in Fire Marshal Nicholsons office.
arate sheets and at the close Of the year
are bound so that detailed history of
any fire is readily accessible. In addi-
ton to this Capt. Nicholson has recently
instituted card system, In which every
With hts expert knowledge and that pos
sessed by his assistants and the detective
cooperation Of the police department the
system Of discovering the origin or hres
in this city is brought to as great de-
gree Of perfection as Is possible, and
an examination Of it's workings is a reve-
lation to the average individual who has
not particularly considered this important
subject.
When ex-Chief Paris of the Washing
ton fire department was asked concern
ing the cause Of the majority of fires he
smiled and said:
q difficult one to answer My experience
has been that the origin of the greater
number Of fires is absolutely unknown.
OF course, conjectures can be made. and
very often the actual cause, thanks to
the Investigations Of the fire marshal's