Omaha daily bee., 1910-04-03
Loss by Fire

less construction. In one year the fire
loss in frame buildings was more than
N48,O00OO 900. as compared 10 Ses.OO0.0o0 on
buildings Of brick. stone. etc. The number
Of frame buildings burned was 10000. as
compared with 5000 buildings Of other
material.
The greatest single property owner and
builder In the country Is the United states
government The federal government is
the owner OF buildings costing more than
$500 600 900. and it is putting up new build
ings TO the cost OF 10000 900 annually. The
government carries no insurance on its
buildings, preferring to assume its own
risks That this Is wise policy Is indi-
Gated by the fact that II the buildings were
| insured, II would cost seO0,OOO a year In
premiums. The loss by fire has amounted
to less than $4,000 a year for a quarter
I Of a century
s,Gn IJr this apparent immunity Of
buildings from fire is quite
aI.-...--. ne buildings are constructed with
a view to making them flreproot and the
/ vast majority Of them are surrounded by
open spaces, insulating them from ignition
| from nearby buildings. But the government
| Is MOI satisfied, and 20 this end the geo
| logical survey maintains a laboratory for
the purpose Of testing building materials
| Its Investigations include all sorts Of con-
struction material, and the tests are very
| severe. For instance, a material, stone,
| concrete, tile or the like. will be subjected
20 ordinary fire temperature. about 1905
/ Fahrenheit, and. in another test, to con-
, flagration temperature OF 700 degrees. The
/ heated material Is dreuched with water and
: its behavior then observed. Tests are made
to observe how rapidly temperature Is
| transmitted from one side Of a wall 70
! another, the Investigations comprising walls
Of varying thickness and material BY
means Of these tests the supervising a-chi.
tect Of the treasury, Uncle Sans master
builder, determines the flreprOofing quail,
ties OF various materials and selects the
best for use in new government buildings
| Engineers make special study Of plan
ming buildings to prevent the rapid spread
Of fire. Efforts are being made to secure
the enactment Of stricter building codes
The use Of wood for building purposes Is
prohibited in certain areas in nearly al
cities, and the tendency is to increase thest
! fire districts" they are usually called
| But in the smaller towns and villages and
in the rural communities, wood is still the
most used building material, and there ar,
few II any, legal means to regulate con.
strUction- One-half OF all the fires in the
country are traced directly to faults of con
struction, and large proportion OF the
causes unknown" responsible for another
quarter Of the fires also may be safely
charged to the same account Defectiv,
flues and chimneys head the list of fir'
causes, followed by faulty flreplaces, heat
ing and lighting apparatus and the like.
In Europe. old country where thing
are more or less finished, the use of WOO
is pre- = blted both by law and by the ex
pense. Every building must be erecte-
under the eye of an officer who will en-
force certain rules and regulations evolve
from the actual experience of centuries
There house is built to last forever. an
great pains is taken with It in the begin
ming.
} In America the abundance of compare
lively cheap and easily worked timbe