Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-04-05

clude all sorts of construction material.
and the tests are very severe. For in
stance, a material, stone, concrete. tile.
or the like, will be subjected to ordinary
fire temperature. about 1000 Fahrenheit.
and, in another test, to conflagration
temperature of LOO degrees. The heated
material is drenched with water and its
behavior then observed. Tests are made
to observe how rapidly temperature is
transmitted from one side of wall to
another. the Investigations comprising
walls of varying thickness and material.
BY means of these tests the supervising
architect of the treasury, Uncle Sans
master builder. determines the fireproof-
ing qualities of various materials and Sc
lects the best for use in new government
buildings. Engineers make special study
of planning buildings to prevent the rap
i'd spread of fire. Efforts are being made
to secure the enactment of stricter build
ing codes. The use of wood for building
purposes is prohibited in certain areas in
nearly all cities. and the tendency Is to
increase these fire districts" as they
are usually called. But in smaller towns
and villages, and in the rural commune
ties, wood is still the most used building
material. and there are few If any legal
means to regulate construction. One-half
of all the fires in the country are traced
large proportion of the causes unknown"
responsible for another quarter of the
fires also may be safely charged to the
same account. Defective f1ues and CHM
neys head the list of fire causes, fol-
lowed by faulty fireplaces. heating and
lighting apparatus. and the like.
In Europe, an old country where things
are more or less finished, the use of wood
l. A0fL, Iou md hxy-
pense Every building must be erected
under the eye of an officer who will en-
force certain rules and regulations evoiv-
ed from the actual experience of centur-
les There a house is built to last for
ever. and great pains is taken with it in
the beginning.
In America, the abundance OF compar-
atively cheap and easily worked timber,
makes wood the chief building material
The greater number of buildings are
erected where there is neither supervision
nor machinery to enforce the regulations
IL they existed. And houses are not
built to last forever. farmer builds
barn with the definite idea of making 1T
do until get enough money to put up
big barn. An artisan builds a cottage
which at no time is sufficiently OPAQUE
to obscure the vision of the better house
to be DullJ on Ino VI lHIS Olio III 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 houses to rent does il
as quickly and as cheaply as possible In
this phase of American life is to be found
one grain of comfort with respect 20
losses by fire-many of the buildings
burned would soon be RACED anyhow 10
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 tim
Der 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 use of wood for construc-
ton. and the more lenient building laws.
The southern states lose more than any
other geographical section, largely be-
cause the climate does not compel ade-
quate arrangements tor heating The open
fireplaces do their deadly work