The Vinita daily chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1913, 1910-02-07

and as a blessing brought by him to
earth in a hollow reed after Zeus had
deprived mankind of it, leyies upon
Americans each year an enormous
tax calculated by United States gov
ernment officials at almost million
and half dollars day and 1,449
lives a year AS a result of an in
vestsgation just concluded by officials
OF the United States geological survey
It has been ascertained that cheaper
fireproof materials can be used to adj
vantage in construction, that three to
six times the necessary. amount Of
material is habitually used in struc-
tural work in the United States, that
the building codes are laxly enforced,
that the fire loss in the United States
is eight times as much per capita as
In any country in Europe and that the
great waste in the United States is
due principally to the predominance
of frame buildings and to defective
construction and equipment.
Contrast between the small losses
by fire to government buildings and
the immense losses reported from the
country as whole led the geological
survey to make an inquiry as to fire
losses in the United States and as to
their exact cost to the people. Tests
to determine the strength and fire re-
sistance Of building materials are
still being made by the survey, and
although these tests are designed pri-
marily to meet the needs of the gov
ernment as the largest consumer. their
results are available to anyone for
general use.
Not one person in a thousand knows
that the United States government
owns buildings that cost more than
100000 900 and is spending 500, ,O00,-
900 year for new buildings. II Will
be a surprise to everyone. too. to
learn that not one cent of insurance
against loss by fire is carried on
these valuable buildings Insurance
at the ordinary rate would cost more
than half a million dollars year, and
the government avoids this great tax
by constructing buildings that are Sc
curely fireproof
To attain this degree of security
from Are for government buildings
the government has gone to consider
able expense and the results obtain
ed fully repay the outlay. From these
tests to determine the strength and
fire resistance of building materials
1t has been determined that Ameri-
can builders can with safety use
cheaper fire-proof materials than they
do. 1t ha been learned that the diff
ference in cost between fire-proof and
infiammable buildings is less than |
generally supposed and the officials
predict that this difference will soon !
become so small that It win cease to !
encourage the construction of fiimsy
buildings. II has been found that |
three to six times the necessary
amount Of material is habitually used
by American builders in structural (
work The necessity also is shown
for better building codes in cities and !
especially of better enforcement of
the codes already enacted If the pres
ent enormous fire losses are to be
diminished
After a careful investigation 1t has
been determined that the total cost of
fires in the United States in 1907. ex- !
Guiding that of forest fires and the
marine losses Gin themselves extern
sive) but including excess cost of
fire protection due to bad construction |
and excess premiums over insurance
paid. amounted to the enormous sum
of over sass, 1885, 600, a tax on the
American people exceeding the total
value OF all the gold, silver. copper /
and petroleum produced In the Unit |
ed States in that year. The cost of !,
building construction in 1907 in forty.
nine leading cities of the United
States reporting a total population of
less than 100000 amounted to $661,-
076,2S6, and the cost of building con-
struction for the entire country is con-
servatively estimated at s1,0O0,000 600 |
Thus 1t will be seen that nearly one.
half Of the value Of all the new build !
ings constructed within one year is
destroyed by fire. The annual fire
cost Is greater than the value of the
real property and improvements in
either Maine, West Virginia, North
Carolina, North Dakota. South Dako-
ia, Alabama, Louisiana, or Montana.
In addition to this waste of wealth
and natural resources. 1.449 persons
were killed and 5.652 were injured in