El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-11-09
FIRE PREVENTION
IH10WH OUTLINED
Boston Man Urges Reform
in Buildings and Auto
matte Sprinklers

St Paul, Mimi. Nov. "a complete
scheme for fire protection in cities and
towns and in the home was outlined
today by Franklin H Wentworth, Of
Boston, at the Minnesota Fire Protec-
tion congress 1Ir. WentwOrtz. who
is secretary Of the National Fire Pro
lection association. declared that the
American people were awakening to a
consciousness Of their collective re-
spOnslblltty for fire waste. This was
= year Of nope, he said, in spite Of the
TACT that the fire loss promised to be
Ihe nlghest since the year Of the
san Francisco fire.
There is a way to solve this con
IIagratton problem" ne continued, mot
8osoIutely, but at least relatively.
You cannot be expected to tear down
Your cities and rebuild them of fire.
IeslsJiFe material; the cities must be
protected as they stand. In the heart
OF nearly every one there are street
crossings at right angles along which
to. a very considerable distance are
PulLolngs OF brick, stone and concrete.
LooAeu at upon the map this shows a
more or less complete Maltese cross Of
Dllldlngs which are not wooden, and
Wnlch operate to divide the wooden
D4II district into quarter sections. and
MnIcn might mold a fire in any one Of of
IneSe sections If they We're euufpDed
70 40 So IneSe brick and stone build
Lu6s are ordinarily valueless as fire
slaSS ana their window frames of
wood. At Baltimore and San Francisco
lhe conIlagratiOn attacked such build
lngS easily breaking ont the rs nae-
consuming the frames. ana c0Dverfi1g
every story OF these brick structures
INTO horizontal Tues full Of cOmbusti-
PIE contents. Brick and stone build
4u5S are logical and capable fire
stops if the fire can be kent ont IF
them. The small city that win trace
ouL us maltese cross of such build
ms and equip them with metal win
uoW frames and wired glass viii imme-
dlaIely possess the equivalent of sub
sJanJlal lire walls crossing at right
angles IN its center, dividing it info
I IoIr sec'lons. BY such a simple, mex
penslVe. but vet strs tegic procedures
many a city may save itself from the
destruction which now awaits only the
I .egt Kind Of a fire on the right kind
7 have referred in this plan merely
70 the smaller cities but it is Obvi0us
tnau TINS plan of protection is euualTv
imperative In the brick stone and con-
crete districts of all LARGE cfties
where great values are housed in Gloss
pLOAILIlLy- e must come eventually
% the equipment Of all commercial
factory and office buildings with
metal window frames and wired class
rms viii mean the abolition of tba
GOnIlagratlon hazard in our cities
-I LtsS WI Inen De unit fires. extin-
Bushed easily by a competent fire de-
partment within the buildings in which
they originated; for the protection ~
WINDOW openings not only prevents
IRE from entering but prevents fire
from issuing out of the burning build
ing We may expect an occasional
exceedingly hot fire to break down
the defences Of an adjoining buiIding
out II Is obvious that a cOnflagratiO1 I
could not get under headwav amOns-
Dulldlngs OF fire-resistive construction
ings 0+-i
Having thus fortified city build
lnSs one against the other, extensive
TRES within individual structures can Z
De prevented by the use of the now
We'll established automatic sprinkler
system The automatic sprinkler an (
plies the water without the helm ~ /
human agencies while the fire is stfU
tncipient II viii operate in a dense |
smoke as well as in a clear atmosphere
u VIII not throw excessive deluges
OF water I'm wrong places as the fire
departments are continually forced To l
90. With our window openings prO-
tected and our buildings equipped with I
such eNtinguishers the confederation /
hazard In mercantile districts win be I
eliminated. There viii then remain for
consideration our immense residence I
districts constructed almost wholly Of /
wood surrounding the mercantile cen
tiers, like fagOts around a funeral !
pyre. We can lessen the loss here by 4
the abolition of the use of wooden /
shingles