The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-10-08
Fire Prevention Day" Will
Be Observed in All the
Public Schools of This
City on Monday.
WHAT MATCHES WILL
DO WILL BE SHOWN
A Pamphlet Devoted to Pre-
vention of Fires to Be Dis
tributed to Pupils in the
Upper Grades.

"Fire prevention day" will be OBJ
served in the Richmond public schools
tomorrow, according to the decision
reached yesterday by Superintendent
r. A. Mott. The lower grades will be
addressed by teachers on the subject,
and the little ones will be warned
against the careless use of matches
and other causes of unnecessary blaz-
es. The upper grade students will re-
ceive a little pamphlet prepared by
the state board of public instruction
which gives some valuable informa
tion regarding fires. This pamphlet
will be discussed in all the schools
and several appropriate talks will be
given.
The pamphlet contains some inter
esting facts which are of interest tC
everyone. The contents of it follow:
Its Use and Abuse.
There is probably no other one
thing SO useful to man as fire. 1t en-
ables him to live comfortably in parts
of the country which are not always
sufficiently heated by the sum- it pro
vides means whereby he may have
more wholesome food and a greater
variety; it enables him to make man,
articles that add to his comfort anC
pleasure. If it were not for fire iror
would be of little use to us; we must
depend upon fire to remove the silver
and gold from the other materials with
which it is mixed.
While fire is SO useful, it is, also
very destructive when not properly
controlled. A few facts will help us te
understand how destructive fire is:
/. Fire losses in the United States
and Canada in 1910 were $234,4O6 500
2. The losses and cost of fire pre-
vention in the United States each yea,
amount to more than the total produc
ton of gold, silver, copper and petrol
cum.
g. Our loss by fire is over $500 pei
minute.
4. About one-third of all the fires are
caused by the careless use of matches
5. The United States uses more
matches than all the rest Of the civiliz
ed world combined.
6. Fifteen hundred people are killed
and five thousand are injured annual
ly as a result Of fire.
I. The total cost of education in the
United States is $401. .397,777. The los
ses and cost of fire prevention exceed
this by s5O,OO0.00O.
8. Nearly ten thousand matches are
scratched every second of the day ir
this country-every one possible
fire.
Sources Of Fires.
The most common sources of fire
are:
l Careless use of matches.
Gasoline.
are:
l Open CRATES.
2 Use of oil in starting fires.
8 Defective flues.
4 Filling lamps near fire.
IS Careless burning of trash in dry
weather.
Prevention Of Fires.
AS the careless use of matches is
one of the most common sources OF
fires. everyone should make up his
mind that he will not be included in
the careless list. Common ''parlor'
matches are always source of danger
the will start a fire under SO many
conditions:
a. When rubbed they will throw
sparks that will ignite dry material.
b. They will ignite when stepped up
on or when under pressure.
c. Mice and rats may light them
by chewing at the heads.
Under these conditions it would
seem best to use some match thai
does not produce fire in any Of the
above ways. The sc-called safety
match eliminates many of these OBJ
jections, as the materials used in max
ing these matches are arranged in
such a way that one of the essential
elements is placed on the box.
In order to produce fire the match
must be rubbed on the box. If these
matches should be dropped or car
ried away by mice they are perfectly
harmless.
The danger is not all in the kind OF
match that is used. We must always
keep in mind that We are handling
fire; and fire is very destructive tC
property and endangers life.
Any burned match is possible
source of danger. When you have us
ed a match. remember that the stici
may contain enough fire to ignite dry
material or be hot enough to cause the
explosion Of oil, gasoline or gas. New
er throw a burned match away care
lessly. II there is no metal recepta
Gle into which you can place it, keeE
it in your possession until you are alb
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