The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1911-12-01

isolation from incendiary neighbors.
and in other ways. The value of
property safeguarded by such means
will reach untold millions. Deduct
the values that in this manner are
practically removed from chance of
! fire destruction from the aggregate
OF destructable values and base the
| fire waste percentage on the bal
ance, and the ratio of Obliteration
becomes truly appalling. And you,
who spend money for sprinklers, fire.
proof buildings, etc., are your taxes
lessened by reason OF your expen.
ditures? No. The fire department
must be maintained to protect the
property of your less enterprising
neighbOr. This creates your inter-
est in legislation that will compel
reduction of the fire risk, even if it
| becomes necessary to make it a
crime to have fire originate on
ones premises.
Nothing to Be Proud Of.
SHOULD we, citizens of the great
est nation on earth, be proud of the
| fact that our annual per capita
! loss is over three dollars; the num-
Der of our fires forty for each ten
| thousand people; while European
countries look on and present us
with the undisputed fact of a per
capita loss of thirty-three cents, and
an average fire of eight for each
ten thousand people?
ssThipk nf II oanfIamopf II
is too true. we burn in this waste
dollars worth of property every
minute.
Our fire waste consumes the
sum total of values produced by
every form of activity of brain and
Drawn and machinery, plus the ex-
pense of our municipal protection,
as it is estimated that for every
dollar actually destroyed by fire an
other dollar has been expended for
municipal protection. In other words,
gentlemen, you have in the past
been willing to dig down deep In
your pockets and shell out your
money in increased taxation by rea-
son of further protection, made nec-
essary by some unavoidable blaze,
due to the careless physical condi-
ton OF property; and you seem will
ing to continue to do so, when it is
in your power to wipe out the rub
hsh, remove the dangers of gaso-
line, do away with the criminal
match, at a trifiing nominal cost,
which would eventually be returned
to you in the reduction of your
present insurance rates; it being
well understood that the way to get
lower insurance rates is to have
fewer fires.
Keep Down the Fire Loss.
'No conflagration can be caused
by the fire which is put out before
it starts" Proper care, both pub
lie and private, would achieve this
result in over fifty per cent of the
fires now reported each day.
''The hole made in the money sup
destruction in San Francisco was
the business prosperity, which end
ed in panic eighteen months later.
"The people are too prone to re-
gard a man who has fire as al
ways a victim, who calls for pub.
lie sympathy. Many times it would
be more to the point if the authori-
ties compelled the man who suffer
ed fire loss to be under bond to
show that the loss was unavoidable;
better still, bring the matter home
to the people by making penalty
apply to individual pockets when
such preventable fires cause the
calling out of the department.
st is absolutely necessary that
you, property owners in this city,
wake up to the fact that your fire
department should not be main
tanned for the exclusive purpose of
extinguishing fires; it has larger
possibilities for the prevention of
these fires.
Should Have Regular Inspection.
Insist that every fireman, from
the chief down to the drivers and
pipe men, be detailed for regular
inspection service three or four
hours day; each man to go into
Easements, attics, alleys, with the
direct purpose of keeping down rub
bish that accumulates over night;
and by ordinance give your fire chief
constable powers so he may compel
guarding requirements. If you will
see that this is done, and give your
own doorstep, you will benefit the
entire community by creating an
educative conversation at the head
quarters of your fire department.,
which would result in such expert
ence for the inspectors that in the
course of a short time your city
would not only be free from fire
cause, but perhaps be able to make
the duties of your health officer
more agreeable.
1--WE simply must be brought to
feel a sense of responsibility for
one another; brought to realize that
we all contribute to pay this pre-
ventable loss by fire waste.
"Once we begin to fully absorb
this condition, then we start on the
journey in eradicating severe con-
flagration possibilities; safeguard
premises where large numbers of
people cOngregate; minimize haz-
ards, and attack the common causes
of fire in our own and our neigh
bors' homes.
I'm short, we can go about the
business of fire defense, and the
most effectual and certain way to