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

would not deliberately neglect to
take proper precautions do not take
thought to remove probable causes
of fire.
"The last session of our legisla-
ture so amended the fire marshal
law as to make ii effective, and it
is safe to say that this law if Wig
Orously administered will result in
a very material Improvement in
conditions and a lessening of the
fire waste that has been going on
in the state of Minnesota. Every
thoughtful person recognizes the
fact that fire insurance does not
remove the burden of loss, it only
distributes the burden. 1t should
also be borne in mind that each
of you as citizens of this municipal
ity are each and every one contrib
uting to pay for the losses from fire
that occur in this community If
you stop to reflect that this state
ment is a fact it will have a tend
ency to make each one more care
full. Each person in the community
should consider himself or herself a
fire warden. 1t is not enough that
you exercise care yourself, but you
should also make it your business
to know that your neighbors are
likewise careful, and you should do
everything in your power to spread
the gospel of fire prevention.
"You may exercise the highest
degree of watchfulness in the care
of your premises, and do every
thing within your power to guard
ho Of
all your care and watchfulness may
go for naught, because some neigh
Dor has failed to do his or her part.
With reference to the part which
dishonesty contributes to the fire
waste, it may be proper to point
out whenever a rascal through the
eccentricities of the law succeeds
in collecting from an insurance COM
pany a dishonest claim he has in eff
feet put his hand into the pocket of
each one of us and robbed each one
of us of some portion of the amount
so collected. This is what might
be termed legalized robbery.
Appeal as a Citizen.
1--WE, of the Fire Prevention asso-
citation, do not appeal to you from
the standpoint of insurance men but
we appeal to you as citizens of this
great commonwealth and we seek
your cooperation in this movement
We owe it to ourselves and our
posterity to make every effort to
eliminate that portion of this most
appalling waste of wealth which is
due to neglect and carelessness.
Every citizen of the state of
Minnesota is eligible for member
ship in this association, and we
earnestly hope that the time may
come when we shall number among
our members enough citizens from
each city, town and village to make
this movement the most popular re-
form ever organized within our
boundaries. The fire fiend withers
the right hand of industry; it de-
spoils the lobarer of the fruits of his
toll, and not infrequently it removes
from our midst useful member
of the community
Laws Relative to Fires.
O. w. Chamberlain of Minneapo-
lis gave the longest talk of the even
ing. He introduced his address
with a few humorous remarks which
he continued to make now and then
throughout the course of the talk
He gave short history of the as
ISOLATION, it's work and how it grew,
and then read a large number of
statistics and reports. He also read
a few of the new laws passed in
regard to fires.
The revised law in regard to the
right of fire marshals to enter build
i'm fo1I
"The state fire marshal, his chief
assistant and deputies, upon COM
plant of any person, or without any
complaint previously entered, shall
have the right at all reasonable
hours, for the purpose of exami-
nation, to enter into and upon all
buildings and premises WITHIN their
jurisdiction.
Whenever any of said officers
shall find any building or other
structure, which for want of repairs
or by reason of age or dilapidated
condition, or for any other cause
is especially liable to fire, and
which is so situated as to endanger
other buildings and property, and
whenever any such officer shall find
in any building or upon any prem
Uses any combustible or explosive
material, or infiammable conditions,
dangerous to the safety of said
buildings or premises, they shall
have the power to make reasonable
orders for the repair or removal of
the same, and such order shall be
forthwith complied with by the own
er or occupant of said premises or
building" He said further that
Minnesota association is bound to
have this thing success and to
work in unison with Mr.. Keller. Each
person whose buildings are improp-
erly built or otherwise not up to
the standards will receive a letter
from Mr.. Keller's office and if he
does not comply with the law with
in reasonable length of time will
be compelled to do so by the state
fire department. He cited the case
of Wisconsin where the policyholders
made saving of $150,OO0 by the
proper fire prevention. Here is a
reduction in premiums from twelve
to seventeen per cent.
Fire Prevention Instruction.
Mr.. Chamberlain advocated the
teaching of fire prevention in the
schools and also of fire conserva-
ton. He gave a few figures in re-
gard to the buildings that were
burned during the year, and said