The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-07-01
FIRE DANCERS m RESORT HOTELS
Number of Fires and Amount of Losses
Reveal General Fire-Trap Conditions.

i in a factory. Progressive states are
concerned about the safety OF the
lives Of factory workers Whom does
he safety Of the ve OF women and
children crowded in resort hotels dur
ing the height Of the season concerns
A merchant or . manufacturer Will
pack his family on for the vacation
danger, conditions to which the laws
Of certain States would not PERMIT
| him to subject those in his employ
New resort hotels may be built To
| resist Ere to a considerable degree. In
fact. they should be for reasons other
than safety-it is economical TO build
freproof. Wood IS not a sensible
building material nor is the cost. a.
compared with ineombustible materi-
| ais, sufficiently low to be attractive
nowadays. Owners Of certain large
hotels hat have burned have not
built to burn again. as many do: they
have built enduring buildings of fire
! proof construction. That is a com
mendable policy. but it would have
| beer far more commendable il the
hotels that burned had been altered
and equipped to resist burning.
Eaf1e OF Au&enaaHc Sprinkers.
The greatest sing device for active
FIRE resistance is the automatic
aprinkler. Automatic sprinklers will
i W. SNtf GANNRb -
single sprinkler opened by a fire VIII
operate an alarm. Thus three pri-
mary conditions of danger are elimi-
mated: I) The Are is prevented
from spreading by being held in check
OF ~extinguished 90 the detection is
immediate: and 90 an alarm of fire
is given to which the reSpons will be
prompt. If the hotel has a private fire
brigade. and the water may be shut
OIL Is oon as the sprinkler has done
its work and excessive water IA
avoided.
Witness this testimony from one
who has profited by automatic sprink-
Ter protection. the owner of a South
ern hotel. which was equipped with
automatic s~prinklers:
Ance, and of far more importance.
is the absolute feeling Of satisfaction
caused by knowing hat the building
and contents cannot burn up. This
we can safely assert for the reason
that on October 80 last. a young lady
threw an exploded lamp into one OF
cur toilet rooms right in the middle
Of the building-an ideal place to test
a efficiency of the sprinkler system
land in less than half a minute one
sprinkler head blew Of and poured a
? regular deiuge Ct water en- the fire,
: putting it ont hmm ediateiy, and in
5 less than two minutes the valve on
that floor had been closed And thu
drainage valve opened and the DOW OF
water stopped. ca u1ing a total damage
s to walls Of $50, and in ave minutes a
new sprinkler head had been put or
z and the water turned back into the
system. All this happened about
O'Clock in the when the no.
: tel was full OF guests, without any
exc1timent among the guests or with.
I ont any Inconvenience to the guests
1 Measures For Safety.
= Here are other things thai shoule
: be considered by resort hotel owners
First. prevent fires by removing
possible causes. Arrange to prom ptly
detect a are by installing automati.
: nre alarms or watchmen and clock
Equip with apparatus to fight a fire
chemical extin guiShers, inside hose
etc. Provide a local system to alarm
guests In case of FIRE. Insure SAT
: and speedy egress from building b,
furnishing proper fire escapes Ar
range to transmit an alarm OF FIRE t,
the nous fire brigade from any par
+ "a mouse by auxiliary fire alarm
boxes Design and construction o
ooiidhgs should be such that a fir
VIII De conffned to place Of origin b,
partitions and door
which retard spread laterauy and b,
enciosing elevators and stAirWays t
prevent fire from passing from on
moor to another. If doors or part
ions cut Off light. glaze them witt
If the DOT covering i
oStiofe, l. e.. wooden shingles. o
IA replace it with ineOmbus
10y" Tooang l. e.. approved compOsi
lion aSDestos shingles or metal or tie