The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-10

this fire prevention movement when
explain to you that each special agent
Is allowed whatever time may be re-
quired to inspect one town each month
and this work is done irrespective of
our other duties which oft times suf-
fer by the delay.
Now that we understand one another
can but feel in advance that our ef-
forts will receive your full sympathy
and support and that the week we have
spent with you will not have been in
vain. We therefore ask your kind con-
sideration and cooperation and if each
one of you would return to his home
with sense of personal responsibility
to correct the dangerous conditions
which you may observe in the property
within your own control and observa-
tions, you will render a service to your
town and state"
Secretary Johnson followed Mr. Hack
ney with a short statement regarding
the inspection which the society had just
completed here. ut is impossible to state
exactly what has been done" he said,
for the simple reason that there are
some 500 individual reports on buildings
which we will have to go over before
we can compile the facts and reveal the
true conditions in Birmingham.
Much Bad Housekeeping
"I can state, however. that from
rough going through of these reports 1t
appears that the careless storage of gaso-
line and other explosives and oils and
bad housekeeping are the principal bad
conditions which have been found.''
M. H. Tanner of Atlanta discussed the
importance of fire prevention and of good
housekeeping as a means of fire preven-
ton.
Mr.. Batre of Mobile began his remarks
by making the startling statement that
within the last few years Mobile and
Montgomery had come to be proud of
Birmingham as the great industrial and
commercial metropolis of the south, and
that it would only be a few more years
until Atlanta would think of Birmng-
ham In the same spirit.
ANY town that does things like Bir-
mingham has got to go ahead" said
Mr.. Batre. 'and Birmingham is going
to go ahead and will win the admira-
ton of every other southern city. But
before Birmingham becomes the undis-
puted metropolis and the pride of the
south, she will have to get rid of her
one drawbaclS-her enormous fire loss
Figures in this regard are actually ap-
palling. There is but one cause for 1t.
Birmingham's wooden shingle roofs have
given the city this unfavorable position.
And the only way to apply a remedy is
to get rid of this combustibe roof ma
teriaL"
Mr. Batre here presented his statistics
Chief Bennett Speaks
Chief Bennett began his remarks by
regretting the absence of many of the
prominent citizens of the city, whom he
said should have attended the meeting.
Unfortunately" said the chief "Bir-
mingham has reached another crisis on
fire hazard conditions. The city leads in
many things of which we all are proud
but we also lead in fire losses and have
gained very unenviable reputation.
wooden shingles are the fault And
the fault only can be remedied by the
adoption of an ordinance by the city COM
mission prohibition wooden shingle roofs
on any building erected in the future.
In the course of 10 or 70 years that will
gradually solve the problem Every shin
gle roof In the city ought to be torn off
tomorrow and replaced with non-com-
bustible material But this can't be done.
These buildings were erected under build
mission prohibiting wooden shingle roofs
and 1t would be unjust and unfair TO
now legislate them out of existence The
only way to do it now is stop building
any more such roofs. There is not a