St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1914-01-21

HIS 10 dA me |
insurance companies do not bear the |
loss but the public pays for it. The |
insurance companies are only the |
collectors and distributors of fire
losses.
Illinois, WISCONSIN and New York
have each instituted legislative in
vestigations of the insurance business
and began work IN a spirit hostile to
the insurance companies. In each
case the commissions reported moth
ing could be done about regulating
rates until more definite knowledge
of fire risks could be secured. He
recommended the appointment of a
state fire warden who should collect
information about fires and prosecute
incendiaries.
The COnhagratiOn Risk.
No state, city or town can cut it.
self off from the comfy of states in
the matter of insurance. You will
meet with a great fire loss and the
loss of human life here unless some
of your wooden buildings are remov-
ed. So long as there exists the dam
ger and probability of a general con-
fagration there is no telling what
a proper insurance rate is. Fire risks
cannot be computed like life insur-
ance. Fire loss is a gamble and will
remain so as long as a whole city
may be wiped out in a night Thirty
of the old standard fire insurance
companies failed during the past
year. If Boston should burn to-
night 1t could not be rebuilt with in
surance money as San Francisco was
because the insurance money is still
being used to pay the San Francisco
loss.
Remedies Proposed.
We can correct these evils, but
the desire precedes all action. We
must get the fire risk on the same de-
finite basis as life risks are. We
cannot determine the proper rate so
long as general CONGREGATIONS are
possible. If we can get fire protec-
ton so effective that we can confine
the fire to the building in which it
originates and treat each fire as a
unit then we can compute accurately.
First we must attack the sweeping
fire. Every store built of brick or
concrete forms a fire wall. But we
leave the wooden window sash on
the most exposed portion of the
building and it is no longer a. fire
wall. If we protect our windows
with metal sash and wire glass such
building will help stop a conflagra-
ton. Such regulation would pro-
tect a small city as we'll as New York.
The conhagration hazard of New
York city is the terror of all under
writer's.
Forbid Wooden Shingles.
The wooden cities of this country
eventually will all burn. They sim
ply await the right kind of a fire
on the right kind of night and they
are doomed. Wooden shingles are
the greatest hazard in the spread of
fires. Easily ignited they are swept
up by the wind and thrown on roofs
hundreds of feet away and start
fresh fires. They were what destroy
ed Chelsea. If we will adopt the use of
noninflammable shingles and protect
our windows we will greatly reduce
the conf1agration hazard. This is an
easy thing to do. Every town should
have building regulations forbidding
the use of shingles In new roofs and,
where more than one third Of the
roof area needs repairing, their use
in repairing roofs.
He then portrayed the great hazard
of New York city and sky scrapers
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the best form of fire protection. Each
town should adopt a sensible use of
it's fire department. The firemen
should not only extinguish fires, but
they should prevent fires. They
should be given power to inspect all
buildings and compel the occupants
to remove fire dangers.
Individual Responsibility.
Prevention of fire waste in it's
finality is a matter of individual re-
sponsibility. In France if your house
burns and sets your neighbours house
on fire you must pay his loss. In |
Germany if your house catches IRE
you are placed under arrest and put |
in Jail. Unless you can prove you |
were no way responsible for the fire
you must not only pay all the loss 1t
causes but pay the city for the use
of the fire department in extinguish- |
ing it. We must fix the responsible !
ty of the individual by law and then |
teach respect for the law.
In answer to a question he said he
understood judgment insurance rates |
prevailed in st. Johnsbury. He should
prefer the schedule rate. This might |
raise the rate of some and lower
the rates of others, the rate being |
solely determined by the risk the |
individual maintained.