New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-10
FIRE WARNING CALL
HEARD OVER CITY
Parades, Placards and
Speeches Emphasize
Prevention Day.

Fire Prevention Day, heralded by pla-
cards, speeches and parade of fire ap-
paratus from the Battery to The Bronx.
broke in on the city's complacence yes
terday, incoming New York that only
the perfection of its distinguishing
equipment relieved il Of the danger Of
confagration such as overwhelmed
Baltimore and Chicago. Also that two
thirds Of its fires were caused by care
lessneSs, and that each New Yorker
pays fire tax five times as great as
that of the Paris or the Londoner.
Mayor Mitchell opened the day with
an address to 1900 children at Public
School 1874, LenoX av. and 10th ST., eX-
planning how they could assist the work
of fire prevention. At the end of the
talk fire drill was sounded. and in
three minutes the building was empty,
the kindergarten children on the
ground floor being the last 10 depart.
From Harlem the Mayor, accompanied
by Commissioner Adamson and their
party. went TO the Washington Irving
High School, where 300 of the bright
est girls of the city were put through
q surprise drill" Though most of
them were passing between rooms
when the alarm was sounded, the school
was empty in , minutes As seconds.
Similar drills were held in all the
other city schools, 100000 children be-
ing enlisted in the cause. They went
home as missionaries, and parents by
the hundred thousand will learn for
the first time that fires may be pre-
vented by reasonable caution.
Most picturesque of the features of
Fire Prevention Day, however, was the
parade of nine fire companies through
the main streets of Brooklyn and Man
haitian. Warnings and precautionary
advices were printed in huge red letters
on the placards hung over the APP
paratus.
Some of them ran: "s5OO.O0OOOO a
year lost by fire in L. s., Sl25,000,00O
more than cost Of Panama Canal
Buildings consumed would line
street. on both sides. stretching from
New York to Chicago"
Number Of fires in Manhattan, The
Bronx and Richmond for past three
months, 2,037. Causes-370 from
cigars and cigarettes, 140 by bontires,
so by candles and tapers. 10S by gas
lights, 156 by matches, so mischiev-
BUSINESS"
Loss in United States 100000 8
day and Sale a minute. not including
upkecp of fire departments, use of
water supply or loss of business and
1.-TWO thousand killed and 5000 bad
ly injured by fires wear"
Even the motion pictures were en-
listed as preachers of fire prevention,
every film beginning with, This Is
Fire Prevention Dav. Clean Up Rub
bish." The Third Avenue Railway Com
pany had 5000 such signs on all its
branches, the New York Street Rail
way had the same number, while the
b. r. T. had 1000. The department
stores and taXicab companies, the
Pennsylvania and New York Central
railroad companies, even the hotels
and theatres were abundantly pa-
carded, everybody Joining in making
the day success.
Joseph O. Hammitt. chief Of the
Bureau of Fire Prevention. said yestcr-
day that the bureau would not be doing
its best work till the beginning of next
year By that time. with the co-opera-
ton of citizens, ii might be possible to
reduce fire losses TO something like
those suffered in Europe.
"Our per capita loss is little below
two dollars" he said. "The French
mans and the Germans is about forty
cents. If a Frenchman has fire he
has TO pay for putting it out; the
neighbors resent it: and if il dam
ages anybody else's property he has TO
ray for that.
1--WE shall try TO get bill through
at the next session providing that il a
fire occurs because the owner or &C.
cupant of building fails TO comply
with the law made TO nr"vent fires, ne
shall be responsible for the cost OF
putting il out and for the damage II
does 70 others.
such law would arr as great
preventive In the lodging houses, for
instance, the fire conditions are noto-
riously bad. The sleepers are so
crowded that you would have 20 step
over them. The fire escapes are fire.
luently blocked BY furniture. IL
wouldn't be surprising TO lose forty oit
Of two hundred if fire occurred in
such house.
"We're trying to get our people to
understand that most fires are due to
carelessness. If thew can get into the
attitude of the Frenchman o. German,
our losses would be one-fifth what they
are now"