Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-09-16
INGENIOUS DOORS
PROTECT COTTON
FROM FIRE FIEND
Automatic Device Acts as
With Human Mind When
Heated.


lures Of the work
AS result, this years cotton cro]
will be better protected from fire haz
ard than ever before.
Pressure was brought to bear by tht
marine insurance companies to fore.
the improvements, it was said, as they
were unwilling to sustain longer the
enormous risks involved for the pre-
NUNS charged.
An example Of the type and scope OF
the improvements being made in va
rious parts of the state may be seer
in the improvements under way at the
plants of the Little Rock Cotton Com
press company in Argenta and of the
| St. Louis Cotton Compress company
near the Rock Island depot here. The
former plant is almost completed,
while wor kat the latter plant is Just
starting.
The ingenuity and experience drawn
upon to thwart the fire demon, as
shown in the character of improve
ments being made and of the devices
installed, is interesting to the most
casual observer
Authentic Safeguards.
Doors that will close themselves
without the touch of human hands or
action Of the human mind when they
"feel" the temperature rising as much
as Is degrees in one minute, are in
the curious items of the fire-resisting
campaign among the cotton ware
houses. These doors would do little
good were they not celverly installed.
They work in pairs, separated by an
air space of seven feet. No matter
how suddenly a fire might spread in
one compartment it hardly could COM
municate through these two doors
with their seven feet of dead air space
between. Especially devised vesti-
bules have to be constructed to house
them. The vestibules are placed where
an opening from one compartment to
another is necessary. They are seven
feet long with door at each end, it
having been found that the single
door in an ordinary fire wall doess not
check the penetrating flame and fierce
heat generated in a cotton fire.
Warehouse Divisions.
A big step in fire-resistance was
taken when the plan was hit upon Of
dividing large warehouses into COM
partments, providing, of course, that
compartment is a fire-confining unit
in itself.
This is what is being done here. The
plant at Argenta is being divided by
a 16-inch fire wall through the middle
of the warehouse in two directions, in
tersecting near the center, thus divid-,
ing the house into four compartments.
The opening in the walls are protected
by the automatic doors and vestibules.
The warehouses undivided contained
$4,000 square feet, but the four new
compartments will afford floor space
in the largest compartment of 76,575
square feet, the largest area affected
by single fire.
Other Safety Devices.
Not only must precautions be taken
to guard the openings in the wall but
communication of fire from one COM
partment to another above the roof
and outside the walls is guarded
against by special construction de-
sign.
The dividing walls are parapeted,
extending above the roof level a GER
terrain number Of feet. A flame would
have to rise an dthen turn and come
back down on the other side of the
wall as the most malicious and pussy
footing" flame never has been OBJ
served to do by the oldest and wisetst
flame observers, before it could sneak
from ane compartment to another via
the roof.
Where side of the building is open
at the loading platform care is taken
to keep flames from one compartment
an adjoining room by the Sim
pie expedient of "teeing" the ends of
the dividing walls. This is done by
building short wall at the end Of the
long dividing wall, thus forming a
capital letter ct"
At the same plant additional fire
hydrants are being installed on wat
er main loop around the building, At
each hydrant will be kept supply of
hose and nozzle, under protecting
house, ready for instant use. These
are standard IL inch hydrants with
the same thread as those on the city
fire department hose fittings.
In addition to these improvements
in Little Rock and Argenta the engi-
neering department of the Arkansas
Actuarial bureau has recently approx
ed and assisted in redesigning or has
furnished complete plans for many
out-of-town jobs.
Outside Improvements.
The Pine Bluff Compress and Ware
house company, of which P. P. Byrd is
president, has a new annex and is re-
which work amounts to $780,
900. At Newport the St. Cotton Com
press company has improvements cost
ing $4,000 in progress. At Mariana
is the new plant of the st. Louis Cot
ton Compress company, with modern
e-resisting features, costing 100000.
Helena has two new modern fire-re
sisting plants. The St. Louis Cotton
compress company plant, also at Pine
Bluff, has been remodeled at cost
of $4,000. At Fort Smith remodeling
will soon begin on the warehouse of
the Fort Smith Cotton Compress COM
pany.
The effect of all of this improve
ment will have the effect of prevent
ing a general increase of fire insurance
rates on cotton warehouses affected
rather than of reducing rates, as the
insurance companies were heavily hit
by the tremendous losses of the past
five years, according to Manager j.
S. Speed of the Arkansas actuarial bu-
reau. INA
demanded Protection.