Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-04-26
Clean Up Week
For the Nation

BOVerHOrS anu lire mdTSndlS Oh InS
different states, and to the mayors,
fire, chiefs, health officers, and
chambers of commerce in several
hundred Of the leading American
cities urging that the first week in
May (Which this year begins upon
April 30th), be designated and OBJ
served generally as a spring Clean
up week"
This Is time OF national crisis
when every effort to reduce public
hazard becomes patriotic duty.
However, such effort pay abundant
dividends even under normal condi-
tons. For example, ]. j. Conway,
chairman Of Cincinnati's Cleanup
and Paintup" campaign, writes to
the National Board Of Fire Unde-
writer's:
"Cincinnati's cleanup campaigns
have been Of great value to the peo-
pie Of Cincinnati. Prior to the first
campaign three years ago the fire
loss totalled s1,34O,000 end this was
reduced to s307,537 in 1915. and to
approximately the same figure in
1916"
Similarly the city OF Decatur, H.,
reports a fire loss OF $164,010 for
1915, before the institution of the
local cleanup campaign, and of only
s63437 for 1915, following this eff
fort. As one Of the features Of De-
catur's campaign, more than $50
merchants provided themselves with
metal receptacles for the storage of
waste paper and rubbish.
The chamber of Commerce of
Rochester. N. Y, states that the
city's 1916 fire loss showed a re-
duction OF 40 per cent over the fig
ures for 1915, and credits a large
part Of this to the result of clean
up campaign. Mayors. fire chiefs,
and health officers in a number of
cities as well as the fire marshals
Of Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan,
Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and
several other states, are already NOV
ing actively in the matter. On the
other hand, the greater part of the
United States has not yet awakened
to this necessity.
Spring is time of peculiar fire
menace because of the accumulated
litter Of the winter months The
Georgia Fire Prevention Society has
published statistics showing that all
of the oonflagrations in the southern
cities during the past quarter of
century have occurred between Feb
ruary 25th and May 3rd, and 1t is
we'll known that the $3.50, 900
conflagration in San Francisco was
in the month Of April While this
latter was caused by an earthquake
most Of the loss was due to the bad
condition of the city. It e spring
cleanup campaign could be establish
ed as a national institution, for the
first week in May of each year, it
would save millions of dollars of the
national wealth. which is annually
destroyed through unnecessary fires.
It also would be most important |
health measure, since dirt and debris |
breed disease as we'll as conflagra-
ton.
One word Of special precaution is
necessary; this refers to the storage |
of waste paper. Following the sug
gestion Of the federal government
that people should save waste paper
as a means of meeting the serious
shortage in paper stock, thousands
of school children began to collect
paper and to store it in school base
ments, thereby creating a hazard. It
Is desirable that waste paper should
be conserved, but a safe place for
storage should be porvided. Such
storage should never take place in
schools or dwellings. It is well to
that paper is less likely to
burn when tightly folded and piled
than when thrown into loose heap
It should be disposed Of as frequent
y as possible so that large quantities
may not accumulate This is an
other case IN which individual care
essness is the greatest fire hazard.