The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-01-13
WANTS WOUNDED SOLDIERS TO CURB
 FIRE EVIL HERE
J. H. Tregoe Would Have Muni- cipalities Appoint Grip pied Heroes Inspec-
 tors.

New York, Jan. 12-Wounded soldiers should be given immediate employment by municipalities as of- ficial inspectors to help curb the huge losses caused by preventable fires, says J. H. Tregoe,( secretary -treasur- uTer, National Association of Credit Men, in a letter to the Fire Insurance Committee of that organiza tion. This committee has gone on record as be- ing In favor of legislation designed to assess upon individuals, firms or cor | porations the cost of extinguishing or attempting to put out all fires occur ring in the premises of the same, whenever they are a result of failure to comply with the laws made for the | prevention of conflagrations.
 1 "Our heroes are returning to their i homes after having extinguished the 1 dangerous flames of autocTacy. Our l first duty is to welcome them back.
 Then we must provide jobs for them. 1 Changed conditions make it impossi-
 ble for many of the boys In the khaki
 to return to their former places of
 employment. These men, thousands
 of whom arc cripples as a result of i their sacrifices, would welcome an | ffreproof nation" says MT. Tregoe in
 his letter made public tonight.
 Our boys who have seen service
 overseas know the frightfulness of
 waste They have seen homes, vil- lages and cities destroyed by shell fire and torch. These sights resulted
 in the Arson Kaiser being halted.
 The men returning would be glad to 1 take a job that would mean the pre-
 vention of destruction of property
 and human lives. Bestow upon the
 overseas soldier who returns minus a
 limb the proper authority to enforce
 fire prevention laws. He will help
 bring about a decided change in con
 ditions that cause high insurance
 charges. With the decline in insur-
 ance rates there will also be a fall
 in the price of merchandise. It is
 almost needless to point out to the
 members of our committee to what
 extent fire losses affect credit.
 'The government is taking steps tc
 check fire losses. It is also acting
 to place discharged soldiers, sailor!
 and marines in good positions. New
 York city and other municipalities should cooperate with the govern a ment by passing legislation whicf Y would result in our heroes being as :, signed to fire prevention duty at thu o earliest possible moment. Because o
 the military discipline which our arm a ed forces have experienced they arr V peculiarly fitted to fill such posi- ons :, Latest available figures jus made public by the National Boart of Fire I-rodarzvri+ore , T twenty States the yearly fire losse o amounted to $71,072.433. Fires clas U sified as strictly preventable aggre Il gated more than s20, 100000 in losse Is while those termed partly prevent Y able resulted in more than $34.o00, e 900 damages. These figures show al 't increase of seventeen over those o s the previous year.
 f Now that the world conflict i $ over, the hour has arrived for tn
 people of America to wage an az Il gressive war against fire-that demo 3, which not only destroys millions o 1t dollars worth of property annual Y and ruins thousands Of business me It but which also causes unnecessary los
 of life. Let the boys who wen h abroad and who are coming bac l. crippled be the fighters against pre- ventable flames.
 .. ''The business men of this countr ,, must act to protect their interest! They must also act to protect thei creditors. They should look afte ~, their fire insurance policies now fo 7, if they neglect this important dut 1 their assets of today may be cinder o tomorrow"