The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-10-31

before all wooden shingled roofs must
BIO replaced with fre-resistiye una
terials.
The wind was not high on this
occasion, ranging from but ten TO
fifteen miles an hour. Nevertheless,
flying embers spread the conflagra-
ton from shingie root TO shingle
roof blocks ahead of the burning
buildings. SO that there were really
a series of conflagrations In pro-
gress. Persons viewing the scene
from points of vantage reported as
many as seven distinct fires raging
at the same time.
The fire departments Of eighteen
cities rushed TO Atlanta's aid, coming
| from as far as Jacksonville, Florida,
The fremen from that place covered
the $50 miles by train IN time to be
on the ground at q. M the second
| day.
| In several CONGREGATIONS, notably
| in that of Baltimore, the crying need
for the standardizatioh of hose coup
lings has been demonstrated, when
neighboring cities have sent repre-
sensations from their fire depart
ments to assist in the work of extin-
guishmep!- AT Baltimore many or
the engines, after arriving over a
distance OF several hundred miles,
were unable to operate because they
could not connect 10 the local hyd-
rants. Engines from New York were
able to operate only by taking sue
ton from the harbor, and were then
handicapped by the salt water and
by the necessity for running long
lines of hose.
How to Avoid CONGREGATIONS.
In devising remedy for malady
it is essential to ascertain the cause
of the trouble In planning a cure
for our national CONGREGATIONS it is
likewise necessary to determine the
reasons for their periodic occurrence.
These reasons have already been
pointed out Fundamentally they are
due to the haphazard nature of the
growth of the American city. in
which buildings OF infiammable ma
te-ials are located at fandom with
out relation 10 other structures or to
any general plan. In the past, con-
struction has been under Inadequate
restrictions, for the most part, and
hundreds Of thousands OF homes and
places OF business have been erected !
with scarcely thought of the danger
Of fra
Ii would be entirely possible for
fire prevention engineers to plan and
safeguard city so that it would be
practically unburnable. They would
use fre-resistiTe materials, protect
all openings, prohibit large koor
areas, install automatic devices and
erect fire barriers in such a way that
"a progressive fire would be impos
siole- The engineers of the national
board demonstrated the possibilities
OF such planning in their work with |
the hastily erected army canton. !
ments and other government proper
ties, largely constructed Of wood, but |
under supervision that safeguarded /,
them against fire, despite unfaYor. |
able conditions of occupancy.
One of the strongest forces fighting !
confa grations before they occur is |
the fire prevention committee of the |
national board, whose engineers have i
made minute surveys of about 300 |
cities, investigating every phase of
the fire situation, from weather and |
Typographical conditions. prevailing |
winds, water supply and pumping |
capacity of the fire engineers, TO the |
morale OF the firemen. They also !
report in detail individual blocks and |
buildings containing especially haz-
ardous conditions so-called |
black blocks" BY means of the |
standard grading schedule. based |
upon its many inspections, the COM |
mittee Is able accurately to deter |
mine a city's status as regards fire (,
hazard.
a record kept of known savings in |
property values due to the carrying |
out of recommendations resulting |
from an application of the grading |
schedule in a single section of the |
country, shows that in a certain five |
cities the purchase of up-to-date APP |
paratus, or radical improvements in |
water supply, permitted the extin- /
guishment of fires in property valued 1
at over $500, 900, which otherwise !
would have been totally destroyed. /
cumulative effect of the committees |
work is the important feature. The |
engineers point the way, and the ex-
tent that their recommendations are
followed marks accurately the i'm
provement in a city's status as re-
CARDS the danger of confagration.
The committee on construction of
buildings Of the national board has
prepared a standard building code
which has been adopted by number
Of cities.
With foresight almost uncanny
to the layman, the engineers have
predicted confagrations and "black
block" fires that have later occurred.
While San Francisco is the most
striking instance Of such prophecy
coming true, there have been num-
erous examples on smaller scale, in
Salem, Pittsburgh, Fall River and
elsewhere.
The Solution.
The factors that have figured prom
inently IN CONGREGATIONS of the past
have been summarized by engineers