Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-10-05
FIRE PREVENTION
WEEK |NAUGURATED
Observance Started in Schools,
With Address at High
School by c. e..

held. At the High School Charles r.. i
Meek of New York City spoke on the
Importance of fire prevention. Harold 1
l.. Minor and Walter Stradley, mem
bers of the conservation and fire pre-
vention committee OF the Chamber
of Commerce, were also present at I
the High School assembly this morn
/ ing. In introducing Mr. Meek, MIR.
Coke said that he Is connected with /
| the Exchange National Bank In New /,
York city, and has done considerable /
work along fire prevention lines. Mr. /
/ Meek caused "A smile when he started 1
his speech by saying that this week |
Is doubiy important for the economic /
reason OF it's being Fire Preveition |
week and for the sake of sport, for |
the Worlds Series Is being played. He
explained that as most boys go into
business he would address them as
the business men Of the future As
cities increased I'm size, congested dis
tricts became fire traps 80 that since
early I'm 1900 there have been epidemics
OF fires each year. New York has
had three large fires, Chicago ono
famous fire. the date of which Fire
Prevention Day celebrates, and San
II
; lgwing the earthquake there. Mean
while" continued Mr.. Meek, so many
fires burn daily In smaller cities that
when the record for this year is com
plete we shall probably discover 200
million dollars lost and 1900 lives
TO decrease these losses business
men have started the Fire Prevention
work, but have made comparatively
/, little progress because OF a mis-
taken idea that Il is propaganda Of
fire insurance companies. Western
, schools cooperate more readily than
eastern ones. although now even In
the East text books on fire preven-
ton are being studied i'm the schools.
MIR. Meek gave the students some
practical suggestions as to how they
: might prevent fires. He said that 6b
y per cent of all fires are In the homes
and that if people would be careful
! when they used matches and would
= clear out all rags and rubbish there
= would be fewer fires. lie urged the
boys TO be careful where they threw
: cigarettes as 10 per cent Of fires are
y caused by smoldering cigarettes. He
:, emphasized the Importance OF clean
u up day as part OF the Fire Prevention
h program lie closed by saying that
e as the disease epidemics have been
r wiped out by science and care, so may
y fire epidemics
= Miss Ruth storms led the students
In singing a hymn, Santa Lucia" aud
8 "All Through the Night and the
= orchestra played a selection. Mr.. Coke
II announced that Miss storms is plan
q ming 20 organize boys glee club
o and girls choral society among the
= high school students. This afternoon
a the boys interested in tho formation
a OF a glee club will meet to organize
y Urged by the Mayor.
r Mayor Harvey has issued a procla-
d nation calling upon all Wilmington
n ians to take part Ia the general OBJ
b servance of Fire Prevention Day next
Monday. His announcement is as
y follows:
Il lin accordance with the proc
~ lamation OF the President of the
II United States, Monday. October 10,
- has been set apart as Fire Preven-
tion Day. This is an occasion when
{ every American should give
N I
- caused by fire. and should do
Al everything in his power to elimi-
: nate IL.
: THE yearly property damage
caused TO the citizens of our coun-
try by fire amounts to $3.50 100000.
But, although this material loss is
very great, there is a far more
menacing loss in the fact that an
nually some $4,000 men, women
and children meet their deaths in
r these same fires The pity of it
J. is that nearly all these fires are
/ preventable. In other words, il
lies within our power to eliminate
the hazards that cause this enor-
lp nous drain on our resources;
=, we can save lives and property
by the exercise of proper care.
We must not think because our
city has been spared a confiagra-
ne ton that our fire losses are small.
nd To the great annual total of the
at nation this city contributes it's
er share. The occasional small fires
re do not seem TO reflect serious dam
r age of themselves. but a little
no thought will show us that to-
IN gether they constitute a serious
ar menace to our community life.
Investigation has shown that
iu approximately IS per cent of all
X fires occur in the home, and this
~ gives an added significance to the
~ observance of Fire Prevention
Day this year because of the
= shortage of housing accommoda-
- tions, and, therefore, the necessity
sr, Of preserving our respurces in this
:. respect.
!. with these facts in mind. 1
n recommend that Fire Prevention
Day this year be made the Occa-
~ sion of especial and sincere ef-
~ forts TO prevent loss of life and
,r- property, and that our citizens
co thoroughly inspect their premises,
a remove rubbish, correct all haz-
rs ards. and in general institute a
les careful cleanup period about
lt- their homes, factories ard busi-
ri ness places that will do away with
led the danger of fire among us
te. "I recommend also that atten-
II. ton be called to the observance OF
W. Fire Prevention Day in the schools
II. Of the city. so that the children
es. may be informed Of the Dangers
NJ. that threaten the community in
ut, this respect, and that their help
j. may be enlisted as a potent fac
les tor in eliminating hazards
nd 81 recommend further that APP
all propriate action for the observ-
ert ance of this day be taken by all
Ia societies, business bodies. and all
ms, other organizations, so that there
Tor, may be a general concerted effort
lei, on the part of our entire eommun-
src