Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-10-11
A National Fire Alarm
By Frederic y. IIanlaln

Buffalo, NJ. ", Oct. 9.--'rhat the
United States is literally on FIRE, and
that something must be done about Il.
Is the message which Government
authorities OF every degree. from tho
President down. are trying 10 Impress
upon the country by lnstituting nre
prevention day.
The United States loses several
times as much OF It's wealth by fire aa
any other civilized country. and a large
part OF his loss IN due TO careless
ness and is therefore preventable.
Complete figures for European
nations arc not available for the years
since the beginning Of the World
ar, but in the year preceding its
outbreak. the comparison OF figures
puts the United States In bad light.
The average fire loss for each man.
woman and child in France was 40
cents, in England. IS cents, in Ger
many. 28 cents; in Austria Hungary.
25 cents; In Switzerland. rs cents, and I
Ia Holland only II cents. In the same
year the average fire loss for each 4
American OF every age was s2.10.
| Another comparison based on 1918 /
figures shows well how earelessness
of all sorts in regard TO fire cost Chi |
eago s5,513.2s7. while in Vienna. then |
a city Of about the same size, the FIRE |
loss for the year WAS only f303, 200. |
| In the same year New York's firo
losses amounted 10 four and haif
times the fire loss Of London, Fifty
years ago the terrible Chicago Gre
occurred. but the awful lesson Of that
catastrophe seem~ almost forgotten.
Organizations interested in reducing
this useless loss have compiled figures
showing that the American fire tax,
| II It could have been avoided, would
have served to build 2S3,275 new
homes. or would have built enough
miles OF macadam road 70 girdie the
globe at the equator more than five
and half times. The loss for the
past five years would have built the
Panama Canal four times over.
For the five year period, careless
use Of electricity is said by Insurance
men to b the chief cause Of American
fires All Of this is preventable, Of
course. and does not argue for a re-
lduced use OF electrical appliances.
IC ssness with matches and with
pipes, cigars. and cigarettes stands a
close second 20 electricity. Defective
ehimneys and fiues hold third place
Following these, in the order named,
the main cause Of American fires were
stoves. furnaces, and boilers; spon-
taneous combustion, lightning. sparks
on roofs, petroleum and it's products
IFirecrackers and fireworks. formerly
a cause Of very many fires and
Thousands Of injuries and deaths. dur
ing the past FIVE years have been held
responsible for fire damage amounting
to only 81 .49o,s54, which IL not a high
figure compared with the total fire
loss.
The state Of New York led all other
states in the amount Of loss sus-
tanned through connagrations. Penn
syivania came second, Illinois third
New Jersey fourth, and Massachusetts
hfth. Wen up among the leaders were
the states OF Ohio, Texas, California
Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri. ann
Georgia
/ fires occur in the United States az
the rate OF 1900 every day--an evera9e
or more than one every minute. dav
and night This tremendous unnecez-
sary loss Of national wealth ia eo
serious that the President Of the
United States and several state gov
ernors nave issued proclarnat,ons
Il ing attention to the necessity Of
care. Ordinary care ia far moro
efiicacious means OF battling thu ere
ocmon than all the fire companies in
me world, once blaze has gained
Eeadway.
FOR some curious reason the Arneri-
can people generally require some
awrul object lesson before sufficient
interest can he aroused to correct -ptb-
hc evils. The Iroquois Theater ara
mad TO occur before the people Of this
country demanded and secured proner
theatre exits. The great doors OF tba
1roquois, opening inward. were lam
Imed shut by the panic stricken crowd
trapping hundreds Of patrons OF the
theatre in the flames.
Remember ChicagO's Fire.
But even great fire catastrophes
seem to be forgotten all too soon N
the United States. Building reeuIa-
tons are loose or disregarded in NAM,
cities. Carelessness seems to hol5
sway as strong as ever. despite scores
of terrible examples OF what it costs.
Flre prevention Day this year WIS
set for October 9. the fftieth ami
Versary Of the Chicago fire.
Even in his own home. representire
the savings Of years, perhaps. tn
American citizen continually runs the
risk Of fire without giving It a second
thought. Rubbish, will be piled bivb
in attic or cellar, or perhaps in an un-
used closet. A mouse gnawinr q
match left in the pocket of an old
coat often will mean the destruction
of the home
Smoking near infammable ma
terials causes many a fire. Swinging
gas brackets. or gas brackets
near curtains and hangines. take
their daily toll OF lives and prom
erty. II Is far from unheard Of
Tor otherwise sane people to seek a
gas leak with match or candle. This
usually means fire, probably the
death or serious manning Of the seeker
for the leak. Paper shades on lights
ot all sorts, even electric lights. arc
a constant menace.
Electric wiring is another hazard
which is doubly dangerous because