New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-04
BY J. w. Alker,
v;es President Pennsylvania Ce-

TICS PfeStGeHB fSUHSyttUHt0 W.
meut Compony
IA fire resistive building material,
...srste has long occupied presnai-
nj place. Every time concrete struc-
,srs is called upon to give an account
4 itself under FIRE exposure the story
i about the same, the concrete build
me suffered little or no damage"
Unfortunately, accounts of fires deal
,,rcely with the enormous losses suf-
Trad and seldom discuss at length the
ssvinss that resulted from fresafe
Saildings in the fires path. Perhaps
his is because knowledge OF the fire re-
s;st;ye properties Of concrete and what
-ssv he expected of it under severe
synasure to fire are so common that it
i thought superfluous to call attention
reneatedly to the fact that concrete did
nos burn. However, in spite of our
present advanced knowledge of build
mo construction, too little practical
annlication is made of this knowledge.
Evidence of this is nowhere more forci-
NV presented than in figures periodi-
cai,y published by the National Fire
protection Association showing that
arr annual loss from fire exceeds $780,
100000.
since concrete buildings will not
hrn. more attention directed to this
TYNE Of construction evidently would
result in an immediate, appreciate and
progressive reduction in the cost of our
national annual bonfire.
Only recently were tests completed
at the Underwriters Laboratories, Chi
csgo, proving conclusively that prop
sriy designed reinforced concrete
building columns possess the most de-
pendable measure OF fire resistance.
Lessons Forgotten.
II has long been recognized that
concrete is the most effective fireproof-
in9 material for structural steel 1t
not only gives the highest degree of
FIRE resistance of any coverings that.
have been tested, but is available
everywhere. 1t is not, as in the case
Of other materials, limited to some
particular place of manufacture. 1t is
product manufactured, so to speak,
on the exact place of its use. and In
cost is in most cases appreciably less
than that of any other material giving
the same degree of projections Even
il, due to extreme and unusual fire ex-
posture, it suffers some injury, repair
is easiest.
We are so forgetful of the many
striking examples brought to our at
tention to drive home a truth that
most people have perhaps retained lit
lie recollection of the lesson taught by
the FIRE that swept through the Edison
plant at West Orange, N. j., December,
1914. All buildings at the Edison
plant except those of concrete were
total loss. The statement made by an
efiGal Of the company soon after the
Are had subsidized and an examination
could be made was to the effect that
the salvage of machinery in the con-
crete building was 90 per cent, of the
Buildings 81 per cent, and the cost for
the restoration of the buildings would
not be more than 10 to Is per cent o.
That for new buildings. This was
later proved correct when cost figures
for restoration were published.
Several long. narrow buildings of re-
inforced concrete in the Edison group
we're filled with materials of a most
infammable nature. Adjoining build
ings had brick walls, with light iron
roofing on steel trusses and heavy
wooden floors carried on steel beams.
These buildings were completely de-
stroyed
The concrete buildings We're designed
at time when less was known about
such structures than is possessed by
architects and engineers of this day.
Fer example, the concrete buildings
had ordinary wood window frames,