The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-10-05
EXPERIMENTATION WILL BE TAUGHT
 IN CITY SCHOOLS tHe
Chief Akin Issues Rules For Guidance Of
 Individuals

Special emphasis will be laid on the training of Birmingham school children d,,rinr Fire Prevention Week" which starts today and will last throughout the coming week. J. l.. Akin. chief 0t the Birmingham fire department, will enlist the cooperation of principals in the city schools in having special fire drills. He will also have firemen visit the various schools to talk to the chil- dren on the necessity flor fire proven tion.
 "Fire Prevention Week" is nationally observed under the auspices of the Ma iion Board of Fire Underwriters, the United States Chamber of Commerce and similar organizations.
 Chief Akin Saturday asked The Age Herald to appeal to it's readers to en- ter whole-heartedly into the observance, and do their share toward reducing the apalling loss of life and property that is accustomed every year by fire. He said that the observance of the week during the past several years is al- ready showing beneficial results.
 Property Loss Given
 In 1921, Chief Akin said, the na- tional loss by fire stood at $485, 900, 900. In 1922 this figure jumped to $5O6,- GOO. 900, an increase of $21 900, 900. In 1923, the chief declared, the loss was S5O8. 900, ,OOO. or an increase of only S2,OOO,OO over 1922. This does not take into account the loss of human lives.
 ''Of course, this total amount of de- struction is still entirely too large, said Chief Akin Saturday. But the smaller increase noted does indicate that fire prevention work is having a telling effect, and that our efforts dur ing the past few years have not been in vain.
 "The fact that there was an increase means nothing in itself. It is logical to suppose that as the country grows, the loss by fire will grow with it, particularly if nothing is done to reduce physical hazards and human negligence to a minimum. That IS what we are trying to do now--to keep the fire loss total from keeping pace with the progress of the country, and ; to get nearer home, with the progress of Birmingham"
 Rules For Individual
 Chief Akin asks that every citizen of Birmingham make the observance of Fire Prevention Week" an indi-
 
 view, he has issued the following set of rules for the guidance of the indi- vidual:
 Watch disposal of matches and lighted smoking material; they are re- sponsible for a heavier annual loss than any other known cause. Always keep matches out of the reach of small children.
 Use proper fuses in electrical cir cults; the fuse is the safety valve of the system and should not be tam pered with.
 Turn off the electric flat-iron and other heating devices while attending to something else.
 Gasoline and other volatile liquids make dangerous cleaning fluids; many safe compounds are on the market, in eluding carbon tetrachloride which is ohtainable at any drug store.
 Defective chimneys and flues caused more than $18,000,000 destruction last year; keep them ciean and in repair.
 A gas leak should be hunted with a flash1ight instead of with an open flame light; to the suspectedS part of the pipe apply coap suds which, in bubbling, will reveal the leak.
 Clean all smoke pipes before the win ter comes out; if pipes are clogged they overhear easily and may start fire when the furnace is operated.
 Walls, ceilings and partitions should be shieuleded from the overheating Oi stoves, furnaces and pipes.
 Hot ashes belong in metal contain CTS, not in wooden boxes and barrels.
 Oil lamps or stoves are safely filled only by daylight.
 sOpen fires always should be screened