Imperial Valley press., 1927-01-14
INSPECTION OF
BUILDINGS And
WIRING URGED
Experts Express Surprise
That Earthquake Dam
age Was Not Greater.

"If CalcXicO had. been subjected
! 10 proper inspection, the damage
! caused by the earthquake Of Janu-
! AIRY 1st, would have been very
! snail, was one of the statements
Of Edward Mayberry. acting rs con
J sulting engineer for CaleXico during
lis reconstruction period at a meet
ing held last night by the Imperial
! Valley Fire Association, at fire
/ headquarters in RI Centre. with its
! object Il g.t-togcthcr meeting of the
| flrcmcn and other influential men
Of the valley.
Maybcrry also touched on the sub
jcct Of earthquakes in general, and
| explained that the recent distur
bance was caused by Il branch of
the San Andrcas fault. which is an
active fault, passing through the
outckirts Of FL Centre and thence
southeast near Calcxico. Mayberry
stated large portion Of the dam
age caused by the tremblor was due
entirely to lack of proper inspection
worked out whereby property in
spection could be obtained through
out the valley. When Mavbcrry
finished his talk, he answered sevc-
raj questions relative to the inten
sitv of earthquakes here.
l. VI. Mott, chief housing inspec-
tor Of the commission Of immigra-
tion and housing, spoke briefly on
the state housing act.
james NJ. Evans, electrical en-
gincer of the board of fire under
writer's Of the Pacific, Of Los Angc-
les next gave a talk.
Evans seemed TO be very much
impressed with the potential posi-.
bilitics - lmperial valley and ok.
pressed himself az believing that
this vicinity was the richest agri
cultural county in the world, as it
obtained its fertility in n way simi-
lar to the way the Valley of the
Nile gained its richness, and with
American ingenuity and brains
should 90 a long way ahead of
anv other part of the world. He
said there seems TO be one draw
back, but by cooperation and pro-
ggreasiy" business 'method!a being
used. similar TO those put in prac-
tie by Los Angeles realtors, this
valley should 20 ahead a great wav
i'll the next few years, particularly
after the Swing bin passes
congress.
inspection Desirable
Evans dwelt on the dcsirabilitv
Of having an electrical inspection
as well IA building Inspection, as
none of the cities in the valley, he
said. has an adequate electrical in
spection. He expressed the opinion
thnt il was n miracle that Calexico
did not burn to the ground during
the quakcs. and from the many c1-
trcmclv hazardous installations that
he has seen, the danger from elec-
triral fires viii fHcreasc rapidly
within the next few years. BY fol
lowing Mayberry's suggestion. Of
all valley towns getting together
and working ont n method of in.
succtiun similar to the milk inspec-
tion, the menace can be aVerted
he believes
lie stated that an expert could
be employed 10 oversee this WORK,
without greatly increasing the fin
ancial burden The cities are carrying
and with decided reduction of
the possibilities of electrical fire.
Evans idea was that this would
bc in the nature Of first step to-
ward future cooperative inspcc-
tion of plumbing and huilding. and
stressed the fact that Maybcrry
brought out, that - large pcrcHn'
tage of the loss in fal"xico was due
to faulty building inspection, and
general inspectiom would he de-
cidcd advantage To the cities Of
lr,pcrini YaHcv.