The Wilmington morning star., 1946-12-17
Letter Box
FIRE!
FIRE,
IRE

to l do not know. Il could ing
been Cincinnati. II vas nave
Northern station I am s,,rs
know that it was announces 40
at a meeting Of the Fo,ai -.a'
ayers and Owners ASSOCIATE, TsA,
adoptsd a resolution 10 90 m 80
ord as "Forbidding smoking !, =.
tel rooms. no.
l have .oomed in a great man,
hotels and have lived in oui,a
few; just how a rule Of this T.+a
will work is beyond comDrebaTs
In the Navy, when the 13a.5..
flag is aloft, it is a court m.-.;si
offense to smoke-do thev? a.
yes! Some do and get away W..
it. WIN
n a great many indus.-i.,
plants. smoking is absolutely Nv.
oldden for the personnel. vet Wei.
tors and executives are allowed ~,
privilege. Too, many Department.
where smoking is not allowed .5s
sparks from electric welders a1S
acetalene torches are flying evsrv
place sometimes burning ~
clothes off of the operators ~
those employed near bv. w
smoking is Taboo.
Some few months ago a va-r
cold day, men working out SD
built a fire in the open Of such in.
~flsmmaole material close al hand
A grease wiper who had been
wiping off some machinery and
equipment with kerosene, his
clothes nearly saturated. passed BY
one of these open fires. His clothes
ignited and had it not been, for The
quick thinking of a fellow employer
he would have been cremated. In
short order instructions was posted
forbidding open fires.
To me, this substantiates nv the.
DRY, that, Our great leaders. our
great minds, in eagerness TO ao.
solve themselves of due ~responsibi.
lily. devise forms, instructions and
means which will place their re.
sponsibility on the shoulders Of d.
rect supervision and the supervis.
ors."
In my last days of grammar
school, l was paired up with a
brilliant girl in a debate. II was
resolved that, fire is more destruc.
tive than water"
We of course looked up every fire
of importance in history. We
framed up a very good opening,
then followed up with every re.
buttle we thought needed. Need
less to say our opponent had done
the same. After several minutes Of
debate it was plainly evident that
if we were not gaining ground, We
were certainly Just holding
our own. 1t was then thai
our worthy opponent made refer,
ence to the great flood CbiblicaD
and to the fact that only a handful
were saved.
It was then that my most
eloquent associate, (then Miss.
Marguerite Elliott arose to the &C.
casion. She quoted Scripture after
Scripture on the predicted destruc.
ton OF the earth by fire; when the
flames from the earth would eave'
lope the moon and finally kiss
those from the sun, many uncount'
able miles away and there would
not be a living thing left for pos
terity. WE won the debate.
In view of the recent loss Of life
and property due to the DESTRUCTIVE
force of fire, it is timely that we
give much thought and planning
that future occurrence be held 10
a minimum.
l am Of the same opinion Of
that of our fire chief, Mr.. Loodle
Groom. Il believe that the milan
mable paint had more to 10 WIN
the rapid spread of the Wiaecon
fire than any other one factor
A cigarette may start a lfs
under very favorable conditions,
It is unlikely that a mattress VIII
do more than burn slowly enough
to be extinguished in time to pre-
vent a major catastrophe.
From what l heard over me
radio concerning the resolution
made by the Hotel Managers anu
Owners Association, it is appaf,
ent that these gentlemen are no'
or do not care to acknowledge
that they are not, let's say aep
to scientific progress that mas Oeea
made in fire prevention, Ihfousn
the use of plastics we may M"
have fireproof pillow cases'
sheets, mattress covers curtains,
drapes, floor and wall surfaces
and other equipment.
For the man about town III
the housewife, the bachelor aoal'
ment, for the rooming house, euu
cation through the press will sooa
attract advertising by the man.
features of various fire eXtlnguST