THE EQUITABLE BUILDING DESTROYED BY FIRE JANUARY 9— ]9J2 k4£M CAASSti TH v\\z4 THE BEGINNING OF THE FIRE AVERY THE GREAT EQUITABLE FIRE N Tuesday, the gth of January, 1912, the interior of the Home Office Building- of the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States was de- stroyed by fire. The day was intensely cold, and a furious gale was blowing - ; but the massive walls of the building-, and the heroic efforts of the firemen — gathered from all parts of New York and Brooklyn — saved the whole lower half of the City from a devastating: conflagration. The following" newspaper extracts tell the story of the fire: THE EQUITABLE 'S HEAD TELLS OF THE FIRE From the AVa' York Times of January 12th " I was called out of bed about morning," said President Day, " by a message from one of the watchmen. The first thing; I did was to telephone to the Deteetive Bureau asking- that suitable protection be furnished for the millions of dollars' worth of securities in the structure. Then I hurried downtown. I took up a position in the entrance of the United States Realty Building, im- mediately opposite the Equitable Building, and there I found Police Commissioner Waldo. We stood there tog-ether watching- the fire and the work of the firemen, getting reports from time to time as to what was going on that we could not see. "Word was soon brought to us that President Giblin, of the Mercan- tile Safe Deposit Company, had been trapped We were told that lie had entered the safe deposit premises from the arcade inside the building and that his return by this route had been cut 6:30 o'clock Tuesday SURROUNDING SKYSCRAPERS 3 MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING off by falling- debris and fire, and that the only way to get him out was by cutting the bars that gnarded egress to the street. We could see the men at work sawing the bars. " When they finally got Mr. Giblin out I said to him, ' Keep up your courage, old man,' and he moved his lips in response, but I suppose he did not know me, as I was wrapped up in a big coat, cap and ear tabs. "In the meantime I had been joined by the Comptroller of the Society, and I said, 'The Building - is doomed and we must get new quarters.' I told him to find out what could be done, and to meet me at our Hazen Building with the others. When we got to- g-ether there, we had three or four offers, and decided on three floors in the City Investing Building. Meanwhile we had been hunting up Directors and members of the Executive I Committee, as we wanted their advice. We held a meeting at 10, and by 10.30 these quarters were formally engaged. "The Cashier for the Metropolitan Dis- trict had started the routine business of the day in the Hazen Building at 9 o'clock, disposing of the morn- ing mail, and by 12 he was established in our new offices. During the day he told me that he had taken in $25,000. I was established in my office by 1 o'clock, and we went ahead with our business, with the flames still raging almost across the street. " The day of the fire the medical staff, working at the Hazen Building, passed on more than 260 cases. Twenty-two death claims were filed, of which the papers in three were defective. The other nineteen were paid before sundown. "I was here till after II o'clock that night, and the whole administrative staff worked till early in the morning." BUSINESS CONTINUED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION From the A r . Y. Times While firemen were pouring water into the ruins of the building, an agent wrote one of the largest policies the company has recorded since the first of the year. It was for $150,000, and was taken out by a downtown business man. The office took charge of the trans- action, and the first premium was paid at 1.30 p.m. While the officers and employees of the Company were taking care of the situation at the Home Office, AN ICE-COATED ENGINE 5 ONE OF THE HOOK AND LADDER TRUCKS AFTER THE FIRE the agents all over the country were aiding in demonstrating the fact that the Equitable's progress cannot be easily arrested. In January, the month of the fire, the new insurance written was in excess of that written in the previous January. The insurance written in February also showed an increase, and the men in the field predict for the entire year a large increase over the transactions of 191 1. A FAMOUS STRUCTURE From the Human Factor The Equitable Building was a giant in its day, and in its youth its eight stories towered far above the other buildings of the city. It was so far in advance of its time in every way that for many years it at- tracted thousands of visitors and tourists who came to New WORSE THAN THE NORTH POLE York. PROTECTING THE SECURITY VAULTS Among its tenants were a number of firms and financial institutions of national importance. These tenants and their clients had securities and valuables stored in their vaults which, tog-ether with the Equitable's securities kept in its own vault, have been estimated as representing over a billion and a half dollars. In this sense the building was the greatest business treasure-house in the world. NOT AX UNMIXED EVIL From Leslie's Weekly The recent destruction of the Equitable Building by fire looked on paper like a loss of many millions. As a matter of fact, the fire performed a service for the Company. Strange as it may seem, the lot is now worth more without the building. The remarkable increase in recent years in real estate values in what is known as the financial district, made this building no longer an asset. Rentals did not equal the interest on the value of the lot. In fact, the State Insurance Depart- ment at Albany insisted that the building should not be carried on the list of assets 7 STREKT CORNER of the Company. The destruction of the building will enable the Company to sell the lot at an increased valuation or to build a new one that will give suitable financial return on the valuation of the lot. BRAVED FIRE FOR RECORDS From the New York Times Tom Long-field is of English stock, and never had a chance to show the fighting end of his nature until he left the Chambers Street Ferry and saw a great cloud of smoke over Xew York on Tuesday morning. Some one told him that the Equitable Building was on fire. Longfield began to lope with that long, swinging stride of the far going and fast going commuter. He reached the fire lines and a policeman shoved him back. He jan face of the policeman and declared that they r He was shoved back again, but he was used being a commuter. He kept at it and finalh gled his keys in the epresented millions, to bucking the line, - got through. The office of the loan department over which Longfield presided was on the second floor on the Pine Street side. He found a battalion chief and explained in a few words the fact that he was the custodian of papers containing I the signatures of policy-holders. 4 " It's all up there," said Longfield. I "Can you lend me a short ladder?' WHEvft The Chief knew that the man talking jJ * to mm was telling the truth. Few men W ^'^Qifc t.1 woU ld have asked to be allowed to enter a caldron of fire. He ordered the ladder stretched and assigned three firemen with a line of hose to help the loan custodian. The flames were already in his suite of l.ifl A'^H offices, but the nozzle was opened, and ' v under Longlield's direction the water w as 11 played so that about his desk and his safe there soon formed a wall of ice. Longfield, with his arctic protection, got the essential records from his office. lo mm LOOKING INTO THE RUINS FROM ABOVE HEROIC WORK OF FIREMEN AND OTHERS From the Hitman Factor The loss of six lives was keenly deplored by every one connected with the Society. Three of the dead were employees of tenants, w ho were killed in escaping from the building". The other three lost their lives by taking chances under the excite- ment and stress of the situation. These men died in the conscientious discharge of their duty as they saw it. In recognition of their fidelity and heroism, the Executive Committee of the Society authorized a fund for the relief of their families, and of the injured. Among the appropriations made was one to pay off the mortgage on the home of Fireman Walsh. Extract from a letter from /'resident Pay to tin- Mayor of New York: " We are especially moved by the heroic death of Battalion Chief W illiam J. Walsh, who gave his life in an effort to save others. * I wish also to testi- fy to the extraordinary 11 courage and devotion to duty of the members of the Fire and Police Departments who so unflinchingly faced their difficult task while suffering: from the bitter cold which prevailed yesterday. It was a most gratifying - and inspiring demonstration of the efficiency of the officers and men of the Fire and Police Depart- ments, and one of which the citizens of this city may well be proud." Extract from Mayor Gaynor^s reply : " The people of this city have reason to be proud of the members of the Fire and Police Departments. Their heroism and intelligence is of the highest order. We can rely on them in all emergencies, and also from day to day. They are as true as steel to the people of this city SECRETARY'S OFFICE The death of Battalion Chief William J. Walsh is lament- able, but its heroism adds a new glory to the Fire Department." LESSONS FROM THE FIRE From the Outlook, Jan. 27 " The fire was one of the most sensational in the history of New York. Yet out of this appalling disaster a new feeling of security as regards insurance has arisen. The vaults have safely pro- tected from damage the millions of dollars' worth of securities and other docu- ments intrusted to them, and the Equitable Company it- self emerges practically un- harmed, its assets unimpaired, and its policy-holders' inter- ests thoroughly safeguarded. This is a reassuring exam- ple of what real protection is vouchsafed to members of American life insurance companies of good stand- ing. The Company has — leaving out, of course, the 12 unfortunate loss of life — suffered, not a disaster, but merely an inconvenience. Very little real money is kept in a life insurance home office. Its financial assets are represented by papers of almost no intrinsic value. Its real estate deeds and mortgages are all merely copies of other papers kept by State and Government authorities where they are recorded ; even its stocks and bonds are merely documents which, if destroyed, could be duplicated. So far as the records of its policies and obligations to its policy- holders are concerned, nearly everything of this sort kept in the home office is duplicated. It is gratifying that policy-holders generally were so little perturbed by what seemed at first to be — but what was not — a serious menace to their interests." SECURITIES WORTH $im,om,