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FIRE INSURANCE AND HOW TO BUILD 
 
By FRANCIS C. MOORE 
 
 FIRE INSURANCE AND HOW TO BUILD. Cloth, 800 
 pages, price $5.00 net. 
 
 HOW TO BUILD FIREPROOF, Paper, 50 cents. (Included 
 in Fire Insurance and How to Build.) 
 
 HOW TO BUILD A HOME. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM, Cloth, $2.00. (Included in Fin- 
 Insurance and How to Build.) 
 
 WATER WORKS AND PIPE DISTRIBUTION. Paper, 
 25 cents. (Included in Fire Insurance and How to Build, i 
 
FIRE INSURANCE 
 
 AND 
 HOW TO BUILD 
 
 COMBINING ALSO A GUIDE TO INSURANCE AGENTS 
 RESPECTING FIRE PREVENTION AND EXTINCTION, 
 SPECIAL FEATURES OF MANUFACTURING RISKS, 
 WRITING OF POLICIES, ADJUSTMENT OF LOSSES, 
 ETC.. ETC. 
 
 FRANCIS C. MOORE 
 
 Author of "Fire Insurance and Causes of 
 Fires," "Unearned Premium," "How- 
 to Build a Home." "How to 
 Build Fire Proof." "Water 
 Works and Pipe Dis- 
 tribution." Etc., Etc 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY 
 33-37 East Seventeenth Street 
 
 Union Square North 
 1903 
 
Copyright 1903, 
 FRANCIS C. MOORE. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Twenty-five years ago, after six continuous years of revision 
 of my manuscript, after careful study of the subject and a wide 
 canvass for expert judgment and criticism, I published a work 
 entitled "Fire Insurance and Causes of Fires." It met with a 
 success beyond my anticipations, and the favor with which it 
 was received by underwriters throughout the country has en- 
 couraged me, at this later date, when I have had a quarter of a 
 century of further opportunity for observation and study, to put 
 forth the following pages. 
 
 If this work fails to secure the approval of my readers, I can 
 still feel myself their debtor for past favors, and comfort myself 
 with the reflection that, at least, its compilation of important 
 facts and happenings may furnish foundation for others to build 
 upon, and so prove a benefit to the business of insurance — a 
 business worthy of the best efforts of its ablest men, who will 
 continue to work out the problem of adjusting its methods and 
 economies to a point where it will be no greater tax upon the 
 community than is necessary to protect that community from 
 its most insidious and destructive enemy. 
 
 Xeiv York, January, 1903. 
 
 F. C. M. 
 
THEORY OF FIRE INSURANCE, AND ITS RELATION 
 TO THE COMMUNITY. 
 
 It is, of course, unnecessary to explain to an insurance agent 
 that the "premium" is the amount paid an insurance company 
 for assuming a fire risk; that the "rate" is the charge per one 
 hundred dollars of insurance, fixed according to the construction 
 of the building, its occupation, environment and facilities, public 
 and private, for extinguishing fires; that the "policy" is the con- 
 tract written and issued by the insurance company, through its 
 agent, to the property-owner; that the "policy register" is the 
 book in which the agent keeps the record of his policies, making 
 a full copy of the written portion of each ; that the "daily report" 
 is the blank on which he reports taking the risks to the company, 
 giving a full copy of the written portion of the policy and a 
 diagram of the building and the surrounding buildings or "ex- 
 posures" and other facts called for on the blank, and that this 
 must be mailed on the day the insurance is made binding, so that 
 the company may be advised promptly, in order that it may 
 write or telegraph if it has information at its home office preju- 
 dicial to the acceptance of it; and that the "monthly report" is 
 the report to be sent to the company on the first of the mouth, 
 giving a full report of all the policies issued during the preceding 
 month, with a check or draft to balance. 
 
 It is not generally understood that a policy of insurance is not 
 an agreement to pay a stipulated sum in the shape of liquidated 
 damages in case the subject of insurance is destroyed by fire, but 
 is simply an undertaking on the part of the insurance company, 
 as the printed part of the policy states, to indemnify the owner 
 to the extent of his loss in actual value damaged or destroyed ; 
 the amount of insurance named in the policy and paid for at the 
 rate of premium being a limit of claim, and not a measure of it. 
 There is, therefore, no "abandonment" m fire insurance, by 
 
6 
 
 DEFINITION OF INSURANCE TERMS. 
 
 which is meant the right of a property-owner to turn over what 
 is left in the way of salvage to the company and demand a full 
 payment of the policy. This is a feature of marine insurance, 
 but not of fire insurance. The owner is obliged, according to 
 the terms of his policy, to take care of all damaged property and 
 to preserve it from further injury. 
 
 The "rate" of premium or price charged by the company is 
 not based upon the expectation of burning of a particular risk 
 insured, but upon the number of risks of like kind which would 
 be burned or damaged out of say a thousand in any single year. 
 At a rate of one per cent, for example, a thousand risks, each 
 insured for a thousand dollars, would yield ten thousand dollars 
 in premium ; if ten risks out of the thousand should bum in a 
 year, the entire amount of premium would be required to pay 
 the loss. It is evident that a smaller number than ten must 
 burn or a higher rate than one per cent must be obtained to pro- 
 vide for expenses, in addition to losses. The rate of premium, 
 therefore, for any class of risks — dwellings, churches, schools, 
 &c, — should be the "fire cost" of the class, i. e., the amount of 
 loss for a year on each one hundred dollars of amount at risk ; to 
 which should be added a sufficient sum to pay the expenses of 
 conducting the business — commission of agents, salaries of officers 
 and other employees, cost of blanks, inspections, taxes, &c, &c. 
 — and a further sum to represent a fair return on the capital of 
 the stockholders paid in by them and placed at the risk of the 
 business. There should be at least five per cent profit for the 
 stockholders on the amount of premiums received, and a further 
 five per cent laid aside for meeting exceptional conflagrations, 
 like those of Chicago and Boston. There was not a single large 
 company doing business in the city of Chicago in 1871 which did 
 not lose all of its net surplus, while most of them lost in addition 
 a portion of their capital. As some of them had been doing bus- 
 iness for twenty years or more, this shows that five per cent is 
 not too large a sum to set aside for such exceptional fires. 
 
 Luck in Fire Insurance. There is absolutely no such thing as 
 luck as to fire losses, or as to the percentage of loss to amount 
 insured in the case of a large fire insurance company intelligently 
 managed, and conducting its operations over a field wide enough 
 for the laws of average. The probabilities of the burning or 
 
NO LI CK IN FIRE INSURANCE. 
 
 7 
 
 escape of a single building are, of course, uncertain and would 
 afford to a gambler tbe basis for a wager, but tbe probabilities 
 of the burning of one or more buildings out of ten thousand of 
 the same construction, occupancy, fire-extinguishing appliances, 
 management, moral hazard and environment may be matters of 
 ascertained certainty. There would, in fact, be less element of 
 chance or luck in the matter by far than in the rise or fall of 
 values of the necessaries of life in the markets of the world. 
 Indeed, I doubt if those in any business could count with such 
 certainty as to its ups and downs of trade as can underwriters 
 with regard to the fluctuations of loss for each hundred dollars 
 of amount at risk. 
 
 With a small company, doing business in a restricted territory, 
 or a large company taking an unduly large line upon a single 
 risk, the element of luck becomes a factor. An excessive line 
 on a single risk is like a mountain peak rising above the level of 
 an extended plain, conspicuous for its prominence. Any com- 
 pany taking large lines must be careful to see that it has enough 
 of them to make a second or third average on a higher level. If 
 its average of lines on a given class of hazards is $10,000 in 
 amount and it has a $100,000 line on a single risk of the same 
 class, it is conducting its business on a gambling basis, instead 
 of on an underwriting basis. 
 
 It is due, probably, to a mistaken view of this important fact, 
 rather than to any other consideration, that the rates on risks of 
 some classes have been inadequate, through a competition which 
 has been more greedy than discreet. 
 
 The writer once heard an underwriter remark, in commenting 
 on the sufficiency of a rate on a special hazard, that it would 
 burn just as easily at 5$ as at %%, and this he regarded as an in- 
 telligent view of the case. He failed to see, that while this was 
 a fact, one loss on a thousand risks at 2fo would be a very differ- 
 ent affair, when he came to balance his accounts, from one loss 
 on a thousand risks at 5$. 
 
 It may safely be said that the underwriting of to-day is grow- 
 ing, year by year, to closer lines, requiring more careful inspec- 
 tion and a better knowledge of fire cost, and that the days when 
 an underwriter needed only a shovel to take in premiums, the 
 average of which would be high enough to cover all mistakes 
 
8 
 
 CO-OI'KKATIOX OK INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 and to make up for inadequate rates on exceptional classes, have 
 gone by forever. There is absolutely no luck, good or bad, in 
 fire insurance, and the underwriter who contends for and acts 
 on an opposite the< >ry would do well to sell his stock and get into 
 some other busine». 
 
 To ascertain the average percentage of loss on the various 
 classes of risks, a comparison of experience of a sufficient number 
 of companies doing a general and large business throughout the 
 country is necessary in the case of most hazards, for the obvious 
 reason that one company would not have enough of any one class 
 of risks on its books, outside of such large classes as dwelling 
 houses, farm buildings, churches, &c, especially in single States, 
 to indicate the expectation of what might be termed the "fire 
 mortality," or the loss on the class. This consideration alone is 
 sufficient to indicate the mistake of confining the business of an 
 insurance company to a single city or limited territory, as it 
 would deprive the company of a sufficient average; and any 
 legislation, therefore, which prohibits a conference of companies 
 for comparing their experience, in order to ascertain adequate 
 and equitable rates, is subversive of the principles of insurance. 
 
 It might happen, and often does, that a single company in a 
 single state, or a single company throughout the United States, 
 would show a loss on a certain class of hazards at the same time 
 that the experience of all companies put together would show a 
 fair profit at the rate obtained. 
 
 The writer found that in the case of whiskey in brick ware- 
 houses, the company with which he is connected, and which too 
 had an exceptionally broad general experience, incurred losses on 
 this particular class, during a five year period, in the two states 
 of Kentucky and Tennessee, in excess of the premiums taken. 
 Such an experience would seem to indicate that the rate obtained, 
 of 90 cents per $100, was too low, whereas the experience of all 
 the companies doing business in the two states named proved 
 that it was sufficiently high, and the rate was not raised. This 
 same company, on the other hand, during the same period, in 
 another section of the country, the Middle States, lost nothing 
 on the same class of risks ; an experience which, taken alone, 
 would seem to indicate that the rate obtained was for that local- 
 ity too high, which was not a fact, however, for the experience 
 
WHY CANNOT AN INDIVIDUAL INSURE HIMSELF. 9 
 
 of all the companies doing business in the territory showed the 
 rate had been properly fixed and that the experience of this single 
 company was simply exceptionally unprofitable in the one terri- 
 tory and exceptionally profitable in the other. 
 
 No better argument than this could be offered to the legislators 
 of a State to show that laws preventing the conference of com- 
 panies to secure a broad basis for fixing rates are unjust, not 
 alone to the underwriters, but to the property-owners themselves. 
 
 Why cannot an individual insure himself or carry his own risk? 
 The agent is frequently confronted with a proposition on the 
 part of a property-owner, dissatisfied with his rate, that he will 
 carry his own risk. He urges that he has been paying for in- 
 surance for a long series of years and has never had a loss. The 
 contention overlooks the fact that, at a rate of one per cent, it 
 would take nearly forty-one years, compounding the interest at 
 4$, for a sum of money paid at the beginning of each year to 
 equal the principal or sum insured and, therefore, enough to pay 
 a total loss, and this without any allowance whatever for the 
 expense of conducting the business. Anyone can verify this 
 computation for himself. One dollar collected and invested at 
 the beginning of each year, the interest being compounded at 4 
 per cent., would amount to $98.82 at the end of forty years. 
 Four per cent., it is unnecessary to add, is a larger return of 
 interest than insurance companies receive under existing and 
 proper legislative limitation as to investments in safe securities. 
 
 The most reckless gambler would not give such odds as one 
 hundred to one against the happening of a single fire within a 
 period of forty years, knowing the hundreds of ways in which a 
 fire could occur ; and the property-owner who carries his own risk 
 is, therefore, taking a chance of losing his all upon odds which 
 a professional gambler would ridicule. In fact, the only in- 
 dividual who can afford to go without insurance and take the 
 risk of the burning of his own property is one — if there be one — 
 who has hundreds of different pieces of property, all of the same 
 average value and so separated that no two could be destroyed 
 by the happening of a single fire. If he is not so situated, fire 
 insurance is necessary for his protection. His commercial credit 
 will be found to depend upon it ; no one can afford to sell him 
 goods on time or lend him money if he is not insured, for his 
 
10 WHY CANNOT A STATE INSURE ITS CITIZENS. 
 
 ability to pay would be destroyed by a fire and his creditors 
 would find that they had practically been insuring him them- 
 selves, without the compensation that a prudent insurance com- 
 pany, engaged in the business of taking risks, would have 
 charged. The cost of insuring a frame building in a frame 
 neighborhood in localities beyond the protection of fire depart- 
 ments might be 5 per cent, or more ; and this being so, the mer- 
 chant who sells goods to a customer who does not insure would 
 practically be insuring him for nothing but at a cost equal to, or 
 more than, the profit on his sales. 
 
 It is this ignorance of the danger of fire, due to the limited 
 experience of a single risk, that leads to mistaken views of In- 
 surance, which requires for its successful conduct as a business 
 sufficient knowledge of all others to estimate properly the fire 
 hazards of their methods. The owner of a saw mill may never 
 have suffered from fire ; he would necessarily be ignorant, there- 
 fore, as to the causes of fires which have occurred in other mills 
 than his own ; but the underwriter, who has had to pay for losses 
 on thousands of properties, is not and cannot afford to be igno- 
 rant. It is best for the individual to entrust this branch of his 
 worldly affairs to those who understand it, for the same reason 
 that he entrusts the erection of his building to the architect, car- 
 penter and mason. 
 
 CANNOT THE STATE SAFELY CONDUCT THE BUS- 
 INESS OF INSURANCE FOR ITS CITIZENS? 
 
 Theoretically, yes ; but practically nothing would be gained, 
 the chances being largely in favor of a higher cost to citizens 
 and poorer management than would result from the conduct of 
 the business by men engaged in it for a livelihood. The State 
 would need the same clerical and expert labor as would an in- 
 surance company. It would require inspectors, adjusters, book- 
 keepers, and men qualified for the various branches of the 
 business to the same extent that insurance companies would, 
 but with this difference, that these men would too often be 
 appointed for political reasons, rather than because of personal 
 qualifications for the duties to be discharged. Is there more 
 reason why the State should conduct the business of insurance 
 than why it should conduct any other business — that of groceries, 
 
PROFITS OF THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 11 
 
 dry goods or manufacturing ? It is safe to say that in the dis- 
 tribution of labor in a community the community will regulate 
 itself. No single calling can secure an undue amount of 
 profit without attracting to it enough competitors from 
 other callings to keep prices at a proper level. 
 
 What would have been the burden of the citizens at large of 
 the two states of Illinois and Massachusetts if they had been 
 called upon to pay the losses of their two cities of Chicago and 
 Boston in the years 1871 and 1872? Fortunately for them the 
 citizens of the entire country, almost of the entire world, con- 
 tributed, through the fire insurance companies, to pay the mill- 
 ions that were required for the purpose. 
 
 PROFITS OF THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 The rates obtained by insurance companies are sufficient simply 
 to insure the payment of losses and a moderate profit on the 
 capital. N~o combination, in any business can possibly be 
 injurious to the public if it furnishes to that public the 
 article produced at the lowest price consistent with fair 
 return upon the capital invested and proper remuneration 
 for the labor employed. The statistics of all the companies 
 engaged in the business, through a long series of years, show 
 that the profits of the business of insurance have been less 
 than three per cent, of the premiums collected and that 
 dividends paid to stockholders in excess of that per cent, 
 have been received from interest returns on capital and 
 invested surplus — an increment which would have come to the 
 owners of such assets, it should be remembered, without placing 
 them at the risk of fire. 
 
 The laws of the various States require detailed statements of 
 insurance companies, showing every item of their income and 
 every item of expense ; the amount of their premiums received 
 and of losses paid. There is, in fact, no other business whose 
 methods, income, expenses, losses and profits are thus exploited 
 for the information of the public. There are no trade secrets in 
 fire insurance. If the business is conducted at unnecessary ex- 
 pense or with undue profit, the result will be known and invite 
 new companies to enter into competition, and it is impossible for 
 any single company, or any number of insurance companies, to 
 
12 
 
 PI BLISHED STATEMENTS OF COMPANIES. 
 
 maintain any form of monopoly. 
 
 It is doubtful if any mercantile or manufacturing business 
 could live if obliged thus to publish at the end of each year, for 
 the information of competitors and customers, the fullest details 
 of its transactions. Indeed, if the laws now in force for the 
 regulation of the business of fire insurance— the compulsory 
 publication of accounts, etc., — were applied to other branches of 
 business, manufacturing and mercantile, the present war against 
 so-called "trusts" and combinations in those branches would be 
 unnecessary. 
 
 What, then, has been the protection of the business of fire in- 
 surance that it has been able to survive this public exhibit of all 
 the details of its methods and its exact profits? It has been the 
 fact that the profit of the business lias been so low as not to en- 
 courage the organization of companies. Does not the simple 
 fact that the public shows its unwillingness to invest in insurance 
 stocks on other than a "six per cent, basis," indicate what the 
 published figures of the business clearly prove, that there is no 
 abnormal profit in it and that investors recognize the element of 
 risk and have an apprehension of the facts, or surely the stocks 
 would find purchasers on a lower basis than 6 per cent.? The 
 stocks of well-managed railroads are to-day selling on a 4 per 
 cent, basis. 
 
 In connection with this should be taken into consideration tha t 
 new companies can be easily organized. They have to acquire 
 no "right of way," no franchise or valuable building plant ; there 
 are no patent rights or copyrights involved ; the necessary capital 
 — and the law does not require a large one, — with a little office 
 furniture and stationery, is all that is needed to launch a new fire 
 insurance company. Much more is required to conduct it at a 
 profit. Surely the written and unwritten law of trade and the 
 rules of competition can be relied upon to regulate the profits of 
 such a business without legislative interference. 
 
 ADEQUATE RATES ARE IN THE INTEREST OF THE 
 
 PUBLIC. 
 
 As already stated, the ascertainment of the average percent- 
 age of loss, to be correct, involves comparison by insurance com- 
 panies of their experience, in the interest of the property-owner, 
 
ADEQUATE RATES IN INTEREST OF PUBLIC. 
 
 13 
 
 as well as in the interest of the insurance companies; for an in- 
 accurate estimate would be as likely to be too high as too low. 
 If it is too high, the property-owner will be called upon to pay 
 an excessive rate of premium ; if it is too low, the company will 
 lose money; and as capital is simply an incident of security, 
 grossly inadequate if the premium should prove insufficient for 
 the risk run, the property-owner would not secure the indemnity 
 he is paying for. The total capital of all the fire insurance com- 
 panies, domestic and foreign, reporting to the New York In- 
 surance Department at the close of 1900, was less than eighty- 
 nine millions (888,833,586), while the amount of premiums held 
 by them for their insurance in force was one hundred and four- 
 teen millions of dollars (81 14,129,232), whereas the losses paid 
 for the single year named were eighty-nine millions ($89, 
 566,340), a sum, it will be observed, exceeding the total 
 capital of all the companies engaged in the business. 
 
 This simple but significant fact shows how important it is for 
 the community at large that the average rate of premium of the 
 companies should be high enough to pay the losses and expenses, 
 and that it would not be safe to rely upon the capital as a 
 security. State laws recognize this fact and require that when- 
 ever the reserves of a company are not equal to its liabilities so 
 that its capital becomes impaired, the company must immedi- 
 ately make good its capital or retire from business. 
 
 PUBLIC PREJUDICE AGAINST CORPORATIONS. 
 
 Animosity towards corporations grows largely out of mis- 
 apprehension in regard to them. The individual citizen does 
 not and should not lose his rights by becoming a member of a 
 corporation any more than by becoming a member of a partner- 
 ship firm. It is in the power of any citizen to become a share- 
 holder, even though his means are limited. One hundred dollars 
 will buy a share in a new insurance company. For this sum he 
 can engage in a business which he may not understand and 
 secure intelligent management and expert knowledge which he 
 does not himself possess. 
 
 Corporations enable people of small means, by joining 
 forces and uniting their savings, to secure the same advan- 
 tages for business purposes that millionaire capitalists 
 
1 1 
 
 EXPENSE OF THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 enjoy; and a corporation thus becomes a poor man's oppor- 
 tunity. Were it not for corporations millionaires would enjoy a 
 monopoly of all large enterprises and would have things their 
 own way. In fact millionaires, if they should act on strictly 
 selfish lines, might well seek to do away with corporations 
 altogether. Among the stockholders of insurance companies, 
 thousands in number, are widows and orphans, who are thus 
 enabled to keep their modest capital employed and to have an 
 active partnership in commercial undertakings. 
 
 THE EXPENSE OF THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 It is, perhaps, not unnatural tbat property-owners, having in 
 mind only the simple process of writing a policy of insurance by 
 an agent of an insurance company and the delivery of it by him 
 to the assured or property-owner, should regard the expense of 
 transacting the business as merely nominal. They overlook the 
 fact that a greater number of persons of various qualifications 
 must be employed and remunerated before the policy of in- 
 surance can be written and delivered by the agent ; and that the 
 percentage of the premium required to pay the expenses of the 
 business (about 35 per cent.) is not greater than that involved 
 in the sale of merchandise — a piece of calico, for example, which 
 includes a profit to the planter who raises the cotton; to the 
 compress that presses it ; to the commission merchant who sells 
 it ; to the common carrier that carries it to the mill ; to the mill 
 owner who manufactures it into cloth, including his operatives ; 
 to the dye and print establishment that prints it ; to the com- 
 mission merchant in the distributing centre of a great uity who 
 sells it ; to the wholesale merchant who, in turn, sells to the 
 retailer, who in turn delivers it to the consumer. All of these 
 processes involve separate remunerations and an aggregate per- 
 centage of expense fully equal to that of the insurance business, 
 Avhich requires the agent in the town, who writes and delivers 
 the policy of insurance ; the expert who inspects the building 
 from time to time during the term of the policy ; the rating ex- 
 pert who fixes the rate, recognizing every point of construction, 
 occupancy and environment ; the adjuster who must adjust the 
 losses ; the accountants and book-keepers in the offices of the 
 company ; and, lastly, the executive officers, who must employ 
 all of these men, supervise their work, and attend to the invest- 
 
ANALYSIS OF EXPENSE OF INSURANCE BUSINESS. 15 
 
 ment of the assets and reserves of the company, not forgetting 
 office rent, stationery, blank books, printing, postage, and last, 
 but not least, taxes — the latter seldom less than two and a half 
 per cent, of the premium, to be paid whether the company 
 makes money or not. So that it is doubtful if any business in- 
 volves greater necessary outlay or requires higher executive 
 ability or a broader education as to the methods and hazards of 
 all other occupations. 
 
 The expenses of the insurance business, as already stated, will 
 be found to be not far from 35 per cent. Of this sum 15 per 
 cent., would be required for the compensation of the local 
 agents in the cities and towns throughout the country, out of 
 which they have to pay their office rent, and the cost of con- 
 veyances for visiting risks to inspect them, some of which 
 would be located in the country on farms, for example. This 
 percentage on the average premiums often amounts after a hard 
 day's labor, in the average town, to little more than the wages 
 of a skilled mechanic. To secure this commission the agent 
 must inspect each building carefully, write and deliver the 
 policy, collect the premium and remit it to the company and 
 report all the facts of the risk to the principal office, maintaining 
 supervision of it throughout the life of the policy in the interest 
 of his company, to detect and report any change or increase in 
 the hazard. 
 
 In addition to this percentage paid to the agent, 43^ per cent. 
 of the premium would be required for adjusters and special 
 agents, traveling inspecting experts, and their hotel and other 
 traveling expenses, for supervising the business, going from 
 agency to agency. In this connection it may be well to state 
 that money expended for inspecting buildings, calling the at- 
 tention of ignorant or careless property-holders to faults of 
 management or negligence, to faults of construction, etc. , etc. , 
 all tending to prevent fires, and especially to prevent large or 
 sweeping conflagrations, is money actually expended in the in- 
 terest of the public — the property -owners themselves. 
 
 About thirteen per cent, would be necessary to pay the 
 official staff at the principal office, clerks, book-keepers, rent, 
 advertising, postage, expressage, printing, stationery, blank 
 books, etc., etc. 
 
 Two and a half per cent, would be required for taxes. In 
 
16 
 
 TAXATION OF INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 this connection it will probably surprise those engaged in other 
 lines of business to learn that insurance companies are taxed, 
 not upon the profit of their business, but upon their premiums, 
 which is equivalent to taxing a merchant 2% per cent, on his 
 sales. It sometimes results that in a state in which the business 
 has been unprofitable, the company actually pays a tax for the 
 privilege, of leaving more money in the state than it takes out of 
 it, and so for the privilege of making a loss. 
 
 There have been years when the insurance companies paid 
 taxes amounting to millions of dollars when their total business 
 showed a loss. 
 
 In 1889 there was a loss of 5,369,983 when a tax was paid of 2,368,360 
 
 1891 " " " 9,218,797 " " " 2,596,902 
 
 1892 6,377,489 " " " 2,727,974 
 
 1893 " " " 10,410,102 " " " 2,961,571 
 1898 " " " 1,919,650 " " " 3,900,134 
 
 $33,296,021 $14,554,941 
 
 The ratio of taxes paid to net gain (i. e., excess of premiums 
 over losses and expenses) for the remaining years of the decade, 
 viz., 1888, 1890, 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1897, were as follows: 
 
 Year. 
 
 No. of Cos. 
 
 Ratio of Taxes to 
 Net Gain. 
 
 1888 
 
 152 
 
 323.69 
 
 1890 
 
 148 
 
 88.49 
 
 1894 
 
 121 
 
 28.31 
 
 1895 
 
 121 
 
 33.11 
 
 IS'.lli 
 
 134 
 
 25.38 
 
 1897 
 
 152 
 
 36.45 
 
 Can any other business show such a burden of taxation ? 
 
 As the insurance company must collect enough from property- 
 owners to pay its losses and expenses and yield a living profit, 
 it is clear that the citizens of a state, after all, must pay the 
 tax, with the expense of collecting it added — which is a farce. 
 A tax upon the profits, on the other hand, is a tax upon the in- 
 surance company that it should pay without complaining ; while 
 a tax upon the premium, is a tax upon the assured property- 
 owner and one he ought not to pay. No insurance company 
 would complain of being taxed 2% per cent, on that portion of 
 the premiums received in a state after deducting the losses and 
 expenses paid to its citizens, and this should be the basis of 
 
CO-OPERATION OF INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 17 
 
 taxation everywhere. Certainly the amount paid for fire losses 
 should, at least, be deducted and insurance agents should work 
 to secure this much at the hands of the legislature. 
 
 Are Local Boards, Combinations of Fire Underwriters for 
 Rate Making, &o, Inimical to the Interests of 
 Property-holders. 
 
 It is hoped that the relation of insurance to the community 
 has been explained in such manner as to secure a negative to 
 this important question and that the following facts have been 
 established. 
 
 First — That Fire Insurance is a commercial and com- 
 munity necessity: 
 
 Second — Ttiaf a policy of fire insurance is a contract of 
 indent n ity; and 
 
 Third — That the reliability of the indemnity depends up- 
 on the sufficiency of the rate of premium; because 
 
 1. State laws properly require that if the capital is impaired 
 it must be made good, or the company must cease doing business. 
 If companies cannot pay their losses and expenses and secure a 
 fair profit return on the capital adventured they will neither be 
 organized nor continue in business if already organized; there- 
 fore, capital is only an incident of the business and an adequate 
 rate is indispensable. Insurance capital must and should have 
 a fair return for the risk run — a law of community. 
 
 2. Adequate and equitable rates based upon the merits and 
 demerits of each risk are necessary for the protection of the 
 policy-holder as well as for the protection of the stock-holder. 
 * >therwise the burden of insurance will be unequally distributed 
 and one man's property, if insured below a proper rate, will be 
 protected at the expense of another. 
 
 3. As inspection and supervision necessary for the ascer- 
 tainment of correct rates can be as cheaply performed for one 
 hundred companies insuring a single building or risk as for any 
 one of them, co-operation is advisable to reduce the expense 
 percentage. At the same time it would reduce the loss per- 
 centage by securing correction of faults which would cause 
 fires and by encouraging proper construction which would tend 
 
18 CO-OPERATION OF INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 to prevent their spread, and so result in cheaper insurance to 
 property-owners. In this view, co-operation of insurance com- 
 panies is directly in the interest of the community and should be 
 encouraged and not prohibited. Laws which prevent companies 
 from co-operating in this way, compelling each company to in- 
 spect each building for itself, must increase the expenses of 
 transacting the business and result in unnecessarily higher rates 
 of premium. 
 
 4. As the labor required to ascertain and fix proper and 
 equitable rates for a building and its contents can be performed 
 by the same expert in the same time for one hundred companies 
 who insure it as for any one of them, co-operation to ascertain 
 and fix rates would result in a saving of this expense also, and 
 so further cheapen the cost of insurance to the property-owner 
 and be directly in the interest of the public. 
 
 5. As rates of insurance are based upon the experience of 
 the companies through terms of years on the various classes of 
 hazard, most of which are so few in number that there would 
 not be enough of a class in a single state or on the books of a 
 single company to determine the experience cost of insuring 
 them, the statistics of experience should, in justice to the own- 
 ers of such risks, be collated from the whole country, and not 
 based upon the abnormal loss ratio of a small class in a single 
 state, which would indicate the necessity for an exorbitant rate 
 on the class in such state, when in fact it might not be neces- 
 sary. 
 
 6. The burden of insurance rates should be graded according 
 to the percentage of insurance carried to value, just as munici- 
 pal and state taxes are based upon uniform assessments of the 
 same percentage of value; and the property-owner who insures 
 a proper percentage of his value is entitled to a lower rate 
 than one who insures a small percentage, there being a 
 difference between the cost of insuring different percentages of 
 value greater even than the difference between that of whole- 
 sale and retail prices in mercantile business. Otherwise one 
 class of citizens would be securing insurance at a lower cost 
 than another and, therefore, at the expense of another. It 
 should be borne in mind that insurance is itself a tax, and the 
 cost of the tax should be apportioned fairly or equalized among 
 
CO-OPERATION OF COMPANIES NECESSARY. 
 
 L9 
 
 all contributing, not only according to faults of construction 
 and other features that add to the hazard of fire, but according 
 to the percentage of the value insured. If, as has been well 
 said, "It would be the height of absurdity for a municipality 
 to attempt to establish and collect a rate of taxation without an 
 assessment of the value of each piece of property taxed, and 
 no community would attempt such an absurdity," it would be 
 an equal absurdity to charge those property-owners who insure 
 only a small percentage of their value at the same rate as those 
 who insure a proper percentage and then base the rate charged 
 to both on the percentage of the total losses to the total premi- 
 ums, with the inevitable result of placing the burden unduly 
 upon those who have contributed most liberally to the common 
 loss and expense. Co-operation of companies, therefore, is 
 necessary to provide for this in percentage co-insurance clauses 
 in all policies. 
 
 It follows, therefore, since co-operation is necessary 
 
 To ascertain cost ; 
 
 To ascertain and secure adequate rates for indemnity ; 
 
 To prevent fires and thus cheapen the cost of insurance ; 
 
 To divide and lessen expense and so to further cheapen the 
 cost of insurance ; 
 
 To secure that the same percentage of insurance should be 
 carried by all owners or a difference in rate made — the princi- 
 ple of co-insurance or average which has always been a feature 
 of marine insurance ; 
 
 That the conference of insurance companies and their co- 
 operation must be in the interest not only of the companies 
 themselves, but of their customers, the insuring public. 
 
 Co-operation in insurance is, therefore, not a "trust," in the 
 modern and ordinary acceptation of the term, by which is 
 meant a combination of those engaged in a particular business 
 to extort improper prices from their fellow-members of the 
 community and so to obtain an undue share of community 
 benefit. There is not now and never has been, any "pooling" 
 in the business of insurance. The ease with which any number 
 of citizens can organize an insurance company will always 
 prevent a monopoly of the business, and those engaged in it can 
 
0,1 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF FIKE 1NSFKANCK. 
 
 always be relied upon, in their own interests, to regulate their 
 prices with reference to this important fact. Exorbitant rates 
 and abnormal profits always attract competition, which results 
 in inadequate rates, and those engaged in the business thor- 
 oughly understand this. Managed on true underwriting lines, 
 an insurance company is simply a great machine for distributing 
 the burden of the fire loss of the individual citizen among his 
 neighbors throughout the entire country, so that the burden of 
 helping one who is unfortunate will be lightly felt by all. It 
 is the truest and most sensible method of carrying out the 
 scriptural injunction as to the distribution of burthens, and it is 
 amenable to the laws of trade which automatically regulate the 
 profits of all commercial enterprises so that no one class of 
 citizens can long retain any undue advantage of their neighbors 
 or any improper share of the community wealth.* 
 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF FIRE INSURANCE. 
 
 The Importance of Fire Insurance and its influence upon com- 
 merce and manufactures are not generally understood or ap- 
 preciated. Even the reflecting are apt to think that, becan si- 
 Fire Insurance was almost unknown before the last century, 
 and has only grown to importance within the present one / the 
 business world could dispense with it as easily as did our an- 
 cestors. They forget that it has become a necessity of trade; 
 that without its assuring protection, undertakings of the magni- 
 tude at present readily assumed, would never be attempted ; 
 ventures are made, without hesitation, which would appall those 
 embarking in them if liable to miscarry through a single fire ; 
 large values are boldly collected to meet the requirements of 
 commerce, where an accidental conflagration might destroy 
 them in a night ; loans are made by the capitalist on insured 
 buildings for many times the value of the land on which they 
 stand, simply because the insurance policy, as collateral between 
 him and loss, makes them valuable for security ; merchants sell 
 
 *I have drawn largely in the preceding pages on a compilation made by a 
 committee, of which I was chairman, for the purpose of having in our hands, 
 when confronted with adverse legislation, carefully prepared arguments to 
 offer to members of the legislature. The pamphlet is entitled "Fire Insurance," 
 and is published by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Any agent 
 wishing copies of the pamphlet for use can secure them by writing to the 
 General Agent of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, New York. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF FIRE INSURANCE. 
 
 21 
 
 their goods on extended credits, knowing that, although the 
 misfortune of fire may overtake the purchaser, his insurance 
 indemnity will enable him to pay for them not less readily than 
 before ; vast industries giving employment to thousands of oper- 
 atives and supporting whole towns by their enterprise, testify 
 not more to the energy of their projectors than to the confidence 
 they repose in the protection which insurance extends to their 
 undertakings, and to-day, insurance is as certainly a necessity 
 of commerce and manufacture as is the railroad or telegraph, 
 or steam-power itself. All transactions of any magnitude recog- 
 nize it as an essential factor. It is closely and inseparably in- 
 terwoven with every scheme of profit and trade, a strong, 
 continuous warp-thread which lends security to the fabric and, 
 without which, it is doubtful if the temerity of capitalists 
 would meet the necessities of the poorer population for em- 
 ployment ! 
 
 In this view it becomes a serious question as to what might 
 be the result if this important factor of all business calculations 
 were suddenly to be eliminated ; if the wholesale destruction of 
 property, such as occurred at Chicago and Boston, for instance, 
 and which is liable to be repeated elsewere, should, some day, 
 check the recuperative power of companies, i. e. , the inclina- 
 tion of stockholders to advance new capitals. Can the con- 
 sequences be even approximately estimated of the sudden and 
 inevitable result of contracted enterprise and over-cautious in- 
 vestment and the calling in of mortgage loans above the mere 
 value of the land on wh ich expensive structures stand. 
 
 No one can estimate the consequences if a fire, as extensive 
 in the area covered as that of Chicago, should take place in 
 New York — the peculiar resort, for business, of insurance com- 
 panies — and what city is secure from destruction? Scarcely had 
 the underwriters of Boston ceased congratulating themselves 
 upon their substantial buildings, efficient fire department, and 
 immunity from the high winds of the western metropolis, ere 
 they sank beneath the overwhelming calamity of their own city ! 
 
 Is the subject not a serious one for the country, and worthy 
 the profound consideration ot statesman and financier, of cap- 
 italist and laboring man ? 
 
 If we compare the slow recovery of London from its great 
 
QUALIFICATIONS OF AN UNDERWRITER. 
 
 fire of 1666 with the wonderful reproduction of Chicago and 
 the substantial and rapid restoration of Boston, can we doubt 
 that the great recuperative power of both cities was due to their 
 insurance indemnity, and that, without it, they might still be 
 struggling, to attain to the prosperity which they reached within 
 three months after their destruction ! 
 
 In Chicago alone the amount paid by the underwriters to its 
 citizens was nearly sixty millions of dollars — almost, if not quite, 
 one-half of their entire loss — while in Boston a still larger pro- 
 portion of the loss was made up by the insurance companies. 
 
 Vast and important responsibilities rest upon the officers and 
 agents of insurance companies to so strengthen the companies 
 they represent, not only by avoiding unprofitable risks and in- 
 adequate rates, but by the energetic and judicious accumulation 
 of such a number of distributed risks as will enable them to 
 meet exceptional disasters and extraordinary losses. 
 
 That he may properly discriminate between safe and unsafe 
 risks, and decide as to adequate rates of premium, it must be 
 evident that the information of an underwriter should be varied 
 and extensive. He should know, if possible, something of every 
 other business whose hazard he undertakes to insure. 
 
 There is probably no calling requiring so intimate a knowledge 
 of every other as this. He who assumes the risk of a flour mill, 
 for example, should know more of its dangers than the miller 
 himself. Indeed, it is doubtful if an underwriter can be too 
 well informed on any subject, or that he would be too well 
 qualified for his profession if he could serve a fife-time at every 
 other. Drawing a greater number of contracts in a year than do 
 many lawyers in a life-time, and standing often face to face 
 with the most perplexing questions of jurisprudence, it may be 
 questioned if he should know less of law than does the attorney 
 who has made it his profession. 
 
 Seriously affected by every discovery of tne chemist, and 
 liable, at any moment, to have his chances of loss on whole 
 classes of risks alarmingly increased by new chemical combi- 
 nations which follow each other as rapidly as the changes of a 
 kaleidoscope, he should know not less of them all than does the 
 chemist himself. 
 
 In short, there is scarcely a science, art or manufacture with 
 
ORDER OF ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 23 
 
 which he should not be more or less familiar, and if the success- 
 ful conduct of any one business or calling requires a life-time of 
 study and application, how much more should the business of 
 insurance — which demands a knowledge more or less intimate 
 of every other — require life-long study and the closest and most 
 constant observation ! 
 
 In the following pages it has been my aim to place before 
 agents, as briefly as possible, such facts as have been demon- 
 strated in a business extended over the entire country for many 
 years, the statistics of which have been carefully preserved and 
 closely studied. During this time we have had ample oppor- 
 tunity to observe the successes or misfortunes of other companies 
 in the same business, and we think no intelligent agent, in the 
 conduct of our business at least, will insist upon substituting 
 for theories of cause and prevention, of profit and loss, of ad- 
 equate rates and desirable risks, which we present for his con- 
 sideration and guidance, any opinions he may himself have 
 formed, from a less extensive experience in a more contracted 
 field of observation. 
 
 ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 While it is hoped that the following work will be found to 
 contain much that will prove interesting to the experienced 
 underwriter, as well as to the unprofessional reader; the ar- 
 rangement of it, from beginning to end, has been with reference 
 to that natural order or sequence in which an inexperienced 
 agent — one who is just entering upon the duties of his new call- 
 ing — would be most likely to have occasion to refer to its pages. 
 
 In accordance with this plan, the opening chapters after treat- 
 ing of the importance op FIRE insurance and of the relation 
 of the agent to his company, explain the books, papers and other 
 agency supplies sent to him as an outfit, including his com- 
 mission of authority, defining his powers as agent; together with 
 numerous useful hints as to the importance of soliciting. 
 
 He is, then, instructed as to the inspection of risks; con- 
 sidering, under this head, first, the moral hazard, or most 
 important feature of a risk and applicant, and, afterward, the 
 physical hazard — first, as to the external physical hazard of 
 
24 
 
 ORDER OK ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 EXPOSURES, which, like the moral hazard, should be satisfactory 
 before the risk itself is entertained — then the internal physical 
 hazard of construction, occupation, and condition, as to 
 cleanliness, or negligence of tenants, pointing out the dangers 
 
 Of FIRES FROM CARELESSNESS, SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, un- 
 safe KEROSENE, GAS MACHINES, and other CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 Then follow suggestions as to fire departments and water 
 supply; instructions as to rates and LINES; instructions as to 
 the writing OF policies, with the best methods of insuring 
 the various interests in property; directions as to the manner of 
 reporting risks to the company, both by daily and monthly 
 report, with full instructions as to the MAKING OF diagrams 
 and sundry rules governing the conduct of CORRESPONDENCE; 
 instructions as to cancelation, where such action may be 
 necessary, and tables of short rates; directions as to How 
 to proceed in case of fire and how to proceed in case 
 of loss ; followed by explicit instructions as to the inspection 
 of special hazards, with a list of risks, alphabetically 
 arranged for reference, showing special features of manufact- 
 uring and other hazards; the whole concluding with a collection 
 of forms for policies, endorsements, transfers, privileges, etc. 
 
 The reader will observe that the arrangement of the work, 
 throughout, is indicated by the running heads of pages and by 
 the "face type," which has been employed to give prominence to 
 the rules and practice of the Company, the smaller type having 
 been reserved for explanations and statistics. 
 
AGENCY SUPPLIES, INSURANCE BLANKS, BOOKS 
 OF ACCOUNT, &c, &c. 
 
 It is obviously necessary that an agent should understand the 
 supplies, blanks, &c., furnished him by the company. They 
 are the following : 
 
 Commission as Agent. — Some companies require that this should 
 be fastened in the front part of the policy register ; others that it 
 should be framed and kept in sight. It should be carefully pre- 
 served so that it may be found if, at any time, the company 
 should recall it. It is probably needless to say that the com- 
 mission defines the powers of the agent, and that if he takes any 
 action which is ultra vires, or beyond the powers conferred upon 
 him, he will become responsible to his principal, on the one hand, 
 for any injury it might sustain by his action, and to a claimant, 
 on the other hand, if he should suffer by reason of the assumed 
 powers which the agent does not possess. 
 
 Policy Register. — This is a book in which all insurance policies 
 or contracts, renewals and endorsements are to be entered on 
 the day the insurance is made binding; and from this entry 
 the policy itself should be copied — a mechanical rule which will 
 insure that a proper record is kept of every transaction. Where 
 the agent writes the policy first and copies it into the register 
 afterwards, there is danger of omitting to make the record. The 
 policy register is the property of the company and is to be con- 
 sidered confidential and must not be exhibited to anyone without 
 the consent or authority of the company. 
 
 Policies. — It is probably unnecessary to state that the policy is 
 the form of contract furnished by the company, signed in blank 
 by its officers, but not valid until countersigned by the agent. 
 A careful record of the policies is kept in the office of the com- 
 pany, and the agent should keep them in a safe place where they 
 could not fall into dishonest hands. He is charged with the 
 
2t; 
 
 AGENCY BLANKS, SUPPLIES, ETC. 
 
 number sent him, from time to time, and credited with the num- 
 ber written and with the blanks returned to the company as 
 "spoiled", canceled or "not taken"; the agent being careful to 
 forward such blanks to the company at once. 
 
 Daily Reports. — These are blanks for reporting risks to the 
 company. They are self-explanatory, and the instructions on 
 them should be literally followed and all questions answered. 
 The Daily Report should be mailed to the company on the day 
 the risk is made binding, in order that the company may be 
 promptly informed, so that in case its records show reason for 
 declining to insure the party, it may avoid a loss. It is there- 
 fore dangerous to delay. If a daily report is not so mailed the 
 name becomes a misnomer. 
 
 Monthly Account Blanks. — For reporting the business of the 
 month. Should be forwarded promptly on the last day of the 
 month ; not later, in any case, than the first of the month follow- 
 ing. 
 
 Endorsement Reports. — These are smaller blanks than the daily 
 reports, for reporting all endorsements made upon policies, such 
 as changes of ownership, assignments, removal of property from 
 one building to another, &c. 
 
 Expiration Notices. — The best expiration notice for a desirable 
 risk is the renewal itself, or a new policy (where the company 
 does not issue renewal blanks — and most do not), placed by an 
 active agent in the hands of the assured at least thirty days 
 before the expiration of the risk. 
 
 Book of Instructions. — This is the property of the company and 
 is to be returned if the agency is withdrawn. 
 
 Insurance Maps. — These are made by map companies. The 
 insurance company retains a duplicate, and it is only neces- 
 sary to refer on the daily report to a building insured by its 
 street and block number to indicate the risk, saving the agent 
 the trouble of making a diagram, unless some change has been 
 made in the building or its surroundings after the map was 
 issued, in which case advise the company and send a new dia- 
 gram to correct the map. 
 
 Applications, Surveys. &c. — The company will furnish proper 
 applications for the various kinds of hazards — farm and home- 
 
ADVERTISING MATERIAL, ETC. 
 
 2? 
 
 stead property, dwelling houses, manufacturing risks, &c. An 
 application should in all cases be taken for farm property; com- 
 panies do not always require one in the case of dwellings, school- 
 houses and risks under the immediate and daily supervision of 
 the agent. The agent should remember, however, that personal 
 inspection of every risk is indispensable. 
 Envelopes. — Large, addressed to company. 
 Small 
 
 For policies. 
 
 Large plain, for writing to customers. 
 Small " 
 
 Advertising Material. — Will be furnished by the company, in- 
 cluding Circulars, in English and German. 
 Blotting Pads. 
 Calendars. 
 
 Large Show Cards, framed and unframed, for 
 office. 
 
 Metal Signs, for the outside of office. 
 House Plates, &c. These latter are seldom used, 
 except in some localities. 
 
 All advertising material should be judiciously used and care- 
 fully secured from injury by dust, Sec. Requisition should not 
 be made upon the company for material which the agent does 
 not intend to distribute. Otherwise the company will be sub- 
 jected to an expense which, multiplied by a large number of 
 agencies, would be considerable, and which a loyal agent would 
 wish to save. In making requisitions for supplies the agent 
 should examine the requisition slip of the company carefully to 
 see just what supplies are needed, and the probable quantity, 
 and not order any he cannot use. To save unnecessary postage 
 and express charges, however, a requisition should be complete 
 for all supplies needed or likely to be needed in the immediate 
 fixture, so as to save the time and expense of later shipments. 
 
 Do iwt pay any express charges on packages received 
 (they are always prepaid), unless the package is needed and the 
 express company refuses to leave it without collecting, in which 
 case take a receipt and forward to the company, explaining the 
 matter, so that it may recover the amount at its principal office. 
 
28 
 
 AGENT'S COMMISSION COMPENSATION. 
 
 The commission or compensation allowed to agents by the com- 
 panies has, for many years, been 15$ of the premiums collected. 
 Some companies advocate a mixed or profit-sharing commission, 
 consisting of 10$ of the amount of the premium written and a 
 further 15$ of the profits at the end of the year, to be computed 
 by deducting from the premiums remitted to the company the 
 losses and expenses incurred at the agency. This would tend to 
 make agents interested in results and would enable those agents 
 who are careful as to inspection and supervision to receive more 
 money than those who are careless or indifferent. The whole 
 matter is naturally the subject of agreement between the agent 
 and his company. 
 
 It should lie the aim of an agent not merely to seek the better 
 class of risks, but to induce owners to improve those which 
 are not desirable by reforms in management, construction . 
 &c. He will thus increase his own income and that of his 
 company and benefit the community in which he lives. An 
 agent can only expect to retain his companies by doing a profi- 
 table business for them, and in case he should lose the agency 
 through losses due to his negligence or poor judgment he may 
 find it difficult to secure others. The time lost in trying to 
 induce companies of experience to accept poor, high rated risks 
 which, notwithstanding their high rates, may be unprofitable, 
 will be found to more than balance any extra amount of com- 
 mission obtained on them. 
 
 An examination of the total business of all the companies for 
 years past will show that, at 15$, the commission of the agent 
 amounts to more than three times the average profits of success- 
 ful companies on their business. The agent, therefore, without 
 running any risk of invested capital, is really better paid than 
 his company. Statistics of all the companies engaged in the 
 business, through a long series of years, show that the profits of 
 the business of insurance have been less than three per cent of 
 the premiums collected. 
 
 INTEREST OF AGENT AND COMPANY IDENTICAL. 
 
 It must be evident that the interests of the agent and the com- 
 pany are identical. If the company is conservative and well 
 
INTEREST OF COMPANY AND AGENT IDENTICAL. 29 
 
 managed and the agent successful and energetic, the connection 
 is likely to prove a permanent one. No company would wish to 
 change an agent who steadily makes money for it, and the 
 agency of a conservative company may, therefore, safely he re- 
 garded as a reliance for the lifetime of the agent and a legacy to 
 his family. It not infrequently happens that the widow of an 
 agent is able to conduct the business of the agency after the de- 
 cease of her husband. It is, therefore, very important for an 
 agent to assure himself before entering into so important a re- 
 lation that the company he is to represent is worthy of his best 
 efforts. Nothing can be more humiliating or embarrassing than 
 for an active and intelligent man to discover, after months or 
 years of honest labor, that the company with which he has 
 identified himself, and in which he has persuaded his friends to 
 insure, has been unsound from the start and is unreliable in the 
 hour of need. The business of a lifetime may thus be lost by 
 building on an unsafe beginning. 
 
 It is difficult to convince customers who, in the hour of disaster, 
 discover that their policies are worthless, that the agent upon 
 whom they relied for a proper understanding of his business and 
 an accurate knowledge of the company he represents, has acted 
 honorably and in good faith towards them ; for, while the failure 
 of numerous insurance companies during the last few years has 
 led most men to examine for themselves into the standing of com- 
 panies in which to insure, there are still many business men who 
 rely implicitly upon the recommendations of the agent, especially 
 if he is a personal friend, as to the reliability of his companies; 
 and they do not fail to hold him strictly to account if they lose 
 by reason of his neglect to inform himself as to the facts. 
 Although an agent may represent twenty good companies, the 
 failure of a single "wild cat," dishonest company might lose for 
 him the confidence of the public. 
 
 It is a cruel wrong to a confiding patron to leave him in 
 the hour of his misfortune with a worthless policy. 
 
 The Relation a Confidential One.— Though an agent may repre- 
 sent many different companies, his relation to each is that of a 
 separate, individual trust. All of its books and letters of in- 
 structions are strictly confidential and should be shown to no 
 one without its consent. 
 
30 
 
 POWERS OF AN AGENT. 
 
 An Agency may be withdrawn at any time and the commission 
 rescinded, if the company so elects. This provision will he found 
 in the commission of appointment. On the other hand, the agent 
 can, of course, resign the company whenever he chooses. 
 
 POWERS OF AN AGENT. 
 
 These are plainly defined in his commission of authority and 
 in the printed iind written instructionsof the company. He can- 
 not delegate them, and his policies and renewals signed by any- 
 one else, even though by his direction, are absolutely void and 
 of no effect. 
 
 He cannot exceed the powers expressly given to him, or bind 
 his principal in any other direction than as expressly laid down 
 in his instructions and commission ; and to attempt to do so would 
 only make him liable to a party suffering loss in consequence of 
 an unwarranted assumption of authority. 
 
 The most serious and inexcusable mistakes are sometimes 
 made by agents as to their powers, some even inferring that the 
 mere promulgation by the company of a printed tariff of rates 
 implies authority to write upon any risk mentioned in it. The 
 only safe rule for an agent is to refer to his commission and pol- 
 icies and to assume that powers not expressly granted are, for 
 some good reason, withheld. In case his commission is not 
 sufficiently liberal to meet the necessities of his business, he 
 should write to the company and explain the circumstances. 
 
 Under no circumstances should he issue a policy on prop- 
 erty located outside his territory. It would he void. 
 
 SOLICITING. 
 
 The success of an agent depends largely, if not entirely, upon 
 energetic and intelligent solicitation. Personal visits, oft re- 
 peated, to property-owners, displaying tact not less than talent, 
 can alone be relied upon for securing patronage. The expedience 
 of insurance and the merits of his company must be urged by 
 personal application. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that advertisements in newspapers, 
 printed circulars or conspicuous office signs are sufficent to secure 
 patronage. And it is a false modesty which makes an agent 
 hesitate to introduce either the subject of insurance or the merits 
 
SOLICITING. 
 
 31 
 
 of his company to the attention of property-owners, whether 
 acquaintances or not — unless his company is of questionable 
 character and unworthy of his recommendation. He who con- 
 siders himself above the earnest, sincere effort which his chosen 
 business requires stultifies himself and deserves, and usually 
 meets with, the contempt of sensible men. On the other hand, 
 the agent who persistently and intelligently improves every fitting 
 opportunity to bring the merits of his company to the notice of 
 the public seldom fails to secure patronage and respect. Indeed, 
 if we may judge from the success which the weakest and most 
 unreliable companies sometimes meet with in localities where 
 they are fortunate enough to secure energetic representatives, it 
 would seem that it is not always necessary for an agent to have 
 sound companies, if he be only determined to succeed, for it 
 sometimes happens that such an agent will actually persuade an 
 ignorant policy-holder to exchange the protection of a reliable 
 company for a worthless policy in a company which he happens 
 to represent. How much rather, then, should an agent succeed 
 who represents a company of undoubted strength, of fire-tried 
 reputation, managed by experienced officers and numbering 
 among its directors the first merchants of the land ! 
 
 "The great difference between men, between the feeble and 
 the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energ3* — in- 
 vincible determination, a purpose once fixed, and then death or 
 victory!" (Daniel Webster.) 
 
 A successful agent should not only know the merits of his own 
 company and how to explain them, but he should observe the 
 weak points of unprincipled adversaries. It is the duty of an 
 honest man to expose fraud and deception wherever met with ; 
 but, on the other hand, he will not misuse the time in assailing 
 an honorable competitor which would be better employed in 
 explaining the merits of his own company, 
 
 COMPETITION IN FIRE INSURANCE. 
 
 To work effectually he must work intelligently. Some classes 
 of customers require more explanation than others, and some 
 men do not like to ask for explanations. All persons, for in- 
 stance, do not so readily understand a proposal to insure their 
 property "at as if stated "at $13.50 per % 1,000." The 
 
RELATIVE STRENGTH OP COMPANIES. 
 
 difference also, of §2.50, on every thousand, between 1# arid 
 \%ffc, seems less important to most men than does the difference 
 in rate, especially where a stronger company is secured. The 
 man who may not understand that he can insure his dwelling at 
 50 cents per 8100 will immediately comprehend a proposition to 
 insure it for $5.00 per $1,000. 
 
 The occasional indifference, however, of those who claim to be 
 intelligent business men, as to the strength and standing of com- 
 panies, in considering questions of rate is most surprising. If a 
 merchant is offered two notes of different individuals — the one 
 thriftless, irresponsible and unreliable, and the other possessed 
 : of an ample fortune, accumulated by well directed energy and 
 economy, and with an established reputation for meeting his 
 obligations — he is not long in deciding as to the relative value of 
 the two promises, especially if they have a year to run; but 
 the same merchant, in considering a proposal for insurance of 
 ten times the amount of such a note, will sometimes accept the 
 policy of a worthless company simply because he gets it a 
 dollar or two cheaper than that of another possessed possibly of 
 twenty times its assets, and with a reputation established by 
 years of trial and fire. Can anything be more inconsistent than 
 the conduct of a business man who is thus cautious and particular 
 as to a note for a few hundred dollars, but who carelessly places 
 insurance policies for thousands of dollars in his safe with- 
 out reading them and without satisfying himself as to the 
 reliability of the companies? 
 
 Many persons assume that because an insurance company is 
 admitted to do business in a State by its insurance department, 
 and has passed the scrutiny of the department, it must be, by 
 reason of that fact, thoroughly reliable. But the property-owner 
 should have explained to him that the State Insurance Depart- 
 ment requires only the minimum amount of capital and surplus, 
 and a company which might literally comply with the law 
 might yet be weak and become insolvent by a single exceptional 
 fire. As it costs no more to insure in a company with millions 
 of surplus than in one having no surplus at all, the property- 
 owner is foolish if he takes it for granted that all companies are 
 equally reliable simply because they are permitted to do business 
 under the insurance law of the State. 
 
TACT IN SOLICITING. 
 
 33 
 
 It is the duty of an agent to qualify himself, by close obser- 
 vation and study, to explain the strength of his company and to 
 urge the desirability of reliable insurance upon property-owners; 
 to convince them by persistent effort, clear and logical argument 
 and apt illustrations, that so-called "cheap" insurance is not in- 
 surance ; that a company can no more afford to sell its indemnity 
 below cost than the merchant his goods, and that what rate 
 would be below the cost of carrying his risk, as one of a large 
 class, is almost as easy of ascertainment as the cost of any com- 
 modity on his shelves.. 
 
 Competition, which is claimed by some to be the life of trade, 
 is the death of insurance if it results in inadequate prices or rates. 
 The proper conduct of the business in the interest of all concerned 
 involves accurately ascertained and equitable rates ; a cheap price 
 for insurance generally implies reduced security, or the absence 
 of that which it is intended to purchase, and inadequate rates 
 must sooner or later surely result in worthless policies. 
 
 It should not require argument to demonstrate that, since all 
 the companies having policies on a burned property must 
 incur the same percentage of loss and also the same per- 
 centage of expense, they should get the same rate, and the 
 property-owner may well be suspicious of a company offer- 
 ing to write at a lower rate than the majority of companies 
 are willing to accept. The buyer of merchandise, who secures 
 possession, when he acquires title, of an article of whose value 
 he is a competent judge, may felicitate himself on a good bar- 
 gain if he gets it below cost. With the merchandise in his 
 possession and sure of its value, he has no reason to care whether 
 the seller has lost money on it or not, but it is not so with in- 
 surance. Insurance is not a "good delivery" until the policy 
 has expired or, in case of fire, until the loss has been collected ; 
 and he who secures it at a rate below cost and flatters himself 
 that the other customers of the company do not secure the same 
 terms, or overlooks the fact that, if they do, his insurance is 
 likely to be worthless, would do well to keep his money in his 
 pocket or deposit it in a savings bank. 
 
 Tact Versus Talent. A successful solicitor should be a tactful 
 man. He needs not merely persistence, but judgment. He 
 may accomplish much by "main strength and stupidity," but he 
 
34 
 
 TACT IN SOLICITING 
 
 will need tact rather than talent, although the latter is, of course, 
 admirable in its way. Tact has been described as being, "not a 
 sixth sense, but the life of all the five. It is the open eye, the 
 quick ear, the judging taste and the lively touch. It makes no 
 false step ; it loses no time ; it takes all hints ; it has no left-hand ; 
 no deaf ear; no blind side." After all, tact, carefully analyzed, 
 wall be found to be largely a proper, unselfish regard for ;i 
 neighbor's feelings. It is safe to say that a good listener usu- 
 ally makes a more favorable impression than a fluent talker. 
 Some one has truly said that tact consists rather in knowing 
 what should not be said than in knowing what to say. 
 
 One of the most successful insurance brokers in the city of 
 New York owed a handsome annual income to persistent and 
 tactful soliciting. I was informed by one of his best customers 
 that he was led to give him charge of his business simply bemuse 
 he became convinced that his interests would be well cared for 
 by one who looked so well after his own. The frequent good- 
 natured greeting "Can I do anything for you to-day in in- 
 surance?" instead of annoying the merchant, led him to believe, 
 in time, that so persistent a man must be well worth patronizing. 
 
 An incident showing the value of tact and shrewdness came to 
 the knowledge of the writer while traveling as special agent of 
 the company with which he is still connected. An agent in the 
 western part of Pennsylvania found great difficulty in inducing 
 the property-owners of his neighborhood to insure, owing to the 
 honest but mistaken views of a clergyman who enjoyed the con- 
 fidence of his congregation to such an extent that he became 
 their leader and adviser in temporal as well as spiritual affairs. 
 He believed that it was wicked to insure either life or property, 
 on the ground that it was tempting Providence. The agent in 
 question soon reached the conclusion that to accomplish any- 
 thing with the congregation it was necessaiy to capture the 
 ' 'bell wether " of the flock, and he said to him, one day : 
 
 "I am not so well acquainted with the Good Book as you are, 
 but my understanding is that it enjoins upon men to bear one 
 another's burdens ; am I not correct ? " 
 
 "You are," was the reply. 
 
 "Well, you believe that when a man's house or barn burns, it 
 is the duty of his neighbors to assist him in his. misfortune 
 to furnish the money for rebuilding ? " 
 
SOLICITING. 
 
 "Certainly," was the reply. 
 
 "Do yon not think that all fellow-citizens in the United States, 
 the man in Texas and the man in Maine, as well as onr fellow- 
 townsmen here, are neighbors to one who is unfortunate, no 
 matter in what locality he may live, if the misfortune is brought 
 to their attention ?" 
 
 The reply was in the affirmative. 
 
 "Well," said the agent, "I represent a large insurance com- 
 pany which does business in every city, town and hamlet through- 
 out the United States. In case a man's house or barn burns here 
 in this town the hat is not passed around among a few of his 
 immediate neighbors, who are little better off than himself and 
 who can ill afford to give any considerable amount to his 
 necessity; but the company, by its well regidated machinery, 
 collects money from the entire country and distributes the 
 harden among all of a man's neighbors everywhere, so that no 
 one feels it unduly or beyond the amount of a small annual 
 premium payment. Is not such co-operation a better way of 
 bearing one another's burdens than the process which you ad- 
 vocate? " 
 
 He had for his opponent, fortunately, a man who, while bigoted 
 and mistaken, was fair, and who frankly acknowledged that the 
 matter had never been presented to him in such a light. The 
 agent succeeded in securing insurance on his own dwelling house, 
 and, soon after, insured almost every man in the neighborhood. 
 
 I was so impressed with the shrewdness and tact of the agent 
 that I recommended him to the company for appointment, and 
 he holds the agency to-day, after a faithful service of more than 
 a quarter of a century. 
 
 His simple presentation of the theory of insurance is none the 
 less an accurate analysis of the principle upon which all insurance 
 policies are issued ; for it explains not only its beneficent oper- 
 ation from the community viewpoint, but also the scientific 
 principle of average upon which the calculations of underwriters 
 are based for their profit. A company that confines its business 
 to a small locality is not so reliable as one that draws upon a 
 large territory for its income, and thus averages, not merely its 
 premium receipts, but its losses, by distribution over an area 
 which is not disturbed by the exceptional misfortunes of a single 
 neighborhood. 
 
36 
 
 SECURING 
 
 BUILDERS' KISKs. 
 
 It is advisable to secure the custom of enterprising builders 
 and architects. In this way many desirable risks may be 
 obtained by notice from them in advance, and the foolish in- 
 difference of some property-owners as to what company they 
 insure with turned to advantage. The purchaser of a building 
 is generally willing to accept, at least for the unexpired time, 
 the insurance in force on it at the time of his purchase, and he 
 can have less objection if the policies are those of reliable com- 
 panies. 5 or this reason the policy should be written, if possible, 
 for a year, with the charge for the extra hazard of the builder's 
 risk at short rates for the term added to the annual rate. Re- 
 newals of such policies should be written and delivered at least 
 thirty days before expiration, or, in case renewals are not em- 
 ployed by the company, new policies should be placed in the 
 hands of the property-owner. Xo policy should be allowed to 
 run within 30 days of expiration without this precaution. Most 
 persons have a natural reluctance to return a policy once accepted 
 in order to take that of another agent, and not a few property- 
 owners regard a policy once delivered as a consummation of a 
 contract which they are in honor bound to cany out; so that 
 more than nine points are gained if the agent succeeds in placing 
 his policy in the possession of his customer thirty days before ex- 
 piration. A good agent can in most cases retain business once 
 secured. 
 
 A desirable feature of builders' risks is the opportunity they 
 afford a careful agent to discover faults of construction, which 
 are not apparent after the building is finished, and which may. 
 if he is true to his calling, be corrected in time. This is especially 
 true of smoke flues, which can only be examined while in process 
 of construction. They should be surrounded, as is elsewhere ex- 
 plained, by at least eight inches of good brickwork, well laid in 
 good mortar, and no woodwork should be framed into them. 
 They would be still safer if lined with a good burnt clay or cast- 
 iron pipe. Ordinary drain pipe or vitrified sewer pipe is a good 
 lining. It not only improves the chimney as to safety from fire, 
 but prevents accumulation of soot and insures a good draft. If 
 the agent will acquaint himself with the features of a good flue 
 elsewhere explained in this book he may render his client a 
 lasting service. Nothing is more disagreeable than a smoking 
 fireplace. 
 
SOLICITING 
 
 — SPECULATIVE BUILDERS. 
 
 37 
 
 The agent should remember that when a risk is destroyed by 
 fire, not only does his company lose the amount of the insurance, 
 but he himself loses the commission which might have been se- 
 cured each year during the life of a permanent structure. 
 
 The risk* of a certain class of speculative builders, often 
 men of poor judgment and unscrupulous character, tcho 
 erect buildings in advance of ami possible demand for them, 
 with a view to selling Iheiu to parties unacquainted with 
 their defective construction, should be avoided. Such build- 
 ings are in the nature of "experiments." 
 
 For full instructions as to the insurance of builder's risks and 
 proper forms, see index. 
 
 A pocket expiration book (for which an ordinary cheap diary 
 that will last for several years is well adapted) should be kept, 
 in which to note the date of expiration of insurance which has 
 been promised to the agent. Many persons who will not give a 
 positive assurance as to their business will not hesitate to in- 
 form an agent when their policies expire, and if he keeps a 
 record of them hi* may gather the fruit when ripe by calling say 
 thirty-five days beforehand. It is generally useless to argue 
 with a man whose policies have a year to run — unless his com- 
 panies are utterly worthless and afford him no protection what- 
 ever — or to apply after renewals have been placed in his hands 
 by an enterprising agent who has taken advantage of the natural 
 and very proper reluctance of most men to return a contract once 
 accepted and has delivered his at least a month beforehand. 
 
 "Nothing to Burn". Every insurance agent while soliciting has 
 become familiar with the stereotyped argument of the average 
 property-owner that there is nothing about his risk to burn, and 
 that his rate, for that reason, should be lower. Probably no 
 better illustration in refutation of this argument could be offered 
 than the risk shown by the accompanying photograph of the 
 metal-worker of the Brown Hoisting Machine Company, Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, burned December IT, 1900. I do not believe many 
 underwriters contemplating this risk as it stood before the fire, 
 would have supposed it possible for the entire structure to be 
 destroyed, as it was, including iron- work. There seemed to be 
 nothing combustible about the buildings, except an ordinary 
 board roof, covered with slate, and a few wooden trusses and 
 
38 
 
 OWNERS' faith in safety of their risks. 
 
 wooden story posts, which one would suppose a single fire com- 
 pany could easily deal with. The floors were either of earth or 
 heavy plank. The machinery manufactured, as well as thai 
 employed, was of the lieavii si character. And yel the loss was 
 nearly total to the insurance companies, one large company 
 losing $37,000, where the reasonable expectation was that there 
 could not he more than a $10,000 loss. I do not believe, more- 
 over, that anyone looking at the office building would have 
 supposed the fire would have spared this structure and destroyed 
 the building on the right, marked "D," so remote from the 
 starting point, which was, as shown on the diagram, at the 
 extreme end of "A." 
 
 I think agents will find this fire a convenient argument with 
 a certain class of property-owners in convincing them of the 
 necessity < >f carrying SO;, insurance, and of paying a proper rate; 
 and in this view I have taken pains to insert the photographs. 
 
 The ordinary household furniture in one of the best fire-proof 
 apartment houses in New York, constructed in the old-fashioned, 
 solid manner, with brick floor arches and brick partitions, was 
 destroyed as effectually as if it had been in a frame building — 
 perhaps more effectually and thoroughly, because it is an 
 observed feature of fires in fireproof buildings that there is little 
 salvage on a single floor where the fire once gets under fill 
 headway. Ex-Chief Bonner and Chief Croker, his successor in 
 the New York Fire Department, who have had more experience 
 with fires in fireproof buildings, because of the greater number 
 in that city, than the chiefs of other cities, tell me that it is 
 almost impossible for firemen to work on the floor of a fireproof 
 building when the contents, even as simple as office furniture, 
 are once thoroughly on fire. The effect seems to be that of a 
 reverberating furnace, fireproof materials confining the fire and 
 increasing its intensity, on the principle of a brick oven. My 
 own observation of such fires convinces me that it is not safe for 
 underwriters to expect salvage on the contents of fireproof build- 
 ings under circumstances where a fire once gets under headway, 
 a loss being more nearly total than in the case of ordinary 
 structures, whose collapse, as already explained, tends to pile 
 the merchandise in the bottom of the building in heaps whose 
 interiors are not reached for want of air, on the principle that in 
 
39 
 
to 
 
 THE BROWN HOISTING AND CONVE> 
 
 BURNED DECEMBER 17, 1900. 
 
ACH1NE WORKS, CLEVELAND, OHIO. 
 
 FIRE STARTED IN "A." ALL BURNED EXCEPT " C." 
 
42 
 
INSPECTION OK RISKS. 
 
 i:; 
 
 the case of a pile of shavings fire seldom goes more than three 
 or four inches into the pile, the inner shavings being white and 
 untouched. 
 
 INSPECTION OF RISKS. 
 
 It is doubtful if any duty performed by an agent is more im- 
 portant for the purpose of preventing fire losses and insuring a 
 profit to his company, than that of inspecting the risks which he 
 insures. Inspection sbould be thorough, involving careful and 
 intelligent examination of everything, from the top of tbe roof 
 to the sub-cellar floor. Inasmuch, however, as the most im- 
 portant question to be considered before writing a policy is the 
 character of the applicant, I shall deal first with what is known 
 among underwriters as the moral hazard, or the danger of afire 
 from the carelessness or viciousness of the owner himself or of 
 those having custody of the property. The best risk physically 
 becomes a bad risk in the hands of an unscrupulous or careless 
 man. 
 
 To detect danger growing out of the desire of a property- 
 owner to realize upon his property by a sale to the insurance 
 company, requires sometimes unusual shrewdness, not to say 
 detective talent, and the exercise of a No. 1 quality of common 
 sense. The percentage of incendiary fires for purposes of gain 
 is smaller in cities with good fire departments than in localities 
 where the chances are small of extinguishing a fire. The prol la- 
 bilities of extinction, in a city with an effective fire department, 
 involve probabilities of discovery of contrived fires, and the in- 
 cendiary is often deterred from starting a fire by these consider- 
 ations, realizing that the chances of his being detected and 
 punished are against him. 
 
 The percentage of incendiary fires as compared with the whole 
 number, however, is generally grossly overestimated. The as- 
 sertion is frequently heard that one-third of all fires are contrived. 
 That this cannot be the fact is easily demonstrated. The per- 
 centage of fires exceeding 80$ of the value, in cities with fire 
 departments, is not over 6$ of the whole number; and outside 
 of fire departments, the percentage of this class of fires would 
 not in most States, especially in the older, well settled States, 
 exceed 85$ of the whole number, On farms, the percentage 
 
1 1 
 
 PERCENTAGE OF INCENDIARY LOSSES. 
 
 is about Making due allowance for the fact that a very 
 
 large proportion of the fires in this percentage are due to frame 
 construction, as well as to the absence of fire-extinguishing ap- 
 pliances, the number of incendiary or contrived fires must be 
 greatly less than any estimate which has heretofore been placed 
 upon them; for it requir< s no argument to believe that, as an in- 
 cendiary has the choice of time and circumstance for starting his 
 fire, the majority of contrived tin s would pass the 80$! of value 
 line; indeed, it is safe to assume that 95$ of contrived fires would 
 be total. If one-third (the usual estimate) of all fires, therefore, 
 were incendiary, and 95^ of them were total, as they would be, 
 there would have been no profit in the insurance business. 
 
 The writer became impressed with the unreliability of off-hand 
 estimates, even when made by careful, practical men, by tabu- 
 lating the causes of fires for a series of years based upon the 
 opinion expressed by the adjuster, in each case, while on the 
 ground. In this case the adjusters were requested to express 
 tin ir opinion as to the cause of a fire at the time of adjusting the 
 loss, even though not sure of the matter, being advised that in 
 a large number of fires, running into the thousands, errors would 
 compensate each other; fires attributed to defective flues but due 
 to incendiarism, for example, would balance those attributed to 
 incendiarism but due to defective flues, &c. ; so that for all 
 practical purposes, the tabulation made, based upon the opinion 
 of intelligent men on the ground, carefully investigating the 
 best sourci s of information, would be thoroughly reliable. 
 
 This tabulation showed that in a purely farm business less than 
 3fo in number, and less than 4^ in amount, of all the fires were 
 attributed to incendiarism internal — that is, by the owner — and 
 thai 1< ss than .V, in number, and les.s than 12^ in amount, of all 
 the fires for the period were due to what would be called "exter- 
 nal" incendiarism, i. e., burning by enemies, tramps, &c. On 
 other classes of risks, mercantile, manufacturing, &c, less than 
 2$ in number and less than 4^ in amount were due to incendiarism 
 internal, and less than 5$ in number and less than 9$ in amount 
 were due to incendiarism external. 
 
 At the end of the period, the adjusters upon whose careful in- 
 vestigations and reports this tabulation had been made were 
 asked, one by one, to state their opinion offhand and from mem- 
 
FIRES DUE TO INCENDIARISM. 
 
 45 
 
 oiy as to what percentage of all the losses adjusted by them 
 to date were due to incendiarism internal and external. The 
 percentages were much above the figures named. When in- 
 formed as to the actual facts, however, they, of course, preferred 
 that their careful statements, made in each case while on the 
 ground and at the time of the fire should be taken, rather than 
 any off-hand opinion as to the sum total at the end of the term. 
 
 These interesting figures clearly demonstrate, it seems to me, 
 that the percentage of number of fires and of fire loss due to 
 incendiarism is grossly overestimated. It would be well, how- 
 ever, to keep in mind an important fact, viz., that the experience 
 is that of a large company employing competent inspectors, 
 careful agents and careful office examiners, and paying liberally 
 for special mercantile agency reports and putting all of its bus- 
 iness through alphabetical lists of unreliable parties who have 
 had previous suspicious fires. In other words, the business tabu- 
 lated was what might be called a "culled" business, such as 
 would be found on the books of the largest, most experienced 
 and careful agency insurance companies. 
 
 A slight increase of the percentage of total losses, it should be 
 borne in mind, would effectually interfere with the profit of an 
 insurance company, however, and the agent who contributes by 
 overinsurance, or in any way, to an incendiary fire not only pre- 
 vents a profit to his company, but endangers the common safety 
 and commits a crime against society. 
 
 It may safely be assumed that, while the percentage of in- 
 cendiary losses on such a culled business, with a careful company, 
 is small, the percentage of incendiary losses on risks 
 
 WITH A MORAL HAZARD IS ALMOST CERTAIN TO BE ONE HUN- 
 DRED per cent and the agent is cautioned therefore to take no 
 chances if he has any suspicions. 
 
 A compiled table of fires in the City of New York for a num- 
 ber of years indicated that 33$ of the amount of loss was attrib- 
 uted to incendiarism. I have always doubted the figures, and 
 my doubt is founded upon the fact already stated that, inasmuch 
 as 90$ at least of the incendiary fires must be total, the incen- 
 diary losses must be less as a percentage than the percentage of 
 the total losses, thus corroborating the figures of the table I have 
 constructed from actual reports made by adjusters at the time of 
 the fire, 
 
SCRUTINY OF VALUES AND CHARACTER. 
 
 While overinsurance causes fires, it should he remembered 
 that a proper amount of insurance may prevent them, by teach- 
 ing malicious vagabonds that they cannot harm an enemy by 
 burning his property, as the insurance company's interposition 
 restores the loss. In this way the business of insurance, properly 
 conducted, is a safeguard of society. It is undoubtedly a fact 
 that more property would be burned, year by year, if the mali- 
 cious and unscrupulous enemies of reputable citizens felt that 
 they could bring them to want by applying a match. Even 
 those who are simply envious and jealous of the prosperity of 
 others could compass the ruin of the industrious and prosperous 
 were it not for the protection which insurance extends over their 
 property by day and night. 
 
 Constant supervision and watchfulness, with a keen judgment 
 of men and values, are necessary to keep losses within the figures 
 to which the more careful companies have hitherto succeeded in 
 confining them. Not only must property be worth more than it 
 is insured for, but it must be a prod url i re a nd paying iuresi- 
 ment to its owners. Unless this is the case, its safety is not 
 likely to be a subject of anxiety to them. It is not improbable 
 that companies lose more money in consequence of the indiffer- 
 ence of owners to the safety of property which brings them no 
 income, and which is fully insured, than by the designing 
 villainy of those who do not scruple to apply the match. In- 
 deed, let this element of safety be once removed; this safeguard, 
 which is so often the only barrier between the underwriter and 
 loss; this protection, which is greater than iron doors or fire 
 walls — the anxiety of an otcner for the safety of his prop- 
 erty — and the chances of escaping loss become so remote that 
 it is best to cancel the policy at once. 
 
 It is for this reason that the sum of insurance losses follows 
 the ups and downs of trade, like a barometer of misfortune. 
 When certain classes of risks are making money for their owners 
 — notwithstanding the fact that, at such times, there may be the 
 extra hazard of overwork and forced production — the fewest fires 
 occur; but let the times change and the manufacturer, who, 
 while he had profitable contracts to fill, examined critically for 
 It int self, and with the proverbial thoroughness of the "master's 
 eye," lest any untoward accident should interrupt his good for- 
 
SCRUTINY OF VALVES NECESSARY. 
 
 47 
 
 t imc, becomes careless and indifferent to danger — especially ij 
 fully insured. In this way the moral hazard of unproductive 
 property, even when it is insured below its value, may become 
 greater than that of over-insured and productive and profitable 
 property. 
 
 Value is not, therefore, the only thing to be taken into con- 
 sideration, especially if it is estimated on the basis of cost, 
 although more important, perhaps, than any other. It is un- 
 necessary to suggest to any intelligent man that cost is not al- 
 ways a safe test of value, especially in the case of buildings, 
 which through poor management, miscalculation, overcharges 
 or exceptionally high prices of labor and material at the time of 
 erection, can often be replaced for less than their original cost. 
 Evidences of this occur in the experience of all insurance com- 
 panies when adjusting their losses, proposals being often re- 
 ceived from the very builders by whom destroyed buildings 
 were originally constructed to replace them for a much 
 smaller sum than that originally charged. Especially is this 
 the case in dull seasons, when neither labor nor materials are 
 high. 
 
 It often happens that a manufactory, erected, building by * 
 building, to meet the demand for new space, is not adapted to 
 economical methods and is not calculated to compete with one 
 more intelligently and systematically planned to save labor, &c. 
 Instances have been brought to the attention of insurance com- 
 panies where such buildings have been burned, in some cases by 
 the owners, and in others by overzealous and mistakenly loyal 
 employees, who have heard an employer remark that if the 
 building should burn and he could get his insurance he would 
 build a new factory which would be better suited to the work, &c. 
 
 Buildings, through mismanagement, are often found to be 
 either too large or too small, or in other respects unsuited for the 
 purpose for which they were originally designed and constructed, 
 and if not available for this purpose are almost valueless for any 
 other. An elevator building or a sugar refinery, for example, 
 could not well be used for any other occupancy. It is clear that 
 in such cases the cost of the building is no indication of its market 
 value. A proper allowance should also be made for the probable 
 deterioration of the property during the term of the insurance, 
 
48 
 
 CHANGES IN VALUES, BOOKS OF ACCOUNT, ETC. 
 
 especially if the policy is issued for a longer term than a year. 
 Some classes of property, manufacturing and mercantile risks, 
 should not be insured for more than one year at a time, term 
 policies being confined to dwellings, churches, etc. 
 
 Over-valuation is the rule, and not the exception. It is 
 natural for an owner to overestimate his property. He seldom 
 makes proper deductions for depreciation from age, wear, use, 
 change of fashion or system. The underwriter, however, must 
 be careful and discriminate intelligently between old, shelf-worn 
 and unsalable stocks, and new. stylish and salable goods. 
 
 < hvners of property who are desirous of selling are apt to seek 
 an excessive amount of insurance, thinking that the sum that 
 insurance companies are willing to carry upon a property may 
 be regarded by a purchaser or mortgagee as an evidence of its 
 value. 
 
 In view of these facts, it is difficult to lay down any safe or 
 invariable rule for estimating values. In the case of buildings, 
 the opinion of some reliable builder may be secured. In the 
 case of stocks of merchandise, the opinions of others in the 
 same line of business may often be obtained without difficulty, 
 and such opinions are frequently quite accurate. In stocks 
 where a single class of merchandise is kept, such, for example, 
 as clothing, boots and shoes, &c, a rough estimate may be 
 made by counting shelves and estimating the value of each ; but 
 this is unreliable. Every agent has trusted acquaintances in 
 each line of business whose opinions may be obtained to assist 
 his own. 
 
 Investigations as to the character of stocks of merchandise, 
 however, are of little practical value in determining the moral 
 hazard, except for the purpose of detecting evidence of over- 
 insurance or contemplated fraud at the time of effecting the 
 insurance. It is so easy to move merchandise by shipping it to 
 distant points, or to reduce its value below the insurance, by 
 failing to replenish stocks depleted by sales, that intended 
 incendiarism can seldom be frustrated by either initial or 
 subsequent inspections. 
 
 Books of account should be kept in fire-proof safes. Where 
 a merchant does not keep satisfactory books of account in a 
 safe depository at night, taking an inventory at least once a 
 
CO-INSURANCE ; THREE-QU AKTER CLAUSE, ETC. 
 
 49 
 
 year, and keeping copies of it, it is best to let him insure him- 
 self. Adjustments are difficult and always unsatisfactory in 
 such cases. In insuring country stores in isolated locations, 
 the "iron safe clause" should be inserted in every policy. 
 
 A further important reason for not writing insurance in excess 
 of the actual cash market value is the difficulty of making satis- 
 factory adjustments with the assured in case of loss. It is 
 difficult to persuade a property-owner who has paid premium 
 for a certain amount of insurance that he should accept less than 
 the sum insured in case of total destruction, notwithstanding 
 that the value of his property may be much less than the amount 
 of his insurance. Certainly an agent who has persuaded him 
 to take an excessive amount would find it an embarrassing task 
 to adjust a loss at a smaller figure. 
 
 CO-INSURANCE. 
 
 It is important, however, in considering the question of moral 
 hazard, and the objection to over-insurance, that underwriters 
 should not lose sight of the importance of having a sufficient 
 amount of insurance in proportion to value to prevent total 
 losses under their policies in cases where the subject of in- 
 surance is only partially destroyed or, perhaps, slightly dam- 
 aged. Indeed, this may be so important as to dwarf all con- 
 siderations of moral hazard, which must be guarded against 
 rather by shrewd observation as to the anxiety of the owner for 
 the preservation of his property and a careful estimate of his 
 character for honesty, than by attaching importance to a 
 margin between value and insurance. 
 
 So lax have been the methods of the past in this respect, 
 especially in towns with good fire departments, that we have 
 been carrying too little, rather than too much, insurance, and 
 have been estimating our rates upon bricks and mortar and in- 
 combustible iron beams, overlooking the fact that we have 
 really, by reason of short insurance, been insuring plate glass, 
 veneered woods and fresco work — as damageable as stocks of 
 millinery. As already stated it is a comparatively easy task 
 for the owner of a stock of merchandise, to ship to distant 
 points, or to other buildings in the same town, a large pro- 
 portion of the values which were in the store at the time of 
 
50 
 
 MORAL HAZARD AND SHORT INSURANCE. 
 
 writing the insurance: and our experience with fraudulent 
 claims of this character leads us inevitably to the conclusion 
 that, especially in the case of movable property, all reliance 
 upon estimates of value, and attempts to restrict insurance to 
 a safe figure, count for little as compared with intelligent 
 estimates of the character of the assured. If he intends to 
 defraud the company by removing the goods after inspection, 
 or by failing to replenish a stock depleted by sales, no three- 
 quarter loss clause will prevent his doing so. 
 
 In this view, I believe the value of the so-called "three 
 quarter loss clause" is grossly over-estimated. Indeed, I doubt 
 if it has ever prevented a fire.* It has secured many an apparent 
 salvage, which, however, like gardening on paper, is only ap- 
 parent. While the amount paid for a loss may be three-fourths 
 of the amount of the assured's claim, three-fourths of his claim 
 may be five-fourths, or even a larger fraction, of his inventory 
 and amount to an over-insurance of 150$ or more of true value. 
 ( )ne has only to walk into any store or warehouse to see how 
 impossible would be the task, even for an expei't dealer in the 
 same line of goods, to make a reliable estimate of the value of 
 the stock from nailed-up boxes, covered bales, corked bottles, or 
 tiered barrels. Two-thirds of the packages may be empty 
 witnesses on dress parade. If it be impossible to prevent a 
 designing rogue from deceiving us as to his values — and I claim 
 that it is — why should we lose the premiums on 25$ of the 
 values of honest men, who outnumber the rascals a hundred 
 to one? 
 
 We must, after all, rely for values, largely on the good faith, 
 carefulness and intelligence of our agents and inspectors, and. 
 in no small degree, upon the honesty of the assured himself, and 
 his reputation for fair dealing. We will find that there is greater 
 safety and more profit in insuring an honest and careful property- 
 holder, for the full value of his property, than in insuring a 
 dishonest and careless one to the limit of one-half his values: 
 and the great problem of our business in the future, probably, 
 will be twofold — to make sure of a premium for one hundred 
 per cent of the value of the property insured, and to make sure 
 
 *These remarks do not apply to the clause on buildings, the value of which 
 can be ascertained. It is important that the owner of a building should have 
 a one fourth interest in caring for it. 
 
IMPOSSIBILITY OP LIMITING VALUES. 
 
 51 
 
 of one hundred per cent of honesty in its owner. This can only 
 be secured by means of an intelligent representative of the com- 
 pany on the ground, viz.. the local agent. He alone can deter- 
 mine the character of the man we insure, and keep watch of him 
 throughout the term of the policy. 
 
 In the case of dangerous special hazards, for obvious reasons, 
 requiring care and watchfulness on the part of their owners, it 
 is best to see that the owner retains a sufficient interest above 
 the amount of insurance to make him careful of the property. 
 Where, notwithstanding a high rate, the owner of property seeks 
 an excessive amount of insurance, it is wise to decline the risk. 
 It is safe to assume that he has some unusual cause for anxiety. 
 
 I realize that the views I have here expressed on the subject 
 of the three-quarter clause and the percentage of moral hazard 
 losses, differ from my earlier writings but I have reached my 
 present conclusions after careful stud}' of the 1( >sses of my com- 
 pany through a long series of years and after careful tabulation 
 of the actual figures from thp reports of adjusters made on the 
 ground at the time of investigating each fire. 
 
 The following propositions were submitted by me some years 
 ago to a large number of underwriters, and an overwhelming 
 majority of them assented to the deductions : 
 
 1st— It is practically not possible to determine the value of a stock of mer 
 chandise, for the purpose of insurance, at the time of writing a policy. Reliance 
 must be placed upon the statement of the assured as to the quantity and value 
 of goods in packages and on shelves. It would not be possible for another 
 dealer in the same line of goods in any city to determine the value of stock. 
 The owner could not do it himself without the assistance of his clerks and a 
 careful inventory. It would not be possible for five experts in any line of 
 goods — groceries, hardware, tobacco — to determine the value of the stock of 
 any other merchant in their own line of trade. Therefore, it is not possible or 
 practicable for an underwriter to do so. 
 
 2nd— As already stated, even if the value of a stock could be determined at 
 the date of writing the policy, it would not remain unchanged, but might 
 decrease by honest sales or dishonest removals, or by depreciation owing to 
 change of style or fashion, shelf-wear or fly-specks. It is utterly impossible 
 by any process to maintain the ratio of insurance to value at 100$ or 80$ or 
 any other figure. 
 
 3rd— If it be impossible to determine the value of a stock when writing the 
 policy, and impossible to regulate the value during the life of the policy, is it 
 not impossible, by any limit of insurance to value, to place any restrictions 
 upon a would-be incendiary? Is it not perfectly easy for a dishonest insured 
 
LIMITING INSURANCE TO EIGHTY PEK CENT. 
 
 to remove bona fide values after inspection, as a well known New York firm 
 shipped theirs to a confederate in the West? Is it not perfectly easy for a 
 t'Ogue to claim a value of one hundred thousand dollars on goods worth only 
 twenty thousand dollars by a "dress parade" of empty packages for inspection, 
 insure them for $80,000, w ith an SO;,' co-insurance clause, contrive; a fire and 
 collect 400? of value by means of false inventory and books of account, or by 
 books and inventories destroyed in the tire? In fact, a fire-bug likes nothing 
 better than a three-quarters clause or 80? co-insurance limit clause. In order 
 to have appearances in his favor, he would take a term policy, if we would 
 let him, especially as the premium would come out of our pockets. 
 
 4th— If we must rely upon the honesty of the assured as to quantities and 
 values when we insure and when we adjust and pay him (and we must, because 
 we cannot disprove them), why should we not rely upon his honesty for nol 
 burning his property? The temptation of an excess of insurance to value is 
 no greater by reason of his having it, for it is easy for him to secure it at any 
 time he wants it. 
 
 5th — Was there ever a case of fraudulent burning in which, with all our 
 precautions and rules, three-quarter clauses, etc., etc., the claimant was nol 
 overinsured in fact, although not apparently so? If we have never succeeded 
 in catching a rogue by a 75? limit of insurance to value, why should we keep 
 on setting the old trap, with the' expensive bait of one-fourth of our income, 
 losing the premium or contribution of 25$ of the values of honest men, or one 
 full year's premium out of every four! 
 
 (ith — Why should an honest man with a small capital, who buys upon credit, 
 be unable to protect his fraction of the stock, and have all of his insurance go 
 to his creditors who must, of course, he paid even though he should become 
 a bankrupt? Take, for example, a man with a capital of .$'25,000, and a stock 
 of §100,000, which he is enabled to handle by reason of ability to purchase on 
 long credit; the 25;,' which we do not allow him to insure is his own and he 
 would lose ii altogether by tire. Why should he not be able to protect it if he 
 pays for it? It is for the interest of the public, and even of the underwriter, 
 that such a man should not become a bankrupt. 
 
 7t h — Is it not perfectly easy to grade our rates so as to make as much money 
 with 50? of value insured as with 80? or 100?, and if so, is it not wise to do so, 
 in view of the opposition of legislators and the antagonism of property-owners? 
 Our insistence upon 80? of insurance — neither more nor less — is as unreason- 
 able as it would be for a merchant to decline to sell a man less than a hundred 
 cases of goods who has facilities for disposing of only one, but who is willing 
 to pay a retail price instead of a wholesale price. How much better to be able 
 to say to the objecting applicant at our counter: "We do not care how much 
 you insure; you can take as much or as little as you please; our prices, of course, 
 vary between wholesale and retail, just as your own do." Opposition would 
 be disarmed and hostile legislation avoided. If it is easy to do this (and it is), 
 then is not the easy way, if it he just as good, the best way? 
 
 If we could ascertain and fix the value of property and maintain the ratio 
 of 100 to 80 or 100 to 75 of value to insurance, during the life of our con- 
 tract, there might he some advantage in an 80? or 75? limit of insurance; but 
 
I TIN El! A NT DANGEROUS CUSTOMERS. 
 
 53 
 
 we cannot do it, and we may as well ,iu' ve U P trying and secure the premiums 
 or contribution on the 20% of the values of honest men. 
 
 1 trust that nothing- 1 have written on the subject of the desira- 
 bility of co-insurance and on the difficulty of estimating the 
 value of stocks, however, will lead any agent to suppose that I 
 underestimate the importance of careful scrutiny of every risk 
 offered, to detect improper motives ; the main object — never to 
 be lost sight of — is to avoid dishonest applicants for insurance, 
 and particularly to avoid those careless property-owners who 
 neglect the simple, obvious precautions of safety, and permit 
 accumulations of rubbish which may ignite spontaneously, and 
 who, overlooking precautions which would prevent the starting 
 of fires, and failing to provide appliances for extinguishing 
 them, prove undesirable subjects of insurance. 
 
 Do not insure litigious or quarrelsome men. They usually 
 have enemies, and often unscrupulous ones. Inquire carefully 
 whether any threats have been made to burn the property: 
 whether any fires from unknown causes have occurred either 
 to the property on which insurance is sought or any other be- 
 longing to the applicant. Unless the applicant is a well-known 
 citizen, his antecedents should be rigidly inquired into. In this 
 matter the company is always willing to be of assistance, as it 
 needs only to write to its agent in the town from which the 
 newcomer has emigrated to find out all about him. Do not fail, 
 therefore, to inform the company as to the applicant's statement 
 ( »f his antecedents. 
 
 A dangerous class of men is traveling from one point to an- 
 other, burning out in one place after another; and while the 
 company's records at the home office might give it the infor- 
 mation a fire sometimes occurs between the writing of the policy 
 and the request for cancellation from the office of the company 
 on the receipt of the daily report. Therefore, where there is the 
 least doubt as to the character of a party, do not insure until the 
 company is advised — by telegraph if necessary. 
 
 Decline to insure "'exceptional property" for parties, as where 
 they insure only on certain buildings, carrying others them- 
 selves. There is generally a reason for it, which we ought to 
 know. Some men insure their barns only, carrying the dwell- 
 ings themselves. Railroad companies are apt to insure only 
 
r, i 
 
 MORAL HAZARD — EXPERIMENTS, ETC. 
 
 such bridges, depots or other structures as they consider danger- 
 ous. 
 
 Inquire whether applicants have been trying to sell out, and 
 why. Have they been in the habit of regularly insuring against 
 loss by fire, or have they become suddenly impressed with the 
 value of insurance? Such changes of opinion will always bear 
 investigation, which may disclose threats of enemies to burn 
 the property. Avoid heavily mortgaged property, especially if 
 mortgages are falling due; and decline to insure property the 
 title to which is a matter either of dispute or litigation, build- 
 ings or merchandise in the hands of sheriffs, U. S. Marshals, 
 &c, &c. The chief objection in the latter case is to the dif- 
 ficulty of adjusting the loss and of determining who is the 
 proper party to receive the money. 
 
 Leases should not lie insured unless the applicant has a good 
 bargain. He may have taken the property during prosperous 
 times, when rentals were high, and be losing money in con- 
 sequence of a change of trade, &c. 
 
 Avoid "experiments" — undertakings the result of which is, 
 at best, problematical — "new departures," &c. The insurance 
 company too often furnishes the money in case the enterprise 
 fails. 
 
 A large and expensive grain elevator may be located where 
 it cannot possibly receive grain enough to fill it, and disappoint 
 its owners ; or it may, by a change of railroad or canal facilities, 
 be left stranded without possibility of patronage. A large 
 manufactory, fitted out with costly machinery, may be erected 
 to manufacture some article which does not meet with a ready 
 and steady sale, and prove ill adapted for manufacturing any 
 other. An expensive stock of silks and laces is taken to some 
 country town, whose people are possessed of more intelligence 
 than money, and finds no purchasers. Every undertaking of 
 some men is an experiment, on account of the entire absence of 
 judgment displayed. If stocks of merchandise are purchased 
 they are not suited to the trade, or are too large for the demand ; 
 if a manufactory is erected, it is too large or too small for the 
 purpose, or impractical for some other reason which might have 
 been foreseen. The result is, and must inevitably be, failure. 
 An insurance company will do well to avoid such risks, relying 
 
CARELESSNESS AS TO ASHES, ETC. 
 
 55 
 
 upon the exercise of wise caution and discrimination on the 
 part of its agents, who should always remember that upon the 
 probabilities of success of undertakings depend, in eery 
 many eases, the probabilities of profit for the underwriter. 
 
 If initial inspection and careful supervision do not result in 
 as great a saving to the insurance companies as their estimates 
 of moral hazard losses have led them to expect, claims of this 
 character will be restricted to a point where a loss will be the 
 result only of neglect on the part of the local agent to carefully 
 and shrewdly investigate each claimant for insurance and to 
 keep track of him throughout the life of the policy. 
 
 The old saying "another good man gone wrong" it is right- 
 fully claimed should generally read "another bad man found 
 out." Lapses from honesty on the part of men of good stand- 
 ing, where they deserve their reputation, may be rare; but 
 departure from correct living may be expected at any time of a 
 man who has more reputation than character and who joins a 
 church to be popular or to inspire confidence. Therefore, the 
 agent should be constantly on the alert. The gossip around the 
 cracker barrel of the corner grocery may be worth listening to. 
 But equally, if not more, important, is the necessity of inspect- 
 ing carefully with a view to preventing fires from carelessness 
 and from indifference to safety. The neglected ash or rubbish 
 heap has cost insurance companies more money than the tramp 
 or the incendiary. Rubbish in cellars is particularly objection- 
 able, but ash heaps may be found even on the upper floors of 
 buildings in the best localities. 
 
 Thirty years ago, Avhile inspecting buildings in the city of 
 Philadelphia, I found 800 cases of ashes kept in wooden boxes, 
 barrels and other combustible receptacles; and on the top floor 
 of one of the most pretentious buildings, on the most fashion- 
 able street (Chestnut Street), I found, after insisting on the 
 janitor unlocking the door of a small room, that it was used as 
 a general ash dump of the entire building. At the time of my 
 visit there must have been not less than five cart-loads of ashes 
 on the floor, it having been the practice of the employees of 
 tenants throughout the building to dump their ashes on the 
 floor in the same manner as they would have done if the ash 
 heap had been in the back yard. 
 
SAWDUST ON FLOORS, ETC. 
 
 J 11 ;i machine-shop, I found, wedged tightly between the 
 floor and the lower head of a heating drum, a bunch of oily 
 waste. It required an effort to pull it out, and the lower head 
 of the drum was so near the floor that I literally had to "stoop 
 to conquer." for it was not observable to one walking through 
 the loom. I had observed on the floor below that a large 
 cylinder stove was red hot, and I resolved naturally to follow 
 the pipe on the upper floor where the drum was located. The 
 bunch of oily waste when detached was brown on the surface 
 next the drum. As it was four o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 foreman readily assented to my proposition that it would have 
 caused a fire, probably, within a few hours after closing. 
 
 In this connection let me say that all heating drums of this 
 character should be raised to a sufficient elevation above floors 
 to bring into full sight any rubbish collected beneath them. 
 
 When, in the boiler room of this same factory, I found nearly 
 half a cord of old lumber piled on the top of the boilers to dry, 
 I concluded that my company would be safer without the risk. 
 
 Careful analysis of the causes of fires, made from the reports 
 of adjusters at the time of adjusting the losses, shows that GO^ 
 of them are due to preventable causes. Assuming that one- 
 half of these mighi be prevented would imply that forty millions 
 of dollars each year are unnecessarily lost by property destroyed 
 throughout the country. This estimate of salvage is below the 
 true figure in all probability. 
 
 Where sawdust is used upon floors, especially in risks using 
 or selling oil, such as drug stores, paint stores, grocery stores, 
 &c, the sweepings are particularly dangerous if piled up 
 where the heat can accumulate, as when deposited in barrels. 
 Such sweepings should be immediately removed from the build- 
 ing and located where ignition could not endanger it. In the 
 case of a large wholesale drug store, I was informed that these 
 sweepings caught fire almost daily, and the owners had been 
 admonished by their own experience as to the importance of the 
 precaution I have suggested. 
 
 Be careful as to insuring '"Branch stores." They nearly always 
 have shelf- worn, unsalable stocks, and owners have been known 
 to transfer large amounts of merchandise from one store to 
 another without keeping proper book entries. 
 
DILAPIDATED STRUCTURES, NUISANCES, ETC 
 
 Country stores not occupied in part as family dwellings, or 
 which are not near dwellings, at cross-roads or isolated loca- 
 tions, having small custom and a poor trade, have always been 
 losing risks to insurance companies — possibly because their 
 situation and vacancy at night admit of fraud on the part of 
 the owners by removal of the goods before a fire; or of robbery 
 by others and subsequent burning to cover traces of the crime. 
 
 Do not insure "nuisances" — those risks which, by reason of 
 some disagreeable feature, become obnoxious to persons living 
 near them, the value of whose property is affected by them; 
 such as slaughter-houses, bone-boiling establishments, soap 
 factories, garbage crematories, some classes of chemical works 
 emitting disagreeable odors, etc. They are very liable to be 
 set on fire, even if located in the country, especially if on the 
 road to a town. Even when surrounded by farms they are apt 
 to be burned by owners of adjacent property, as their presence 
 would deter anyone from purchasing land for the erection of 
 dwellings, &c. 
 
 Decline barns or stables situated in the outskirts of towns, es- 
 pecially if unpainted, dilapidated or unconnected with dwell- 
 ings. The very appearance of unpainted, neglected buildings 
 suggests and invites incendiarism on the part of malicious boys 
 and unprincipled firemen, to have a "run" with the engine. It 
 may generally be assumed that frame buildings unpainted and 
 weather-beaten in appearance are undesirable risks. They in- 
 dicate, if nothing else, an absence of care on the part of the 
 owner. A neat, well painted building, kept in repair by a 
 thrifty owner, is a much safer risk than an old, dilapidated one, 
 although the occupation and exposures may be the same. Barns 
 standing in the outskirts of towns and unconnected with dwell- 
 ings are very different risks from the neat, well painted struct- 
 ure of a thrifty owner, on the same lot with his dwelling, and 
 are very much poorer risks, also, than farm barns, which, 
 though sometimes unpainted, may be safe risks if near to and 
 insured with the dwelling of the owner. 
 
 When reporting a barn risk to the company, be careful 
 to explain the circumstances fully in the daily report, as to 
 whether the company insures or will insure the dwelling, 
 &c, d'C It will save subsequent correspondence. 
 
58 INSURANCE COMPANIES MERELY DISTRIBUTE LOSSES. 
 
 Old. dilapidated manufactories, or other structures, in the compact 
 parts of towns, which stand in the way of improvement, and have 
 become "eye-sores," if not actually set on fire to get them out 
 of the way, become dangerous for the further reason that in 
 case of accidental ignition no one feels interested in their 
 preservation, and neither firemen nor citizens will exert them- 
 selves to save them. 
 
 At a recent convention of the Chief Engineers of Fire Depart- 
 ments the chief of a Western city actually argued that the 
 burning of sncb structures was a good tiling for the town in 
 which they were located, inasmuch as they would be removed 
 as nuisances and the cost of the destruction would fall upon the 
 insurance companies. This remarkable utterance can be found 
 in the printed report of the proceedings of the convention. He 
 was honest enough in his statement, because he believed it; but 
 if firemen take this view of such structures, it behooves under- 
 writers to leave the cost of replacing them to the enterprising 
 citizens who desire better buildings. 
 
 The following utterances may be found in the report of the 
 Twenty-fifth Annual Convention of Fire Engineers, and were 
 applauded : 
 
 "We do not waut these things to last forever. Chicago, the second city, if 
 not the first in many respects, upon the earth, is made so on account of heing 
 destroyed hy a fire. There is no question about it, and no man lost a dollar 
 (tremendous applause), not a dollar!" 
 
 An editorial of the New York Times of May 8, 1901, com- 
 menting on the destruction of Jacksonville, Florida, contained 
 the following : 
 
 "Any American town that has 'tumbled up' to be a winter resort, or a 
 summer resort, is always in need of reconstruction, to fit it for its new function; 
 it ought to be at a certain period burned out; then it can be reconstructed in 
 the light of experience on a better system and at the expense of the stock- 
 holders of the insurance companies. "(! ) 
 
 To correct such views may not be possible, but loyal insurance 
 agents should see to it that their companies are not saddled with 
 the expense of replacing objectionable structures with buildings 
 more acceptable to civic pride. When a building becomes 
 objectionable it should be torn down, and not burned up ; and 
 ■'f uninsured, it will be torn down. 
 
 Surely, a campaign of education is needed to teach a certain 
 
VACANT OR UNOCCUPIED PROPERTY 
 
 59 
 
 portion of the public the important fact that when buildings are 
 removed by fire the public pay for them, and it will be less ex- 
 pensive for that public to tear them down than to burn up a 
 dozen good buildings, or a whole city, by the burning of a single 
 structure, as in the case of Jacksonville. 
 
 The 1 insurance loss in tins ease, while over $5,000,000, was 
 only about one-third of the property loss. It would be difficult 
 to reconcile those citizens of Jacksonville who were uninsured, 
 or only partially insured, to the theory of the New York Times 
 that the destruction of their town, which had ''tumbled up" as 
 a winter resort, was a desirable thing from their own or any 
 other viewpoint. 
 
 Avoid buildings which are shortly to be removed or pulled down, or 
 those standing on leased ground, the lease of which is about to expire. 
 If the terms of the lease are such that the building is to revert 
 to the owner of the ground at the expiration of the lease, such 
 buildings are. of course, worth no more to the lessee than for 
 the use of them for the time the lease has to run — say what 
 would remain after deducting from a fair rental taxes, cost of 
 repairs, &c. &c. 
 
 Vacant buildings, unoccupied dwellings. &c. Unoccupied build- 
 ings and notably vacant dwellings have been unprofitable risks 
 to insurance companies. They become the sleeping places of 
 tramps and vagrants, who are careless and indifferent as to fires, 
 sometimes maliciously setting them purposely on fire. A moral 
 hazard attaches to all unproductive propeiiy. In the case of 
 dwellings, 10 cents a month per $100 should be the minimum 
 charge for vacancy, and some careful person should have charge 
 of the building. The fact that it is looked after, every day is 
 of importance. If located at a distance from other buildings, 
 in isolated localities, all companies prefer to decline them. Be 
 verj' sure that the vacancy is not a chronic case and where there 
 is any doubt give the company the benefit of it and decline to 
 insure. 
 
 Where dwellings are unoccupied on account of unhealthy 
 locations, in malaria or fever and ague districts, they should be 
 regarded as uninsurable. A good dwelling in a fever and ague 
 district may be a worse risk than a steam planing mill. 
 
 With few exceptions, special hazards or manufactories should 
 pay the same rates vacant as when running, for they are poor 
 
60 
 
 lak<;e, expensive dwellings. 
 
 risks unless productive and must not be insured without the 
 consent of the com /xi u ij first ohtai tied. 
 
 Unless permission for vacancy is endorsed in writing on an 
 insurance policy, it is void. In all cases the time of vacancy 
 must be limited. 
 
 Too much caution cannot be used in accepting risks declined by 
 other companies. Always refer such cases to the company. 
 There will usually be found some good reason for such decli- 
 nation, in ignorance of which it is not safe to insure. It should 
 be remembered that companies declining risks because of moral 
 hazard are not disposed to give all their reasons for such action 
 and it is, therefore, not easy to ascertain the facts. 
 
 Large and expensive dwellings exceeding in value the average 
 structures of the neighborhood, erected by individuals of ex- 
 ceptional wealth or folly, may be actually unsalable in case of 
 the death or failure of the owner, and a moral hazard may grow 
 out of the inability of the heirs of an estate to realize their share 
 of such structures, in which case the temptation to sell them to 
 the insurance companies is great. Where a dwelling exceeds in 
 value, by more than 50$, the average of those in its vicinity it 
 would be difficult to find a purchaser in case the owner should 
 w ish to sell, or in case he should die and his estate should have 
 to be divided. 
 
 Large so called ' "palatial residences'' sometimes approach the 
 physical hazard of summer hotels, and fires have been discovered 
 burning br.'skly in one portion of the building while the inmates 
 in another portion were entirely ignorant of the fact. Losses 
 are generally total.* In "boom" towns expensive dwellings are 
 often erected for speculative purposes, to add to the value of 
 surrounding property for sale, and are poor risks. Refer all 
 dwellings in cities, exceeding $50,000 in value, to the company, 
 and, also, country or suburban dwellings exceeding 820.000 in 
 value, before binding a line on them. 
 
 Season dwellings — Summer or Winter. A moral hazard is fre- 
 quently involved in these, especially on a yielding sea-shore, 
 where the cost of bulkheads for protection from storms is some- 
 
 *A five year fire record of the class within a radius of 2~> miles of the City 
 of New York, made by me, showed losses of $1,000,000, or $200,000, per annum. 
 This would have required a yearly premium of §360,000 for a 55% loss ratio. 
 The class did not yield one-half that sum at the prevailing rates, which proved 
 inadequate. 
 
( AMP MEETING GROUND DWELLINGS. 61 
 
 times an onerous burden. Mutual exposure, also, is an impor- 
 tant factor, where they are near together. 
 
 Camp-Meeting ground dwellings. These have not been profitable. 
 They should be referred to the company before the insurance is 
 made binding - . They should pay at least two per cent, annually. 
 Their mutual exposure is serious, owing* to proximity, and the 
 question of line is an important matter, as well as the question 
 of rate. For the reason that they are seldom looked after with 
 sufficient care to prevent their ignition from forest and grass 
 fires in the vicinity, and that they offer opportunities for whole- 
 sale destruction by mischievous or malicious incendiaries, ex- 
 perience shows that they generally all burn together. 
 
 The question of line on unoccupied risks of this character, 
 mutually exposing each other, should be carefully considered. 
 Underwriters are apt to regard the question of line as dependent 
 entirely for its solution on the distance between various risks 
 insured. Where these risks are vacant, however, they may 
 practically become one hazard if a designing incendiary should 
 determine to set fire to all of them, no matter how far separated. 
 Therefore, the incendiary hazard should never be lost sight of 
 in considering mutual exposures, especially of vacant property. 
 
PHYSICAL HAZARD. 
 
 Having dwelt at such length upon the moral hazard, we will 
 now proceed to consider the physical hazard and those dangers 
 which are to he found in all risks, even where the owner is 
 honest and careful, and first as to 
 
 Exposures. All buildings exposing the risk should be carefully 
 inspected, remembering that where an uninsurable hazard ex- 
 poses a risk so that the chances are in favor of both burning to- 
 gether it is wise to decline both. A building not exposed by 
 any other within 100 feet, with a good fire department, or not 
 within 120 feet where there is no fire department, is usually 
 regarded as "detached," and agents are expected to show all 
 risks within that distance on their diagrams ; much greater dis- 
 tances, however, have been found insufficient to ensure safety in 
 dry seasons and with high winds. It will often be found, more- 
 over, that an < ibjectinnable special hazard or manufacturing risk, 
 though not within hundreds of feet of a risk, still exposes it by 
 reason of intervening buildings, lumber piles, etc. Where this 
 is the case the diagram should correctly show the intervening 
 buildings and the lumber piles, with their size and height; and 
 an honest agent will not content himself with merely answering 
 the questions in surveys and daily reports as to risks within 100 
 feet. The experience of companies shows that too much atten- 
 tion cannot be paid to outlying exposures, and to the direction 
 and force of the prevailing winds of a locality. Lumber yards 
 are bad exposures, for, in a high wind, burning boards and 
 shingles are often carried to great distances. 
 
 The inexcusable shortsightedness of some municipal author- 
 ities as to the danger of outlying exposures costs the country, 
 every year, millions of dollars. It was a lamentable reflection 
 upon the intelligence of a great city that a vicious cow, in a 
 frame shanty, with a single kick, could inflict a loss of over one 
 hundred millions of dollars upon the citizens of Chicago, and, 
 
FOREST FIRES, FRAME ROWS, ETC 
 
 63 
 
 through the distributing medium of insurance, upon the whole 
 country. 
 
 As I write, news conies of the destruction of Jacksonville. 
 Florida. (May 3, 1901) and a loss of fifteen millions of dollars, 
 in substantial warehouses, costly dwellings, handsome churches 
 and other property, due to a fire starting in a factory for drying 
 the Southern vegetable moss for upholstering cheap furniture. 
 Fire had started repeatedly in this structure, and the employees 
 were in the habit of extinguishing it day by day. At last, it got 
 beyond control, catching from a single spark at noonday. The 
 result was the destruction of a city. But how lamentable that 
 this peril had existed so long and had been ignored by municipal 
 authorities, citizens and underwriters! 
 
 Similar situations of cheap, dangerous outlying exposures 
 can be found in scores of cities, but will probably not be dis- 
 covered until life and property have been sacrificed. Are not 
 the underwriters of a city under obligation to their fellow- 
 citizens of other callings to study the fire hazards of their city, 
 so as to point out its dangers, in compliance with that law of 
 community which makes it the duty of each individual to give 
 his fellows of other callings the benefit of what he has learned 
 in the pursuit of bis particular business? 
 
 Buildings with shingle roofs, barns and stacks of hay and straw 
 near railroads are poor risks, owing to the danger from flying 
 sparks, either from locomotives or from steam vessels on water 
 fronts. 
 
 Forests and prairies are sometimes serious exposures to build- 
 ings near them, on account of sweeping fires to which they are 
 liable. Barns and hay stacks exposed to prairie fires are not 
 profitable risks, and few companies will accept insurance on 
 prairie hay in stacks, unless removed to the barn-yard. It is 
 seldom of much value, and when stacked where cut is liable to 
 prairie fires. 
 
 Frame rows and ranges. These are subject to the dangers of 
 the worst building in the row. whether the hazard be moral or 
 physical, and the agent should not content himself with examin- 
 ing the particular building in which he proposes to take in- 
 surance. Buildings, of course, are less desirable than grade 
 floor stocks, which can be saved by removal, although a rate 
 
(54 
 
 BRICK BUILDINGS IN FRAME ROW'S. 
 
 measuring the difference between the building and the stock 
 could easily be computed. It should be remembered, too, that 
 although a grade stock may be removed, it is often, where the 
 rate is high, insured for so small a percentage of value that, 
 unless there is an 80$ co-insurance clause in the policy, what- 
 ever salvage is secured by carrying out goods will be found to 
 belong to the owner and not to the insurance company. 
 
 Buildings in frame rows are liable to deteriorate rapidly and 
 to become, in time, occupied by second and third rate tenants, 
 for which reason, also, buildings are always worth more than 
 the stocks. 
 
 The stocks in end buildings of frame rows are the most desi- 
 rable, for obvious reasons. 
 
 Brick buildings in frame rows, unless almost fireproof, with 
 blank fire walls at least 18 inches thick extending beyond the 
 rear and front of the frames, with metal cornice and roof, and 
 no woodwork exposed, are unprofitable risks at the rates usually 
 obtained for them. They are more than likely to burn with the 
 frames, especially if the latter are over one-story high, and 
 should not be insured at a much lower rate, whereas the most 
 inexcusable and ridiculous discrimination in favor of such build- 
 ings is usually made. In fact, a brick building, with a shingle 
 roof, wood cornice, or windows in side walls unprotected by fire 
 shutters, is little, if any, better than the frames on either side, 
 and, at the usual difference in rate, an intelligent insurance 
 company would prefer a smaller amount in the frames, the 
 moral hazard being the same. 
 
 Omnibus blocks, subdivided only by lath and plaster stud parti- 
 tions, with numerous tenants, seldom pay adequate rates, and 
 should be regarded as one risk, liable to be totally destroyed 
 if a fire should start in any section. The line for the whole block 
 should not exceed one-half that of a first-class single occupancy 
 building, because the chances of fire starting are greater and the 
 probabilities of extinguishment less. Indeed, few classes of 
 risks are more undesirable at current and obtainable rates. 
 They are very apt to have one or more vacant rooms or stores, 
 which are sometimes hired for short periods by objectionable 
 tenants, such as itinerant vendors of patent rights for explosive 
 kerosene oils, gasolene gas machines, vapor lamps, &c, &c, 
 
WOODEN CORNICES, ETC. 
 
 65 
 
 which are on exhibition by day and night. The upper floors 
 will ho found to have tenants careless as to ashes. Kerosene 
 lamps on brackets in hallways are apt to be neglected ; and a 
 proper charge for the number of tenants alone, if all were safe 
 and desirable parties, would result in a rate double that usually 
 obtained. 
 
 The mutual exposure of brick or stone buildings situated in contact 
 but at right angles to each other, even though separated by a fire 
 wall extending through the roof, is sometimes very serious by 
 reason of the windows in the angle or corner, and is much 
 greater than where buildings are constructed in a continuous 
 straight line. Such mutually exposed windows should be pre- 
 lected with fire shutters. In many cases a group of buildings 
 so constructed, as in the case of mills or other manufactories, 
 built in the form of a hollow square, though otherwise divided 
 and intended to he separate risks, become virtually one 
 hazard, and lines and rates should be regulated accordingly. 
 
 Narrow streets and streams of water are often erroneously re- 
 garded by inexperienced agents as cutting off all danger from 
 exposures beyond them. 
 
 Petroleum yards, refineries, warehouses and petroleum piers, 
 from which petroleum is loaded on vessels or cars, are very 
 dangerous exposures, and no ordinary exposure distance is the 
 measure of safety. A fire occurred at the harbor of New York, 
 caused by a careless sailor striking a match in the cabin of a 
 schooner, laden with oil, in which, contrary to regulation, the 
 cabin and forecastle were below deck. The cabin was filled 
 with vapor from the oil, and the ensuing fire destroyed the 
 warehouse, four or five vessels, and many thousand barrels of 
 oil; and the burning oil, floating on the /rata-, set fire from 
 below to (ipier which tens filled with tobacco, cotton and 
 other valuable nierchaudi.se, more than 400 feet distant from 
 the one first burned. 
 
 Wooden cornices. Hollow, wooden cornices sometimes serve 
 to connect an entire block of brick or stone buildings which 
 would otherwise be separate risks, so as to make them virtually 
 one hazard. In case of fire in one of such a row of buildings, 
 they conceal the creeping of flame to the roof timbers of those 
 adjoining. In this way the entire structure of a roof may be- 
 
66 EMPTY BOXES, RUBBISH, ETC., IN REAR YARDS. 
 
 come hopelessly on fire before the fact can be discovered by fire- 
 men in the street below, the flame being out of sight and out of 
 reach of water from the engines. 
 
 It may be questioned if massive, hollow, wooden cornices are 
 not more objectionable than shingle roofs, since the latter do not 
 conceal the fire which ignites them externally. Indeed, a brick 
 block may become as dangerous as a frame row by reason of 
 wooden cornices. Such faulty architecture is to be deprecated. 
 It certainly is not ornamental, and violates the rules of good 
 taste not less than those of safety. It is a peculiarity of Ameri- 
 can architecture to be corrected only by the united efforts of 
 underwriters, builders and architects. Where new buildings 
 are being erected in a town, the local board of underwriters 
 should protest against such serious faults of construction, and 
 the system of rating should fix a penal charge large enough to 
 he deterrent. It frequently happens that an owner is ignorant 
 of the objection to them, and when informed that he will have 
 to pay a penalty in higher rates, each year for the entire life of 
 the structure, he will dispense with them. They should never 
 he lost sight of in estimating the hazard of an exposure or in 
 considering the important question of line. 
 
 Empty boxes, barrels, old lumber and rubbish in the rear yards of 
 buildings. The accumulation of piles of empty boxes, rubbish, 
 hay, straw, and other packing material, in the rear yards of 
 buildings, often in contact with the buildings themselves, tends 
 to the spread of conflagrations in cities and towns. Such c< >11< sc- 
 tions offer ready fuel to falling sparks and burning shingles, 
 and buildings of substantial construction, with metal roofs, 
 which might reasonably be considered fireproof externally, suc- 
 cumb to these ''attacks in the rear." 
 
 At a large fire in Springfield, Mass., in May, 1875, Hurlbert's 
 granite-fronted building, and other first-class brick buildings 
 blocks away from the scene of the fire, were ignited and de- 
 stroyed in this manner. A sweeping fire in the city of Fargo. 
 Dakota, was due to this fault, and cost the Continental In- 
 surance Company nearly forty thousand dollars, other com- 
 panies suffering in proportion. 
 
 If fires from these causes had been eliminated from the profit 
 and loss account of insurance companies there is little doubt 
 
EXPOSURES ()K INKLAMMABLE CONTENTS. 
 
 thai they would have made a profit on their business as a result 
 of the correction of lliis fault alone. Legislation, municipal and 
 State, should be directed to the evil ; and any system of rating 
 which does not impose a penal charge for it is grossly defective. 
 The "Universal Schedule*' makes a charge for this fault under 
 its "Faults of Management," as well as for the accumulation of 
 rubbish in cellars and other portions of the building. 
 
 Receptacles for waste, rubbish, etc. These should always be of 
 metal — never of wood — and they should be emptied every night 
 and never left in the building. An old-fashioned cast-iron 
 kettle, with legs and a metal cover, is a safe receptacle for oily 
 waste or rubbish, which is liable to ignite spontaneously. All 
 rubbish should be treated as dangerous. 
 
 Large accumulations of empty kerosene and naphtha barrels, 
 especially, are serious exposures, but are frequently overlooked 
 as such by underwriters in inspecting risks. 
 
 The system of charging for exposures in the Universal Mer- 
 cantile Schedule will be found to take into account all of those 
 considerations which any intelligent underwriter would weigh 
 carefully in making his rate. Agents sometimes overlook the 
 danger to stone fronts of buildings, especially of cut stone or 
 ornamental carving, which may be severely, if not irreparably, 
 damaged by the heat of a fire on the opposite side of the street. 
 
 The damage of $70,000 to the ornamental marble front of the 
 Home Life "fireproof" building by the fire of December 4. 1898, 
 in New York, is a forceful illustration of this feature. 
 
 Livery stables are frequently serious exposures to mercantile 
 buildings in towns, especially if over one-story high, and if hay 
 or straw in any large quantity is kept. They will not infre- 
 quently be found extending behind and exposing the rear of 
 an entire brick block. 
 
 Buildings containing stocks of agricultural implements, 
 wooden-ware, lumber, veneers, high-wines, oils, and othei 
 combustible and ignitible materials, offering substantial fuel 
 to flame should be regarded as more serious exposures than 
 those containing less inflammable merchandise. Of the special 
 hazards or manufacturing risks, woodworkers are of course, 
 serious exposures, not only because of the frequency of their 
 burning, but on account of the intensity of their fires. 
 
EXPOSURE DISTANCES, DIAGRAMS, ETC 
 
 The exposure caused by a frame building to one of brick <>r 
 stone adjoining it is inure serious if the fnune extends beyond 
 the line of its rear wall. It is difficult fur firemen under such 
 circumstances to prevenl a fire in the frame from working its 
 way through the rear w indows of the brick building, unless 
 such windows are protected by fire shutters. No woodwork 
 should be exposed on the rear walls of brick buildings in such 
 eases. 
 
 Wholesale drug stores are very objectionable exposures, 
 owing not only to their liability to take fire but also to the ex- 
 plosive character of many of the substances kept. It is question- 
 able as to what thickness of wall is sufficient to confine a fire 
 in such a stock. 
 
 It is, probably, unnecessary to mention other objectionable 
 risks, as the agent will find them treated of specifically else- 
 where, 1113" purpose in this connection being to call attention 
 only to those most commonly overlooked. 
 
 The problem of estimating the danger of fire from the ex- 
 posure of other buildings in the vicinity is one requiring careful 
 thought and study and knowledge of the experience of com- 
 panies. The freaks of wind currents, while quite often operat- 
 ing to save structures of the flimsiest character when more 
 substantial buildings are totally destroyed, as in the case of the 
 great Chicago, Boston and Troy fires, result sometimes in the 
 burning of buildings owing to fires in small structures whose 
 proximity is not regarded as a menace. The following dia- 
 grams, which the writer has collected and preserved show the 
 course of conflagrations and will be found interesting and in- 
 structive: Probably no underwriter would have given much 
 for the chances of the frame building at Keokuk, Iowa, which 
 escaped destruction by the burning of the brick and frame block 
 twenty feet distant; nor would anyone have supposed that the 
 awnings, in the case of the Willow, Cal., block, would have 
 caused the destruction of so many brick buildings. This in- 
 stance fully justifies the charge for awnings in the Universal 
 Mercantile Schedule. An entire one-story brick block was de- 
 stroyed in Pensacola, Florida, some years ago, from this same 
 cause. The Continental lost 818,000, and other companies in 
 proportion. 
 
FRESNO 
 
 MARIPOSA 
 
 FresaoCoJ. 
 
 Fir* Ju/y /8«9 
 
 Breujstens. A/.Y 
 
 Car/in vil/e. I//s . 
 
 i. 
 
 / Hand ^nairje, 
 
 I Hocyc L odder* T/t . 
 
 MCH.Z' 1880. 
 t A.M. 
 
 PUBLIC sq. 
 
 + 
 
 USafcr- 
 aootl 
 
 I /l ties noh 
 
 I Steam Snqine. 
 
 a 
 
 J Hon J Srjoi/jm 
 u/tjrcJf tu+f out- of 
 
 SECOND 
 
 f Teo/vhfc Iowa . 
 
 Fife /TiayejejS £Jo MAK. 
 
 WATER. '•OOO. 
 
VP 
 
 C/3 
 e 
 
 The diagram of Macon. Ga., above affords an illustration of the^ 
 importance of calculating exposure charges, and the objections to mansard^ 
 roofs. It is taken from ihe Insurance Map, and shows a large brick hotel, - '- 
 which was destroyed by a fire starting in a small one-story frame barber 
 shop, notwithstanding that Macon had five steam (ire engines in its depart- 
 ment at the time. The fire occurred April lb. 1878. Probably few agents 
 or special agents of those who inspected the hotel building ever regarded 
 the small one story trame barber shop as an exposure to It. 
 
 " 8 2* Sullivan. Ind.*- 
 
 SAL. 
 
 , FURN. 8, CARPETS. 
 
 D. G 
 
 . a clo. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 HIllllliN 
 
 SYCAMORE ST. 
 
FIRE SHUTTERS, WIRE GLASS, ETC 
 
 The destruction of the buildings buraed at Fresno, Cal., illus- 
 trates the danger of brick and frame buildings intermingled, 
 hut ought not to excite surprise, since the arrangement of 
 wooden buildings among the brick dors not differ from that 
 usually employed for kindling a stove tire. 
 
 Fire shutters. These while admirable for protecting a build- 
 ing against tire in another building, may be a positive dis- 
 advantage in the light of observed records. to the extent that 
 they conceal a fire from outside observation. They should, in 
 fact, never be employed unless there is an exposure. The usual 
 method of treating them in some rating schedules, by charging 
 for their absence, is radically incorrect. They are actually a 
 disadvantage where there is no exposure, and their desirability 
 from an underwriter's viewpoint should be determined entirely 
 by the character of the exposure to which they interpose an 
 obstruction. And yet not a few of the tariffs of the country 
 charge for absence of fire shutters a round figure of live cents, 
 which would imply that a building flouting on a street with a 
 park opposite would be charged a, material figure for a feature 
 which would be a positive disadvantage and which should really 
 be treated as a fault of management. 
 
 "Within stone"s throw of the place where T am writing is the 
 block of New York buildings facing on Broadway, between 
 Wall and Pine Streets, with Trinity Church-yard opposite. A 
 greater number of persons probably pass this block every twenty- 
 four hours than any other point in the United States, In view 
 of the facts, how ridiculous would it be to insist upon iron 
 shutters to the plate glass windows, which would, otherwise, 
 insure almost instantaneous discovery of a fire starting inside 
 the structures! And yet many schedules throughout the 
 country would impose a penalty of a five-cent charge for their 
 omission. 
 
 To the argument that the iron shutter is a protection against 
 burglars, it would be sufficient to say that a burglar likes noth- 
 ing better than an iron shutter to darken the room in which he 
 is operating. It does not prevent his getting in, and it secures 
 him from observation after he is in. 
 
 Wire glass is an admirable protection against an exposure fire, 
 even a few feet distant, especially when the mullions and sash 
 
To 
 
 EXPOSURES. 
 
 frames are incombustible and when the glass is arranged double, 
 with ;m air space between. It is claimed that heavy plate glass 
 in small panes, with metal sash, will also resist fire for ;t much 
 lunger time than is sometimes necessary to protect a building 
 from an exposing fire. Thin wire glass, however, even when 
 double, is not equal to the "Underwriters" tin-covered fire 
 shutter, when exposed directly to the full force of fiame. 
 W rite for National Board Specifications as to wire glass. 
 
 Safe exposure distances are generally underestimated. Burn- 
 ing planks and shingles have been carried across wide rivers 
 and over intervening spaces of half a mile. Such distances, 
 however, ought not to be regarded as other than exceptional, 
 and it would he impracticable to have rates graded for them; 
 hut in the case of large buildings filled with combustible con- 
 tents, like oils, furniture, &c., ordinary exposure distances of 
 a hundred feet, even with a good fire department, are not suf- 
 ficient to insure safety. At the great fire in New York April 
 19, 1889, from 59th Street to 65th Street and North River, 
 which destroyed several piers, a large lard oil refinery, storage 
 stores, and elevators A and B of the New York Central Rail- 
 road Company, the heat from the burning oil, warehouse and 
 storage store ignited and burned the elevators 175 feet distant. 
 'This fire, also, demonstrated the danger of burning oil while 
 floating on harbor water, for it ignited piers from beneath. It 
 also demonstrated the inefficiency of fire doors, already referred 
 to, for preventing oil fires passing from one building to an- 
 other. The fire loss in this ease was nearly three millions of 
 dollars, and some companies had exceptionally large lines, 
 having overlooked the hazards referred to. 
 
 It is generally and erroneously supposed that the greatest 
 danger of sweeping fires is in the winter, when intense cold 
 makes it difficult to handle apparatus; but such is not the case, 
 if experience is to be relied upon. No large, sweeping con- 
 flagration ever occurred in intensely cold weather, with the 
 single exception of the great New York fire of December Hi, 
 1S45, where exploding saltpetre extended the area of combust- 
 ion. Such fires are most dangerous after a hot summer, when 
 everything is dry, in September, October or November, and 
 when the heat of a fire would affect surrounding buildings just 
 as it would individuals. One can stand nearer a hot fire on an- 
 
CHARGES FOR EXPOSURES. 
 
 ; 1 
 
 intensely cold winter day than in midsummer, and so can a 
 building. Moreover, the water thrown by engines to protect 
 surrounding buildings is apt to freeze on their fronts and offers 
 a valuable fire screen. Fires in single buildings, however, are 
 apt to be destructive, because of want of water and inability 
 to handle them where intense cold interferes with the efforts 
 of firemen ; and tor this reason single fires in winter, confined to 
 the buildings themselves, often result in larger percentage 
 damage to the structures themselves and their contents. 
 
 This view of wilder fires did not occur to me until suggested 
 by my old friend, Mr. C. B. Whiting, President of the Orient 
 Insurance Company, witli whom I was, one day, discussing 
 the conflagration hazard. 
 
 What seem to me erroneous methods of estimating the hazard 
 of exposures have prevailed in various sections of the country. 
 One is to charge for a brick risk of minimum hazard exposed 
 by one of maximum hazard, at a- distance of ten feet or less, 
 the full rate of the maximum hazard. This is manifestly in- 
 correct, especially if the two risks are under the protection of a 
 fire department, for it ignores the fact, already elsewhere stated, 
 that, under the protection of a good city fire department, 15% 
 of the fires in brick buildings are under $100, and the minor 
 hazard would clearly escape all the partial fires of this character, 
 so that this fact alone would warrant a lower rate. 
 
 Moreover, study of the exposure diagrams which are else- 
 where exhibited in this book, indicates that, with varying con- 
 ditions of wind, or perhaps by the operation of what might 
 be called luck, even frame buildings, like that at Keokuk, la., 
 sometimes escape when brick buildings are totally destroyed. 
 In the case of the great Chicago fire, and in the case of the 
 great Troy, N. Y. , fire, frame buildings stood intact, in the 
 midst of surrounding desolation where the heat had been 
 sufficient to draw the pitch from knots in their weatherboard- 
 ing. If frame buildings escape in this incomprehensible man- 
 ner, owing to eddies and air currents which save them from 
 the heat and ignition, brick buildings are more likely to be 
 saved. 
 
 On the other hand, in many systems for rating exposures a 
 uniform percentage of the exposure rate, whatever it may be. 
 
72 
 
 CHARGES FOR EXPOSURES. 
 
 is added to that of the risk exposed. This is approximate^ 
 correct only in the case of exposures of nearly the same rate as 
 the exposed risk. Where, however, the rate of the exposure 
 indicates a greal degree of what is called the " ignitibility " 
 and "combustibility" hazard, the pro-rata percentage addition 
 is not sufheient . 
 
 For example, in the Exposure Schedule which I computed 
 to be used in connection w ith the Iniversal Schedule, the ex- 
 posure of a Y/c risk to a K risk at ten feet distant, with open- 
 ings in both buildings, is is cents, or L8# of the exposing 
 hazard. But the exposure to a K risk by a 7$ risk, at the 
 same distance, would be not 1.26 (18$ of 7?«), but 3.42, which 
 added to the r. of the risk to be rated would make the two 
 risks respectively 4.42 and 7.18.* This result is reached by 
 treating each 100 cents of excess in rate a? a separate K ex- 
 posure witli cumulative effect, each \', representing a layer of 
 extra hazard (see explanation in the Schedule). At these two 
 figures, viz., 4.42 and . IS. it would be a matter of indifference 
 to an experienced underwriter as to which risk he should take, 
 whereas if only i s-; pro-rata of the W risk (the same percentage 
 as is taken for the 1', exposure), or 1 .2U, should be added to the 
 1$ risk, the resulting rate would be 2.26 for the exposed risk 
 against 7$ for the exposure. At this difference, an experienced 
 underwriter would take a small line on the 7% risk and decline 
 the 2.26 risk. 
 
 Again, a 7% risk exposing a 7$ risk, by the same table, would 
 add only 1.26, which would be the mutual exposure of the two 
 risks to each other, and each would be s.->r,, at ten feet distant, 
 with openings. 
 
 It will thus be seen that a 7% risk exposes a Ifc risk by a 
 greater amount than would be added to a 1 % risk ; and the ex- 
 planation is obvious and simple. It is this: An approximate 
 test of the sufficiency of an exposure charge of two buildings, 
 with a ten-foot separation and openings in both exposed walls, 
 would be to compute the rate of the two buildings as if they 
 were one risk, with the combined areas, additional tenants, 
 additional staircases, &c, &c. This would imply, of course, 
 that the l^area and cubic contents of the if building should be 
 brought to tlie hazard of the 7% building. 
 
 *7% -\- 18 cents for the K exposure. 
 
EXPOSURES TO FIREPROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Let us lake, for example, two buildings of 5,000 square feel 
 of area, (50 x LOO) ; it' they should adjoin, with doors cut through 
 on every door, any experienced underwriter would bring the 1 ■ 
 building up to the rate of the 7$ building. This would require 
 a greater addition to the l'< rate than the pro-rata of the 7% 
 hazard. In tin- case just cited, it would be 'i.4'.'; whereas if 
 both were "l'<\ the area of the exposed building ten feet distant 
 being already rated at the proper figure to measure its igniti- 
 bility and combustibility, there would need to be added only 
 the charge for increased area, (10,000 square feet) additional 
 staircases, elevators, tenants, &C, &C. 
 
 I think this demonstration of the matter would satisfy any- 
 one as to the correctness of the principle on which the exposure 
 tables have been computed. 
 
 The system of charging for exposures in another portion of 
 this work (for which see "('barge for Exposures" in index) has 
 been carefully computed and will, it is believed, correctly 
 measure the danger to buildings of ordinary construction The 
 table for computing exposures has not yet been arranged for 
 fireproof structures. 
 
 Exposures to Fireproof Buildings. Probably no class of risks 
 is more inadequately treated in the matter of computing the 
 danger from exposures than fireproof buildings, because rating 
 bureaus so frequently overlook the obvious fact that plate glass 
 and wooden window frames and sash are not fireproof, and that 
 a so-called fireproof building offering nothing more substantial 
 to an outside fire than plate glass has no greater fire-resisting 
 propei'ties than an ordinary show-case would present. More 
 than 75$ of the "fireproof" structures of the country have win- 
 dow openings to the extent of from -KK to of the superficial 
 area of each enclosing wall without fireproof shutters. Heat 
 from a burning building across a wide street finds ready en- 
 trance through such openings, and the various fireproof floors 
 serve only to hold, like a great gridiron, ignitible merchandise in 
 the most favorable form of distribution for ignition and combus- 
 tion, to the full force of an outside fire. If fire once secures 
 entrance to a fireproof building through the windows of any 
 story, the contents of such story, especially if at a great height 
 from the ground, are almost certain to be destroyed ; and the 
 
FIREPROOF BUILDINOS AS EXPOSURES. 
 
 danger of ignition is greater where the fireproof structure is 
 liigher than the one which is burning. If any underwriter 
 were estimating the proper charge for the danger to a frame 
 building lie would not overlook the fad in fixing bis rate; and 
 yet the plate glass windows and wooden frames and sash of a 
 fireproof building do not interpose any better protection than 
 wooden clapboards or shingles. Nearly all the serious losses 
 in fireproof buildings to date have been caused, not by interior 
 fires, but by exposure tires; notably the Home Building, in 
 Pittsburg, burned by the destruction of the Jenkins grocery: 
 the Home Life Building, in New York, burned December A. 
 L898, by the ad joining mercantile building; (see pages 121, L22) 
 the Manhattan Savings Bank Building, burned November 4. 
 1885, by a fire across the street; (see page 12:3) the Temple 
 Court Building, New York, suffering serious damage by fire 
 entering the windows of one story from those below through 
 the court, &c, &c. 
 
 Fireproof Buildings as exposures. A fireproof building, on the 
 other hand, is not a serious exposal " to others, because the heat 
 of its burning contents would not escape from openings of the 
 size of windows with sufficient intensity or volume to damage 
 a structure a few feet away, on the principle that a stove, even 
 at white beat, does not permit sufficient heat to escape from its 
 open door to endanger substances a few feet away. The maxi- 
 mum danger point of a burning building is when its walls and 
 floors collapse and allow the escape of enormous heat suddenly 
 released with an intensity sufficient to shrivel up surrounding 
 structures, unless of unusual fire-resisting construction. 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF BUILDINGS. 
 
 This, it is unnecessary to say, is an important subject, in- 
 volving - questions of resistance to fire, as well as weight-carry- 
 ing capacity, and, therefore, problems of engineering, as well as 
 of architecture. 
 
 The best fire-resisting material for walls, it may safely be 
 asserted, is hard-burned brick. It is also the best material for 
 the floor arches between the iron beams of fireproof buildings. 
 It is incomparably better than stone, because stone is utterly 
 unreliable for resisting fire, especially the lime stones, granites, 
 marbles, &c. In fact, stone is a dangerous material wherever 
 it is subjected to fire and water and carries a heavy, super- 
 imposed weight. After the great Boston fire, granite piers and 
 columns were shoveled up like so much sand. Notwithstanding 
 these facts, stone enters into most ordinary structures to the 
 extent of being incorporated as important members of piers and 
 walls. In some cases piers or columns are built entirely of stone. 
 Such architecture is almost certain to result in disaster, espec- 
 ially where stone is a weight-carrier and is located in the interior 
 of a building and subjected to the combustion of surrounding 
 merchandise. In the outer walls of a, building it is not so 
 dangerous, although almost certain to be defaced in a facade to 
 the extent of requiring replacement. In interior construction, 
 even where bond stones and cap stones are used only in brick 
 piers, it may wreck the building. 
 
 The illustrations from photograph reproductions of brick piers 
 in the Cammeyer Building, New York, almost ruined by afire, 
 show this danger. The cap stones and the bond stones were 
 of granite and nearly two feet in thickness. They were cracked 
 by the intense heat and the application of water and then failed 
 to answer their purpose, which, of course, Avas to distribute 
 their load over the entire surface of the pier. The result was 
 
CAMMEYER BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
 
 FIRE, JANUARY 18, 1899. 
 
 DAMAGED BRICK PIER SHOWING EFFECT OF FIRE ON STONE CAP AND BOND STONES- 
 INTEGRITY OF PIER LOST. 
 
77 
 
CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 that the weight of the girder and its load fell upon a smaller 
 section of the brickwork, the latter yielded, as shown by the 
 ( racks, and but for the admirable work of the New York Fire 
 Department, and also for the fact that the basement, fortu- 
 nately, was not tilled with more combustible merchandise than 
 boots and shoes in cases, the central girder would have come 
 down, with its entire load, wrecking the building. 
 
 The combustion in this case was not of sufficient intensity 
 even to destroy all of the wooden cases nor all of the merchan- 
 dise. In the same room with these piers were naked six-inch 
 cast-iron columns, which carried their loads without yielding. 
 It seems to me it would he hard to find a better illustration of 
 the danger of using stone for either bonds or caps in important 
 weight carrying piers than this fire affords. 
 
 One "f the most convincing evidences of the utter unreli- 
 ablity of stone, especially granite or marble, for building pur- 
 poses, was observed in Washington at the time of the inaugu- 
 ration ceremonies of March, 1901. A large granite post, four 
 feet square, at the entrance to the grounds of the War Depart- 
 ment was ruined by the burning of a light wooden stand erected 
 tor observing the procession. When the small amount of fuel 
 is taken into consideration, and the fact that this stone column 
 stood out of doors, with a free circulation of air. where the fire 
 department could work to the best advantage, with the result 
 that it dissolved like so much loaf sugar, one can readily im- 
 agine what would be the consequences of relying on just such a 
 sturdy column located in a cellar, surrounded with inflammable 
 material on fire, and carrying the weight of a building. 
 
 The apathy of building departments, of architects, masons 
 and legislators and of some underwriters, in this matter of the 
 danger of stone as a building material, is utterly incomprehen- 
 sible to me. If columns in a building were constructed of 
 glass or of porcelain there would be an immediate outcry; and 
 yet well annealed glass, terra cotta or porcelain would actually 
 stand the effect of fire and water for a longer time, probabh*, 
 than granite or mai'ble columns. 
 
 Some day, a terrible loss of life, due to this strange dis- 
 regard of the laws of safety, will educate the community to 
 the danger to which I have called attention, unless, indeed, the 
 
STONK KoNDS AND CAPS. 
 
 79 
 
 fire should destroy all evidence of its cause, as has been the 
 case undoubtedly too often in the past. The Cammeyer Build- 
 in j?, whose granite bonds and caps came so nearly wrecking the 
 structure (Chief Bonner thinks the piers would not have lasted 
 more than half an hour longer), would, in its collapse, have 
 destroyed the evidence of its undoing as surely as the falling 
 temple of Gaza destroyed the Sampson who pulled its pillars 
 from beneath their superimposed load. 
 
 The writer found in the basement of a large, otherwise well 
 constructed building, in St. Louis, a fore and aft girder, on 
 which the floor joists impinged, supported throughout its entire 
 length by stone columns — rough monoliths, just as they came 
 from the quarry. These would unquestionably have yielded to 
 any ordinary fire and let down the structure. The owner was 
 surprised when informed that underwriters would prefer 12- 
 inch wooden columns. A better construction, however, would 
 be cast-iron columns, covered with not less than four inches of 
 incombustible material, like brick or porous terra-cotta. 
 
 As already stated, all ironwork should be protected by in- 
 combustible material, and inasmuch as wrought iron is certain 
 to rust unless kept well painted and oiled, and, therefore, would 
 rust out of sight if covered up, while cast-iron will rust only to 
 the thickness of a knife blade, the latter is a better material 
 for columns, especially where it is to be covered up by fire- 
 proofing. 
 
 Even so eminent an authority as Mr. Edward Atkinson, who 
 has contributed so much to knowledge of construction, in the 
 treatise on standard mill construction of June, 1899, recom- 
 mends boiler iron for bonds in piers. I would advise using 
 cast-iron in all cases, as wrought iron would rust to the point 
 of destruction and injure the integrity of the pier. Cast-iron, 
 also, should alone be used for wall plates or templates. 
 
 There may be said to be four systems of construction: "Fire- 
 proof"; "Slow Burning", or so-called "Mill Construction"; 
 ordinary "Brick, joisted construction", and "Frame". I shall 
 endeavor to treat of each of these, paying due attention to the 
 experience of underwriters as to losses and to the most reliable 
 opinions I have succeeded in getting from engineers, architects 
 and other practical experts. 
 
80 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Tt may be well before treating of these in turn, however, to 
 dwell upon proper rules of masonry which would apply to all; 
 and. first, as to materials. 
 
 Bricks. All bricks should be good. hard, well burned bricks. 
 This may be determined by breaking a Wrick, to see thai the 
 inside is thoroughly burned and hard. In every kiln there is a 
 certain amount of what is known as "pale" or unburned brick. 
 It is unfit for construction. Some bricks, also, have rough 
 surfaces, boils, swells, etc., and do not make a good wall. They 
 should be discarded. 
 
 Sand. The sand used for mortar in all buildings should be 
 clean, sharp, grit sand, free from loam or dirt. This may be 
 tested by rubbing it between the fingers and holding it to the 
 ear, to detect the gritting sound indicative of sharp sand ; or 
 may be determined by examining the grains through a small 
 magnifying glass to see that they have sharp edges, or by 
 rubbing it in the palm of the hand to see that it does not dis- 
 color, which would be an evidence of loam. It is very import- 
 ant to have good sand, else the mortar will not be reliable. As 
 a rule, river sand is bad, too smooth from attrition and should 
 not be used. 
 
 ■•Lime mortar" is made of one part of lime to not more than 
 four parts of sand. The lime should be thoroughly burned, of 
 
 g I quality and properly slaked before it is mixed with the 
 
 sand. It should be slaked in a box made of boards, or planks, 
 with plank bottom, 1'2 inches deep, and water-tight. The lime 
 should be introduced one cask at a time, to which two barrels 
 of water should be applied; the whole covered up until the 
 result is a smooth uniform paste. Lime should not be slaked 
 on the bare ground, and yet this is the common practice; and 
 the water should be added in volume, by upsetting a barrel as 
 quickly as possible. 
 
 The lime should be properly stirred while slaking, and when 
 made in this way may stand for weeks, unless cement is added, 
 in which case it must be used at once. 
 
 It is probable that no feature of construction is so neglected 
 as this simple but vitally important matter of making mortar. 
 It is usually entrusted to an ignorant laborer who knows noth- 
 ing whatever about the matter and cares less. Good mortar 
 
MORTAR, CONCRETE, ETC 
 
 SI 
 
 is a chemical reaction of silica and lime, resulting in "silicate 
 of lime," and is not a mere mechanical mixture, such as must 
 persons suppose it to be. It is vitally important that good lump 
 lime and "sharp" sand should he used (air slaked lime should 
 not he used.) Properly mixed, it will last for years, and is 
 better for use after being kept awhile. Probably the great 
 tenacity of the ancient Roman mortar observable to-day in 
 structures still existing was due to observation of these import- 
 ant precautions. 
 
 -Lime and Cement Mortar." Lime and cement mortar should 
 he mixed one pari cement, three parts sand, and one part lime. 
 
 "Cement Mortar." Cement mortar should be mixed one part 
 of cement and three parts sand. It is stronger if mixed one to 
 two. Where Portland cement is used the test is that it should 
 sustain a, tensile strain of 120 pounds per square inch after 
 being one day in air; and 300 pounds per square inch after one 
 day in air and six days in water. If other than Portland 
 cement mortar is used, it should stand 60 pounds per square 
 inch after one day in air, and 120 pounds per square inch after 
 one day in air and six days in water. 
 
 Concrete. Concrete for foundations or for covering cellar 
 floors should be mixed one part cement, two parts of sand, and 
 five parts of washed gravel, or clean, broken stone of such a 
 size as to pass, in any way, through a two-inch ring. It should 
 be measured accurately, thoroughly mixed dry, before water is 
 added, and should be, when ready for use, capable of standing 
 on a reasonably steep slope without the water running from it. 
 It should then he rammed carefully in place, until the surface 
 is moist, and should be protected from disturbance, by walking 
 or otherwise, for at least twelve hours. 
 
 Although the underwriter is not supposed to keep track of 
 such matters, he can if he will, while watching the processes, 
 do much to secure good masonry and he of practical assistance 
 to his customer, who may he ignorant of such subjects, and so 
 save him from having a poor building, in case his architect is 
 not careful or bis contractor not honest. 
 
 BRICK WALLS. 
 
 Airbricks in walls should he laid carefully, every sixth course 
 
82 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 being a "header" course ; that is, the bricks of each sixth course 
 should be laid with the small end showing in the face of the 
 wall, crossing the course below of the "stretchers," or bricks 
 laid lengthwise with the wall. This ensures a proper "bond". 
 Under no circumstances should a Avail consist entirely of 
 "stretchers". If. however, "face bricks," enameled or other- 
 wise, are employed, a row of headers would be objectionable. 
 In such cases the bond can be secured by clipping off the cor- 
 ners of the stretchers and laying the headers in the angle so 
 that they bond the course below. 
 
 Where beams or girders rest on the bearing walls there should 
 be templates of cast-iron, to distribute the weight, so that the 
 entire weight may not rest on a single brick but be distributed 
 over a considerable surface. This is very important, especially 
 in the case of iron or steel beams. Stone is not good for tem- 
 plates, although generally used. 
 
 A wall should not have a greater percentage than twenty- 
 five per cciil of its superficial area in openings, windows, doors, 
 thin portions, recesses for alcoves, chases or channels for water, 
 gas or other pipes, unless strengthened with piers to make up 
 the difference ; and no chase or channel should be constructed 
 in any pier, nor should a chase be constructed in any wall for 
 more than one-tlu rd of its thickness; and then; should be no! 
 less than eight inches of solid brickwork back of any recess. 
 This is important. 
 
 That portion of a wall which is below the ground, and thai 
 portion which extends above the roof should be laid in cement 
 mortal', but no cement or plaster of Paris, which when used in 
 mortar is known as "gauged mortar," should be used around 
 the ends of "wooden floor beams or girders. Lime mortar does 
 not rot wood nor rust iron ; the lime seems to be a preventive of 
 rust as well as of decay; but cement or plaster of Paris is 
 almost certain to rust iron and rot wood. Dry rot may soon 
 eat off the bearing section of a beam or girder. A building 
 which is being taken down on the opposite side of the street 
 from the building in which I am now writing has been con- 
 structed in this way, and the ends of the floor joists or beams 
 are thoroughly decayed. It is a grave question how much 
 longer they would have lasted, or whether they would have 
 
THICKNESS OF WALLS. 
 
 83 
 
 carried the weights incident to stores or warehouses. The 
 building has been occupied for offices. 
 
 In one instance coming to my attention, where the cracks 
 around the floor joists in the wall of a church had been pointed 
 up with plaster of Paris, the joists rotted to the point of yield- 
 ing under the weight, so that the floor fell. 
 
 The requisite thickness of ;i wall, especially of a hearing 
 wall — i. e., that which carries the floor joists or girders, usually 
 the side walls — depends on its height and length. The Uni- 
 versal Schedule standard wall is 1 2 inches for the thinnest por- 
 tion, at the top, increasing four inches with each story to the 
 bottom; so that a four-story building would have for its fourth 
 story VI inches; third story, Hi inches; second story, 20 inches, 
 and first story 24 inches — an average of is inches. A charge 
 is made for variations from this standard, determined by adding 
 the thickness of the various stories of a building to he rated and 
 dividing by the number. 
 
 Party walls should be four inches thicker than independent 
 walls. 
 
 The New York Building Law rcqiures in a building 60 to 75 
 feet in height, for warehouse or mercantile occupancy, walls 20 
 inches in thickness above the foundation walls to the height of 
 25 feet, or the nearest tier of beams to that height, and thence not 
 less than 10 inches to the top. This would be a good wall, but 
 the advantage of the wall recommended as standard by the 
 Universal Schedule, is that it would present, at each story, a 
 ledge for carrying the floor joists and make unnecessary their 
 insertion for too great a distance in the brickwork ; and, more- 
 over, would present a greater thickness, especially at the bottom, 
 in case of lire in an adjoining building — a very important matter, 
 which architects and builders too frequently overlook. It should 
 bs borne in mind that the thickness of walls recommended by the 
 Universal Schedule is not intended merely for carrying capacity 
 as bearing walls, (a thinner wall would answer for that purpose) 
 but is intended to exclude the heat generated by a fire in an 
 adjoining building, and should be required in the compact por- 
 tions of all cities, where every man should be compelled to build 
 with reference to the safety of his neighbors. Architects and 
 builders generally seem to have in mind only the carrying 
 
S4 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 capacity of walls, and to lose sight of this important fact. As 
 the contents of buildings burn they sink to the bottom, where 
 enormously high temperatures arc sometimes reached, not uu- 
 likc those of an iron forge or smelting furnace. It is for this 
 reason thai walls should increase in thickness as they approach 
 the bottom, on the same principle that smelting furnace walls are 
 thicker at the bottom than at the top. It is the generally 
 accepted opinion that a L2-inch brick wall will prevent the pass- 
 age of fire, but a much thicker wall may fail to confine the heat 
 of a burning building sufficiently to prevent the ignition of com- 
 bustible merchandise or other material in an adjoining building. 
 
 Several years ago a wooden post partially built into the brick- 
 work of a boiler setting in Mill N o. 1 of the Cocheco Woolen 
 Company, at Rochester, N. H., was ignited, although twenty 
 inches of brickwork separated the wood from the inside of the 
 boiler setting. The heat of a burning building would be much 
 greater than that generated in this case, and the instance cited 
 substantiates my claim. 
 
 In an isolated location an owner might well be permitted to 
 construct his walls with reference only to their carrying capacity, 
 but where he builds in the compact pari of a city, storing com- 
 bustible materials from cellar to roof, he should be required so 
 to build that a fire in his premises will not necessarily destr< >y a 
 neighbor's property. He may, with propriety and without in- 
 justice, be compelled to observe a law which will, in view of the 
 fact that the buildings of his neighbors outnumber his own a 
 thousand to one, insure that he will be, in that proportion, the 
 gainer by rules which secure the safety of all though imposing 
 burthens on himself. 
 
 If an architect were required to draw specifications for a 
 building adjoining others, with the knowledge beforehand that 
 its entire contents, from cellar to roof, were to be totally con- 
 sumed, and he were under a bond to pay for damages to sur- 
 rounding properties, he would not be more severe in his exactions 
 than should a building law designed to protect neighborhood 
 rights in the enjoyment of property. A mercantile or man- 
 ufacturing building in combustion sometimes generates a greater 
 heat than a smelting furnace. 
 
 In some of our Western cities the practice is growing of using 
 
Till \ TILE WALLS, STONE WALLS. 
 
 85 
 
 hollow tiling-, 8 inches thick, bonded like ordinary brickwork, 
 for enclosing walls, the weight being carried by iron columns 
 riveted to the beams and girders, making a strong cage-like 
 structure. A tire in such a building would result in the destruc- 
 tion of the thin, 8-inch tilework and would leave the various 
 stories exposed, like that of the Leonard Building, in Detroit, 
 destroyed in < >ctober, L897, which was an example of the great 
 danger of tins style of construction. It was ten stories high, 
 and as fast as the columns or wall girders were warped by the 
 heat the tiling dropped out like loose bricks, leaving the entire 
 structure, after the fire, a ragged cage-work of iron, with very 
 little of the tiling on the enclosing Avails and few of the floors 
 intact. The contents were, of course, totally destroyed. 
 
 Another instance of the destruction of this class of building 
 may he found on page 108. 
 
 If buildings should be constructed on the lines herein laid 
 down the conflagration hazard of cities would be so materially 
 reduced that current rates would afford underwriters a fail- 
 profit . 
 
 Parapet Walls. The walls of a building adjoining another 
 should be carried through and above the roof to the height of 
 one foot (three feet in the case of warehouses,) so as to cut off 
 the roof beams and prevent fire passing from one building to 
 another. The great Boston fire owed its dimensions largely to 
 the fact that whole blocks had been constructed without refer- 
 ence to this important feature. In some cases it was possible to 
 walk from one building to another through common attics 
 throughout an entire block. 
 
 STONE WALLS. 
 
 Stone walls should not he less than IS inches thick in any 
 section, even if the wall is built of coursed stone, with dressed 
 level beds and vertical joints. Stone walls should have "head- 
 ers" at least 12 inches in width and 8 inches in thickness every 
 three feet in height of the wall, extending clear through it. 
 No stones should be used for "stretchers'" that do not bond or 
 extend into the wall at least six inches, and no stone should be 
 laid in a wall in any other position than on its natural bed. 
 The stone should be firmly bedded in cement mortar and all 
 
< ONSTRUCTION. 
 
 spaces and joints thoroughly filled. It requires a much better 
 workman to lay a stone wall than to lay a brick wall, and for 
 tliis reason and fur the further and more important reason that 
 stone, as already explained, yields readily to lire and water, 
 hriek walls are better than stone for fire-resisting purposes. 
 
 FLOOR BEAMS AND JOISTS. 
 
 These should never be less than :>" x 10", spaced 16 inches on 
 centres (which would bring them 1:5 inches apart), "cross- 
 bridged" by "herring-bone'' bridging 2" x 3" every five feet. 
 This makes a rigid floor. 3"x 1 2" joists are preferable to ?>" x 10" 
 and are cheaper in the long run. The size of the beams, bow- 
 ever, should be determined by the clear span and the character 
 of the load. For 10-foot spans, not less than ■>" x L2" should be 
 used in any case. 
 
 CROSS BRIDGING OR STRUTS BETWEEN FLOOR BEAMS. 
 
 All wooden story posts, pillars or columns should be not less 
 than 1 2 inches in diameter. Fire seldom invades a post of this 
 size to a greater depth than two inches, which would leave 
 sufficient weight-carrying capacity to support the superimposed 
 load. 
 
 For mill construction the floor beams, also, should be 12" x 12". 
 
 A mistake frequently made in erecting buildings is to rest 
 floor beams and girders at one end on a brick or stone wall, 
 which when the masonry is set becomes immovable, and the 
 other end on a wooden partition, which will yield as it becomes 
 di ver, from shrinkage, thus disturbing the levels and, in the 
 case of furnace flues or chimney flues, resulting in cracks which 
 may be dangerous, to say nothing of injury to plaster. It is 
 true that wood shrinks very little lengthwise, but there is nearly 
 always, at the top or bottom of a partition, wood in a horizontal 
 position, where the weight is at right angles with the grain or 
 fiber of the wood, and shrinkage will inevitably have the effect 
 described. An insurance agent will prove a good friend to his 
 
EIRE PLACES, TRIMMER ARCHES. 
 
 customer erecting a building if he watches for and points out 
 such faults. 
 
 The ends of all wooden floor and roof beams where they rest 
 in brick walls should be cut to a bevel of three inches of their 
 depth. This would permit of their falling-, in ease of being- 
 burned through in the middle, without prying out the wall; in 
 other words, it would make them "self-releasing."' 
 
 In no ease should the end of a floor or roof beam be supported 
 on stud partitions, except in frame buildings. 
 
 • 
 
 TRIMMER BEAM 
 
 TAILBEAM 
 
 TAILBEAM 
 
 < 
 
 Ld 
 I 
 
 Ld 
 O 
 <t 
 —I 
 Q. 
 Ld 
 CC 
 
 BRICK 
 
 TRIMMER 
 
 TAILBEAM 
 
 TAILBEAM J 
 
 FIRE. PLACE SHOWING HEADER, TRIMMER AND TAIL BEAMS. 
 
 All wooden beams should be "trimmed" away from Hues ia 
 chimneys, whether the same be smoke or hot air. The "trim- 
 mer" beam — i. e. the one that runs parallel with the side of the 
 chimney — should be not less than ten inches from the inside 
 face of the flue and not less than two inches from the outside of 
 the chimney breast, and the header beam not less than twenty 
 inches from the outside face of the brick or stone work of the 
 chimney. If the flue is intended for boilers or furnaces the 
 
CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 trimmer beam should never be less than 10 inches from the 
 inside of the flue. The "header" beam, in front of a fireplace, 
 which supports the trimmer arch and which carries the "tail" 
 beams of the floor, or those beams which arc mortised into it. 
 should be u<>t less than 20 inches from the chimney breast — 24 
 inches would be better. 
 
 Illustration, page 89, shows the proper construction of a flue 
 and the trimmer arch for the hearth. 
 
 The agent should keep supervision of a building- in process of 
 construction, especially as to Hues. 
 
 The wooden centres Tinder the trimmer arches of hearths 
 should be removed before the plastering on the underside of the 
 ceiling below is finished. 
 
 Each tier of beams should be anchored to the side, front, rear 
 or party walls at intervals of not more than six feet apart, with 
 good, strong, wrought-iron, self-releasing anchors not less than 
 I % inches by % inch in size, well fastened to the side of the 
 beam by two or more nails made of wrought-iron at least one- 
 fourth of an inch in diameter. 
 
 Strength of beams.* The safe carrying capacity of wooden 
 beams for uniformly distributed loads is determined by multi- 
 plying the area in square inches by the depth in inches and 
 dividing the product by the span of the beam in feet. This 
 result is multiplied by 
 
 70 for hemlock, 
 
 90 for spruce and white pine, 
 
 120 for oak, 
 
 140 for yellow pine. 
 
 In computing stresses, allowance should always be made for the 
 greater weight of merchandise when soaked with water thrown 
 by a fire department, as already explained — an important matter 
 too frequently overlooked by inspectors. 
 
 Arrangement of merchandise as to overloading. &c. An intelli- 
 gent inspector will examine carefully with regard to the loading 
 of floors. Sometimes the stresses are increased to a point where 
 even sound timber, not invaded by fire, is in danger and, there- 
 fore, to a point where the floor would give way if the beams or 
 girders should be even slightly charred. For heavy machinery, 
 
 *For illustration, see page 605. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A CHIMNEY. 
 
 SECTIONS OF CHIMNEY SHOWING TRIMMER ARCH UNDER HEARTH. 
 PROPER CONSTRUCTION OF FIRE PLACE, FLUE AND 
 FLUE LINING, ASH CHUTE. ETC. 
 
90 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 a building should bo specially constructed, and the strength of 
 materials should resist ;i load of from three hundred to five 
 hundred pounds per square superficial foot. 
 
 In places of public assembly, the loading should be for not 
 less than L20 pounds per square foot, especially in buildings 
 where dancing or other rhythmic movements, or tin; steady 
 drilling of troops, would place an unusual and systematic press- 
 ure' or strain on the floors, like the effect of concussion. It is a 
 known fact that troops are always required to break step when 
 crossing bridges. The difference in strain is practically that 
 of the difference between the pressure of a weight resting 
 quietly on a surface and the strain of the same weight dropped 
 from a height of a foot or two. 
 
 Aisles from Windows. It is important thai merchandise should 
 be so arranged on floors that aisles be left in front of windows, 
 so that a fire starting in the interior may be observed from the 
 outside. Where buildings are located on traveled thorough- 
 fares, an important advantage is lost if a fire cannot be detected 
 by pedestrians at any hour of the day or night. A few years 
 ago the store of Messrs. Balderson & Daggett, on a crowded 
 thoroughfare in Boston, was not discovered at noonday to be on 
 fire until after it had been burning for a considerable time in 
 the interior of the stock. The goods had been so piled as to 
 obscure the windows, and a loss of three hundred thousand 
 dollars resulted. 
 
 Fibre Storage. It is also very important that in fibre stores 
 and warehouses containing cotton, hemp, jute, &c, space 
 should be left between the fibre and the side walls to allow for 
 swelling or expansion when the material becomes wet with 
 water thrown by the fire department. The expansion of fibre 
 where it is packed close is sufficient to push out the side walls 
 of a building and to cause a total loss. 
 
 Floors should be double. So-called "mill construction" or 
 "slow burning" construction would require not less than three 
 inches of solid spruce or other plank, tongued and grooved, a 
 layer of waterproof paper and a floor surface board % inch 
 thick — in all about four inches of solid flooring. 
 
 Tin or sheet-iron dipped in red lead inserted between the floors 
 would make an admirable fire-resistant. 
 
STAIRCASE TREADS, KIRK STOPS, ETC 
 
 01 
 
 "Chases" or "channels"' for pipes, electric-light wires, &c, 
 should be fire-stopped at each story, as already explained under 
 the head of Inspection. In short, for warehouse and mercantile 
 purposes, there is no reason why every floor should not be 
 thoroughly cut off from the other floors; the stairways, ele- 
 vators, &c, being in a hallway separated by a brick partition, 
 with door openings protected by self-closing fire doors. 
 
 Metallic lathing is infinitely preferable to wooden lathing, not 
 only because it is a better fire-resistant, but because it insures 
 good work on the part of the plasterer, who, to get a sufficient 
 "key", must use a proper amount of plaster. It will also stand 
 a greater amount of fire and a greater amount of water without 
 damage than wooden lathing. It is also good for partitions. 
 
 Staircase treads should never be of stone, unless a web of 
 iron is underneath the stone, of sufficient strength to afford a 
 footing for firemen and tenants in case of fire. Stone will yield 
 to fire, and a staircase with such treads would become impass- 
 able early in the fight. In fireproof buildings it is quite com- 
 mon to see staircases with marble or slate treads, let into iron 
 rabbets in an iron frame. They are exceedingly dangerous, 
 unless cut off in a fireproof hall, and even then should be rein- 
 forced with iron treads underneath the stone, as already sug- 
 gested. 
 
 Stair treads might be constructed with iron frames and a fire- 
 proof composition tread, like Lignolith — a composition which 
 can be laid like cement in a plastic state, and sets hard in about 
 twelve hours. It is claimed to be a good filling for fire doors, 
 between two metal sheets; but at this writing I have not learned 
 of any severe test of it in this form. 
 
 Fire Stops. An important requisite in all construction is to 
 provide fire stops, especially in hollow spaces between studs 
 from one story to another, so as to prevent drafts. Solid con- 
 struction is an enemy of fire; hollow construction, affording 
 drafts, its best friend. Staircases, elevators, well-holes, chutes, 
 dumb-waiter shafts and channels for gas, steam or other pipes 
 should be cut off at each story, so that they may not prove con- 
 veyors of flame from one floor to another. In the case of well- 
 holes, this is, of course, impossible, and the result is nearly 
 always the destruction of the building and its contents, as was 
 
92 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 the case in the two fires in the Home building at Pittsburg, as 
 a well-hole simply converts the whole structure into one com- 
 partment, like a cylinder stove. 
 
 The great secret of fire-resisting construction, as heretofore 
 explained, is to avoid drafts and hollow places especially in side 
 walls or partitions. Solid, substantial finish is necessary to pro- 
 duce a standard structure. Hollow spaces are apt to conceal 
 nests of rats and mice, which carry to them oily waste or other 
 dangerous material (even friction matches) to he used in the 
 construction of their nests, which, almost invariably, are placed 
 in the warmest places, sometimes in contact with steam pipes, 
 where spontaneous combustion may result. 
 
 At one of the earliest meetings of the Universal Schedule 
 Committee. Mr. K. C Richards reminded the Committee that 
 the vertical openings of buildings of this character had been 
 important factors in the fire loss, fires seldom passing through 
 floors even of the ordinary character with plastered ceilings 
 below, with such rapidity as to prevent holding the fire until the 
 city fire department can arrive on the ground. 1 was impressed, 
 at the time, with the importance of his suggestion, and have 
 never had reason to regret the method in which the Universal 
 Schedule charges in its rate for these openings from story to 
 story, in items I'm to "i 5 inclusive. 
 
 There is really no reason why all warehouses should not be 
 so constructed as to make each floor a separate fire risk for at 
 least the initial twenty minutes of combustion. This would 
 give the fire department time to locate the fire and get streams 
 upon it, with the chances largely in favor of extinction. If one- 
 half of the annual fires in warehouses could be confined to the 
 floors on which they start, the insurance companies would secure 
 a profit and the loss record of the country would be materially 
 reduced. Of course, this is possible in fireproof construction and 
 in slow-burning construction; but even in ordinary brick build- 
 ings it would be possible, at slight additional expense, to secure 
 construction which would hold a fire, for fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, to the floor on which it starts. It is unnecessary to 
 suggest that every minute gained at the inception of a fire is 
 important. 
 
 Elevators and staircases, as already suggested, may be cut off 
 
WATER PROOF CELLARS. DYNAMO ROOM, ETC 
 
 93 
 
 in a hallway separated by a brick wall, communicating with 
 the rooms by fire doors. This construction, however, is seldom 
 found outside of warehouses. 
 
 Dumb-waiter shafts should be of incombustible material, and 
 should have fireproof doors at each story. 
 
 Cellar Floors. These should be covered with three inches of 
 good concrete, finished with one inch of Portland Cement and 
 sand in the proportion of one of cement to two of sand. 
 
 Concrete cellar floors and foundation walls laid in cement are 
 necessary not merely to insure dryness of the floor and as a 
 precaution against dampness, but as an important protection 
 from a fire viewpoint. In case of fires in neighboring buildings, 
 especially in locations where the soil is sandy, stocks in cellars 
 may be seriously damaged by water. At the great fire in 
 Worth Street, New York, January 17, 1879, the companies had 
 to pay heavy losses by reason of leaking walls. Goods in cellars, 
 hundreds of feet from burned buildings, were damaged by the 
 water thrown by the fire department, which percolated through 
 the cellar floors and the foundation walls. For this reason 
 cellars should be water-proof. The outside of the foundation 
 wall can be protected with a heavy course of strong building 
 paper, well smeared with liquid asphalt, in addition to having 
 the wall laid in cement. 
 
 It is well to have a drain to the sewer, from the cellar, 
 properly trapped, to carry off surplus water. And in case of a 
 steam plant, with force pump, &c, the boiler-room and pump- 
 room should be so arranged that water thrown by the depart- 
 ment on the floors above may be carried off without forcing the 
 engineer to leave his post at an early stage. In order that he 
 may be encouraged to remain to the last, he should have ready 
 access provided for his escape to the street, without making it 
 necessar}' for him to go through the building. 
 
 Grouting. Grouting is liquid cement poured in to fill up the 
 interstices in walls while being laid. It improves brick walls, 
 but is objectionable in stone walls and should not be permitted 
 in them. 
 
 Private Electric Plant. Dynamo-Room. &c. This should be in a 
 dry location, and no water or sprinkler pipes should be allowed 
 to pass over the switchboard. The plan now is to have a water- 
 
04 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 proof hood over the switchboard. A good Hour for a dynamo- 
 room is one made of % inch deck glass, covered with rubber 
 matting, to prevent the man in charge from slipping. He is 
 thus, with glass and rublx r, constantly insulated while working 
 about the dynamo, and the arrangement is preferable to a 
 wooden floor not only for this important reason but, also, because 
 a wooden floor is apt to become oil soaked, while a glass floor 
 can easily be kept clean. 
 
 Vertical Pipes for fire-extinguishing purposes should be from 
 four to six inches in diameter, according to the height of the 
 building, with Siamese connection at the street for the use of 
 the city fire department. They save the time of carrying hose 
 up stairs in case of fire. One six inch riser pipe may be made 
 to do duty for two adjoining buildings or compartments by 
 erecting it in the dividing wall with hose outlets on each side of 
 the wall. The pipe should always be near stair landings, how- 
 ever, so that a play pipe can be held to the last moment. 
 
 Water Tanks for supplying sprinklers or vertical pipes should 
 be supported by brick Avails and iron beams, so arranged that 
 they will hold their places to the last. They usually rest upon 
 the corner of the building. If wedges are used they should be 
 of iron. This is a very important matter. In the case of the 
 "fireproof" Home Building, in Pittsburg, the tank gave way 
 owing to an improper disposition of the beams carrying it. 
 Tanks supported on wooden beams are extremely dangerous. 
 In case of their giving way the enormous weight of the water 
 and tank is liable to wreck the building and endanger the lives 
 of firemen. 
 
 Iron Fronts. Buildings with iron fronts are objectionable 
 when in blocks, because of the usual neglect of builders to fill 
 in the back of the iron with brickwork, as required by most 
 building laws, so as thoroughly to cut off all connection between 
 the two, especially where two buildings adjoin each other, and 
 more particularly in the case of sloping or mansard roofs. At 
 the time of the great dry-goods fire in New York, on the night 
 of January IT, 1879, which destroyed nearly three millions of 
 dollars in value, the writer, standing on the opposite side of 
 Worth Street, could not understand the passage of fire from 
 one store building to another, of structures supposed to be sepa- 
 
STANDARD HI TEDING OF UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE. 
 
 95 
 
 rated by fire walls. It was afterwards explained by the dis- 
 covery of the fault referred to. At the eaves, in the most 
 dangerous sections of the dividing walls, there was practically 
 nothing to prevent the passage of fire from one building to 
 another ; and before the firemen on the street, ignorant of the 
 faulty construction, could understand the matter, the fire had 
 gained headway throughout the block, with disastrous results. 
 
 These general specifications for fire-resisting construction 
 will probably not need greater elaboration for the intelligent 
 agent, as he can easily acquaint himself, if he desires, with the 
 minor details which are to be found in the ordinary text-books 
 for the use of architects and builders, though frequently inter- 
 mingled with other matters of picturesque, artistic effects, &c, 
 tending to conceal their practical importance. More attention 
 is usually devoted in architectural books to such matters as 
 finials, gargoyles, cornices, &c, &c, than to the all-important 
 subject of protection from fire. 
 
 Having dwelt upon the more important portions of a building, 
 it may be well to specify the requirements of a standard build- 
 ing, and I cannot accomplish this better than by taking the 
 standards of the Universal Schedule, as follows : 
 
 "A standard non-fireproof building is one having walls of brick 
 or stone (brick preferred) ; not less than 12 inches thick at top 
 story (18 inches if stone), extending through and 30 inches above 
 roof in parapet and coped, and increasing four inches in thick- 
 ness for each story below the ground — the increased thickness 
 of each story to be used for beam-bearing ledges ; ground floor 
 area not over 2,500 square feet (or 25 x 100) ; height not over 
 four stories, or 50 feet ; floors of two-inch plank (mill construc- 
 tion requires three inches), covered by % or one-inch flooring, 
 crossing diagonally, with waterproof paper or other approved 
 waterproof and fire-resisting material between ; wooden beams, 
 girders, and wooden story posts or pillars twelve inches thick, 
 (or protected iron columns) ; elevators, stairways, etc. , cut off by 
 brick walls or by plaster on metallic studs and lathing ; com- 
 munications at each floor protected with approved tin-covered 
 doors and fireproof sills ; windows and doors on exposed sides 
 protected by approved tin-covered doors and shutters ; walls of 
 flues not less than eight inches in thickness, lined with firebrick, 
 
96 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 well-burned clay or cast-iron, and throat capacity 8" x 12", or 
 96 square inches; all floor beams to be trimmed at least four 
 inches from the outside of flue; heated by steam ; lighted by 
 gas ; cornices of incombustible material; roof of metal or tile, 
 and fire-stops in all partitions and in furred walls, if any, at each 
 floor." 
 
 In the case of iron beams, not fireproofed, allowance must be 
 made at each end for expansion. 
 
 The law of the City of New York requires that "all iron 
 beams, girders, lintels or columns, before the same are used in 
 any building, shall have the maximum weight which they will 
 safely sustain stamped, cast or properly marked in a conspicuous 
 place thereon by the founder or manufacturer of same." 
 
 Skylights and glass windows on exposed sides which cannot 
 be protected with metal may well be constructed of wire glass, 
 which is ;in admirable resistant of fire and almost equal to fire- 
 proof shutters. 
 
 Brick hot air furnaces. The following are the requirements of 
 the Building Law of the City of New York, and also of the 
 New York Board of Fire Underwriters as to Furnaces: 
 
 HEATING FURNACES AND BOILERS. 
 
 "A brick-set boiler shall not be placed on any wood or combustible floor or 
 beams. 
 
 "Wood or combustible floors and beams under and not less than three feet in 
 front and one foot on the sides of all portable boilers shall be protected by a 
 suitable brick foundation of not less than two courses of brick well laid in 
 mortar on sheet iron; the said sheet iron shall extend at least twenty-four 
 inches outside of the foundation at the sides and front. Bearing lines of 
 bricks, laid on the flat, with air spaces between them, shall be placed on the 
 foundation to support a cast iron ash pan of suitable thickness, on which the 
 base of the boiler shall be placed, and shall have a flange, turned up in the 
 front and on the sides, four inches high, said pan shall be in width not less 
 than the base of the boiler and shall extend at least two feet in front of it. If 
 a boiler is supported on a cast iron base with a bottom of the required thick- 
 ness for an ash pan, and is placed on bearing lines of brick in the same man- 
 ner as specified for an ash pan, then an ash pan shall be placed in front of the 
 said base and shall not be required to extend under it. 
 
 "All lath and plaster and wood ceilings and beams over and to a distance of 
 not less than four feet in front of all boilers shall be shielded with metal.* The 
 
 *The sheathing should not touch the wood but must have an air space of at 
 least % inch. It is easy to nail the tin leaving such a space. 
 
HOT A IK FUKNACES. 
 
 distance from the top of the boiler to said shield shall be not less than twelve- 
 inches. 
 
 "No combustible partition shall be within four feet of the sides and back 
 or within six feet of the front of any boiler, unless said partition shall be covered 
 with metal to the height of at least three feet above the floor, and shall extend 
 from the end or back of the boiler to at least five feet in front of it; then the 
 distance shall be not less than two feet from the sides and five feet from the 
 front of the boiler. 
 
 "All brick hot-air furnaces shall have two covers, with an air space of at 
 least four inches between them; the inner cov< r of the hot-air chamber shall 
 be either a brick arch or two courses of brick laid on galvanized iron or tin, 
 supported on iron bars; the outside cover, which is the top of the furnace, 
 shall be made of brick or metal supported on iron bars, and so constructed as 
 to be perfectly tight, and shall be not less than four inches below any com- 
 bustible ceiling or floor beams. 
 
 "The walls of the furnace shall be built hollow in the following manner: 
 One inner and one outer wall, each four inches in thickness, properly bonded 
 together witli an air space of not less than three inches between them. 
 
 "Furnaces must be built at least four inches from all woodwork. 
 
 "The cold air boxes of all hot air furnaces shall be made of metal, brick or 
 other incombustible material, for a distance of at least ten feet from the 
 furnace. 
 
 In this matter the law does not go far enough ; I endeavored 
 to have it changed, but was unsuccessful. The entire cold air 
 box should he of metal ; it costs but little more than a wooden 
 box; galvanized iron with soldered joints is the best. Not only 
 is this advisable on account of the danger from hre, but also to 
 insure that the poisonous air of the cellar, from wet coal, de- 
 caying vegetables, etc., is not pumped through the living-rooms 
 of the house, as it will be if a wooden cold air box is used. 
 Wood as it shrinks with seasoning, changes of temperature, 
 etc., opens seams or cracks. 
 
 "All portable hot air furnaces shall be placed at least two feet from any wood 
 or combustible partition or ceiling, unless the partitions and ceilings are 
 properly protected by a metal shield, when the distance shall be not less than 
 one foot. 
 
 ""Wood floors under all portable furnaces shall be protected by two courses 
 of brickwork well laid in mortar on sheet iron. Said brickwork shall extend 
 at least two feet beyond the furnace in front of the ash pan." 
 
 Smoke-Pipes. No smoke-pipe for a furnace should pass un- 
 protected through the floors of a building, but should enter a 
 good brick flue at least 12 inches from any woodwork. The 
 underside of any beams or woodwork above the smoke-pipe 
 
98 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 should be protected with sheet tin; and where tin is used in this 
 way as a guard it should never be in close contact with the 
 wood, as tin is a good conductor of heat, but should be so 
 fastened as to leave an air space between it and the wood. 
 Bright tin is better than sheet iron, as it reflects the heat. 
 Where any metal shield is in close contact with woodwork it 
 serves only to conceal charring, without preventing it. — an im- 
 portant point to be remembered — so important that I trust 1 
 shall be justified in frequently referring to it under different 
 subjects to which it is pertinent. 
 
 REGISTERS. 
 
 "Registers located over a brick furnace shall be supported by a brick shaft 
 built up from the cover of the hot-air chamber; said shaft shall be lined with 
 a metal pipe, and all wood beams shall 1»' trimmed away not less than four 
 inches from it. 
 
 "Where a register is placed on any woodwork in connection with a metal 
 pipe or duct, the end of the said pipe or duct shall be flanged over on the 
 woodwork under it 
 
 "All registers for hot-air furnaces placed in any woodwork or combustible 
 floors shall have stone or iron borders firmly set in plaster of pans or gauged 
 mortar. 
 
 "All register boxes shall be made of tin plate or galvanized iron with a flange- 
 on the top to fit the groove in the frame, the register to rest upon the same; 
 there shall be an open space of two inches on all sides of the register box, ex- 
 tending from the under side of the border to and through the ceiling below. 
 The said opening shall be fitted with a tight tin or galvanized iron casing, the 
 upper end of which shall be turned under the frame. 
 
 ' 'When a register box is placed in the floor over a portable furnace, the open 
 space on all sides of the register box shall be not less than three inches. 
 
 "When only one register is connected with a furnace said register shall have 
 no valve." 
 
 hot air pipes or flues. Probably the best method of 
 carrying metal hot air flues or pipes through stud and plaster 
 partitions from floor to floor, in buildings where they cannot be 
 carried up in brick walls, is to have the pipe double, with an 
 air space between the inner and outer pipe of at least half an 
 inch, and then to pour gauged mortar (as already explained, 
 this is mortar mixed with plaster of Paris) around the pipe, so 
 as to fill up the space between the wooden lath and the wooden 
 studs and the pipe itself. It is customary to tin the studs, and 
 the advantage of this protection is largely lost if the tin is nailed 
 
HOT AIR PIPES, RANGES, ETC. 
 
 99 
 
 tightly to the stud instead of leaving an air space behind it. 
 Where the tin is nailed to the stud without an} T air space, and 
 the hot air flue touches it, the only advantage gained is in a 
 greater thickness of tin. Where the tin pipe is not double, and 
 where gauged mortar cannot be used, it can be made more safe 
 by wrapping it with asbestos board. 
 
 The following is the New York law as to hot air pipes. 
 
 HOT AIR PIPES IN STUD PARTITIONS. 
 
 "Woodwork near hot-air pipes shall be guarded in the following manner: 
 A hot air pipe shall be placed inside another pipe, one inch larger in diameter 
 or a metal shield shall be placed not less than one-half inch from the hot air 
 pipe; the outside pipe or the metal shield shall remain one-and-a-half inches 
 away from the woodwork and the latter must be tin lined, or in lieu of the 
 above protection, four inches of brickwork may be placed between the hot air 
 pipe and the woodwork. This shall not prevent the placing of metal lath and 
 plaster directly on the face of hot air pipes or the placing of woodwork on 
 such metal lath or plaster, provided the distance is not less than seven-eights 
 of an inch. 
 
 "No vertical hot air pipe shall be placed in a stud partition, or in a wood in 
 closure, unless it be at least eight feet distant in a horizontal direction from the 
 furnace. 
 
 HOT AIR PIPES IN CLOSETS. 
 
 "Hot air pipes in closets shall be double, with a space of one inch between 
 them. 
 
 HORIZONTAL HOT AIR PIPES. 
 
 "Horizontal hot air pipes shall be placed six inches below the floor beams or 
 ceiling; if the floor beams or ceiling are plastered and protected by a metal 
 shield, then the distance shall be not less than three inches." 
 
 RANGES AND STOVES. 
 
 "Where a kitchen range is placed from twelve to six inches from a wood 
 stud partition, the said partition shall be shielded with metal from the floor to 
 the height of not less than three feet higher than the range; if the range is 
 within six inches of the partition, then the studs shall be cut away and framed 
 three feet higher and one foot wider than the range, and filled in to the face of 
 the said stud partition with brick or fireproof blocks, and plastered thereon. 
 
 "All ranges on wood or combustible floors and beams that are not supported 
 on legs and have ash pans three inches or more above their base, shall be set 
 on suitable brick foundations, consisting of not less than two courses of brick 
 well laid in mortar on sheet iron, except small ranges such as are used in apart- 
 ment houses, that have ash pans three inches or more above their base, which 
 shall be placed on at least one course of brickwork on sheet iron or cement. 
 
 "No range shall be placed against a furred wall. 
 
1(111 
 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 "All lath and plaster or wood ceilings over all large ranges and ranges in 
 hotels and restaurants, shall be guarded by metal hoods placed at least nine 
 inches below the ceiling. 
 
 "A ventilating pipe connected with a hood over a range shall be at least 
 nine inches from all lath and plaster or woodwork, and shielded. If the pipe 
 is less than nine inches from lath and plaster and woodwork, then the pipe 
 shall be covered with one inch of asbestos plaster on wire mesh. 
 
 "No ventilating pipe connected with a hood over a range shall pass through 
 any floor. 
 
 "Laundry stoves on wood or combustible floors shall have a course of bricks, 
 laid on metal, on the floor under and extended t\vent \ four inches on all sides 
 of them. 
 
 "All stoves for heating purposes shall be properly supported on iron legs 
 resting on the floor three feet from all lath and plaster or woodwork; if the 
 lath and plaster or woodwork is properly protected by a metal shield, then 
 i he distance shall be not less than eighteen inches. 
 
 "A metal shield shall be placed under and t welve inches in front of the ash 
 pan of all stoves that are placed on wood floors. 
 
 "All low gas stoves shall be placed on iron stands, or the burners shall be at 
 least six inches above the base of the stoves, and metal guard plates placed 
 four inches below the burners, and all woodwork under them shall be covered 
 with metal." 
 
 HONEST BUILDERS AND CONTRACTORS. 
 
 While there are numerous "jerry-builders" engaged in erect- 
 ing buildings to be sold to ignorant purchasers, there are com- 
 mendable exceptions, who do good work even in the absence of 
 building laws and their honesty generally proves to be the best 
 policy. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF FRAME BUILDINGS. 
 
 It is doubtful if there is any subject of which greater miscon- 
 ceptions exist, on the part of property-owners, than this of the 
 fire-resisting qualities of frame buildings. As usually con- 
 structed, they are, of course, quickly destroyed; but if built 
 properly, with the spaces between studs filled in with brick or 
 other fire-resisting material, with all drafts cut off, with sub- 
 stantial timber for posts, and beams, and with wire lathing, 
 buildings may be constructed of frame so that they will actually 
 resist fire longer than improperly constructed brick buildings. 
 In fact, a large proportion of brick buildings are really wooden 
 structures of the most flimsy character surrounded by enclosing 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF FRAME BUILDINGS. 
 
 10] 
 
 walls of brick which, while affording a greater resistance to 
 outside fires than frame enclosing walls, do not, in any way, 
 retard the destruction of their own contents and framework in 
 case fire is once started inside the structure. In frame build- 
 ings, as in brick buildings, the great secret of safety is to avoid 
 concealed spaces, especially in partitions, which form upright 
 flues to increase drafts. 
 
 In isolated locations, as in the case of country houses, a frame 
 dwelling house with a metal or slate roof, offering resistance to 
 chimney sparks, with well constructed flues, might be a better 
 risk than a brick dwelling house with a shingle roof. 
 
 An underwriter should thoroughly understand the proper 
 construction of buildings, both for the purpose of inspecting 
 them and of determining their value for purposes of insurance, 
 and for adjusting losses. 
 
 The illustration page 102, will show the names of the various 
 timbers — braces, girts, rafters, &c. — and enable any one, with 
 a little study, to understand so-called "Balloon Frame" and 
 "Braced Frame" construction. In the braced frame the "girts" 
 or beams for carrying the floor beams of the floors above the 
 first are framed into the corner posts, which should extend to 
 the wall plate, those supporting the ends of beams being dropped 
 to secure a level with the side girts (for this reason called "drop 
 girts".) On these girts the studs of the outer walls or partitions 
 are framed, so that each story has a separate set of studs. At 
 all angles, also, there are "angle-braces" tending to strengthen 
 the structure. Joints are secured usually by wooden pins. 
 When a house is to be erected, the first story beams should be 
 sized and leveled upon the sill and upon the foundation wall, 
 and their tops made level. They should be well spiked to the 
 sill. The beams of the upper floors should be notched down on 
 the girts and sized upon the partition caps, spiked strongly to 
 form ties across the building. All the sills, girts and posts 
 should be securely framed into each other, mortised and fast- 
 ened with hard wood puis or ' 'treenails'' and angle-braces. 
 
 Balloon Frame. In the balloon frame the studs as well as 
 the corner posts are carried from the sill (i. e., the flat timber 
 which lies along the top of the foundation wall) continuously to 
 the wall plate (usually called the "plate") at the top of the wall. 
 
102 
 
 BRACED FRAME SHOWING NAMES OF TIMBERS, SHEATHING. 
 TRUSSED WINDOW, ETC. 
 
FRAME CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 and the floor beams of the second and third stories are carried 
 by 2" x 6" pieces called "ribbons" spiked securely to the studs. 
 These ribbons should be let into the posts and studs so as to 
 rest upon the shoulder formed and not depend alone upon the 
 nails or wooden pins. 
 
 The balloon frame costs somewhat less than the braced frame, 
 but if well braced with long struts and interties, is strong enough 
 for all practical purposes. Indeed, many builders regard a 
 balloon frame structure as stronger than the braced frame, and 
 better calculated to resist tornadoes or severe wind stresses. 
 
 In both the balloon and braced frame the outer or enclosing 
 studding is sheathed with sheathing boards for the reception of 
 the shingles or clapboards (whichever be used), and if this sheath- 
 ing is put on properly it is an additional element of strength. 
 In the case of the balloon frame, the vertical or upright timbers, 
 as already stated, are in single, unbroken lengths from the sill 
 to the wall plate. If it is necessary to splice two of these joists 
 together the splicing should be done by "fish-plates" so called, 
 or splices of inch board, three feet in length, nailed, like splints 
 for a broken limb, securely on both sides of the splice. If the 
 bearing is true and square a spliced stud is strong enough, but 
 there should not be more than two or three of these in any side 
 wall or partition. 
 
 Where it is necessary for any partition to foot or rest upon a 
 tier of floor beams it should pass between the beams and rest 
 upon a "sole", or strip of yellow pine, not less than one inch 
 thick, of the full width of the studs, the studs of upper floors 
 being so arranged that each will come directly over the lower 
 stud. There should be as little horizontal timber between the 
 uprights of a structure as possible, as timber shrinks horizon- 
 tally, and not vertically. 
 
 Each tier of floor beams should be cross-bridged at intervals 
 of five to seven feet in the length, as already explained page 86. 
 The cross-bridging should be cut on a bevel so as to make a 
 secure brace, as shown in the illustration. 
 
 As already explained, careless builders sometimes simply nail 
 short boards between beams, which do not act as braces and 
 only add to the weight. 
 
 An important point to be regarded in all structures, even from 
 
104 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF FRAME BUILDINGS. 
 
 the underwriter's point of view, (already referred to in Brick 
 joisted construction and properly referred to here) is to have the 
 shrinkable timber balanced ; that is, as much in one of two 
 parallel walls as in the other, so that as the building settles, 
 when the wood shrinks, it will settle evenly. Wherever this 
 rule is not observed, or wherever one wall is of brick or stone 
 and the other of wood, there will be uneven settling, tending to 
 make chimneys dangerous, especially those which rest on floor 
 beams or those incorporated with the wooden framework, as 
 where beams or joists are fastened into the brickwork of the 
 chimney. 
 
 The names of the various members of a structure may be 
 found by reference to the diagram page 102. A truss is a me- 
 chanical contrivance like that shown over the window and has 
 enough weight carrying capacity to relieve the strain on the 
 frame. The construction shown by the king post, collar beam 
 and queen post in the roof, repeated with every rafter, or with 
 alternate rafters, tends greatly to strengthen a roof , and at very 
 slight expense. In the illustration it will be seen that the effect 
 is a truss roof, and it may be secured by simply nailing cheap 
 spruce strips, cut out of two-inch plank, four inches wide, to 
 the rafters, resting on queen posts running to tbe plate and to 
 the ceiling beams of the floor below. Such a roof would resist 
 more than an ordinary weight of snow and, in the case of an 
 average building, would not cost more than twenty or twenty- 
 five dollars. The owner of any building would probably ap- 
 preciate the suggestion made to him in time, for it is a cheap 
 precaution frequently overlooked by builders and architects. 
 
 That portion of the wall above the surface of the ground, be- 
 tween the foundation and the building is usually called the 
 "underpinning." 
 
 Rafters. Main rafters should not be less than 2" x 8", set 1(3" 
 on centres. If they are unsupported for a greater span than 
 1 8 feet they should be larger. 
 
 "Plates" in an ordinary dwelling should be not less than 
 4" x 6"; "posts" not less than 4" x 8"; sills not less than 4" x 8"; 
 attic ceiling joists not less than 3" x 8"; braces not less than 
 4" x 6" ; floor joists or beams not less than 3" x 10" — better 3" x 12". 
 
 Roof. An ordinary shingle roof is liable to leak in every rain 
 
LEAKING ROOFS. 
 
 1 1 15 
 
 following a drouth, owing to the shrinkage of the shingles and 
 until they swell with the moisture. An inexpensive precaution 
 which would protect the plastering and the paper of the house 
 from annoying leaks is that of fastening heavy water-proof, 
 tarred building paper under the rafters for the full size of the 
 roof, commencing at the peak and lapping each successive sheet 
 of paper three inches over the lower edge of the one above it, 
 providing for any leak of the shingles above to run off at the 
 eaves outside of the building and clear of the plate. In ex- 
 pensive buildings, sheets of copper might well be used. Zinc 
 would be less expensive, but would not last so long as the cop- 
 per; but probably a heavy quality of good, sized building paper 
 would answer every purpose. Such a roof would be cooler in 
 summer and warmer in winter. 
 
 (Note. For full specifications for the construction of a build- 
 ing, woodwork, mason work, plumbing, etc., etc., see index.) 
 
FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 It is probable that few subjects connected with construction 
 are more generally misunderstood than this of fireproof building. 
 The average individual regards iron and stone as fireproof. He, 
 at the same time, overlooks the fact, strangely enough, that 
 glass windows are not fire-resisting. Even underwriters, in 
 estimating rates on fireproof buildings and their contents, often 
 overlook the fact that a building intended to be fireproof, but 
 offering nothing more substantial as a fire shield against an out- 
 side fire than ordinary plate glass in a wooden sash and frame, 
 is even more likely to have its contents thoroughly destroyed by 
 an exposure fire than an ordinary building of wooden joisted 
 construction ; for the fireproof structure, as already stated, holds 
 its merchandise and other contents suspended where they will 
 be the more effectually destroyed. The wooden joisted building, 
 on the other hand, would probably collapse, and no small salvage 
 might be realized out of heaps of merchandise in the cellar so 
 covered up that combustion would be retarded for want of air, 
 on the same principle that a pile of wood shavings is seldom 
 invaded by fire to a greater depth than ten or twelve inches. 
 
 A further reason why the contents of fireproof buildings are 
 so thoroughly destroyed when once ignited is that the fireproof 
 construction, like a reverberating furnace or oven, confines the 
 heat until extremely high temperatures are reached. Indeed, 
 firemen who have had experience in fighting fires in fireproof 
 buildings claim that it is almost impossible to remain on a floor 
 where merchandise is on fire, so intense is the combustion ; every- 
 thing ignitible is shriveled up. The principal advantage, there- 
 fore, after all, of a fireproof building is the separation of the 
 various stories from each other ; and this may be largely, if not 
 entirely, lost if the building has well-holes, like the Horne build- 
 ing, or if staircases and elevators are not cut off in fireproof 
 
PROTECTION OF IRON MEMBERS. 
 
 10: 
 
 hallways. Architects usually overlook the fact that stone is 
 one of the most dangerous materials, as already explained, when 
 attacked alternately by fire and water, and that iron may so 
 expand under heat as to thrust out the side walls of a building ; 
 if, indeed, iron columns do not collapse under their weakened 
 capacity to resist strains due to high temperatures. It is a fact 
 that wooden columns, especially of oak, twelve inches square, 
 would stand an enormously high temperature without having 
 their carrying capacity interfered with, fire burning only to the 
 depth of say two inches. 
 
 Indeed, it is important that iron should be protected by fire- 
 proof material wherever used, and that stone should not be used 
 in vital portions of the structure, especially in treads for stair- 
 cases, as it would yield early in the fire. Such treads, whether 
 of marble or slate, should be supported by iron webs, of sufficient 
 strength and endurance to form a footing in case the stone yields. 
 This is a precaution almost universally overlooked, as already 
 explained. 
 
 The accompanying illustration of the Post & Mc Cord Ma- 
 chine-Shop, in Brooklyn, in 1900, constructed of angle-iron, with 
 curtain walls of terra cotta tile, shows how dangerous may be a 
 construction intended to be fireproof, but consisting only of thin 
 incombustible curtain walls and unprotected ironwork. The 
 underwriter should never lose sight of the fact, to which I have 
 so frequently called attention in these pages, that iron, owing to 
 its tendency to expand when heated, is one of the most danger- 
 ous materials that can be used in a building, unless guarded 
 against direct contact with fire. 
 
 Cast-iron, on the other hand, as heretofore explained, is not 
 liable to rust to the danger point, and for this reason is prefer- 
 able for story posts or pillars when covered up where it cannot 
 be examined. Indeed, cast-iron is better than wrought-iron or 
 steel for resisting fire, not withstanding that its fusing point is 
 lower than that of wrought iron or steel. 
 
 An ideal fireproof building would be one consisting of sub- 
 stantial walls of brick, well burned brick being a better fire 
 resistant than any other material ; with all ironwork protected 
 by fireproof material ; with all floors properly cut off from each 
 other ; the staircases and elevators in hallways ; and all passages 
 
1 OS 
 
 "FIREPROOF" MACHINE SHOP OF POST & McCORD, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
 
 BURNED APRIL 9, 1900. 
 
 SHOWING EFFECT OF FIRE ON UNPROTECTED IRON AND THIN TILE WALLS. 
 
FIRKI'KOOF C< (NSTKIH'TK >.N. 
 
 109 
 
 from one floor to another, whether in the shape of channels for 
 plumbing, gas or other pipes, electric wiring, or shafts for dumb- 
 waiters, so cut off at each story that a fire could not go from one 
 story to another; the floors themselves being fireproof, without 
 floor boards, the surface being of concrete or asphalt, and in- 
 clined, with scuppers through the side walls so arranged as to 
 drain off any water which might be thrown by a fire department, 
 and protect the floors or merchandise beneath the one on fire. 
 
 The construction of a fireproof building of the modern style 
 involves knowledge of engineering as well as of architecture, but 
 I have touched upon the more important points to be kept in 
 mind by an underwriter, for purposes of insurance. 
 
 The roof should be fireproof, with flat, well burned tile laid in 
 cement, with copper for flashings, gutters and leaders. Slate 
 roofs are objectionable, especially on high buildings. Roofs 
 should be inclined from the street front back, to prevent drip- 
 ping of water and formation of icicles dangerous to pedestrains 
 on the street below. 
 
 A fireproof building should be provided with a standpipe six 
 inches in diameter, with Siamese connection at the street and 
 outlets for hose on each floor ; the couplings to be of the same 
 size and number of threads to the inch of the fire department of 
 the town or city in which the building is located. This saves 
 the carrying of more than a single length of hose up the stairs 
 — a difficult matter in the case of a high building. A 50-foot 
 section of ordinary 2% inch hose, with couplings, weighs 60 
 pounds, and it is a heavy load for a man who has to climb a 
 steep stairway. 
 
 There should be at all times — nights and holidays — a watch- 
 man in every high building understanding the machinery of 
 elevators, fire appliances, &c. , and steam should always be kept 
 up on holidays and at night, so that the firemen can carry hose 
 up to the upper floors, to save the delay if stairs have to be 
 climbed. 
 
 All the interior partitions of a fireproof building should be of 
 fireproof material, either of brick or of terra cotta. They should 
 be constructed of 4-inch angle and tee-iron frame, the uprights 
 spaced 30 inches apart, filled in between with 4-inch terra-cotta 
 blocks and plastered on both sides. They should pass through 
 
1 10 
 
 FI HK PROOF rONSTRFOTION. 
 
 the wooden floor boards and rest directly on the concrete be- 
 neath the floor boards. As already stated, however, wooden 
 floors are objectionable and should be prohibited, especially at 
 greater heights than one hundred feet above the grade. 
 
 Iron tie-rods should be employed between the iron floor beams, 
 to secure rigidity. They are especially necessary during con- 
 struction and when derricks are used on beams to hoist materials. 
 
 The best material for fireproof arches between the floor beams, 
 as already stated, is old-fashioned brick in a bonded arch. Next 
 to this in safety stands the porous terra cotta, with end con- 
 struction, /. < .. the blocks or separate pieces placed end to end. 
 instead of side to side in what is known as "side construction." 
 There are many admirable patent floors, however, made of con- 
 crete with Portland cement in the usual manner, already ex- 
 plained ; but it is, of course, vitally important that this concrete 
 should be properly mixed, of good materials and laid in non- 
 freezing weather. 
 
 Well-Holes. These should be avoided, if the building is to be 
 regarded as fireproof. The Home Building, in Pittsburg, had 
 one 48' x 22'. It is almost impossible to control a fire starting 
 in the lower floors, where a well-hole opens through those above. 
 
 As I write (April 11, 1900) the news comes of the second 
 burning of the Horne Building, with a loss of 00 fe of the value 
 of the stock contained in it, illustrating, a second time, the point 
 already emphasized that stocks in fireproof buildings are even 
 more liable to be totally destroyed than in ordinary non-fireproof 
 buildings, unless the stories are cut off. 
 
 Wire Glass. Where shutters cannot be provided for want of 
 opening room, as already stated, wire glass is an excellent fire 
 resistant; but the tests so far made of it do not warrant the 
 opinion that larger panes than three feet square can be relied 
 upon. The smaller the pane the more reliable the glass as a 
 fire resistant. This is true, also, of ordinary plate glass, which 
 in small sections or panes will stand quite high temperatures 
 before yielding. Small panes of plate glass, about three inches 
 square, securely set in metal frames, will stand a high temper- 
 ature, and in most cases would prove a sufficient barrier against 
 a severe fire. Even after water is thrown upon it, it cracks but 
 does not fall out. 
 
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN BUILDINGS. 
 
 1 I 1 
 
 Boiler Room. See index. 
 Dynamo Room. See page 93. 
 
 Communications Between Adjoining Buildings. It is sometimes 
 necessary to have communications between adjoining buildings 
 by doors in the fire walls, and it is not always convenient, when 
 transferring merchandise from one room to another during work- 
 ing hours, to have closed fireproof doors. It is, however, possi- 
 ble to have the fireproof doors run upon trolleys on an inclined 
 track so as to close automatically by the force of gravity if held 
 open by fusible metal latches or links which would release them 
 when melted by the rising temperature of a fire. It has occurred 
 to me that this difficulty may, also, be met by erecting between 
 two adjoining buildings a separating fireproof hallway of brick, 
 which can be utilized for staircases and elevators and for sup- 
 porting the water tanks of automatic sprinklers. The doors 
 which open into this hallway should not be opposite each 
 other, but arranged, one at each end, so that fire in either of 
 the buildings passing through the door would meet a blank wall 
 opposite. Even if the fireproof doors to these openings should 
 happen to be open at the time of a fire in one of the two buildings, 
 it is improbable that it would gain access to the other. 
 
 The floors of this hallway should be both fire and water-proof, 
 slightly lower than the main floor of the two separated buildings, 
 and with water vents or "scuppers" for carrying off water 
 thrown by a fire department. Indeed, it is well to have "scup- 
 pers" to all the floors of a building. 
 
 The walls of this separating hallway or vestibule should rise 
 four feet higher than the roofs of the two buildings and, if there 
 are window or door openings near it, its walls should project 
 beyond the line of enclosing walls at least one foot. 
 
 It ought to be unnecessary to state that to insure safety there 
 should be no combustible material whatever allowed in this 
 separating hallway, and that the staircase, elevators, etc., should 
 be of metal and fireproof. 
 
 Separation of Wooden Buildings. Indeed, such a hallway as this 
 could be relied upon to separate wooden buildings. It should, 
 however, for that purpose, be at least ten feet higher than the 
 peak of their roofs and should extend four feet beyond their 
 front and rear lines. 
 
112 
 
 SEPARATING FIRE-STOP HALLWAY, GROUND PLAN 
 Scale I inch to foot. 
 
SEPARATING FIRE-STOP HALLAV AY— ELEVATION OF 
 UPPER STORY AND ROOF WITH WATER TANK. 
 Scale J inch to foot. 
 
1 1 1 
 
 FIREPROOF C< INSTRUCTION . 
 
 The accompanying diagrams fully illustrate the idea. 
 
 Outside Staircases. Where it is not necessary to transfer mer- 
 chandise from one building 1<> another, hut only requisite to 
 have a passageway for employees, this may he arranged hy an 
 iron balcony, like a fire escape, the window being cut down on 
 each side of the separating wall for a door, so that communi- 
 cation r;m he had hy the hnlcony. The openings should have 
 fireproof doors. This would be practically safe. It might, with 
 iron ladders, be utilized as a fire escape, and so prove of great 
 advantage to firemen in fighting a fire, who could hold a hose 
 nozzle at the different windows with perfect safety to the last 
 moment. It is practicable, indeed, to have iron stairways with 
 roofed balconies entirely outside of storage stores so that the 
 floors do not communicate. There is a number of these in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 The following recapitulation of important features in a fire- 
 proof building will be of use: 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 In order to save anyone who contemplates erecting a fireproof 
 building the trouble of revising the preceding pages, I have pre- 
 pared the following recapitulation of important points to be 
 observed, so that he can check off his plans and specifications 
 and see that all important features have been duly attended to. 
 
 Enclosing Walls. Should be not less than 16 inches thick for 
 the top story, increasing four inches in thickness for every 25 
 feet to the bottom. Should be built of hard-burned brick, the 
 lower stories (if not all) laid in cement mortar. 
 
 All weight carrying walls should be separated by air spaces 
 from furnace walls. 
 
 All templates should be of cast-iron, especially for beams 
 which support tanks. Stone templates should not be used. 
 
 Iron Members. All ironwork should be fireproofed, i. e., pro- 
 tected by not less than 4 inches of fireproof material. Brick is 
 best, well-burned terra cotta second, plaster on metallic lathing 
 third. If plaster on metal lath be relied on, first wrap the 
 column with asbestos quarter inch thick, bound with wire. If 
 mercantile or manufacturing building, protect the fireproofing 
 material of the lower four feet of columns with a metal lagging 
 
FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 rover, to prevent its being knocked off by roller trucks for 
 moving merchandise. Heavy hardwood cleats may secure this 
 but if employed there must be the plaster protection next the 
 iron column and behind the lagging. 
 
 Columns should be cast-iron, the beam bearing corbel brackets 
 being cast in one piece with the column. Columns should be 
 cylindrical (not square) to secure more perfect castings. See 
 that top and bottom bearings are planed smooth and true; no 
 wedges or "'shims" allowed. 
 
 Allow for expansion in long systems of beams or girders. 
 Avoid steel rivets; all rivet-work dangerous on account of rust. 
 Beams should be bolted to lugs on cast-iron columns. 
 
 All ironwork should be well painted with good linseed oil 
 paint, the iron being first thoroughly cleaned. Avoid turpentine, 
 dryers, &c. Do not run steam or water pipes near columns 
 to cause rust. This very important. See that fireproof ing 
 is applied so that columns may be stripped and examined from 
 time to time. 
 
 Beams should not be spaced wider apart than five feet on 
 centres. 
 
 Bond Stones. Avoid in piers. 
 
 Stone Columns. Avoid. 
 
 Tie Rods. Do not omit them. 
 
 Floor Arches. Best, old-fashioned brick arch; next best, terra 
 cotta segmental arches, end construction. If concrete arches 
 used, be careful to see that good quality of cement is employed 
 and the stone or gravel thoroughl}' washed. Arches should not 
 be laid in freezing weather. Only cement mortar should be 
 used and every square foot carefully watched in process. 
 
 Cover top of arch with cement concrete to insure water-proof 
 floors. Leave scuppers or water vents at each floor to carry off 
 water thrown by fire department. 
 
 Do not leave hollow spaces below wooden floor boards. 
 
 Stairways, Elevators, Dumbwaiters, Etc. Should be cut off in all 
 buildings by a brick partition between the hallways and main 
 rooms, with fireproof doors (for which see Underwriters' specifi- 
 cations. ) It is best to have all stairways enclosed in brick walls. 
 
 Avoid stone treads, slate or marble, unless web support of 
 
1 t6 
 
 FIREPRool'' CONSTRl i TION. 
 
 iron beneath. It is claimed wrought-iron support is better tlian 
 cast-iron open work unless cast-iron tread is ; ! ( inch thick. 
 
 Thoroughly fire stop all openings for gas, steam pipes or 
 electric wires, to prevent fire traveling from story to story. 
 These should be in staircase tower. 
 
 Glass Windows. If on exposed sides protect with fireproof 
 shutters, Underwriters' specifications. Set eyebolts for hinges 
 when building walls. If wire glass be used, it should be glazed 
 in metal frames, and if on exposed side, should have douhle 
 sheets with one inch space between them. 
 
 Dynamo Room. Avoid water or steam pipes over switchboard. 
 Have glass Moor. 
 
 Fire Extinguishing Appliances. Have 6-inch standpipes with 
 outlets for hose at each story for use of firemen, Siamese con- 
 nection at street. Arrange signals to street and hose on each 
 floor to reach most remote point. 
 
 Have pressure tanks in basement and support all roof tanks 
 on iron beams (fireproof) resting on cast-iron templates on brick- 
 walls where they cannot in falling endangei staircases. 
 
 Vertical pipes for hose should he in staircase tower. 
 
 Roof. Avoid all woodwork in roof, even outriggers for cor- 
 nice. Avoid slates on slanting roofs, as in falling they woidd 
 injure firemen. Best roof is flat brick or tile. 
 
 Partitions must not rest on wooden sills or bases or floor boards. 
 
 Night Watchman. Have some one on premises at night and on 
 holidays understanding elevator, force pumps, etc. Have 
 enough steam up, at all times, to run one elevator. 
 
 Skylights. Protect with wire netting above and below and 
 arrange so as to be opened by firemen for letting out smoke and 
 gas. If wire glass is used then no ovemetting or undernetting 
 will be required. 
 
 Cut-offs at Street for Gas and Electric installations should be 
 provided where firemen can find and use them in case of fire. 
 This is an important matter. 
 
 Pump-Room. It will be found that owners of fireproof buildings, 
 and some underwriters, overlook the fact that the volume of 
 water thrown to extinguish a fire is usually sufficient to flood 
 the engine and pump room, put out the fires, expel the engineer 
 
SLOW- BURNING CONSTRUCTION'. 
 
 117 
 
 and stop the elevators. If possible the pump and engine room 
 should be so cut off from the rest of the building that it would 
 not be flooded, no matter how much water should be thrown to 
 extinguish the fire. This is not always easy nor possible, and 
 where it is not, too much reliance should not be placed upon the 
 independent pump system of the plant. Of course, the outlet to 
 the sewer and the sewer itself on a lower grade should be of 
 sufficient capacity to carry off the water thrown by the fire de- 
 partment — probably as much as 4,000 gallons per minute, if say 
 ten steam fire engines were w T orking. 
 
 The staircases and elevators of a fireproof building should be 
 enclosed in four brick walls, with fireproof doors protecting the 
 communications with the main structure. Protect outside win- 
 dows lest burning neighboring buildings should project enough 
 heat into the window openings to prevent the egress of inmates 
 or the ingress of the firemen. Wire glass would be desirable 
 for such windows. 
 
 Avoid Well-Holes. The Home Building, in Pittsburg, which 
 was seriously damaged and its contents destroyed on May 3, 
 18U7, the loss on the building by this fire being $300,000, and on 
 the merchandise $741,250, illustrates the danger of well-hole 
 openings and the danger of opposing nothing more than plate 
 glass windows to exposure fires (It was burned the first time by 
 the Jenkins Grocery Building shown on diagram page 1 IS), and 
 also justifies the statement I have made that combustible con- 
 tents of fireproof buildings will bum up as effectually as the fuel 
 in a stove. 
 
 The relative damage to the contents and building was again 
 illustrated in the second fire, April 8, 1900; the loss on building 
 being $153,010.13 (3 of the value), and the loss on stock 
 $697,030.13 (74$ of the value). If there had been no well-hole 
 and the floors had been cut off the loss would probably have 
 been confined to the floor of origin. 
 
118 
 
 N 
 
 CONSUMED 
 
 PARTIALLY CONSUMED M 
 HORNE BUILDING (FIREPROOF) AND SURROUNDINGS, PITTSBURG, PA. 
 GROUND PLAN. 
 
 (Published by consent of The Engineering Record.) 
 
lib 
 
120 
 
HOME LIFE "FIREPROOF" BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
 
 FIRE DECEMBER 4, 1898. 
 
 SHOWING BUILDING BEFORE THE FIRE. 
 
HOME LIFE "FIREPROOF" BUILDING, NEW YORK. 
 
 FIRE DECEMBER 4, 1898. 
 
 SHOWING BUILDING AFTER THE PIPE. 
 
123 
 
 MANHATTAN SAVINGS BANK BUILDING. 
 
 FIRE NOV. 4, 1836. 
 LOSS $225,000. CONTINENTAL INS CO. PAID (20,365. 
 
SLOW-BURNING STORE CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 The chief aim of the architect, from a fire-resisting standpoint, 
 should he, first, to avoid conditions which would favor the start- 
 ing of fires, and, second, to observe precautions which would 
 prevent their spread and facilitate their extinguishment. 
 
 The use of wood for beams, girders and supporting columns 
 is not so objectionable from the fire standpoint as is generally 
 supposed, if they are of sufficient size to carry their loads after 
 their surf ace has Ween invaded by fire to the extent of say two 
 inches. Fii'e seldom gets deeper into a solid 12 inch column or 
 beam, with a good fire department. In slow-burning construc- 
 tion or mill construction, so called, all wooden beams, girders 
 and pillars should be not less than r> inches thick, and the floor 
 plank should be not less than three inches in thickness, tongued 
 and grooved, or connected by splines, with a floor board one 
 inch thick and planed. Sheet iron or tin, painted on both sides 
 with a good oil paint, inserted between the two would be an 
 admirable precaution, but would add to the expense beyond the 
 figure which most property-owners would approve. 
 
 Taking the building from the foundation to the roof, therefore, 
 in the order in which it is constructed, the following details of 
 construction should be observed to secure the lowest rate of fire 
 insurance : 
 
 Foundation. This is largely a question of engineering, but it 
 may be here stated that the most competent experts in engineer- 
 ing, architecture and construction pay great attention now, to 
 securing footings and substantial foundations, driving piles to 
 a solid bearing wherever necessary. 
 
 Stairways. Elevators. Dumb-Waiters. channels for pipes, etc., 
 should be cut off at each floor and enclosed with fireproof materi- 
 als ; the stairways and elevators especially being surrounded by 
 brick walls or by fireproof terra cotta, securely braced with angle 
 
IRON PINTLES. CAPS, ETC. 
 
 12.5 
 
 iron. Brick walls are decidedly preferable. Doors entering 
 from halls to the various rooms should be self-closing and are 
 improved greatly by being covered with tin. 
 
 Floors. These, as already stated, should be solid, without air 
 spaces, with 3-inch plank, splined or tongued and grooved, and 
 inch thick floorboards; waterproof paper, asphalte or resin sized, 
 between. Asbestos is not so good. Tin or sheet iron painted 
 both sides is better. 
 
 Story Posts. Beams. Girders. Etc. These should be not less than 
 12 inches in diameter, if round, or 12 inches square. The floor 
 beams should be cut on a bevel of three inches where they are 
 inserted into the enclosing or bearing walls, so that, in case of 
 burning through in the middle, they would release themselves 
 without tearing out the walls. There are some excellent patent 
 devices for anchoring floor beams, consisting of cast-iron boxes 
 resting in the wall so constructed as to release the floor beam 
 without damage in case it should burn, and serving also to pro- 
 tect the ends of the beams from dry rot and from charring in 
 case of a fire in an adjoining building. Avoid iron stirrups for 
 earning beams. They are almost certain to yield to heat. I 
 observe that the Boston Manufacturers' Mutual recommend 8- 
 inch columns for upper stories. While these, of course, would 
 be sufficiently strong for weight-carrying purposes, they would 
 not be for fire-resisting purposes, and I would advise 12-inch 
 columns in all cases. Some authorities recommend spliced or 
 doubled timbers separated for ventilation to prevent dry rot. 
 I advise single sticks for fire-resisting purposes. There is no 
 danger of dry rot if the wood is not covered with plaster or 
 other air-excluding covering. 
 
 Iron Pintles. Caps and Plates. The story posts or columns of a 
 building should not foot upon wooden beams or girders. In all 
 cases cast-iron pintles, caps and plates should be employed, not 
 merely to distribute the weights for the full bearing surface of 
 the columns, but to prevent sagging resulting from shrinkage of 
 the timber in the girders, which in a four-story -building would 
 be considerable, the four 12-inch girders aggregating four feet 
 of shrinkable timber. As heretofore stated, timber shrinks at 
 right angles to the line of its fiber ; there is very little shrinkage 
 longitudinally. 
 
 The iron base, pintle and cap may be purchased cast in one 
 
126 
 
 SLOW-BURNING CONSTRUCTION . 
 
 piece, and should be bolted to the timber to insure rigid con- 
 struction. 
 
 Flues. These should be surrounded by at least 8 inches of 
 brickwork, and will be improved still further by having fireproof 
 tile finings. 
 
 Enclosing Walls. These should be not less than 12 inches thick 
 for the top story, if of brick (16 inches would be better,) and 
 should increase in thickness four inches for each story to the 
 bottom. While the wall here recommended, and the standard 
 of the Universal Mercantile Schedule already quoted, 1 ■'. inches 
 thick at the highest point, increasing four inches for each story 
 to the bottom, utilizing the increased thickness at each story as 
 beam-bearing ledges, is uncjiiestionably the only Icind that should 
 be erected for fire-resisting purposes, it is customary to build ac- 
 cording to the New York Building Law, the requirements of 
 which are as follows: 
 
 "The walls of all warehouses, stores, factories and stables, twenty-five feel 
 or less in width between walls — 
 
 Shall not be less than twelve inches thick to the height of forty feet. 
 
 If over forty feet in height, and not over sixty feet fa height, the walls 
 shall not be less than sixteen inches thick to the height of forty feet, or to the 
 nearest tier of beams to that height, and from thence not less than twelve 
 inches thick to the top. 
 
 If over sixty feet in height, and not over seventy-five feet in height, the 
 walls shall not be less than twenty inches thick to the height of twenty-five 
 feet or to the nearest tier of beams to that height, and from thence not less 
 than sixteen inches thick to the top. 
 
 If over seventy-five feet in height, and not over eighty-five feet in height, 
 the walls shall not be less than twenty-four inches thick to the height of twenty 
 feet, or to the nearest tier of beams to that height; thence not less than twenty 
 inches thick to the height of sixty feet, or to the nearest tier of beams to that 
 height, and thence not less than sixteen inches thick to the top. 
 
 If over eighty -five feet in height, and not over one hundred feet in height, 
 the walls shall not be less than twenty-eight inches thick to the height of 
 twenty-five feet, or to the nearest tier of beams to that height; thence not less 
 than twenty-four inches thick to the height of fifty feet or to the nearest tier 
 of beams to that height; thence not less than twenty inches thick to the height 
 of seventy-five feet, or to the nearest tier of beams to that height, and thence 
 not less than sixteen inches thick to the top." 
 
 In the case of pier construction of enclosing walls with 
 "relieving" or discharging arches and panels to save brick 
 work, the panels need not be thicker than 12 inches, but a 
 thinner panel should never be relied upon, as, although suffi- 
 
SLOW-BURNING CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 127 
 
 cient for weight-carrying purposes, it would not be an effectual 
 barrier against the heat of a fire in an adjoining structure. 
 
 No building for the storage of merchandise should be higher 
 than 60 feet from the ground, unless fireproof throughout, and 
 then not over 95 feet, even in cities with good fire departments. 
 
 Parapet Walls. The enclosing walls of a building should be 
 carried above the roof (and coped with stone as a protection from 
 the weather), to a height of at least 12 inches, to protect the 
 building from fires in adjoining structures. 
 
 Bonds. Caps. Wall Plates. Templates, &c. These should in all 
 cases be, as already stated, of cast-iron. Neither wrought-iron 
 nor stone should be used. 
 
 Roof. This should be of metal, without any air space. 
 
 Water Tank. This should be supported upon brick walls, so 
 as not to give way and fall, as would be the case if wooden sup- 
 ports were employed and burned through. It may rest upon 
 railroad iron or I-beams carried from wall to wall. Under no 
 circumstances should it rest above the staircase, where in falling 
 it would endanger the lives of firemen. 
 
 Electric Wiring. This should be installed in accordance with 
 the rules of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which 
 may be obtained without charge from any local board of under- 
 writers. 
 
 Waterproof Floors. Great damage usually results to stocks of 
 merchandise from the water thrown by fire departments to ex- 
 tinguish fires. The floors should, therefore, be waterproof and 
 should be so inclined to the side or rear walls that the water will 
 run off by means of scuppers or metal pipes inserted in the walls 
 at the floor level, having check valves or movable drop caps 
 which would prevent the ingress of cold air and permit the egress 
 of water. The door-sills should be one inch high. 
 
 Closets. There should be no closets, especially for oils, filling 
 lamps or other purposes, under the staircases or elevators, where 
 a fire starting would quickly reach the floors above. In fact, 
 closets are always objectionable in mercantile and manufactur- 
 ing buildings. They become hiding places for careless em- 
 ployees, for greasy overalls, oily waste or other rubbish often 
 with friction matches. Numerous fires start in such places and 
 
L28 
 
 SLOVV-BUKNIXC CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 assume dimensions under conditions that make them dangerous. 
 Wherever practicable, concealed places of all kinds should be 
 avoided. 
 
 Heating. If by steam pipes, they should, at do point, come in 
 contact with wood, hut should he guarded by thimbles where 
 they pass through floors. If by furnace, the hot air pipes should 
 not pass between the floor of one room and the ceiling holow, or 
 between stud and lath and plaster partitions. Where it is neces- 
 sary to have a hot air pipe pass out of sight it should be double, 
 with an inner and outer pipe and a space of half an inch between 
 the two. Steam heating pipes should for safety be near ceilings 
 they heat rooms more evenly. 
 
 Dry Rot. It is important to observe precautions to insure 
 against dry rot in buildings with wooden floor joists or wooden 
 columns, especially if they are covered up by plaster to protect 
 them from fire. It is customary to cover them with wire lath- 
 ing and plaster and, in such cases, small perforations about 34- 
 inch in diameter through the plaster at the top and bottom of a 
 pillar or column would probably secure sufficient ventilation to 
 save the column, which, also, should be centre-bored. This is 
 true also of floor beams, which may be ventilated at each end 
 with small holes in some ornamental pattern. It is not generally 
 known, however, that unprotected beams, if 12 inches in diame- 
 ter, as already stated, are rarely consumed to the point of break- 
 ing, if the city has even an average fire department. 
 
 Wooden Ceiling and Sheathing on Side Walls. This is decidedly 
 dangerous, especially where pine or other resinous wood is lased. 
 Fire flashes readily over the entire surface and quickly gets 
 under such headway as to defy the efforts of the fire department. 
 If floor joists and side walls are not to be left exposed, (the 
 plastering, if any, on the side walls without wooden laths, fur- 
 ring, etc., what is known as "open finish,"') the old fashioned 
 plaster, even on wooden lathing, is infinitely preferable to 
 wooden sheathing or ceiling. If plaster is used it should always 
 be upon wire lathing. This insures a good key or clinch to the 
 plaster which will retain the plaster when saturated with water 
 longer than wooden laths. It forms an effective fire-stop, also, 
 for a considerable time and materially aids the fire department 
 in extinguishing a fire. 
 
 Sky-Lights. These should be of thick glass, with metal frames, 
 
BUILDERS RINKS. 
 
 129 
 
 and should be guarded by wire netting above, to protect them 
 from falling fire brands from outside fires, and by wire netting 
 below, to prevent broken glass falling on the firemen when ex- 
 tinguishing a fire. 
 
 It will be observed in reading the foregoing specifications 
 that, from a fire standpoint, the aim is to secure substantial 
 enclosing walls; substantial floor supports; fireproof enclosures 
 for elevators, staircases, dumb-waiters and all communications 
 from story to story; to avoid hollow concealed spaces; and to 
 secure a fire-resisting roof. These are the main points to be 
 kept in mind, and the necessary details and precautions to be 
 observed ought naturally to occur to any intelligent and con- 
 scientious architect or builder. 
 
 Perhaps the four most important considerations to be observed 
 in slow-burning construction are: 
 Timbers not less than 12 inches thick; 
 
 Floor planking double and four inches thick and waterproof; 
 Openings from story to story cut off, to prevent drafts, and 
 Entire absence of concealed spaces which would afford harbor- 
 ing places for rats and mice or admit of a fire getting be- 
 yond control before discovery. 
 
 BUILDERS' RISK. 
 
 Buildings in process of construction are not profitable risks 
 at the rates usually prevailing. They are to be sought, how- 
 ever, if the final occupation of the building will be such as to 
 make it a desirable risk when finished. It is, therefore, ad- 
 visable to secure the risks of enterprising builders, but, as 
 already stated, to endeavor to have policies written for a year, 
 since the insurance of such buildings for the time of the builder's 
 risk only would be a very unprofitable undertaking. 
 
 It is during construction that the agent may be of the great- 
 est help to his company by securing safety in flues, hot air 
 pipes, &c, &c, and at the same time of great assistance to his 
 customer, with the result, further, of getting his own commission 
 on the insurance of a long-lived building, instead of for only one 
 or two years. 
 
 Much of the unsafe building of the present day is due to 
 ignorance of the principles of safety on the part of builders and 
 
130 
 
 BUILDERS RISKS. 
 
 to negligence on the part of underwriters. In most instances if 
 the owner of a building in process of construction were informed 
 that a wooden mansard roof, for example, would not only en- 
 danger his building but cost him a considerable sum in extra 
 premium each year, he would probably be induced to correct so 
 serious and unnecessary a fault in his plans. 
 
 It is especially important that shavings and other rubbish 
 should be removed daily, and that buildings should be secured 
 at night so that mischievous boys and malicious persons may 
 not gain access to them. Where the building is a valuable one 
 a watchman should be employed by the builder. Fires in 
 buildings in process of construction are due largely to the slak- 
 ing of lime left where water can reach it ; to careless plumbers, 
 gas-fitters and roofers, especially in the use of fire-pots, and to 
 the spontaneous ignition of painters' oily overalls. Millions of 
 dollars worth of property has been destroyed by fires starting 
 from these various causes. 
 
CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 If the problem of reducing the unnecessary fire waste of the 
 country, now amounting to more than one hundred and sixty 
 million dollars per annum, is the most important confronting 
 the citizen as well as the underwriter, then a study of the causes 
 of fires, with a view to eliminating as many of them as possible, 
 is one of the most important studies connected with insurance, 
 and one which should engage the profound thought of every 
 conscientious insurance agent. Inasmuch as no one can tell 
 where any fire may end which starts in the compact portion 
 of a city, the importance of preventing one from starting need 
 not be argued. The fire which destroyed Chicago started in a 
 cow-shed ; that which burned Jacksonville, Florida, in a cheap 
 manufactor}-, which ought not to have been located where it 
 was. Fargo, Dak., was destroyed by rubbish in rear yards. 
 
 When is taken into account that more than sixty per cent of 
 all the fires which occur, start from preventable causes, we 
 may well give this important subject sufficient space. 
 
 There is another reason, too, for publishing a list of causes. 
 The insurance agent is confronted everywhere, when soliciting 
 business, with the statement, honestly made, by the property- 
 owner, "there is no way for a fire to start on my premises; 
 there are no fires or lights in the building, and I might as well 
 carry the risk myself." It is well for such an one to have pre- 
 sented for his consideration some of the hundreds of ways in 
 which a fire might start outside of human agency, not over- 
 looking the danger of human agency in the shape of malicious 
 personal enemies, insane incendiaries — pyromaniacs, so-called 
 — or that class who, without any animosity whatever, have 
 been known to set fires merely for the purpose of seeing fire 
 departments extinguish them. 
 
 If the numerous persons who go without insurance, or con- 
 
132 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 tent themselves with short insurance, supposing that their risks 
 cannot burn, could be informed as to the hundreds of ways in 
 which fires start, they would not, at prevailing rates of in- 
 surance, fail to take; out a sufficient amount to protect them; 
 and a shrewd agent would need only to enumerate these various 
 causes to become a successful solicitor. 
 
 The following from a New England paper shows that some 
 citizens are as well posted as to causes of fires as some under- 
 writers. 
 
 "The Causes of Fires. The means of preventing fires may be suggested by 
 a glance at some of the causes from which tiny originate. Cotton waste 01 
 other materials for spontaneous combustion thrown into a by corner; ashes 
 recklessly knocked from a pipe or cigar; the stump of a burning match thrown 
 into combustible materials; a stove overheated; a lamp carelessly broken: a pot 
 of varnish left to boil over; a furnace room neglected; a plumber's fire uncan d 
 for; matches heedlessly dropped into straw or shavings, or given to children 
 or left for rats or mice to drag between floor and ceiling or in a stable where 
 horse feet can ignite them; clothes left near a stove or gas jet; a wooden ash 
 receiver; a defective flue; a broken lantern — these are some of the starting 
 points of conflagrations that devour whole villages and eat out the heart of 
 cities. If these simple causes were not allowed to exist, their terrible effects 
 w r ould not follow. Colonel Simonds, proprietor of the American House in 
 ( Jreenlield, Mass., recently related an incident in his own experience, Which 
 aptly illustrates this point. At eleven o'clock, one night, he swept the litter 
 from the smoking-room in his hotel out through the back door on to a heap of 
 kindling stuff in the wood-room, and prepared to retire for the night. Five 
 minutes afterward he returned to the spot and found the shavings and wood 
 on tire. The force of his broom had lighted a match that had been dropped 
 into the dirt he had swept out. He said that if he had not had occasion to 
 return to his wood-room, the hotel would have been burnt and he should have 
 thought it the work of an incendiary, as there was no fire kept in that part of 
 the building, and he saw himself that it was just right before retiring. The 
 Colonel also stated that he one day threw a cigar which he could not make 
 burn, and believed was entirely out, among some papers; and half an hour 
 afterwards he found the papers in a roaring blaze. Thus it is that men sow 
 the seeds of conflagrations when they least think of it. All should be more 
 careful. What we need is the habit of keeping matches, and all other possible 
 sources of combustion, where they cannot be the means of destruction." 
 
 The writer has kept, for many years, and on a more accurate 
 basis for the last ten, a careful record of fires, analyzed accord- 
 ing to their causes, under injunctions to adjusters, already 
 referred to (p. 14) to give their opinion, after careful consider- 
 ation of all the facts while on the ground, as to the cause of any 
 loss adjusted by them. 
 
CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 133 
 
 The percentage of losses attributed to unknown causes, on 
 city, town and village risks, went down under the injunction to 
 express an opinion, from 40$ of the total amount of losses from 
 all causes, in 188G, to 20$ of such amount for the last five years 
 term. The percentage of farm losses from unknown causes did 
 not show so much variation, being about 14$ of the whole 
 number in 1886, and remaining at practically the same figure 
 for later years. The explanation is obvious. The cause of a 
 farm loss is usually easily ascertained by an intelligent adjuster, 
 especially in the case of partial losses, while the total losses are 
 divided almost uniformly among incendiarism internal and ex- 
 ternal, carelessness, defective flues (which are estimated to 
 cause over 20 $ of the whole amount of losses) temporary vacancy 
 and "unknown." 
 
 Eight per cent of the amount of farm losses were due to 
 lightning to live stock and a like percentage to lightning to 
 buildings, showing that 16$ of all the losses are due to light- 
 ning, and that about 23 $ of all the premiums (allowing for cost 
 of adjustment) are needed to pay them — a fact generally over- 
 looked by those underwriters, who are disposed to throw in the 
 lightning clause for nothing. With a profit ratio of 5 $ (seldom 
 secured), to give, for nothing, indemnity against a hazard which 
 causes 16$ of the losses and, therefore, requires 23$ of the 
 premiums, it is obvious that rates need to be more carefully 
 adjusted than at present. 
 
 Kerosene lights in barns, open fireplaces, burning out of soot 
 in chimneys, defective stove-pipes, stove-pipes through side 
 walls, &c, have each caused about one per cent of all losses on 
 farm property. 
 
 Other causes of fires on this class (farm property) were in- 
 cendiarism internal, about 4 $ of the total amount ; incendiarism 
 external, by enemies, tramps, &c, about 12$; the remainder 
 being caused by gasolene stoves and lamps; prairie, running 
 grass and forest fires; sparks from threshing-machines; loco- 
 motive sparks; chimney sparks; smoke-houses; spontaneous 
 combustion ; rats and mice. 
 
 On the business other than farm, the fires attributed to un- 
 known causes were about 20 $ of the entire number ; exposures 
 about 20$; lightning to buildings, 2$ (lightning seldom causes 
 
134 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 loss in cities in buildings with metal roofs and well grounded 
 metal leaders and water pipes); incendiarism internal, 4$; ex- 
 ternal, 9 io ; mechanics, 1 
 
 The remaining causes, in which carelessness figures largely, 
 are matches, smoking, candles, swinging gas jets, lights in 
 show windows, kerosene oil, electricity, leaking gas pipes, gas- 
 olene machines, lamps and stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, stoves 
 and other heating apparatus, steam pipes, etc., dry-rooms, 
 vacancy, sparks of locomotives, chimneys, overheating of ashes, 
 illuminations, spontaneous combustion, sunlight through glass, 
 explosions, sawdust spittoons, rats and mice, steam drying appa- 
 ratus, friction, gas engines, and conflagrations — which latter 
 cause from six to ten per cent of all the losses. 
 
 The successful agent, therefore, will bear these figures in 
 mind ; not alone to persuade indifferent insurers as to the danger 
 of fires from causes which he cannot control, but with a view to 
 correcting faults while inspecting. He will thus be enabled to 
 discharge his duty to the community in which he lives, his duty 
 to the company he represents and his duty to himself ; for his 
 reputation as an agent and the esteem in which he is held by his 
 company will be largely dependent upon his escaping losses 
 which come under the designation "preventable." 
 
 It will be observed that the percentages of the following table 
 differ from those I have given, which were prepared by tabulat- 
 ing the causes assigned as matters of careful opinion expressed 
 by the adjuster on the ground. Such statistics are more reliable 
 than tabulations by city and State officials, published in insur- 
 ance reports. They must get their information from persons like 
 firemen and others, who have only limited opportunities for in- 
 vestigating the facts. The adjuster, on the other hand, has 
 plenty of time for this purpose, and what firemen or others may 
 learn about a case is easily available, as well, for his consider- 
 ation. 
 
 Out of the total number of fires in the City of New York 
 (1,396) for a single year, four hundred and thirty-nine (439) 
 were attributed to carelessness with matches. As of these only 
 forty-two were caused by children, it follows that those of ma- 
 ture age, if not of mature judgment, are culpably and generally 
 negligent. 
 
STOVES, STOVE-PIPES, ETC. 
 
 135 
 
 Gaslight in show-windows caused 75 
 
 Leakage of gas-pipes and metres (probably from 
 carelessness in approaching them with lights) . . 39 
 
 Boiling over of grease, pitch, tar, &c 19 
 
 Hot ashes and coals 17 
 
 Malicious mischief 18 
 
 Kerosene oil (upsetting of lamps, use of it for 
 
 kindling fires, &c) 112 
 
 Spontaneous combustion 39 
 
 Accidental, specific 77 
 
 In all eight hundred and thirty-five (835) fires out of 1,396, 
 nearly 60$, due, in one year, to carelessness, and, therefore, 
 preventable. 
 
 A careful insurance adjuster once told me that, going to his 
 room in an office building, after the work of the day, he threw 
 his cigar away as he unlocked his door. While writing at his 
 desk, a moment later, it occurred to him to see where the cigar 
 had been thrown, and he found it burning in the sawdust of a 
 sawdust spittoon in the hallway. A less careful person — per- 
 haps any other than an insurance man — would have failed to 
 take the precaution, and the building would, probably, have 
 been destroyed that night. 
 
 It is in this way that fires so frequently start, with sawdust 
 spittoons, into which matches, cigars or lighted cigarettes are 
 thoughtlessly deposited. Insist on their removal. 
 
 One of the best receptacles for keeping matches is an ordinary 
 stone jar, with a cover. It protects them from dampness and 
 from rats and mice, and even if they should become ignited 
 they are not likely to do any damage. 
 
 Stoves, Stove-Pipes, &c. It is probably unnecessary to say to 
 any person of ordinary intelligence that stoves should be free 
 from cracks; that the floors under them should be protected 
 with zinc (brick platforms are not safe, as coals of fire sift down 
 between the bricks) ; that the plastering on walls near stoves 
 should be unbroken, not leaving exposed lath work; that wood 
 should not be piled under or near them ; and that stove-pipes 
 should not enter chimneys at a point out of sight or in unused 
 rooms, where parted joints may emit sparks, and where the 
 coating of dust and ignitible substances, which always collect 
 
CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 on the upper surfaces of pipes running horizontally, is not likely 
 to be seen. These points should he especially noticed in bagging 
 factories, cotton mills and other establishments where fibrous 
 collections are incidents of the risk. 
 
 Stove-pipes should never pass out of a window, through the 
 roof or through the side of a building. Where they do. the risk 
 should be declined. Nor should stove-pipes enter a chimney 
 vertically, at the bottom of a flue starting from a ceiling above, 
 as there is danger of fire from burning soot falling out of the 
 flue through the space around the pipe. 
 
 Most insurance companies decline to insure buildings where 
 stove-pipes pass through the roofs, even though the building be 
 a small summer kitchen or "lean-to," not merely because of the 
 danger of igniting the roof at the point of exit, which is always 
 to be considered, but because of the danger of flying sparks, 
 which find lodgment under the edge of shingles, ignitible as 
 tinder after a dry season, and because of the danger, also, of 
 igniting birds' nests or rubbish in the cornices and eaves. 
 
 A stove-pipe may sometimes be permitted to pass out of the 
 roof of a summer kitchen or "lean-to" if properly protected, but 
 where stove-pipes pass through a roof they should in all cases 
 be double, with at least an inch of space between the pipe itself 
 and the outer or "sleeve" pipe, and the woodwork of the roof 
 should be cut away at least six inches from the pipe, which 
 should be held in place by a zinc or tin plate, to keep it at all 
 points equidistant from the roof. 
 
 Such risks should be referred to the company for consent be- 
 fore issuing the policy. There is little or no profit in the class, 
 and no insurance company would regret losing them. 
 
 Tile Chimneys. These are quite common, and as dangerous as 
 they are common. They are liable to crack, even where the 
 tile is vitrified, or well burned. The double iron stove-pipe is 
 preferable. Indeed, it is a grave question if the double iron 
 stove-pipe, properly secured and extending a sufficient height 
 above the roof, is not preferable to the highly dangerous ' 'half 
 brick" chimneys, so called, only four inches thick, which are 
 sometimes built upon wooden shelves or which rest on wooden 
 joists. Such chimneys should be prohibited by law. The differ- 
 ence in cost between a poor chimney and a good one is so slight, 
 
LIGHTING, ASHES, ETC. 
 
 K57 
 
 and the danger to life as well as property so great, that no 
 reasonable man would be content with the sham if he were in- 
 formed as to the actual difference in cost and appreciated the 
 danger to the lives of his family. 
 
 A tabulation of some twenty-three thousand fires in dwellings 
 and farm property showed 1}/ifo of the total number of losses 
 due to defective flues, and 20$ of the total amount of losses 
 due to the same cause. 
 
 Lighting. Movable gas or lamp brackets should be secured by 
 stops, to prevent their being swung under or against woodwork. 
 They should not be nearer to a ceiling above them than 36 inches, 
 and should be provided with hanging metal or glass shades. 
 Metal nailed to woodwork is objectionable if the flame is within 
 twelve inches of it. unless, as already explained, an air space is 
 left behind the metal. 
 
 Lights in Show-Windows. Are a frequent cause of fires ; glass 
 globes and wire netting should be provided to prevent contact 
 with ribbons, laces, &c, &c, which may be blown into the 
 jet by a passing draft, as when a door is opened. A safer 
 method is to have the lights arranged above the goods, with 
 reflectors. Electric lights properly installed are better. 
 
 Ashes. These should not be permitted in wooden receptacles. 
 Wood ashes are liable to ignite spontaneously after they are 
 supposed to be cold. 
 
 Cleanliness. Probably more fires are due to want of clean- 
 liness, especially in cellars and out of the way places, where 
 rubbish is allowed to accumulate, than from all other causes 
 except defective flues. All rubbish is objectionable, and the 
 sweepings of floors, particularly of drug stores and grocery 
 stores, where sawdust is used, are especially liable to cause fires. 
 Fires resulting from carelessness form such an alarming pro- 
 portion of those from all causes as to require unusual care on 
 the part of insurance agents and inspectors in pointing out and 
 explaining its dangers. Most householders are ignorant of the 
 dangers of spontaneous combustion and the necessity of keeping 
 matches in stone jai^s, to prevent their being ignited by rats and 
 mice or by cockroaches. An agent at Jacksonville, Florida, 
 told me that, on one occasion, while his family was absent from 
 the city, he went to his house at noon, and while in one of his 
 
138 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 rooms heard a sound behind him, and, turning, saw a box of 
 matches which had been ignited by the gnawing of a cockroach 
 — one of the largest he had ever seen — which frightened by the 
 fire was running down the leg of the table on which the box of 
 matches stood. Here was an instance, capable of proof by an 
 intelligent man, of a danger which most people would ridicule 
 as improbable. 
 
 A recent fire in California was extinguished at a point where 
 a number of burned rats and charred matches were found 
 occupying the same paper box. It is almost safe to assume that 
 a risk should be declined where chronic carelessness is dis- 
 covered as to the use of matches. Where they are found left 
 loose upon shelves, in closets and drawers, a fire is almost certain 
 to result. 
 
 The following taken from the Journal of Commerce and 
 Commercial Bulletin, N. Y., as to the dangerous affinity be- 
 tween mice and matches is interesting. 
 
 ' 'A great deal has been said and written about mice starting fires by gnawing 
 at the heads of matches, but it is seldom that positive proof of the assertion 
 can be found. This week Fred Weddigen, a Williamsport, Pa., agent, received 
 from a grocer a box which showed just how such fires are started. In this in- 
 stance one-half of the matches were gone and the remains were used in build- 
 ing a nest for the mice. Two young mice, probably as many days old, were 
 found in the nest. The mice gnawed the wood of the match until it resembled 
 excelsior. All but the heads of the matches were used. The heads were 
 carefully piled away in one corner of the box under the nest. It is when the 
 mouse gnaws too close to the head that the fire is started. Instantly one is 
 ignited the shavings in the box blaze up, and sometimes serious conflagrations 
 result." 
 
 No more dangerous practice exists than the common one of 
 keeping matches, either loose or in paper boxes, in drawers of 
 bureaus, office desks, &c, the sliding motion of which, as in 
 opening or shutting, frequently ignites them. Fires may be 
 caused in this way by the closing of desks in offices, which do 
 not break out until all have left the rooms for the night. 
 
 Safety Matches. The use of "safety matches,'' which will not 
 ignite unless brought in contact with a specially prepared sur- 
 face, should be encouraged as tending to safety. 
 
 Some persons are constitutionally careless. Some years ago 
 a fire resulting in a loss of over half a million dollars was caused 
 by one of the proprietors of a warehouse lighting the gas with 
 
SAFETY MATCHES, ETC. 
 
 139 
 
 a piece of paper, which he threw aside and which set fire to the 
 premises, although it was his own rule of the warehouse that 
 only tapers should be used for lighting purposes. 
 
 Reading at night while in bed, with a candle or lamp by the 
 bedside, is a common practice with many persons, especially 
 with servants and children, and results in many fires. 
 
 Screens full of clothes are frequently placed near stoves to 
 dry, where a slight movement of the air or draft from an open 
 window or door will precipitate them on the fire. Clothes which 
 have been freshly cleaned with benzine or alcohol should never 
 be brought near a fire. The contents of fireplaces and stoves 
 are often pulled out on the hearths at night, instead of arrang- 
 ing them in the grate ; and kindling wood is often piled in ovens 
 to dry for the morning fire. 
 
 Working over hours causes many fires, through the sleepy 
 indifference of tired workmen, especially where the overtime 
 work is only for a few hours, as, in the hurry to get home, they 
 are liable to leave without taking proper precautions to see that 
 there are no hot journals, &c. 
 
 It is a grave question whether all-night work is not less hazard- 
 ous than half-night work. Where employees work hah 7 the 
 night to make up time, and go home tired out, they too fre- 
 quently fail to examine journals and put out fires, which start 
 after they leave, when there is no one to extinguish them. 
 
 Numerous fires occur in cities where rubbish, waste paper, 
 packing material or dried leaves accumulate under open grat- 
 ings, where falling matches or cast away lighted cigars will 
 ignite them. Where windows are below the level of sidewalks, 
 with areas for the admission of light, the accumulation of dried 
 leaves is a special danger. 
 
 As a rule, dangerous combustible substances, like gasolene, 
 naphtha, lime, phosphorus, &c, &c, are not so dangerous in 
 those risks, like drug stores or chemical works, where they are 
 thoroughly understood and of which they are incidents, as where 
 they are mere accidents and where the parties using them are 
 ignorant of their dangerous properties. Lime, for example, is 
 more dangerous in paper mills and grocery stores, where it may 
 be kept for sale, than with those who deal in it in quantities by 
 wholesale. Oily waste, which every cotton manufacturer knows 
 
L40 
 
 ( A I SKS OF KIKES. 
 
 will burn spontaneously, and which he carefully keeps in a metal 
 receptacle during the day and removes from his mill at night, is 
 often the cause of fire in machine shops and other mechanical 
 risks, where it is used to wipe off machinery and afterwards 
 carelessly thrown aside in some closet or rubbish box to en- 
 danger the property. Linseed oil. which any painter knows to 
 be dangerous if fibrous material is saturated with it and it be- 
 comes covered up, is apt to cause fires by the careless throwing 
 away of cloths with which servants have rubbed off furniture or 
 hardwood floors. The intelligent and carefid insurance in- 
 spector will take pains to explain such matters when examining 
 buildings. 
 
 It is not safe to infer that the risks of those who have never 
 had a tire do not need to be carefully examined. Long im- 
 munity from fires seems to have a natural tendency to make 
 persons careless. 
 
 Spontaneous combustion probably causes more fires than are 
 attributed to it, from the fact that, in order to determine 
 whether a fire originates in this manner or not. it must necessa- 
 rily be detected at its very commencement and before the flames 
 have destroyed the evidence of its cause ; and as the substances 
 which cause the spontaneous ignition are quickly consumed, 
 the incendiary is seldom caught red-handed in the act. Most 
 people, moreover, are not aware of the dangers of spontaneous 
 combustion, and, where ignorant, such unexplained fires are 
 usually attributed to incendiaries, defective flues or other causes. 
 It is for this reason that an expert insurance inspector will make 
 careful examination of all closets and concealed spaces, and will 
 especially examine attics and cellars — those portions of a build- 
 ing which the owner himself too frequently overlooks. 
 
 It is only within recent years that spontaneous combustion 
 has been reasonably understood. For many years, a fire origi- 
 nating from this cause was regarded as a phenomenon; but, 
 owing to the investigations and explanations of scientific men, 
 and to the efforts of underwriters in collecting and publishing 
 the statistics of fires, with a view to lessening their losses, the 
 ignition of many substances without the application of fire heat 
 or flame, merely by the chemical action of the materials them- 
 selves, has come to be regarded as an accepted fact, and few 
 persons are so ignorant as to doubt it. 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC 
 
 Ul 
 
 Spontaneous combustion is generally due to the absorption of 
 oxygen from the atmosphere by various substances which have 
 an affinity for it. The rapid drying of siccative oils, especially 
 vegetable oils, like linseed, and the drying of moist charcoal, 
 result in the rapid absorption of oxygen to the extent of ignition. 
 
 It will be understood, also, that heat results from almost every 
 operation of force; the friction of machinery, the turning of iron 
 in a lathe, the cutting of threads on a bolt, the driving of a nail 
 into wood and especially into hardwood, the electricity generated 
 by a rapidly moving belt, and a hundred or more processes 
 familiar to mechanics. It is principally of the slow and insidi- 
 ous self-ignition of inert substances, not suspected by those 
 whose property is endangered, that we propose in this connect- 
 ion to treat. The fire which every miller knows will result if 
 the stones of his mill are permitted to run in contact when the 
 feed is shut off by some accident is not more certain than that 
 which will ensue from the oily waste which he uses to wipe off 
 machinery and afterwards throws aside in some corner to lie 
 neglected and forgotten until it bursts into flame. 
 
 Heat results from chemical action as surely though sometimes 
 more slowl}' than from the application of flame. Of those sub- 
 stances which absorb oxygen most rapidly, the siccative or dry- 
 ing vegetable oils, such as linseed, cotton-seed, palm oil, almond, 
 rapeseed, &c. , are the most dangerous. They are not danger- 
 ous, however, in bulk, as in barrels or cans, but when distri- 
 buted over fibrous substances, rags, &c, especially when 
 covered up so as to confine the generated heat. The petroleum 
 oils, however, are not dangerous as to spontaneous ignition, and 
 even a mixture of petroleum with vegetable oils lowers the 
 temperature almost invariably to the point of safety. Petro- 
 leum products are dangerous, of course, on account of their 
 vaporizing qualities and ignitibility. 
 
 Sawdust mixed with linseed oil will ignite in a few hours; so 
 will cotton waste. Cotton waste saturated with linseed oil will 
 burn in from two to ten hours, according to circumstances ; with 
 rape and olive oils (and large quantities of olive oils in the 
 market are really cotton-seed oils) in from five to six hours. Ig- 
 nition takes place more rapidly with silk waste than with cotton. 
 
 It should be remembered that oily rags are liable to be found 
 
142 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 in almost every collection of rubbish, and it is for this reason 
 that inspectors should decline buildings where rubbish is allowed 
 to accumulate. Wet cotton, damp oatmeal or bran, and most 
 vegetable substances, when packed together in a confined place, 
 without being sufficiently dry. undergo fermentation or heating 
 and are liable to take fire. Spent tanbark is liable to ignite 
 spontaneously when stacked up in heaps. It is used in white 
 lead works for this very reason, to generate carbon dioxide by 
 its fermentation in the corroding beds. Wet iron filings gener- 
 ate heat, and so also does all rusting iron ; in fact, iron rust is 
 combustion or oxidation of iron. Very fine fragments of iron 
 and steel by rapid oxidation become red hot — the theory of 
 striking fire with a flint and steel — and it is now claimed, with 
 some show of reason, by an English scientist that some of the 
 fires caused by steam-pipes may originate in this manner from 
 the rust of iron. He says : 
 
 ""When oxide of iron is placed in contact with timber, excluded from the 
 atmosphere, and aided by a slightly increased temperature, the oxide parts 
 with its oxygen, and is converted into very finely divided particles of metallic 
 iron, having such an affinity for oxygen that, when afterwards exposed to the 
 action of the atmosphere from any cause, oxygen is absorbed so rapidly that 
 these particles become suddenly red hot, and, if in sufficient quantity, will 
 produce a temperature far beyond the ignitible point of dry timber. Wher- 
 ever iron pipes are employed for the circulation of any heated medium 
 (whether hot water, hot air or steam), and wherever these pipes are allowed to 
 become rusty, and are also in close contact with timber, it is only necessary to 
 suppose that under these circumstances the finely divided particles of metallic 
 iron become exposed to the action of the atmosphere (and this may occur from 
 the mere expansion or contraction of the pipes), in order to account for many 
 of the fires which periodically take place at the commencement of the winter 
 season." 
 
 The iron scraps or shavings, lathe chips, etc. , to be found in 
 small heaps on the floors of machine-shops, and which are 
 always more or less oily, are particularly liable to heat if they 
 become rusty ; and fires in such heaps, in the yards of iron-works, 
 where exposed to alternate rain and sunshine — particularly 
 where sawdust is used, as in the case of nut and bolt works 
 — are far from uncommon. 
 
 In one instance, where a large machine-shop was flooded by 
 a sudden freshet which thoroughly wetted such heaps upon the 
 floor, they began to heat from the rusting, immediately after 
 the water had subsided. 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC 1 . 
 
 143 
 
 The spontaneous ignition of coal mines'is supposed to be 
 due to the chemical action of water and iron pyrites, the de- 
 composition of sulphurets of iron in the slates, which rapidly 
 absorb oxygen. The fire in the Hickory Shaft, an extensive 
 colliery near Pottsville, Pa., in 1S7(>, it is claimed, originated 
 in this manner. 
 
 "The yellowish matter commonly called copperas stone, brazil, rust balls 
 or marcasite, ofl en adhering to or mixed with the substance of pit coal, consists 
 of sulphur and iron, and is a species of pyrites. These are picked out and 
 laid aside, and such heaps have been known i<> take (ire, as at Whitehaven and 
 near Halifax, and at Puddle Dock, London. Water having obtained access to 
 it, it burned like red hot coals." — Bishop Watson s Chemical Essays, vol. \ ,p. 194. 
 
 It is well known that all finely divided sul (stances, such as 
 sawdust, wood lathe dust, cotton, wool, hemp, rags, rubbish, 
 floor sweepings, etc., etc., when saturated with oil, and es- 
 pecially with the siccative or drying vegetable oils, such as 
 linseed, olive, cotton-seed, rape-seed, etc., are liable to burn 
 spontaneously. This combustion is accelerated by the applica- 
 tion of heat, whether artifical or that of the sun, but takes place 
 also when the substance becomes in any manner covered up, as 
 in heaps, barrels or boxes, so as to confine the heat generated. 
 The small scraps of oil-cloth, for instance, so harmless when 
 scattered over the floors of a carpet store, become dangerous 
 when collected in heaps or quantities. 
 
 The following report of what is termed a "curious case of 
 spontaneous combustion" was published in the New York Sun: 
 
 CURrOUS CASE OF SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION AFTER WOUNDS HAD BEEN 
 
 DRESSED. 
 
 Louisville, Ky., June 4, 1001. — What is considered a remarkable case of 
 
 spontaneous combustion is brought to light by Dr , who for 
 
 several years has been Dean of the Kentucky School of Medicine and, for t wenty 
 years, a professor of chemistry of that college. The report of the case comes 
 to Dr. Woody in a, letter from a reputable Kentucky physician. In part the 
 letter says: 
 
 "A child about four years old was burned on the extremities and abdomen 
 by its dress catching on fire. The burns in each locality, being of moderate 
 severity and strictly superficial, were not sufficient to have caused a fatal 
 result. The burns were dressed in the following manner: First dusted with 
 subnitrate of bismuth, then linseed oil was freely poured on the parts wrapped 
 in cotton batting and a sheet pinned around it snugly, and lastly a quilt was 
 wrapped around this. 
 
144 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 "The child was put to bed aud instructions were given not to remove the 
 dressing. The child complained bitterly all night long, the parents thinking 
 that the suffering was due to the original burn. About daylight they saw 
 smoke arising from the bed, but being very ignorant people thought it was 
 the 'fire leaving the burn,' and did not remove the dressing until later, when 
 the child was dying. Upon removing the dressing they found the inner aspect 
 of the sheet was scorched, the cotton batting was burned almost entirely up, 
 over the abdomen, and still smouldering. 
 
 "The child was burned into the intestines in three places aud died in a few 
 moments. There was not the least evidence or the remotest possibility of the 
 second fire originating from the outside, and there was absolutely nothing used 
 but the bismuth and linseed oil." 
 
 Dr. Woody gives the following explanation: 
 
 "Under the circumstances it must have been spontaneous combustion of the 
 linseed oil. The bismuth subnitrate and cotton, divided finely, distributed the 
 oil and exposed a large surface to the action of the oxygen of the air. The 
 warmth from the body added to the heat and hastened the oxidation, and the 
 covering confined the heat until the oxidation became an actual combustion." 
 
 The only thing that is curious about the matter is that a 
 physician could overlook the danger of cotton fiber saturated 
 with linseed oil and covered up so as to confine the heat. The 
 conditions in this case are exactly those which result invariably 
 in rapid oxidation and so-called spontaneous combustion, and it 
 is ignorance of the inevitable consequence of such conditions 
 that leads to so many fires, year by year, from spontaneous 
 combustion, which probably contributes more to fires classified 
 as "unknown" than any other one cause, because the evidences 
 of spontaneous ignition, as already explained, are naturally al- 
 most invariably destroyed by the fire. 
 
 A fire occurred in the Wanskuck Woolen Mill of X. Providence, R. I., in 
 an imperfectly scoured piece of heavy woolens placed, while still warm from 
 the drying machine, under several other pieces. Loss on goods §1,000 before 
 discovered and extinguished. 
 
 In the same year a fire occurred in the repair shop of the Everett Mills at 
 Lawrence, Mass., from spontaneous combustion in a box containing some lathe 
 dust from spindle bobbins (which had been made a little more dishing.) These 
 bobbins when new had been soaked in linseed oil. 
 
 In June of the same year a fire occurred in the Pemberton Mill of Lawrence 
 from spontaneous combustion in black and brown yarns lying in bins, probably 
 from the small quantity of oils used in scouring these yarns.* Loss, $17,000. 
 
 A fire occurred in the Cordis Mill, Millbury, Mass., in an attic mule room, 
 
 *Goods or yarns recently dyed black should be well aired and cooled before 
 being packed. 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC. 
 
 145 
 
 in a small quantity of carriage flyings which lay under a skylight where they 
 were slightly wet by a shower and afterwards exposed to a bright sun shining 
 through the glass. 
 
 A fire occurred in black yarns in the Plunkett Cotton Yarn Mills, Adams, 
 Mass., August, 1891, and in aniline black cotton at New York Mills, N. Y., 
 July 14. 1901, and in dyed skeins of yarn at the Thorndike Cotton Mill, Thorn- 
 dike, Mass., same year, and in bundles of cloth dyed black in the United States 
 Finishing Company's risk at Norwich, Ct. 
 
 In Mr. Edward Atkinson's careful statistics of fires in mills 
 insured by his company much valuable information will be 
 found as to spontaneous combustion. 
 
 It is well known that fires occur from the heating of webs 
 fresh from the loom, if piled on top of each other, or covered up 
 in any way before being scoured. 
 
 Too much care cannot be observed as to the oil used on stock ; 
 only a safe animal oil should be used, pure sperm, pressed or 
 saponified lard oils, or a pure olive. Olive oil has of late been 
 so adulterated with cotton seed oil (exported for the purpose) as 
 to render its use on wool or cotton highly dangerous. 
 
 To avoid fires from spontaneous combustion, all dirty or 
 greasy cotton or woolen waste should be removed to a building 
 especially prepared for its reception, (and not exposing the mill) 
 and never left in the mill over night. The cards should be 
 cleaned in the forepart of the day, the waste passed through the 
 duster and removed to the waste-house. It is, moreover, to the 
 manufacturer's interest to clean the waste as soon as it comes 
 from the card, since if left to accumulate, it becomes matted 
 and will not clean well. The pickers should also be daily over- 
 hauled and all waste removed. 
 
 Sweepings of floors nearly always contain more or less oil, 
 and should not be allowed to accumulate in corners, but should 
 be carefully removed each afternoon. 
 
 Too much pains cannot be taken, in case any painting is done 
 on the premises, to see that no rags, waste, or cotton saturated 
 with linseed oil (a most dangerous combination) is left in any 
 part of the building. The examinations for such negligence 
 should be the more thorough that the danger is greatest when 
 such materials are covered up in any way ; a condition in which, 
 as before explained, they are most likely to ignite, while, at 
 the same time, most likely to elude a search for them. 
 
146 
 
 CATSKS OF FIRKS. 
 
 The increased use of hard woods as a finish for the interior 
 of buildings, especially in offices, engine-rooms, stair- ways, etc., 
 and the habit of re-oiling them from time to time, renders 
 the observance of these precautions extremely necessary. 
 
 Many other substances are known to burn spontaneously, 
 such as lampblack, oiled clothing, wet hemp ropes and mats, 
 phosphorus, bituminous coal in large heaps, moist hay, etc., etc. 
 
 An experiment showing the manner in which subterranean 
 fires possibly sometimes originate is also mentioned : 
 
 "Twenty five pounds of powdered sulphur were mixed with an equal 
 weight of iron filings. After being kneaded together with a little water to 
 the consistenee of paste it was placed in an iron pot, covered with a cloth, and 
 the whole buried under ground about one foot deep. In eight or nine hours 
 the earth swrlled, uivu warm and cracked; hot sulphurous vapors were 
 perceived; a flame which dilated the cracks was observed; in short, a subter- 
 raneous fire, producing a volcano in miniature, was spontaneously lighted up 
 from the reciprocal actions of sulphur, iron and water." 
 
 Bituminous Coal in large heaps, owing to the decomposition 
 of sulphuret of iron which it contains in large quantities, has 
 caused many fires, the most serious of which, probably, was 
 that at Copenhagen, about the year 1804, when 1400 buildings 
 were destroyed. Numerous fires have occurred at the different 
 U. S. Navy Yards, where large quantities of the coal are kept 
 — notably at Brooklyn, Boston, Portsmouth, and in a heap of 
 coal under the trestle of the Louisville and Nashville R. R., at 
 Nashville, Tenn. 
 
 In December, 1875, a fire started in a large heap of 1300 tons 
 of bituminous coal stored in the basement of a store-house con- 
 nected with the Burlington Woolen Mill at Winooski, Vermont, 
 no doubt caused by the decomposition of sulphurets in the coal. 
 A singular fatality has attended many of the ships in the carry- 
 ing trade of soft coal, unexplained except upon the hypothesis 
 of spontaneous combustion of the coal. 
 
 Bituminous coal should be kept in small heaps, out of doors, 
 protected by sheds from the rain, but where frequent currents 
 of air may keep it cool. It is possible to have pipes running 
 into the heap to ventilate the pile and to determine a rising 
 temperature by thermometers and other tests. 
 
 Everyone is familiar with the spontaneous ignition of un- 
 slaked lime when dampened in any way, and yet it is frequent- 
 ly stored, as elsewhere mentioned, in a careless manner, where 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC. 
 
 147 
 
 exposed to rain by an open or broken window or a leaky roof, 
 or in warehouses on water fronts where freshets may reach it. 
 Almost every spring fires from freshets in lime warehouses are 
 recorded. 
 
 As I write, information is received of a fire resulting in a 
 $10,000 loss at Richmond, Va., caused by the water from a 
 freshet coming in contact with lime in the plant of Warner 
 Moore & Company, millers and feed supply men. 
 
 The ordinary oiled clothing to be found in ship chandlery 
 stores, and in clothing stores near the water fronts of cities, is 
 dangerous when in piles because of the linseed oil used in the 
 manufacture. It should always be hung up and exposed to 
 free currents of air, by which the heat evolved is conducted 
 away. Stocks of goods, where it forms a large percentage of 
 the stock and where it is kept in piles on shelves or counters 
 or in drawers, are undesirable risks. 
 
 Charcoal will burn when pulverized or finely divided, in 
 heaps. Indeed, a ton or two of charcoal in a state of minute 
 division is almost certain to ignite spontaneously. In an ex- 
 periment which was made in France, under government direc- 
 tion, it was found that the inflammation occurs towards the 
 centre of the mass, in such cases, at about five or six inches 
 below the surface. The temjjerature is constantly higher in 
 this place than in any other. In another instance, where small 
 charcoal was thrown into a heap ten feet square and four feet 
 deep, containing two or three tons of charcoal, the temperature 
 in three days had increased to 90°, though at first only 57° (that 
 of the air at the time.) On the sixth day it was 150°, and on 
 the seventh day combustioyi had occurred in several places. 
 The charcoal had been made ten or twelve days before the ex- 
 periment took place, had been freely exposed to the air, and 
 was not, in any sense, what is known as "freshly burned" char- 
 coal. When finely powdered, charcoal is more dangerous than 
 when in sticks. Sixty pounds of powdered charcoal is some- 
 times a large enough quantity to ignite spontaneously. Lumps 
 of charcoal, if moist and subjected to a slight drying heat, will 
 ignite (see the interesting experiment of Professor Jackson, 
 under head of steam-pipe fires, page 166). 
 
 Dr. Kane, in the narrative of his Arctic explorations, men- 
 
I -is 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 tions a fire originating unmistakably in the "remains of a 
 barrel of charcoal which had been left in the carpenter's room 
 of the ship, ten feet from the stoves and with a bulkhead sepa- 
 rating it from them." 
 
 Phosphorus — which should always be kept under water, 
 and which, when it becomes uncovered, by evaporation or 
 leakage of the water, absorbs oxygen so rapidly at a temper- 
 ature below 70° as to take fire readily, especially when in a 
 powdered state — is very dangerous. Sufficient powdered phos- 
 phorus is sometimes to be found on the head of matches to 
 ignite in this way. Some fires are possibly due to the ignition 
 of matches by the heat of the sun, which, in a window and in 
 summer, is frequently as high as 140° — more than enough to 
 ignite phosphorus. The ordinary lucifer match composition is 
 luminous on dark, warm nights, showing that oxidation is going 
 on and a process of heating ; hence large quantities of matches 
 should not be kept in stores, especially where any heat — 
 whether of stoves, steam-pipes, or of the sun — can reach them. 
 
 Chlorine, one of the most energetic of elementary substances, 
 largely used in bleaching, in the form of chloride of lime, 
 chlorate of potash, chloride of magnesia, &c, has a powerful 
 affinity for hydrogen, seizing it in many of its liquid and solid 
 combinations, as in volatile oils, which it inflames, and in cotton 
 and flax. It spontaneously burns many substances. Some of 
 the metals, when finely divided, take fire spontaneously in 
 chlorine, such as brass-leaf or powdered antimoirv. 
 
 Lampblack is claimed to be dangerous, and there can be no 
 doubt of its liability to ignite spontaneously if mixed with oils 
 — especially linseed — which contain a large proportion of hydro- 
 gen. It is claimed to be the unsuspected cause, sometimes, of 
 fires in shoe manufactories, in which risks it is urged by some 
 that not over one day's supply should be permitted. As lamp- 
 black is almost always to be found near oils, as in paint shops, 
 &c, care should be taken that it does not cause fires. Its use 
 with putty, as in the case of furniture factories, or other risks, 
 may supply the necessary material for combustion. 
 
 Tracing paper, made transparent with oil, in process of manu- 
 facture, if the sheets are not thoroughly dry and cool before 
 piling, will take fire within an hour, on account of the linseed 
 oil used. 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC. 
 
 U9 
 
 Roasted coffee sometimes takes fire spontaneously. Its latent 
 heat is greatly increased by the process of roasting. 
 
 It is well known that hay, when stored away too green or 
 wet, is very liable to set barns on fire by the heat generated in 
 fermentation. It is claimed that salt sprinkled in the mow is 
 a preventive of heating, and that if the mow is pierced with 
 holes to permit the escape of the gases and heat generated, no 
 combustion can take place. 
 
 Tarred felt and moist hemp have been known to take fire 
 spontaneously. 
 
 '"Charged silks," viz., silks which have been treated with oil 
 to increase their weight, and certain shades of dyed silks, are 
 so liable to spontaneous combustion that, in 1872, their trans- 
 portation was prohibited on German railways. A peculiar kind 
 of nut oil was used. 
 
 Goods and yarns dyed black, possibly from some chemical 
 used in the dye, especially if packed solidly together before the 
 heat from the drying process at the mills has escaped from the 
 cloth or yarn, are very liable to burn spontaneously. * No less 
 than six fires occurred in 1873, in mills, from spontaneous com- 
 bustion in black goods. One at the Norwich Bleachery, several 
 at the Pacific Mills, one at the Silver Spring Dye Works, and 
 one at the Danvers, Conn., Bleachery. In 1875 a fire occurred 
 at the Washington Mills, Lawrence, Mass., in a roll of alpaca 
 goods, dried on a drying machine the day previous; and, in the 
 same year, at the Renfrew Manufacturing Company's Mill, 
 Adams, Mass., in Black Yarns; and at the Lonsdale Bleachery, 
 Lonsdale, R. I., in a pile of colored goods in the dye house. 
 
 The burning of several Russian ships in the harbor of Cron- 
 stadt was caused by the spontaneous ignition of firwood soot 
 and rape oil varnish, wrapped in a bass mat and lying on the 
 floor of the cabin, preparatory to painting a ship with it. — 
 Papivortlfs "Notes on Spontaneous Combustion." 
 
 A vessel loaded with Guano which became wet with salt 
 water took fire instantly. 
 
 It is claimed that buildings have been set on fire by spon- 
 
 *Probably due, also, to the fact that this color admits of greater "loading," 
 the introduction of material to give weight to the goods, which would "be 
 apparent in the lighter colors. 
 
I r,i i 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 taueoiis ignition of the guano of pigeons or oilier birds, and 
 certainly some fires attributed to this cause seem to be more 
 easily explainable on this hypothesis than on any "iher. 
 
 Fires have been known to occur from the heat of the sun con- 
 centrated upon Light combustible materials, such as shavings, 
 oily cotton, or sawdust, through imperfect panes of window- 
 glass, which serve the purpose of a "burning lens." When 
 woodwork is deeply smeared with a coating of linseed oil, as 
 is frequently the case in paint shops, carriage shops and other 
 risks using it, it would not seem a difficult matter for the heat 
 of the sun to ignite it. 
 
 Sunlight passing through a spheroidal glass vessel of water 
 has been known to produce the same result. 
 
 A fire was caused in this manner in the laboratory of Dr. H. 
 C. Bolton, of Columbia College. New York City. Upon enter- 
 ing the room at 9 a. m., he found a wooden table on fire, igni- 
 tion having been occasioned by the rays of the sun passing 
 through a spherical glass flask containing water. 
 
 Vessels at sea have been set on fire by means of the "bull's 
 eye" glasses used to admit light between decks. Their use had 
 to be discontinued and flat glass substituted. Captain Scoresby 
 and Dr. Kane, it is said, succeeded in kindling fires with lenses 
 made by them of ice, which very naturally "astonished the 
 natives." 
 
 Almost every boy's book of "games" contains recipes for 
 chemical combinations which will ignite without artificial heat, 
 and it seems strange that owners of property will overlook or 
 doubt the fact that the same dangerous conditions may be 
 reached, every day, in storage stores and warehouses, by the 
 accidental combination of many substances in common use. 
 The explosion at the great fire in Broad Street, New York, in 
 i s 45, was undoubtedly caused by the accidental combination 
 of saltpetre with the charred bags or other carbon. 
 
 Strong nitric or sulphuric acid, mixed with wool, straw or 
 certain essential oils will cause combustion. 
 
 Calcined magnesia and sulphuric acid will almost instantly 
 ignite. Chlorate of potash and loaf sugar reduced to powder 
 will ignite with the addition of a drop of sulphuric acid. 
 
 ' 'Fuming acid of nitre mixed with oil of turpentine will ignite 
 
SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION, ETC. 
 
 151 
 
 instantly, and the experiment proving it is a very dangerous 
 one, to be carefully made, the experimenter being careful not 
 to approach too close to the mixture." — Watson's Chemical 
 Essays. 
 
 Wood which has been for a length of time in contact with 
 pipes containing hot water or steam, seems to be reduced gradu- 
 ally to a condition favoring spontaneous ignition. The destruc- 
 tion of the English House of Parliament and many other fires 
 have been attributed to this cause. 
 
 Vice-President Snow, of the Home Insurance Company, has 
 secured valuable statistics as to the fires in dry-kilns and dry- 
 rooms, and has practically, it seems to me, demonstrated that 
 wood subjected continuously to heat for a given length of time 
 gets into a condition where it ignites spontaneously. This will 
 explain the numerous fires in dry-kilns and dry-houses, and 
 enforce the necessity of discontinuing the use of wood in rooms 
 subjected to high temperatures. 
 
 Many of the fires originating in Broom Corn warehouses are 
 supposed to be due to spontaneous combustion resulting from 
 the saturation of the fibre with oil from the seed, expressed by 
 the process of baling and handling, and the numerous fires in 
 cotton gin houses may be largely due to the ignition of cotton 
 saturated with oil from the cotton-seed expressed during the 
 process. 
 
 Paint shops are particularly liable to fire, on account of the 
 linseed oil used. A paint shop in a building is always an 
 objectionable feature, and in manufacturing establishments, 
 such as plow works, carriage shops, agricultural implement 
 manufactories and others, great danger exists from the care- 
 lessness with which linseed oil is frequently handled by persons 
 ignorant of its dangerous properties. 
 
 Junk stores and rag stores are very liable to spontaneous 
 combustion and are not safe risks to insure; aside from the 
 questions of unsatisfactory values, which are always involved 
 in the adjustment of losses on them, they contain at all times, 
 miscellaneous rubbish picked up in the streets — wisps of oily 
 cotton, greasy rags, oily cotton waste, etc., etc., and as they 
 are generally in the hands of persons ignorant or indifferent as 
 to the dangers of spontaneous ignition, they should be carefully 
 avoided by the insurance agent, either as risks or exposures. 
 
152 
 
 CAUSES OF m RES, 
 
 The agent must expect to find the danger of spontaneous 
 combustion, however, in every class of risks. Even dwellings 
 are not exempt from it. In one case a ball made by children 
 out of woolen yarn which they had oiled to make it clastic and 
 pliable, and had then covered with leather, thus fulfilling un- 
 consciously all the conditions favoring spontaneous combustion, 
 was found to have ignited spontaneously and burned to ashes. 
 A notable instance of spontaneous combustion in a dwelling 
 was where a mattress took fire. Upon examination it was 
 found that, instead of being stuffed with hair, as was supposed, 
 such materials as tow, flax, rovings, waste, and other substi- 
 tutes, had been used by the upholsterer. A lounge, stuffed in 
 the same manner, took fire. Numerous instances are reported 
 each year to insurance companies of the spontaneous combustion 
 of greasy overalls of painters left in buildings over night. In 
 a casein Host on ii was discovered that a pair of greasy overalls, 
 which had been accidently covered up in the cellar, were on 
 fire. In the case of a newly finished house, a fire started in a 
 small pile of oil-cloth clippings, left by the carpet fitter. While 
 spread out < .11 the floor the heat was conducted a way by currents 
 of air, but in a pile it was confined, and the oil}*, vegetable fibre 
 of the cloth ignited. 
 
 The sweeping's of factories, drug stores, grocery stores, ma- 
 chine shops or other risks where oil is used or kept, are very 
 liable to take fire, especially if allowed to accumulate in corners, 
 waste barrels or boxes ; and those risks where sawdust is used 
 on the floors, such as drug stores and grocery stores, are par- 
 ticularly liable to fire from this cause. The breaking of a 
 bottle of olive oil upon the floor of a grocery store, saturating 
 the sawdust with which the floor was covered, caused a fire 
 sixteen hours afterward. The sweepings had been left in a 
 heap where sunlight reached them and accelerated the com- 
 bustion. Olive oil has not been considered dangerous, but its 
 adulteration with cotton-seed oil (very common of late years), 
 makes it as dangerous as any other. 
 
 Receptacles for waste and rubbish, especially in mills, should 
 be of metal, as they would then serve to conduct away the 
 generated heat of their contents, and where, through any 
 neglect, such waste should not be removed over night, the 
 danger would be less than where wooden boxes were provided. 
 
KEROSENE OIL, ETC. 
 
 153 
 
 Wood — besides being itself combustible — is a poor conductor of 
 beat, and serves to confine that generated until a dangerous 
 temperature is reached. 
 
 An instance showing the necessity for the thorough exami- 
 nation of every portion of a risk, and particularly of those "out 
 of the way" places which are so liable to be overlooked by 
 owners and insurance inspectors, was that of a fire in a large 
 establishment at Zanesville. Ohio, in which the rule was to 
 burn all oily waste and rags each day, under the boilers. One 
 of the workmen, having occasion to go into the attic, found it 
 full of smoke, and an investigation revealed the fact that the 
 fire originated in some greasy rags in the space between the 
 brick wall and the eaves of the roof, where they had been 
 hidden by a boy who desired to collect and sell them on private 
 account. Fortunately the roof was of slate, instead of shingles, 
 and served to confine the fire long enough to ensure its discovery 
 and extinction. 
 
 As before stated, petroleum oils are not liable to cause spon- 
 taneous ignition. They have no affinity for oxygen, and their 
 danger seems to be confined, as elsewhere stated, to their 
 liability to evolve dangerous explosive vapors, and to their 
 inflammability. 
 
 Among the authorities on this point are Prof. Anderson, of 
 Glasgow University, who says: "By a special experiment I 
 have found that petroleum does not absorb oxygen and, there- 
 fore, cannot cause spontaneous combustion." Dr. Hoffman, 
 president of the London Chemical Society, saj's: "Petroleum 
 oils are safer than animal or vegetable oils, inasmuch as they 
 do not absorb oxygen, and cannot undergo spontaneous com- 
 bustion." Prof. Wilson, of Edinburgh, says: "I find that 
 mineral oil does not sensibly absorb oxygen, either alone or 
 diffused through cotton wool, and cannot take fire spontan- 
 eously." Prof. Frankland, Dr. Wallace, of Glasgow, and other 
 scientists add their testimony to this effect. 
 
 KEROSENE OIL. 
 
 Of late years, since the manufacture of kerosene by the 
 Standard Oil Company, by which a safer grade of oil is sold 
 almost without exception, fires have been less numerous from 
 
154 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 this cause than in former times, when there were many oil re- 
 fineries competing with each other for price and selling oil of 
 low specific gravity, due only to the presence of heavier oils 
 averaging in gravity with the lighter and more volatile gasolene 
 and naphtha so that a specific gravity test would not reveal the 
 danger. It is probably safe to say that there is, to-day, no 
 kerosene in the market which would not stand the U. S. stand- 
 ard of 1 1 degrees flash test. 
 
 As an evidence that the losses formerly due to dangerous 
 kerosene have been largely reduced by the improved quality of 
 the article sold, I would offer the statistics of 34,000 fires, which 
 show that less than six per cent of the number of all fires were 
 due to kerosene oil lamps, and less than three per cent of the 
 amount of losses from all causes attributed to kerosene. Of 
 course, these figures should be considered in connection with the 
 fact that electricity and gas have done away with the use of 
 kerosene to a considerable extent, and also with the fact that 
 the use of gasolene for lighting has to some extent done away 
 with the use of the safer material; but the figures are evidence, 
 nevertheless, supporting the contention that the kerosene as 
 now put forth by the Standard Oil Company is a much safer 
 article than it is supposed to be. 
 
 The statistics of the Massachusetts Insurance Department 
 show a larger percentage of fires due to kerosene oil than the 
 statistics I have quoted, but the Massachusetts figures are made 
 upon a much smaller number of fires. For example, the 
 Massachusetts figures show 1160 losses out of 8500 fires, where- 
 as the figures I have quoted cover four times as many fires, 
 the latter tabulation being based upon the careful report of 
 adjusters on the ground in each case which, I think, explains the 
 difference. 
 
 In 1869, Prof. C. F. Chandler was requested by the New 
 York Board of Health to report upon "the traffic in dangerous 
 kerosene." The result was an elaborate report, from which we 
 shall quote freely, as occasion may require, in the following 
 pages. 
 
 Crude petroleum, as it comes from the oil well, is a dark, 
 greenish-brown liquid of offensive odor, chiefly a mixture of a 
 great number of hydro-carbons — the average proportion of the 
 
KEROSENE OIL, ETC. 
 
 155 
 
 mixture being 85 parts of carbon to 15 of hydrogen. These 
 hydro-carbons differ in volatility; some evaporate rapidly at 
 ordinary temperatures, making it unsafe to approach them 
 with a flame, while others are less dangerous. Their volatility 
 is intimately related to their specific gravity or weight — the 
 lightest being the most volatile while the heaviest possess the 
 higher boiling points. Their inflammability is also intimately 
 connected with their volatility and specific gravity. 
 
 The light, volatile oils ignite or "flash" on being approached 
 with a lighted match, no matter how cold then may he, while 
 the heavier oils can only be ignited when the temperature is 
 raised considerably higher than that of the atmosphere. 
 
 "It must not be supposed, however, that the specific gravity 
 of an oil can be considered a sure index of its safety; on the 
 contrary, the specific gravity gives very little idea of its safety ; 
 for, while naphtha tends to render oil lighter, the average 
 gravity of good oil may be maintained by the presence of 
 heavier oils. A poor, dangerous oil may, in this way, actually 
 be heavier than a safe oil." 
 
 Petroleum, as it comes from the wells, is subjected to a dis- 
 tillation or refining process, the first products of which are gases 
 which require cooling with ice or compressing in order to con- 
 dense them. 
 
 "Soon the vapors begin to condense in the worm and a stream 
 of oil trickles from the far end of the coil into the receiving 
 tank." It is at this point that the refiner may decide as to 
 whether his oil shall be a safe or dangerous one, since it only 
 depends upon the gravity at which he turns the product into 
 the kerosene tank. If he waits until the product has a specific 
 gravity of 58° Baume, before changing the direction of the 
 stream from the coil into the kerosene tank, the result will be 
 a safe oil. The price of crude naphtha is so low, however, as 
 to make it a strong inducement for the refiner to turn it into 
 the kerosene tank, where it will bring within a few cents per 
 gallon of the market price of safe oil. 
 
 The product known as crude naphtha is separated, by re- 
 distillation, into (1) "Gasolene," — the lightest (used in gas 
 machines, carbonizers or carburetters); (2) "Naphtha," — used 
 for oil-cloths, cleaning, and for many of the dangerous brands 
 
156 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 of burning oil; (3) "Benzine," — used for paints and varnishes. 
 
 The operation of testing kerosene is merely that of ascertain- 
 ing the temperature at which the oil anils an inflammable 
 vapor — the "flash point" — or the temperature at which the oil 
 itself takes fire — the "burning point," These tests, the "flash- 
 ing test" and the "burning test," are often confounded, and 
 when a law or ordinance specifies the "fire lest," there is a 
 doubt as to which of the two is intended. 
 
 "The 'flashing lest," which determines the lowest temper- 
 ature at which oil aires off an inflammable vajxn-, is by far 
 the most important, as it is the inflammable vapor evolved at 
 atmospheric or ordinary temperatures which causes most of 
 the accidents. Moreover, an oil which has a high flash in (j 
 test is sure to have a high burning test, while the reverse is 
 not true." 
 
 The burning point of an oil is from ten to fifty degn ■< •> Kahren- 
 heit higher than the flashing point, the two points being quite 
 independent of each other. . The "flashing point" depends upon 
 the amount of the most volatile constituents present — 
 naphtha, etc. While the "burning point" depends upon the 
 general character of the whole oil, two per cent, of naphtha 
 will lower the flashing point of an oil ten degrees, without 
 materially affecting the burning test. The burning test does 
 not always determine the real safety of the oil, i. e., the ab- 
 sence of naphtha. The "flashing test" should, therefore, be 
 the only test mentioned in laws framed to prevent the sale of 
 dangerous oils. 
 
 ""What flashing point should be selected, as a standard of safety, is a ques- 
 tion on which there is some difference of opinion. The higher the flashing 
 point the safer the oil. Animal and vegetable oils do not flash below 500° to 
 (500° Fahrenheit; hence it is impossible to have an explosion, or any burning 
 accident, with a lamp or can filled with such an oil. 
 
 "The flashing point should be somewhat higher than the highest temperature 
 the oil ever reaches in the lamps or cans. Our highest summer temperature does 
 not far exceed 90° Fahrenheit, though a can of oil placed in the sun or near a 
 fire might become much hotter." 
 
 "The point of 100° (a temperature sometimes reached in metal lamps) does 
 not seem to be high enough to secure immunity from danger, though it may 
 be said very few, if any, accidents occur with oil which does not flash below 
 this temperature. In some State laws, 110° F. is fixed as a flashing point, and 
 in one of them 120° F. 
 
KEROSENE OIL, ETC. 
 
 i.->; 
 
 "When it is remembered that the temperature of oil in lamps sometimes 
 rises above 100° F. — thus reaching a temperature at which even oils which do 
 not emit a combustible vapor below 100° F. would be dangerous — it is ap- 
 parent that 100° is too low a standard for safety; 120° P. would not be too high 
 as a standard, and its adoption would not add three cents per gallon to the cost 
 of the oil." 
 
 At ordinary temperatures gasolene and naphtha are continu- 
 ally giving off inflammable vapor, and a lighted match or lamp, 
 at some distance from the material itself, will ignite it through 
 the medium of the vapor. 
 
 The metallic attachments of ordinary lamps are sufficient to 
 conduct the heat of the flame to the oil in the lamp, and to 
 cause it to evolve dangerous and explosive vapors, unless the 
 oil is a safe one. So long as the lamp is unbroken and kept 
 closed, no explosion is likely to take place; but if opened for 
 filling, near a fire or flame of any kind, an explosion is almost 
 certain to ensue. It must be remembered that actual contact 
 of flame with the oil itself is not necessary. The danger is 
 from the vapor with which the vacant space in the lamp above 
 the oil is filled. This vapor is invisible, is always under press- 
 ure — because gradually and continually generated in a confined 
 space — and when released, as by the opening of a lamp for 
 purposes of filling, expands in volume, sometimes sufficiently 
 to fill a small room, and to reach the flame of a lamp or stove 
 at some distance from the oil itself. 
 
 It is for this reason that lamps should never be filled at night ; 
 that kerosene should never be handled or sold within fifteen feet 
 of any artificial light or stove ; and it is for this reason, as well 
 as on account of the danger from leakage, that a can or barrel 
 of oil should never be kept in the same room with a furnace, 
 sto ve, or fire of any kind. 
 
 A terrible instance of the danger from kerosene of a low 
 flashing test, when kept or handled in warm rooms or near 
 stoves, was that of a fire at Morton Station, near Philadelphia, 
 by which, in consequence of the explosion of a one-gallon can 
 of volatile kerosene or so-called "combination fluid," four per- 
 sons were bin ned to death. 
 
 We quote from the published account of the investigation : 
 
 "The room in which the explosion took place had a low ceiling and a very 
 large stove, which had been kept at nearly a red heat, in order to expedite a 
 
15« 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 large ironing. There was no light or fire in the room, except the one in the 
 stove. A young woman, one of the victims, was still conscious and live/1 long 
 enough to relate that her mother took the can of oil, removed the cork of the 
 spout at the table — several feet from the stove — she instantly saw, on the re- 
 moval of t he cork, a Jlash go from the stove to the can, heard a loud hissing noise, 
 .■mil that was all she remembered !" 
 
 The explanation of this occurrence is very simple. The can 
 of oil had been generating vapor in the warm room all day, 
 until the space between the surface of the oil and the top of the 
 can was filled with an inflammable gas under the pressure of 
 its confined volume. Immediately upon removing the cork, 
 the escaping vapor — expanding as it became released — filled 
 the room and, igniting at the stove, caused the explosion. 
 
 Tests of kerosene should he carefully made. Instruments for 
 making the tests are simply contrivances for apj)lying a slow 
 heat to oil in which the bulb of a thermometer is placed. Upon 
 the application of heat, the lighter portions of the oil rise to the 
 surface and are there converted into vapor which, when evolved 
 in appreciable quantities, will ignite, with a succession of flashes, 
 on the approach of flame. 
 
 "The thermometer should not descend far below the surface 
 of the oil; if the bulb is well covered it is sufficient. It is well 
 to stir the oil before applying the flame, which should not be 
 thrust against the oil, but should be flitted quickly across the 
 surface after noting the thermometer. The oil should be heated 
 very slowly ; a test should never be completed in less than fifteen 
 minutes, and when the oil flashes or burns but a few degrees 
 from the standard temperature, it is hardly safe to spend less 
 than twenty-five to forty minutes in raising the temperature of 
 the oil to the flashing point." 
 
 A rude and not very reliable test, but one which is still better 
 than none, is to place some of the oil in an ordinary saucer, 
 which may be floated on the top of water in a pan set upon a 
 stove, with a thermometer in the water. The flame may be 
 applied in the manner described. 
 
 One very simple test may be tried by any one. It is to pour 
 a few drops of the oil into a saucer and apply a match ; if the 
 oil takes fire at once, it is unsafe. "The fact that the ma- 
 terial can be ignited at the ordinary temperature of a 
 dwelling-house should be a sufficient evidence, to a person of 
 
KEROSENE OIL, ETC. 
 
 159 
 
 intelligence, that when employed in the household, for lighting 
 purposes, it may, at the first thoughtless or careless act, become 
 the cause of awful accidents." — Dr. WahVs Report on Kero- 
 sene to the Board of Underwriters. 
 
 While it would not necessarily follow, from the test just 
 mentioned, that an oil which does not ignite is a safe one (be- 
 cause the temperature in lamps is always greater than that of 
 the atmosphere), it may safely be assumed thai an oil which 
 does ignite is unsafe, and there is no need to carry the experi- 
 ment farther. 
 
 The fact that certain highly dangerous oils or naphthas will 
 burn quickly, without explosion, when an unprincipled vendor 
 unscrews the wick-tube of a lamp and applies a match, must 
 not be taken as any evidence of safety. A certain rat io of air 
 to vapor is necessary to mala' an explosion. The maximum 
 degree of violence results from a proportion of eight or nine 
 parts air to one of vapor. The vendor takes advantage of this 
 fact when he practises the sham test just mentioned; the pro- 
 portion of vapor to air is too great to explode, and it burns 
 quietly. 
 
 If he should place a small quantity of the same oil in a tin can 
 and shake it thoroughly, a sufficient quantity of vapor would 
 probably be evolved to form an explosive mixture with the air 
 in the can, and the result would be very different ! 
 
 Petroleum lubricators should not evolve an inflammable vapor 
 below 300°. 
 
 Any caution to those who make tests of kerosene to be care- 
 ful and )u>t endanger property by the very art which is in- 
 tended to secure it, would seem to he superfluous if a gentle- 
 man in New Bedford, in carelessly trying a fire test on a sample 
 of kerosene, had not burned up a refinery — oil, barrels, still and 
 buildings! 
 
 Recipes for making oils safe. — ''Processes have been patented,-' 
 says Prof. Chandler, "and vendors have sold rights throughout 
 the country of patented and secret processes for rendering gas- 
 olene, naphtha and benzine non-explosive. Thus treated, these 
 explosive oils — just as explosive as before the treatment — are 
 sold under trade names indicating safety." 
 
 il It is not possible to make gasolene, naphtha or benzine 
 
160 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 Safe l>H amj addition tlial can lie made to it. Nor is ;mv oil 
 safe that can lie set on fire at the ordinary temperature of the 
 ail/' 
 
 "Safety" lamps, cans, etc.— "An indefinite number of 'safety' 
 lamps have also heen patented with a view to make it possible 
 to burn explosive naphthas without danger; hut the accident, 
 which is always marc likely to occur outside than within 
 the lamp, is just as liable to take place. The lamp is dropped 
 or broken; it is filled while burning; the servant neglects to 
 screw in the wick tube; the oil is upset or left uncorked, or the 
 servant uses it l<> kindle I tic Jirc. In some way or other, tire 
 gets to the vapor of the oil, and an explosion occurs. Even 
 when the 'safety lamp' has an ally in the form of a 'safety 
 can,' it still fails to make naphtha safe. It is an axiom that 
 no lamp is safe with dangerous oil, and any tamp is safe 
 
 with safe oil." 
 
 Empty Kerosene. Naphtha or Gasolene Barrels are sometimes pro- 
 ductive of fires, in consequence of carelessness in approaching 
 them with lights. They are, nearly always, full of explosive 
 vapor, especially after standing in a warm place or in the sun, 
 and have been known to explode with great violence. 
 
 Dealers are generally so careless with respect to empty oil 
 barrels, that they should be cautioned by agents as to the danger 
 of approaching them with lights or matches. 
 
 Gasolene Gas Machines.— The lighting of buildings with gas 
 manufactured by simply passing a current of air through gas- 
 olene, so as to evolve a vapor which rises very readily from it, 
 has now become so general as to deserve careful and extended 
 notice. Neither mechanical disturbance of the material nor the 
 application of heat is necessary. The air itself readily takes up 
 the vapor, and the gas resulting becomes merely a mechanical 
 mixture, not a chemical union. 
 
 When the apparatus is safely arranged, the lighting of build- 
 ings in this manner may be safer than by movable kerosene 
 lamps, but there are many unsafe gas machines, the owners of 
 which deceive property holders and insurance agents with state- 
 ments that their particular machines have been "approved by 
 the underwriters." Every agent, therefore, should be thorough- 
 ly informed, so as to judge for himself as to whether a machine 
 
GASOLENE GAS MACHINES, ETC. 
 
 161 
 
 is safe or not, and as to whether the position in which it is placed, 
 and the manner in which it is used, will justify his approval. 
 
 Gasolene gas or naphtha gas is simple a mixture of common 
 air and gasolene vapor, in such proportions as to make it bum. 
 The machinery usually consists of a metal tank or receiver, for 
 holding the liquid, and an air-pump or "blower" to supply it 
 with air. The tank should be under ground, from thirty to 
 fifty feet distant from the building to be lighted, if it is a dwell- 
 ing, and from fifty to seventy-five feet distant, if it is a hotel, 
 manufactory or other large building, requiring a greater number 
 of burners. The aim should always be to mingle at such tem- 
 perature that it will not separate or condense afterward, 
 especially at ordinary temperatures, as the tendency of the 
 mixture — particularly when the fire-heat is applied to make the 
 liquid vaporize — is to condense in the pipes at any temperature 
 materially lower than that at which it is generated, for which 
 reason no artificial heat should be permitted. 
 
 The receiver should be lower than the air-pump or "'blower" 
 and the pipes throughout the building should be inclined, so 
 that any condensation will flow outside of the building and 
 back into the tank or receiver. Where the tank is lower than 
 the building it is impossible for any of the liquid to flow into 
 the building; and when a considerable distance intervenes be- 
 tween the tank and the building a further advantage is secured, 
 the pipe passing under ground being cool, the gas is more likely 
 to condense before it reaches the building, and a safer gas — one 
 which is not likely to condense in the temperature of the building 
 — enters the pipes. 
 
 The air-pump, "blower" or "meter," for forcing air into the 
 gasolene tank, usually works by clock-work, the motive power 
 being a suspended weight. As the air-pump requires frequent 
 attention, and contains water which must not be allowed to 
 freeze, and as it should be in a dry place, where the moving 
 parts may not be injured by rust, some builders claim that it is 
 necessary to permit it to be placed in the cellar of the building ; 
 but as furnaces are usually located in cellars, there would be a 
 liability to great danger, if any of the gas should escape from 
 the pump or blower into the cellar. The gas being heavier than 
 the air, owing to the preponderance of carbon, is very liable to 
 
L62 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 ignite at 1li<' furnaces and cause explosion and fire. For tliis 
 reason the supply of air to the pump should, in all cases, be 
 taken by an induction pipe from the outside of tin- tmildiiig, 
 so in case of any change of pressure, by which the gas in the 
 tank should happen to be forced back into the air-pump and 
 through the induction pipe, it may not enter the cellar (as would 
 be the case if the induction pipe opened into the cellar), but pass 
 off into the outer air. 
 
 The gas of the tank may he forced back into the air-pump if 
 the filling of the tank Avith gasolene is not properly done ; as, for 
 instance, where the vent cock is not opened during the process 
 of filling from the barrel, the pressure of the entering fluid 
 would force the gas through the pipe leading to the bloAver. 
 
 In this way the Cashier of the Continental Insurance Com- 
 pany lost his dwelling-house and its contents. The air-pump 
 took its supply ' ft air from the inside or cellar of /he l>n tiding; 
 and as he neglected to open the vent cock, while filling the tank, 
 gas was forced through the air-pump and induction pipe into 
 the cellar. A servant, entering the cellar a few moments after- 
 wards, with a lighted candle, caused an explosion which fatally 
 burned her and destroyed the building and furniture. The fire 
 was peculiarly rapid, preA T enting the saving of anything of 
 A-alue. 
 
 The most approved gas appara tn s uoav used has a vent cock 
 so constructed that the cock for filling cannot be opened with- 
 out opening both and is "fool-proof." 
 
 There should be a cut-off stop-cock in the gas pipe, at the 
 building, to cut off the tank from the house, if occasion should 
 require it. 
 
 It would seem unnecessary to add that all of the apparatus — 
 tank, air-pump and pipes — should be made of the best materials 
 and in the best manner. All of the pipes should be tested, by 
 competent experts, before the gas is let on. 
 
 Particular inquiry should be made as to Avhether the person 
 entrusted with the filling of the tank is informed as to the im- 
 portance of haA T ing the vent open and the air-pump shut off be- 
 fore commencing to fill the tank, and as to the general danger 
 of using a light in or near the gas-house or vault. 
 
 jVtf barrels containing any of the materials should beper- 
 
(IASOLEN 10 STOV KS. 
 
 mitted in or near insured buildings, and no empty gasolene 
 barrels should be permitted near them, on account of the 
 dangerous gas which such barrels always contain, as before ex- 
 plained. It is claimed that a pint of gasolene will impregnate 
 and make explosive ^(io cubic feet of air. As we have elsewhere 
 stated, it depends only upon the proportions in which gasolene 
 vapor and air are mixed (page 159.) as to whether the result is a 
 burning gas or explosive vapor. If the air is thoroughly 
 carburetted it burns quietly; but if not, it explodes. For this 
 reason the vapor found in empty barrels is nearly always a 
 highly explosive one. 
 
 Gasolene Stoves, now frequently used in tin-shops for heating 
 soldering irons, and in other risks for cooking, heating, and other 
 purposes, must not be permitted by agents without the consent 
 of the company and according to National Board precautions 
 and rules. The danger of these stoves is not so much from the 
 mere process of burning gasolene vapor as from the presence 
 in a building of the material itself, and the dangers insepa- 
 rable from the handling of it. It is more dangerous than gun- 
 powder, as the latter will not seek flame or fire, while the vapor 
 of gasolene will, and parties who handle the material grow 
 careless. All receptacles are liable to leak, and, even in the 
 hands of the most careful person, tin 1 filling of the receiver is 
 attended with danger. 
 
 If such stoves are ever safe it is only where the receptacle for 
 the gasolene is outside of the building, and the gasolene in- 
 troduced to the stove by a pipe running through the wall. The 
 material must not be stored in or near the insured buildings, 
 except as described in the small quantity for the use of the stoves. 
 
 As I write, a California journal contains accounts of two gas- 
 olene fires which illustrate the danger of having the material 
 about. A fire occurred in Los Angeles, Cal. Gasolene was 
 actually drawn in a pitcher and left standing upon a kitchen 
 table. Another member of the household, discovering the 
 pitcher and supposing it to hold water, actually poured it into 
 a tea kettle, which was over a burning gas jet on a gasolene 
 stove. The result is said to have been instantaneous ! 
 
 The second fire occurred in another California house, where 
 a cup of the fluid was left standing on a table ; a match lighted 
 
164 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 in its vicinity set fire to the gasolene, causing an explosion, re- 
 sulting in a loss of over four hundred dollars. 
 
 STEAM-PIPES AND THEIR DANGER. 
 
 This is a subject to which we desire particularly to call your 
 attention. It has, at last, become a serious question whether 
 stoves — because of their admitted danger and the consequent 
 care in their management — are not safer than steam-pipes, 
 where the manufacturer entertains doubts as t< the ignition of 
 wood by them when in contact with it. Unfortunately the 
 causes of main* tires are never discovered. All traces are lost in 
 the ruin which follows the conflagration ; but sufficient statistics 
 of well authenticated cases of fires from steam-pipes have been 
 secured to convince the most skeptical on this point. AVe give 
 a list of some of them, in the hope that our pains may not be 
 without reward. It must be borne in mind, however, that it is 
 difficult to catch such a dangerous incendiary "red handed in 
 the act." Our list might be larger. 
 
 E. 31. Williams' Woolen Mill at Yantic, Conn., from wool in contact with 
 steam coil. Loss $8,o0fl. 
 
 Jones & Loughlins' American Iron Works at Pittsburgh. Pa., Fire in a 
 wooden box containing a steam-pipe packed in sawdust. A clear case— dis- 
 covered in the daytime. 
 
 Briggs House, Chicago. Steam-pipes in drying room of laundry in contact 
 with wood. Discovered and extinguished. 
 
 Store of Wm. H. Watson, cor. Park Place and Church Street, New York, 
 Steam-heating pipes. 
 
 Dwelling House cf Beach Yanderpool, Esq., in Washington Place, Newark. 
 N. J. Steam-heating pipes in a wood-box. Discovered and extinguished in 
 the daytime. A clear case. This was a first-class, brick dwelling costing 
 875,00b. 
 
 Utica Steam Cotton Co., Utica, N. Y. Fire discovered running over twc 
 laps of cotton in contact with steam-pipes. A clear case of the ignition of 
 clean cotton. 
 
 Republican News Office, Geo. Knapp & Co., S. E. cor. Third and Chestnut 
 Streets, St. Louis, Mo. Main pipe leading to top of building. 
 
 Oneco Mills, Sterling, Conn. Steam-pipe packed in charcoal. 
 
 Pacific Mills, in wool sorting room, from placing fleeces over steam-pipes 
 to warm for opening. 
 
 Lonsdale Mill, R. I. Steam-pipe packed in sawdust. Box on fire a number 
 of times. 
 
STEAM-PIPES AND THEIR DANGER. 
 
 Androscoggin .Mills. From oily overalls hung to dry over steam-pipes. 
 
 St. Nicholas Hotel, New York. Woodwork in contact with steam-pipes. 
 Discovered before loss. 
 
 Metropolitan Hotel, New York. Woodwork in contact with pipes. 
 
 Robertson Paper Co., Bellows Falls, \'t. Steam-pipe set fire to wooden 
 casing in which it was enclosed. 
 
 Higgins Carpet Co. The superintendent of the Higgins Car- 
 pet Company's Mills, in New York, told me that he saw, one 
 day, a collection of flyings on top of the steam-pipes which ran 
 along the side w alls hurst into flame from the heat of the pipes 
 and run the whole length of the piping. The fire occurred while 
 the men were out of the mill, during the dinner hour, and hut 
 for the fact that he happened to he in the mill at the time there 
 would have been a disastrous conflagration. 
 
 It will be seen that several fires occurred from the use of char- 
 coal, sawdust, etc., for packing to prevent loss of steam by 
 radiation and condensation. These substances are not safe 
 for the purpose. Prof. Tyndall recommended powdered gyp- 
 sum as a safe, inexpensive and equally efficacious substitute. 
 
 A fire was discovered in the mill of Mr. Eddy of Fall River, 
 and its fortunate extinction may serve to convince manu- 
 facturers of a danger from steam-pipes not before thought of. 
 
 The gentleman in question had placed a pine board in his 
 wool-drying room, about three or four inches above the steam- 
 pipes, to prevent wool from falling on them. A fire ensued, 
 causing a loss of several thousand dollars before being ex- 
 tinguished, and a careful examination as to its origin satisfied 
 him that the heat of the pipes hod distilled the pitch from 
 several pine knots in the board, which dropping on the pipes 
 below had caused the combustion. 
 
 We need not suggest the lesson of this fire, or the necessity 
 of following steam-pipes throughout their length to see that 
 where the;/ pass under woodwork — as when suspended he- 
 low eeilings or floor timbers — they ore not so near as to en- 
 danger the mill in the manner above described: nor need we 
 add that the general use of the Southern or yellow pine in the 
 flooring or girders of buildings (the knots of which yield their 
 pitch to a very moderate heat) will justify a thorough scrutiny 
 of the woodwork, from time to time, to guard against fire. 
 
 The well-known tendency of lumps of charcoal to take fire 
 
nit; 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 spontaneously if moistened and then subjected toa slight drying 
 heat, (less than that of boiling water), suggests another way in 
 which steam-pipes may set fire to wood. We give an interest- 
 ing account of an experiment by Professor C. T. Jackson (the 
 well-known discoverer of etherization) in his own words. Not 
 less interesting than the narrative is his very clear explanation 
 of the phenomenon and its cause : 
 
 "Three times," he says, "I have set fire to charcoal at temper- 
 atures below that of boiling water. My first experiment or 
 observation was accidental. I was preparing, while at Bangor, 
 Me., for a lecture, in which I had occasion to show an artificial 
 volcano. I took a tray filled with gunpowder and laid it on the 
 Stove to dry. I then took a paper of pulverized charcoal, such 
 as is sold by the apothecaries for tocth-powder, the charcoal be- 
 ing wrapped in white paper, and placed it on the top of the gun- 
 ] » >wder which was being dried upon the stove. Having occasion 
 to go out, I took < »ff the paper of charcoal and laid it on the table. 
 When I came back in about twenty minutes, I observed the 
 paper smoking. The charcoal was completely consumed. Dur- 
 ing all this time the gunjxrwder remained on the stove unex- 
 ploded. 
 
 ''My next observation was this: While at work in my labora- 
 tory, I had occasion to use a piece of charcoal for blow-pipe 
 experiments. I went down into my cellar and brought up a 
 piece of light, fine, round charcoal, suited for that purpose. It 
 was damp. I laid it on the top of a column stove to dry, directly 
 beside a tin pan containing water, which was not boiling, and 
 never did boil there. I took the charcoal off the stove and laid 
 it on my table. A short time afterward, I discovered that it 
 was on fire all through the piece. I laid it aside, and it burned 
 entirely to ashes. The theory of the ignition of the charcoal 
 under these circumstances struck me at once. Charcoal has 
 wonderful porosity: it has the power of analyzing air, and 
 absorbing the oxygen with comparatively little of its nitrogen. 
 The pores of the charcoal were previously filled with moisture. 
 Drying expelled this moisture. The oxygen of the air was con- 
 densed in the charcoal, taking the place of the moisture. The 
 condensation of the oxygen produced sufficient heat to ignite the 
 charcoal. I repeated this experiment again intentionally, watch- 
 ing it carefully, and with the same result.'' 
 
STEAM-l'll'KS AM) THKIK DAXGKK. 
 
 L67 
 
 I have never found any manufacturer or practical mechanic 
 who denied that steam-pipes would reduce wood to a condition 
 of charcoal — all admit this. The wooden covering or "lagg- 
 ing" of engine cylinders alter a few years of service, or any 
 other wood in contact with steam-pipes for a sufficient length of 
 time, will give evidence enough in proof of this if examined. 
 It is needless to suggest the numerous ways in which these 
 charred surfaces may become moistened and reduced to pre- 
 cisely the same conditions as the charcoal in the experiment 
 described, after which the pipes themselves supply the requisite 
 degree of heat to fulfil all the conditions necessary to produce 
 combustion. 
 
 The writer some years ago was inspecting the Conestoga 
 Mills at Lancaster, Pa. The superintendent, a very intelligent 
 man, combated the theory of ignition by steam-pipes, and in- 
 sisted on a visit to the engine-room, to observe the charred 
 wood lagging of the steam-cylinder of his engine, which he said 
 had been on the engine for years and had been reduced almost 
 entirely to charcoal and had not ignited. I related this incident 
 of Professor Jackson, and suggested that the dryness of the 
 lagging might really be the explanation of its failure to ignite, 
 explaining that, in the case of floors, where the steam-pipe 
 always reduces the interior of the planking to charcoal which 
 afterwards might become damp from washing the floors, and so 
 present exactly the conditions of the damp charcoal undergoing 
 the drying process in Professor Jackson's experiment, there 
 might not be the same immunity from ignition. I also urged 
 the Eddy incident as explaining another class of steam-pipe 
 fires and the danger of a horizontal pipe running through his 
 weave room just under yellow pine girders. 
 
 He listened with great interest and, with that promptness 
 which characterizes fair-minded men when they become con- 
 vinced, accepted the explanation as a good one and ordered the 
 girders protected by tin wherever they passed over steam-pipes, 
 and the flooring cut around steam risers. 
 
 I do not regard the practice of covering steam-cylinders with 
 wooden lagging cs safe, but I presume I should be regarded as 
 radical by nine so-called practical men out of ten, among me- 
 chanics, if I should presume to suggest any correction of the 
 practice. 
 
168 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 Steam- pipes are particularly dangerous where they pass, for 
 any distance, <>nf of sight between floors or through hollow 
 plastered partitions. The tendency of rats and mice to build 
 their nests near them, on account of the warmth they afford, is 
 well known, and they arc, for this reason, often in actual con- 
 tact with the most dangerous rubbish, such as oily or greasy 
 rags, cotton or woolen waste, occasioning fires whose origin is 
 never known. In such cases the steam-pipes, it' they do not 
 actually ignite the combustible material, become, it must be 
 conceded, the direct promoters of spontaneous combustion. 
 They should, if for this reason alone, be always in plain sight 
 and exposed to view throughout the mill, and where they pass 
 through floors should be protected by metal thimbles or flanges, 
 the inner rim of which should he furnished with points to 
 admit of a constant current of air. 
 
 Steam-pipes have been known to s-.-t fire to wood at a distance 
 of three hundred feet from the boiler. Hot water pipes were 
 claimed by Mr. Braidwood, of the London Fire Brigade, to be 
 dangerous if in contact with wood, as early as 1 846. The argu- 
 ment that the temperature of boiling water is only 212°, and, 
 therefore, not hot enough to ignite wood, falls to the ground in 
 view of the fact that when pipes are carried to a height of sixty 
 or seventy feet, as in the case of large buildings, the water of 
 the boilers is under a pressure of two or three atmospheres 
 instead of one and the boiling point may be above 212°. 
 
 The reduction in the number of steam-pipes fires in manu- 
 factories of late years is due to the observation of precautions 
 which underwriters have carefully pointed out as necessary. 
 Chief among which is the running of pipes near ceilings whe^e 
 stock cannot touch them. They warm rooms better than when 
 near the floor. 
 
 X. B. See possible explanation of steam-pipe fires, p. 142. 
 LIGHTNING. 
 
 Lightning causes many fires', which could he prevented by 
 good lightning-rods, extending into moist ground or into the 
 water of wells. The inspector should carefully examine a build- 
 ing to see that rods have sufficiently numerous points and are 
 connected with soldered joints and properly grounded. Claims 
 for losses are rare on buildings properly rodded. 
 
LIGHTNING RODS. 
 
 169 
 
 Probably no consideration connected with dwelling-houses, 
 especially, is the subject of greater diversity of opinion than that 
 of whether or not lightning-rods are necessary. That it is 
 advisable to have a good lightning-rod, well grounded, i. e., 
 connected with moist ground, is the generally accepted opinion 
 of those who ought to be best informed on the subject. I am 
 fully aware that lightning-rods are regarded by a large number 
 of people as affording no protection ; indeed, a gentleman who 
 has favored me with many valuable suggestions, insists that a 
 dwelling of his, destroyed by fire in consequence of being struck 
 by lightning, was rodded in the best manner. Notwithstanding 
 his opinion, I advise every one to have a good lightning-rod, and 
 to supplement its protection with a fire-insurance policy in a 
 reliable insurance company. The Washington monument was 
 repeatedly struck and injured until it had been protected with 
 a rod, and though repeated \\ struck afterward, no damage was 
 done. 
 
 The large chimney, surrounded by staging, of the West 
 Boyish m Manufacturing Company, at East Hampton Mass., 
 while in process of building was struck by lightning on July 14, 
 1900. It was claimed that the wire cable for hoisting material 
 and laborers to the top of the chimney acted as a lightning-rod 
 and accounted for the small amount of damage. This could 
 not have been the case, however, as the cable was not connected 
 by any conductor to moist soil so as to secure a good ground. 
 
 The advantage of lightning-rods, it should be remembered, is 
 not restricted to the conducting away of strokes of lightning. 
 Their principal office is to tap the electricity in the atmosphere 
 so to speak, and conduct it quietly away to the ground, prevent- 
 ing its accumulation in sufficient volume for a stroke. For 
 this reason the lightning-rod should have numerous points on 
 the roof. It is a well-known fact that beech-trees are seldom 
 struck by lightning, whereas oaks, hemlocks, and other trees, 
 especially locusts, are subject to frequent damage; and while 
 this well-known fact is accounted for on the supposition that 
 the rougher barks hold water, itself a good conductor, and that 
 oak contains a great deal of iron in its composition, the exemp- 
 tion of the beech-tree is believed by many to be due to the fact 
 that it has numerous pointed leaves and twigs, as well as a 
 smooth bark. 
 
170 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES. 
 
 The lightning-rod may he of iron or copper, and may he in 
 the simple form of a hollow gas-pipe or in twisted wire cables, 
 or it may be in a flat or taped surface. It is the surface which 
 conducts the electricity, rather than the center or solid portion 
 of the rod. 
 
 Houses and barns should be protected by good rods, with 
 numerous points of bright polished metal on the highest points 
 of the roofs. As a rule a pointed rod protects as much of the 
 surface of a roof as would be swept by a radius or line four 
 times the height of the rod above the roof, showing the necessity 
 of numerous points. 
 
 Iron is almost as good as copper as a conductor, and an ordi- 
 nary gas-pipe :! 4 inch in diameter makes a good rod. Four or 
 five strands of ordinary barbed wire for fencing, twisted 
 together, would make a good lightning-rod and an econom- 
 ical one. Care should be taken to have the strands un- 
 broken, however, as it would not be sufficient to twist ends 
 together or join them by laps unless they were soldered ; each 
 strand should be continuous from the roof to the "'ground" in 
 moist earth. Points may be made by filing the ends of the wire 
 with a file, on the roof ridges and at all prominent places, tops of 
 chimneys, etc. A sufficient number of such barbed wire rods 
 would be all that would be necessary to protect buildings, and 
 any farmer can make them for himself. In the absence of 
 barbed wire, which would be apt by its points to hold its place 
 on the roof, especially with staples, driven into the shingles or 
 siding, three or four strands of quarter inch iron wire, twisted 
 together, would make an admirable rod, care being taken to file 
 the ends to sharp points where they project above the roofs or 
 chimneys. It is vitally important, however, that the rod 
 should go far enough into the ground to reach damp earth. 
 Where this is difficult to find, an artificial ground may be made 
 by filling the bottom of the hole in which the foot of the rod 
 enters with a bushel or two of good charcoal. One of the best 
 grounds is to attach the rod to the pump rod in the well, so that 
 there may be a continuous metal conductor from the highest 
 point of the roof to the bottom of the well. 
 
 The rod may be fastened to the roof and sides of the building 
 with ordinary iron staples. It is not necessary to use glass 
 
LIUHTNIXii. 
 
 in 
 
 insulators, as li^litxiin^* will not leave the metal rod to enter 
 the poorer conductor of the wooden structure. 
 
 It is entirely unnecessary to buy some of the patent rods on 
 the market, which are sold at fancy prices. As already stated, 
 a :! 4 inch gas pipe, or a rod of copper wire one-quarter of an 
 inch in diameter, or simple barbed wire, with the points sharp- 
 ened makes a good conductor. 
 
 Where contracts are made with itinerant lightning-rod ven- 
 ders, care should be taken as to the form of notes and contracts 
 for signature. Gross frauds have been practiced upon unsus- 
 picious men by unscrupulous parties, and the innocent victims 
 have learned, when notes have been presented for collection, or 
 bills presented for signed contracts, that alterations in the text 
 have been made after the signature has been affixed, and that 
 the terms of the contract have not been fully and honestly 
 explained. 
 
 The writer would advise all persons erecting dwellings in 
 isolated locations to have rods. In cities they are not necessary, 
 due to the use of tin or other metal for roofs, water-pipes con- 
 nected with the underground system of the city, or with drain- 
 pipes which are sufficiently good conductors to make rods un- 
 necessary. Indeed, even in country dwellings, if leaders and 
 gutters are connected with the points of the rod on the roof, 
 they form sufficient channels for carrying the electricity or 
 lightning to the ground, provided they are connected with 
 moist <jroiui<l or with the pump-rod in the well. 
 
 A poor rod, or one not properly connected with moist ground, 
 or disconnected at points, is worse than none. 
 
 Lightning is less dangerous in cities, where as already stated, 
 the numerous metal roofs and connections of metal in the shape 
 of piping, gutters, leaders, &c. , with underground systems of 
 pipes conduct away the electricity, and it will be found that 
 only one per cent in number of losses on buildings in cities are 
 due to lightning, and two per cent of the amount of insurance; 
 whereas on farm property, 11 Yi r } of the total number of losses 
 on buildings, are due to lightning, the aggregate loss being 8$ 
 of the total amount paid from all causes. On live stock, 25 <fc of 
 the number of losses are due to lightning, and 8 ^ of the total 
 amount of losses paid from all causes, 
 
APPLIANCES FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE, CITY FIRE 
 DEPARTMENTS, ETC 
 
 Every building should be provided with fire-extinguishing 
 appliances of its own in proportion to its area and height. The 
 best fire appliances, strange as it may seem, are the cheapest — 
 pails tilled with water ready at the head of every staircase, and 
 for the reason that everyone knows how to use a pail of water, 
 while the average person, especially in the bour of excitement, 
 and danger does not understand patent fire-extinguishing ap- 
 pliances and might not kn< iw h< »w to turn on the valve of a stand- 
 pipe and bring the hose into action. Even in manufactories, 
 where cool-headed mechanics might be supposed competent to 
 handle fire apparatus, more than sixty-five per cent of all the 
 fires are extinguished by pails < >f water. Underwriters should 
 therefore, regard these simple but effective appliances favorably 
 in making rates, which should, in all cases, be 5$ lower where 
 they are provided, at the rate of say six pails to every 2,500 
 square feet of superficial area or floor surface. A little salt 
 added to the water will prevent its freezing and tissue paper 
 over the top will prevent rapid evaporation and accumulations 
 of dust. Salt in metal pails, however, will corrode them. It 
 is claimed that Calcium Chloride will prevent freezing and will 
 not cause rust. 
 
 Standpipes sin aid be provided, with Siamese or double con- 
 nections for the use of fire engines at the street, with hose outlets 
 also at each window, to save the carrying of hose upstairs; and 
 internal standpipes should be provided in all high buildings, 
 supplied with tanks on the roof, but these latter should, as 
 already explained, be supported on iron beams and rest in a 
 c< >rner of the building where two brick enclosing walls will form 
 the basis of support. 
 
 Public Fire Departments and city fire appliances should be recog- 
 nized, of course, in all rating systems. 
 
FIRE EXTINCTION. 
 
 The best system of water supply is one where the water is 
 under sufficient pressure at the hydrant to throw over the high- 
 est buildings without the use of a steam pump or steam fire 
 engine; in other words, where the pressure is a gravity pressure. 
 This can only he secured where an elevation of at least two 
 hundred feet in height can be had for a reservoir sufficiently 
 neai to a city to prevent the loss of pressure by the "frictional 
 head"' in the pipes. Where this is not possible, as explained in 
 the article on water supply, direct pumping systems are desir- 
 able, though not so good. 
 
 Theoretically, a first-class steam fire engine is supposed to 
 throw one thousand gallons of water per minute, but the aver- 
 age water discharged would probably be nearer seven hundred 
 gallons per minute. Even with the heaviest and best engines 
 of the Silsby, La France or other makes, it is best to count upon 
 this quantity, rather than upon the maximum theoretical value 
 of the engine. 
 
 The whole subject of fire engines, hook and ladder trucks, 
 chemical extinguishers, gravity water supply, direct pumping 
 systems, &c, is treated of under the Universal Schedule, and 
 their relative value is measured by the deductions allowed f< >r 
 each. 
 
 Paid fire departments are, of course, superior to volunteer 
 organizations, but the firemen should not be paid according to 
 the number of fires they attend — a dangerous method of com- 
 pensation. The chief should be a competent fireman, enjoying 
 the confidence of his force. 
 
 Mr. Braidwood, who was, for many years, the superintendent 
 of the London Fire Brigade, until his death in the great fire of 
 the London Warehouses, on Cotton's Wharf, in 1861, in an 
 interesting and instructive work on the extinction of fires, says : 
 
 "It is now generally admitted that the whole force brought 
 together to extinguish a fire should be under the direction of 
 one individual. By this means all quarreling among the fire- 
 men about the supply of water, the interest of particular com- 
 panies and other matters of detail, is avoided. It is quite 
 obvious that a fire brigade, however complete in its apparatus 
 and equipments, must depend for its efficiency on the stoic 
 of twining and discipline of the firemen, Wherever there 
 
FIRE EXTINCTION. 
 
 is inexperience, want of co-operation, or confusion amongst 
 them, the utmost (Linger is to ho apprehended in the event of 
 fire. It is amidst the raging of this destructive element, the 
 terror and bustle of the inhabitants, that organization and disci- 
 pline triumph ; and it is then, too, that coolness and promptitude, 
 steadiness and activity, fearlessness and caution are peculiarly 
 required; but, unfortunately, it is then, also, that they are most 
 rarely exhibited." He adds, "On no account whatever should 
 directions be given to the firemen by any other individual while 
 the superintendent of brigade is present" — a most important 
 matter. 
 
 The i mportance of permanence in Hie positions of Chief 
 and Assistant Engineers of fire departments was a topic 
 considered at the convention of Chief Engineers, held in New- 
 York, in October, 1875. It was premised that "these officers 
 are entitled to no permanency except that which their merits 
 and ability as firemen and leaders of firemen entitle them to," 
 but that "permanency in such offices is essential to proper disci- 
 pline in the force and to secure the advantages of education and 
 experience. The greatest evils result from the uncertainty of 
 tenure of such offices and the influences under which officers are 
 appointed to, or dismissed from office. If party fealty and 
 efficiency are to be regarded as tests of merit, the least efficient 
 fireman in the department, or any one out of it, may hope 
 in that line to rival and supplant the Chief.'" 
 
 When men, ever so well qualified, are placed under an in- 
 competent and inexperienced leader, they are, in emergencies, 
 well-nigh helpless and useless. "Under such circumstances it 
 will often be the case that private members will possess more 
 knowledge of the duty to be performed than their superiors 
 have, which inevitably tends to disrespect and a lack of proper 
 subordination." 
 
 It was remarked by the first Napoleon, when speaking of 
 Marshal Ney, "better an army of deer commanded by a lion, 
 than an army of lions commanded by a deer!" 
 
 The whole general force of a city should realize that their 
 position will be permanent during good behavior and efficiency. 
 
 AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS. 
 
 It is not necessary in this place, nor would it be wise, to go 
 
AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS. 
 
 175 
 
 into details as to the rules for installing automatic sprinklers. 
 Proper regulations for these valuable appliances are kept up to 
 date by the New England Insurance Exchange, the New York 
 Board of Underwriters, and the National Board of Under- 
 writers, and it would be well to apply through the bureau of 
 underwriters having jurisdiction of the territory in which the 
 building is located, for full specifications. If the property- 
 owner follows these he will avoid serious mistakes, such as are 
 sometimes made even by practical mechanics, as to the size of 
 distributing rising pipes, which should always be proportionate 
 to the number of orifices to be supplied with M ater. Where 
 they are not of sufficient capacity the system of heads would be 
 of little value. 
 
 The sprinkler heads opening on an area of ten thousand 
 square feet would use more water than a powerful steam fire 
 engine would throw, and it is, therefore, important that the 
 riser, main and distributing pipes should be of proper dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 It is also important to put a sprinkler head in every section of 
 the risk. So many fires have passed control owing to the fact 
 that they have started in locations where it was supposed there 
 was the minimum of danger, that the rule, almost paradoxical 
 in its character, has been suggested: "Be sure to put sprinkler 
 heads in those places where you feel certain the}' will not be 
 needed." 
 
 It is important, also, to see that the valves controlling the 
 supply are open and sealed open. Not less than one instance 
 per week is the record of discovery, in mills of New England 
 territory, of neglect of such a vital precaution. The system 
 therefore, should be tested by an insurance inspector, to make 
 certain that the whole installation is not simply on dress parade. 
 In one instance coming to the writer's attention, a mechanic, 
 having occasion to use packing for a flange joint, not having 
 any gasket for the purpose, used a sheet of rubber, but neglected 
 to cut out the vent re. The water way, therefore, was effectu- 
 ally blocked and the whole system was useless. 
 
 All sprinkler systems should be connected by risers with 
 Siamese connections at the street, so that the fire department 
 can attach a steam fire engine and supply water after the tank 
 
L76 
 
 FIRE EXTINCTION. 
 
 is exhausted. This is a very important matter, for it insures 
 that the water thrown by the fire department will reach exactly 
 the spot where it is most needed, it being safe to assume that 
 the sprinkler heads would he open where the fire is burning. 
 It would be well to have a check valve at the tank, so that the 
 pressure may be thrown directly upon the system of sprinkler 
 heads from the engine. In such case, as already stated, the 
 coupling and thread should correspond with that of the fire 
 department ; and to make sure that it does it would be well to 
 ask the foreman of the nearest engine company to test his hose 
 coupling with the Siamese connection. The fire department 
 should be informed as to the location of the connection, and it 
 should be the task of the underwriter to make sure that the 
 chief of the department and the various captains and foremen 
 of the companies believe in this important precaution of at once 
 coupling on the sprinkler system. Some of the chiefs have not 
 recognized the importance of taking this action, but the more 
 intelligent officials are now fully convinced that it should not be 
 neglected in any case. 
 
 The following is a brief synopsis of the requirements of the 
 New England Insurance Exchange, the New York Board of 
 Underwriters and other organizations as to the installation of 
 sprinklers : 
 
 It is probably unnecessary to explain that an automatic 
 sprinkler is a device for distributing water, having a valve 
 arranged to open when any rise of temperature, as from a fire, 
 shall melt the fusible metal which solders the joints, just as 
 wax would while cold, hold two surfaces in contact, but release 
 them so soon as wanned by heat. The soluble solder used in 
 sprinklers is adjusted for various temperatures according to the 
 character of occupancy of the building which they are expected 
 to protect. 
 
 The underlying principles to secure the best results are: 
 1. Open construction; freedom from concealed spaces or 
 places where water thrown from sprinklers cannot penetrate. 
 It is obvious that sprinklers would not throw water into closed 
 drawers, under counters, &c. The distribution, moreover, 
 would not be as satisfactory in a warehouse full of empty bar- 
 rels as in the case of a store where all of the goods were dis- 
 played on open tables, 
 
LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF SPRINKLERS. 
 
 irr 
 
 •2. Sprinklers should be so located that their distribution 
 will cover all parts of the premises. As already stated, they 
 should be placed in those portions where they are supposed not 
 to be needed, as well as all others. 
 
 3. The piping must be of sufficient capacity. Where the 
 riser pipe and distributing mains are not sufficient to supply the 
 heads, the system is, of course, of little value. 
 
 4. The water must be under pressure at all times, except in 
 case of buildings where there is danger of its freezing, in which 
 case the dry pipe system is to be used. 
 
 5. There should be two sources of water supply: (1) a tank 
 sufficiently elevated to afford pressure, and (2) a supply by a 
 force pump, or by the city department. 
 
 Siamese connections at the street, for the use of fire depart- 
 ment, to attach engines on the system, are imperatively neces- 
 sary. 
 
 LOCATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF SPRINKLERS. 
 
 Sprinklers should be located preferably in an upright position 
 on top of pipes. 
 
 Deflectors must in all cases be parallel to ceilings, roofs or 
 the incline of stairs. The deflectors of sprinklers in the j>eak of 
 a pitch roof should be horizontal. 
 
 The distance of deflectors from ceilings or bottom of joists 
 should not be less than three inches nor more than ten inches. 
 
 Sprinklers should be placed in closets, basements, lofts, ele- 
 vator wells, under stairs, and, as already stated, at every point 
 where a fire could burn. Special instructions should be obtained 
 relative to placing sprinklers under large shelves, benches, tables, 
 overhead storage racks and platforms, and inside such small en- 
 closures as drying and heating boxes, caul boxes, tenter and dry 
 room enclosures, chutes and cupboards; also over all shafting 
 and gears, even in wet basements, and in boiler rooms, especial- 
 ly if steam fire pump depends on said boilers for its steam sup- 
 pi)*. Sprinklers should not be omitted in any room simply be- 
 cause it is damp or wet. 
 
 Not more than six sprinklers should be placed on one 
 
178 
 
 EIRE EXTINCTION. 
 
 branch 1 1 hp of pipe, except under special regulations as to pipe 
 sizes. 
 
 Each automatic sprinkler should have an unobstructed outlet 
 of such size and form that with five pounds pressure maintained 
 at the sprinkler it would discharge approximately twelve gallons 
 per minute. 
 
 FEED MAINS AND RISERS. 
 
 "Center Central" or "Side Central*' feed to sprinklers is rec- 
 ommended ; the former preferred, especially if there are more 
 than six sprinklers on a branch line. End feed should not be 
 used. 
 
 Then' must be a separate riser in each building, find in each 
 section of a building divided by fire walls; the size of such riser 
 to be sufficient to supply all the sprinklers on any one floor as 
 determined by the standard schedule of pipe sizes. If the con- 
 ditions warrant, special permission will be granted allowing the 
 sprinklers in a fire section of small area to be fed from the riser 
 in another section. 
 
 Where there are enough sprinklers in a room to require a six- 
 inch riser, according to schedule, it is preferable to have these 
 sprinklers supplied through two or more smaller risers (not over- 
 looking the rules as to capacity of pipes — one six-inch pipe will 
 throw more water than two three-inch pipes.) 
 
 A belt, stair or elevator tower, having floor openings without 
 "shut offs," is to be treated as one room, and pipe sizes arranged 
 accordingly; sprinklers to be on a separate riser, with inde- 
 pendent shut-off and drip valve. 
 
 Circulation of water in sprinkler pipes is very objectionable, 
 owing to greatly increased corrosion, deposit of sediment and 
 condensation drip from pipes. For this reason the pipes of a 
 sprinkler system should not be used for domestic or other service. 
 
 Hand hose, for fire purposes only, may be attached to sprinkler 
 pipes within a room under the following restrictions: 
 
 Hose not to be larger than three-quarter inch. 
 
 Nozzle not to be larger than three-eighths inch. 
 
 Hose not to be connected to any sprinkler pipe smaller than 
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS TO FIRE APPARATUS. 
 
 179 
 
 2%-inch; l>ul hose should not be attached to a dry-pipe 
 system. 
 
 Spacing of Sprinklers should be in accordance with National 
 Board specific ations. 
 
 Uniform Thread and Dimensions of Hose-Couplings. — The dimen- 
 sions recommended by the National Association of Fire Engi- 
 neers are as follows: inside diameter of couplings 2% inches in 
 the clear; outside, :!' s inches, exclusive of thread, and, includ- 
 ing the thread. 3% inches. The number of threads to the inch 
 to be eight. 
 
 The same dimensions should he followed by all mills and 
 manufactories relying upon the co-operation of the nearest city 
 or village department in case of fire. It has frequently happened 
 that such auxiliary aid has been valueless, simply because hose 
 and hydrant threads would not fit those of the department, and 
 reducing or expanding couplings had not been provided to 
 remedy the fault. 
 
 The same difficulty would exist, in case of an emergency in a 
 town requiring the assistance of a neighboring city, unless a 
 uniformity existed as to the size of hose couplings and threads. 
 
 As early as 1830, Mr. Braidwood, suggested that, if uni- 
 formity in the structure and design of apparatus could extend 
 to the most minute particulars, "a screw or nut of any one 
 engine would fit every other engine in the kingdom." 
 
 SUBSCRIPTIONS TO FIRE APPARATUS. 
 
 It is the rule of insurance companies to decline all applications 
 for the support of fire patrols, as well as for the support of fire 
 departments and organizations of that character, for the simple 
 reason that, as underwriters, we pay the full value of all fire 
 departments, fire patrols, waterworks, &c, in the reduction of 
 rates. 
 
 In the case of fire patrols we actually pay three times over 
 what we subscribe : 
 
 1st — In the cost of outfit and maintenance. 
 
 2d — The property-holder who intelligently observes the effi- 
 ciency of the patrol very intelligently estimates the probable 
 amount of salvage, and carries a correspondingly small amount 
 
ISO 
 
 SUBSCRIPTIONS TO FIRE APPARATUS. 
 
 of insurance. In this way we pay by reason of the lower con- 
 tribution in case of partial losses. 
 
 :;<1 — The insurance companies, taking studiously into account 
 the probable salvage on stock by the tire patrol, underbid each 
 other in the rate. 
 
 We do not, in any way, disapprove of fire patrols or fire 
 departments, but simply contend that, as underwriters, the full 
 benefit of the patrol is recognized by us in the rate of premium 
 charged. There can be no question that a fire patrol saves 
 money in case of fire, but this saving is in the interest of the 
 assured, who secures the salvage himself by carrying a smaller 
 amount of insurance and thus discounting all the advantages of 
 the patrol. 
 
 It all citizens insured their property to its full value and paid 
 underwriters a full rate, without reduction because of fire de- 
 partments, there might be some excuse for taxing insurance 
 companies for their support; but where rates are reduced 
 because of extinguishing facilities exactly in proportion as they 
 are efficient, and when property-owners reduce the amount of 
 insurance carried by them in the s:ime proportion, some citizens 
 declining to insure at all, surely it is hard to see why under- 
 writers should be taxed on the lower premiums received by 
 them on only a small percentage of the values at risk. 
 
 We must, therefore, decline all applications to subscribe for 
 fire departments, believing that our agents will readily see the 
 justice of our reason. 
 
 On the basis of sympathy, the officers of the company have 
 no right to give away money which does not belong to them; 
 and on a business basis, they have already paid for the fire 
 department in their rates of premium. 80 insurance companies 
 may claim, with propriety, that it is a matter of little moment 
 to them whether there is a fire department or not, if only they 
 have knowledge of the facts, their rates being graded according 
 to means provided for extinguishing fire. If our agents, here- 
 after, are urged to forward appeals for pecuniary aid to fire 
 departments, no matter of what character, we trust they will 
 explain the matter to those who solicit subscriptions, and save 
 us the trouble of doing so. 
 
RATES. 
 
 A vitally important subject, upon which the safety of com- 
 panies and, indirectly, the security of those insured by them 
 depends. 
 
 About twenty-five years ago, I undertook to prepare a sched- 
 ule for rating mercantile risks. At that time schedule rating 
 was in its infancy; the only schedule which was worthy of the 
 name was the schedule for rating cotton and woolen mills. 
 After working assiduously upon the task I abandoned it, believ- 
 ing it impossible of accomplishment. I realized that a rate for 
 groceries, for example, ought to be different from the rate for 
 exactly the same kind of stock, even in the same kind of build- 
 ing, in another part of the same city, if the exposures or environ- 
 ment were different, and if the street water mains were not of 
 the same size, and if the same facilities for fire extinguishment 
 were not provided, and if the occupancy of other sections of the 
 building were not alike in hazard. I also realized that a risk 
 in one city should differ from the same kind of a risk in another 
 city, not only because of the difference in fire department and 
 water supply, but because of the "lay of the land", whether on 
 level ground or on hillsides — like Lynchburg. A'a.. and Quebec 
 — or because of the previous fire record of the city, indicating 
 exceptional moral or physical hazard, &c, &c. All of these 
 combinations seemed as unlimited as those of a kaleidoscope. 
 Last of all came the important question of the difference be- 
 tween stocks and buildings, not only because of the relative 
 value of water-throwing facilities, which would injure stocks, 
 while extinguishing a fire, more than they would injure build- 
 ings ; but because of the problem, apparently incapable of so- 
 lution, as to the relative difference between the rates on stocks 
 and on the buildings containing them, which should vary with 
 the construction of the building and its fire-extinguishing facili- 
 ties; there being reason, obviously for a greater difference be- 
 
is-.- 
 
 KATKS. 
 
 tween the rate of a stock and its building where the latter is of 
 substantial construction, with the best of fin; appliances, than 
 be! ween the same kind of stock and another building, of flimsy 
 construction and with no fire-extinguishing appliances what- 
 ever. 
 
 During the ensuing twenty-five years, at intervals of every 
 two or three years, getting new light on the subject, I attacked 
 the problem again and again. But it was not until the appoint- 
 ment in 1891 of a committee, known as the "Universal Schedule 
 Committee," of which I was Chairman, and of a number of co- 
 operating committees from the various associations of under- 
 writers throughout the United States, viz., the New England 
 Insurance Exchange, the Underwriters' Association of New 
 York State, the Underwriters' Association of the Middle De- 
 partment, the Southeastern Tariff Association, the National 
 Board of Fire Underwriters, and the New York Board of Fire 
 Underwriters — a large committee, consisting of thirty-seven 
 members — who sought the advice and criticism of underwriters 
 throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in Eng- 
 land, that this important problem was finally satisfactorily dealt 
 with. No one man or, for that matter, no thirty-seven men, 
 could have supplied the knowledge and statistics necessary for 
 the accomplishment of the task. 
 
 The result of their work, the "Universal Schedule,'' has 
 successfully met all adverse criticism, during the years which 
 have elapsed since the Schedule was finally put forth in its 
 present form, but, what is better still, the Schedule has been in 
 successful operation in numerous cities and towns throughout 
 the country — notably those of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, 
 Denver, Cleveland, New Orleans, Scranton, Pittsfield, Albany, 
 San Antonio, and others — and has been, in slightly changed 
 form, but with many of the important principles, incorporated 
 in schedules and tariffs throughout the United States. I com- 
 mend its careful study to any novice who proposes to make 
 insurance his business, for I am convinced of the correctness of 
 the principles on which the Schedule is founded and which are 
 recognized throughout its entire system. I assert, without fear 
 of contradiction, that a schedule should be formulated upon the 
 following lines, and that it should recognize : 
 
RATES. 
 
 183 
 
 First. A standard of environment — the city. 
 
 Second. A standard of construction — the building. 
 
 Third. An addition for the ignitibility and combust- 
 ibility features of occupancy. 
 
 Fourth. An addition to all three of these to get the rote 
 of damageable contents; incidentally this latter to be 
 varied in buildings which are not .standard, because there 
 should be less difference between the rate of the building 
 and of its contents in the case of buildings of poor con- 
 struction than in buildings of standard construct ion. 
 
 Fifth. An allowance on both building and stock for ex- 
 ceptional features of fire extinction, proxim it y to h ydrants, 
 engine houses, automatic fire alarms, etc., this being neces- 
 sary to recognize the obvious difference between tiro risks 
 of the same const ruction and occupancy even in the same 
 city. 
 
 Further, that a schedule should recognize in its plau of 
 arrangement : 
 
 First. A key-rale — as to which carious cities and towns 
 differ. 
 
 Second. Charges for variations from standards of con- 
 struction — which ought to be the same everywhere. 
 
 Third. Charges for hazards of occupancy — which ought 
 to be the same everywhere. 
 
 Fourth. Charges for insuring contents according to 
 their susceptibility to damage — which ought to be the same 
 everywhere. 
 
 Fifth. The variation of these charges, according to the 
 construction of the building. Clearly the same amount 
 should not be added, even for the same stock, to two differ- 
 ent buildings where one is an exceptionally good building 
 and the other an exceptionally poor one; there should be a 
 greater difference between the building and stock rate in 
 the one case than in the other. 
 
 Sixth. The treatment of fire extinguishing facilities, 
 proximity to hydrants, etc., for the particular risk rated, 
 according to circumstances; it being clear that if the risk 
 is within reach of hydrants, steam engines, etc., and on an 
 
184 
 
 UATKK. 
 
 eight '-/ iich or larger water main, it should rale differently 
 from another of like kind, even in the same town, if the 
 other risk be not so fori 'it mate/ // located. 
 
 Much has been said about the Universal Mercantile Schedule, 
 pro and con. In order to narrow down the discussion to what 
 seem to me vital principles which should he observed in any 
 system of rating, I make the claim that in the following seven 
 of the foregoing vitally important requisites of any schedule the 
 "Universal" stands alone. 
 
 First. A schedule should recognize a key-rate as a starting point, viz., the 
 rate of a building of standard construction in a standard environment, i. e., in 
 a city presenting the must favorable conditions for the prevention, discovery, 
 extinction and confinement of fires to single buildings; and the difference be- 
 tween the starting point, or base rate, of one city as compared with another 
 should lie explainable by charges for variation from standard. Unless differ 
 enees between two cities as to the same characterof structure are explainable, 
 jealousies and antagonisms will result in adverse legislation. 
 
 No other schedule has ever recognized this important 
 feature. 
 
 Second. Inasmuch as all the risks of a city cannot have the maximum 
 benefit of the lire department, especially where street water mains are of in- 
 adequate sizes, it is (dear that all risks in the city should not be rated alike, 
 even though identical in construction and occupancy, but that they should 
 differ, according to the sizes of street mains, proximity to hydrants, fire engine 
 houses, etc., etc. 
 
 No other schedule has ever recognized, this important 
 feature. 
 
 Third. Certain features of construction, like se'f-releasing floor beams, for 
 instance, which improve a building are of no benefit to the stock. The stock, 
 therefore, should not receive credit for them in the rate. A system of rating 
 by adding some fixed sum to the final building rate to get the stock rate must, 
 by this process which recognizes features that are not of advantage to the 
 stock, result in an inadequate stock rate. 
 
 The Universal Schedule is the only schedule which has 
 recognized this important feature. 
 
 Fourth. Fire-extinguishing appliances, especially for throwing w^ater, 
 should not receive credit in computing the rates of stocks to the same extent 
 as in computing the rates of buildings, because water damages stocks to a 
 greater extent than buildings. 
 
 No other schedule has ever recognized this important 
 feature. 
 
 Fifth. Exposures should be treated differently in the case of buildings 
 from stocks. A building may be so constructed as to be a complete protection 
 
RATES. 
 
 1R5 
 
 to its stock, but require a charge in its own rate for possible damage to its 
 exterior, paint, &<■., &c. 
 
 No other schedule has ever recognized tin's important 
 feature. The .same exposure charge has always been added 
 to stock and building alike. 
 
 Sixth. The rate of a stock should approach that of the building containing 
 it in proportion as the latter is of poor construction, liable to be totally 
 destroyed, and in proportion as it. is deficient in fire-extinguishing appliances; 
 whereas there should be a wide difference between the rate of a building and 
 its stock if the building is of standard const met ion and its fire-extinguishing 
 appliances are of the best. And this difference in rate should never be deter- 
 mined as a matter of judgment, but by some automatic process winch will 
 adjust the difference in rate to the conditions. This the Universal Schedule 
 does. 
 
 No other schedule has ev>er provided for this vitally im- 
 portant feature. 
 
 Seventh. The fire record of a city should be taken into account in comput- 
 ing rates, both at the beginning and ending of the term for •which the rate is 
 computed. The Universal Schedule recognizes this. 
 
 No other schedule has ever recognized this important 
 feature. 
 
 If, at the end of a given term, the percentage of loss to premium 
 is less than r>.V,', a reduction of one per cent in rate is made for 
 each one per cent of reduction in percentage; so that if the per- 
 centage is reduced to 40. fifteen per cent reduction in rate would 
 be allowed on renewals. Any system of schedule rating which 
 charged for improper construction (and would, therefore, en- 
 courage proper construction) and which charged for faults of 
 management (and, therefore, would encourage cleanliness and 
 other conditions which tend to prevent fires) would inevitably 
 result in a reduction of the fire loss, which should be recognized 
 in the rate by some systematic and equitable percentage of 
 reduction. If not so recognized, it will result in rate-cutting 
 and demoralization. 
 
 It is not a serious question, in this view, whether the indi- 
 vidual, detail charges of a schedule are too high or too low, or 
 whether the schedule itself be too high or too low, since it will 
 be adjusted in this way to a proper basis. 
 
 I regard this feature of adjustment to the fire record as one of 
 the most important features of the Universal Schedule, differing 
 from all others. It tends not only to adjust the rate to improved 
 
RATES. 
 
 conditions, but it tends to remove all opposition on the part of 
 the public and of their legislators, since nothing could be fairer 
 as ;i proposition, when legislation prohibiting comparison of 
 experience and co-operation to ascertain and fix rates is urged, 
 than to he able to say to the legislator and to the property-owner : 
 "Our system of rating is adjusted to a five per cent profit only, 
 and the moment it is found that there is a reduced fire loss our 
 rates will be reduced pro rata." 
 
 It is, of course, possible that a careful analysis of the fire 
 losses in proportion to the amount ;it risk may some day indicate 
 that certain classes are rated too low and others too high. 
 When that time arrives, Imt not until then, will it be reason- 
 able to change the figures of the susceptibility column in the 
 schedule, and a common-sense view of the business would, until 
 that time arrives, treat the figures in the alphabetical list, as the 
 best for the time being, prepared as they were at such immense 
 labor, as a convenient, nay, indispensable arrangement for re- 
 cording any valuable discovery worthy of preservation. When 
 the underwriter is discovered who can name a figure for sixteen 
 hundred classes, based upon an intelligent study of a reliable 
 experience of fire cost, and can remember his figures three 
 months together, ^ve shall be prepared to listen with deference 
 to his criticism of the Universal Schedule. 
 
 EFFECTS OF CONTENTS ON RISK. 
 
 Every class of merchandise, when considered from the view- 
 point of its effect upon the building containing it, in the matter 
 of increase of hazard, and also from the viewpoint of its sus- 
 ceptibility to damage by fire, water or smoke — an important 
 matter in estimating the rate for insuring it — should be treated 
 as of threefold character : 
 
 First. With reference to its liability to ignite easily. Among 
 the stocks of this character would be furniture, drugs, oils, etc. 
 
 Second. With reference to its furnishing fuel for intense 
 combustion, likely to destroy the building and its contents. 
 Stocks illustrating this feature are furniture, woodworking risks, 
 wholesale drugs, etc. 
 
 Third. With reference to its own susceptibility to damage 
 
EFFECTS OF CONTEXTS ON* RISK. 
 
 by fire, water and smoke; such stocks as millinery, toys, leaf 
 tobacco, artificial flowers and feathers, wall paper, etc. — a feat- 
 ure which affects only its own rate. 
 
 In the Universal Schedule the various stocks are arranged 
 alphabetically, and the figures measuring the first two qualities 
 are entered in the first column, to be added to the building rate 
 to obtain its occupied rate; while in the second column is in- 
 serted the figure intended to measure the susceptibility to (lam- 
 age, which is to be added to the occupied building rate to 
 obtain the rate for the particular class of goods to be insured. 
 
 It would be found, in case of a fire in a building containing a 
 number of different stocks, not totally destroyed, that the sal- 
 vages on the various classes would bear the same proportion or 
 ratio to each other, that their susceptibility figures, in the second 
 column of the table, bear to each other. For example, the second 
 column for retail groceries is 40 and for dry goods 50, and the 
 salvage would probably be as 4 is to 5. 
 
 The old systems of rating, which made all stocks in the same 
 building pay the same rate — and, in all cases, the rate of the 
 worst class — were, therefore, wrong and did injustice to the 
 owner of stocks of less susceptibility. A stock, for example, of 
 sole leather, of crude rubber, of flour in barrels, or of pig lead, 
 should certainly not pay the same rate, though in the same 
 building, as leaf tobacco, millinery, wall paper or German toys. 
 
 The list of hazards of the Universal Schedule, alphabetically 
 and numerically arranged (the numbers being intended for ready 
 reference, especially in the analysis statistics of fire cost) em- 
 braces not less than 1,000 items, while the Warehouse Schedule, 
 intended to rate each class of merchandise on its merits with 
 regard to its susceptibility to damage, contains not less than 
 1,2()() different kinds of merchandise. It is clear that no single 
 individual, however expert, would be capable of fixing proper 
 rates on so many different risks, nor would his memory be 
 capable of recalling these rates when once fixed. These two 
 considerations support the claim, now universally recognized by 
 rating associations throughout the country, that the list should 
 be kept for reference, and that it is reliable, at least to the extent 
 of showing the relative hazards of the different classes. 
 
 I most emphatically do not believe in expert off-band opinions 
 
IKS 
 
 KATES. 
 
 ;is to rates, and especially as to that feature of a rate which 
 measures the susceptibility to damage by fire, water and smoke. 
 It is true, as claimed, that an expert in tobacco or in tea or in 
 Hour, or in any article of merchandise, becomes by long practice 
 able to determine slight differences in value; but it must be 
 remembered that the insurance expert cannot devote a lifetime 
 to a particular class of merchandise. He cannot know off-hand 
 the value and liability to damage of hundreds, nay, thousands of 
 different articles. ( )f course, no one man can know much; it is 
 only by canvassing for opinions and fixing the majority view in a 
 printed list that anything approaching accuracy can be secured. 
 
 While engaged with my associates in the preparation of the 
 warehouse schedule, which includes over twelve hundred differ- 
 ent kinds of merchandise; and in order to demonstrate the in- 
 ability of any insurance expert to agree with others, or with 
 himself, I asked five gentlemen in New York, who were ac- 
 knowledged experts in their judgment of city business, to give 
 me their opinions as to what the rate ought to be on about sixty 
 different classes of merchandise to be found in New York ware- 
 houses, when contained in a twenty-five-cent building. I ven- 
 ture to say that any one of these gentlemen would be regarded 
 by all of his associates as the equal of any other in the business 
 for just such a task. When the lists were received by me, I 
 arranged them in columns, and found, just what I expected to 
 find, that they differed with each other by considerably more 
 than the percentage of profit realized on the business'. In other 
 words, if any one of the five had been taken as standard, the 
 other four differed from him by more than enough to make a 
 profit or a loss. They were much amused over the result, no 
 one, however, knowing what his competitors' figures were, for 
 I had promised to maintain secrecy on this point. 
 
 About three months afterward I asked these same five gentle- 
 men if they would not take the lists and give me their opinions 
 again on the same classes of merchandise, assuming correctly 
 that they had forgotten their former figures. I then placed 
 their second set of figures over their first, and found that each 
 differed with himself, after an interval of three months, by an 
 amount which very much more than measured a 1< >ss or profit 
 on the classes. In other words, if his figures in the first instance 
 should be taken he would make or lose money by abandoning 
 them for his second, 
 
EFFECTS OF CONTENTS ON RISK. 
 
 Here is the list. The figures on line with the class represent 
 the first figure given hy each man; the second figure, above it, 
 
 represents the second attempt : 
 
 A. B. C. D. E. 
 
 125 100 55 . . 
 
 Acids, sulphuric, nuiriatic and nitric, in carboys 65 100 55 80 .. 
 
 125 100 55 . . 
 
 Acids, oxalic, picric, citric, &c, in bids 85 100 55 60 .. 
 
 CO 50 45 50 60 
 
 Nuts, almonds, Brazil, hazel, &<•.. in bbls 55 60 45 .. 40 
 
 75 60 50 55 70 
 
 Nuts, almonds, Brazil, hazel, &c, in hairs 60 60 
 
 75 60 50 75 60 
 
 Roots, herbs, leaves and barks, in bbls 65 60 45 60 00 
 
 100 75 50 65 75 
 
 Roots, herbs, leaves and barks, in bags and bales 85 75 50 70 75 
 
 90 100 100 100 100 
 
 Artificial Mowers, in cases 100 100 55 80 100 
 
 60 40 45 40 60 
 
 Bacon, in canvas 50 60 40 60 60 
 
 75 100 100 75 100 
 
 Baskets, willow 55 100 55 75 10O 
 
 65 60 50 60 75 
 
 Books, in cases 65 75 50 60 75 
 
 50 50 50 4C 50 
 
 Boots and shoes, in cases 55 60 50 50 40 
 
 75 60 100 75 75 
 
 Champagne, in baskets 65 75 85 50 75 
 
 40 40 50 25 50 
 
 China clay, Fuller's earth, terra alba, &c, in bbls 50 60 45 25 40 
 
 60 50 50 40 50 
 
 Cloths, cassimeres, &c., in cases 55 60 40 50 50 
 
 50 40 50 40 40 
 
 Coffee, in bags 45 60 40 60 40 
 
 150 200 150 150 250 
 
 Cotton, in bales 200 110 150 150 
 
 75 70 65 60 50 
 
 Crockery, in crates 70 75 50 60 40 
 
 60 60 55 60 45 
 
 Crockery, in hhds or bbls 55 60 55 50 40 
 
 100 150 50 100 75 
 
 Drugs 55 100 85 75 75 
 
 90 75 65 100 100 
 
 Druggists' sundries, in cases 65 100 55 70 75 
 
 60 40 50 40 100 
 
 Dry g Is (except silk), in cases 50 60 40 60 40 
 
 75 60 50 60 75 
 
 .Silks, in cases 65 60 45 60 50 
 
 45 40 45 40 4() 
 
 Flour, in bbls 45 60 40 50 40 
 
 (ill 50 65 60 50 
 
 Flour, in bags 55 60 45 60 60 
 
RATES. 
 
 A. B. C. D. E. 
 
 TO 50 65 60 60 
 
 Fruits, preserved, in jars, bottles, &c, 55 75 45 60 50 
 
 60 50 50 50 60 
 
 Ginger, prunes, &c, boxed 55 75 45 60 50 
 
 75 50 65 100 75 
 
 Furs (valuable and fancy), in cases 65 75 45 80 75 
 
 60 40 75 75 65 
 
 Furs (cheap), in eases 50 60 45 60 75 
 
 75 60 40 40 45 
 
 Gums, acacia, copal, damar, shellac, etc., in bills 55 60 45 60 50 
 
 75 50 65 60 75 
 
 Hardware, in cases 65 75 45 70 60 
 
 175 200 150 150 250 
 
 Hemp, in bales 200 40 150 150 
 
 200 200 150 150 250 
 
 Jute, in bales 200 75 150 150 
 
 200 200 150 150 250 
 
 Jute butts 200 55 150 150 
 
 40 30 45 25 40 
 
 Leather, sole, rough, &c, in cases 45 60 40 30 40 
 
 50 35 50 30 45 
 
 Leather, sole, rough, &c, in rolls 55 60 45 30 50 
 
 60 50 90 50 60 
 
 Leather, patent, morocco, shagreen, etc.. in cases 65 75 55 50 60 
 
 75 60 100 60 75 
 
 Leather, patent, morocco, shagreen, &c., in rolls 85 75 60 60 75 
 
 200 200 55 150 100 
 
 Oakum, in bales 55 200 55 150 150 
 
 60 40 50 60 60 
 
 Opium, in tin lined cases 60 45 60 60 
 
 80 60 65 100 75 
 
 Opium, not in tin lined cases 100 .. 
 
 75 60 50 50 60 
 
 Paper, writing, flat and book, in cases 75 60 45 50 75 
 
 100 70 65 50 70 
 
 Paper, writing, flat and book, in bundles 100 .. 55 60 .. 
 
 35 30 45 25 35 
 
 Crude rubber 40 35 40 25 30 
 
 75 75 45 60 75 
 
 Seeds, canary, caraway, cardamon, etc.. in bbls 75 60 45 60 75 
 
 100 100 50 70 100 
 
 Seeds, canarv, caraway, cardamon, «tc, in bags 100 75 50 70 100 
 
 50 40 50 40 40 
 
 Silk (raw), in bales 50 60 45 40 40 
 
 75 75 65 60 .. 
 
 Saltpetre, in bbls 75 75 75 
 
 150 100 65 70 . . 
 
 Saltpetre, in bags 75 85 80 
 
 55 40 50 60 50 
 
 Teas, in chests or boxes 55 60 45 60 50 
 
 85 70 50 100 100 
 
 Tobacco, foreign leaf, in bdls 90 75 55 80 75 
 
 75 60 65 50 75 
 
 Tobacco, domestic leaf, in bundles 100 75 65 70 65 
 
EFFECTS OF CONTENTS ON KISK. 
 
 191 
 
 Tobacco, leaf, in hhds 
 
 Tobacco, plug, in boxes 
 
 A. B. C. D. E. 
 
 60 50 50 50 50 
 
 65 60 45 60 40 
 
 50 60 50 40 60 
 
 65 60 55 50 60 
 
 Wine, in bbls 
 
 65 40 50 40 60 
 65 60 45 50 60 
 
 Wine, in bottles, cased 
 
 75 60 65 50 75 
 65 75 85 60 50 
 
 Whiskey, in bbls., if in small quantities 
 
 • 80 40 100 60 60 
 . . . 60 85 100 60 
 
 Metal, heavy, bar, rod, angle. &c 
 
 40 50 45 30 40 
 50 60 45 25 40 
 
 It seems to me nothing could be more convincing than this 
 list to show that something ought to be done to fix figures to 
 measure and preserve the opinion of the majority of experts 
 which can be the only one to approach accuracy. 
 
 The second column figure in the Universal Schedule for 
 Warehouses, which measures the susceptibility to damage 
 charge, was obtained after a very wide canvass, not only of 
 underwriters but of expert merchants and manufacturers deal- 
 ing with the materials themselves. From these merchants and 
 manufacturers valuable knowledge was gained which could 
 have been secured in no other way. For example a large whole- 
 sale druggist suggested that albumen in barrels be rated at a 
 higher figure than the committee had fixed for it. They had 
 supposed it a good thing to insure, not liable to damage by 
 smoke or water and reasonable safe from fire, but were informed 
 that heat in the neighborhood of a barrel of albumen would cook 
 it like an egg. One merchant said he had lost a consignment 
 of albumen on an iron steamship where a fire in a portion of 
 the hold remote from the albumen had been put out, and the 
 penetrating steam from the water thrown to extinguish the fire 
 had cooked the albumen at the other end of the ship. Quinine 
 in bottles, it was suggested by dealers in that article, would be- 
 come valueless if the bottles were broken owing to the impossi- 
 bility of separating the broken glass from the quinine. On the 
 other hand, classes of merchandise which are supposed to be 
 very susceptible to damage were found, after a careful canvass 
 of experts, to be entitled to lower rates. 
 
 Before publishing the foregoing list, I secured the consent of 
 each of the five gentlemen, whose mistakes, they magnani- 
 mously concede, may afford a valuable lesson to the fraternity. 
 
192 
 
 RATES. 
 
 They will be known only as A,' B,' C,' &c, and it will be 
 observed that the merchandise which they attempted to rate in 
 a twenty-five-cent warehouse is of the classes most common to 
 the business. 
 
 I was much amused, on one occasion, by a well-known insur- 
 ance expert, who said to me: "You don't expect to have a 
 man carry around that long list of risks when he is rating, do 
 you ?" 
 
 1 replied: "Yes: I don't sec how he can remember them all: 
 there are over 1,200 in the warehouse list alone; they have been 
 fixed after careful conference, and he ought not to trust his 
 memory. By the way, 1 I inquired, what do you think of the 
 rates ?" 
 
 "Oh, 1 think many of them are right; but I don't agree with 
 your committee as to a large number. " 
 
 "Well," said I, "you are the man we are looking for. We 
 are doing our best to get the rates correct, and if you have any 
 information about any of them I will be glad to have it." and, 
 taking the book, I went over the list, noting in pencil his views 
 as to what the rates should be on a number of classes; then, 
 casting it aside, I engaged him in conversation for a sufficient 
 time to admit of his forgetting his figures. At last I said to 
 him: "By the way, what did you say should be the rate on 
 champagne in baskets in a twenty-five-cent warehouse ?" 
 
 He gave me the figure, and so, in turn, many others. Of 
 course, he did not give the same rates as in the first instance. 
 I could see him growing nervous, and finally I smiled and said : 
 "Do you know it is very fortunate that I made pencil notation 
 of the figures that you named ?" 
 
 "Why?" he nervously inquired. 
 
 "Because but for that fact they would have been lost to the 
 world. They are, of course, immensely valuable, because they 
 were correct rates and differed from the committee figures, and 
 if I had not noted them carefully you would have forgotten them 
 and we would have been in the dark. " 
 
 He saw the point, and I said, "Now, Brother Blank, you had 
 better climb down ; you are no smarter than the rest of us, and 
 need to have the printed list to jog your memory, just as much 
 
EFFECTS <)F CONTENTS <>X RISK. 
 
 193 
 
 as any of us; the rates have been fixed, moreover, after too wide 
 a canvass to be ignored." 
 
 Let no member of the fraternity laugh at my five friends who 
 were so inconsistent with each other, and with themselves; there 
 is no man in the business who could do better. 
 
 Surely the time has come for accepting - the Universal Schedule 
 as approximately correct, or to have it corrected by those who 
 think it is incorrect if they can show wherein its faults lie. 
 
 It is contended by some that the Universal Schedule system 
 of rating is neither easily nor quickly understood, and that it 
 requires an expert to get the best results from its use. This I 
 concede. It is not more difficult, however, than the first four 
 rides of arithmetic, which we mastered in youth only because 
 we were compelled to ; and, while, to secure the best results, as 
 in everything else, requires an intelligent man as a rating expert, 
 it is safe to say that if the person applying it is ignorant and in- 
 competent the resulting rates will yet be safer and better if he 
 uses the Schedule than if he draws upon his own poor judgment 
 and scant knowledge. In short, the more incompetent the man 
 the greater the need of providing him with some sort of guide. 
 
 At this point I make a further broad claim for the Universal 
 Schedule, for the consideration of those critics who may think 
 that it rates too high or too low for any town or class of hazards. 
 
 First. It combines the best judgment of the largest number 
 of underwriters ever consulted on the subject of rating. 
 
 Second. It may be applied to any town. If the rating expert 
 were taken blindfolded to any town so as not to discover its 
 name, he would need only to go to the fire department and the 
 office of the waterworks, to get the particulars of fire engines, 
 size of water mains, pressure, &c, aud to the board of under- 
 writers to get the previous fire record, in order to rate every 
 building, and its contents, without inquiring the name of the 
 town, and could safely leave without being informed on the 
 subject. 
 
 Third. If the local underwriters should regard his rates as 
 too high or too low, and should insist on raising or lowering 
 them (in accordance with that incomprehensible tendency of 
 some underwriters to insist upon an offhand, random opinion as 
 to a proper rate as a standard, in utter ignorance, often, of the 
 
RATES. 
 
 details of the risk, and in greater ignorance still of the fire cost 
 of the class to which it belongs) it would be necessary only to 
 raise or lower all the rates by the percentage needed to adjust 
 them to their own ideas. In short, my contention is that a 
 schedule is simply a measure, like a two-foot rule, and if 
 properly made and afterwards applied In any building with its 
 contents, it will always measure the same kind of a building 
 and the same class of merchandise or hazard at exactly the 
 same figure; and if, iii the opinion of those w bo prefer their own 
 judgment, it rates too high or too low, it must rate all risks too 
 high or too low, but should still be used as the measure, the 
 rates being afterwards adjusted by uniform percentage deduction 
 throughout the list, to bring those supposed to be wrong more 
 nearly in accord with the arbitrary, dominating opinion. 
 
 To use an analogous illustration, let us suppose that two men 
 should proceed to measure the height, area, &c, of a thousand 
 or more buildings in a city and, preserving their field notes, 
 should discover, after returning from their task, that their yard- 
 stick supposed to measure thirty-six inches was only thirty 
 inches long; they would be a pair of idiots if they should im- 
 mediately proceed to take a correct yard measure and go over 
 their entire work a second time, when they might decrease their 
 figures just 16% per cent and assume they had only five-sixths 
 as many yards as they had supposed in their dimension figures. 
 
 I have been utterly unable to understand from a logical view- 
 point, the contention of some underwriters, that the Universal 
 Schedule goes too much into detail, that it is difficult to under- 
 stand and requires an unusually intelligent man to apply it. 
 It seems to me that if a man is not intelligent enough to apply 
 a schedule and ascertain a proper rate by using a consistent 
 measure he certainly cannot be intelligent enough to make a 
 rate by offhand guessing. If he cannot be trusted to compute 
 the rate, he certainly ought not to be trusted to guess at it, for 
 the same reason that if a man were not capable of measuring a 
 distance with a two-foot rule, he ought not to be trusted to 
 pace the distance or to estimate it in some other careless way. 
 
 One of the most capable rating experts in a large eastern 
 city, employed in applying the Universal Schedule, is a young 
 man who came to me, one day, direct from college. He de- 
 
UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE. 
 
 1115 
 
 sired employment. 1 told him that if he could learn to rate by 
 schedule he could get employment at once, but that, unfor- 
 tunately, I was about leaving town for an absence of several 
 weeks and could not give him any explanation of the schedule, 
 such as I had been glad to give to others. "However", said 1 
 "here is the book, which is intended to fully explain the 
 schedule ; you have just come from your classes in arithmetic, 
 algebra, geometry, chemistry and physics, and your professor 
 did not go home with you and show you how to study any one 
 of these sciences; I suggest that you take the schedule and 
 'soak' it, just as you studied your chemistry or your arithmetic, 
 and, when you think you have mastered the theory, apply rating 
 slips to various risks, and see me on my return. 11 
 
 I found, when I returned, that he thoroughly understood the 
 schedule, and to-day he is one of the most useful men on a 
 large staff, drawing a good salary, although he commenced on 
 a small one. 
 
 I mention this incident to illustrate the point that no man 
 fresh from the discipline of an educational institution would 
 regard the task of mastering the Universal Schedule a difficult 
 one. We are apt as we grow older to shrink from the applica- 
 tion with which we grappled difficult problems at school where 
 the master stood over us with a birch rod and would accept no 
 explanation for failure, and we need, sometimes, to recall the 
 ease with which we performed tasks and solved difficult ques- 
 tions simply because we were forced to grapple with them and 
 fight to a finish. 
 
 Insurance is not an easy business, and rate-making is not 
 easy work. It is complicated and tedious, if it is desired to 
 reach correct results and to measure properly and equitably the 
 difference in details of construction, occupation, fire-extinguish- 
 ing appliances and exposures of one risk with another. 
 
 It has been my observation that, while the most common 
 objection to the Universal Schedule when it was first published 
 was its numerous items and detail, I have never met a rating 
 expert, engaged in the task of applying it, whose idea of improv- 
 ing it was not that of adding to its various charges and deduc- 
 tions, rather than of shortening it by omitting any items. 
 Those who have most reason to complain of its length — the men 
 
I {Hi 
 
 RATES. 
 
 who have to rate by it — are the very ones who prefer to make 
 it longer rather than shorter. 
 
 The fixing of rates by a schedule consisting of many items, 
 charges and deductions, is claimed to be arbitrary because each 
 item is not based on actual statistics of observed facts, by a 
 class of persons who, however, do not themselves offer any sub- 
 stitute or better method. They claim that the fixing of a price 
 without actually computing the cost of each feature of construc- 
 tion, such as elevators, staircases, cornices, &c, &c, is em- 
 pirical, overlooking the practical view of tin: matter, that even 
 the most accurate measures in common use in mechanics, two- 
 foot rules, yard-sticks, weights, &c, are not exactly correct, 
 though practically so for the purpose intended. To decline to 
 use a schedule so carefully prepared as the "Universal", because 
 each item in it cannot be demonstrated to be exactly correcl 
 according to the losses through a series of years, due to the 
 particular fault charged for, and to continue rating by rule of 
 thumb, which is utterly unreliable, seems to me to take a pessi- 
 mistic view of the whole matter — and a pessimist has been de- 
 fined as one who, having a choice of two evils, takes both. 
 
 1 n the Universal Schedule charges are made for all f aults of 
 management. I have already dwelt at such length upon the 
 danger of rubbish, carelessness, &c, as to make it unnecessary 
 to enlarge upon it in this connection more than to say that the 
 rates made by the Universal Schedule, by penalizing faults of 
 construction, occupancy, management, &c. , would inevitably 
 reduce the fires and, therefore, the fire cost; and this fact, it 
 seems to me, is lost sight of by those critics who do not under- 
 stand the system of the schedule as a whole. Wherever it has 
 been applied in cities or, for that matter, wherever any intelligent 
 schedule has been applied in cities or towns, the fire losses have 
 been reduced. 
 
 FIRE COST PER ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AT RISK. 
 
 In this connection it may be well to suggest that the statistics 
 of fire losses and premiums, showing the percentage of one to the 
 other, are of comparatively little value ; they are more interest- 
 ing than instructive. The aggregate premiums of all classes of 
 
FIRE cost PEK ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS AT KISK. 197 
 
 hazards, as a sum total, include a largo number of risks, some 
 of which are rated too high and others too low. It is the per- 
 centage of loss on each class to the amount insured on such 
 class which alone indicates the fire cost; and what rate will 
 yield a premium on which the loss ratio shall be 55$ (that on 
 which the Universal Schedule is based, and that which measures 
 the experience of all the large companies for all the years they 
 have been in business) can be easily determined. It will, of 
 course, be 182$ (more accurately 181.81 +) of the fire cost, 
 whatever that may be, and the following- rule may be stated : 
 
 To ascertain irhat rate should he fixed for any class of 
 hazard io insure a ■'>■'>''. loss ratio to premium, knowing the 
 fire cost in cents per one hundred dollars at risk, multiply 
 such fire cost by 182. The result will be a rate on which 
 the Jire cost iri/J be such ■'>■'> r : . 
 
 For example, the "fire cost" or rate of burning on a given 
 class being 40 cents per $100 of insurance at risk, 73 cents should 
 be the rate of premium on which to cents would be 55$. 
 
 In like manner, 60 cents being the fire cost, 60 multiplied by 
 182 equals 1.09 — a rate on which the 60 cents would be 55$ of 
 the premium. 
 
 By way of further illustration, the losses for a series of years, 
 on mercantile stocks of various kinds in what are known as the 
 Middle States, were at the rate of 62 cents per $100 of insurance; 
 the rate obtained averaged \ 2 cents, and the percentage of loss 
 to premium was, of course, 85.4$. The rate charged should 
 have been 1 13 cents per $100, on which the fire loss of 62 cents 
 per $100 would have been 55$ of the premium. .Contained in 
 these figures, however, were a number of stocks on which the 
 loss was less than 55 $, and numerous other stocks on which the 
 loss was greater than 55$ of the premiums obtained, showing 
 that injustice had been done to some merchants, while others 
 should have been charged higher rates, possibly for faults of 
 management which were overlooked by underwriters and not 
 penalized, and which, corrected, would have reduced the cost 
 of insurance on them. 
 
 "With a 55 $ loss ratio and 35$ for expenses, making 90$ in 
 all, there would be left L0$ of the premium, 5$ of which should 
 be reserved for exceptional and large conflagrations. There- 
 
IDS 
 
 RATES. 
 
 maining 5f< would probably qoI be regarded as an unduly large 
 profit by merchants, who usually estimate for a K>'' profit on 
 their own sales. 
 
 Wholesale grocery stocks (without spice and coffee grinding) 
 show a loss each year on the premiums obtained. They are 
 usually regarded as among the best of risks, and most under- 
 writers in considering them have in mind the idea of package 
 goods — barreled sugar and Hour, hogshead molasses, etc. The 
 fire cost, with usual environments, has been no less than 72 cents 
 per $100, showing that the rate obtained for a 55$ loss ratio to 
 premium should have been L 31, whereas the rate obtained on 
 the average was 101 cents, on which the percentage of loss to 
 premium was 7 1 fo, the business being transacted at a loss. 
 
 Retail groceries show somewhat better results under protection 
 of good fire departments. 
 
 The figures in the illustrations I have quoted were on pro- 
 tected business, that is, under the protection of city water works 
 and fire departments. 
 
 Wholesale groceries have grown to be very different risks 
 from what they were some years ago. Coffee grinding, and 
 even coffee roasting, have been added to the hazard. In many 
 instances preserving and canning are done. Spice grinding is 
 quite general, and these facts may account for the inadequacy 
 of prevailing rates. Matches are also kept in large quantities, 
 and insurance companies who would decline a match warehouse 
 will write a wholesale grocery freely. Some years ago the 
 Greely-Burnham grocery store, of St. Louis, was burned, the 
 fire being caused by the falling of a hanging platform erected 
 about midway between the floor and the ceiling of the shipping 
 room, in the rear of the building, the structure being a sort of 
 hanging shelf, upon which were piled about a thousand cases of 
 matches. These ignited when they fell, and in a few minutes 
 the whole building was in flames. In fact, a certain class of 
 wholesale grocery stores, like a certain class of dry-goods stores, 
 known as "department" stores, should be rated at higher figures 
 (and are by the Universal Schedule) ; but so long as under- 
 writers fix their prices by rule of thumb they wall lose money, 
 for even the element of luck or chance is against them. If they 
 take all risks, no matter what their faults, at a level charge, 
 
FIRE IXSIRAXCE BASED ON" LAW OK AVERAGE. L99 
 
 without analyzing- hazards and penalizing faults of management, 
 the odds will continue to be against them; for chances, like 
 loaded dice, will always fall so that they will be losers. 
 
 If the business of insurance be properly conducted, there can 
 he, as I have already claimed, no element of luck or chance 
 whatever in it. I cannot better illustrate this than by quoting 
 from the able address on "Scientific Fire Rating from an Actu- 
 ary's Standpoint," delivered before the Fire Underwriters' As- 
 sociation of the Northwest, September, 1901, by Mr. Miles M. 
 Dawson. He says : 
 
 "All forms nf insurance arc alike in two things: Tht-y indemnify for loss, 
 and they do so by means of an application of the laws of probability. In 
 gambling parlance, insurance is a hedge' That is to say, it is the direct 
 opposite to gambling. It does not take chances, but, instead, cancels them. 
 
 "It is sometimes erroneously said that companies which engage in insurance 
 are gambling. If they took a few risks only, the charge would be true; but 
 we shall see that the very fundamental principle of the law of probabilities 
 is that when a very large group is considered, chance is very nearly eliminated 
 and the aggregate loss may be estimated within narrow limits, so that the 
 purveying of indemnity is no more a speculation than dealing in sugar or 
 calico, nor indeed so much. Therefore, by means of insurance we find that 
 not merely is the hazard of the individual offset, but also that the hazard when 
 passed over to the company and combined with others results in a reasonably 
 reliable loss ratio, which is transmuted into a moderate tax upon all. 
 
 "The mathematical law of probability may be stated as follows: If in a 
 large group of persons, for instance, to each of whom a certain thing appears 
 a pri. ri equally likely to happen, it does actually happen within a certain time 
 in a certain number, then the risk that such will happen to one person in the 
 group within such time may be represented by a fraction of which the number 
 to whom the thing happened is the numerator and the number composing the 
 group is the denominator." 
 
 I cannot more clearly illustrate the question of chances as they 
 grow into certainties with larger quantities than by quoting- 
 further from Mr. Dawson's paper referred to : 
 
 "The value of a broad basis is well known to you all, and yet I am sure that 
 an illustration will not be out of place. Common sense teaches us that, for 
 instance, in tossing a cent the chances are even whether it shall turn up head 
 or tail. But if it be thrown but once, it must have turned up one or the other, 
 and if a judgment were based upon that throw only, we should have a 
 certainty. And experience, as well as reason, teaches that there is no certainty 
 that it will turn up once one way and once the other in two throws; nor just 
 half the time one way and just half the time the other way in four throws or 
 any other small number of throws. But what we mean by saying that the 
 chances are even is that in a very large number of throws the number of heads 
 
•200 
 
 BATES. 
 
 :m<l the number of tails will be nearly the same, and thai in an infinite number 
 of throws they would be just the same. We expect the ratios found by actual 
 throwing the coin to correspond more closely to the chances which we deter- 
 mined by reasoning about the matter the larger t he number of throws. In the 
 same way. the average fire loss which is drawn from a very large number of 
 exposures will more accurately correspond to the real probability; and. other 
 things being equal, it will be more reliable the more exposures it, is drawn 
 from." 
 
 "Our study of pn (liabilities leads us to the conclusion that , si rictly speaking, 
 there is no such thing as chance — though, so far as the power of the individual 
 to control events is concerned, of course there is and must lie; but that causes 
 are continually at work which explain all that happens, and that if our know- 
 ledge of these causes were perfect we should find ourselves in a world of 
 certainty. If we could know all the forces that are in operation, we should not 
 merely know which in the group were out of place there, but we should also 
 know to which alone the event would happen, and they alone would be in 
 place there. It follows, therefore, that it should be our task to classify and 
 reclassify, knowing that at best the grouping is imperfect and knowing also 
 that if it ever became perfect, not only would our labors be at an end, but 
 there w ould no longer be probabilities, but merely certainties, so that insurance 
 would be impossible. It is clear, then, that insurance and the science of prob- 
 abilities are both ephemeral things which will pass away when man's know- 
 ledge is all embracing." 
 
 And he adds, with grim humor: 
 
 "Perhaps, however, the time during which this omniscience is evolving 
 will be sufficient for our purpose." 
 
 The insurance agent finds his task of explaining the theory of 
 insurance to some property-holders a most difficult one. There 
 are not a few intelligent business men who do not understand 
 the principle upon which the business of fire insurance is based; 
 for we not infrequently hear from the property-holder the state- 
 ment that he has been insured for thirty, forty or fifty years 
 without incurring; a loss offered as an unanswerable argument 
 why his rate should be less. It is unnecessary to explain to 
 mi fit of those who will read these pages that the rate of premium 
 i ir price charged by a company is based, not upon the expectation 
 of burning of a particular risk insured, but upon the number of 
 risks of like kind which would be burned or damaged out of say 
 a thousand in any single year. At a rate of 1 for example, 
 a thousand risks each insured for $10,000, would yield §100,000 
 in premium: if ten risks out of the thousand should burn in a 
 year the entire amount of premium would be required to pay 
 the loss. It is evident that a smaller number than ten must 
 
ANNUAL FIRE WASTE. 
 
 -.'01 
 
 burn or ;i higher rate than 1 f must be obtained, to provide for 
 expenses ;is well as losses. 
 
 T cannot better explain this whole matter than by referring 
 to the passages from the National Board pamphlet on Fire 
 Insurance and Its Relation to the Community already quoted 
 on pages 8, 9 and LO. 
 
 Indeed, I would suggest that every insurance agent should 
 have at his command one or more copies of this pamphlet. It 
 was carefully prepared by a committee of the National Board 
 appointed for the purpose, in order that this whole question of 
 insurance should be made clear to the community, and especially 
 to members of legislatures, in order to save us from some of the 
 prejudice from which we now suffer, and for*which we are our- 
 selves largely to blame. The pamphlet may be secured without 
 cost hy writing to the General Agent of the National Board of 
 Fire Underwriters, New York. 
 
 RATE OF BURNING OR ANNUAL FIRE WASTE. 
 
 It seems strange that, at this late day, published charts and 
 the statistics of insurance departments of the various States 
 purporting to show the results of the insurance business, should 
 persist in showing the percentage of losses paid to premiums 
 received — a percentage figure varying with the collection of 
 premiums and with the payment of incurred losses, year by 
 year. Even the percentage of "loss incurred" to "premium 
 earned 1 ' does not, of course, determine any other fact than 
 whether the particular company has made or lost money. 
 
 It is the fire cost, which shows the burning line, i. e. the 
 amount of loss per one hundred dollars of insurance at risk; 
 this is as near an approximation to the actual fire cost as is 
 obtainable. Inadequate rates, on the one hand, or short insur- 
 ance below 80 io of values would increase the percentage of ' 'in- 
 curred loss" to "premiums earned" when the actual burning for 
 each hundred dollars at risk for the year might really be less 
 than for the preceding year. 
 
 Much has been said and written, of late years, about an in- 
 crease in the number of fires. The actual figures of the com- 
 panies reporting to Insurance Departments do not show this. 
 
2II-J 
 
 RATES. 
 
 The fire loss per hundred dollars at risk for the year 1900, for 
 example, was 43.5 cents, while for 1899 it was nearly 40 cents 
 (.00456). These figures may he easily ascertained hy taking 
 the Insurance Report for New York State, but to obtain a more 
 accurate computation of the amount at risk than that shown in 
 Table VII would be to deduct from the amount of risks in force 
 as reported in the same table, three-fourths of the amount that 
 the Unpaid Premiums reported in Table I represent. For 
 example, the amount written in is'.Mi. reported in Table VII, was 
 $1 '< ,9( c;, [•>', ,•>:>•> ; premium charged thereon was $173,843,155.02 ; 
 figuring the average rate obtained, it was 97.1 cents. At that 
 rate the unpaid premiums represent $2,619,703,444, at risk, 
 all of which would, (it is safe to assume), have been in force 
 for a period of not more than three months. The risks in force 
 at the end of 1899 reported in Table VII amounted to $21,327,- 
 5] I.S89; from which deduct $1,964,822,583, being three-fourths 
 of the amount represented by the unpaid premiums, would 
 leave as the amount in force for the whole year $19,302,092,300. 
 
 1899. 
 
 Insurance in force (by all companies) December 31, 1899 $19,362,692,306 
 
 Losses paid in 1899 $86,251,689 
 
 Add Losses unpaid Dec. 31, 1899 16,018,510 
 
 102,270,199 
 
 Deduct unpaid Dec. 31, 1898 13,996,419 
 
 Losses incurred for 1899 $88,273,780 
 
 The Fire Cost being 45.6 cents for each $100 at risk. 
 
 1900 
 
 Insurance in force (by all companies) December 31, 1900 $20,342,808,584 
 
 Losses paid in 1900 $89,566,349 
 
 Add Losses unpaid Dec. 31, 1900 15,069,998 
 
 104,636,347 
 
 Deduct unpaid Dec. 31, 1899 16,018,510 
 
 Losses incurred for 1900 $88,617,837 
 
 The Fire Cost being 43.5 cents per $100 at risk. 
 
 1901. 
 
 Insurance in force (by all companies) December 31, 1901 $21,229,160,033 
 
 Losses paid in 1901 $93,431,176 
 
 Add Losses unpaid Dec. 31. 1901 18,490,847 
 
 $111,922,023 
 
 Deduct unpaid Dec. 31, 1900 15,069,998 
 
 Losses incurred for 1901 $96,852,025 
 
 The Fire Cost being 45.6 cents per $100 at risk. 
 
RATE OF BURNING PER $100 AT RISK. 203 
 
 It will be observed that while the amount of losses incurred 
 for 1900 was more than that for 1899, the amount at risk was 
 nearly one thousand million dollars greater than for 1899, so 
 that the "fire cost" was less for 1900. 
 
 For the year 1901, it will be observed that the amount of 
 insurance in force (due to increase in values, new buildings, &c.) 
 had increased again nearly a thousand millions. The fire cosl 
 was 45.6 cents per $100 at risk. The losses of 1901 include the 
 figures of the Jacksonville, Florida, fire, estimated at eleven 
 millions of dollars. If the $<i, 000,000 of this amount, paid by 
 the insurance companies were deducted, the fire cost per $100 at 
 risk would be 43.2 cents — less than for either of the two pre- 
 ceding years — showing that the unprofitableness of the insurance 
 business has been due not to the increase of fires so much as to 
 the inadequacy of rate, and demonstrating that the increases of 
 rate throughout the country have been needed, for the rate of 
 loss to premium was too high for profit. 
 
 These are significant figures, and they are the only ones 
 available for showing the ''burning line" or the figure which 
 indicates the destruction by fire, throughout the country, year 
 by year. Rates and premiums may and do, go up or down, but 
 the amount at risk is a more inflexible figure and the only re- 
 liable one for comparing the annual fire "waste heap" of the 
 various years. 
 
 The average rate of earned premium per $100 insurance in 
 force for 1899 of all companies was 65.5 cents, whereas for 1900 
 it was 67.5 cents, and for 1901 it was 70.1 cents. The percent- 
 age of loss to earned premium was 69.6$ for 1899, 64.4$ for 1900 
 and 65$ for 1901 ; the earned premium of all the companies for 
 1899 being $126,782,865, whereas for 1900 it was $137,441,678, 
 and for 1901 it was $148,883,(11 11. 
 
 It is, of course, easy to ascertain the amount of loss in cents 
 for every hundred dollars at risk of any individual company 
 from the printed reports of its business as shown by the State 
 records. 
 
 Ratio of Assets to amount at risk. In this connection it may 
 be well to call attention to the fact that much vapid nonsense 
 is published, from time to time, in the shape of advertisements 
 as to the standing of particular companies which have no 
 
204 
 
 KATES. 
 
 actual significance. Some, for example, advertise that they 
 show a larger amount of assets for every dollar of insurance in 
 force than others; forgetting, if, indeed, they are sincere in 
 making the claim, that the more a company has at risk outside 
 of conflagration areas of large cities for every dollar of assets, 
 or for every dollar of annual income, provided its acceptances 
 are on the safer classes (which because of low rates for light 
 hazards would show large amounts at risk) the safe]-, from an 
 underwriter's viewpoint, would he the business of the company. 
 If a small amount at risk for each dollar of assets were a test 
 of strength, then an insurance company having all the best 
 dwellings of the o uintry on its bo< >ks w< mid be in worse condition 
 than one having all the high rated specially hazardous risks; 
 and a company whose business was confined entirely to frame 
 planing-mills and other woodworkers would make a better 
 showing than one having nothing but fireproof buildings! As 
 an abstract proposition, therefore, somewhat general in its 
 character, the larger the amount of insurance a company may 
 have in force on well distributed, carefully selected risks of 
 uniform average lines, the more worthy of confidence will it be. 
 
 REDUCED RATES FOR REDUCED LOSSES. 
 
 I come now to a very important matter, and my views may 
 be regarded as radical by those underwriters who are accustomed 
 to proceed upon the theory of getting all they can for their risks 
 and keeping all they get, which, in my judgment, is a short- 
 sighted policy and, in the end, a losing one. Wherever rates 
 are unduly high, resulting in an abnormal profit, they will invite 
 and encourage competition, which will reduce them — not dis- 
 creetly, but by wholesale. Indeed, the history of the business 
 of insurance, if illustrated on a diagram of profit and loss, of low 
 rates and high rates, would show a curved line; seasons of 
 depression, following high rates, caused not less by the com- 
 petition of new companies, organized to take advantage of 
 what seemed a profitable business, than by the unscrupulous 
 cutting of that minority of underwriters, who, like the minority 
 of all other trades or callings, are dishonest but potential for 
 spoiling prices. 
 
REDUCTION OF RATES FOR IMPROVED FIRE RECORD. 205 
 
 What, then, shall underwriters do if intelligent systems of 
 rating', which penalize faults of management and secure correc- 
 tion of those features which result in fires, and especially in dis- 
 astrous tires, shall reduce the fire cost per hundred dollars of 
 insurance so that a lower ratio of loss than 5.")',' is realized'.-' It 
 seems to me there can be no doubt that justice to the companies 
 themselves, to prevent the inclu sions of newly organized com- 
 panies, to say nothing of justice to property-owners, who have 
 reduced the fire losses by improving their risks, should require 
 that the rates of premium he reduced pro rata. Honesty is the 
 best policy. 
 
 Let us see how safely this can be done. It is clear that when 
 an experience of three consecutive years shall show a loss ratio 
 lower than 55 % of the premiums (for under a system of schedule 
 rating, unlike the present systems, the percentage of loss to 
 premium would mean something, whereas now, as already ex- 
 plained, it is simply interesting) one per cent reduction in rate 
 might be made on the fourth year's premium for every one per 
 cent that the loss ratio runs below 55 4 ; so that if the loss ratio 
 to premium of a city, for three consecutive years, should average 
 45$, it would be proper to reduce the rates on the fourth year 
 ten per cent. 
 
 This would really be less than a pro rata or corresponding 
 reduction in rate. For example, suppose that an average rate 
 of 1 $> is obtained and that, on this rate of premium, the losses 
 become 45'/; KKr reduction in the rate of premium would give 
 90 cents as a rate, but 45 cents of actual loss would be only 50$ 
 of the new or reduced rate of 90 cents, 45 cents being 55$ of 82 
 cents. This margin of difference of eight cents, in favor of the 
 companies, would be sufficient to make up for the increased 
 percentage of expense (for the fixed expense would be a greater 
 percentage on the smaller premium) and to protect them against 
 any element of luck or chance which (if the total premiums of 
 the town were not a large figure) might happen to enter into the 
 business of the town or city ; while, on the other hand, a reduction 
 of 1 r 'r in the rate of premium for each 1 fo that the loss ratio runs 
 below the normal 55$ ought to, and probably would, satisfy 
 every reasonable property-owner. 
 
 Under such a system competition would be forestalled, the 
 
200 
 
 RA TES. 
 
 public would be satisfied, the sympathies of property-owners 
 would be with the companies, impressed, as they surely would 
 be, with their fairness, and we might thenceforward count on 
 their hearty co-operation in any measures which tended to im- 
 prove the condition of a city's water supply or fire department, 
 and < 'specially in the correction of those faults of management, 
 accumulation of rubbish and other fire-breeders in cellars, yards 
 and alleys, such as caused the destruction of Fargo, Dakota. 
 We would, moreover, have their hearty and helpful co-operation 
 in the jury box when incendiaries were on trial and unmistakable 
 evidence was presented of the guilt of the accused. 
 
 May we not believe that with such a broad system of equitable 
 adjustment of rates there would be a new era in the business of 
 insurance? Valued policy laws and adverse legislation, and 
 even taxation, would be done away with. 
 
 RATES FOR TERM POLICIES. 
 
 There is no more inconsistent or irrational practice, resulting, 
 as it does, in inadequate rates, than that of issuing three-year 
 policies for two annual premiums, or five-year policies for three 
 annual premiums. In the one case, the premium for a whole 
 year is given to secure the risk for three years ; in the other, the 
 premium for two full years is thrown off to secure a policy for 
 five. 
 
 Aside from the advantage of being exempt from competition 
 while controlling a risk for a longer term than one year (an 
 advantage which can only be desirable where the profit on the 
 transaction will more than make up for the loss of premium 
 thrown off) and the further advantage of securing the interest 
 on premiums collected in advance (an advantage greatly lessened 
 of late years by the reduction in the rate of interest from six 
 per cent to four per cent, or even less) there is nothing whatever 
 to excuse the practice, except in those rare cases where the 
 annual rate is so high as to make two annuals yield a fair 
 premium for three years, and three annuals for five years. 
 Such excessive rates are things of the past and ought to be. 
 
 The only discount which should be made for a term policy is 
 that of simple interest, deducted from the multiple of the annual 
 
KATES FOR TERM POLICIES. 
 
 207 
 
 premium for the term of years. Even this would be in excess 
 of the actual advantage, for it is a common error to make in- 
 correct estimates as to the interest obtainable by writing in ad- 
 vance, and to overlook the fact that where the risk is kept in 
 force, for a term of years, by annual policies renewed each year 
 after the first, the interest on the premium for the first year, the 
 first fifth of the term, is secured for the whole five years and, 
 therefore, in advance; that for the second year for four years; 
 that for the third year for three years. 
 
 The following table showing net results of an annual premium 
 of $20 renewed five times will show that interest is calculated 
 on the net cash received by the company each year, after paying 
 commission : 
 
 ANNUAL PREMIUM, $20. 
 
 Premiums. 
 
 Com'n 
 15 
 per 
 cent. 
 
 Net 
 premium. 
 
 Interest at 5 per cent. 
 
 1st year, $20 
 
 $3. 
 
 $17.00 
 
 5 years' interest, $4.25 
 
 2d year, 20 
 
 3. 
 
 17.00 
 
 4 3 T ears' interest, 3.40 
 
 3d year, 20 
 
 3. 
 
 17.00 
 
 3 years' interest, 2.55 
 
 4th year, 20 
 
 3. 
 
 17.00 
 
 2 years' interest, 1.70 
 
 5th year, 20 
 
 3. 
 
 17.00 
 
 1 year's interest, .85 
 
 $100 
 
 
 $85.00 
 
 $12.75 
 
 It will be seen 
 
 that the 
 
 company 
 
 receives a net premium of 
 
 $85 and interest .< 
 
 512.75— in all. $97/t 
 
 '5. 
 
 Let us now suppose that the company, instead of writing 
 annually, accepts a five-year risk for four annual premiums; 
 the amount of premium received by the company will be $80 ; 
 the commission paid at 15 per cent, would be $12, which de- 
 ducted therefrom leaves $68 — interest on which at '5 percent, 
 for the five years would be $17, which added to the $G8 pre- 
 mium makes a net result to the company of $85, as opposed to 
 $97.75 on the annual plan — a difference of $12.75 in favor of 
 annual policies, even on a basis of four annual premiums 
 for five years, instead of the prevailing basis of three annual 
 premiums. 
 
 The rate of interest (5 per cent.) in both of these calculations 
 is a higher rate than companies can secure, and it has not been 
 
308 
 
 RATES. 
 
 compounded in cither case; nor has account heen taken of 
 interest-hearing balance by losses incurred each year, in either 
 case. On a given class of risks these would, of course, average 
 say 50 per cent, of the premiums for each year in both annual 
 and term policies. 
 
 It is true the argument is frequently heard that, in the case 
 of a five-year premium paid in advance, the company has so 
 much more money in hand in case of loss, but, surely, the en- 
 thusiasm with which this argument is advanced by the advocates 
 of term policies would indicate that they overlook the important 
 fact that there is certainly not more than one total loss on every 
 two hundred risks, and this item would not affect, therefore, 
 more than aboul half of one per cent, of the premiums. To 
 receive the full premium on one-half of one per cent, of all the 
 premiums would be equivalent, on a five-year business, to 2/^ 
 per cent, of the annual premiums in the case of losses occurring 
 in the first part of the first year. The average date of fire would 
 he half of the term, however, which would make this percentage 
 1 1 ( per cent, of a single year's premiums — not a very large 
 figure ! 
 
 It is claimed, moreover, by term policy advocates that a more 
 thrifty and forehanded class of customers is secured on a five- 
 year plan, and therefore a safer class. This may be true; but 
 rogues have been known to take out term policies, with the ex- 
 press intention of burning and as a cloak to such intention. 
 
 An additional argument is made that competition does not 
 have to be met each year in the case of term policies — once on 
 the books, the risk is apt to stay there undisturbed for the full 
 term. 
 
 Sum up all of these claims and it is a grave question how far 
 short they fall of the difference above shown in dollars and cents 
 of nearly 14 per cent, less premium, even where four annual 
 premiums are secured. 
 
 What is the net result, however, of a five-year policy written 
 for three ((initial premiums — the prevailing rate ? On such a 
 basis the company receives only $60, pays *!> commission, leav- 
 ing -S'Tl net; on which, interest at 5 per cent, for five years 
 amounts to $12.75 ; in all $63.75, or more than 333^ per cent, 
 less than the $97.75 which it would receive an an annual 
 business .' 
 
RATES FOR TERM POLICIES. 
 
 209 
 
 This is discounting the future with a vengeance. It seems 
 to us a repetition of the folly of Esau, and that any company 
 taking business on this hasis is selling its birthright for a mess 
 of pottage. 
 
 A perfectly fair consideration of the question will concede 
 two sides to it. Term business unquestionably has some advan- 
 ages. In office expense, it costs no more to write a policy for 
 five years than a policy for one. If an adequate rate is secured, 
 the company will be exempt from competition and lower prices 
 for the full term. On the other hand, the tendency of com- 
 petitors is toward inadequate rates by greater deductions from 
 annual prices than all advantages may be worth, and the agent 
 is naturally apt to lose interest in a husiness on which he cannot 
 receive a commission for full five years. It behooves an under- 
 writer to be careful in his selection of risks and in his estimate 
 of rate. If he fails to get a proper price, he must live up to his 
 bargain for the full term, or cancel at a loss and disadvantage. 
 Once entered in his books, its demands upon him will be in- 
 exorable, and the approach of death is not more certain than 
 that misfortune will overtake him who unduly discounts his 
 future. 
 
 The subject of term policies is a very important one. More 
 insurance companies have been wrecked on this rock of insuf- 
 ficient estimates for unearned premium liability than on any 
 other. 
 
 If I have dwelt with what seems unnecessary length on this 
 subject of rates it is because it is an important matter — in fact, 
 the most important matter connected with the whole business, 
 involving not merely the profitable conduct of the business of 
 fire insurance, but, what is even more important, the enormous 
 annual drain upon the resources of the country by reason of 
 preventable fires and controllable fires. If underwriters, those 
 who know best, through their opportunities for observation, do 
 not conduct their business on lines which, by charges, indicate 
 faults of construction or management, and, by deductions, 
 recognize merits of appliances for extinguishing fire, but extend 
 the protection of their insurance policies over the risks of those 
 property-owners who ignore proper construction and careful 
 management at the same rates that are charged to that better 
 class of citizens who conscientiously guard against fire, the 
 
210 
 
 LINKS. 
 
 business of fire insurance becomes a menace to the public safety. 
 
 A SYSTEM OF INSURANCE RATING WHICH DOES NOT DIS- 
 CRIMINATE BETWEEN SAFE CONSTRUCTION AND UNSAFE CON- 
 STRUCTION, AND BETWEEN CAREFULNESS AND NEGLIGENCE, 
 IS AN INJURY TO THE COMMUNITY. 
 
 LINES. 
 
 The amount which should be written on any risk should 
 vary, of course, according to the hazard and according to the 
 probabilities of totality or salvage in losses. If the rates were 
 properly made, there could be no better gauge of what the line 
 should be than the computed amount of insurance which the 
 average premium taken by the company, say, $100, would pay 
 for at the rate on the risk. 
 
 W hen I say "average premium" I do not, of course, mean 
 the total premiums taken by a large insurance company in a 
 year divided by the number of risks. This would be a very 
 small figure. But I mean the average premium which it would 
 get on a 1 <fc risk, say $100. If the rate on all classes should be 
 computed by the Universal Schedule and the company's line on 
 a 1 % risk should be $10,000, it is clear that on a risk of twice the 
 hazard, paying 2 it should take not more than half the amount, 
 $o,000, and at i % should take not more than 82,500. Therefore, 
 the rate is the best evidence of what the line should be, always 
 assuming that the rate has been properly made. The rate, 
 if correctly made, would measure every consideration which 
 should enter into the consideration of line — construction, en- 
 vironment or exposure, occupancy, and susceptibility to damage, 
 indicating the probabilities of salvage. 
 
 The argument has been made that some underwriter-, under 
 a system of rating warehouses, for example, would be tempted 
 to take high rated risks, because they would yield the largest 
 premiums ; but this overlooks the fact that if the line be regu- 
 lated by the rate, the latter being based upon accurate methods 
 of measure, the liability to total or excessive losses of particular 
 risks, and the frequency of fires, which enter into the question 
 of line, are measured in the rate, and the rate ought, therefore, 
 to afford the best evidence of what a line should be. 
 
 An underwriter's line in a particular warehouse, for example, 
 
LINES. 
 
 211 
 
 would be said to be full, not when he has secured $5,000 or 
 $10,000 of insurance, but when he has secured bis premium, 
 graded according to the classes covered, no matter what the 
 amount of the insurance may be. If the rates are properly 
 graded, his line would not be full if be bad $5,000 on a 50-cent 
 class, and would be more than full if he had $12,000 on a 1 % 
 class. His loss on a $20,000 policy on crude rubber would not 
 be greater than on a $5,000 stock of toys. // is, therefore, 
 the probable amount of loss, and not the actual amount of 
 insurance, which determines what a line should be. 
 
 Pursuing this reasoning that rates correctly made are the best 
 evidence of what lines should be, I claim that an underwriter 
 in determining the question of line on any subject of insurance, 
 should take into consideration three features — ignitibility, 
 combustibility and susceptibility. He should write less on 
 risks which are peculiarly liable to take fire, peculiarly liable 
 to be consumed before extinction and peculiarly susceptible to 
 water or smoke damage than on subjects of insurance which 
 are not liable to take fire, are easily extinguished and are not 
 subject to water or smoke damage. In other words, he would 
 write more on crude rubber and wool than on hemp or flax, 
 German toys or leaf tobacco. If his rates are correctly made, 
 he would write only one-fourth as much on a 1 fc risk as on a 
 2 5 -cent risk. 
 
 In view of the fact, for example, that most of the losses (over 
 90$ in fire department city warehouses other than fibre) are 
 partial, it follows that the relative susceptibility to damage of 
 the various kinds of contents would indicate their relative salv- 
 ages in case of fire, and that whatever differences exist in the 
 goods before a fire would, unless they were totally destroyed, 
 be found reflected in the differences in damage and salvage 
 after a fire. If we could conceive of a warehouse filled with 
 all kinds of merchandise, subjected to exactly the same amount 
 of heat on every square foot of floor surface, to the same amount 
 of water thrown for extinction and the same amount of smoke, 
 it would be found that the relative damage and salvage of each 
 kind of merchandise would be in that proportion which its rate, 
 if correctly made, bears to the other rates. 
 
 Average Line. Lines also depend upon the average number 
 of risks which can be obtained of a class. The law of aver- 
 
\' 1 •» 
 
 LINKS. 
 
 age approaches certainty in proportion as the number of sub- 
 jects or risks liable to the cont ingency of fire increase. Nothing 
 is more certain than that no more than tin- average number of 
 ten thousand risks will burn through a series of years, and 
 nothing is more uncertain than the number of a smaller quan- 
 tity which will escape fire. An average might be secured by 
 taking a small number of risks for a long series of years, as 
 well as by taking a large number of risks for a single year, 
 were it not for the fact that the statements of companies to the 
 various State insurance departments require to be made uj» 
 annually, and a company basing its average on a series of 
 years might show badly in the reports for single years. The 
 average line is usually, therefore, adjusted to a twelve months' 
 experience, because the premiums and losses of a single class 
 might otherwise result in an exceptional or abnormal loss ratio 
 which would affect seriously the experience of the company for 
 the year. This difficulty, however, can be met in the case of 
 those classes of which enough cannot be obtained to make an 
 average, hy eoiitining the lines assumed on such classes to that 
 sum for which the average premium on all classes taken by the 
 company would pay. 
 
 If, for example, the company's average premium should be 
 $50 (throwing out of the account the small, so-called "chicken- 
 feed" business of small dwellings, etc., which are annually 
 assumed) it would he safe to write $10,000 on a 50-cent risk (the 
 rate being accurately computed) or $5,000 on a 1 # risk. Let 
 us suppose that there are ten classes of hazards of which there 
 are only 100 specimens of each in the country, and that they 
 range in proper rate from 25 cents up. Insurance on them 
 would be theoretically adjusted as per the following table : 
 
 No. Risks. 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Line. 
 
 Total Premium. 
 
 100 
 
 .25 
 
 $20,000 
 
 $5,000 
 
 100 
 
 .50 
 
 10,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 
 2,500 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 4$ 
 
 1,250 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 5# 
 
 1,000 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 6# 
 
 833 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 7# 
 
 714 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 8$ 
 
 625 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 10$ 
 
 500 
 
 5,000 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 $50,000 
 
LINKS. 
 
 213 
 
 We here have L,000 risks, each differing from the others in 
 hazard, but with lines graded according to hazard, yielding a 
 premium of $50,000, on which the loss should be 5.V/, or $27,500. 
 It would make no difference which of the risks should take tire 
 — those of greater or less ignitibility, combustibility or suscep- 
 ibility — as the lines are graded in proportion to figures which 
 exactly measure relative degrees of damage and salvage. If 
 fires occur in the risks of greater hazard the amount of loss will 
 still be proportional to the total premium obtained, while if they 
 should occur in those of lower rates the fires would be more 
 surely partial. Fifty dollars of premium buys just so much 
 hazard; and as, in adding fractions, it is necessary to reduce 
 those of different denominators to a common denominator, so in 
 the foregoing example, rate may be regarded as the common 
 denominator of the various hazards of the different classes of 
 risks, and this combination of them would be as safe, from a 
 true underwriting standpoint, as would a group of a thousand 
 risks of any one of the classes. 
 
 Of course, the example would be more forceful and the tabu- 
 lation safer if the f risks were 10,000 instead of 1,000; 
 and, of course, while this proposition is scientifically true from 
 the viewpoint of arithmetical computation and the law of aver- 
 age, it would not be in actual practice necessary to lay such 
 strict limitations upon acceptances; for no great risk would be 
 run, for example, by taking $2,500 lines on the 10$ hazards, 
 because the burning of a few of them would not be a serious 
 matter and might meet the conveniences of the business; while, 
 on the other hand, it might not be advisable to accept $20,000 
 on 25-cent risks. 
 
 It is, probably, unnecessary to add that it would be perfectly 
 safe to take a large number, say 1.0,000, of 10$ hazards for a 
 full line of $10,000, since there would then be enough of the 
 class to make the average line, though large, a safe one. My 
 contention simply being that where there is not enough indi- 
 viduals of any one hazard to make a safe class by itself, it being 
 necessary by reason of the small number of such class to rely 
 on the general average of others, the line on the more dangerous 
 classes must be graded to equalize the proper proportion of losses 
 on all classes. 
 
214 
 
 LINES. 
 
 This whole matter may be made clearer still, perhaps, if we 
 take only two classes, peculiar in the respect that they are 
 exactly equal in "combustibility" and "susceptibility" to the 
 extent that no partial losses are secured, all losses being total, 
 while, on the other hand, one is exactly twice as ignitible as the 
 other, in which case there would be just twice the number of 
 fires on the same number of risks in a year. Let us assume, 
 therefore, two such hypothetical classes, one rated at 5$ and 
 the other at 10$, one being just double the other as to the risk 
 of ignitibility. There would be just twice as many fires and, 
 consequently, twice as many total losses in the 10$ class as in 
 the 5$ class; and this being a fact, not over half as much should 
 be accepted on the !<>$ class as on the 5$ class. While it might 
 be perfectly safe to take a thousand risks of either for the 
 maximum line of the 5 $ class, let us assume that we can only 
 get 500 of each, the example would then stand as follows. If 
 the rates are graded for a 60$ loss ratio of premiums, all losses 
 being total, there would be, say, 15 losses, amounting to $300,- 
 000, of the 5 $ class, and 30 losses, amounting to $300,000, of the 
 10$ class. (I have assumed a 60$ io^ ratio to premiums in- 
 stead of 55$ simply to make computations easier.) 
 
 No. Risks. Line. Rate. Total Prem. No. of Fires. Total Loss. %. 
 
 500 $20,000 5$ $500,000 15 $300,000 60$ 
 500 10,000 10$ 500,000 30 300,000 60$ 
 1,000 $1,000,000 $600,000 60$ 
 
 If, now, on the other hand, with the rates still graded as in 
 the foregoing example for a 60$ loss ratio to premiums, the 
 number of risks of each class and the amounts should be 
 changed, we could easily have the following problem as a 
 possibility : 
 
 No. Risks Line. Rate. Total Prem. No. Losses. Total amount of Losses. 
 
 800 $20,000 5$ $800,000 20 -$400,000 
 
 100 100,000 5$ 500,000 7 700,000 
 
 80 10,000 10$ 80,000 1 10,000 
 
 20 100,000 10$ 200,000 5 500,000 
 
 1,000 $1,580,000 $1,610,000 or 102$. 
 
 It will be observed that we still have 1,000 risks, that the 
 rates remain the same (10$ and 5$ respectively), the number of 
 
RATE INDICATES LINE. 
 
 215 
 
 losses per 100 risks has not changed, being at the rate of 3 losses 
 per 100 risks of the 5% hazards, (27 in all) and at the rate of 6 
 losses per 100 risks for the 1<K hazards. The lines, however, 
 have been changed. In place of 500 $20,000 lines of the 5$ 
 class we now have 800 $20,000 lines and 100 $100,000 lines, and 
 on the 10$ class we have 80 $10,000 lines and 20 $100,000 lines. 
 It is not necessary to say that although there might be no more 
 or no less losses per hundred risks than before, they might easily 
 fall on the $100,000 lines instead of on the $10,000 lines, and if 
 they should, as in the table, the result would be a loss of over 
 102 % of the total premiums instead of 60$ as before, because 
 the laws of average have been violated. When those laws are 
 observed, the business of insurance, instead of being a wager 
 and an uncertainty, becomes a certainty and results can be 
 counted upon with greater confidence than in any other business. 
 
 The moment the number of risks in any class fall below the 
 number necessary to make an average for that class, the number 
 of risks accepted must lean upon those of other classes, and there- 
 fore the line must be lowered to meet the average premium 
 received on the other classes, if the proper loss ratio to pre- 
 mium is to be maintained. To depart from this law is simply to 
 gamble. It is not underwriting. It would be as idiotic to con- 
 duct the business of insurance on such lines as for a merchant 
 to say to a customer with one hundred dollars "You may go into 
 my store and, for your hundred dollars, take 100 yards of any 
 fabric you please," instead of saj-ing to him'' You may take 10 
 yards of $10 velvet, or 100 yards of $1 silk, or 2,000 yards of 
 5-cent calico." 
 
 The statement is frequently heard that a company having a 
 large premium income of, say, four million dollars can afford 
 to take larger lines than when it had an income of one million. 
 This is approximately true within certain limitations. Theo- 
 retically, it is untrue in every respect ; for if the premium in- 
 come of four million dollars is made up of a large number of 
 non-hazardous risks there will be no margin with which to pay 
 an exceptional loss on a risk of high ignitibility : If the rates 
 have been graded properly, all of the four millions will be 
 needed to pay the $2,200,000 (or 55$) of losses inevitably due to 
 the hazard of carrying the four millions of risks, and the excess 
 
210 
 
 LINES. 
 
 losses will have to be paid, not out of premiums but, out of what 
 would have been and ought to have been profit. 
 
 The underwriting laws deduced from these propositions are 
 certainly the following : 
 
 First. At least one thousand risks (better ten thousand) 
 should be secured of a class to make an average on the class. 
 If ;i sufficient number ran bo secured the class will take care of 
 itsell without regard to the other writings of the company. 
 
 Second. If a sufficient number of a class cannot be secured 
 for an average, the class i till be accepted, but only for 
 
 such lines as would be /xii with the average premium 
 of the company on, say, a safe medium class of risks — l $ 
 risks, for example. 
 
 Third. Kates //' correct/!/ made would always indicate the 
 line w hich might safely be written, for they would measure 
 accurately the three features of a risk — ignitibility, combusti- 
 bility and susceptibility — which must always be taken into 
 account in determining line, in addition to features of fire de- 
 partment protection and exposure charges, which measure the 
 ignitibility. combustibility and susceptibility features of other 
 risks endangering it. 
 
 Fourth. An average may be secured either by, say, 1,000 
 risks of a single class, or by 1,000 risks of different classes but 
 for no greater line than the average premium of the class will 
 pay for at the rate of the class; or by 1,000 risks all of the same 
 rate but of different classes — in which case the line would be the 
 same on all. It would clearly be as safe to write one thousand 
 ■ >', risks, of l,ooo different classes, as to write a thousand 3 c '< 
 risks of a single class. 
 
 Fifth. An adequate rate does not involve — what some under- 
 writers contend it does — that any line may be written, on the 
 supposition that because the rate is adequate, it will pay for the 
 line. The safe line depends not alone on the adequacy of the 
 rate, but upon the number of risks of the class written, which 
 must be sufficiently large to secure an average. 
 
 All of these propositions are based theoretically upon correct 
 rates and ideal conditions, rather than on practice and actual 
 conditions. It might not be. expedient or possible to get a 
 mimimum line on each of the most hazardous risks or to write 
 
LINKS. 
 
 217 
 
 the maximum on each of the best risks. We would be perfectly 
 safe, of course, to take $2,500 <>u a risk as a mimimum; much 
 more safe (and probably in five years out of six it would result in 
 more profit) than to take exceptionally Large lines on good risks, 
 unless an exceptionally large number of such good risks could 
 be secured, in which case any line is safe if the number be large 
 enough to reduce to a certainty the possibilities of a single year. 
 
 Companies, however, generally give their agents full in- 
 structions as to the lines to he written and tlie.se instructions 
 should be followed to the tetter. I inter no ci rcn instances 
 should the agent deviate from them to act on his own theo- 
 ries as to lines, or on the views I hare expressed in this 
 article. 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 WHAT IS THE REINSURANCE FUND, OR UNEARNED PREMIUM 
 LIABILITY OF A FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY ? 
 
 There are diverse opinions upon the subject. Some under- 
 writers contend that it is a fund which would be sufficient to 
 pay the fire losses on policies in force, and that it will prove 
 adequate or inadequate according to the sufficiency of the rate 
 obtained. Others, that it is a fund which should be sufficient 
 to induce another company to assume the executory contracts 
 and relieve the first from all obligation under them. In the 
 light of numerous instances of the assumption of such obliga- 
 tions at from sixty to seventy per cent, of the reserve of the 
 retiring company, it is with no little complacency that some 
 underwriters contend that their reserve is from thirty to forty 
 per cent, too high, holding that the company could "reinsure" 
 its entire business and retain that percentage of the reserve 
 charged as ;i liability, counting il as nei surplus. 
 
 Neither supposition is the correct one. The Reinsurance 
 Fund of a company should represent the exact sum required to 
 pay to the holders of its policies the pro rata unearned premium 
 for their unexpired terms, and thus relieve the company of all 
 liability under them. In case of bankruptcy, the law requires 
 that a receiver shall immediately relieve the company of all 
 executory contracts, holding, with much reason, that, as the 
 company's failure must be due to the unprofitableness of its bus- 
 iness, growing out of inadequate rates or bad risks, it is for the 
 interest of all concerned, as creditors, that running contracts 
 should be at once terminated and the estate relieved from possi- 
 ble further claims. In this light, it obviously makes no differ- 
 ence whether the rates be adequate or inadequate for carrying 
 the risk, or whether the fund be ample or insufficient for paying 
 subsequent losses. If it be sufficient, under the terms of 
 
REINSURANCE OR UNEARNED PREMIUM FUND. 
 
 each policy, as a tender to the assured to relieve the com- 
 pany from all obligation to him, it is ample for the purpose 
 which the law contemplates. < hie dollar per one hundred 
 dollars per annum may be a grossly inadequate rate for a 
 planing-mill; but if that he the rate at which the policy was 
 issued. 50 cents per one hundred dollars, at the end of six 
 months, will he sufficient return premium to cancel the policy 
 and discharge the company from all liability to the holder of it. 
 It is, of course, true, however, that the Reinsurance Fund will 
 prove a valuable asset if the risks have been selected with judg- 
 ment and at adequate rates. Inasmuch as the experience of all 
 companies shows that a larger percentage of the fire loss occurs 
 in the earlier part of the term for which the policy is written, 
 than in the latter years of the term, due, probably, as a matter 
 of theory, to the fact that a large proportion of the moral hazard 
 and also of the physical hazard, faults of construction, defects 
 in flues, etc., naturally develop themselves early in the life of 
 the risk, it follows that the percentage of loss upon the unearned 
 premium fund must, of necessity, be lower than that of the year 
 in which the policies were taken. 
 
 To assume, as has been by some contended, that the Reinsur- 
 ance Fund of a company should be computed on the basis of 
 adequate rates to measure the hazards covered, and that the full 
 amount of unearned premium necessary to carry each particular 
 risk should be reserved, no matter what the Company may 
 have accepted as the price for its policy, would be to assume 
 that the State, to enforce the law, could provide a sufficient 
 force of experts competent to pass upon the adequacy of rates 
 — an assumption which would be preposterous, since the re- 
 serve of a single company could not be examined by the most 
 diligent expert in a year's time, if at all. Such examination 
 could not be made from the books of the Company, according to 
 rides for classes, since risks exposed by others would seldom 
 present the same conditions and each would have to be decided 
 on its own merits by taking into account exposures, locality, fire 
 departments and all other factors which enter into the consider- 
 ation of price, the rate of each risk being as much a matter of 
 expert judgment and as independent of set rules as is the grading 
 of qualities of corn, wheat, flour, tobacco or tea by experts in 
 those respective commodities. Any law, therefore, requiring 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 adequacy of rates in the unearned premium fund which did not 
 contemplate examination by experts — a physical impossibility — 
 and punishment lor noncompliance, would be simply mandatory 
 and, therefore, inoperative. It would have the effect only of 
 binding honorable companies, who would make honest returns, 
 and of leaving unbound dishonorable companies, who would 
 disregard ils provisions, knowing that detection and punishment 
 were alike impossible. 
 
 Most property -owners, legislators and not a few under- 
 writers, seem to overlook the fact that the unearned premium 
 reserve of an insurance company represents all actual con- 
 tractual debt to the holder of each policy for his pro rata 
 share of the pre in i it in nica.su riiaj ihc unexpired time His 
 policy provides this, and a premium, therefore, is not the 
 property of the company when paid to it ; for the company is 
 simply in the position of a trustee who has given a receipt for 
 it and is under agreement to return a proper portion of it if he 
 wishes to be relieved of his liability. The term "reinsurance 
 reserve," therefore, has always been a misnomer; a better name 
 for the fund would be Unearned Premium Liability. 
 
 Some years ago a bill was introduced into the legislature of 
 the State of New York excusing a company from holding in 
 hand more than the net amount of unearned premium, after 
 deducting any sum which may have been paid to the agent or 
 broker as commission or brokerage. This bill never became a 
 law. Its advocates overlooked the important fact that an 
 amount paid by a company to an agent or broker for rendering 
 it a service could not be regarded as an offset against the claim 
 of the policyholder, who was entitled to the pro rata unearned 
 portion of the premium paid by him, without regard to what 
 disposition the company may have made of it. 
 
 The principle upon which the New York Insurance Depart- 
 ment very properly requires that the imearned premium liability 
 shall be computed on annual and term policies is one of equation 
 of dates. An annual policy written on the first day of January 
 would have only one day to run on the 31st of December, while 
 one written on the 31st of December would have 364 days to 
 run. The two would exactly equate each other, and the average 
 earning of the two would be six months, or one-half. A com- 
 
HYPOTHETICAL BUSINESS TABLE 
 
 221 
 
 pany, therefore, accepting' business through each of the twelve 
 months, for an equal amount each month, would, on its annual 
 business have earned, at the close of the year, one-half of its 
 premiums on annual policies and a pro rata portion of all term 
 policies. 
 
 For example, the earned portion of a two-year policy at the 
 end of the first year would be that proportion of the premium 
 which the equated time bears to the full term, viz: six months 
 to twenty-four, or one-fourth. Three-fourths, therefore, of a 
 two-year policy should he reserved as unearned at the close of 
 the year in which it is written. In like manner, a three-year 
 policy would, in the year of its issue, earn one-sixth, or that 
 proportion which six months hears to three years, or thirty-six 
 months, and would have remaining unearned, at the close of the 
 year, five-sixths of its premium. A four-year policy, in like 
 manner, would earn one-eighth and have seven-eighths un- 
 earned at the close of the year; and a five-year policy would earn 
 one-tenth and have nine-tenths unearned at the end of the year. 
 Terms exceeding five years are, of course, computed on the 
 same basis. During the second year, the remaining half of the 
 first year's writings of annual policies (in addition to one-half of 
 the new) would be earned, and a full twelve months of all term 
 policies, viz., one-half of the two-year writings of the previous 
 year, one-third of the three-year writings, one-fourth of the 
 four-year writings, one-fifth of the five-year writings, &c, &c. 
 It will be seen in the case of a five-year policy, that it is not 
 until the close of the sixth 3 T ear that the company has earned all 
 of the writings of the first year, there remaining unearned, at 
 the beginning of the year, one-tenth of the premiums received 
 in the first year of the six. 
 
 Hypothetical Business Table. The following table shows the 
 progress of a hypothetical business of $200,000 per month, 
 amounting to $2,4(10,000 per annum, divided as follows : $1,000,- 
 ooo of annual business, $200,000 of two-year business, $300,000 
 of three-year business, $400,000 of four-year business, and 
 $5< K »,< K M ) of five-year business. In actual practice, these amounts 
 would be diminished, year by year, by the cancellations taking 
 place, from various causes; but omitting, for purposes of illus- 
 tration, this disturbing influence, and assuming that the bus- 
 iness is maintained for the exact amount, year by year, through 
 
222 
 
 l ' N B ARNED I'KKMIUM. 
 
 a period of six years — each policy being renewed bo soon as it 
 expires, the proportions of animal and term business being the 
 same, the acceptances each month a pro rata portion of the 
 annual receipts and divided according to terms of policies in 
 the same manner — it must be clear, as will be seen by the table, 
 that at the end of the sixth year, and during the seventh and 
 every subsequent year, the amount written each month would 
 exactly balance the amount expiring, and the unearned premium 
 liability would remain unchanged at the close of each 3'ear, an; 1 , 
 indeed, on any one day of the year. The writer computed 
 this table for the purpose of testing the accuracy of his Tabic 
 "B" and believes it will present interesting features for the con- 
 sideration atid study of underwriters. 
 
 Let us assume that a company commenced business in the 
 year 1882, receiving premiums of $2,400,000, divided in one, 
 1 wo, three, four and five year policies as per the table. At the 
 end of that year it had earned one-half of its annual business, 
 8500,000, and had an equal amount unearned; it had earned 
 one-quarter of its two-year business, 850,000, and had unearned 
 three-quarters, or $150,000; it had earned one-sixth of its three- 
 year business, $50,000, and had unearned five-sixths. $250,000; 
 it had earned one-eighth of its four-year business, $50,000, and 
 had unearned seven-eighths, $350,000; it had earned one-tenth 
 of its five-year 'business, $50,000, and had unearned nine-tenths, 
 $450,000. Total earned, $700,000. Total unearned, $1,700,000. 
 
 At the end of the second year, having transacted identically 
 the same amount of business in each of the terms, it would have 
 earned the remaining half of the first year's annual business 
 $500,000, and also one-half of the 1883 business. On its two- 
 year business written in 1882, it would have earned a full year, 
 $100,000 and one-fourth of the current year's policies, $50,000. 
 ( >n its three-year business it would have earned a full year, or 
 one-third of the writings of 1882, $100,000, and one-sixth of the 
 writings of 1883, the current year, $50,000; total, $150,000. On 
 its four-year business it would have earned a full year or one- 
 fourth of the writings of 1882, $100,000, and also one-eighth of 
 the writings of the current year, $50, 000 ; and on its five-year 
 business it would have earned a full year or one-fifth of the 
 writings of 1882. 8100,000, and one-tenth of the writings of the 
 
TABLE A. 
 
 (HYPOTHETICAL BUSINESS. $2,400,000 OF PREMIUMS ANNUALLY.) 
 
 G )£ueci/t-ne& tyrvmiuni Sia&ilUH^. 
 1st YEAR. 1882. 
 
 T£KM. 
 
 PREMIUM. 
 
 Earned. 
 
 UNEARNED. 
 
 i Year 
 
 * " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 
 1 ,000,000 
 200,000 
 300,000 
 400,00c 
 500,000 
 
 
 i 
 i 
 
 \ 
 
 ft 
 
 500,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 
 
 500,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 a 
 
 500,000 
 150,000 
 250,000 
 350,000 
 450,000 
 
 
 500,000 
 150,000 
 250,000 
 350,000 
 450,000 
 
 
 
 2,400,000 
 
 
 
 700,000 
 
 
 700,000 
 
 
 
 1,700,000 
 
 
 1,700,000 
 
 
 2nd YEAR. 1883. 
 
 i Y 
 
 i ,000,000 
 200,000 
 300,000 
 400,000 
 500,000 
 
 2,400,000 
 
 i 
 
 i of "82 
 
 i 
 
 i of '82 
 
 J of '82 
 i 
 
 i of '82 
 ft , 
 jot 8* 
 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 5O,000 
 IO0.000 
 
 1,600,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 150,000 
 150,000 
 150,000 
 150,000 
 
 r, 600,000 
 
 i of 
 
 ■83 
 
 J of 
 
 •83 
 
 iof 
 
 '8a 
 
 * of 
 
 "S3 
 
 iof 
 
 '82 
 
 iof 
 
 "S3 
 
 iof 
 
 '8a 
 
 ft of 
 
 '83 
 
 ft of 
 
 V.: 
 
 150,000 
 
 50,000 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 350,000 
 250,000 
 450,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 2,500,000 
 
 3rd YEAR. 1884. 
 
 1 Year 
 
 2 M 
 
 3 11 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 
 1,000,000 
 200,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 i 
 
 iof 
 
 i 
 
 i of 
 iof 
 
 iof 
 
 iof 
 
 i 
 
 iof 
 iof 
 
 * c 
 
 io 
 i°f 
 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 1 ,000,000 
 200,000 
 
 250,000 
 
 i.95 c 
 
 + 
 
 of 
 
 ■84 
 
 500,000 
 
 i 
 
 of 
 
 ■84 
 
 150,000 
 
 
 of 
 
 ■83 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 of 
 
 ■84 
 
 250,000 
 
 j 
 
 of 
 
 '83 
 
 150,000 
 
 
 of 
 
 '8a 
 
 50,000 
 
 
 of 
 
 '84 
 
 350,000 
 
 : 
 
 of 
 
 
 250,000 
 
 8 
 
 of 
 
 '8a 
 
 150,000 
 
 ft 
 
 of 
 
 ■84 
 
 450,000 
 
 >\ 
 
 of 
 
 '83 
 
 350.000 
 
 ft 
 
 of 
 
 '8a 
 
 250,000 
 
 
 2,950,000 
 
 4th YEAR. 1885. 
 
 Year 
 
 5 " 
 
 ,000,000 
 200,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 £ of 
 i 
 
 4 of 
 i of '83 
 
 iof 
 
 * of '83 
 
 l Of '8: 
 
 iof 
 i of '83 
 
 i Of *82 
 
 " of '84 
 of '83 
 of '82 
 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 2,200,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 200,000 
 
 300,000 
 350,000 
 
 35°> 000 
 2.200,000 
 
 i of '85 
 
 500,000 
 
 f of '85 
 i of '84 
 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 * of '85 
 
 * of '84 
 i of '83 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 iof '85 
 i of '84 
 f of '83 
 $ of '82 
 ft of '85 
 ft of '84 
 ft of '83 
 ft of '82 
 
 350,000 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 450,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 
 
 3,150.000 
 
 3,150,000 
 
 OTcrJ 
 
5th YEAR. 1886. 
 
 1 Year 
 
 2 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 M 
 
 1,000,000 
 200,000 
 
 300,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 i 
 
 
 500,000 
 
 4 of 
 
 ■85 
 
 500,000 
 
 i 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 4 of 
 
 '85 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 •84 
 
 50,000 
 
 i 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 iof 
 
 '85 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 
 100,000 
 
 i of 
 
 '83 
 
 50,000 
 
 1 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 i of 
 
 S5 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 '84 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 '83 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 '82 
 
 50,000 
 
 ft 
 
 
 50.000 
 
 iof 
 
 ■8S 
 
 100,000 
 
 i°f 
 
 '84 
 
 100,000 
 
 i°f 
 
 '83 
 
 100,000 
 
 iof 
 
 '8; 
 
 100,000 
 
 
 2,350,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 2,350,000 
 
 4 of 
 
 '86 
 
 i 01 
 
 ' IS 6 
 
 iof 
 
 'S5 
 
 | of 
 
 '86 
 
 1 of 
 
 '85 
 
 i of 
 
 '84 
 
 iof 
 
 '86 
 
 t 01 
 
 ' 8 5 
 
 t 01 
 
 8 4 
 
 S Ot 
 
 8 3 
 
 ft °f 
 
 '86 
 
 ft of 
 
 '85 
 
 ft of 
 
 •84 
 
 ft of 
 
 '83 
 
 ft of 
 
 'S2 
 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50.000 
 
 450,000 
 350,000 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 1,250,000 
 3,200,000 
 
 6th YEAR. 1887. 
 
 000,000 
 200,000 
 
 3 " 
 
 5 " 
 
 500,000 
 
 4 
 
 4 of 
 
 i 
 
 4 of 
 
 iof 
 
 I of 
 iof 
 iof 
 
 i 
 
 iof 
 iof 
 iof 
 
 4 of 
 
 i°f 
 i ot 
 iof 
 iof 
 ft of 
 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 100.000 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 50,000 
 
 50 000 
 100,000 
 
 1 00, 000 
 100,000 
 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 
 1,000.000 
 
 500,000 
 
 4 of '87 
 
 2 of '87 
 1 of '86 
 
 I- of 
 I of 
 *of 
 
 I of 
 f of 
 I of 
 iof 
 
 A 01 
 
 A of 
 
 A of 
 A of 
 A of 
 
 500,000 
 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 250,000 
 150,000 
 50,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 450,000 
 
 800,000 
 
 1,250,000 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 223 
 
 current year, $50,000. The total earnings would be $1, GOO, 000, 
 and the total unearned. $-.2,500,000. 
 
 It will Ik observed that, during the second year, the earnings 
 on one-year business are equal to the writings. This will be the 
 case thenceforward. During the third year the earnings on the 
 two-year business will also equal the writings, and this will be 
 the case thenceforward. During the fourth year the earnings 
 on the three-year business will equal the writings. But in the 
 case of five-year business, it is not until the sixth year that the 
 earnings equal the writings, $500,000. 
 
 The Table for Computing Monthly Unearned Liability. This table 
 (see Table "B") is the result of careful thought and study of the 
 conditions of the hypothetical business above explained. It was 
 devised by the writer for the purpose of simplifying the work of 
 computing the unearned premium on the current business, 
 month by month, equating it with the expirations on the old 
 table of policies in force written in previous years. All com- 
 panies, probably — certainly all of the larger companies — find it 
 necessary to classify the writings each month, according to 
 term. It will require little additional labor to post the result of 
 a month's writings in the proper column of the table assigned to 
 the month. The footing of this column will show the progress 
 of the unearned premium liability and enable an officer to de : 
 termine the drift of the company, whether in the direction of an 
 increasing or decreasing liability, in this important item. The 
 table, moreover, will save, by division of labor throughout the 
 year, much of the confusion and hurry incident to the accumu- 
 lation of work at its close, when the results of the entire business 
 are necessary in order to make up statements, either for Boards 
 of Directors or for State departments. 
 
 It will be borne in mind that this table is arranged to com- 
 pute the progress of the Company in unearned premium liability 
 in accordance with the New York State law. A precise com- 
 putation of unearned premium would be by averaging the earn- 
 ings of months, viz, by twenty-fourths. For example, the 
 annual business written in January would be 15 days or ^ un- 
 earned on the 31st of December; and February business 2 ? j un- 
 earned. The five year business written in January would be 
 T V() unearned on the 31st of December, etc., etc., the calcu- 
 
■>■> I 
 
 I NKAHXKl) I'KKMIUM. 
 
 lations hv fractions hcing more easily made by their reciprocals 
 or decimal equivalents. The New York law, however, equating 
 each year's writings as six months earned, is practically correct, 
 and the computations hv months, although practiced hv a few 
 companies, would he, in the case of large companies especially, 
 so laborious and expensive in clerk hire as to be not worth the 
 cost. In the absence of any abnormal increase of the business 
 during the closing months of the year, for example, the equation 
 by yearly writings is, for all practical purposes, accurate; and 
 in case of any abnormal increase of business, allowance can 
 easily be made for the fact by any intelligent underwriter. 
 
 Explanation of Table B. In the upper left corner of the table is 
 inserted the unearned tahle of the Company at the close of the 
 preceding year. In this case the unearned table of the sixth 
 and last year of Table A has been inserted. The amount earn- 
 able during the current year in this table is obtained in the 
 following manner: There being $500,000 of one-year husiness 
 unearned at the beginning of the year, the whole of it will be 
 earned during the current year. On the two-year business there 
 heing $150, 000 unearned at the beginning of the year, a full 
 year, or one-half of the writings of 1887; viz, $100,000, would 
 be earned during the current year, and also the $50,000 remain- 
 ing of the two-year business written in 1886 — there being only 
 one-quarter of the writings of 1880 remaining unearned at the 
 beginning of the year, the first quarter, or six months, having 
 been earned during the year in which it was written. 
 
 In like maimer in the case of three-year business, a full year 
 or one-third of the writings of each of the previous years will 
 be earned, with the exception of 1885, in which only six months, 
 or one-sixth, remains unearned at the beginning of the year, 
 the remaining one-sixth having been earned during the year 
 1885. And on the five-year business, a full $100,000, or one 
 year's premiums, will be earned on each of the year's writings, 
 except that of 1883, of which only $50,000, or one-tenth, remains 
 unearned at the beginning of the year. 
 
 In other words, a full year will be earned of the writings of 
 previous years except as to those years of which only six months' 
 business remains in force at the beginning of the year. It will 
 be seen that $1,700,000 premium will be earned during the 
 current year, 1888, and that of this sum y 1 ^, or $141,667, will be 
 
Table B. 
 
 TABLE SHOWING UNEARNED PREMIUM LIABILITY EACH MONTH. 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM AT BEGINNING OF YEAR. 
 
 January 31st. 
 
 February 28th. 
 
 March 31st. 
 
 April 30th. 
 
 May 31 st. 
 
 June 30th. 
 
 TEAH 
 
 TERM 
 
 PREMIUMS 
 
 Eamable 
 During Year 
 
 Unearned at 
 
 Beginning 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 Earned 
 
 Unearned 
 
 IS87 
 lSS6 
 lSS7 
 ISS5 
 ISS6 
 I8S7 
 I884 
 I8S5 
 ISS6 
 I887 
 IS83 
 18S4 
 ISS5 
 ISS6 
 1887 
 
 Long 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 3 " 
 3 
 
 4 " 
 4 " 
 
 4 " 
 4 
 
 5 " 
 S " 
 5 " 
 5 " 
 5 " 
 
 1,000,000 
 200,000 
 200,000 
 300,000 
 300,000 
 300,000 
 400,000 
 400,000 
 400,000 
 400,000 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 500,000 
 
 500,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 
 50,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 100,000 
 
 500,000 
 50,000 
 150.000 
 50,000 
 150,000 
 
 2y >,u»i 
 50,000 
 150,000 
 250,000 
 350,000 
 50,000 
 150,000 
 250,000 
 35O.OOO 
 450,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 6,400,000 
 
 1,700,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 141,667 
 
 3.058,333 
 
 283,333 
 
 2,916,667 
 
 425,000 
 
 2,775,000 
 
 566,666 
 
 2,633.334 
 
 708,333 
 
 2,491,666 
 
 850,000 
 
 2,350,000 
 
 WRITINGS OF CURRENT YEAR. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MOXTH 
 
 
 PBEM. 
 TTRJTTEX 
 
 Eamable 
 During Year 
 
 Unearned at 
 End of Year 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 11 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33,333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,l66 
 4,167 
 4,l66 
 4,167 
 
 41,667 
 I2,500 
 20.833 
 29,167 
 
 37.500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58.333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58.333 
 
 141,667 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83,334 
 16,666 
 25.OO0 
 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4.167 
 4,167 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 
 41,666 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29, l6- 
 37.500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 Mch. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83,334 
 16,667 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 
 4,1 66 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 4,167 
 
 41,667 
 I2,5O0 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37.500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 
 
 
 
 58.333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 April 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 11 
 
 3 " 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 
 41,667 
 4,167 
 4.167 
 
 41,666 
 I2,500 
 20,833 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 4,167 
 4,l66 
 
 29,167 
 37.500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 5S.334 
 
 141,666 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 8 -334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 May 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 *' 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33,333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4.166 
 4.167 
 4,166 
 4,l67 
 
 41,667 
 I2,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37,500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 June 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83,334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33,333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,l67 
 4,l67 
 4,166 
 4,166 
 
 41,667 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37.500 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 Forward-6 mos. 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 850,000 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Deduct— (each month) CANCELLATIONS— to dato— 
 untxplrti portion. 
 
 200,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 400,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 600,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 S, N. I.. « H , 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 1,200,000 
 
 3,200,000 
 
 « Ooduet-Aiaoh month) RE-INSI/RANCE—te iati~ 
 unexpired portion. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (over.) 
 
Brought Forward— earned and unwarned on old table. 
 
 Brought Forward— earned and unearned on wrltlngt of 
 turrent year— January to July. 
 
 
 PREMIUMS 
 
 Earnable 
 During Year 
 
 Unearned al 
 End of Year 
 
 Brought Forward. 
 Total 8 months. 
 
 1 , 200,000 
 
 350,000 
 
 850,000 
 
 July 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 J., mi; 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,l66 
 4,167 
 4,l66 
 4,167 
 
 41,667 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37.500 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Short 
 I year 
 
 3 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Short 
 1 year 
 
 3 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83,334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,167 
 4.167 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 
 58.334 
 
 41,666 
 12,500 
 20.833 
 29,167 
 37,500 
 
 141.666 
 
 41,667 
 4,166 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 4.167 
 
 58,333 
 
 Oct. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 '* 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41.667 
 
 41.667 
 4,167 
 4,167 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 
 41.666 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37,5oo 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,334 
 
 141,666 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83,334 
 16,666 
 25.000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,166 
 4.167 
 4,166 
 4,167 
 
 41,667 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37,5oo 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 Dec. 
 
 Short 
 
 1 year 
 
 2 " 
 
 3 " 
 
 4 " 
 
 5 " 
 Long 
 
 83.334 
 16,666 
 25,000 
 33.333 
 41,667 
 
 41,667 
 4,167 
 4,167 
 4,166 
 4,166 
 
 41,667 
 12,500 
 20,833 
 29,167 
 37,5oo 
 
 Total for mo. 
 
 200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 Total — 12 mos. 
 
 2,400,000 
 
 700,000 
 
 1,700,000 
 
 41.667 
 12,500 
 
 20.833 
 29,167 
 37,500 
 
 141,667 
 
 991.667 
 
 Une. 
 
 2,208,333 
 850,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 141,667 
 
 August 31st. 
 
 Earned 
 
 1.133,333 
 
 350,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 Unearned 
 
 1,066,667 
 850,000 
 
 141,667 
 
 58,334 141,666 
 
 September 30th. 
 
 Earned 
 
 1,275,000 
 350,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 58.334 
 
 1,925,000 
 850,000 
 
 141,667 
 
 141 .666 
 
 October 31st. 
 
 58,333 141.667 
 
 1,800,000 
 
 1,416,666 
 
 58,333 
 
 58,334 
 
 Unearned 
 
 1,783.334 
 850,000 
 
 141,667 
 
 141,666 
 
 58.333 '41.667 
 
 58.334 
 
 November 30th. 
 
 '.558 333 
 
 141,666 
 
 2,000,000 3,200,000 
 
 58,333 
 
 58,334 
 
 58.333 
 
 58.334 
 
 58.333 
 
 1,641,667 
 850,000 
 
 141,667 
 
 141,666 
 
 141,667 
 
 141,666 
 
 141,667 
 
 December 31st. 
 
 Unearned 
 
 58,333 
 
 58,334 
 
 58.333 
 
 58,334 
 
 5S.333 
 
 1,500,000 
 850,000 
 
 58,333 141.667 
 
 2,400,000 3,200,000 
 
 Deduet-ieaeh month) CANCELLATIONS— to dato- 
 unoxplrod portion. 
 
 DiHutt-ieaoH month) HE-INSURANCE-to dato- 
 unoxplrtd portion. 
 
EXPLANATION OF TABLE B. 
 
 225 
 
 earned each month. This sum is entered in the earned column 
 of January, and in the unearned column of that month is in- 
 serted the amount of unearned premium liability at the close of 
 the month obtained by deducting the $141,667 earned in Janu- 
 ary from the unearned on December 31st, $3,200,000. In like 
 manner, at the close of February $28:5,33:5 will have been earned, 
 and the unearned liability will stand $2,916,667 — the unearned 
 premium on policies in force at the beginning of the year de- 
 creasing each month at the rate of $141,667 per month. 
 
 Having carried the figures of earned and unearned premium 
 on the old table through each of the months to the close of the 
 year, the writings of each month are inserted in the small tables 
 to the left, and the earned and unearned premiums are carried 
 into the column for that month, computed on the basis of the 
 earned and unearned as it would stand at the close of the year. 
 The footing of the column of unearned, each month, will show 
 the unearned premium liability as of that date, from which 
 should be deducted the unearned premium of all cancellations 
 and reinsurance; the cancellations and reinsurance being each 
 kept, month by month, on the same form of table. 
 
 That the table is correctly arranged for showing accurate 
 results is proven by the hypothetical business which has been 
 applied to it. It is clear that a business which has completed 
 its sixth year, the same amount being written each year, and a 
 pro rata or one-twelfth portion each month, divided in the same 
 manner as to terms, would show the same amount of unearned 
 premium on any day or at the end of any month of the seventh 
 year, exactly the same amount of renewal business going on the 
 books each day, to balance the amount of old business expiring, 
 and it will be seen that the table shows the same amount of 
 unearned premium, $3,200,000, at every point. 
 
 In case of delayed reports from agents or other causes prevent- 
 ing the entering of the entire business of a month upon the table, 
 allowance can be readily made for the fact, although the table 
 will correct itself when these reports are subsequently entered ; 
 and as all outstanding monthly reports of agents are required 
 in June and December of each year the adjustment of the 
 figures will take place in the table itself, 
 
 Perhaps a word of further explanation is necessary to show 
 why, in Table B, a table designed to show the amount of un- 
 
226 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 earned liability each month, and, especially, at the half-year 
 period of June 30th, the business written in the current year is 
 entered — earned and unearned — as it will stand at the end of 
 the l/car, while, on the other hand, the old business in force at 
 the beginning of the year is entered in the Table as a pro rata, 
 one-twelfth earned, each month, of the total sum earned in the 
 twelve, which would show one-half of the total earnings of the 
 year as earned on June 30th. Of course, in the case of the 
 current years business there would be only an average of three 
 months earned on June 30th, instead of six; but, on the other 
 hand, of the total amount earned dining the twelve months, 
 out of the old business brought forward as unearned of previous 
 years' writings, a greater portion than one-half will be 
 earned on June 30th, the difference being exactly equal to the 
 excess of earnings claimed for the current business, the two 
 thus compensating or equating each other. 
 
 This arrangement of the Table not only simplifies the work of 
 entering the current business so as to enable the Company to 
 make the computation as of the end of the year, for the annual 
 statement, but, also, economizes the time and labor of comput- 
 ing the earnings on the old business — which would be a much 
 more difficult task — and herein lies the chief merit of the Table. 
 
 Take the case of annual business, for example, written in the 
 previous year, of which one-half would remain unearned, at the 
 beginning of the new year; instead of one-half of this remainder 
 being earned June 30th, for example, as entered in Table B, 
 three-fourths of it will be earned, and the entry of it as only 
 one-half earned exactly balances the entry of the current annual 
 business as six months earned instead of three months. It 
 should be remembered that, in the case of annual policies, the 
 average date of commencement is July 1st of the year of writ- 
 ing, and the average date of expiration is July 1st of the second 
 year. The following Table will explain this more clearly. Let 
 us suppose, for example, that an annual premium of $24 was 
 written in each of the twelve months of the year 1887 and re- 
 newed in each of the first six months of the current year 1888. 
 The average earning of the premiums written in a month is one- 
 half of the month, or one-twenty-fourth of a year. At the end 
 of 1887, therefore, 23-21 of the January business will have been 
 earned and 1-24 will be carried to the new year as unearned. 
 In like manner, of the business written in February, 21-21 will 
 
EXPLANATION OF TABLE P>. 
 
 22? 
 
 be earned at the end of the year and 3-24 will remain unearned. 
 It will be observed in the table that, of the total premiums 
 written during the previous year, ($288.) one-half, or $144, will 
 be unearned at the beginning of the new year. On J une 30th 
 of the new year there will have been six months, or 12-24, 
 earned of the writings of the previous year. There being less 
 than 12-24 remaining unearned of business written in the first 
 six months of the previous year, all of the unexpired writings 
 of January to June 30th will have been earned, and 12-24 of the 
 writings of each of the months from July to December inclusive. 
 This will make $108, or three-fourths of the amount ($144.), 
 brought forward as unearned at the beginning of the year, in- 
 stead of one-half, $72., the difference, $30., being exactly equal 
 to the excess of earnings claimed in Table B on the writings 
 from January to June (inclusive) of the new year, which would 
 be entered as $72. earned instead of $36. Of course, this being 
 true of "one-year" business it will be proportionally true of the 
 business of other terms. This simple arrangement of Table B 
 thus accurately equates the old business with the new and saves 
 tedious and unnecessary calculations. 
 
 EARNINGS IN FIRST HALF OF YEAR ON THE ANNUAL 
 BUSINESS WRITTEN IN PREVIOUS YEAR. 
 
 MONTH 
 WRITTEN 
 
 PREM. 
 
 Earned Dunng 
 the Year 1887. 
 
 Unearned at 
 end of 1887. 
 
 Earned in First 
 Half of 1888. 
 
 1887 
 
 
 Frac'n. 
 
 Amt. 
 
 ■ Frac'n 
 
 Amt. 
 
 Frac'n. 
 
 Amt. 
 
 Jan. 
 
 Feb. 
 
 Mch. 
 
 April. 
 
 May. 
 
 June. 
 
 July. 
 
 Aug. 
 
 Sept. 
 
 Oct, 
 
 Nov. 
 
 Dec. 
 
 $ 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 24. 
 
 2 3 
 24" 
 2 1 
 24 
 1 
 24 
 1 7 
 2¥ 
 1 5 
 24 
 1 3 
 24" 
 
 1 1 
 24" 
 
 9 
 
 24 
 
 24 
 5 
 
 24 
 
 3 
 24 
 
 1 
 
 2 4" 
 
 $23. 
 21. 
 19. 
 17. 
 15. 
 13. 
 11. 
 
 9. 
 
 7. 
 
 5. 
 
 3. 
 
 1. 
 
 1 
 24 
 
 & 
 
 5 
 24" 
 
 7 
 24" 
 
 9 
 
 24 
 1 1 
 24 
 1 3 
 24 
 1 S 
 24" 
 1 7 
 2T 
 
 1 9 
 24 
 
 2 1 
 2T 
 2 3 
 24 
 
 $ 1. 
 
 3. 
 
 5. 
 
 7. 
 
 9. 
 11. 
 13. 
 15. 
 17. 
 19. 
 21. 
 23. 
 
 1 
 
 24" 
 3 
 
 24 
 5 
 
 24 
 
 7 
 24" 
 
 9 
 2T 
 1 1 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 1 2 
 24 
 
 $ 1. 
 
 3. 
 
 5. 
 
 I . 
 
 9. 
 11. 
 12. 
 12. 
 12. 
 12. 
 12. 
 12. 
 
 
 $288 
 
 
 $144 
 
 
 $144 
 
 
 $108 
 
228 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 Popular errors as to increase and decrease of Unearned Premium 
 Liability. It is quite common for underwriters to assume th;tt 
 the unearned premium liability of a Company will be increased 
 or decreased at the end of the year in proportion as the amount 
 of premiums written by the Company through the year are 
 greater or less than the writings of the previous year. Under 
 the same conditions — the same amount of premium receipts 
 divided proportionally in the same manner as the premium 
 receipts of the six previous years — this would be the case. In 
 term policies, however, the proportion of the annual receipts 
 written in each term should be the same for all previous years, 
 as to policies in force, to secure proportionate results. 
 
 As an illustration of how fallacious such estimates of unearned 
 premium liability may be, let us suppose that during the sixth 
 year (1887) of the hypothetical business (Table "A") exactly the 
 same amount of premiums ($2,400,000) had been written, but 
 that, instead of being divided as in the table, it had been divided 
 as follows: 
 
 $1,300,000 of one-year business, 
 200,000 of two-year business, 
 270,000 of three-year business, 
 320,000 of four-year business, 
 310,000 of five-vear business, 
 
 $2,400,000 
 
 Computing the unearned, the problem would stand as in table 
 "C" on following page. Thus showing that although the pre- 
 miums do not exceed the writings of the previous year, being 
 exactly equal in amount, the unearned premium liability, in- 
 stead of being $3,200,000, has been actually reduced $116,000, 
 and at the close of 1887 would have been only $3,084,000. 
 
 Right here we have a convenient illustration of the utter un- 
 reliablility of the average insurance chart for the purpose of 
 showing the comparative conditions of Companies. The pre- 
 mium written by the Company during this year is $2,400,000 
 but the premium earned is $2,510,000, or $116,000 more than the 
 premium written ; let us now suppose that the losses incurred 
 are $1,464,000 ; the percentage to written premium would be 61$. 
 Let us suppose the expenses are $960,000, the percentage of 
 expense to written premium being 40 <fo. The Company's figures 
 would be paraded in the charts as follows: Expenses, 40$; 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
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 Losses incurred, 61 Total, 101 ^ of premiums; and the im- 
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 in its profit and loss account. On the contrary, the correct state- 
 ment of the Company's business for the year would be as follows : 
 
 Premiums earned, $2,516,000 
 Losses incurred (58}i</<, of earned Prem.) $1,464,000 
 
 Expenses, (38$ of earned Premiums) 960,000 2,424,000 
 
 Excess of earned Premium over loss and expense, 92,000 
 
 showing a net profit on the Premium account of ninety-two 
 I house iid dollars. To this should be added the interest, at 4% 
 per cent., on the unearned premium reserve, $3,084,000 (less, 
 say, 10 fo of premiums written for premiums unpaid, leaving an 
 interest-bearing balance of $2,844,000) or $127,980, which added 
 to the excess of earned premiums over losses and expenses before 
 stated of $92,000, would show a trade profit of $219,980. 
 
 Could a clearer instance be presented of the misleading 
 character of tables published year after year for the instruction 
 of the public by compilers who do not understand their own 
 statistics. A correct comparative table is one which shows the 
 earned premium of each company, the expenses and losses in- 
 curred, and the interest at the average rate per cent, obtained 
 for the year on the unearned premium fund after deducting 
 therefrom the unpaid premiums. Such a table would place all 
 companies on the same basis, and show the exact trade profit of 
 the year from an underwriting standpoint. It is the only basis 
 on which companies should be compared. It is the only account 
 which would correctly show whether they have made or lost 
 money on the year's transactions. And yet, who ever saw such 
 a table, either in writing or print ! 
 
 Now let us suppose that the business of 1887 instead of being 
 $2,400,000, the exact amount of the previous year, had been 
 $10,000 less, or $2,390,000, the natural assumption would be 
 that the unearned premium liability would be less. If the 
 business, however, were divided as follows : 
 
 $800,000 of one-year business, 
 
 200,000 of two-year business, 
 
 330,000 of three-year business, 
 
 440,000 of four-year business, 
 
 620,000 of five-year business, 
 
 $2,390,000 
 
TRADE PROFIT. 
 
 231 
 
 the problem would stand as per table "D", which shows that 
 with a decrease in writings of $10,000 from the previous year, 
 the unearned premium fund has actually increased nearly 
 seven times that amount, or $68,000. 
 
 On the contrary, owing to a different division of the business 
 as to terms, a premium income materially larger than that of a 
 preceding year may actually show a decrease in unearned pre- 
 mium liability; for example, let us suppose that the premiums 
 for 1887, instead of being $2,400,000, were $2,530,000, a larger 
 writing by $130,000, divided as follows: 
 
 $1,400,000 of one-year business, 
 2(l0,()0o of two-year business, 
 270,000 of three-year business, 
 360,000 of four-year business, 
 300,000 of five-year business, 
 
 $2,530,000 
 
 The problem would stand as in table "E": 
 
 And it will be seen that while the premiums written are $130,- 
 000 more than for the previous year, the unearned premium 
 liability at the close of the year is actually $40,000 less than at 
 the beginning of the year. 
 
 It requires only a careful examination of the term tables to 
 see the explanation of this. Take the five-year table, for ex- 
 ample, in the last mentioned problem. The five-year business 
 written is $300,000, but owing to the fact that $500,000 a year 
 had been written in each of the five previous years, one-fifth of 
 which would be earned in 1887, the earnings (including the 
 remaining tenth of 1882) would be $480,000 — an excess of earn- 
 ings over writings of $180,000. 
 
 In like manner, the earnings on the three and four year tables 
 exceed the writings on those terms, and the combined gain in 
 earnings on these three terms exceeds the increased unearned on 
 the one-j 7 ear business, the difference being $40,000 — the amount 
 of reduction in the reinsurance fund. 
 
 These illustrations will suffice to show that the increase or 
 decrease of a Company's business is not a safe test of the con- 
 dition of its unearned premium liability, and that the most 
 careful scrutiny should be kept of a Company's business, month 
 
2:32 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
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 by month, through each department of its territory, since a 
 change of the Company's business into term policies in any one 
 department, might be seriously increasing the unearned pre- 
 mium liability at the very moment when the fact that the total 
 business of the Company was not in excess of the previous year's 
 writings might lead its officers to suppose that its reinsurance 
 fund was keeping even pace with its income. The five-year 
 business, for example, although less than the writings of the 
 previous year would show an increase of unearned premium 
 liability unless an equal amount had been written in each of the 
 previous years, and other terms in proportion. It is, therefore, 
 only in the case of an annual business that the unearned pre- 
 mium fund is proportionately increased or decreased according 
 as the writings of the year are greater or less than those of the 
 previous year. 
 
 Is term business profitable? That depends entirely upon the 
 rate obtained, it being assumed that the same care is used in 
 selection as in the case of annual business. It should be borne 
 in mind that inspections are naturally less frequent on long term 
 risks than in the case of annual business, owing to the fact that 
 the risks do not come up for renewal annually. For this reason, 
 mercantile and manufacturing risks ought not to be written for 
 terms of three and five years unless a Company's system of 
 supervision secures the same scrutiny annually as in the case of 
 one year policies. In the case of dwellings and farm property 
 of permanent occupation — a class of property not liable to 
 change in use or occupancy — there is less objection to a term 
 policy. 
 
 The operation of a five-year business is to show an apparent 
 loss during the first half of the term and an accumulation of 
 unearned. An examination of a five-year business will show, 
 as before explained, that a larger percentage of losses occur in 
 the earlier years of the term than in the later years. Assuming 
 the loss for the full term to be 50 fo of the premium written, for 
 example, it will be found that this 50^ loss will be distributed 
 throughout the five years of the term in about the following 
 percentages : 
 
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT. 
 
 •235 
 
 16* 
 
 in the 1st year, 
 
 or 8 * o 
 
 24* 
 
 
 2nd 
 
 
 12* 
 
 18* 
 
 
 3rd 
 
 
 9* 
 
 17* 
 
 
 4th 
 
 
 8K* 
 
 16* 
 
 
 5th 
 
 
 8* 
 
 9* 
 
 
 6th 
 
 
 4K* 
 
 100* 
 
 
 
 
 50* 
 
 As the earned premium of the first year is only j\- t of the 
 premium written, and as 16* of a 50* loss incurred in this year 
 would equal 8 * of the premium written, the loss in the first 
 year is 80* of the earned premium. 
 
 Table "F 11 will show the operation of a five-year business, 
 taking into account the expenses, estimated at 37* for com- 
 missions, salaries, taxes, etc., and the losses distributed as 
 above, viz: 
 
 Earned Prem. Loss. 
 
 Loss 1st year 80* of earned premium, $10.00 $ 8.00 
 
 2nd 
 3rd 
 4th 
 5th 
 6th 
 
 60 " 
 45 " 
 
 42M " 
 40 " 
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 20.00 
 20.00 
 20.00 
 20.00 
 10.00 
 
 12.00 
 9.00 
 8.50 
 8.00 
 4.50 
 
 $100.00 $50.00 
 
 Cancellations between the first year and expiration would 
 slightly modify these figures. 
 
 Of course on a term business extending over six years, the 
 lower percentages of previous years would balance the higher 
 percentages of later years, and the percentage of 50 * loss to 
 earned premium, carrying policies to expiration, would be main- 
 tained by the average. In the case of a Company commencing 
 a term business, or of one unduly increasing its term business, 
 however, this peculiar feature of term business would prove 
 expensive. 
 
 Profit and loss account of a five-year business. The following 
 table "F" shows the practical working of a five-year term busi- 
 ness applying to it the feature of excessive losses in the earlier 
 years of the policies as above explained. Assuming that a 
 ),000 five-year business should be commenced in 1888, one- 
 
UNEARNED I KKMIUM. 
 
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UNEARNED PREMU'M. 
 
 237 
 
 tenth, or $10, 000, would be earned at the end of that year. The 
 expenses at, say, 37 per cent, of premiums, would be $.'57,000. 
 The losses, 80 per cent, of the earned, would be $8,000. Total 
 outgi >, $4 5,01 M > ; total income, $10,000 ; deficit, $35,000. The un- 
 earned premium fund would stand at the end of the year $90,- 
 000; from which deduct, say, 10 per cent, of premiums written 
 for premiums unpaid, would leave $80,000 of quick assets, on 
 which it may be supposed the Company would receive in the 
 following year, say 4% per cent, interest, $3,600. During that 
 year it would write another $100,000 of premiums, and would 
 earn one-tenth of the amount, $10,000 ; also one-fifth of the previ- 
 ous year, $20,000; the total income would be $33,600, as against 
 an outgo of $57,000 calculated as follows: — $37,000 for expenses; 
 losses, 80 per cent, of the earnings on policies written that year, 
 $8,000, and 60 per cent, of the earned of the previous year, 
 ($20,000) $12,000— Total outgo, $57,000, as against $33,600 of 
 income; leaving a deficit at the end of the year of $23,400, with 
 the unearned increased to $160,000 and an interest-bearing, 
 quick asset balance of $1 5( >, < u )( I. Of course, to be more accurate, 
 the interest-bearing balance would be diminished by the cash 
 payments for losses and expenses for average time from date of 
 payments, but in table "F" the five-year business has been 
 given the full benefit of an unearned premium fund intact. 
 
 At the end of the third year, computed on the same basis, as 
 will be seen by the table, the company will have a deficit of 
 $9,200. It is not until the end of the fourth year, it will be 
 observed, that the account begins to change and a gain of $4,- 
 500 of income over outgo is realized. It is evident that a com- 
 pany must draw upon its net surplus to purchase a five-year 
 business for the first three years of the term, and until it has 
 sufficient business upon its books to reach the point where the 
 earned premium and interest income exceeds the loss and ex- 
 pense outgo. 
 
 It will be observed that it is, therefore, not until the fourth 
 year that the company — aside f rom the value of its accumulated 
 unearned premium — begins to show any profit ; and whether it 
 can show any profit then or thereafter depends entirely on the 
 adequacy of the rate. In the above table the premium is com- 
 puted at a rate double the fire loss. If the rate be so low that 
 
238 TRADE PROFIT OF A FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY. 
 
 the fire loss is above 50 per cent., a correspondingly less favor- 
 able result will be reached. 
 
 Many underwriters, without reflection, fall, not unnaturally, 
 into the error of supposing that, in writing a term business, the 
 company has an advantage from collecting the entire premium 
 for the term in advance, and a much larger amount of interest 
 than in the case of annual policies. This assumption, however, 
 is an incorrect one. It loses sight of the important fact as 
 already stated that as the premiums of annual policies are paid 
 each year, in advance, the interest account is but little less than 
 that received on the five-year plan. The following (written by 
 me) appeared in the New York Daily Commercial Bulletin in 
 March, 188G, shows the fallacy of the argument. 
 
 It seems to us that the companies making an effort to secure 
 term business, especially on the basis of two annual premiums 
 for three-year policies, and of three annual premiums for five- 
 year policies, are not making proper estimates as to the interest 
 account, which is supposed, in the case of term policies, to make 
 up for the substantial reduction in rate. Companies doing a 
 term business, for example, are apparently assuming that the 
 interest account runs only in favor of term policies — at least 
 this is the only supposition on which we can account for their 
 readiness to accept such policies at the material discounts from 
 annual rates. While the risk is kept in force for a term of five 
 years, by annual policies written each year, is it not clear that 
 the interest on the premium for the first year, the first fifth of 
 the term, is secured for the whole five years ; that for the second 
 year, for four years ; that for the third year for the three years 
 etc.,? 
 
 Trade Profit of a Fire Insurance Company. The Trade Profit of 
 a Fire Insurance Company for any given year is calculated in 
 the following manner : 
 
 From the Premiums earned during the year are deducted the 
 Expenses and Losses incurred during the year, and to the 
 remainder is added the interest, at the average rate received 
 during the year, on the unearned premium fund, deducting first 
 therefrom the unpaid premiums. An illustration of the problem 
 will be found on pages 228 and 230. Practically all of the in- 
 terest income received on net surplus of the Company and 
 
I ' N K ARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 239 
 
 especially that on the unearned, excepting legal interest on 
 the cash capital, belong to the "trade profit ;" but as the net 
 surplus is the accumulation of previous years, the interest upon 
 it ought not to enter into the "trade profit" of a single year. 
 
 While it is not the practice of Companies, owing to require- 
 ments of State Departments, to take credit for such expenses as 
 commissions paid to agents, &c, on the amount of premiums 
 carried to the unearned premium fund, such expenses, paid on 
 unearned premiums on desirable business and at adequate rates, 
 may justly be regarded by the Company itself as a judicious 
 investment, notwithstanding their exclusion from the profit and 
 loss account. 
 
 Let us suppose, for example, that a Company writing term 
 business, on desirable risks at full rates, should increase its 
 unearned premium fund, say $200,000, paying to agents a com- 
 mission, at 15 per cent., or $30,000, such cash outlay might 
 certainly be taken into account as of the nature rather of an in- 
 vestment, being recoverable when the risks have been carried 
 to expiration. As no provision, however, can be made by State 
 Departments to determine the value of such unexpired risks, 
 any expenses paid on them are properly excluded from an asset 
 statement. 
 
 It seems incomprehensible that, to this date, all insurance 
 charts, department reports and advertisements of companies 
 persist in exhibiting the percentage of incurred loss to received 
 premium. Indeed, in many of the charts the columns headed 
 "Premiums" and "Losses" fail to indicate whether the compiler 
 means premiums written or collected, (they never mean premi- 
 ums earned ) or whether he means losses incurred or paid. 
 Surely the day cannot be far distant when all reports will concur 
 in showing what alone tells the story of a company's profit or 
 loss — the percentage of incurred loss to earned premium and 
 expense to written premium. 
 
 It will require but a moment's demonstration to show that 
 absolutely nothing definite can be determined from the usual 
 tables, which ignore the different quantities of old and new 
 business and of annual and term policies. Let us take a sup- 
 posable and simple case in point. Company A, with a business 
 of a million dollars of one-year premiums, at the end of a term 
 
240 
 
 UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 of four years, stops writing five-year policies, of which it has 
 taken in each of the four years, five hundred thousand dollars 
 in premiums. At the commencement of the fifth year it would 
 have in its unearned premium fund (not taking into account the 
 small percentages of cancellations) twelve hundred thousand 
 dollars of unearned five-year premiums. During the fifth year 
 it would receive one million dollars from one-year policies, and 
 would earn four hundred thousand dollars of the premiums of 
 its five-year business, making a total earned premium of $1,400,- 
 000. If the losses incurred during the year should amount to 
 seven hundred thousand dollars, all the wiseacres of the business 
 would comment upon a loss ratio of seventy per cent, of its 
 premium receipts, whereas its loss ratio as to earned premiums 
 would be only fifty per cent. , and it would be in an exceedingly 
 healthy condition. 
 
 On the other hand, a Company just commencing a five-year 
 business might show a larger annual income and a smaller 
 apparent percentage of loss, and yet, by all the rules of arith- 
 metic, be actually on the road to destruction and bankruptcy at 
 a hand gallop. Let us take a case in point. Company B, doing 
 a business of one million dollars annually in one-year policies, 
 commences a five-year business and secures five hundred thou- 
 sand dollars of premiums on this class the first year. Its 
 premium receipts for the year will be $1,500,000. If its losses 
 incurred are $750,000, all of the aforesaid wiseacres will express 
 themselves as satisfied with a result which shows a loss of only 
 50 per cent, of its receipts in premiums; whereas the portion of 
 its premiums earned — the only portion which belongs to the 
 Company and not to its policyholders — is $1,050,000; its losses 
 are clearly over seventy-one per cent, and its business is an un- 
 profitable one. And yet, in every Insurance Report and Chart 
 throughout the country, Company A and Company B will be 
 compared on a basis favorable to the latter and unfavorable to 
 the former. Could there be a more stupendous farce than this 
 column in the charts showing the percentages of incurred loss 
 to received premium as the true test of successful management ! 
 
 An instance in point happened within a few years. A com- 
 pany commenced a five-year dwelling and farm business in a 
 certain State, and received fifty thousand dollars in premiums 
 on this class. Its losses were only seve i thousand dollars, and 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 241 
 
 it was held up as an example of intelligent management and 
 successful enterprise, whereas the portion earned of its fifty- 
 thousand dollars was only one-tenth of the amount, or five 
 thousand dollars, and its losses were, in fact, 140 per cent, of its 
 premiums. Making all due allowance for the well-known fact 
 that a large portion of the physically and morally bad risks of 
 a class burn during the first year of its term, the company in 
 question is not to be envied its task of carrying these policies 
 to expiration. It may safely be assumed that if the losses on 
 the first year of a five-year business exceed 90 per cent, of the 
 earned premium, the rate at which the business has been taken 
 is inadequate. 
 
 Some underwriters rely on the percentage of fire loss to the 
 amount of unearned premiums. This popular test is approxi- 
 mately reliable only in the case of a Company at least five years 
 old, doing an even, steady business, and not materially increas- 
 ing its term acceptances. Such a Company's annual losses 
 ought not to be above 80$ of its unearned fund ; if they are, the 
 reserve is probabl}' not large enough, although this depends, 
 as before explained, largely upon the manner in which its pre- 
 mium writings are divided as to terms. 
 
 Ingenious attempts are made from time to time to demonstrate 
 the unprofitableness, in the past, of Fire Insurance as a business, 
 by tables of statistics which cover the business of all Companies, 
 and in which the compiler is careful to include all of the Com- 
 panies who have lost money or failed through mismanagement 
 or otherwise. It is only a small percentage of those engaged in 
 any business who succeed ; and it is as unfair to the business of 
 Fire Insurance to include in tables intended to show the results 
 of the business those Companies that have failed for want of 
 judgment, knowledge or ability, as it would be to claim that 
 the Dry Goods business, in which such houses as Claflin & Co., 
 Marshall Field & Co., and others, have accumulated fortunes, 
 is an unprofitable business because of the failures of thousands 
 who have lost money in that calling. It may safely be assumed 
 that the business of Fire Insurance is a legitimate business ; the 
 indemnity, which is the commodity dealt in, being a necessity 
 to the property-owner; and that the business of insurance con- 
 ducted by expert underwriters, over a large territory, which 
 makes them independent of the fluctuations of prices in any 
 
•> 12 
 
 PROFITS OF THE INSFRANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 given locality, is, and always will be, a profitable one. If 
 competition should result, for ;i period, in low prices, the sur- 
 vivors of the contest will reap a harvest, after the weak are 
 disposed of, which will bring the profits to a fair average. 
 
 PROFITS OF THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. 
 
 In view of the very simple process of determining the excess 
 of "earned premium" over ''incurred loss and expense," or the 
 deficit, as already explained, it seems strange to me that some 
 State Insurance Departments should pursue the roundabout, 
 tedious and unnecessary process of reaching it through the 
 ledger accounts of insurance companies reporting to them. As 
 well might a grocer go into quantitative and qualitative analysis 
 in selling sugar, instead of weighing it upon his counter scales. 
 
 Anyone taking the annual Insurance Report for a State — that 
 of New York, for example — can quickly determine just how 
 much any company has made or lost on its business proper, 
 irrespective of its interest income account. To determine the 
 "premium written," it is only necessary to take the premiums 
 received during the year and add any excess of the "unpaid 
 premiums in course of collection," to be found in the "Asset" 
 paragraph, or deduct any decrease of this item at the end of the 
 year as compared with its beginning. 
 
 For example, suppose a company collects during the year in 
 premium 81,000,000, and has $200,000 "gross premiums in due 
 course of collection" at the close of the year as compared with 
 $100,000 at the beginning of the year, its "premiums written" 
 would be just $1,100,000. If, now, it has increased its "un- 
 earned premium liability" — a fact which may be determined by 
 comparing the amount of its reserve for "unearned premiums" 
 with the amount at the beginning of the year — the excess should 
 be deducted from the written premiums. This would give the 
 "earned premiums." If the "unearned premium liability" has 
 decreased, the amount of decrease should be added to the written 
 premium, to obtain the "earned premium." 
 
 For example, suppose the company writing $1,100,000 pre- 
 mium increases its "unearned" $200,000 as compared with the 
 
UNEARNED PREMIUM. 
 
 243 
 
 beginning of the year (This it might easily do when writing a 
 term business) its "earned premium" would be $900,000. If, 
 however, it had reduced its "unearned premium liability" $200,- 
 000, its "earned premium" would be $1,300,000. 
 
 In like manner the "losses incurred" (and these may be more 
 or less than the "losses paid") can be determined by adding to 
 the "losses paid" any increase in the amount of "unpaid" at the 
 end of the year as compared with the amount unpaid at the 
 beginning of the year ; deducting, on the other hand, any de- 
 crease in the liability for "unpaid losses." For example, if the 
 "losses paid" are $500,000, and the "losses unpaid" are $100,000 
 as compared with $50,000 at the beginning of the year, the 
 company has clearly incurred losses during the year of $550,000. 
 
 To the "incurred losses" should be added the "incurred ex- 
 penses," which may be determined in the same manner, by add- 
 ing to the amount paid for expenses during the year, the increase 
 of the "reserve for unpaid expenses," or deducting any decrease. 
 
 The sum of the two, "incurred loss" and "incurred expenses," 
 will indicate a profit if it is less than the "earned premiums," 
 and will indicate a loss if in excess of the "earned premiums." 
 
 Every insurance agent can easily demonstrate to property- 
 owners that the rates of the past five years (1896-1902 have not 
 been as high as the increase in assets and net surplus of com- 
 panies as shown by statements would indicate. The increases 
 in these two items have been largely (in the year 1901 entirely) 
 due to the amount received for interest on invested assets, and 
 to the increase in the market values of securities owned by 
 the companies, such as real estate, stocks, bonds, etc. It is 
 quite probable that much of the unfounded opposition to rates 
 of insurance companies and much of the burdensome legislation 
 imposed upon them is due to assuming that rates are exorbitant 
 because of increases of surplus, which may have been obtained 
 entirely from what might be called the banking or financial side 
 of the account; and the companies are themselves largely to 
 blame for this natural misconstruction placed upon their ad- 
 vertised statements. 
 
 Percentage of Expense. The percentage of expense to premium, 
 when intended to show the cost of securing business or for com- 
 parison of the expense ratios of various companies, should be 
 
244 
 
 PERCENTAGE OF EXPENSE. 
 
 computed on the premiums written, rather than upon the pre- 
 miums collected or premiums earned, for the very ohvious 
 reason that the expense of getting business, especially in broker- 
 age and commissions to agents, increases in proportion to the 
 policies written or issued, rather than upon the premiums 
 collected or earned. The collections for a given year may not 
 be greater than those of the previous year, whereas the amount 
 written may largely exceed that of the preceding year — a fact 
 which is also true of the earned premium, winch on a term 
 business may be much less than the written premium. All of 
 the expenses on the written premium have to be charged off, 
 under the insurance laws of the various States, and might, on a 
 business, as already explained under "Unearned Premium,"' in- 
 dicate an actual loss, whereas if the business purchased is profit- 
 able, and the investment of advanced commission and brokerage 
 a good one the company might really be in the most profitable 
 condition while showing a loss of net surplus. It would be as 
 unjust to claim that a company had lost money because it had 
 thus accumulated unearned premium on desirable property, at 
 adequate rates, by paying for it in advance, as to claim that a 
 farmer had lost money whose entire crop remained unsold in 
 his barns. 
 
WATER WORKS AND PIPE DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 (The following pages have been printed in pamphlet form for the use of 
 citizens contemplating the introduction of water works.) 
 
 The best system of water- works for fire-extinguishing pur- 
 poses is a gravity system, with the reservoir at a sufficient 
 elevation to ensure, with full draught, an effective head or 
 pressure, at the hydrants, of 80 lbs. to the square inch or not 
 less than 40 lbs. to the square inch at the base of the nozzle with 
 250 feet of hose. 
 
 The force of gravity acting with an ample reservoir differs 
 from pump pressure for forcing water through pipes, in the 
 important respect that it is always ready for instant use without 
 notification by means of electric wires, telephones, etc., and is 
 not liable to break down or get out of order like pumps or other 
 direct pressure appliances. It, moreover, exerts, at all times, 
 a steady pressure on the pipe system, reducing the liability of 
 breakage to a minimum. A gravity system, if pipes are of 
 proper size, has a decided advantage over a direct pressure 
 pumping system in that the full volume of flow is instantly 
 available without waiting to fire up extra steam boilers. 
 
 To secure an effective head or pressure, the reservoir should 
 be elevated about 200 feet above the general level of the city 
 and near enough to prevent serious loss of head by friction in 
 long lines of supply mains. Such an elevation is, of course, not 
 often found near a city ; where it is, no other system should be 
 considered as a substitute for pressure purposes. There should 
 be two force or delivery mains of heavy cast-iron pipe leading 
 into the general . network of pipes within the city, so that at 
 least one pipe will always be available in case workmen are re- 
 pairing the other or cutting branches upon it ;* and these mains 
 should be of such ample size that not more than twenty feet 
 
 *They should be separated by twelve feet or more, so that one breaking 
 could not undermine and break the other. 
 
246 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 head will be lost by friction even when the full number of 
 hydrant streams are in play. A single line of Supply main is 
 especially objectionable if of the so-called cement lined variety, 
 which consists of a thin sheet of wrought iron, covered with 
 cement mortar, and which after ten or fifteen years is liable to 
 be broken by rust and is, at any time, liable to be instantly 
 ruined by a stroke of lightning. 
 
 Four important but simple considerations need to be kept in 
 mind for understanding the dynamics of water pressure, or what 
 is known as Hydrodynamics, and also for understanding the 
 science of the flow of water through pipes and the raising of 
 water to various heights, which is known as Hydraulics. The 
 science which treats of quiet water or water at rest as in a 
 reservoir being the science of Hydrostatics. These consider- 
 ations are as follows: 
 
 First. Water like other liquids, exerts equal pressure in all 
 directions, owing to the fact that its molecules move freely over 
 and upon each other. Pressure exerted upon water in a hollow 
 ball with numerous perforations would expel the water from all 
 of the perforations with equal force. This, it need not be ex- 
 plained, is the principle of the hydraulic press, where the pres- 
 sure of a small pipe of water exerted over a wide surface shows 
 the same pressure for every square inch of such wider surface. 
 It is the principle upon which an inch pipe inserted tightly in a 
 barrel full of water will burst the barrel when the water reaches 
 a certain height in the pipe, although the weight of water in the 
 pipe ma} T be trifling. 
 
 Second. Water, like any solid, has a known weight for a 
 given quantity. 
 
 Third. Water will flow with greater or less velocity through 
 pipes according to the pressure exerted upon it, which pressure 
 may be simply that of its own weight, due to its elevation above 
 the point of escape from the stored body, or the pressure exerted 
 by a force pump. 
 
 Fourth. Water, like a solid, in motion is subject to the 
 retardant effect of friction of its surface against the surfaces 
 rubbed against. Consequently, water flowing through a pipe is 
 retarded in its flow by the friction of its particles on the sides of 
 the pipe — what is known as "skin friction," naturally greater 
 in rough interiors of pipes than in new, smooth pipes. 
 
WATER WORKS. 
 
 247 
 
 The law of equality of pressures, known as Pascal's Law, is 
 as follows : Pressure exerted anywhere upon a mass of liquid 
 is transmitted undiminished in all directions and acts with the 
 same force on all equal surfaces and in a direction at right angles 
 to those surfaces. 
 
 The pressure upon water due to the elevation of the supply 
 as in a reservoir, or in a standpipe, is the pressure exerted by 
 the weight of the water and, therefore, corresponds to its height 
 as already explained. 
 
 Water would issue from an orifice one hundred inches below 
 the surface with ten times the velocity with which it would 
 issue from an orifice one inch below the surface; but this maxi- 
 mum pressure would be exerted only at exactly the foot of the 
 column, i. e. the bottom of the reservoir. If the pressure should 
 be tested at any point distant from the reservoir it would be 
 found to be diminished according *to the distance and according 
 to the size of the pipe conveying it to that distance, for it would 
 lose head by reason of the retardant effect of friction on the sides 
 of the pipe, which is greater in small pipes than in large pipes, 
 and greater where the flow of the water, or its velocity, is rapid 
 than where it is slow and greater also in rough than in smooth 
 pipes. This loss of head is known among engineers as the loss 
 by "frictional head." 
 
 A familiar illustration of the whole matter would be that of 
 a barrel full of water. If a hole should be bored at the bottom 
 of the barrel, water would run from it with greater force than 
 from a hole bored near the top, the difference in pressure being 
 due to the weight of the water above the centre of the hole. 
 
 Obviously water would flow with less loss of pressure through 
 a large pipe than through a smaller one just as it would through 
 a three-inch hose as compared with an inch hose of the same 
 length, the difference being due to the greater friction in the 
 smaller of the two pipes. 
 
 Liquids, like solids, are affected in their motion by friction, 
 as already explained. The inertia of a body, or its tendency to 
 remain at rest or to continue in motion unless acted upon by 
 some force is, in the case of its being in motion, affected by 
 friction. 
 
 The head of a body of water at rest in a reservoir is known 
 
248 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 as the "static head" and, of course, is the maximum head or 
 pressure which it would show the instant the reservoir is tapped 
 and before any force is lost by friction in pipes. It must, there- 
 fore, be always greater than the head or pressure in the pipes 
 at various distances from the reservoir and always greater than 
 after a number of streams, like hose streams, have been set in 
 flow. 
 
 As water weighs O'iA lbs per cubic foot, hereafter explained, 
 this fact being known, the ''head" or pressure of water may be 
 ci mi j iiitctl fur any point when the height < it the water above that 
 point and the intermediate lateral distance are known. 
 
 For example, a reservoir 80 feet high would exert a pressure 
 in pounds per square inch at the bottom of the reservoir of 34.65 
 lbs. per square inch. At a point one mile from the bottom of 
 the reservoir the pressure would be reduced I >v the loss in fric- 
 tions! head at the rate hereinafter explained. 
 
 Any discussion of water-works for fire-extinguishing purposes 
 would waste time in treating of those matters which usualby, 
 from the standpoint of potableness, occupy so much space in 
 engineering works on hydraulics, such as filtration, etc., etc. 
 It makes little difference by what means, natural or artificial, 
 by springs or rainfall or water-sheds or pumps, the water is 
 impounded at the elevation needed. If ground at 200 feet 
 elevation is not available, or if the elevated reservoir is neces- 
 sarily at considerable distance from the centre of the town, so 
 that but 50 lbs. pressure, from the gravity supply, for instance, 
 is available, then it may happen to be a decided advantage to 
 have the supply pumped to the reservoir from some neighboring 
 river or lake, for then, in case of a great fire, the pumps can 
 supplement the reservoir supply by direct pumping at a higher 
 pressure. The pumps being connected with the street mains 
 with a check- valve to prevent backward flow to the reservoir, a 
 combined ''gravity" and "direct-pressure" system would be 
 secured. Where drainage or water shed area is relied upon, 
 the impounding reservoir should be of sufficient capacity to 
 supply the maximum domestic demand and fire draft during 
 a -season of drought. The distributing reservoir, also, should 
 be large enough for several days' domestic consumption, and 
 with a sufficient reserve in addition for fire purposes. In some 
 
WATER-HAMMER. 
 
 249 
 
 instances distributing reservoirs are large enough only to supply 
 a day's average demand for domestic purposes, and a break in 
 one or both of the supply mains, or stoppage for necessary 
 repairs, may leave the city w ithout water. 
 
 Where a gravity supply is insufficient and the system is re- 
 inforced by direct pumping from a neighhoring river or lake, it 
 should he remembered that while this reserve may be excellent 
 for purposes of domestic supply it may prove unreliable in case 
 of an extensive conflagration unless such pumping system is so 
 arranged and managed as to bring the reserve plant into full 
 action whenever needed — a feature of such duplex systems 
 which should always be carefully investigated. 
 
 Where the lay of the land does not permit of an elevated 
 reservoir and reliance is necessarily placed upon direct pumping 
 systems and standpipes, direct pumping, or the so-called Holly 
 system, has given excellent service in many cases; in other cases 
 it has failed to respond properly, and since of necessity it must 
 depend upon some device to transmit the alarm of fire and a 
 notification that extra pressure is needed, and relies, moreover, 
 on there being a surplus of steam and a pump capacity available 
 instantly, it cannot compare with first-class reservoir service in 
 point of security. 
 
 If the pumping station on the Holly system is in close prox- 
 imity to the city (but not liable to be destroyed by a conflagration) 
 it is more reliable than when several miles distant. There 
 should be duplicate pumping engines — three would be better 
 still — with at least three force mains. 
 
 The pumping station should be connected electrically with the 
 Fire Department, so that when an alarm of fire is received at 
 the engine-house the intelligence will reach the pumping station 
 at the same moment. 
 
 Water-hammer. There should be a liberal distribution of relief 
 valves to prevent water-hammer. 
 
 The simplest method of preventing shocks of water pipes or 
 what is known as "water-hammer," according to Prof. Thurston, 
 of Cornell University, is to introduce devices compelling the 
 slow opening and closing of valves and cocks. For this purpose, 
 he contends, the time required to close the valve would be pro- 
 portional to the length of tne pipes. Air chambers, if placed in 
 
■.'.-><■ 
 
 W ATER WORKS. 
 
 the line of the pipe near the valve, will prevent the shock almost 
 entirely, but it is difficult to keep them filled with air. If a 
 safety-valve is placed upon the pipe to resist the pressure it 
 leaves a shock depending upon the strength of the spring. 
 
 Head or Pressure. The weight of a cubic foot of water, (7% 
 gallons*) the equivalent of a column of water 1 2 inches square 
 and 12 inches high, would be 62.4lbs. This divided by 144 (the 
 number of square inches in the base of the column) would give 
 a pressure of .433 lbs., or nearly % lb. per square inch of base 
 surface for each foot of vertical depth, which, if the loss by 
 "frictional head" hereafter explained, be say 15 feet, would 
 yield, for a "static head" of 200 feet, an "effective head" or 
 pressure of 18G feet at the hydrant, or say 80 lbs. (186 X .433) to 
 the square inch. The effective head for fire purposes in the 
 absence of steamers, whether reliance is placed upon the ' 'direct 
 pressure" system or a gravity reservoir system, should be at least 
 40 pounds per square inch at the base of the nozzle, and the 
 static hydrant pressure must be enough greater to allow for 
 friction in the pipes and for friction in the hose. 
 
 This pressure of 4a lbs. will force a \% inch stream for ef- 
 fective work to the top of a four-story building of usual height 
 — say 60 feet- — and from 230 to 300 gallons per minute will be 
 discharged. A 1^ inch nozzle under like pressure would dis- 
 charge 20$ more, but a \%, inch nozzle is usually regarded as 
 the most practical for general use. To force the main body of 
 a 1)4, inch stream 80 feet vertically would require a pressure of 
 the main body of 50 pounds per square inch or a head of about 
 130 feet at the nozzle. The extreme drops may go 40$ higher, 
 but could not put out any noteworthy fire at that elevation. 
 And we may here remark that the height and distance reached 
 by fire streams as measured at firemen's musters are sometimes 
 wholly misleading as applied to practical work, for in such cases 
 they measure the extreme point touched by the farthest drop. 
 
 Among firemen and engine men pressure is commonly stated 
 in pounds per square inch. The following table gives the equiva- 
 lent in pounds per square inch of pressure stated in feet head or 
 vertical height of an equivalent water column in feet. It will 
 be observed that the popular estimate that two feet of head are 
 
 *One cubic foot of water=7.48 U. S. gallons. 
 
HEAD OR PRESSURE. 
 
 251 
 
 equal to one pound of pressure will lead to serious error; for in- 
 stance, on that basis 80 pounds hydrant pressure would call for 
 only 160 feet head, whereas it would actually need an elevation 
 of 185 feet of water column to produce the same pressure. 
 Eighty pounds, or 1 85 feet head, at the h ydrant may he regarded 
 as the least pressure giving strictly good fire service, and with 
 this head it is still imperative that the pipe be large enough so 
 that this pressure will not be drawn down greatly when fire 
 streams are flowing. A few feet less would make the difference 
 between a good fire department and an inefficient one. 
 
 The friction in 300 feet length of the best and smoothest hose 
 will absorb about one-half of the available fire pressure at the 
 hydrant.* 
 
 TABLE FOR CONVERTING PRESSURE GIVEN IN FEET HEAD OF 
 WATER INTO PRESSURE IN POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH. 
 
 Feel Head. 
 
 Pounds per Square Inch. 
 
 1 Ft. 
 
 0.43 
 
 5 " 
 
 2.17 
 
 10 " 
 
 4.33 
 
 15 " 
 
 6.50 
 
 20 " 
 
 8.66 
 
 30 " 
 
 12.99 
 
 40 " 
 
 17.32 
 
 50 " 
 
 21.65 
 
 60 " 
 
 25.99 
 
 70 " 
 
 30.32 
 
 80 " 
 
 34.65 
 
 TABLE FOR CONVERTING PRESSURE GIVEN IN POUNDS PER 
 SQUARE INCH INTO FEET HEAD OF WATER. 
 
 Pounds per Square Inch. Feet Head. 
 
 1 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 2.31 
 
 10 
 
 
 23.09 
 
 20 
 
 1 . 
 
 46.18 
 
 '40 
 
 1 1 
 
 92.36 
 
 50 
 
 £ i 
 
 115.45 
 
 60 
 
 ( I 
 
 138.54 
 
 70 
 
 i I 
 
 161.63 
 
 80 
 
 I i 
 
 184.72 
 
 100 
 
 U 
 
 230.90 
 
 *This loss may be reduced by Siamesing two lines of hose into one nozzle, 
 which would save a large proportion of the pressure usually wasted in friction 
 between the hydrant and the nozzle. 
 
252 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 Test of Water Pressure. The head exhibited by a pressure 
 gauge attached to a hydrant or to a fire pipe within a building 
 may often be very misleading as to the pressure available for 
 projecting ;i fire stream from a hose nozzle. There are towns 
 where the static pressure, or pressure with the water at rest, 
 may be 90 pounds per square inch, but if two hose streams be 
 put in play the pressure will be pulled down to 1 ~> or 2U pounds 
 per square inch or scarcely sufficient to send water into a second 
 story window. In one such instance the town had a gravity 
 supply from a reservoir about five miles distant, and it was the 
 friction in this long line which made the hydrant pressure practi- 
 cally worthless when sufficient water for one or two good fire 
 streams was added to the domestic consumption. In many 
 towns the result of drawing simultaneously half a dozen fire 
 streams from the public mains is never found out until a dis- 
 astrous conflagration occurs. Both citizens and underwriters, 
 relying upon the static pressure without taking the trouble to 
 investigate what the flowing pressure will be when a large 
 number of streams are drawn, learn of the inadequacy of the 
 fire department only after millions of dollars have been de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 No general statement can be made as to the amount of the 
 loss of pressure by friction per mile of pipe, although it can 1 >< ■ 
 readily computed for any particular case. At the present day 
 there is little excuse for ignorance of these matters, when a 
 practical test by a number of fire streams at once will answer 
 the whole question in so certain and satisfactory a manner. 
 Engineering science is competent to answer questions as to 
 pressure when' a diagram showing the length and diameters of 
 the pipes and their condition regarding rust is at hand, but the 
 practical test is more convincing and reliable. The best test, 
 therefore, of effective pressure of hydrants for any city level is 
 to attach Hues of hose and turn on the water; and this is the 
 test which inspectors of water-works and underwriters fixing 
 rates and hydrant deductions for any section should, in my judg- 
 ment, rely upon. 
 
 Frictional Head. What is known as the "static head," or the 
 head of a body of quiet water at rest, as stated, is diminished 
 by the "frictional head'* or loss of pressure from friction in 
 
TEST OF WATER PRESSURE, ETC. 
 
 253 
 
 flowing through the pipes, which increases proportionally to 
 the square of the velocity of the water and is increased greatly, 
 also, by the smallness, roughness or tuberculation of pipes. For 
 a similar reason pipes, where located in undulating ground, 
 causing the collection of sediment, should be "blown off" 
 frequently. 
 
 "Dead ends" should be avoided, if possible, by completing 
 the parallelograms and connecting the ends by an additional 
 sub-main or pipe — a comparatively inexpensive precaution in 
 the line of a true economy, since the growth of a city would 
 eventually require such additional pipe. It is not always possible 
 to connect dead ends by cross sections of pipe to complete paral- 
 lelograms, since the uneven growth of a city may carry one main 
 for blocks beyond parallel mains, and there must of necessity, 
 therefore, be some dead ends in such a system. In the city 
 of Detroit an admirable system is followed, that of placing a 
 cistern at the end of each street where water pipes are laid. 
 This reservoir serves not only as a "blow off" for the main, but 
 enables the engines to do effective service by pumping from the 
 reservoir, which they could not do from a hydrant on such a dead 
 end, as with the latter they would soon "run away" from the 
 water in the main. 
 
 Loss of Head per 1000 Feet. There is a material loss of 
 "head" whare the water main is not of proper capacity and 
 where the water has to travel great distances. The loss of head 
 for each thousand feet of travel, in a new, straight, clean, water 
 main 14 inches in diameter, is about 7% feet per thousand feet 
 of length of pipe, the velocity of flow being 5 feet per second, or 
 say a loss of 40 feet head per mile. Pipes are seldom or never 
 laid straight, and they do not long remain new and free of rust, 
 and where the reservoir is, say, two miles distant from the oper- 
 ating hydrant it may safely be assumed that if the domestic 
 draft, plus the fire draft, amounts, at any moment, to 2400 
 gallons per minute, then even with a nearly new pipe the pres- 
 sure at the hydrant will be at least a hundred feet less head, or 
 fully 4:> pounds less pressure, than at the reservoir. 
 
 " The rule that the loss of head by friction is proportional to the square of the 
 velocity, applies not only to a simple pipe, but is substantially true for com- 
 binations of pipes of different sizes joined either by taper reducers or by sudden 
 contractions, or for pipes containing obstructions and curves. It is also useful 
 to keep in mind that for cases of a pipe system in combination with a discharg- 
 
254 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 ing orifice or with a series of discharging orifices, so long its all the discharging 
 orifices lie at substantially the same elevation, the opposite of the above pro- 
 position is true and of wide application: viz., the quantity discharged through a 
 given pipe system and the orifices in connection therewith is very nearly proportional 
 to the square root of the pressure measured at any convenient point anywhere 
 along the pipe system, providing the pressure !»• reckoned from the level of 
 the orifices." 
 
 Capacity or Relative Discharge of Pipes. There is ;i popular 
 misapprehension among mechanics in supposing that the carry- 
 ing capacity of a pipe increases exactly in proportion to its area 
 or to the square of its diameter. Really the carrying capacity 
 increases faster than this, by reason of the lessened influence of 
 skin friction in a larger pipe, or, stated in mathematical lan- 
 guage, the capacity to convey water is proportional to the 
 square root of the fifth power of tlie diameter. 
 
 For example, the relative capacity of a 5-inch pipe as com- 
 pared with a 10-inch pipe would be in the proportion that the 
 square root of the fifth power of 5 inches (55.9) is to the square 
 root of the fifth power of 10 inches (316.23.) In other words, 
 the discharge of a Kt-inch pipe, instead of being double, would 
 be nearly six times that of a 5-inch pipe. 
 
 The following table and those commonly given in the text-books 
 for friction loss in pipes are apt to be misleading for the reason 
 that they state the friction loss per hundred feet in new, clean 
 pipe. The actual loss in practice will often be found double the 
 loss as tabulated for new, clean pipe, by reason of the bunches 
 of rust which forms on the interior surface even of the best pipe 
 with nearly all waters. Careful experiments on corroded pipe 
 as compared with clean pipe have shown that a very moderate 
 amount of corrosion will nearly double the f rictional loss, and to 
 prepare the table on page 256, the frictional loss as stated in the 
 excellent and convenient table prepared by Mr. Edmund B. 
 Weston, Civil Engineer in charge of the Water Supply of 
 Providence, R. I. , has been doubled. 
 
CAPACITY OR RELATIVE DISCHARGE OF PIPES. 255 
 
 TABLE SHOWING CAPACITY OR DISCHARGE OF PIPES OF 
 DIFFERENT DIAMETERS FOR VARIOUS VELOCITIES OF 
 FLOW AND FRICTIONAL HEAD IN FEET PER 
 
 1000 FEET OF LENGTH, 
 
 for new. clean, straight pipe. 
 
 Diameter 
 op pipe in 
 
 Velocity 
 op plow in 
 
 LOSS BY FRICTIONAL 
 HEAD PER 1CO0 FEET L'TH. 
 
 CAPACITY OR DISCHARGE 
 
 INCHES. 
 
 FEET PER 
 
 SECOND. 
 
 IN FEET 
 III W> 
 
 IN LBS. PER 
 SQ. INCH. 
 
 IN GALLONS 
 PER MIN. 
 
 IN GALLONS PER 
 DAY (24 HOURS. ) 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 3 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 A 
 ~t 
 
 10 
 
 1 7 
 1 1 
 
 7 
 
 11 
 
 4.33 
 7 31 
 
 3.01 
 4.76 
 
 113 
 
 1 OKJ 
 
 260 
 340 
 
 165,000 
 
 l o, \j\J\ ' 
 
 375,000 
 485,000 
 
 8 
 10 
 
 3 
 4 
 3 
 
 A 
 •± 
 
 5.4 
 
 g 
 
 4 
 
 iy 
 t 
 
 2.32 
 
 •).Ol 
 
 1.73 
 30.1 
 
 490 
 
 750 
 975 
 
 700,000 
 
 1,075,000 
 1,450,000 
 
 12 
 14 
 
 3 
 5 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Q 
 
 y 
 3 
 
 7.3 
 
 1.29 
 
 o.iS I 
 1.29 
 3.14 
 
 1,050 
 
 1 Q A A 
 1 , 800 
 
 1,500 
 2,400 
 
 1,500,000 
 4, oUO,OUO 
 
 2,150,000 
 3,500,000 
 
 16 
 18 
 
 3 
 5 
 3 
 5 
 
 2.5 
 
 6 
 2 
 
 5.5 
 
 1.07 
 2.58 
 .86 
 2.36 
 
 1,875 
 3,200 
 2,400 
 4,100 
 
 2,700,000 
 4.600,000 
 3,500,000 
 5,925,000 
 
 20 
 24 
 
 3 
 6 
 3 
 5 
 
 1.7 
 7 
 
 1.3 
 4 
 
 .73 
 3.01 
 
 .56 
 1.73 
 
 3,000 
 6,000 
 4,125 
 7,125 
 
 4,300,000 
 8,600.000 
 5,900,000 
 10,240,000 
 
 36 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 8 
 
 5.5 
 1 
 3 
 
 5.6 
 
 2.36 
 .43 
 1.29 
 2.40 
 
 8,625 
 11,250 
 19,000 
 27,250 
 
 12,340,000 
 16,150,000 
 27,200,000 
 37,500,000 
 
 N. B. The number of streams which a pipe would supply can easily be 
 determined by dividing the quantities of above table by 300 or 500, according 
 to the size or number of gallons per minute of the stream, it being remembered 
 that under the gridiron system, or where the pipe is supplied at both ends, 
 double the quantity of water in the above table may be secured. 
 
256 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 Friction loss per one thousand feet in length of 
 ordinary water-pipes after corrosion by 10 to 20 years 
 
 of average practical use. 
 
 Gallons per 
 
 DIAMETER OF PIPE IN INCHES. 
 
 Minute 
 
 4 in. 
 
 6 in. 
 
 8 in. 
 
 10 in. 
 
 12 in. 
 
 14 in. 
 
 1 6 in. 
 
 Discharged. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PRESSURE LOST IN POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH. 
 
 250 
 
 41. 
 
 5. 
 
 1. 
 
 .37 
 
 
 
 
 500 
 
 168. 
 
 20. 
 
 4.6 
 
 1.45 
 
 .58 
 
 
 
 750 
 
 
 44. 
 
 10.8 
 
 3.3 
 
 1.3 
 
 
 
 1000 
 
 
 76. 
 
 19. 
 
 5.9 
 
 2.3 
 
 1.1 
 
 
 1250 
 
 
 
 29. 
 
 10. 
 
 3.6 
 
 1.7 
 
 .8 
 
 1500 
 
 
 
 42. 
 
 14. 
 
 6. 
 
 2.7 
 
 1.2 
 
 1750 
 
 
 
 
 19. 
 
 3. 
 
 3.3 
 
 1.6 
 
 2000 
 
 
 
 
 25. 
 
 10. 
 
 4.3 
 
 2.2 
 
 2250 
 
 
 
 
 
 13. 
 
 6. 
 
 3. 
 
 2500 
 
 
 
 
 
 15. 
 
 ;. 
 
 4. 
 
 3000 
 
 
 
 
 
 22. 
 
 10. 
 
 5. 
 
 The number of 500 gallon fire streams supplied can be determined by divid. 
 ing the quantities of the first column by 500. 
 
 It may be assumed that 3.000 population, at their hour of 
 maximum draft (as at 10 A. M. Monday), will draw for domestic 
 purposes the equivalent of one fire stream. 
 
 It is not generally understood how great is the loss of head by 
 reason of roughness in the pipes or of sharp, right angle bends. 
 By the use of curves of moderately long radius, the loss caused 
 by elbows may be made practically insignificant. Pipers do not 
 commonly use them, because they cost a little more. 
 
 If the diameter or capacity of the main should be increased 
 the loss of head would be less; a 16-inch main, for example, 
 would show a loss of not much more than half the frictional 
 loss of a 14-inch main, the number of gallons per minute carried 
 being the same in each case. 
 
 We have thus far been speaking of variations between the 
 carrying capacity of pipes of different sizes. Another problem 
 is the variation of friction loss with the same pipe when different 
 quantities are drawn through it. Then the friction loss varies 
 as the square of the velocity. 
 
STAND PIPES. 
 
 257 
 
 Taking a 6-inch pipe for our unit, this being the smallest that 
 should ever be used for a hydrant main, and comparing pipes 
 on the basis of their carrying capacity, we find : 
 
 One 8-inch pipe is equivalent to 2.05 6-inch pipes. 
 .< 1Q « « « « cc 358 
 
 " 12 " " " " " 5.65 
 
 (< tx ti " " it g g2 " " 
 
 '• 16 " " " " " 11.60 " 
 
 If we compare the pipes on the basis of cost complete, as laid 
 in large quantity (with cast iron and lead at the low prices of 
 to-day) the relation will stand as follows: 
 
 
 Cost per lineal 
 
 Cost compared 
 
 Carrying capacity 
 
 DIAMETER. 
 
 
 
 COMPARED TO 
 
 
 FOOT COMPLETE * 
 
 WITH 6-INCH. 
 
 6-INCH. 
 
 6 
 
 $0.52 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 0.70 
 
 1.35 
 
 2.05 
 
 10 
 
 0.90 
 
 1.73 
 
 3.58 
 
 12 
 
 1.20 
 
 ■i.'M) 
 
 5.65 
 
 14 
 
 1.45 
 
 2.79 
 
 8.32 
 
 16 
 
 1.65 
 
 3.18 
 
 11.60 
 
 In other words, an 8-inch pipe costs 1% times as much as a 
 6-inch pipe and will carry two times as much water; or, again, 
 a 16-inch pipe costs three times as much as a 6-inch and will 
 convey eleven times as much water. 
 
 Stand-Pipes. In the absence of a sufficient elevation to secure 
 a gravity head, a "stand-pipe" of the tank kind is used to secure 
 needed pressure and also a supply in case the pumps should 
 break down. A stand-pipe of the tank form, 24 feet in diameter 
 by 100 feet high (and there are some larger ones throughout the 
 country), would hold a quarter of a million gallons of water, 
 which (providing the last drop could be drawn out and give good 
 pressure, and providing all was used for fire and none for 
 domestic supply meanwhile) would supply five hydrant streams 
 of 250 gallons each for 3% hours. A good ordinary steamer 
 would average 500 gallons per minute, and one-quarter million 
 gallons would supply two steamers about four hours ; but while 
 such a supply would be, in many instances, sufficient for extin- 
 
 *1902 prices are somewhat higher. 
 
258 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 guishing an ordinary fire, especially if the stand-pipe or reservoir 
 could, in an emergency, be fed by reserve pumps — in which case 
 the supply could be regarded as margin enough to cover the 
 interval while starting the reserve pumps and boilers — it must 
 be borne in mind thai stand-pipes ace seldom of sufficient diame- 
 ter to afford an ample fire supply. Their capacity to supply a 
 number of hydrant streams is a subject of widespread popular 
 misapprehension. It takes volume of water to put out a fire 
 —pressure ah me will not do it, and it does not follow that a 
 stand-pipe 20 feet in diameter which exhibits say 80 pounds 
 static pressure on a gauge when full, will afford good fire service. 
 Ten feet in depth of a stand-pipe 2<> feet in diameter will supply 
 five hose streams only 18 minutes, and a single fire stream will 
 draw off as much water as the average domestic consumption 
 of 6,000 people or the maximum consumption for 3,000 people. 
 
 It should always be remembered that the water in the lower 
 part of a stand-pipe is practically useless for fire purposes so far 
 as pressure is concerned, and serves only to fill mains for suction 
 by steam engines, if there be any. 
 
 In small towns stand-pipes are often supplied by pumping for 
 a few hours during the morning or evening on alternate days, 
 after which the fires are banked or extinguished and the water 
 allowed to draw down under domestic draft. It is unnecessary 
 to suggest that if a fire should happen to break out when the 
 pipe has been drawn down, the boilers cold and the engineer 
 asleep or absent, a conflagration is not likely to be extinguished. 
 
 Ice in Stand-pipes. Stand-pipes are liable to rupture in the 
 winter-time by the falling of ice, which forms at low temper- 
 atures, and which when the water is drawn down for consump- 
 tion is liable to fall through perhaps twenty or thirty feet of 
 intervening space. The hydraulic shock of a cake of ice weigh- 
 ing hundreds of pounds and falling through twenty or more feet 
 of space is tremendous, and the wonder is that a greater number 
 of stand-pipes are not ruptured each year in this manner. The 
 pressure on the volume of water when the ice strikes it is more 
 than sufficient to rupture a strong iron pipe. 
 
 On March 1-4, 1900, the steel stand-pipe of the Elgin water 
 works, 30 feet in diameter and 95 feet high, burst at 8 o'clock 
 A. M. About one hundred thousand gallons of water had been 
 
AIR AND VACUUM VALVES, BLOW-OFF VALVES, ETC. 259 
 
 drawn out that morning, and it was found after the pipe had 
 fallen that ice to the extent of several hundred pounds had 
 formed in the upper portion in a thick cake, which when it 
 struck the water below forced out the iron sheets and resulted 
 in an entire collapse of + he structure, after which the city had 
 to rely upon the direct pressure of the water pumps. 
 
 This is a serious danger, and local underwriters should always 
 have it in mind and investigate the condition of the stand-pipe 
 in winter, to ensure proper precautions against such catas- 
 trophies. If the failure of the stand-pipe should happen to occur 
 at a time when the pumps should be disabled the city would be 
 entirely without supply. 
 
 Air and Vacuum Valves. Blow-off Valves. Etc. When water is 
 forced into delivery mains more or less air is taken along with 
 it, and where the pipes undulate to conform with the contour of 
 the ground this air accumulates in the summits, and in the 
 course of time interferes seriously with the flow. As a means 
 of relief, air valves should be located at such points. These 
 valves are now combined in the same piece of mechanism with 
 vacuum valves, which are required at the same points for the 
 reason that when the pipes are drained for repairs or other pur- 
 poses there is a tendency to form vacuums at the summits, 
 which will cause collapse unless relief is given or the pipes and 
 joints are strong enough to stand the pressure. It may be added 
 that hydrants when properly located can be made to perform 
 the offices of both air and vacuum valves. 
 
 Caution must be exercised when filling the pipes to see that 
 air valves are opened and the water admitted no faster than the 
 air can escape, as otherwise the compressed air sets up an 
 aggravated form of water hammer causing the water to rush 
 back and forth violently and the weak parts will suffer. 
 
 Attention is again called to the desirability of providing blow- 
 off valves at suitable points. Sediment will accumulate at the 
 low points of the pipe system and, after a while, will seriously 
 impede the flow unless removed. By having blow-off valves at 
 these points the proper remedy is provided. 
 
 Hydraulic Grade Line. An essential condition which is some- 
 times overlooked is the necessity of keeping the elevation of the 
 mains below the Hydraulic Grade Line. Often the contour of 
 
260 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 the ground is followed without regard to this all important 
 feature. Where this point is not considered, not only is there a 
 tendency towards the formation of air pockets at the summit hut 
 the pressure conditions in the pipe are entirely changed. The 
 water in that part of the pipe between the reservoir and the point 
 of elevation above the hydraulic grade line has a velocity due 
 only to the head given by their difference of elevation. Beyond 
 that point if there is a greater difference of elevation to the point 
 of outlet the velocity will be greater and hence the supply from 
 the first part will not be equal to the capacity of the other part, 
 and the water in the latter part will not be under pressure at all 
 but will flow as though in a gutter. 
 
 It is sometimes necessary because of the nature of the ground 
 to go above the hydraulic grade line. In this event, the dim- 
 inution of flow caused by reduction of velocity in the section 
 between the reservoir and the point of elevation above the 
 hydraulic grade line, may be compensated for by making the 
 pipe larger in this section than beyond it. 
 
 High and Low Service. In the case of cities having different 
 levels and consequent "high and low service," such as Kansas 
 City, Albany, Brooklyn, Cleveland and others, it is important 
 that the two systems should be connected by means of check 
 and gate valves, which can nearly always be arranged at slight 
 additional cost so as to make the high service available for the 
 lower levels in case of fire. They can be disconnected at any 
 time when the exigency is removed. 
 
 The difference in elevation may be so great in a town that 
 while the service in the lower part is entirely satisfactory the 
 pressure in the higher portion is so reduced as to become practi- 
 cally valueless. It is desirable in such cases to provide, by some 
 means, for increasing the pressure at the higher elevation. 
 When this district is small and will not permit of the introduc- 
 tion of a high service system, or even the maintenance of a 
 steam pump, a device which is now in successful operation in 
 the city of New London, Ct., may be introduced with advantage. 
 This consists of a tank, having sufficient elevation to give the 
 requisite pressure, which is supplied by a hydraulic water motor. 
 While it is not the intention to describe this motor in detail it 
 may be stated that it is operated by the water consumed in the 
 
HIGH AND LOW SERVICE, ETC. 
 
 261 
 
 lower part of the town. It is located on a supply main, and 
 receives the power to operate it from the passing water, which, 
 after performing its work, is carried on, with but slightly dim- 
 inished pressure, to be used in the low service system. By in- 
 genious automatic arrangements the two systems are made 
 communicating as occasion arises. It is claimed for the motor 
 that it possesses advantages of cheapness, of consuming no fuel, 
 of working day and night, and of requiring but little attention. 
 The reduction in pressure above the motor and below it is in- 
 considerable, the figures in the one to which we refer being 
 found from actual test to be 34.62 lbs. above the motor and 
 31.46 lbs. below. Its cost was $5000 and it has proven amply 
 sufficient for the needs of a district requiring from 100,000 to 
 150,000 gallons per day. It may be remarked again that it is 
 claimed the cost of maintenance is very small, that it requires 
 but little care and that the initial cost is practically all that has 
 to be considered. 
 
 A full description of this motor will be found in a valuable 
 paper read before the New England Water- Works Association 
 Dec. 14. 1892. by Mr. Walter H. Richards, C. E., Junior Editor 
 of the Association. 
 
 Water Mains and Pipe Distribution. That system of pipe distri- 
 bution is best where the street mains run at right angles to each 
 other throughout the city or town connecting at every street 
 intersection — "'gridironed". so to speak. This arrangement 
 insures that each pipe will be fed practically at both ends and 
 will double the feeding capacity. 
 
 Size. The subsidiary mains passing through the various 
 streets should, in the business or compact portion, be not less, 
 in any case, than 8 inches in diameter, and in the dwelling 
 section not less than 6 inches in diameter. This size should be 
 liberal in the compact mercantile portion, for the reason that 
 existing conditions of low or small buildings may. with the 
 growth of the town, be radically changed by the subsequent 
 erection of more dangerous structures. It should be remem- 
 bered that faults in the placing of hydrants may, at any time, 
 be remedied, but mistakes in the size of street mains are not 
 easy of correction and, keeping in mind the fact that the cost of 
 excavation, leading of joints and labor is very nearly as great 
 
\\ A.TEE WORKS. 
 
 in the case of small mains as in the case of larger ones, it is 
 poor economy to lay an inadequate pipe in the first instance. * 
 Where the district is a large one, containing large buildings 
 and values, 12-inch mains should be used, at intervals of say a 
 thousand feet, as feeders. The Boston engineers are at present 
 working toward a system of L2-inch mains, aboui a fourth of a 
 mile apart, crossing by gridiron distribution between these with 
 Sand 10 inch pipes, in the business section, and 6 and 8 inch 
 pipes in the outlying district. 
 
 Boston already has 28$ of its service in 12 inch mains and 
 New York 25$. 
 
 The feeders or larger mains should supply the "gridiron" 
 from the outside, instead < it' extending through the cent re. Not 
 only will this insure better service, but the arrangement will 
 respond to future demands upon it as the city increases in size 
 — an important consideration. 
 
 In a seaport city the water main on the water front should be 
 at least 1(5 inches, with numerous hydrants. 
 
 I quote from one of the many valuable treatises on water 
 supply by Mr. John R. Freeman, of Boston, the well-known 
 and able engineer, as follows : 
 
 " Within a crowded and valuable metropolitan district, a diameter of eight inches 
 is the smallest that can be recommended for the general network or gridiron of inter- 
 secting pipes, having in view the deterioration in water carrying capacity which 
 occurs in time with nearly all waters. 
 
 *Cast-iron water-pipe may be purchased at §19.50 per ton, freight added. 
 Four-inch cast-iron water-pipe weighs 20 pounds to the foot, 6-inch 30 lbs., 
 8-inch 45 lbs. and 12-inch 80 lbs. The difference in price, therefore, between 
 6-inch and 8-inch pipe would be, roughly, about 15 cents per foot, and the 
 cost of laying 5 cents more, in all a difference of 20 cents per foot, or $20 per 
 hundred feet. (See page 257.) 
 
 The difference in insurance rates in favor of property on the line of 8-inch 
 mains as compared with 6-inch mains, in the Universal Schedule, (see Nos. 155, 
 156. 190, 192) is 7%% on buildings and 5% on stocks. There would be eight 
 25- foot buildings, counting both sides of the street, on 100 feet length of pipe. 
 It would be a low estimate of value to assume $50,000 insurance on each lot, 
 or 400,000 in all. If the average insurance rate should be 80 cents per $100 
 on a 6-inch main, it would be 5£, or 4 cents per $100 (40 cents per $1000) less 
 on an 8-inch main, making an annual saving to property-owners in insurance 
 premium of $160 for the extra cost of $20 in a pipe which would last for fifty 
 years and which the property-owners would save eight times over in a single 
 year. Could any civic policy be more stupid or shortsighted from an economic 
 standpoint than the laying of 6-inch pipes in the compact mercantile portions 
 of cities! 
 
 There is a greater difference still between 8-inch pipe and 4-inch pipe, the 
 insurance rate being 15$ higher on buildings and 10 $ on stocks on the line of 
 4-inch mains as compared with 8-inch mains. 
 
WATER WORKS. 
 
 263 
 
 For valuable metropolitan districts a pipe so small as eight inches is suitable only 
 when forming part of a general network whose intersections are not far apart, say 
 not more than 300 feet in one direction, by 800 feet in the other. When the 
 cross connections are smaller than eight inches or farther than 800 feet apart, 
 a ten inch pipe may be needed. Along the borders of the gridiron the size 
 should be larger. This reinforcement by cross connections is of the utmost 
 importance, and if absent it may require a 16 inch pipe to afford the same de- 
 livery as a gridiron of six-inch pipes. 
 
 Within almost any suburban residence district where there are frequent 
 cross connections, also within compactly built cities of medium size and even 
 those of large size and of medium hazard, excellent protection may be afforded 
 by a gridiron of six-inch pipes along each of those streets running in one 
 direction, intersecting, at 500 feet intervals, with pipes eight inches in diameter, 
 in each transverse street. The maximum of economy in pipe will be secured 
 if the six-inch pipe runs lengthwise of the blocks. 
 
 For small cities in which the streets run so that frequent cross connections 
 are possible, very satisfactory protection can be had by a network of pipes 
 none of which exceeds six inches in diameter; but along the margin of the 
 gridiron there should be a few main arteries of larger sizes and the size of a 
 few of the pipes near any large hazardous building, as a valuable factory or 
 warehouse, may need to be increased. 
 
 This use of six-inch pipe, however, presupposes that the six-inch pipe makes a 
 complete circuit about each street block which is to be protected, so that the water will 
 flow in toward the point of heavy draft from nearly all directions . 
 
 A block located in the midst of a network of 0-inch pipes may sometimes 
 be much more efficiently served than one past which runs a single line of 12- 
 inch pipe. 
 
 Four inch pipe should never be used for a hydrant main, unless it be to 
 protect scattered, detached dwellings in situations similar to a country village 
 or where the closest economy of first cost must be practiced in order to get any 
 general water works pipe system at all, and in these cases it should be clearly 
 understood that starting with say 73 lbs., a line of four-inch pipe one-half mile 
 long so soon as it becomes old and roughened by rust can only deliver water 
 enough for a single 100 gallon fire stream three-fourths inch in diameter, which 
 is too small to extinguish anything more than a dwelling house fire or to do 
 more than protect the neighbors, while the original fire is left to burn itself 
 out. 
 
 In many New England towns the hills and valleys have compelled a growth 
 radiating outward in narrow strips or in ways which forbid any such reinforce- 
 ment of the flow as we have been considering, and in these cases much larger 
 pipes will, on computation, be found necessary to give an equal delivery at 
 the hydrants." 
 
264 
 
 WATKR WORKS. 
 
 
 1 
 
 £1- / AT// 
 
 t 
 
 — * 
 
 -4 - 
 
 
 Elevation 2oc 
 
 |p 1 i 
 — * 
 
 F 
 
 3-6 
 
 . \ 
 
 © 
 
 » / 
 i 6 
 
 ;? 
 
 r- 
 
 ■ 
 
 ® 
 
 
 3 
 
 L oo-J 
 
 / 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 2 
 
 ' 6 -i 
 
 a fi 
 
 r 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 D 
 
 w 
 
 Business 
 
 Sect /on 
 
 J 6 
 
 ® — 
 
 *—G 
 
 ■ 
 
 g 
 
 J 6 
 
 
 i 
 
 h—l.g — _ 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 F 
 
 ; |e 
 
 6 * 
 
 : € 
 
 
 
 
 ' ® 
 
 Dwelling 
 
 Section 
 
 
 Plan of l 1 1 
 Waterworks 
 
 \ B 
 
 -=B 1 
 
 
 and pPE Distribution 
 
 Where a city is unwilling to pay for 8-inch mains they should 
 be supplied, at least in part, to carry water from the outside 
 feeders, the 6-inch being used only for lengthwise of the blocks, 
 as shown in the foregoing diagram. 
 
 It will be observed that in the gridiron form of distribution 
 shown in the accompanying diagram, every pipe is supplied at 
 both ends and, in case of fire and a draft upon any hydrant, 
 water would run to it from all directions. 
 
SIAMESIXG HOSE, ETC. 
 
 265 
 
 Concentration of water for fire at a given point is of the 
 utmost importance, and under the gridiron system this can be 
 secured no matter where that point may be. 
 
 It may safely be assumed that while hose lines 500 feet in 
 length can be used with steamers to force the water, it is prefer- 
 able to have short hose lines, not exceeding, in any case, 300 
 feet in length. An examination of the preceding diagram will 
 show that with the gridiron system and a "2- way" hydrant at 
 each corner, and street blocks 500 by 200, it would be possible 
 to supply, in case of a fire in the middle of any block, 12 streams, 
 each with less than 350 feet of hose, and a still larger number 
 with 600 feet of hose. Boston can place 52 steamers within 500 
 feet of a fire and supply them with water. 
 
 Siamesing Hose. The loss by friction through greater lengths 
 of hose, as already stated, may be largely saved by connecting 
 the two lines of hose, through a Siamese coupling, into a single 
 line at a point 50 to 100 feet back from the nozzle. Strange as 
 it may seem, it has been demonstrated that there is less friction 
 and a greater supply of water can be secured in this way than 
 by the use of two steamers, one pumping into the other. In 
 this way, a Siamese placed 50 feet back from the nozzle so 
 lessens the loss by friction that with the same steamer pressure 
 a jet will be thrown with exactly the same force through a 
 thousand feet of hose as if the steamer were only 287 feet from 
 the nozzle on a single line of hose. So important a fact should 
 be understood by Fire Departments. 
 
 The reason for the difference in results is obvious. Where 
 the water is carried through two lines of hose instead of being 
 forced through one the velocity will be only half as great, 
 and the loss of pressure only one-fourth as much, as where a 
 single line of hose is used ; and it is unfortunate that fire depart- 
 ments so frequently overlook the use of a Siamese coupling to 
 connect two lines of hose from a single steamer, especially where 
 the steamer has to be distant from the fire. Two steamers may 
 be frequently seen endeavoring to do with great difficulty what 
 a single steamer with a double line of hose could easily accom- 
 plish. 
 
 Cast-iron pipe, well tarred is preferable for fire protection to 
 wrought iron, which is sure to rust, or to steel, which will 
 
w A.TEB 
 
 \\ o|;KS. 
 
 probably rust. The tar should be applied by the best hot 
 process. 
 
 It is important to have smooth throatage. The mere roughen- 
 ing of the inside of a pipe will double the friction loss even 
 where there is no noteworthy deposit of rust bunches or tuber- 
 cles. One great objection to cement-lined pipe is the thinness 
 of the iron (for cast-iron pipe the iron shell is commonly eleven 
 times as thick as the wrought iron shell used in cemented pipe) 
 in addition to the danger of rusting which, as stated, may be 
 regarded as a certain expectation in the case of wrought iron. 
 
 Cement-lined wrought iron pipe, as already stated, is not only 
 certain to become leaky after fifteen or twenty years of use, 
 whereas cast-iron will last for fifty years or more, but it is liable 
 to be destroyed by lightning — a casualty which has happened in 
 Arlington, Woburn, Lynn, Fitchburg and Winchester, Mass., 
 and other places. The cities of Fitchburg, Worcester, Man- 
 chester, Spencer, Somervills, Maiden and others, have found it 
 necessary to take up the cement-lined pipe and replace with 
 cast-iron. In Rome, N. Y., several years ago, the bursting of 
 a cement-lined pipe during a fire led to a property loss of up- 
 wards of $200,000. The objection is to the thinness of the iron, 
 not to the cement lining, which is in itself an advantage. It 
 would improve cast-iron pipe, by saving frictional head, but the 
 extra expense makes its use prohibitory with cast-iron. 
 
 The size of mains and pipes should be carefully gauged b} - 
 competent experts to insure that too much head is not lost by 
 friction, taking into account the supply needed for domestic 
 (household and manufacturing) purposes and fire extinguishing 
 purposes. 
 
 Supply. While the amount needed for fire service, per annum, 
 is not large, the amount required for a fire will often exceed, 
 for a few hours, that for all other purposes. Twenty hose 
 streams, for example, would require, for each, estimating only 
 150 gallons per minute, 3,000 gallons per minute, (estimating 
 250 gallons, would require 5,000 gallons per minute) while the 
 domestic supply for a town of 25,000 population, estimating 75 
 gallons maximum per capita (a large estimate) per diem, would 
 not exceed 2,700 gallons per minute. 
 
SUPPLY. 
 
 267 
 
 A single good \ % inch X 45 pounds X 250 gallons fire stream takes as muck 
 water as would be needed on the average for tkc ordinary domestic supply of a 
 population of 6,001) at 60 gallons per day to each person. 
 
 A sufficient fire supply should be provided in addition to the maximum 
 domestic consumption, and double the average draught (or whatever ratio of 
 increase the actual record, if there be a record, may show of the district under 
 consideration) should always be kept in view as the basis over and above which 
 the tire supply is to be secured. (John R. Freeman.) 
 
 The average domestic consumption for household and manu- 
 facturing purposes, per capita, is safely estimated in small cities 
 with little manufacturing at 50 gallons per diem, but at certain 
 hours of the day and on certain days of the week, particularly 
 on Monday, a larger supply is needed, and a common experience 
 is that, at times, the maximum draft will be double the average 
 draft. An average of 110 gallons per capita daily would proba- 
 bly be sufficient for both domestic and fire service. In manu- 
 facturing cities a much greater amount is often used. The daily 
 consumption in Boston is over 100 gallons per inhabitant per 
 da}\ The same is true, on the other hand, of Nashua, N. H. 
 The use of water per capita is steadily increasing. Making 
 allowance in planning new water-works for a growth of a pros- 
 perous city or town of 40 per cent, in a decade, it would probably 
 be found economical to gauge the reservoir and supply-mains 
 accordingly, unless an additional reservoir can be constructed 
 afterwards at pro rata expense, which is not likely. To supply 
 a city of 25,000 population, using 365 cubic feet of water per 
 minute for domestic service and, in the emergency of a con- 
 flagration, possibly 400 feet more per minute for fire service, 
 would require a 24-inch supply main from the reservoir. Two 
 of these, as already stated, would be better, and insure against 
 breakage. To insure protection, the reservoir should always 
 (even at 4 o'clock Monday morning) hold a reserve for fire of 
 at least two million gallons for any closely built city up to 75,- 
 000 inhabitants, and more if the city is much larger. 
 
 The following figures are based on estimates of Mr. J. T. 
 Fanning, in his "Treatise on Hydraulic and Water Supply 
 Engineering" — a work well worthy of the study of underwriters. 
 
 With a static head of 150 feet and pipes 1,000 feet long, a 
 6 in. pipe would supply 40 cu. ft. per min. or 300 gallons. 
 8 " " " 80 " " 600 " 
 
 10 " " " 120 " " 900 " 
 
 12 " " " 220 " " 1,650 " 
 
 18 " " " ' 480 " " 3,600 " 
 
21 is 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 All of these figures as to frictional head and discharge, it 
 should always he remembered, are for new, clean pipe; if the 
 pipe is old and rusted the loss of frictional head may be doubled. 
 
 If the subsidiary pipe relied upon is six inches in diameter and 
 supplied at both ends, the fire supply at each end would be 40 
 cubic feet, or 300 gallons, per minute or a total for both ends 
 of 80 cubic feet, or 600 gallons, per minute, with the water 
 flowing at a velocity of 3% feet per second and a loss of fric- 
 tional head of :i feet, or 4 lbs., per thousand feet of length. In 
 case the water is to be taken from one end of the pipe only, it 
 would be better to have the pipe 8 inches in diameter. This 
 would secure about the same discharge, 640 gallons per minute, 
 at the same velocity, and with no greater loss of frictional head, 
 viz., 9 feet, or 4 lbs., per square inch. 
 
 Fire Boats. Where a city has a water front and Fire-Boats 
 their powerful pumps may be made available for protecting the 
 compact portion at small expense by running 8-inch pipes (10- 
 inch would be better still) with hydrant connections from the 
 water front to the mercantile centre, thus bringing into the 
 heart of conflagration districts a pressure exceeding that of 
 many steam engines and capable of forcing water to the very 
 tops of high, modern fireproof structures — which, by the way, 
 ought always to be provided with private standpipes and 
 Siamese connections at the -street, for the use of Fire Depart- 
 ments, even where fire-boats are not available, so as to save 
 the loss of time of carrying hose for the upper stories, especially 
 if the elevator should happen not to be running, as at night. 
 Where pipes with connections at the water front for the use of 
 fire-boats are thus extended into the city an intelligent system 
 of rating should allow 5 fo deduction in rate to all buildings on 
 the line of the pipes or within 500 feet of hydrant connections, 
 see items Nos. 186 and 221 of the Universal Mercantile Schedule. 
 
 Where the water of the harbor is salt, it may be well to flush 
 the main after a fire by attaching an engine at the land end and 
 blowing fresh hydrant water through the pipe, although with 
 a well tarred cast-iron pipe this would probably be an unneces- 
 sary precaution. 
 
 Milwaukee is provided with two fire-boats, and has nearly 
 six miles of fire-boat pipe lines, which vary in length from 800 
 
FIRE BOATS. 
 
 269 
 
 to 3,500 feet. These lines are tapped at each corner as well as 
 in the middle of the block by large hydrants. Six-inch pipe 
 was found to be too small, and at present all fire-boat pipe lines 
 being laid are 8 and 10 inch — It) inches for a half or two-thirds 
 of the distance, the remainder being 8-inch. Chief Foley states 
 that in a test with a 3,250 ft. line, using a 2^2 inch nozzle, the 
 jet of solid water was 120 feet, or the height of an ordinary 
 elevator. In another test, with a 2,250 ft. line two leads of 50 
 feet each, 3K inch hose and 2 inch nozzle, solid water was 
 thrown from both to a height of 180 feet; after which, Siames- 
 ing both streams and using a 3-inch nozzle, water in a solid 
 stream was thrown 198 feet. The connections at the water 
 front are for six 3/^ inch leads for all the long lines. In warm 
 weather the lines are kept full to save time in starting, but 
 emptied with freezing weather. 
 
 The experience of Milwaukee, proves the great advantage of 
 having 10-inch pipe, and nothing less than 8-inch, although the 
 6-inch does admirable work. The difference in the cost as com- 
 pared with 8 and 10-inch is so slight in view of the great superi- 
 ority of the larger pipe as to make the false economy of small 
 pipe extremely shortsighted. 
 
 Detroit has a most extensive system, its pipe lines having 
 been laid in nine streets and varying in length from 700 to 
 4,000 feet. The long line of 4,000 feet has delivered from one 
 hydrant four 1% and one 2-inch magnificent fire streams. The 
 superiority of the streams delivered from the pipe lines as com- 
 pared with those of the engine is readily apparent to the most 
 casual observer. The water comes with greater force, in a 
 more solid body, and does the most effective work. 
 
 The Detroit lines are provided with a cut-off valve opposite 
 each hydrant, so that in the event of walls falling on the hydrant 
 the water may be shut off without shutting off the entire main, 
 and the pipes are inclined toward the river, enabling the fire- 
 boat to fill them when necessary, while in cold weather they are 
 immediately emptied by means of a valve at the foot of the 
 ctreet. In the warmer months they are allowed to remain 
 filled. 
 
 I quote from a valuable paper written by Mr. James E. Tryon, 
 Secretary of the Fire Commission, Detroit, on the subject 
 
270 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 "What a Water Supply Engineer Can Do in the Fin- Depart- 
 ment," and read by him at the Convention of the New England 
 Water-Works Association, in June, 1894: 
 
 "The Detroit pipe lines, laid for the purpose of making the lire-boat avail- 
 able lor fires ;it least one-half mile distant from the river, were planned by and 
 laid under the supervision of the compiler of this paper, and a brief description 
 of them may not be out of place. These lines consist of three long lines, two 
 thousand feet each, and three short lines of one thousand feet each, or nine 
 thousand feet in all. For these lines the 8-inch steel pipe, such as the 
 Standard Oil Company uses for piping crude oil from the oil fields to tide 
 water, was selected. The pipe had been subjected to a test of one thousand 
 pounds hydraulic pressure. Connection at the river is made with a three 
 or a five way Siamese with three and one-half inch openings, with a clack 
 valve over each, to enable the boat to start its pumps as soon as the first con- 
 nection is made. Hydrants having two 3-inch and one 4-inch openings are set 
 at intervals along the line with a manhole opposite each. At the end of the 
 pipe is an air valve loaded to remain open until the water comes, and a relief 
 valve set at 250 pounds, which will open when the pipe is filled antl the recoil 
 renders it necessary for something to give way. 
 
 We have worked through 1,000 feet of 3-inch hose stretched from a hydrant 
 2,000 feet from the river, with a pressure of 105 pounds at the hydrant. These 
 results were obtained with a pressure of 176 pounds at the boat. The friction 
 loss in a line 2,000 feet long working through two lines, 100 feet each, of 3-inch 
 hose is as follows: 
 
 TWO 1^-INCH STKEAMS. 
 
 Pressure Pressure Loss 
 
 at Bout. at Hydrant. per Foot. 
 
 120 80 .0002 
 
 140 90 .0025 
 
 160 105 .0275 
 
 180 120 .0300 
 
 These lines were fully completed during the summer of 1893, and were filled 
 repeatedly during the past winter. We have had but two incidents to mar 
 the successful working of this branch, one being the failure of the air valve to 
 work, owing to the insufficient load, which made it impossible to fill the pipe, 
 and the other was due to the failure of a relief valve to work, having been set 
 at four hundred pounds. The damage in this case was the blowing off of the 
 Siamese. The pipes are laid as nearly on a level as possible, the lift being 
 about 8*4 feet in a thousand. The grade is toward the river, and to prevent 
 the freezing of dead w T ater the pipes are emptied after each filling. When the 
 boat responds to an alarm of fire, connection is made with the most available 
 pipe line and the pumps started just as a land engine fills its line of hose. 
 When the pipe is filled the pumps are stopped to await orders. A single wire 
 laid in a pipe in the same trench with the pipe line is run into the engine room, 
 and a signal code is used, by means of a push button, which can be operated 
 at any hydrant on the line. The boat is signalled by the use of the following 
 code: 
 
WATER SUPPLY AT HARBOR LEVEL. 
 
 271 
 
 1 Bell— Start pumps. 
 1 " — Stop pumps. 
 
 3 " — Twenty pounds less pressure. 
 
 4 — Twenty pounds more pressure. 
 6 " — Pick up. 
 
 In this way the pipe line enables the boat to play its pari in the work of 
 extinguishing the fires that may occur in the City of Detroit." 
 
 It would be possible in such cities as Chicago and New York 
 to make use of their powerful fire-boats not merely for supply- 
 ing water but for furnishing pressure and throwing so many 
 powerful streams as to be equal to twenty or thirty steamers. 
 It seems strange that such precautions are not taken. It is due 
 to Ex-Chiefs Swenie and Bonner that I should say here that they 
 were not to blame for so serious an omission. It is estimated that 
 in the territory lying between Chambers Street and Fourteenth 
 Street, New York City, the aggregate value of merchandise and 
 buildings exceeds five hundred millions of dollars. The entire 
 loss-paying ability (i. e., capital and net surplus) of all the 
 Companies doing business in the State, domestic and foreign, 
 does not exceed one-fifth of this sum. It is safe to say that the 
 vacuum in community wealth resulting from the destruction of 
 even one-fifth of this territory would be likely to result in com- 
 mercial disaster which would be felt from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific. The simple laying of mains with hydrant outlets, for 
 the fire-boats which are already provided, would go far to 
 prevent the possibility of such a disaster. 
 
 On March 12, 1888, in consequence of the blizzard, engines 
 would have been powerless to get to a fire. Not so with the 
 hydrants of the fire-boat pipe lines, however ; they could have 
 supplied the needed pressure, and it would have only been 
 necessary to attach hose to the hydrants. Such simple pre- 
 cautions should not be neglected in any of the great cities with 
 a water front. 
 
 Water Supply at Harbor Level. At very many places, especially 
 seaboard towns, not having fire-boats with pipe-lines, it might 
 be well to use the neighboring water at its natural level, by 
 means of pipes, or systems of pipes, having both ends immersed 
 to secure a constant circulation, the fire engines connecting their 
 suctions therewith through manholes. Cases in point are the 
 tidal drains at Charleston and the canal and basins system at 
 New Orleans, and at both places much use could be made of 
 
272 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 the level flow if pipes of proper size were laid and kept fairly 
 clean, as they could be. Much of New York below Canal Street 
 could be protected by the use of a level system such as suggested. 
 At Boston ;uid Norfolk, also, probably it could be made of great 
 service. 
 
 Stop-Valves or Gates. Safety cut-off gates should be provided 
 at each corner and on each hydrant branch of the mains, for 
 cutting out any broken pipes, which would otherwise waste the 
 water and diminish the head. By means of these the water 
 may be cut off on each side of a break and a supply secured for 
 a fire in the district or block from neighboring sub-mains, of 
 which there would probably be at least two available on a "grid- 
 iron" system. Inasmuch as accidents are liable to happen to 
 pipes, hydrants or gates from opening streets, etc., such pro- 
 visions are very important. The breaking of a 3-inch or 4-inch 
 service pipe entering a building will often interfere seriously 
 with the supph\ In consequence of the fall of a building, a 
 hydrant, in full play, may be covered with the debris and make 
 it necessary to cut off the section of pipe to which it is attached. 
 The breakage of a 6-inch main and discharge of its contents 
 into the open air would pull down the pressure twenty to thirty 
 pounds and waste enough water to supply a dozen streams. 
 The "stop- valves" or "gates" should be located by some system 
 at a uniform distance from the curb to insure finding them 
 readily in case of necessity, especially when streets are covered 
 with snow. If they are not in the centre of the streets they 
 should be uniformly upon the same geographical side, as upon 
 the northerly and westerly side, and at some fixed distance from 
 the centre of the street and, at the same time, exactly on the side 
 line of the cross street. The location of them can also be in- 
 dicated by a sign on the nearest building or fence showing the 
 direction and number of feet from the curb line. 
 
 Careless workmen frequently break gates while making re- 
 pairs, and neglect to report the fact, with the result that when 
 the broken gate is left closed the result is felt at a fire. In 
 Detroit it was found that out of 2,600 gates 400 were broken 
 and closed. A systematic inspection of the gates should be 
 made by an employee of the department at stated intervals, 
 and a record kept of his report. 
 
 The effect of a broken gate neglected and closed is to make a 
 
NUMBER OF FIRE STREAMS BASED UPON POPULATION. 273 
 
 dead end of the pipe on which it occurs — a fatal fact which may 
 not be discovered until a fire occurs; hence the necessity of 
 regular and recorded inspections. 
 
 Number of Fire Streams Based Upon Population. Hydraulic 
 experts differ somewhat as to this point from each other and, 
 especially in the case of smaller towns, from Underwriters. 
 Mr. Freeman presents "as a rough, general guide" the following 
 table : 
 
 Total population 
 
 No. of 250 gallon streams which should hi 
 
 of community 
 
 able simultaneously in addition to 
 
 protected: 
 
 maximum domestic draft: 
 
 1,000 
 
 2 to 3 
 
 5,000 
 
 4 " 8 
 
 10,000 
 
 6 " 12 
 
 20,000 
 
 8 " 15 
 
 40,000 
 
 12 " 18 
 
 60,000 
 
 15 " 22 
 
 100,000 
 
 20 " 30 
 
 200,000 
 
 30 " 50 
 
 Ten streams may be recommended for a compact group of large, valuable 
 buildings irrespective of a small population . 
 
 As a general statement the pipes should be large enough and 
 the hydrants numerous enough so that at least two-thirds of the 
 above number of streams could be concentrated upon any one 
 square in the compact, valuable part of the city or upon any one 
 extremely large building or special hazard. 
 
 Mr. J. Herbert Shedd presents a formula showing the number of streams 
 needed, from which the following values are taken: 
 
 Population. No. of 200 gallon streams. 
 
 5,000 5 
 
 10,000 7 
 
 20,000 10 
 
 40,000 14 
 
 60,000 17 
 
 100,000 22 
 
 180,000 30 
 
 From a fire-extinguishing standpoint, it should be borne in 
 mind always that in gauging the size of pipes and mains and 
 determining the location of hydrants no general rule based upon 
 population would be a safe or a wise one. It might be as neces- 
 sary for a village of 3,000 inhabitants, by reason of the grouping 
 
WATER WORKS. 
 
 of manufacturing or special hazards or exceptionally high or 
 large area mercantile structures, to have ten 250-gallon streams 
 as in the case of a town of 40,000; indeed, in the case of the 
 smaller town it might be more necessary than in the case of the 
 larger. 
 
 Pipes below Frost Line. In New England the rule is that the 
 axis of water pipes should be five feet below the surface, 
 especially in gravelly or stony ground. 
 
 The importance of laying pipes below the frost line ought not 
 fc< > need emphasis. In some sections of the Northwest they may 
 be frozen seven feet below the surface. 
 
 Where a pipe line is laid in a street which has not been graded 
 it should be borne in mind that the subsequent grading of the 
 street may lower the surface to within a dangerous distance from 
 the pipe. As much as two feet of the cover may under circum- 
 stances be taken off. 
 
 Electrolysis. A serious menace to the pipe system of the 
 country has been discovered in fugitive currents of electricity 
 which escape from trolley and other wires unprovided with 
 proper returns in the shape of good copper wire. In numerous 
 instances pipes have been ruined by these currents of electricity, 
 and greater vigilance must be exercised to prevent widespread 
 disaster. 
 
 Hydrants. Only "2-way" hydrants should be used in the 
 business or mercantile section. They should be "staggered'' 
 through a territory on alternate sides of the street, so that at 
 least half of them would be safe from a. line of fire, and they 
 should be so arranged as to be protected from freezing. The 
 importance of protecting hydrants from freezing ought not to 
 require argument. There is no excuse for frozen hydrants, as 
 there are many patterns which with proper care will not freeze. 
 As I write, the entire business portion of a New York town has 
 been destroyed because its steam fire department was helpless 
 by reason of the intense cold. It may safely be stated that the 
 property destroyed in a single winter month of any one year, as 
 a consequence of frozen hydrants, would more than pay for 
 protecting all the hydrants in the country permanently against 
 the dangers of frost. They should have drains to the sewer to 
 carry off the water after being used, and be protected by boxing, 
 
HYDRANTS. 
 
 275 
 
 etc. There is no excuse for the almost universal neglect of 
 simple precautions, upon the observance of which the safety of 
 an entire city may depend. Where these precautions are not 
 systematically taken, not more than half the credit for the fire 
 department in rates should be allowed under the Universal 
 Schedule. 
 
 The location of hydrants is an important matter. As a rule, 
 they should be on the corners of streets, for obvious reasons, 
 chiefly because they would, at such locations, be most quickly 
 discovered. It may happen, however, that the location of a 
 hydrant in too close proximity to a dangerous risk of large area 
 or height might be injudicious. 
 
 Two "2-way" hydrants are preferably to one "4-way" hydrant, 
 on account of frost and the probability that at least one may not 
 be frozen. 
 
 Hydrants should be liberally distributed; it is a mistaken 
 economy to have them too far apart, not alone because of the 
 loss of frictional head in great lengths of hose — a serious matter 
 — but by reason of the simple fact that 6-inch cast-iron pipe can 
 be laid for about the cost of the best 2% inch hose, with the 
 further important difference, as Mr. Freeman suggests, tliat the 
 life of the hose will not average more than five to ten years, 
 while the pipe will last half a century. The greater length of 
 hose, moreover, is liable to accident at a critical moment.* In 
 the compact mercantile portion hydrants should not bo over 250 
 feet apart. 
 
 The post hydrant, having a 5% inch or 6-inch riser, with 
 rounded corners, is preferable to the flush hydrant, even where 
 the latter has an extra "4-way" outlet, especially in Northern 
 States, where a covering of snow might interfere with finding 
 the hydrant ; on very narrow streets, however, the flush hydrant 
 may be better. In Boston, the location of flush hydrants is 
 
 *Mr. Freeman says: ".More than half the static hydrant pressure is wasted 
 in overcoming the friction through too long a line of hose or too small a street 
 main. Good jacketed fire hose now costs about 75 cents per foot. A 6-inch, 
 tar-coated, heavy cast-iron main can be laid for about 75 cents per foot, cost of 
 pipe, trench, h ad and laying all included. A city can buy a good two-way 
 hydrant for less than the price of 50 feet of good fire department hose and its 
 water department can buy and put down 100 feet of the best six inch cast-iron 
 water pipe for just about the same price that its fire department pays for an 
 equal length of hose." 
 
276 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 indicated by signs on buildings opposite tbe hydrants, stating 
 the number of feet and the direction from the curb line. An 
 eight-inch feed pipe, a six-inch riser and round corners leading 
 to the hose nipple will be true economy even for a 2-way hydrant, 
 especially where the pressure exceeds 75 lbs. per square inch. 
 
 False economy is practised in selecting hydrants having the 
 main gate and riser only four inches in diameter; the 4-inch 
 stand-pipe sacrifices too much valuable water pressure to be 
 longer tolerated in new work and should be discontinued to- 
 gether with the -1-inch water main. For ordinary purposes of 
 fire protection a standard hydrant should have a main gate and 
 riser at least five inches in diameter and be provided with two 
 outlets for hose. It is not necessary to have independent hose 
 gates on these outlets, as if one does not happen to be used it 
 may be covered by a cap or closed by a portable hose gate 
 carried on the hose wagon and already connected into the rear 
 end of the hose line, while a second gate is at hand for attach- 
 ment of the spare nozzle during the time the hose is being run 
 and before the hydrant gate is open. The standard hydrant 
 should have a bell for connecting with the water pipe at least 
 six inches in diameter. 
 
 It would seem unnecessary to suggest that when hydrants 
 are being located they should be attached to the larger of two 
 available mains, were it not for the fact that in so many in- 
 stances as almost to amount to a rule they are placed upon the 
 smaller of two mains, simply because the connection costs less 
 money for the pipe laying contractor. This fault is so common, 
 and the consequences are so serious, that it should be the rule 
 of any city that no hydrant connection should be covered up 
 until the Fire Department has had an opportunity to examine 
 and pronounce it satisfactory. With the use of modern appli- 
 ances in the shape of tapping machines it is possible to connect 
 with the large mains without shutting off water. 
 
 The Fire Department should have charge of the location of 
 hydrants, as in Detroit, the only city, I believe, where this is the 
 case. The firemen can be trusted, in all cases, to put a hydrant 
 on the largest available main. 
 
 A notable instance of indifference on the part of a Water 
 Works Company to avail itself of large mains was discovered 
 in Detroit. I quote from Chief Tryon's report of it: 
 
HYDRANTS. 
 
 27? 
 
 "In April, 1893, a fire occurred in one of the buildings forming a part of 
 the plant of a large brewing company in Detroit. The fire was quite ugly at 
 the outset and the officer in command promptly sent in a third alarm. Three 
 engineers whose engines were located on Jefferson avenue in which was a 42- 
 inch supply main, with a 6-inch distributing main alongside, complained of 
 poor water and proved it by recording a vacuum pressure on their combination 
 gauges. It did not ne ed the gauge, however, to tell the story, as by standing 
 next the hydrant I could hear the suction. I could only think of a broken 
 gate somewhere on the line, but when the Engineer of the Water Works set 
 about investigating, he developed one of the most serious minor defects in our 
 system. It appears to have been the practice heretofore to lay large and 
 small supply mains through districts they were intended to supply without 
 connecting them to cross lines. In this case the engines actually pumped dry a 
 section covering many acres, and the investigation revealed that while the 42-inch 
 and 6-inch mains were laid parallel they were only connected at points 5,100 feet 
 {nearly a mile) apart, and that the district north was supplied entirely from this 6- 
 inch main and all hydrants were connected with it!" 
 
 Another fire in March, 1894, developed the fact that while an 
 8-inch main had been provided, the hydrant ivas on a Jf-inch 
 main, from which an engine could not get sufficient water. I 
 quote from Mr. Tryon's report : 
 
 "The supply in this case was an 8-inch main, the hydrants being on 4-inch 
 mains, one just north and the other just south of the 8-inch. An investigation 
 showed that the following conditions existed: The gate on the north side of 
 Michigan avenue was closed so t hat the engine was pumping out of a 4-inch 
 pipe, having a feed from but one way and that from a 3-inch pipe. This was in 
 a section which has been built up a great many years and the pipeage is as 
 old as the locality. Even had not the gate been closed the pipeage was not 
 sufficient to feed the large engines as was shown in the case of No. 8. With 
 one lj4 -inch stream they were all right, but when they came to add a l^-inch 
 stream they were lost." 
 
 It may be assumed as a fact that underwriters have no more 
 important business on hand than that of making proper rates 
 for such unprotected territory, for it may safely be said that 
 millions of dollars worth of property located on inadequate street 
 mains is insured below cost under suppositions of adequate 
 mains which, while provided, at great expense, in the street, 
 are absolutely useless for fire purposes owing to the fact that the 
 hydrants are on small pipes. 
 
 Hydrants should be painted a bright red, so that the Fire 
 Department can find them easily. Street sprinklers, sewer 
 diggers and other inexperienced persons ought not to be per- 
 mitted to use them, as they are liable to get out of order. 
 
 Two and one-half inch openings should be avoided; 4-inch 
 
•j;s 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 should be the rule, especially where 3-inch hose can be handled 
 by the Department, 
 
 Hydrants should be regularly flushed, to secure reliability of 
 action and remove the sediment which accumulates in the short 
 arm leading to each post. 
 
 Hose. The best quality of jacketed fire-hose, rubber lined and 
 perfectly smooth should be used, of 2% inches internal diameter. 
 Attempts have been made to use 3-inch hose and abandoned, in 
 some cases, because it has been thought unwieldy. The 3-inch 
 hose, however, is necessary in compact mercantile districts. 
 Chief Croker of New York has 39 companies equipped with 3- 
 inch hose and expects to equip more. 
 
 A modern steam engine, using 3-inch hose, with capacity of 
 1,200 gallons per minute, can throw one 1/^ inch and one 1)4= 
 inch stream, or, with two short lines of hose, two 1^2 inch 
 streams can be thrown. Such streams as these do effectual 
 work. As Mr. Tryon laconically expresses it, they are "solid 
 streams, that do not break until they reach the fire, and leave a 
 black mark where they strike." 
 
 Uniform Size and Thread. It is remarkable and inexcusable 
 that a uniform size and pitch of thread for couplings have not 
 been established for the entire country so that the apparatus of 
 neighboring towns can be availed of in case of conflagrations. 
 
 The dimensions recommended by the National Association of 
 Fire engineers at the 1891 meeting are as follows: . 
 
 Couplings for 2Y Z inch hose, 1 l / 2 threads to the inch, 3 1-16 inch diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 2y% inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 3 5-16 inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 2% inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 3j^ inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 3-inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, Zy% inches diameter 
 to the top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for S'/i inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 4 1-16 inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 4-inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 4^ inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 4^ inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 5^ inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 5-inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, §y% inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
 Couplings for 6-inch hose, 8 threads to the inch, 7 1-16 inches diameter 
 to top of threads on male coupling. 
 
STEAM FIRE ENGINES. 
 
 279 
 
 Mr. Charles A. Landy, in an instructive paper on this subject 
 recommends, with much reason, it seems to me, the adoption of 
 a uniform thread of 7% threads to the inch for this reason that 
 the 7 X 2 swivel part of couplings will connect with 7 or S thread 
 male couplings and, therefore, meet the majority of existing 
 conditions throughout the country. 
 
 The same dimensions should be followed by all mills and 
 manufactories rel}'ing upon the co-operation of the nearest city 
 or village department in case of fire. It has frequently hap- 
 pened that such auxiliary aid has been valueless, simply because 
 hose and hydrant threads would not fit those of the department, 
 and reducing or expanding couplings had not been provided to 
 remedy the fault. 
 
 This subject of uniform thread and coupling is deserving of 
 a special convention of Engineers for its consideration. 
 
 At present numerous cities capable of helping each other are 
 powerless to do so. 
 
 As early as 1830, Mr. Braidwood, the celebrated English 
 Fire Engineer, suggested that if uniformity in the structure and 
 design of apparatus could extend to the most minute particulars, 
 ' 'a screw or nut of any one engine would fit every other engine 
 in the kingdom.'' 
 
 Steam Fire Engines. This suggestion of Mr. Braidwood as to 
 uniformity in the size of nuts and parts of machinery is a far- 
 reaching one. At present the situation in this country is grave 
 from the standpoint that steam fire engines, probably without 
 exception, are of such delicate construction that they resemble 
 the machinery of a watch. They are liable to breakage, and 
 when broken it is discovered that they must be sent to a distance, 
 to the shop of the manufacturer, to be repaired, involving the 
 risk of conflagration during their absence and outlay for expense 
 because of the exclusive privilege of repairing. Money is need- 
 lessly spent on nickel-plate, brass finish and gewgaws, which 
 should be either saved altogether or expended in improving the 
 working parts, all of which should be of such simple, strong 
 construction as to be easily repaired by a mechanic of average 
 ability, to be found in any town. A blacksmith, for example, 
 should be capable of repairing almost any portion of a steam 
 fire engine, and the nuts and bolts should be interchangeable. 
 
280 
 
 W ATER WORKS. 
 
 It is safe to say that the reliability of steam fire departments is 
 materially impaired by reason of the faults mentioned, and that 
 the steam fire engine of the future, when underwriters decide 
 to act upon their present convictions, will be one whose working- 
 parts are not only so strong as to reduce the breakage risk to 
 the minimum but of such simple character that they can be 
 easily and cmickly repaired, in most cases by the substitution 
 of duplicate parts carried by the engineer himself. 
 
 Hose N ozzle. 1 ' M inch is regarded as better for many reasons 
 than 1^4, although the latter, especially with Siamese con- 
 nection, is decidedly preferable where it can be used. The 
 chances of extinguishing a fire are directly proportional to the 
 amount of water thrown. Small streams are less efficient, as a 
 large portion of the stream is evaporated before it reaches the 
 point of conflagration, and unless water is brought to the burn- 
 ing surface it has little effect. 
 
 I quote from Mr. Freeman. 
 
 "The efficiency of a water works or fire department is measured by its 
 ability to control a bad fire before it becomes a sweeping conflagration, and the 
 design should he based upon streams suitable for this purpose. 
 
 Experience shows that large streams are much more effective on a fierce fire 
 than small streams. A small stream may be so completely evaporated into 
 steam as it passes through the flames as to never reach the seat of the fire. 
 
 A fire cannot be extinguished by wetting the flames. 
 
 In every fire which makes a Maine, there are two processes taking place — 
 the first process is the roasting out of gas ; the second is the burning of this gas. 
 
 Water extinguishes mainly by chilling the ignited surface so no more gas is 
 given off — the flames then die. 
 
 With a large stream, even though half the water be evaporated as it passes 
 through the flames, there may be enough left to quench the glowing coals which 
 form the heart of the fire. 
 
 Thus we see the reason for the opinion to which many practical firemen 
 have been led by experience that given, say, 1,200 gallons of water per minute 
 under good pressure — this will do more good on a fierce fire if concentrated 
 into four IX i n - streams of 300 gallons each, than if used in six 1 in. streams 
 of 200 gallons each, or ten % in. streams of 120 gallons each. 
 
 K\% in. stream is used in many departments and is often better than the 
 \y% inch, if water is plenty and length of hose short. If hose is long, the 
 friction due to pushing so much water through so small a pipe leaves the 
 nozzle pressure so small that the stream is too feeble. 
 
 Thus from the hydraulic principles involved, we find that with hydrant 
 pressures of 80 to 100 lbs., and lengths of hose from 200 to 400 feet, the 1% in 
 nozzle is the size best adapted for all-around use with 2}4 in. hose. 
 
PIPE DIAGRAM. 
 
 281 
 
 On the other hand, from the teachings of practice and without any discussion 
 of scientific principles, the \ y% in. smooth nozzle has come to be the size most 
 common in the best American fire departments." 
 
 In the great Boston fire of 1889, it was safely estimated that 
 enough water was thrown to flood the district of acres in- 
 volved 12% feet deep. 
 
 A smooth nozzle and rigid pipe are necessary. 
 
 Pipe Diagram. An accurate diagram of the pipe system of the 
 city, showing the size and location of mains and hydrants, with 
 stop-valves and gates, should he in the hands of the Fire 
 Department Chief and the Local Board of Fire Underwriters. 
 In most cities and towns throughout the country, to-day, the 
 only diagram of this kind is in the office of the Water Works 
 or, worse still, in the possession of some private individual, 
 whose selfish pride in the exclusive possession of it is such that 
 
 fITCHBU RG DOTTED LINES SHOW CEMENT LINED PIPE9 
 JVIASS. 
 
282 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 the important secret is likely to die with him. The writer has 
 found this latter condition to exist, strange as it may seem, in 
 more towns than one. In an important western city, not even 
 the water works company knew the location or sizes of the 
 street mains, and the individual who alone possessed the infor- 
 mation was trading upon it in order to enjoy a life monopoly in 
 making repairs. 
 
 In making a pipe diagram of the city, it is well to omit the 
 street lines and show only the pipe lines with the names of the 
 streets. This system insures greater clearness, and is the 
 method pursued by Mr. Freeman. The foregoing diagram 
 shows a section of his pipe diagram of the city of Fitchburg, 
 Mass. The heavier arteries or feeders are shown by correspond- 
 ing heavier lines. The size of the pipe in inches is clearly legible, 
 and where there is both high and low service both systems may 
 be shown by tracing the pipes of the low service in red ink and 
 of the high service in blue ink. The heights of various levels 
 above mean sea level are shown in figures, 474, 454, &c. 
 
 Expert Management. The system of a city should be under 
 expert management and the person in charge should understand 
 hydraulic engineering; something more than a knowledge of 
 mechanics is necessary. 
 
 Municipal and Private Ownership of Water-Works. Every muni- 
 cipality should own and control its water- works system ab initio, 
 in order that it may, from the very outset, determine the size 
 and quality of the street mains, and in order also that it may 
 secure efficiency at the lowest possible cost. Theoretically, an 
 honest private corporation can supply a municipality with 
 water under a contract which contemplates the purchase by the 
 municipality, at some later date, on an agreed price, but in prac- 
 tice it is a mistake for a town to enter into contracts of this 
 character. The credit of the town is usually the basis on which 
 the corporation floats its bonds and stock. Even though the 
 credit be not traded upon as a guarantee, the stock of the com- 
 pany is sold on the supposition that the town will have to take the 
 water for a term of years and buy the plant in the end. It 
 might, therefore, as well float its bonds and trade upon its own 
 credit from the start. The temptation to put in cheap pipe and 
 to neglect necessary repairs, especially as the period approaches 
 
RESPONSIBILITY OF PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, ETC. 283 
 
 for selling the plant to the city, is too great, in most instances, 
 to insure the city from a serious loss and the purchase of a worn- 
 out system. I, therefore, advise municipal ownership of water 
 works in all cases. 
 
 Responsibility of Private Corporations for Failure to Supply Water 
 for Extinguishing Fires. It is to-day well settled by numerous 
 court decisions, with but one exception — that of Paducah Lum- 
 ber Company vs. Paducah Water Supply Company (Ky.), 12 
 S. W. Rep. 554 — that private corporations are not responsible 
 to individual citizens for failure to supply water for fire purposes; 
 even in cases where their contract with the city or municipality 
 makes it their duty to furnish water under proper pressure for 
 fire protection ; the courts holding that there is no privity of con- 
 tract between an individual citizen and such water company 
 which would enable him to maintain an action for injury sus- 
 tained through a fire and resulting from a failure of the water 
 company to perform its contract with the municipality. 
 
 That municipalities themselves are not liable to citizens for 
 neglect in the matter of private water supply is established by 
 an unbroken line of authorities. First, because there is no con- 
 tract relation between the propertyowner and the municipality ; 
 and, second, because, as one authority expresses it, "no recovery 
 in any event can be had where the negligence of the municipal 
 corporation consists in failing to perform a legislative, judicial 
 or discretionary duty, or in simply performing such a duty in an 
 improper manner. A recovery can be had against a municipal 
 corporation only where it negligently performs or negligently 
 fails to perform a duty in its nature m inisterial, and then only 
 in cases where the municipal duty is imposed by law. " 8 Wait's 
 Act. and Def. 938. 
 
 "The law (Mott vs. Cherry vale Water and Manufacturing 
 Company, 29 Pac. R. 989. 48 Kan. 12) which authorizes cities 
 to contract with individuals and companies for the building and 
 operating of waterworks confers no powers upon a city to make 
 a contract of indemnity for the individual benefit of a citizen or 
 resident of the city, for the breach of which he can maintain an 
 action in his own name." 
 
 The Paducah case already referred to (Paducah Lumber Co. 
 vs. Paducah Water Supply Co.) is the only one, as stated, in 
 which the water company was held to be liable. 
 
284 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 WATER WORKS IN THE UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE. 
 
 It will be observed that the schedule recognizes efficiency and 
 reliability of water works in the following order: 
 
 1. Gravity, with an "effective head" and "volume" at the 
 hydrants. For recognition in schedule rating the reservoir 
 should contain at least five days' supply for domestic and fire 
 service, which should be maintained and is more reliable if 
 supplied by hydraulic pumps, in duplicate, from a river or other 
 inexhaustible supply, not liable to drought. If the pumps, 
 whether steam or hydraulic, are arranged to secure also direct 
 pressure in emergency, as already explained, both kinds of serv- 
 ice may be secured. 
 
 2. Hydraulic Pumps in duplicate, with storage reservoir or 
 tank stand-pipe of ten hours' supply for domestic and fire service. 
 
 3. Steam pumps, in duplicate, with a tank stand-pipe or 
 storage reservoir of ten hours supply for domestic and fire serv- 
 ice. 
 
 4. Direct pressure from Hydraulic Pumps, in duplicate, 
 without tank stand-pipe or storage reservoir. 
 
 5. Direct pressure from steam Pumps, in duplicate, without 
 tank stand-pipe or reservoir. 
 
 A reservoir system is preferable to all others, and insures 
 uniform pressure in pipes, involving less danger of breakage. 
 While a large reservoir is desirable for storage purposes, how- 
 ever, it is not indispensable for fire purposes. A reservoir 
 sufficient to hold a supply for both domestic and fire service of 
 ten hours would probably be ample for extinguishing any fire. 
 As already stated, one million gallons storage will supply eleven, 
 standard, 250 gallon, fire streams for six hours, and for the 
 ordinary city up to 15.000 inhabitants, a million gallons could 
 be considered an ample reserve of storage for fire purposes. 
 
 Fire-proof Pumping Station. It would seem unnecessary to state 
 that the building on whose existence the safety of a city depends 
 should be safe from fire and separated from dangerous manu- 
 facturing or other hazards and especially from Electric Lighting 
 Stations. It will be observed that charge is made (item No. 8) 
 for an electric light station or other special hazard in the pump- 
 house or exposing it. It is a grave question if this charge ought 
 
CISTERNS. 
 
 285 
 
 not to be higher, even to the extent of making the ' 'key-rate" 
 of a city having a direct pressure system, so jeopardized, higher 
 than that of a town without any water works at all, in view 
 first, of the fact that such a town afterwards gets credit for in- 
 dividual risks in proximity to hydrants to the extent possibly of 
 15 io (see Nos. 155, 156), and, second, of the fact that a company's 
 conflagration line in the direct pressure town would have been 
 increased by reason of the pressure, but all benefit of the system 
 lost if a fire destroying the pump-house should happen to be 
 coincident with the raging of a conflagration in the city. 
 
 Cisterns. In Detroit, small cisterns or reservoirs, holding 
 7,000 gallons or more, are distributed throughout the city, not- 
 withstanding the pipe system, and would admirably supplement 
 a broken street main. In some cases they are of oblong or 
 sewer shape, of cemented brick. 
 
 As stated elsewhere, in all cases where dead ends are neces- 
 sary in the outskirts of the city, a cistern or reservoir is provided 
 at the end, so that in blowing off the dead end the waste water 
 is husbanded for fire purposes. 
 
 CAPACITY OF CISTERNS OR STAND-PIPES IN U. S. GALLONS 
 
 For each 12 inches of depth. 
 
 The following table will enable any one to estimate the capacity of tank 
 stand-pipes or cisterns of cylindrical form in U. S. gallons for each 12 inches 
 of depth: 
 
 4 feet diameter, 
 
 94 
 
 11 feet diameter 
 
 711 
 
 5 " 
 
 - 147 
 
 12 " 
 
 
 - 846 
 
 6 " 
 
 211K 
 
 13 " 
 
 
 993 
 
 7 " 
 
 - 288 
 
 14 " 
 
 < i 
 
 - H15K 
 
 8 " 
 
 376 
 
 15 " 
 
 li 
 
 1322 
 
 9 " 
 
 - 476 
 
 20 " 
 
 I t 
 
 - 2350 
 
 10 " 
 
 58734 
 
 25 " 
 
 . i 
 
 - 3672 
 
 For example, a cistern 25 feet in diameter would contain 3672 
 gallons for every foot of depth ; and if 10 feet deep, 36720 gallons, 
 or 918 bbls. 
 
 A simple rule may be stated as follows : To find the contents 
 in U. S. standard gallons for each foot of depth of a cylin- 
 drical cistern with a circular base, multiply the square of the 
 
•■»*<; 
 
 WATER WORKS. 
 
 diameter (in feet) by 5%; the product will be the contents 
 in gallons * 
 
 For example, a cistern 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet deep 
 would contain 20 X 20 X 5% X 10 = 23500 gallons (see table above). 
 
 *Tlie cubic contents in feet of a cylinder like a cistern are obtained by 
 multiplying the area of the circle by the depth in feet. Inasmuch as the area 
 of a circle is obtained by multiplying the square of the diameter by .7854, and 
 inasmuch as a cubic foot, of water contains 7. IS gallons, it is only necessary to 
 multiply the square of the diameter by the product of 7 48 X 7854, ==5%, to 
 obtain the result in gallons, without the longer computation. 
 
 N. B. — In the preparation of the preceding pages it was my aim to collate, 
 in condensed form and by systematic arrangement , such important information 
 regarding water works and street mains as is usually to be found scattered 
 throughout the pages of expensive treatises on hydraulics and water supply, 
 whose authors generally and, perhaps, naturally give more attention to 
 domestic service, potableness, etc., than to fire service. 
 
 Technical phraseology has been, as far as possible, avoided, in order that the 
 property-holders of a city may understand its recommendations when consider- 
 ing the introduction or improvement of water works. Impressed with the 
 value of a thorough canvass for the criticism and opinions of others, such as 
 was made in the case of the Universal Mercantile Schedule, the writer decided 
 to send the pamphlet "in proof" to Hydraulic Engineers, Fire Chiefs and other 
 experts throughout the country, with the result that he is under obligation not 
 only to the gentlemen quoted throughout the pamphlet but, also, to main- 
 others and especially to Mr. Freeman, to whom he has been largely indebted, as 
 numerous references throughout the work indicate. Indeed, so wide has been 
 the writer's canvass for criticism and so materially has the article been im- 
 proved by drafts made upon the wisdom of others that he feels more like a 
 compiler than an author. Whatever he may lose in credit for originality, 
 however, will be compensated by the gratification of an honest desire to 
 furnish valuable and reliable information, in a concise form, and by the con- 
 viction that those who make use of the treatise will rely thoroughly upon its 
 statements, for the reason that it involves the consensus of judgment of many 
 able experts, rather than the individual opinions of one man. 
 
WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 The agent cannot be too careful in writing policies. He 
 should, in all cases where the circumstances permit it, confine 
 himself to the carefully prepared forms furnished by the Com- 
 pany for his guidance and avoid carelessly worded contracts, j 
 written on the spur of the moment, or to gratify the unreason- 1 
 able whim of some over-particular customer who, perhaps, 
 fancies that forms are intended to protect the company, at the 
 expense of the assured. No greater error could be made. An 
 honorable company seeks only to protect itself from fraud and 
 from the consequences of stupid blunders, and it will be found, 
 in nine cases out of ten. that the clearly worded policies of the 
 company will protect the assured better than any he is likely to 
 frame for himself. A company desirous of securing business 
 is not apt to be so short-sighted as to insist upon inequitable or 
 unfair forms, for no honorable company desires disputes or 
 misunderstandings, in cases of loss, which might be avoided by 
 definite and unmistakable contracts. 
 
 It is well to bear in mind always, when writing a policy of 
 insurance, that though it may lie forgotten in some bureau 
 drawer or office safe for years, it will become, in ease of fire, 
 as important as a deed for the same amount. Nothing can 
 be more embarrassing for all concerned — the assured, the com- 
 pany and the agent — than to discover, at such a time, that the 
 instrument to which they must refer for a definition of the 
 respective rights and obligations of the parties is indefinite, 
 illogical, and inconsistent, not only with the policies of other 
 companies on the same propert)-, but possibly with its own 
 terms, and that each party must make disagreeable concessions 
 in order to harmonize a contract which might just as well have 
 been clear and explicit from the start. 
 
 An agent will sometimes write a policy for five thousand 
 
WJMTIN'C I'OIjriKS. 
 
 dollars wit li less care than lie would a check or note for fifty, 
 notwithstanding that within twenty-four hours the policy may 
 become a claim for its whole amount! Such indifference is in- 
 excusable. 
 
 Before writing a policy select a form suited to the risk, and 
 unless it conflicts, in important respects, with existing 
 insurance in oilier companies on the property, follow it care- 
 fully and as literally as the facts and circumstances will allow. 
 
 All the insurance upon the same property, however, should be con- 
 current, that is, the contracts or policies of all companies insuring 
 it should read alike, with regard to the description of the 
 property, the different classes of property covered, and the pro- 
 portion in which the policies apply to or cover them. The policy 
 of one company, for instance, on a stock of "groceries, dry 
 goods and crockery," should not cover groceries and crockery. 
 that of another dry goods and crockery, while a third, possibly, 
 covers all three. Nor should the policy of one company cover 
 a specific amount on each, while another insures all under one 
 sum. 
 
 Non-concurrent policies are always productive of dissatis- 
 faction in case of loss, and seriously embarrass adjusters. The 
 assured, moreover, nearly always suffers, since the companies 
 are protected by conditions in their policies against the non-con- 
 current contracts of others, and where the assured is so short- 
 sighted as to conceal the wording of subsisting insurance on 
 his property, that be may secure a policy covering property not 
 mentioned in it, he generally secures loss to himself. The better 
 way is to have all incorrect policies corrected, and the whole 
 insurance made concurrent. The companies themselves would 
 much prefer this plan, and cheerfully undertake the trouble. 
 When the agent cannot obtain copies of other policies on the 
 risk, he should either decline the risk or insert the following 
 
 form of permit for other insurance: "$ other insurance 
 
 permitted, it being a condition that the ivhole amount 
 thereof shall, so far as this policy is concerned, be con- 
 sidered as written concurrently therewith,'" being particular 
 to explain the purpose of the clause to the assured. Even when 
 the other insurance is concurrent he should write the permit in 
 
 the following form: $ other i nsu ranee permitted 
 
 concurrent herewith, 
 
AMOUNT OF OTHER INSURANCE, ETC. 289 
 
 Insert the amount of other insurance. Do not permit an indefinite 
 amount. An agent should exercise the same caution in limiting 
 the total amount of insurance by all companies on a risk to a 
 safe figure, as compared with values, as when he carries the 
 whole amount in one policy. Investigate carefully all applica- 
 tions for permitting additional insurance, both as to value and 
 concurrence. 
 
 Too much attention cannot be paid to this important matter 
 of the concurrence of contracts, and the agent will do well to 
 explain to an applicant that it is to his own interest to have all 
 of his policies read alike. Non-concurrent policies are usually 
 the result of carelessness on the part of the insured or of the 
 agent, who. having failed to protect a particular class of property 
 in one policy, seeks to remedy the omission by taking out an- 
 other in some other company. Efforts have been made to 
 harmonize the differences which invariably arise in such cases, 
 but without success. No rule of adjustment which would 
 probably be acceptable to all the companies interested will cover 
 non-concurrent contracts so as to protect the assured. 
 
 Take, for example, the following illustration. A party hav- 
 ing $5000 worth of flour and $5000 worth of grain secures an 
 insurance of 85000 on flour with company A. Finding that his 
 grain is not protected he applies to company B for $5000 insur- 
 ance, but insists on having it worded on flour and grain, 
 declining to inform the agent of B how his other policy reads 
 (he ought not to succeed in obtaining the insurance under such 
 circumstances, but we will suppose that he does), and a total 
 loss occurs. If company A should decline to pay over one-half 
 the loss on flour, claiming that he has an insurance of $10,000, 
 and its proportion is one-half, he will lose $2,500. Whereas, if 
 both policies had been concurrent — and he might have had them 
 so without paying any more premium — he would have been 
 fully and unquestionably covered ! 
 
 Having decided upon the proper form, it should be clearly 
 copied in the register, from which entry the agent should 
 copy his pot icy. The full name of applicant should be written in 
 all cases, and the day of the month of commencement and termination, 
 and the amount should also be written in full, and very plainly. 
 
 Under no circumstances should a policy or renewal be dated back 
 
WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 to cover expired time. Tlie contract must not be made to com- 
 mence before the dnij on irhich its terms are agreed to If 
 it is desirable, for any reason, to have all of (lie policies on a 
 risk expire on a particular day, the policy may be issued for 
 "the time" from the date of the contracl to the day of expiration. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a party entrusted with the care of 
 insurance on property for the owner, will desire to cover up an 
 oversight on his pari by having a policy or renewal dated back. 
 The agent should decline to do so in all cases. The precedent 
 would be an objectionable one to establish. 
 
 There should be no erasures in a policy or renewal. If a mistake 
 is made, do not attempt to erase it, but use a new blank, and 
 return the incorrect one as "spoiled" to the company with the 
 next monthly account. 
 
 The Numbering of Policies. Kach policy should have a particu- 
 lar number by which it is to be always afterward known and 
 designated, even though subsequently canceled. Under no 
 circumstances should the some number be given to another. 
 All policies and renewals must be numbered in successive order. 
 
 Lost Policies. If a policy is lost do not issue a duplicate policy, 
 but cancel the lost policy pro rata and take a lost policy receipt 
 for it. Then write a new policy for the unexpired time of the 
 lost policy, and make the premium the same as the return 
 premium on the lost policy. This will involve no financial 
 transaction with the assured and will keep the records of the 
 company straight. 
 
 The agent should not give a number of his own to a policy written 
 at the office of the company, as it would interfere with the accounts 
 of the Company. Such policies should always be known by the 
 numbers they bear. The agent should not skip any number of 
 his series because of the issue of such a policy. 
 
 The monthly account should show a continuous list of the 
 policies issued. Do not skip or omit any numbers, but fill them 
 in, in all cases, writing opposite each the particulars of the policy 
 or an explanation of their omission, as, for instance, "canceled 
 at request of company," "canceled, no premium paid,"' "not 
 taken," etc., as the case may be. 
 
 It is not necessary for an agent to commence his series of 
 policies with number "1." He may commence at any arbitrary 
 
VERBAL AGREEMENTS, LOCA TION OP RISK, ETC. 291 
 
 number, LOO, for instance, being careful to keep the scries per- 
 fect thereafter. Where lie is appointed in the />/<(<■<' of a 
 former agent of fhc company removed or resigned, he .should 
 commence his numbers where such agent stopped writing, 
 or, if lie desires to keep his record separate, lie may commence 
 with any number higher than the last policy issued, but never 
 with one lower, which would result in duplicate numbers. 
 
 Never make verbal agreements. The policy or renewal must be 
 the only contract of insurance. All tacit understandings or oral 
 agreements as to what property is or is not insured by the policy 
 are inadmissible, under any circumstances. Let the plainly 
 written policy be the only reference, and if it does not clearly 
 describe the property, have it corrected before afire. 
 
 All policies should accurately describe the building insured or con- 
 taining property to be insured, as follows, for example, "the two 
 story, brick, metal roof building with metal cornice and 
 coped walls," or, "the one story, frame, shingle roofed build- 
 ing," or otherwise, as the case may be. 
 
 The location of the risk must be clearly and definitely described in 
 the body of the policy, by street numbers, if possible, or, in the 
 absence of street numbers, by the side of the street on which 
 the building is located, and the names of cross streets between 
 which it is situated, and distance in feet from the nearest ; or, 
 in the absence of cross-streets, by lot and block numbers. De- 
 scriptions of location to the company should be uniform; for 
 instance, one risk should not be described by street numbers, 
 and another, adjoining it. by lot and block number. Such dis- 
 crepant references make it difficult for the company to keep a 
 register of its lines exposed to one fire. Indeed, too much care 
 cannot be used in particularly describing the location of risks, 
 especially when the building insured is one of a number of 
 similar ones owned by the same party. In case of a loss, 
 under such circumstances, on a building not insured, claim 
 might be made for it under an indefinite policy intended to 
 cover a different one. When a building cannot be clearly and 
 unmistakably designated by the written description, the policy 
 should refer to a diagram showing it; as "building marked 
 "A," (or "No. 1") on diagram on file in the office of the 
 company, which is hereby made a part of this policy." 
 
WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 Never write ;i policy on ;i building described as indefinitely 
 as the following, for example, ".s// Haled in the town of Jeffer- 
 son," or "on the south .side of Adams street." The policy 
 should describe the property as accurately as possible, and 
 though not with the particularity of a deed of sale, yet with an 
 accuracy which will, in case of loss, admit of no question as to 
 the pari icular building intended. 
 
 An agent has no power to waive any of the printed conditions of a 
 policy. and he musi nol attempl to do so by any written clauses, 
 or by erasing any of the printed matter. Where the conditions 
 are ob jected to, in any case, he should advise with the company, 
 and take no action without their written advice. 
 
 Asa rule, the printed conditions of policies are intended to 
 protect the company against fraud, aud every honest claimant's 
 interest is belter protected by their presence than it would be by 
 their absence. Take, for example, the condition prohibiting 
 other insurance without the consent of the company. Could 
 anything he more dangerous to the public interest or safety 
 than to permit a dishonest person to insure his property for an 
 excessive amount and without reference to its value ; and does 
 not everyone feel better satisfied in knowing that his next door 
 neighbor is restricted from keeping dangerous explosives and 
 combustibles in his building by an insurance policy, though it 
 prohibits them on his own premises as well? The conditions in 
 the policies of honorable companies are actually inserted in the 
 interest of the assured. There can be little question but that 
 the restrictions in the policies of insurance companies against 
 the keeping of dangerous chemicals and explosives in buildings 
 insured by them have had more to do with preventing serious 
 catastrophes in cities than have prohibitory laws on this im- 
 portant subject. Laws are easily evaded and are not always 
 enforced, but the policies of conservative and careful companies 
 are withheld by them until a thorough and intelligent survey 
 of the risk has been made by their inspectors; such inspection is 
 very apt to bring to light the dangerous features of a risk, and 
 even if it should fail to do so. the knowledge by the applicant 
 for insurance that his policy will be voided by a breach of its 
 conditions, if a fire should result from the keeping of prohibited 
 articles, has the effect of excluding them. 
 
 Probably the objections urged by most persons against printed 
 
INTEREST OF ASSURED, MORTGAGEE, ETC. 293 
 
 conditions in policies arises from an ignorance, on their part, of 
 the fact that companies would be protected by law, in the 
 absence of such conditions. 
 
 The interest of the assured must be clearly stated in the policy, if 
 other than the unconditional and sole ownership. The following are 
 tlii' conditions of standard insurance policies: 
 
 This entire policy shall be void if the interest of the 
 
 insured in the properly be not truly slated herein; 
 
 This entire policy, unless otherwise provided by agreement indorsed hereon 
 
 or added hereto, shall be void if 
 
 the interest of the insured be other than unconditional and sole ownership; or 
 it' the subject of insurance he a building on ground not owned by the insured 
 in fee simple; or if the subject of insurance be personal property and be or 
 become incumbered by a chattel mortgage; or if, with the knowledge of the 
 insured, foreclosure proceedings be commenced or notice given of sale of any 
 property covered by this policy by virtue of any mortgage or trust deed; or 
 if any change, other than by the death of an insured, take place in the interest , 
 title, or possession of the subject of insurance (except change of occupants 
 without increase of hazard) whether by legal process or judgment or by 
 voluntary act of the insured, or otherwise; or if this policy be assigned before 
 a loss. 
 
 The insurance of interests smaller than that of the fee simple 
 is so often attended with moral hazard and danger, that com- 
 panies have been obliged to protect themselves by a clause like 
 the preceding in their policies. It is evident that if such interests 
 as those of the mortgagee, and the minor interests of the life- 
 tenant, lease-holder and others, all of which are insurable at 
 law. could be insured, as well as the interest of the owner in 
 fee, a property might be insured by two or more different per- 
 sons, for many times its value, each one taking a policy upon 
 it for the full value, and a dangerous moral hazard result. 
 Where several different interests require protection, all of the 
 parties should be joined in one policy. This enables a com- 
 pany to restrict the amount of insurance to a safe proportion of 
 the value and protects each interest as well. 
 
 When the insurance is for the owner in fee only, the written 
 portion of the policy should commence with the possessive 
 pronoun "his,*' "her," or "their/' as the case may be. to in- 
 dicate the interest insured ; as, for example. "$ on his tiro 
 
 story, brick, metal roof building" , etc. 
 
 The interest of a mortgagee must not be insured direct and sepa- 
 rately. He should, in all cases, be joined with the mortgagor 
 
•.".I I 
 
 WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 or owner. The policy should he made in the name of the owner, 
 in the usual manner, and with loss, if any, payable to the 
 mortgagee, as follows: "Loss, if (tin/, payable to John Doe, 
 mortgagee." 
 
 In case the mortgage should he afterwards paid by the 
 mortgagor, the following endorsement may be made; "The 
 i nt crest of John l><><\ mortgagee, having been .satisfied, Hie 
 losis, if any, is now payable to the assured." 
 
 Do not consent to Chattel Mortgages on Personal or Movable Prop- 
 erty. Too many interests in movable property embarrass adjust- 
 ments, and a presumption of moral hazard lies where an owner's 
 1 affairs are in such an unsatisfactory condition that he is obliged 
 to mortgage his personal effects. 
 
 Life Estate. Care and good judgment should be exercised in 
 insuring this interest. The tenant for life who has insurance 
 for the full value of property, of which he has only the use for 
 life, has often much to gain by a fire. There is, under such 
 circumstances, usually little incentive to carefulness on his part; 
 indeed there is apt to be a strong incentive to fraud. 
 
 The value of a life estate is not easy of ascertainment, and, 
 moreover, decreases each year, and the better way, where all 
 parties consent to the arrangement, is for all interested — both 
 the tenant for life and the ultimate owner— to be joined in the 
 policy, with a condition in the policy that, in case of loss, the 
 money is to be applied to rebuilding or restoring the property, 
 a designated payee being mentioned in the policy. This 
 protects all interested. Another way is for the ultimate owner 
 and the tenant for life to agree as to the proportion of the 
 insurance money each is to receive, in tlie event of loss, and 
 to have it plainly stipulated in the policy; as follows, for 
 example, 11 It is understood that, in case of loss under this 
 policy, the same shall be payable in the following pro- 
 portion, viz., one-fourth to John Doe and three-fourths to 
 Richard Hoe." 
 
 Leasehold. This interest is not covered by a policy unless 
 expressly mentioned by it (see lines 17 and 18.) Where the 
 owner of a building which stands on leased ground, and which 
 will revert to the owner of the ground, by the terms of the lease, 
 at the expiration of it, seeks insurance, it should be remembered, 
 
[NSURANCE OE LEASES, ETC. 
 
 295 
 
 as has been before stated, that his interest in the property is not 
 more valuable than tit< j right to use it for the time tli< j lease 
 has to rim — say what would remain, after deducting from a 
 fair rental, such expenses as cost of repairs, taxes, ground rent, 
 defaulting tenants, declining rents, etc. His interest depreciates 
 in value with each }"ear, and when within a few years of the 
 expiration of the lease, the amount of the insurance should be 
 very light, unless both owner and lessee are joined. 
 
 It is, sometimes, urged that a lessee will let a building deteri- 
 orate, for want of repairs, as his lease approaches its termination, 
 so that, at the last, he will not lose much, and may, therefore, 
 be safely insured ; but this argument overlooks the danger com- 
 mon to all property, the owner of which has no inducement to 
 carefulness. Any insurance, rlso, is more than likely to be 
 over-in durance. 
 
 Where such an interest is insured, the agent should satisfy 
 himself as to all the circumstances of the case — the length of the 
 lease (which should be stated in the written portion of the policy) 
 — whether by its terms the building reverts, at expiration, to 
 the owner of the ground, or is to be paid for by him at a fair 
 price, and whether the lease is renewable on equitable terms — 
 all of which are important in deciding as to the lease and its 
 value and the desirability of insuring it. If it seems desirable 
 to issue a policy, advise the Company in the Daily Report as to 
 all the facts. 
 
 Insurance of Leases (for form, see index.) The value of a 
 lease is the amount which a tenant collects from sub-tenants 
 over and above what he pays the owner and is the profit on his 
 lease. Leases are seldom insured outside of large cities, where 
 rents are high and where the lessee of a large building, in a 
 desirable location, who has secured it for a term of years at a 
 low figure, can frequently sub-let to great advantage — some- 
 times for thousands of dollars per annum more than he himself 
 pays. In such a case, he has an interest which may be insured. 
 He would clearly be a heavy loser by a fire destroying the build- 
 ing and canceling his leases. Great care should be taken, how- 
 ever, to see that the applicant has a good bargin. He may 
 have taken the building when rents were high. He may not 
 have secured tenants enough to fill it. Trade may have changed 
 
2&6 
 
 U BITING POLICIES. 
 
 from the locality. It must be remembered i hat we do not insure 
 except against m l mil lass of property. 
 
 Insurance on Rents, (for form of policy, Bee index. | Rents arc 
 also, a legitimate subject of insurance. The owner of a well- 
 tenanted building receiving annual rentals for his property, 
 dearly loses something more than the mere cost of the building 
 in case of a fire, if his leases, by their terms, are canceled by 
 such fire. 
 
 The amount of the monthly payment, to be made under the 
 policy, in case of fire, should not be more than one-twelfth l i 
 the amount of the policy, as this is the basis on which the rate 
 is made. Where a large proportion of the policy is payable per 
 mouth, a proportionally higher rate should be charged, as a 
 party might draw the whole amount of a policy, in case of a 
 temporary loss of rents for only two or three months, and the 
 company suffer a total loss, under its policy, for a mere tempo- 
 rary damage to the building. 
 
 Onli/ an (tciual loss of vents is to be paid for. The Com- 
 pany should not pay rent for rooms which were vacant, at the 
 time of the fire, and for which no tenants could be secured. 
 To do so would be to offer, in some cases, a strong incentive to 
 fraud. 
 
 Title of Property in the Name of a Wife. Although the husband 
 has an insurable interest, at law, in the property of his wife, 
 the condition of the policy requires that it be insured in her 
 name, or, if in his name, that his interest be plainly stated in 
 the policy. A wife has no insurable interest, at law. in the 
 property of her husband. 
 
 Property in the hands of a Sheriff or U. S. Marshal. Do not insure 
 without the consent of the Company first obtained. A serious 
 moral hazard is often involved, especially in cases of seizure for 
 frauds on the revenue, as in the case of whiskey, tobacco, etc. 
 Fires are sometimes resorted to by unprincipled parties to cover 
 evidences of guilt. 
 
 Assignee in Bankruptcy. While it may be claimed that the 
 danger of moral hazard is past when a bankrupt assigns his 
 property, for the benefit of his creditors, it must also be remem- 
 bered that no one, after such an assignment, has that interest 
 in the preservation of the property which is common to unem- 
 
k< >i; w in > .1 i r :.. a v * < >NOERN, R r 
 
 bamissed ownership ;uul so indispensable to ensure the caro upon 
 which the underwriter relies for his prospects of safety. Indeed 
 it might, in some cases, benefit all concerned — owner and cred- 
 itors alike — if the property should burn with a full insurance. 
 The agent should, therefore, decline to insure, under such 
 circumstances, without fully satisfying himself as to the honesty 
 of all concerned. Not over three-fourths of the actual cash 
 value should be insured, in any case, and, as a rule, not over 
 one-half such value. 
 
 For Whom it may Concern. Decline to insert this clause in a 
 policy. The names of all interested should be inserted in full. 
 Agents and property-holders are apt to overlook the objection 
 to this form, forgetting that we insure the individual against 
 loss on his property, and not the property itself. Insurance is 
 a contract of indemnity only, and no matter how good, physic- 
 ally, the risk may be, we would not insure an unsafe man. 
 For this reason we must know whom we insure, that we may 
 guard against fraud. 
 
 Insurance of -Agents" instead of Principals. Never insure an 
 agent on the property of his principal. The policy should be in 
 the name of the owuier, but maybe made payable to the agent, 
 if it is desirable to do so, on account of the non-residence of his 
 principal or for other reasons. 
 
 Insurance of the Insurance Agent's own Property. The Company 
 will be pleased to write policies for any of its agents on desirable 
 risks belonging to them. An insurance policy written by an 
 agent on his own property, however, is void at law — a man not 
 being able to make a contract with himself — a fact which the 
 agent should know for his own good, and which it is due to him 
 here to state. He should forward his application to the Com- 
 pany, and may rely on immediate attention to his request and 
 a reply by return mail. 
 
 "Estate of." "Heirs of." etc. The property of a deceased person, 
 which has not been divided or which does not pass by will or 
 by law to the heir, should be insured in the name of the estate. 
 The expression "estate of." so frequently used in insurance 
 policies, has strictly no legal significance, and is indefinite. It 
 is, however, susceptible of explanation in case of loss, and is a 
 very common and convenient expression for insurance policies. 
 
u RITING POLICIES. 
 
 To insure the "heirs" of a person is objectionable, unless the 
 loss is made payable to some definite parly, surlt as the adminis- 
 trator, as it may be a question, in case of loss, as to who and 
 where they are, and it might be claimed that the company 
 should be responsible for the discovery of them. They are some- 
 times scattered in different parts of the country, and their release 
 receipts, in case of loss, might be difficult to procure, unless at 
 such expenditure of time and trouble as would prove a serious 
 inconvenience. 
 
 Commission Clause — "Merchandise Held in Trust or cn Commission, 
 or Sold but not Delivered." "Held in Trust." This phrase is 
 often misconstrued, and is erroneously supposed to cover prop- 
 erty merely left in the custody of the assured, for which he is 
 not responsible, in case of loss, and of which he is only a "bailee," 
 and not a "trustee." 
 
 "A 'trustee 1 is the legal owner of the property, which he is 
 bound to convey, use or apply, for the benefit of another, but 
 neither in technical nor ordinary language is a man called a 
 'trustee' because some article has been left at his house or store, 
 to remain there until called for." 
 
 This cldii.se docs not core/- goods held on storage, if insured 
 in the name of the warehouseman and not in the name of the 
 owner. The policies of companies require that goods held on 
 storage must be specifically mentioned and insured as such. 
 
 "On < 'omni ission.'' — This phrase is intended to protect, and 
 does protect, property bought or sold under orders or com- 
 missions of third parties to the entire value of the goods, not 
 exceeding, of course, the amount insured thereon. 
 
 "Sold but not delivered.' 1 '' — "AVhat constitutes 'delivery' has 
 been an open and much discussed question, and a very general 
 misapprehension exists in the minds of merchants on the subject. 
 If, after sale, the vendor is bound by contract or custo7n to 
 deliver the goods, his policies should and do protect him, but 
 with reference to a future delivery, agreed upon between the 
 parties, unless such an interest is retained by the vendor as will 
 ensure his care of the property, the insurance of it is not apt to 
 be a safe undertaking." It must be remembered that we do 
 not insure the goods — if we did it might be a matter of indiffer- 
 ence to us as to who had charge of or owned them. We insure 
 
COMMISSION CLAUSE. 
 
 299 
 
 the owner against any loss he may sustain by reason of the de- 
 struction of the goods, and, as the safety of property largely 
 depends upon the character of the owner for honesty and care- 
 fulness, the company should always know when a change of 
 ownership takes place, and be in a position to withhold its con- 
 sent if necessary. 
 
 The following extract from the report of a Committee of the 
 New York Board of Fire Underwriters will be found to still 
 further explain the matter: 
 
 "We do not know why the seller should be relieved from all responsibility 
 for care and safety of the goods, except lire insurance, which lie or the Broker 
 seems to suppose he may hold and trade oil in the sale. If, after sale, he is 
 bound by contract or custom for delivery, we believe it right that his Policies 
 shall still protect him. We may not know whether or not his agreement for 
 a future delivery has been made specially to hold the insurance, but we do say 
 that if the insurance is thus necessary for the seller's protection, so should 
 be all other needed care and responsibility for the goods until they shall be actually 
 delivered. It is a technical wrong-wording to say, we insure the goods, and it 
 leads tn further saying and thinking that if we insure the goods, what matters 
 it who may be the owner, if the fire be honest. Insurance is a personal con- 
 tract between the company insuring and the person, owner or manager bf the 
 property described. We insure him against any loss he may sustain by fire 
 to the property. We issue our Policies on our faith in the assured and his care 
 for thi- property, and we cannot suffer him to abandon any of that care of owner- 
 ship whilst our Policy may be liable for a loss." 
 
 The actual removal of the property from the custody and 
 premises of the vendor is not necessary to constitute delivery. 
 "If goods are sold in a store, separated and weighed or num- 
 bered — if that be necessary — and put into a parcel, or otherwise 
 made ready for delivery to the buyer, in his presence, and he 
 request the seller to keep the goods, for a time, for him, this is 
 so far a delivery as to vest the property in the goods in the 
 buyer, and the seller becomes the bailee of the buyer. If they 
 should be burned while so held, the buyer would lose them." 
 (Parsons on Commercial Lair.) In some cases, as in the 
 purchase of lumber, for instance, slight acts, such as touching 
 it or even going near it and pointing it out, are sufficient to 
 constitute delivery. The delivery of a negotiable warehouse 
 receipt or of an order on a warehouse-man or third party having 
 custody of the goods, constitutes delivery and the interest of 
 the seller passes to the buyer. So, also, the delivery to the 
 buyer of the key of a warehouse containing the goods would be 
 delivery. 
 
:iuu 
 
 WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 The illustration has heen made use of by a writer on com- 
 mercial law that if a certain number, say fifty, out of two 
 hundred trees should be selected by a buyer and purchased of a 
 gardener, though left growing in the grounds of the seller, he 
 (the purchaser) would be the owner of them and lose by their 
 destruction. If, however, he should purchase fifty of the num- 
 ber without denoting his preference for particular ones, they 
 would, up to the time of such selection, remain the property of 
 the seller, who would lose them if destroyed. 
 
 It is sometimes customary among brokers and merchants to 
 attempt to sell a remaining interest in an insurance policy by 
 inserting in sale notes words like these : "Buyers to have the 
 benefit of seller's unexpired fire insurance without charge." 
 This may he agreed upon as lieticeen the parties, biif unless 
 the transaction is completed by obtaining the consent of 
 the insurance company to the transfer, such clauses in any 
 contracts for the sale of goods are powerless to convey an interest 
 in the policy. In such a case it takes three to make a bargain. 
 
 The following is the resolution of the New York Board of 
 Fire Underwriters as to this important point of goods sold, with 
 an agreement as to a future delivery: 
 
 '■'Resolved, That claims for loss of goods sold where it is truly set forth in 
 the 'proofs of loss,' that in the sale note or contract of sale, there was in writing 
 the following words (or others to the same effect) — 'Deliverable at the option of 
 
 the buyer at any time within days,' or, if an order on the warehouse has 
 
 been given, and such order was made to read 'Deliver to A. B. &> Co., {the 
 purchaser), at any time within days,' (or words to that effect), the Insur- 
 ance Companies, members of 'the new YORK board of FIRE underwriters,' 
 will recognize the assured in the Policy named as the owner of the goods 
 within and up to the time of such limitation, provided the number of days is 
 fixed at the time of sale, and then -written in the contract or order; and provided 
 that the buyer shall not have presented his order and had the goods placed to 
 his or other account in the store." 
 
 To collect the amount of insurance, in case of loss, it is neces- 
 sary that the claimant should have an insurable interest in the 
 property at the time of the fire, and it must be plain that the 
 seller, who has sold property and is not liable to the buyer for 
 it, cannot take the required oath of interest. His responsi- 
 bility for the preservation of the goods has ceased. 
 
 Sold but -not Removed from Store." Decline this form. It is 
 designed to evade the legal interpretation of the term ''sold but 
 
RE-INSURANCK. 
 
 301 
 
 not delivered." As before explained, actual removal is not a 
 necessary incident of delivery. No one should be permitted to 
 insure that which he does not own, and for which he is not 
 responsible, in case of loss. 
 
 Re-insurance. Policies reinsuring other Companies must not 
 be issued without first obtaining the consent of the Company. 
 Wberever practicable the policy should be issued direct to the 
 property-holder. It is, however, sometimes admissible to re- 
 insure a company having a larger line than it ought to carry. 
 The agent should be very careful, in such cases, to assure him- 
 self that the company dividing its line is not doing so under a 
 concealed apprehension of danger, and especially should he 
 guard against re-insurance, where any moral hazard is in- 
 volved. The re-insurance should always be a question of line 
 only, and never of risk or rate; that is, only to be effected for 
 a company desiring to be re-insured where the line held by such 
 company is too great for it to carry and not where the rate is too 
 low, or the risk an undesirable one. In reporting such risks by 
 daily reports be particular to explain all the circumstances, and 
 to state the amount of insurance retained by the re-insured 
 company, after deducting all re-insurance. 
 
 The agent should assure himself, also, that the re-insuring 
 company is not getting rid of the poorest portion of a risk, 
 by re-insuring it at the "round rate" of the whole. We would 
 not re-insure barns, for instance, at the round rate for farm 
 property, where the re-insured company retains the dwelling. 
 
 An agent of tiro different companies cannot re-insure one 
 of them in the other. Such a policy would be void unless 
 approved by the company issuing it. An agent cannot make 
 a contract with himself, either personally or as an agent. 
 
 Under no circumstances do we wish an agent to issue the 
 policy of this company for a larger amount than is meant to be 
 retained, even when re-insuring the excess in some other com- 
 pany. Such a practice virtually amounts, in many cases, to a 
 guaranty of the policy of a weaker company without re- 
 muneration, since, in case of loss, we would have the full 
 amount to pay and take our chances of recovering any portion 
 of it from the re-insuring company, which might fail by an 
 extended conflagration involving the destruction of the property. 
 
302 
 
 WRITING POLICIES. 
 
 We clearly lose, also, in the case of re-insurance the expenses 
 of commission, taxes, etc., paid by us on the premium. 
 
 In those cases where it may he necessary or advisable to re- 
 insure our lines, we prefer to do so at the principal office. 
 
 Where agents cannot place their surplus lines, they will find 
 the company, at all times, ready and willing to assist them by 
 placing desirable risks in other companies, securing for them, 
 if possible, the usual commission. 
 
 Do not write a -Valued Policy." i. <■.. one in which the value of 
 the subject insured is mentioned. If the written portion of a 
 policy fixes the value, there is little hope of escaping the pay- 
 ment of the amount, even though it be above the true value of 
 the property. In all cases the value should be left to be deter- 
 mined after the loss. It is desirable, however, in some cases, 
 to fix ;i limit of value, beyond which claim cannot be made in 
 case of loss. Especially is this the case where the property has 
 a fancy value, not well established by rules of trade; such prop- 
 erty, for instance, as paintings, valuable horses or other live 
 stock, collections of curiosities, mineral, geological or ornitho- 
 logical cabinets, rare books, statuary, etc. When insuring 
 paintings or engravings, where two or more are Insured under 
 one amount and not specifically, the following clause should be 
 inserted: "In case of loss, no one painting or engraving to 
 be rallied at more than •>'. . . .," (here insert amount), or the 
 following: "In case of loss, no painting or engraving to be 
 valued at more than east." Neither of these clauses fixes any 
 value. They merely limit the maximum amount of claim. 
 
 Where horses or other live stock are insured, an amount 
 should be named beyond which claim cannot be made, in case 
 of loss, on any one. This prevents any claim being made for 
 the whole amount, or an undue proportion of it, on a single 
 animal. The number of animals should also be named, and 
 the amount specified on any one should be a fair proportion of 
 the whole ; for instance, if $300 be insured on three horses, the 
 amount limited to be claimed on any one should not exceed 8100, 
 or one-third. Where the amount is not limited to a fair pro- 
 portion of the whole amount of insurance, the rate should be 
 higher, since we might, otherwise, be virtually carrying several 
 risks for one premium. 
 
INSURE THE WHOLE HAZARD, ETC. 
 
 303 
 
 Insure the whole hazard — external and internal or none. It is 
 
 not uncommon for an applicant, who is dissatisfied with the 
 charge made for an exposure, to offer to carry the risk of the 
 exposure himself, claiming, possibly, that the danger is over- 
 estimated; or, on the other hand, he offers that if the Company 
 will insure him against outside dangers, he will run all risk, 
 himself, of a fire originating on his own premises. Such con- 
 tracts are objectionable. It is frequently difficult to arrive at 
 the cause of a fire, and it will generally be found, after a loss 
 under such a contract, that the company, while it has been 
 receiving a part only of the premium, has really been carry- 
 in (j the irltole risk. 
 
 A Policy should be Specific. A separate amount should be 
 named upon each building insured, and a specific amount on 
 merchandise in each. Under no circumstances should two or 
 more buildings or their contents — unless they communicate 
 without iron doors — be insured under one amount, without 
 the average clause. Insurance should always cover specifically 
 on each side of an iron door. 
 
 If two or more buildings, insured under one amount, be so 
 situated as not to burn necessarily by one fire, the company 
 would clearly be carrying two or more risks for one premium, 
 unless the full value of each is insured, which is neither likely 
 nor desirable. 
 
 Never insure a building and its contents under one sum. 
 
 When it is necessary, for any reason, to insure two or more 
 buildings or their contents under one sum, the "distribution 
 form" of average clause must be inserted. 
 
 Where personal or movable property consists of two or more 
 different classes, it is desirable to insure a specific amount on 
 each class. For example, if insurance is desired on a stock of 
 hardware, tinware and fire-arms, a policy covering a specific 
 amount on each class of merchandise is desirable but not im- 
 perative. Such a policy may close with words like the following, 
 after the last division, "and other merchandise not more 
 hazardous,''' to cover small omissions. The policies of all 
 companies on the risk, however, should be concurrent, and all 
 should be specific or none. 
 
 A policy on household furniture is improved by specific divi- 
 
:j()4 
 
 \\ KITIN(i POLICIES. 
 
 sions, and, where the insurance is so written, an applicant U 
 more likely to take a sufficient amount of insurance, his atten- 
 tion being called, by the divisions, to the amount necessary to 
 protect him. In case of loss, also, an adjustment is easily and 
 satisfactorily made, the assured having no one but himself to 
 blame if he is insured for an inadequate amount. 
 
 Office furniture, fixtures, counters, show-cases, burglar or fire-proof 
 safes, etc.. should all be insured specifically, and never included 
 under the same amount with stock. 
 
 Druggists' Jars. Bottles Soda Water Fountains, etc.. should also be 
 insured specifically, and separately from stock. 
 
 Plate Glass in doors and windows, if more than three feet square, 
 (or nine square feet ), and Plate Glass Mirrors should be insured 
 specifically and a higher rate collected (at least double the rate 
 on the building) owing, in the case of windows, to the liability 
 of breakage either by the heat of a fire across a street or in a 
 aeighboring building, or by firemen in order to enter the build- 
 ing itself in case of fire. 
 
 Out-houses. Yard Fences, etc.. should be specifically insured. 
 Fences should paj' at least one per cent., as they are nearly 
 always broken down, in case of a fire. 
 
 Curiosities. Collections of Birds. Cabinets of Mineral or Geological 
 Specimens. Collections of Coins, etc.. if insured, must be for small 
 amounts, and specifically, a limit of claim being written in the 
 policy as to any one specimen, in case of loss. 
 
 The following property must not be insured, under any circum- 
 stances: money, bullion, bills, notes, accounts, deeds, evi- 
 dences of debt, securities of property of any kind, or manu- 
 scripts. An agent of intelligence will readily understand why. 
 
 Avoid all ambiguous or incomplete language in writing policies, 
 such as the indefinite words "articles." -effects." - property." "con- 
 tents." -household goods." etc. 
 
 "Live Stock. 1 " Specify whether horses, cattle or sheep. 
 
 "Goods." "Wares." etc. "Merchandise 1 ' is a preferable term to 
 either 'goods' or 'wares.' as it implies property kept for sale. 
 "Property which is purchased and taken out of the market to 
 be applied to the ultimate use for which it is intended, ceases to 
 be 'merchandise.' Thus, a gentleman's wearing apparel, the 
 
ARTICLES, ETC. 
 
 30."? 
 
 furniture <>t' His house, his coach and horses, and the wines 
 and liquors for use in his family, arc not 'merchandise.'" 
 
 "Articles." When this term is insisted upon by the assured, 
 it should be qualified by the addition of such words as "Ac/*/ 
 for sale," or "o/ merchandise," to prevent claim being made 
 on show-cases, office or store furniture, fixtures, etc., all of 
 which might be claimed to be "articles," and which should be 
 specifically insured. 
 
 Avoid abbreviations, such as "Do.*" or "Ditto." -etc.." "Ac.,"' -etal.," 
 and others. According to Lord Coke, "&c." means "whatever 
 else ought to have been expressed." We have no objection to 
 insure "whatever else ought to have been expressed," but we 
 desire to hare it expressed, that we may know whether it 
 ought to be insured. 
 
 A policy should never be worded as follows, for example, on a -Saw 
 Mill." a -Flour Mill." a "Starch Factory." etc., but should be written 
 — "on the brick, metal roof building irhite occupied as a saw 
 mill," — (flour mill, or starch factory, as the case may be). It 
 has been claimed that a policy on a "saw mill" covers not only 
 the building, but also the saws, engine, boilers, machinery, 
 and. in fact, everything necessary to make it a ''saw mill " 
 complete in all its parts. 
 
 Do not make too many endorsements on a policy. It is best to 
 write a new one when it becomes filled - up with too many 
 endorsements. Clean contracts are desirable. 
 
 Do not renew a policy which has been materially altered in any 
 important particular, as of amount, name, location, etc.. by renewal 
 receipt. It is best to write a new policy, and, in this connection, 
 it may be well to state that in reporting a new policy so written, 
 in place of an old one, the fact that it is renewed by a neir 
 policy not by a "renewal receipt," should be stated in the daily 
 report and in the monthly account. 
 
 Never issue a Renewal Receipt which alters the original contract 
 in any important respect, especially in amount. Renewal receipts 
 are not explicit enough in their form, as will be apparent to any 
 one upon an examination of them, to warrant their being used 
 to alter any material terms of the original contract, especially 
 if such alteration is in favor of the Company, as in a reduc- 
 tion of the amount of its liability. A renewal receipt may 
 
30G 
 
 WKITINC I'm I K ||;s. 
 
 require extrinsic, collateral evidence to pnivc it. while a policy 
 proves itself. 
 
 Endorsements should never be made upon a Renewal Receipt, but. 
 in all cases, upon the Policy itself. All endorsements, transfers 
 and assignments should I >e reported on the day they are made, 
 on the small blanks furnished for the purpose. 
 
 The policy on a building should always limit the hazard of occupa- 
 tion, by clearly stating it. Such words as "while occupied as 
 prirafc r//rc//<//f/," or, "while occupied as a grain ware- 
 house" protect the Company against the consequences of a 
 change of occupation. 
 
 It is desirable that definite language should be used. The 
 words, "while occupied as a 'store,' or "for mercantile purposes," 
 or "for a store-house,"' are not sufficiently definite — the partic- 
 ular kiial of "store,*' "ware-house." or "store-house," and the 
 nature of the "mercantile purposes," should be stated. The 
 sale of fire-works, gunpowder, or other dangerous substances, 
 might be claimed to be an occupation for "mercantile purposes." 
 The phrase "while occupied for purposes not specially hazard- 
 ous,'" though frequently used and less objectionable than many 
 others, is still not so desirable as a particular and plain de- 
 scription of what the occupancy really is. Where the occupa- 
 tions of a building cannot all be given, the phrase "privileged 
 for hazardous and extra hazardous occupation" may be used, 
 as these indicate clearly defined classes, and are preferable to 
 the indefinite phrase "not specially hazardous." 
 
 In policies on special hazards, the words "privileged to be 
 occupied for special/!/ hazardous purposes" are not sufficiently 
 definite to limit the occupation — the particular kind of special 
 hazard must be specified. The term "special hazard" covers a 
 very large class of dangerous occupations. 
 
 Do not issue a policy for a premium less than $1.50. A smaller 
 premium does not pay for the use of blanks, trouble of recording, 
 etc. Where the amount is so small that the computed premium, 
 at the rate for the class, amounts to less than $1.50, the agent 
 should charge that amount for it or decline the risk. 
 
 Decline to write term policies on mercantile risks. The only risks 
 which should be written for a longer term than a year, are 
 dwellings and farm property. It is sometimes advisable, how- 
 
APPLICATION AND SURVEY, ETC. 
 
 ever, to modify the rule in favor of elm relics, school-houses, 
 colleges, court-houses, engine-houses, and other public build- 
 ings which are not subject to changes of occupation. All 
 other risks should come up, each year, for consideration and 
 inspection, and it may be suggested, also, to the assured that 
 his companies should come before him, cacti year, for con- 
 sideration. The rates current in some localities, for term 
 policies, of two annual premiums for three-year policies, and of 
 three annual premiums for five-year policies, are not adequate. 
 They should be 2% and 3/^ annual premiums respectively as 
 already explained. Page 206. 
 
 Application and Survey. The policy should close with a refer- 
 ence to the application and survey, which should be signed by 
 the applicant, using the following form, "Reference being had 
 to the application and survey of the assured, numbered. . . ., 
 on file in the office of the Company, which is the basis of 
 this insurance, and which is hereby made a warranty on 
 the part of the assured." 
 
 The application should, in all cases, be signed i>y the appli- 
 cant and never t>i/ the agent, and it is desirable, also, that the 
 answers to questions should be filled in by the applicant himself. 
 Where the agent performs this task for him, he is the agent of 
 the applicant for that purpose. 
 
 Gunpowder. Kerosene. Night-work in Mills. Lightning. Fire-works, 
 etc. (For forms, see index.) 
 
REPORTS TO COMPANY. 
 
 Daily Reports. Surveys, etc. Let all daily reports be full, with 
 every question answered. When a letter of explanation will 
 place the Company in possession of valuable collateral infor- 
 mation and facilitate its consideration of the risk, it should be 
 forwarded — otherwise do not write on a separate sheet. Daily 
 reports arc intended to be self-explanatory. 
 
 Be particular to answer the questions as to the amount of 
 insurance permitted in other companies, and as to whether it 
 is concurrent ; the amount of other policies which the Company 
 may have in or on buildings exposed by the risk, and, therefore, 
 liable to burn by the same fire; the value of the property; the 
 length of time the applicant has resided at the agency, and the 
 number of years the agent has known him. 
 
 In case the applicant is a "new comer," be particular to 
 inquire as to his antecedents, and report the facts to the 
 Company. 
 
 In reporting endorsements, transfers, assignments, etc., the 
 same care and dispatch should be observed as in reporting 
 policies. Where assignments are made by filling out the printed 
 forms on the backs of policies, it is not necessary to copy the 
 printed matter of the form, it being sufficient to report, as 
 follows, for example, "policy assigned to John Doe, pur- 
 chaser.'' In all cases, the agent should state the interest of 
 assignees, whether as purchasers, mortgagees, or otherwise. 
 
 In short, the agent should make an intelligent report of the 
 risk, noticing and explaining such points as will be likely to 
 excite inquiry on the part of an examining officer. A brief 
 explanation in pencil on a daily report as to a point of interest 
 will, sometimes, save both Company and agent the necessity of 
 correspondence. 
 
 The agent should refer, on all daily reports, to the insurance 
 
INSURANCE MAI'S AND DIAGRAMS. 
 
 309 
 
 map and when the risk is not on the map, he should state 
 the fact and make a diagram showing the risk and all buildings 
 exposing it, the widths and names of streets and numbers of 
 buildings. In the absence of such references, lot and block 
 numbers should be given. (See ante, page 291.) 
 
 All daily reports must be forwarded, on the day a risk is 
 made binding or, in case they cannot be sent on the very day, 
 a short letter should be sent, giving the principal particulars of 
 the risk, such as amount, location, etc. 
 
 It would be embarrassing, both to the Company and the 
 agent, to have a tire occur before the Company had been noti- 
 fied of its responsibility. Such neglect would be inexcusable. 
 The records of the Company and of its agent should correspond, 
 as nearly as may be, with each other. 
 
 All surveys and applications should be signed by the applicant 
 and never by the agent. 
 
 It is not necessary in reporting policies or renewals to copy 
 any of theprinted matter. Copies only of the written portion 
 should be forwarded, and only the written portion copied in the 
 register. 
 
 Insurance Map or Diagram. Where an insurance map is on file 
 with the Company, the number of the building, as before stated, 
 should be noted on the daily report ; this will save the examiners 
 in the office of the Company much time and trouble in locating 
 the risk. The agent should also be careful to note, in pencil, 
 on his duplicate copy of the map, opposite a building insured or 
 containing insured property, the particulars of the policy — num- 
 ber, amount, and date of expiration. 
 
 In this way he will be able to decide intelligently and accu- 
 rately as to questions of line, and wall not be likely to accept 
 too large an amount in any one block. In case the map needs 
 correction, in any respect — whether in consequence of errors of 
 the surveyor, or by reason of the erection of new buildings or 
 the destruction of others by fire — any pains taken to correct it, 
 by forwarding a small diagram (drawn on the same scale as the 
 map, i. e., 50 feet to the inch), which can be pasted in the 
 proper place, will be appreciated by the Company. 
 
 In the absence of any map, the agent will find the transaction 
 of business greatly facilitated by making and forwarding a 
 
INSURANCE MAI'S AND DIAGRAMS. 
 
 connected (I iagra m of the compact, business port of his 
 town. 
 
 By numbering the buildings and retaining a duplicate copy 
 (for making which, the transparent diagram paper furnished 
 by the company will be found to be very convenient), it will 
 only be necessary in reporting risks, thereafter, to refer to the 
 number of the buildings on the map, instant of making a 
 diagram on cadi daily report. 
 
 The diagrams furnished by an agent on daily reports, in 
 reporting the risks taken by him in the first three months of his 
 work, would, if pasted together as one connected diagram, 
 frequently make a very fair insurance map of the compact part 
 of his town, and save him much trouble in reporting subsequent 
 risks. 
 
 The map need not be drawn to any particular scale, (care be- 
 ing, of course, taken to show the relative size of buildings), if 
 the distances between buildings and other measurements be 
 inserted in figures, but should not be on a smaller scale than 50 
 feet to one inch, which allows % inch of space to a 25 foot front, 
 and is a very convenient one; and the buildings need not be 
 colored in water color, it being only necessary to draw brick, 
 or stone outlines in red ink and frames in black. 
 
 Care should be taken to show fire-walls extending through 
 and above the roof, (a very important feature), wooden cor- 
 nices, openings in side or division walls (and especially in walls 
 on exposed sides), communications with adjoining buildings, 
 material of roofs, etc. (See key to symbols and sample diagram. ) 
 
 The relative heights of buildings may be shown by figures in 
 brackets, the height of each being marked in feet. A building 
 exposed by one of brick or stone adjoining it, but of greater 
 heigh t, is as effectually protected as by a wall extending through 
 and above the roof as already explained, and pains should be 
 taken to show such an important feature of a risk. The fact 
 might decide the Company to accept a risk which it would, 
 otherwise, suppose too seriously exposed. 
 
 See the diagram for the manner of showing the relative 
 heights of buildings in blocks. 
 
 Where there are windows in that portion of the wail of a 
 
I 
 
 r/og 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Gro 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 
 + ro 
 
 
 19 17 15 13 
 
 3ft I 3ft 
 
 MO +•£ 
 
 MASONIC H'U 
 
 i \ 
 $ 
 
 I 
 
 9 7 5 3 1 
 
 MANSARD ROOF 
 
 Co 
 M 
 
 r 
 
 I 
 
 (v + Mn + - 
 
 63 65 6 
 
 i 
 
CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 building above the roof of one adjoining it, they should be shown 
 in the manner indicated. 
 
 Be particular, in all cases, to give names and widths of 
 streets in diagrams, and unless a street is at least 100 feet wide, 
 the agent should show the buildings on the opposite side from 
 that on which a risk is situated. 
 
 Explanation of Diagram. For example, the omnibus building, 
 Nos. 1, 3 and 5 Main street, as shown on the diagram, has a 
 mansard roof and a wooden cornice (shown by the broken line 
 in front of the building), and is three stories high. No. 2 Main 
 street represents a four story, metal roof, brick building, occupied 
 for a dry goods store and photograph gallery, the skylight being- 
 shown (see key). A communication between No. 2 and No. 4 
 is protected by an iron door and the walls of the building rise 
 three feet above the roof. The figures in brackets [GO] show 
 that the building is sixty feet high and, as No. 4 adjoining is 
 seventy feet high, the wall between the two is, so far as No. 2 
 is concerned, an effectual fire-wall (provided the iron door 
 proves reliable). The windows in the rear wall, on 1st and 
 3rd floors, exposed by the planing mill, are protected with iron 
 shutters, and the wall between Nos. 2 and 4 is 18 inches thick 
 (shown by numerals on the line of the wall). 
 
 No. 28 First Street shows a frame planing mill, with a brick 
 boiler-house. The line of furnace feed, however, is in a direct 
 line with the door to the mill (an important and objectionable 
 feature, see under head of "Planing Mills,") and a "back 
 draught'' would inevitably empty the contents of the furnaces 
 into the mill. There should either be no opening in the wall 
 between the boiler-house and the mill, or the doors to the fur- 
 naces should open at right angles to the mill, or, better still in 
 an opposite direction from the communication. 
 
 The height of lumber piles is also shown, an important point. 
 (See under head of "Lumber Yards.") 
 
 The agent will notice, in the case of No. 10 Main street, that 
 the iron shutter to the window in the south wall is a valuable 
 protection, in view of the frame row on that side. 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Be prompt in replying to all letters of the Company. The 
 
3 1 2 
 
 CA NCELLATION. 
 
 accumulation of open matters, in consequence of unanswered 
 letters, especially in the case of a large company, doing business 
 with thousands of agents, is almost overwhelming, and seriously 
 embarrasses an intelligent management of the business. Daily 
 reports, applications, etc., are often held for such replies until 
 the examining officer, in consequence of the lapse of time and 
 the press of routine work, has grown unfamiliar with the matter, 
 and upon receipt of a delayed letter, has much of his work to 
 go over again. 
 
 Where several hundred letters are sent off each day, the 
 accumulation, even of a week, becomes a serious matter. 
 
 I'.c careful to note the references to pages of copybooks show- 
 ing copies of the letters, when replying to them. It will save 
 much trouble and loss of time. 
 
 Do not write about several different matters on one sheet. 
 In all well regulated offices, each letter is filed in its appropriate 
 place. One relating to an account, for instance, with the 
 account department; another describing a risk, with the daily 
 report. Letters have to be read, also, by those having charge 
 of the particular matters to which they refer, and the business 
 of a large office is greatly facilitated if such matters are treated 
 of on separate sheets, which can then be distributed to the 
 proper persons. 
 
 It may be well to add, also, that where several different 
 matters are written about on one sheet, copies have to be made 
 for filing ; this necessitates trouble and loss of time which will 
 more than balance the extra expense of letter paper saved in 
 using one sheet. 
 
 CANCELLATION. 
 
 (For rules as to cancellation after a fire, see pages 318, 319, etc.) 
 
 The right to cancel a policy, at any time they may so elect, 
 is one reserved by companies in the printed conditions of their 
 policies. In reserving this right — so necessary to protect them- 
 selves — most companies accord the same privilege to the assured, 
 as a matter of courtesy, upon the condition, however, that where 
 the cancellation is at the request of the assured, it shall be made 
 at the customary short rates of premium for the time the policy 
 has run, as, otherwise, a party might evade the proper charges 
 
CANCELLATN »N. 
 
 for short risks by taking a policy for a year and canceling, pro 
 rala, when no longer needed. 
 
 When the Company requests cancellation of any policy even 
 though the reason may not be apparent or sufficient in the 
 opinion of the agent, he should act promptly, forwarding the 
 policy, if possible, by return mail. A company may have ample 
 reason which it does not wish to communicate, or information 
 not within reach of the agent. By any unwarranted neglect, 
 in such cases, an agent would place himself in a position of 
 responsibility to the Company, if a loss should occur. Requests 
 to cancel policies are never made unless for good and sufficient 
 reasons, and never without careful consideration of all the 
 circumstances, not forgetting the inconvenience and embarrass- 
 ment which such requests may cause an agent. 
 
 It is unfortunate that the ignorance of some companies as to 
 the cost of carrying certain classes of hazards should result in 
 a reduction of rates on them to an unsafe figure. No alternative 
 remains to a conservative and intelligent company, in such 
 cases, but to decline the risks and wait patiently until com- 
 petitors have learned the cost of insuring them, or until property- 
 holders have learned that the policies of low rate companies are 
 not the cheapest in the broad view of a true economy. To do 
 otherwise than decline business at inadequate rates would be to 
 inconsistently ignore the lessons of experience, and experience 
 which is not profited by, has been aptly compared to the stern 
 lamps of a vessel which shed light only upon the track over 
 which it has passed. 
 
 It, sometimes, happens that, after taking a risk, the agent, 
 himself, discovers evidence of moral hazard, or of serious in- 
 crease of the physical hazard, not contemplated in the original 
 contract. In such a case, a faithful agent will not wait for in- 
 structions from the Company, but will cancel the policy at once. 
 A company always appreciates such care of its interests. 
 
 After a sitsjjicious partial loss, for instance, he should not 
 even wait to have the loss adjusted before relieving the Company 
 of any further liability under its policy. It sometimes happens 
 that an unprincipled party, who fails in his first attempt to burn 
 property, has learned enough thereby to succeed in a second. 
 
 "When a holder of a policy objects to cancellation, and refuses 
 
NOTICES OF C W ELL ITION. 
 
 to surrender the policj*, a lender of the uiiea rued prem i uni at 
 the pro rata rate, for the unexpired time, in legal tender 
 currency and in Hie presence of one or more competent 
 witnesses, is sufficient. Care should he taken to tender the 
 correct amount, and the tender should be without any con- 
 ditions, such us /lie signing of o receipt in full. A simple 
 receipt for SO much money paid may he demanded but not a 
 receipt in full discharge of the claim. When a signed receipt 
 can he procured, it is, of course, desirable, and, in that case, 
 should be written on the policy itself,* but it must be remem- 
 bered that a receipt in full is merely an act of courtesy, not 
 required by law. and the legal effect of a tender is impaired 
 ichere it is made a condition — a legal tender must be 'with- 
 out conditions, such as the surrender of the policy or other 
 document. 
 
 It should be remembered, also, that a check or national 
 bank notes are not legal tenders if objected t<> by the assured 
 on that ground. United States notes, gold and silver certifi- 
 cates, gold coin and silver dollars are legal tender, but subsid- 
 iary silver coin is only legal tender up to the amount of ten 
 dollars. As above stated, however, the holder of the policy 
 must object to national bank notes or other tender on the ground 
 that they are not money, at the time of the tender, to prevent 
 its being a legal tender. 
 
 It may be well to serve a written notice as well, that the 
 Company is no longer liable under the policy, in accordance 
 with its own terms. (See printed conditions of the policy). 
 
 The following is a convenient form for such a notice : 
 
 Logansport, Ind., January 2, 1902. 
 
 .1//'. Richard Roe, 
 
 Sir: — You will please take notice that the 
 
 Insurance Company of , desires to terminate 
 
 the insurance on your property by policy Xo , 
 
 renewal No in accordance with its terms, and 
 
 I hereby tender you the unearned or return premium for 
 
 *As follows: "Troy, N. Y., May 2, 1902, Received of the 
 
 Insurance Company of New York Dollars, return premium, in 
 
 consideration of which this policy is hereby canceled in full and surrendered 
 to said Company," Assured. 
 
CANCELLATION OF STANDARD FORM OF POLICY. 315 
 
 the unexpired term of said polity, the Company not being 
 responsible for any loss or damage which may occur after 
 this date. 
 
 Respectfully, 
 
 Agent. 
 
 If uo premium has been paid, the following form of notice 
 should be served : 
 
 Logansport, Tnd. , January 2, 1902. 
 Sir: — You ivill please take notice that the premium of 
 
 policy No , issued by the Insurance 
 
 Company of , has not been paid, an d said policy 
 
 is null and void by its terms, the Company not being liable 
 for any damage by fire which may occur to the property. 
 Respectfully, 
 
 John Doc, Agent. 
 
 To Mr. Richard Roe. 
 
 If the policy is surrendered, write "canceled"' across its face 
 and across the entry in the register, and forward it to the 
 Company at once. It should not be held for the next monthly 
 account, if canceled at the request of the Company. 
 
 Where a policy is canceled at the request of the assured, no 
 return premium is due if it has less than a month to run. 
 
 Cancellation of the -Standard" Insurance Policy. It will be ob- 
 served that the cancellation clause of the "Standard'' policy of 
 New York and other States differs from the old form of clause. 
 It reads as follows (See lines 51 to 55) : 
 
 "This policy shall be canceled at any time at the request of the insured; or 
 by the company by giving five days notice of such cancellation. If this policy 
 shall be canceled as hereinbefore provided, or become void or cease, the pre- 
 mium having been actually paid, the unearned portion shall be returned on 
 surrender of this policy or last renewal, this company retaining the customary 
 short rate; except that when this policy is canceled by this company by giving 
 notice it shall retain only the pro rata premium." 
 
 Under the old forms of cancellation it was necessary to make 
 a tender of the unearned or return premium, and in the case of 
 unprincipled policy-holders this was sometimes made very diffi- 
 cult by their evading service. In order to secure cancellation 
 for the company simply by serving notice, leaving the return 
 premium to be paid upon demand, the clause in the standard 
 
:UI'. (A N*( 'KLLATION OF STANDARD FORM OF POLICY. 
 
 policy was framed ; and it will be observed by the punctuation 
 of the clause that this provision is a complete sentence, ending 
 with a period, viz : 
 
 "This policy shall be canceled at any time at the request of the insured; ,>> 
 
 by the company by giving Jive days notice of such cancelation. If this policy," etc. 
 i Note the period, capital "I" and new sentence.) 
 
 The concession of live days was considered an expensive one 
 to make, in that it would prevent the company from being re- 
 lieved of an undesirable risk for five days unless by agreement 
 with the assured; but great as the concession was, it was 
 considered desirable to make it in order to avoid the necessity 
 of tendering the unearned premium. 
 
 In a recent case before the New York Court of Appeals, how- 
 ever, the court of highest resort in the State, it was held by the 
 majority of the Court that, even with this clause, tender of 
 premium or payment of it, was necessary to effect cancellation; 
 but the minority opinion of the Court was in line with my 
 < ■< >i 1 1 » - 1 1 1 i < .11 that lender of return premium is ao\ necessary to 
 effect cancellation ; and this view of the case was afterwards 
 sustained in the United States Circuit Court of New York by 
 Judge Wallace in the case of Schwa rtzchild vs. Phoenix In- 
 surance Company "as presenting the better reasoning." I con- 
 fidently believe this opinion of Judge Wallace and of the 
 minority justices in the New York Court of A ppeals will be held 
 by other courts as in accordance with the meaning and intent 
 of the contract. As I was one of the Commission which drew 
 up the Standard Policy for the State of New York, I speak 
 advisedly as to the history of this clause and the intended mean- 
 ing of the phraseology, which at the time had the consideration 
 of able lawyers consulted by the Commission. The punctuati m 
 of the clause was not presented to the Court in the N. Y. 
 Court of Appeals case of Tisdel vs. Insurance Company, and 
 this fact, I think, had much to do with the decision. 
 
 While I do not agree with the decision that tender of return 
 premium is necessary, however, I think it is wise to avoid litiga- 
 tion by tendering the return premium wherever it is possible to 
 do so, and to rest content with freedom from anxiety where 
 we are prevented, by absence of the assured or evasion of service, 
 from tendering the premium. In most cases the return of prem- 
 ium or tender of it, is easy of accomplishment, and it should, 
 
NOTICES OF CANCELLATION. 
 
 317 
 
 for this reason, always be done. It is not necessary, of course, 
 to wait five days if the assured will accept the return premium 
 and sign the cancellation receipt, because both parties to the 
 contract can terminate it by agreement at any time. 
 
 If, for any reason, the return premium cannot be paid or ten- 
 dered, the cancellation notice should be sent by registered mail 
 in the following form in all cases where the Standard Policy is 
 issued : 
 
 "Dear Sir: We hereby give you notice that Policy No 
 
 of Insurance Company of issued to you 
 
 covering on situated at 
 
 will be canceled five days from this date in accordance with its conditions as 
 set forth in lines 51 to 5.5 thereof, and we further notify you that said Company 
 will not be liable for any loss or damage by fire to the property described in 
 said policy after the expiration of five days as herein stated. 
 
 We enclose herewith .$ being the full amount of unearned 
 
 premium on said policy for the unexpired term thereof, and we hereby request 
 a return of said policy to the Company. Yours truly," 
 
 And at the expiration of the five days it may be well, as a 
 matter of courtesy to the assured and by way of further pro- 
 tection of the Company, to serve another notice as follows : 
 
 "Dear Sir: Pursuant to notice sent to you from this office on 
 
 we have this day canceled off the books of this Company, Policy' No 
 
 of the Ins. Co., issued to you, covering on 
 
 situate at and all liability for loss under said policy has ceased." 
 
 If the policy is payable to a mortgagee cancellation notice 
 should be sent to him by registered mail at the same time it is 
 sent to the owner, using the following form : 
 
 NOTICE TO MORTGAGEE. 
 
 "Dear Sir: We hereby give you notice that Polic y No 
 
 of Insurance Company, of issued to 
 
 covering on situated at 
 
 made payable to you in ease of loss, as mortgagee, will be canceled five days 
 from this date in accordance with its conditions as set forth in lines 51 to 55 
 thereof, and we further notify you that said Company will not be liable for 
 any loss or damage by fire to the property described in said policy after the 
 expiration of five days as herein stated. If a mortgagee clause is attached to 
 said policy the provisions of such clause relating to cancellation are to apply. '> 
 
 We have served a like cancellation upon the assured, above mentioned, and 
 
 have paid to him the sum of $ being the full amount of unearned 
 
 premium on said policy for the unexpired term thereof, and we hereby request 
 a return of said policy to the Company. Yours truly," 
 
318 
 
 CANCELLATION PREMIUM UNPAID. 
 
 When ;i policy is to be canceled for non-payment of premium 
 thereon, and a cancellation cannot he effected hy ninlnal agree- 
 ment and a surrender of the policy, notices should be sent in the 
 following form hy registered mail to the owner and mortgagee, 
 if a mortgagee is named in the policy : 
 
 NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUM. — NOTICE TO OWNER. 
 
 "Dear Sir: We hereby give you notice that Policy No 
 
 of Insurance Company, of issued to 
 
 you covering on situated at 
 
 will be canceled five days from this date in accordance with its conditions as 
 set forth in lines 51 to 55 thereof, ON ACCOUNT OF THE NON-PAYMENT 
 OF THE PREMIUM DUE THEREON; and we further notify you that said 
 Company will not he liable for any loss or damage by fire to the property de- 
 scribed in said policy after the expiration of five days as herein stated. And 
 we hereby demand the return of said policy to this Company, together with 
 
 the earned premium to this date, amounting to $ Yours truly, 
 
 P. S. Payment of the full premium to this Company or its duly authorized 
 
 agent before the ex pi rat ii f the five flays above mentioned, will render this 
 
 notice inoperative and void; otherwise it will remain in full force and effect." 
 
 NON-PAYMENT OF PREMIUM— NOTICE TO MORTGAGEE. 
 
 "Dear Sir: We hereby give you notice that Policy No 
 
 of Insurance Company, of issued to 
 
 .covering on situated at 
 
 made payable to you in case of loss, as mortgagee, will be canceled five days 
 from this date in accordance with its conditions as set forth in lines 51 to 55 
 thereof, ON ACCOUNT OF THE NON-PAYMENT OF THE PREMIUM 
 DUE THEREON; and we further notify you that said Company will not be 
 liable for any loss or damage by fire to the property described in said policy 
 after the expiration of five days as herein stated. If a mortgagee clause is 
 attached to said policy, the provisions of such clause relating to cancellation 
 are to apply. 
 
 We have served a like cancellation notice upon the assured, and hereby re- 
 quest the return of said policy to this Company, together with the earned 
 
 premium to this date, amounting to $ Yours trulj', 
 
 P. S. Payment of the full premium to this Company or its duly authorized 
 agent before the expiration of the five days above mentioned, will render this 
 notice inoperative and void; otherwise it will remain in full force and effcet.', 
 
 Cancellation of Policy. Claim Pending. In many cases where 
 there is delay in the adjustment of loss which does not involve 
 all the property described in the policy, it is important that the 
 company should be promptly relieved of liability for further loss 
 by cancelling the policy on the remaining property, pending ad- 
 
CANCELLATION CLAIM PENDING. 
 
 319 
 
 justment and settlement. This should always be done where 
 the cause of the fire is suspected incendiarism, external or in- 
 ternal ; where the remaining property is left vacant or unpro- 
 tected; or where a partial loss has occurred and the assured 
 would be benefited by a total destruction of the property by a 
 second fire, etc. In every case of loss where these or similar 
 features present themselves, steps should be taken at the outset 
 of the investigations to secure for the company a release from 
 further liability for loss on the remaining property. Inasmuch 
 as the conditions of the policy provide for a five days notice of 
 cancellation which, in some cases, is notice to a claimant who 
 has a partial loss that the second fire must take place within 
 that period, the policy should be canceled on the unburned 
 property at once by mutual agreement, whenever it is possible 
 to do so, and when this cannot be done, owing to the objection 
 of the assured or the remoteness of the mortgagee, (if policy is 
 payable to one,) the following form of notice (enclosing the full 
 amount of unearned premium pro rata) should be delivered by 
 hand with a witness or, if manual tender or delivery is not possi- 
 ble, sent the assured by registered mail. 
 
 CLAIM PENDING- CANCELLATION NOTICE. 
 
 "Dear Sir: We hereby give you notice that Policy No 
 
 of Insurance Company, of held by you, 
 
 will be canceled five days from this date in accordance with its conditions as 
 set forth in lines 51 to 55 thereof, and we further notify you that said Company 
 will not be liable for any loss or damage by fire to the property described in 
 said policy after the expiration of five days as herein stated. 
 
 You may regard this notice as without prejudice to any claim you may have 
 upon this Company by reason of any fire which may have happened prior to 
 this date causing loss or damage to property described in said policy, and while 
 the said Company does not admit nor deny liability for such claim, nor admit 
 
 the validity of said policy, we enclose herewith .$ , being the full 
 
 amount of unearned premium on said policy for the unexpired term thereof. 
 
 Yours truly," 
 
 If the policy is payable to a mortgagee the same notice should 
 be served upon him by registered mail, adding the words, "We 
 
 have paid to the assured § , being the full amount 
 
 of the unearned premium on said policy for the unexpired term 
 thereof." 
 
 The foregoing notices of cancellation may be made to conform 
 to the conditions of any policy of insurance by omitting or 
 
CANCELLATION OP LOST POLICY. 
 
 changing the numbers of the policy lines referred to and by 
 changing the time in which the cancellation may he effected. 
 All of these forms, of course, will he furnished by the Company 
 on requisition. 
 
 When a policy has been burned, lost or mislaid, the company 
 may he relieved of further liability at once, if the assured and 
 mortgagee consent, (if the pi ilicy is payable to a mortgagee, ) hy 
 the execution of the following receipt by all parties in interest: 
 
 In consideration of Dollars paid me (or us) by the 
 
 Insurance Co., of New York, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, 
 
 Policy No of said company issued to me (or us,) is hereby cancelled 
 
 in full from this date; it being understood and agreed that this cancellation is 
 without prejudice to any claim which 1 (or we) may have for loss by reason 
 of any fire which may have happened prior to this date to property described 
 in said policy; and it is further understood and agreed that this cancellation 
 shall not be construed as an admission of liability for such loss on the part of 
 said company, nor as a recognition of the validity of said policy at tne time of 
 the occurrence of such fire, the true intent of this cancellation being to relieve 
 said company from all liability for further loss under said policy from and 
 after this date, w ithout prejudice to the rights of cither partj so far as any 
 pending claim for loss is concerned, and said policy having been burned, lost 
 or mislaid, I (or we) hereby agree to protect and forever defend the said com- 
 pany ngainvt .ill persons or claims whatsoever on account of said policy by 
 reason of any loss or damage by fire occurring to the property' described in 
 said policy from and after this date. 
 
 Dated at this day of 19 ... 
 
 Witness: 
 
 This receipt may be executed in duplicate. 
 
 The cancellation of a policy prior to an adjustment of a claim 
 is, of course, necessary only in case of a partial loss under the 
 policy, and in such case a question may arise as to the amount 
 of return premium to be paid in-order to effect a cancellation. 
 When a cancellation is consented to by all parties in interest, 
 any sum that may be agreed upon will be sufficient consideration 
 to effect a legal cancellation of the policy. But when cancella- 
 tion can only be accomplished by service of written notice upon 
 the parties interested in the policy care must be taken to make 
 full and ample payment of unearned premium. In such cases 
 the safe way will be to tender or return the full premium named 
 in the policy, and when an adjustment has been made the excess 
 may be retained by the company upon payment of the loss. A 
 
VOID POLICIES. 
 
 tender of too much return premium does no harm, while a tender 
 of too little will defeat a cancellation. As the cancellations 
 contemplated in this article are emergency cases care should be 
 taken to make the tender large enough to accomplish the object 
 sought. 
 
 Void Policies. All the foregoing pertains to the cancellation 
 of a policy immediately after a fire, and before an adjustment 
 has been made, in cases where there is no known breach of 
 contract or defense. If a policy is suspended, or totally void 
 from any cause whatever, at the time of the fire, there is, of 
 course, nothing to cancel, and any action on the part of a com- 
 pany, or an adjuster, from which a desire to be relieved of 
 liability may be inferred, might be construed to be a recog- 
 nition of the validity of the policy, and a waiver of all 
 defenses. Indeed the courts have held that an attempt to 
 cancel implies the validity of the policy. This class of cases in- 
 cludes policies that have never attached — that is, that were void 
 ab initio — policies that have been rendered void by acts of the 
 insured, and claims for loss under an alleged parol or verbal 
 agreement to insure. Each case will have features peculiar to 
 itself, more or less intricate, and when encountered, the adjuster 
 is advised to report the facts to the company for such action as 
 may seem best after a careful consideration of any point bear- 
 ing upon the question of waiver, and the possibility of a second 
 fire resulting in an additional claim for loss, and further trouble 
 for the company. 
 
 HOW TO PROCEED IN CASE OF FIRE. 
 
 The agent should always consider it a part of his duty to 
 attend every fire at his agency ; not only will he, in this way, 
 gain valuable practical knowledge which will enable him to 
 judge of the hazard of risks and exposures, but, if he is a man 
 of intelligence and judgment, his presence and direction will, 
 undoubtedly, be of value to his companies in the saving of 
 property which might, otherwise, be destroyed or stolen. He 
 will learn, also, wholesome lessons of prudence, and become 
 more conservative and careful of his company's interest. See- 
 ing how easily the entire receipts of an agency for years may be 
 consumed in a few moments, he will not be inclined to accept 
 
322 
 
 How TO PROCEED IN CASE OP FIRE 
 
 responsibilities for his principal for excessive amounts or inade- 
 quate rates. 
 
 Where an organized fire department exists, the agent's duties 
 will probably be confined to the protection of property from 
 damage by in judicious removal. The chief-engineer or superin- 
 tendent of fire brigade, as before stated, should have the whole 
 direction of a fire, and, while he may make mistakes, it is 
 generally best that he should not be troubled during a fire with 
 the advice of others. It is very desirable that the entire force 
 of firemen should be under the contn >1 of one man, and the efforts 
 of citizens should be directed rather to his removal, if inefficent, 
 than to the confusion attendant upon a multitude of opinions, 
 advanced at a time when only one can be followed. 
 
 Where there is no fire department, or before its arrival on the 
 ground, the agent may render valuable service. The example 
 and direction of a single cool and collected person, at such a 
 time, is invaluable. At the commencement of a fire a bucket 
 of water, properly applied, may be north more than a steam 
 fire engine a few moments later. 
 
 Do not wait for engines to come up, or disdain the simple 
 appliances at hand. A bucket of water, an axe with which to 
 gain access to a concealed fire, and a proper attention to the 
 drafts and currents of air, which should be cut off, if possible, 
 may hold the fire in check, if not extinguish it. All loud cries, 
 unnecessary noises or excited gesticulation, tend to confusion 
 and should be avoided. Cool, quiet and persistent effort is 
 indispensable, keeping in mind that the work of extinguishing 
 the fire may be one of hours and not of minutes, and that 
 strength and endurance should not be exhausted in spasmodic 
 efforts at the start, but be husbanded for what may prove a 
 protracted and laborious task. 
 
 It is of the tit moat consequence to .shut, and keep closed, 
 all doors, windows, 'and other openings which might, other- 
 wise, add, to the draft. There could be no better illustration 
 of the importance of this injunction than a recent fire, that of 
 the Windsor Hotel, in New York, on March 17, 1899. This 
 hotel was located on Fifth Avenue, on the route of the St. 
 Patrick's day procession, and all of the doors and windows of 
 the hotel on the Fifth Avenue side were open. When the fire 
 
HOW TO PROCEED IX ( ASK nK FIRE. 
 
 323 
 
 started, therefore, the condition was that < >f a stove with all the 
 dampers open, and the fire Hashed so rapidly throughout the 
 structure that it was quickly destroyed, and a number of guests 
 lost their lives. This has always been my own theory of the 
 cause of the rapidity of the fire, attributed by many to electric- 
 light wiring, escaping gas, incendiarism, &c. 
 
 The person taking the lead should, by proceeding on hands 
 and knees to avoid the smoke which is always less dense near 
 the floor, endeavor to get as near as possible to the fire, which 
 may often be seen burning brightly in the clear space of air 
 near the floor, when the upper part of the room is filled with 
 smoke. He should apply the water passed to him so tit at it 
 trill .strike the burning materials. This is very important, 
 whether the water be applied by hose from an engine or by 
 pails. It tit list strike the fire itself. 
 
 If there is any delay in passing the water to him, and he can- 
 not be kept supplied with pailfuls, he should use a cup or 
 dipper to throw the water, so as to make every drop effective. 
 So careful should he be to prevent any draft of air, that he 
 should close the door of the room, in case he has to wait for 
 water. 
 
 A remarkable fire which occurred at Marshall, Mich., in the 
 drug store of Messrs. Smiley & Henderson, may be mentioned 
 as an example of the importance of cutting off the supply of air. 
 Spontaneous ignition took place in some fine planing mill chips 
 which had been saturated with the drippings of linseed oil. 
 The box containing this dangerous mixture was carelessly left 
 on the head of a barrel containing linseed oil. The fire resulting 
 actually charred the barrels standing near, one of which con- 
 tained wine and another whiskey, and was sufficiently hot to 
 blister a barrel containing turpentine, but, having exhausted 
 the oxygen of the apartment, it went out for leant of air. 
 The room, though filled with the most combustible materials, 
 was, fortunately, a closed one, there being no openings or broken 
 panes of glass to supply the wanting element. 
 
 Where water cannot be procured, moist earth, mud or sand 
 may, sometimes, be successfully used. Indeed, it is claimed 
 that sand is better than water for extinguishing kerosene or 
 other oil fires. 
 
32 I 
 
 SAVING CONTEXTS <»F Hl'HXIXO Ml II.DINCJS. 
 
 Where a steam jet is provided in the room in which the fire 
 is burning, the valve should he opened, after .securely dosing 
 oil the windows and doors. If the room can he effectually 
 closed, it will soon extinguish the fire. 
 
 [fa Steam jet is not provided and the room is heated by steam, 
 or has steam-pipes passing through it. they, may be broken with 
 a heavy wrench or axe, so as to permit the steam to escape. A 
 large mill near Philadelphia was saved in this way by the 
 presence of mind of a passing mechanic, who broke the steam 
 pipes with a wrench, which he happened to have in his hand 
 while passing. 
 
 1 1 is unnecessary to add that if fire-extinguishers are at hand, 
 they should he used as soon as possible. 
 
 A building exposed to a burning one may, sometimes, be 
 saved by covering the roof and exposed sides with carpets, 
 blankets, or other woolen material, which should be kept wet 
 by persons stationed on the roof or at windows in the upper 
 stories with pails of water and dippers. 
 
 When it seems certain that a building cannot be saved, and 
 not before, efforts should be made to save such of the contents 
 as can be removed. It is at this stage of the fire that the 
 utmost coolness and intelligence should prevail. The most 
 valuable and portable property should be first carried out to a 
 safe place and guarded from I hie res who, if permitted to 
 profit by a fire, may be tempted to become incendiaries to secure 
 subsequent opportunities. Such merchandise as dry goods or 
 cutlery should be removed in preference to crockery. The latter 
 is liable to be broken even if carried out, and does not damage 
 so easily by water or smoke as the former and yet, strangely 
 enough, intelligent by-standers sometimes throw crockery out 
 of the windows and carry feather beds carefully downstairs. 
 
 Furniture, mirrors and pianos, which cannot be removed with- 
 out being broken in pieces and destroyed, //'/'/ heller be left to 
 burn, that the moral effect of their wilful and unnecessary 
 destruction may be avoided. As a rule, little, if anything, is 
 ever saved by throwing articles out of windows, unless they are 
 of a nature not to be easily damaged by a fall ; such, for instance, 
 as mattresses or other bedding, wearing apparel, etc. 
 
 In case a barn or stable is on fire, the horses and cattle should 
 
CHIMNEY FIRES. 
 
 be at once removed. The building is, frequently, even as a 
 question of value, of less importance. In removing animals 
 can 1 should be taken to do so, as nearly as possible, in the 
 ordinary manner, without excitement, or unnecessary noise, 
 which might frighten them. If they become restive they should 
 be blindfolded with a coat, empty grain bag, or other cloth, 
 care being taken to keep the eyes thoroughly covered until they 
 are safely removed to some secure place where they cannot 
 .sec the fii'''- Animals will, sometimes, rush into a burning 
 building, if not prevented, especial/// if it he ttte one in which 
 they tat re been fed or sheltered — not because they love to rush 
 into tire, as is erroneously supposed, but because they become 
 frightened. 
 
 Merchandise on the lower floors may often be saved from 
 serious water damage by covering counters, tables, and shelves 
 with tarpaulins or canvas. The covers should extend well over 
 the tops of shelves, in such cases. 
 
 Chimney Fires may be almost instantly extinguished by throw- 
 ing salt on the fire. The process of burning the salt evolves 
 muriatic acid gas which extinguishes flame.* 
 
 Where sulphur is procurable it should be thrown into the fire 
 and the fire-place covered with a metallic fire-board or "blower." 
 Sulphurous oxide, resulting from the combustion, will soon fill 
 the chimney, and taking up all the oxygen from the contained 
 air, will extinguish the fire. A fire may be extinguished, in 
 this way, even after it has extended into the wood-work of a 
 building. 
 
 Where a perse >n is exposed to the flames or smoke of a burn- 
 ing building, he should breathe through a wet cloth or handker- 
 chief, or the lapel of his coat, previously wetting it for the 
 purpose. I cannot offer better advice to one in a burning build- 
 ing than that of ex-Chief Hugh Bonner, of the New York Fire 
 Department after the burning of the Windsor Hotel already ' 
 referred to. It is as follows : 
 
 "Should the cry of 'Fire!' resound throughout the hotel and volumes of 
 smoke fill the corridors and the room, the thing above all others to do is to 
 keep cool. Keep cool, keep cool, keep cool — no matter how serious the fire 
 
 *Muriatic acid is a liydric chloride, and as common salt is a sodic chloride 
 containing, also, more or less moisture by absorption and, therefore, hydrogen, 
 its combustion would generate hydric chloride, or muriatic acid gas. 
 
CHIEF BONNER'S ADVICE. 
 
 seems, is the ad \ ice I hut I reiterate. If those who jumped from the windows of 
 the Windsor had kept cool and waited for the firemen, instead of jumping, 
 most of them would have been saved. 
 
 When smoke elogs the corridors, follow these suggestions: 
 1 Keep the door and transom of the room shut. 
 2. Open the windows from the top. 
 
 ■I. Wet a towel and stuff it in the mouth. Breathe through it instead of 
 through the nose. It will keep the smoke, cinders and tire from the lungs, 
 and its moisture will have a reviving effect. 
 
 4. Stand at the window and get the benefit of the outside air. 
 
 5. Should there be a rope fire-escape, use it only when you deem it neces- 
 sary for your safety. If it is secured, as many of them are, merely by an iron 
 hook, twist it several times around some solid article in the room. Then begin 
 your descent. It is a dangerous experiment at best and there is only one safe 
 way of doing it. That way is this: Protect the hands by covering them with 
 towels or anything of like nature; grasp the rope firmly by both hands, twist 
 it once around the right leg, then placing it between the feet keep them firmly 
 together and in that position slide down the rope as slowly as possible. 
 
 A woman should go down the rope in the same way. In the average case 
 her clothes will permit her to make an easier descent than a man. 
 
 6. If possible, never let a woman or child descend on a rope alone. The 
 husband should secure the rope under his wife's arms, place some article of 
 furniture higher than the window sill near the window, and then let the 
 woman descend by paying out the rope gradually. If the child is small, it is 
 well to tie it with bedclothing to the breast or back of the person going down 
 the rope. 
 
 7. Never jump unless the blaze is scorching, and not then if the firemen 
 with their scaling ladders are coming up the building or are near. 
 
 8. Never go to the roof when you know that there is no escape from it to 
 adjoining buildings unless as a last recourse. In the big buildings fire always 
 climbs to the top. 
 
 9. If caught in a corridor or a room, always keep crouched to the floor and 
 keep close to the wall. Keep as low as possible. Fire and smoke ascend. 
 
 10. If a jump must be made through flame within a building to the lower 
 floor, judge the distance as carefully as possible, throw a blanket or covering 
 over the head and make the leap. Then remove the covering, breathe but 
 little and carefully and work gradually along the corridor until safety is 
 reached. 
 
 Theoretically I know of no other instructions. The most important feature 
 is to be prepared for an emergency, and the only way to obtain that prepa- 
 ration is by a preliminary examination. When one has made that examination 
 he knows when the emergency arises what is his best method of procedure. 
 
 What I have said may seem elementary, but I speak from long and active 
 experience, and I know that the instructions are accurate. When I say 'keep 
 cool' it is with the knowledge that New York's firemen will do their duty. 
 There's not a coward in the department . The tests in our school of instruction 
 
HOW TO PROCEED IN CASE OP LOSS. 
 
 mi 
 
 are so perilous and severe that none but a brave man will undertake them. 
 The Commissioners never have to reject a 'probationer.' The candidate for 
 membership in the department rejects himself usually at the end of a week, 
 if he hasn't courage, ('apt. McAdam is the instructor of t lie school and drill- 
 master of the Life-Saving Corps, and the fireman who has taken a thirty-day 
 course in his school is competent to save life and do heroic deeds. When the 
 men in blue are in sight don't jump. They'll climb walls and go through 
 smoke and fire. Their mission is to save life, and they'd rather die themselves 
 than fail in their duty. If by any possibility they can't reach a window or a 
 roof they'll spread the life-net at the base and be ready to receive the jumper. 
 My final instructions are: Study the surroundings of your room and building, 
 know the methods of escape, keep cool and — don't jump." 
 
 The Chief adds advice, which probably every underwriter 
 always follows, as to what should be done in a hotel before a fire, 
 namely : 
 
 "The first thing a hotel guest should do on being assigned to his room is to 
 locate the nearest outside fire-escape. After that he should familiarize himself 
 with the location of the hall windows and discover their relation to the roof of 
 the adjoining buildings. He should next learn the position of the stairs and 
 their top and bottom landings. The top landing particularly he should know 
 all about, as well as the method of egress to the roof. All this information the 
 guest can acquire in ten minutes or less. After making these investigations, 
 should a fire break out, he knows his relative location and his various avenues 
 of escape. 
 
 Precisely the same rules apply to private houses and flat buildings, especially 
 in cities, where private dwellings are frequently five stories high." 
 
 HOW TO PROCEED IN CASE OF LOSS. 
 
 If any portion of the property is saved, take immediate steps 
 to have it protected by the assured from further damage, and 
 then notify the Company, at its office, by letter or telegram, 
 according to circumstances. If the loss is a severe one, a tele- 
 gram should be sent giving n umber of policy, probable per- 
 centage of loss, and names and amounts of other companies 
 on the risk, that the Company may consult with them as to the 
 action to be taken. The telegram should be immediately 
 followed by a letter, giving all the particulars that can be 
 collected. 
 
 Avoid unnecessary words in a telegram, such, for instance, as 
 "send adjuster,'" or "what shall I do?" Requests for instruc- 
 tions are unnecessary. It must be obvious, on reflection, to an 
 intelligent agent, that the Company would naturally advise, 
 
328 CARING l«'<>n DAMAGEABLE GOODS. 
 
 upon receipt of the information, without being reminded of its 
 duty. 
 
 The following form of telegram may he modified to suit cases: 
 Insurance Company, 
 
 "Total loss (or fifty per cent., or otherwise, as the case may 
 be), twenty-four twenty-two, .funics Broirn: Home, jire 
 thousand; Aetna, jive; Phenix, Brooklyn, ten." 
 
 Richard Roe, Agent. 
 
 This gives the Company all of the principal facts necessary 
 to enable it to consult, as to the adjustment, with the other 
 companies interested. 
 
 Where a greater number of companies are on the risk, they 
 may be grouped according to amounts, to save words and ex- 
 pense, thus: ''''Home, Aetna, Hanover, five thousand; Ni- 
 agara, National, three; Hartford, Germania, twenty-five 
 h n ad red . " This will be important and intelligible information. 
 As a rule, however, it is entirely unnecessary to wire the names 
 of the companies, especially if the agent lias properly filled 
 out the daily report as to the other companies insuring the 
 risk-. Moreover, where the company has a special agent to 
 adjust the loss (as most large companies have) the information 
 as to other companies is not necessary and the expense of wiring 
 it should be saved. 
 
 When the loss is small and no immediate action is necessary, 
 dispatch a letter, as soon as possible, but do not telegraph. It is 
 more important to telegraph, in case of a serious partial 
 damage to a stock of merchandise, than where the loss is on 
 a building, as an experienced adjuster, if promptly on the 
 ground, may possibly save a serious damage from rust, mildew, 
 or other cause. 
 
 Hardware, and especially cutlery, should be unwrapped, well 
 rubbed off and oiled, as soon as possible. Dry goods, rolls of 
 cloth, clothing, etc., should be opened out to dry to prevent 
 further loss by heating, stains and mildew. Such goods should 
 never be piled up while damp. Tobacco, stationery, drugs and 
 stoves all need immediate care. The agent, in such cases, 
 should act with decision, and especially if the assured is un- 
 
COLLECTING PACTS <>K SUSPICIOUS FIRES. 
 
 principled enough to object to such precautions, the agent 
 should notify liini that it is his duty, under the contract, to take 
 ( are of the damaged property, and that the underwriters will 
 not he responsible for the consequences of any neglect on his 
 part. Lines 67, 68 and G9 of the Standard policy are as follows : 
 "If fire occur the insured shall give immediate notice of any loss thereby in 
 writing t<» this company, proteel the property from further damage, forthwith 
 separate the damaged and undamaged personal property, put it in the best 
 possible order, make a complete inventory of the same, staling the quantity 
 ami eust of each article and the amount claimed thereon." 
 
 The agent should have supervision of the damaged property, 
 but it is best to arrange the matter of caring for it amicably 
 with the assured, convincing him that it is to his interest. A 
 little tact at this point would be valuable, and an intelligent 
 agent will soon convince any ordinary claimant that he is simply 
 advising him in his own best interest. 
 
 Where the building is insured and is partially damaged, it 
 may be necessary to temporarily close the roof or a broken side 
 wall, with cheap boards, to prevent farther damage by rains. 
 Walls, also, may need shoring or propping to prevent their 
 being blown down. 
 
 Some persons suppose that they must not touch anything, 
 after a fire, until the underwriters have examined the premises. 
 They should be instructed that it is their duty always to pro- 
 led the property from further damage. 
 
 When the circumstances of a partial loss are so suspicious as to 
 indicate incendiarism on the part of the assured, it may be advisa- 
 ble to cancel the policy, (see ante, pp. 313, 318), or to employ a 
 constant and reliable night watchman, to keep the property 
 under constant surveillance, until the adjustment is consum- 
 mated and the policy can be taken up, in the regular manner. 
 Those who fail in a first attempt to burn property sometimes 
 succeed in a second. 
 
 Collecting the Facts of the Fire. Having taken every precaution 
 to save further loss, the agent should endeavor to ascertain the 
 cause of the fire, if possible, whether originating from design, 
 carelessness, spontaneous combustion, or other causes. He 
 should ascertain whether there were any suspicious circum- 
 stances before, or at the time of the fire, and to succeed, it will 
 be necessary to proceed quietly and cautiously. Parties know- 
 
330 COLLECTING FACTS OF SUSPICIOUS FIRES. 
 
 ing of suspicious facts are generally slow to communicate their 
 knowledge or suspicions. Always try to find the person who 
 teas first upon the (/round and ascertain what he saw, and 
 at what hour of the day or night the fire was discovered. 
 
 Find out whether the building was occupied or was stand- 
 ing vacant at the time of the fire, and if vacant, how long it 
 had been so; whether it was a paying investment to the owner 
 and lessee; whether it was "for sale," (and if so, for what price), 
 or in litigation ; whether mortgaged or about to be ; if mortgaged, 
 whether undergoing foreclosure, or whether the mortgage had 
 heen called in; whether any threats had been made to burn the 
 property, etc. 
 
 If the loss is on merchandise, ascertain whether the stock 
 was full or low, new, or old and shelf-worn; whether the books 
 of accounts and papers ivere saved; whether any property 
 was stolen, at or after the fire, and if so, how much — giving a 
 detailed statement. 
 
 Not a small portion of jewelry stocks is, sometimes, in the 
 t ranks of trarefiiig salesmen, though included in the inventory 
 of the store ; and, in the case of country stores, no inconsider- 
 able portion of the merchandise may be, at the time of the fire, 
 in the wagons of peddlers traveling through the country and 
 selling for account of the assured. Make careful investigation 
 as to such important facts, and quietly reserve them for the 
 final settlement. 
 
 Ascertain whether the assured was ever burned out before, 
 and if so, when and where; whether insured at the time, and 
 if so, in what companies. 
 
 It is, sometimes, well to examine, also, as to the habits of 
 book-keepers, clerLs or other employees. 
 
 Upon an examination of the premises after a suspicious fire, 
 the agent .should carefully write out an accurate, detailed 
 description of the appearance of the premises. If a stock 
 of merchandise is partially damaged, he should note the number 
 of shelves totally destroyed, the number partially destroyed, and 
 whether they were full or only partially full of goods; the 
 appearance of counters, whether any goods were piled on them, 
 and to what height ; the character of the goods — whether cheap 
 or expensive; the quantity and appearance of the debris — some 
 
MAKE NO CHANGE IN POLICY. 
 
 331 
 
 kinds of merchandise leave traces. Axes and hammers are 
 never destroyed, pails leave hoops, etc. He should not trust to 
 his memory. 
 
 Under no circumstances should the agent make any alteration in the 
 policy, or consent to any transfer or assignment of it, or to any change 
 whatever, after a loss. He should let everything remain in pre- 
 cisely the same condition as at the time of the fire. 
 
 Adjustment of the Loss. The agent should not proceed with 
 the adjustment of the toss until instructed by the Company, 
 unless the circumstances ore such as to make further loss 
 certain, for /rant of immediate action, as in the case of a 
 damaged, roof exposing a building to the weather. Up to 
 the receipt of such instructions, the agent should employ him- 
 self merely in protecting the property, and in gathering all the 
 information he can as to the cause of the fire and particulars of 
 the loss. 
 
 Partial Losses on buildings should be adjusted by appraisement in 
 exceptional cases only. Estimates should be obtained from two 
 or more responsible builders as to the amount f < >r which each 
 will repair the damage to the satisfaction of the assured. 
 Blank estimates will be sent by the Company. The amount of 
 the lowest responsible estimate may be offered by the Company 
 to the assured, as he may prefer to do the work himself, or may 
 desire alterations in the plans. In case, however, the Company 
 elects to repair a contract should be drawn (blanks for which 
 will be furnished by the Company) for the builder to sign, in 
 which he agrees to restore the property to the same condition, 
 in all respects, as it was in before the fire, the Company agree- 
 ing to pay him the amount of his bid so soon as the repairs are 
 completed and he produces a certificate from the assured that 
 he is satisfied with the manner in which the repairs have been 
 made. 
 
 Do not deal with unprincipled or irresponsible builders, 
 who cannot be relied upon to carry out their proposals to the 
 letter. The estimates of such builders, if entertained, might 
 work great injustice to the assured, especially if he should 
 elect to receive the amount of a reckless bid instead of 
 having the property repaired by the Company. 
 
 When the building is totally destroyed, it may be necessary, in 
 
APPRAISAL OF PARTIAL LOSSES. 
 
 case of a disagreement as to its value, to resort to an appraisal 
 and to require the owner to produce the original plans and 
 specifications upon which it was constructed, on which estimates 
 may be obtained to rebuild; or to furnish other satisfactory 
 evidence ti> the Company as to the original cost of the building, 
 unless the loss is manifestly greatly in excess of the insurance. 
 As a rule the cost of replacing a building with another of like 
 quality and construction, less a proper depreciation for a 
 difference between new and old, is the measure of damage. 
 In estimating depreciation the age, condition, location and 
 adaptability of the building to the use to which it is applied, 
 should be considered. Depreciation is an element which enters 
 into the adjustment of nearly all losses on buildings, and in 
 view of the difference of opinion which is likely to arise on this 
 subject an appraisal is frequently necessary to determine the 
 question, and in such cases the appraisers estimate the cost of 
 rebuilding, allowing a proper deduction therefrom for depreci- 
 ation to arrive at the cash value of the structure at the time of 
 the fire. 
 
 When personal or movable property is damaged, the assured as 
 already stated and in accordance with lines 67, 68 and 69 of the 
 Standard Fire Insurance Policy, must forthwith cause it to be 
 put in order, assorting and arranging the various articles accord- 
 ing to their kinds, separating the damaged from the undamaged, 
 and cause an inventory to be made and furnished to the Com- 
 pany of the whole, naming the quantity, quality and cost of each 
 article at the time of the fire, as well as the actual damage each 
 article has sustained by the fire. See the conditions of the 
 policy. 
 
 In case of the total destruction of movable property, and when 
 it is not possible for the assured to furnish schedules of the 
 whole, a schedule of all that can be ascertained should be given, 
 and such evidence furnished as to the balance of the property 
 as shall be satisfactory. 
 
 The damaged property belongs to the assured, he cannot 
 <d>andon it. Abandonment is not a feature of fire insurance, 
 which is strictly a contract of indemnity only. 
 
 Selection of Appraisers. As before stated, losses on buildings 
 should not be submitted to appraisement until all other 
 
SELECTION (>K APPRAISERS. 
 
 333 
 
 propci- methods of adjust men ts ha re foiled. When an agree- 
 ment, as to the value of personal property, cannot he arrived 
 at, it may be advisable for each party — the assured and the 
 agent — to select a disinterested intelligent appraiser, sub- 
 mitting the question of damage to the two so selected by a 
 written agreement. The two appraisers may together choose 
 a third, in case they cannot agree; and the award, in writing, 
 of any two should be binding, as to the value of the property 
 and the damage. 
 
 Appraisement, however, should be a last resort, and not 
 taken (except in the case of property which will damage by 
 delay, as hereinafter explained) until orders are received from 
 the Company. It will generally be found that a reasonable, 
 intelligent and honest claimant and a conscientious adjuster can 
 agree, without difficulty, upon a fair settlement. Appraisers 
 sometimes lean unfairly toward the interest of a claimant, and 
 yet quite often do him great injustice. 
 
 The appraisers must examine each article, and state, in 
 detail, the sound, wholesale cash value of it at the time of the 
 fire, as well as the actual amount of the damage. As each item 
 is arrived at, it should be entered clearly, in ink, on an inventory 
 prepared with double columns for "sound value' 1 and '"amount 
 of damage." 
 
 The duties of the appraisers end with their award as to the 
 two items of ''sound value" and "damage." 
 
 They hare nothing whatever to do with the liability of 
 the Company, or with such items as cost of removing prop- 
 erty, of watching and caring for it, the amount of profit, 
 loss of time or rents, or disarrangement of business, etc., 
 and they must not bring these matters into their award, either 
 directly or indirectly ; nor is an appraisement the proper place 
 for the consideration of such claims as for the value of blankets, 
 carpets or other appliances used in protecting the property. 
 
 Appraisers are not arbitrators. They are not to say how 
 much the Company is to pay, or to treat of or mention its 
 liability in any way. They have simply to deal with the sound 
 value and damage of the property before them. The ap- 
 praisement and award must be under oatli and in writing. 
 (For form, see index]. 
 
334 
 
 CARIXd FOR DAM A(.|'.A lU.K IMIOPKRTY. 
 
 The Company will furnish hlanks for appraisal. 
 
 The expenses of appraisal are to be divided equally between 
 the Company and the assured, each paying one-half. 
 
 The Company reserves (but seldom avails itself of) the right 
 under its policy to take any or all of the appraised property at 
 its appraised value. This reservation is necessary to enable it 
 to protect itself from a careless, ignorant or intentionally ex- 
 cessive and unjust estimate of damage by the appraisers. 
 
 Upon such property as will damage by delay, such as stocks of 
 fruits, confectionery, cutlery, etc., an appraisal should be 
 immediately had; delay increases the damage, and the property 
 can be best cared for by the owner, when his is the sole interest. 
 Agents are, therefore, authorized, in such cases, to insist 
 upon an immediate appraisal, unless they can agree with the 
 owner as to the amount of damage. By prompt action, in such 
 cases, the responsibility of caring for perishable goods will rest 
 upon the owner, who, by reason of experience and acquaintance 
 with them, is better qualified to take the steps necessary to 
 prevent subsequent damage. In all other cases, however, the 
 agent should wait for instructions from the Company before 
 consenting to an appraisal. 
 
 Do not close an adjustment or admit any liability under 
 any circumstances, or consent to the representation of this Com- 
 pany by the adjuster of another Company, unless instructed 
 to do so. Upon the arrival of the adjuster of another company, 
 however, telegraph the fact to the Company, as follows: 
 
 Insurance Company, 
 
 "John Jones. Aetna adjuster, here adjusting their loss. ,, 
 It may happen that the Company, knowing such adjuster, by 
 reputation, to be competent and honorable, may be willing to 
 entrust its interests to his care, and be glad to save the expense 
 of sending its own adjuster. 
 
 Where a claimant seems in undue haste to have his loss 
 settled, it may be advisable to wait. Susjiicious losses do riot 
 suffer by delay. Be sure to select honest appraisers — those 
 who will do justice by the assured not less than by the company. 
 A competent, experienced adjuster will, in most cases, handle 
 
TELEGRAPHING COM ['ANY. 
 
 :;:•>;. 
 
 a claim on personal property, stocks of merchandise, &c, with- 
 out having an appraisal. This is generally possible where the 
 claimant is an honest man and the adjuster understands his 
 business. 
 
 In one case coming to the writer's notice, one of the most 
 capable and tactful adjusters in New York* proceeded to a store 
 to settle a claim of $800 on a stock of boots and shoes. A hasty 
 glance convinced him that the assured was honestly mistaken 
 in his estimate of the damage, and when he insisted upon an 
 appraisal and asked the adjuster "Whom would you select?" 
 the adjuster said : 
 
 "I prefer you as an appraiser. From all I hear, you are an 
 honest man, and I am sure you understand the value of your 
 own goods better than anyone else ; suppose you and I first try 
 to arrive at the amount of the loss without calling anybody else 
 in. I will take a pencil and paper, and you examine each box 
 of boots and shoes and tell me what you think the loss is." 
 
 The assured assented, and the two proceeded in this way care- 
 fully and fairly, until all the damaged goods had been "ap- 
 praised" at the figure the assured himself had named as the 
 measure of damage. Before footing the columns of items, the 
 adjuster said : 
 
 "Now, is there anything else ? We want to be sure you have 
 got everything." 
 
 "You have everything," was the replj*. 
 
 When the sum total was ascertained it was less than $150, 
 and the merchant expressed himself as perfectly satisfied. 
 
 Adjusters of this calibre make handsome salvages, and satisfy 
 the claimants, while there is a class of adjusters who could not 
 adjust and pay a total loss without leaving the claimant angry. 
 
 I cannot better describe the methods of an intelligent adjuster 
 than by emploj'ing the language of Mr. R. J. Taylor, as follows: 
 
 "An extravagant claim is not always evidence of dishonest motive on the 
 part of the claimant. It is human nature to value one's own possessions more 
 highly than those of another. The property burned, by reason of associations, 
 may have a sentimental value in the estimation of the claimant largely in 
 excess of its actual value. Of course, the contract of insurance contemplates 
 only the 'actual cash value' at the time of the fire; yet, notwithstanding this 
 fact, it is not the part of the wisdom to rudely disregard the sentimental view 
 of a loss by a waive of the hand, and bring the claimant down at one fell 
 
 *The late Mr. Charles 0. Halsey. 
 
336 
 
 H()\V TO ADJUST LOSSES. 
 
 swoop to a contemplation of his loss on the proper basis of 'cash cost of replac- 
 ing, less depreciation.' It should be the aim of an adjuster to lead a claimant 
 to the acceptance of a proper adjustment by patient explanations; hy good- 
 tempered argument; by convincing him of the integrity of your motives; thus 
 securing his confidence, by giving him a fair and courteous hearing on all 
 points of difference that may arise, remembering always that while an adjust- 
 ment is a matter of every-day occurrence to an adjuster, a fire may be the 
 great event in the lifetime of the claimant. To him the adjustment is every- 
 thing. It is not strange, therefore, that honest claimants should be nervous, 
 exacting, unreasonable and suspicious of the acts of adjusters. Their minds 
 may have been filled with all manner of suspicions, and an unreasonable claim 
 may have been inspired by officious busybodies who attend to everybody's 
 business but their own. The proper treatment of a c laimant is fully as im- 
 portant in an adjustment as the capacity to fully and clearly estimate the 
 amount of loss. No matter how accurately a claim may be adjusted, the 
 adjuster's labor will be in vain if he fails to convince the claimant of the cor- 
 rectness of his figures; and he certainly will not be able to do this, where there 
 is any controversy, unless he has by fair dealing and courteous demeanor 
 secured the confidence and good-will of the claimant. 
 
 The practical adjuster will not see in the foregoing remarks a justification 
 of careless or loose adjustments, nor for the display of weak vertebrae on his 
 part. ( >n the contrary, he must combine firmness with courtesy. He must be 
 able to say NO and to stick to it when necessary. The point of the argument 
 is that, w bile it is the duty of the adjuster to ad just every loss assign,. ,i to him 
 carefully and thoroughly, he should at the same time treat the claimant in 
 such a manner as to secure his acquiescence in the adjustment without losing 
 his friendship for the company." 
 
 "It is admitted,'' Mr. Taylor continues, "that there are claimants whom 
 nobody can please — claimants who take offence if the slightest demand is made 
 on them for data and information relating to the loss — claimants who are 
 ignorant of their rights and stubborn because of their ignorance — claimants 
 w ho are offensive, unreasonable and dishonest— but. even in such cases it is 
 only the adjuster who combines courtesy and tact with firmness who has any 
 show at all of securing a proper adjustment. The hot-headed and sarcastic 
 adjuster is usually compelled to retire from the case, and every such occurrence 
 strengthens the contention of the claimant and correspondingly weakens that 
 of the adjuster. 
 
 'A soft answer turneth away wrath.'" 
 
 Such advice from an adjuster who has spent a lifetime in the 
 business may well be followed by one who has an honest desire 
 to learn. Experience is the best of teachers, and it is less 
 expensive, when the experience is that of others. 
 
 Damage by Removal. Where goods are damaged by removal, 
 the loss and expenses of removal are borne by the assured and 
 the insurance companies together, in proportion as each is 
 interested. If the insurance companies have insurance upon 
 
I)AMA(iK BY REMOVAL, EXPLOSION, ETC 
 
 the property to its full value, they pay the whole cost of removal, 
 hut if to the extent of one-half its value, they pay one-half of the 
 damage and the expenses of removal, and the assured pays the 
 other half. This must impress any one as an equitahle appor- 
 tionment. As the removal, in such a case, is made more in the 
 interest of the assured than of the companies, he should hear, at 
 least, an equal share of the expense and damage, for all of the 
 goods saved are his, unless he saves more than the uninsured 
 portion. 
 
 Damage by Explosion. Such damage is not a loss within a fire 
 insurance policy and is expressly excepted by its terms, as 
 follows : 
 
 "This company shall not be liable for loss caused directly or indirectly by 
 invasion, insurrection, riot, civil war or commotion, or military or usurped 
 power, or by order of any civil authority; or by theft ; or by neglect of the 
 insured to use all reasonable means to save and preserve the property at and 
 after a fire or when the property is endangered by fire in neighboring premises; 
 or (unless fire ensues, and, in that event, for the damage by fire only) by 
 explosion of any kind." 
 
 Damage by Lightning is not covered by the policy unless ex- 
 pressly mentioned in writing. (For form of clause see index). 
 
 When the agent is convinced that there is no fraud on the part of 
 the assured and that his claim is an honest one, he should place 
 himself on an amicable footing with him, and assist him as 
 in itch as possible. Honest claimants should have every facility 
 and assistance afforded them. Assure them, at the outset, that 
 the Company desires to do them full justice, to pay — not one 
 dollar more than they have lost — not one cent less. An insur- 
 ance company does not want so-called "jump" adjustments, 
 where, the assured making a round claim, like the $800 boot 
 and shoe claim just referred to, is offered $400 by a lazy and 
 incompetent adjuster as a settlement, without going into the 
 matter. In the case cited the company would have lost more 
 than half of the adjuster's offer. On the other hand, the assured 
 in some cases will not receive all that he is entitled to. It is 
 safe to say that a jump adjustment does injustice either to the 
 company or to the claimant, and adjusters of this class should 
 be railroaded out of the business. They have no proper place 
 in it. 
 
 When it comes to guessing, the assured, with that better 
 
AVOID JUMP ADJUSTMENTS. 
 
 knowledge of his property which every claimant possesses, can 
 heat the adjuster guessing every time. 
 
 Such slovenly methods increase the sum total of losses and. 
 therefore, the fire cost and premium tax upon that large majority 
 of property-owners (more than 95 $) who have no fires. As 
 insurance simply distributes the losses on the unhurned policy- 
 holders, it is a gross injustice to them to pay more than the 
 actual damage. It is safe to say that with the best of intentions 
 on the part of honest claimants and careful, fair-minded ad- 
 justers, more is paid for losses than the actual measure of them, 
 so that neither the company nor its policy-holders can afford to 
 have careless adjustments. If the fire losses paid by the in- 
 surance companies for the last two years were only ten per cent 
 in excess of the actual measure of them, the amount would 
 have been more than double the percentage of profit on the 
 earned premiums of the most successful companies in the bus- 
 iness. 
 
 It is safe to assume that three-fourths of all the adverse 
 legislation and of all the adverse judicial decisions recorded 
 against insurance companies, and rising, like Banquo's ghost, 
 to confront us at every point where vicious claims are contested, 
 have been placed upon the statute books because of sharp and 
 unprincipled adjustments made by men who are unscrupulous 
 enough to cheat claimants and foolish enough afterwards to 
 boast in public. 
 
 In one case coming to the writer's attention, two adjusters, 
 seated at a hotel table, entertained each other with highly 
 colored, boastful stories as to adjustments they had made with 
 honest claimants, in the hearing of two members of the legis- 
 lature, as to whose identity they were ignorant. Is it any 
 wonder that a valued policy law would get the votes of men 
 who had listened to such a conversation ? No reputable insur- 
 ance company desires an honest claimant to get a cent less than 
 he has lost. 
 
 A safe rule, given by the father of one of New York's ablest 
 and most successful millionaires, in starting out in life was : 
 
 "John, don't ever be more than half as sharp as you know 
 how to be." 
 
 We cannot amplify on this pithy advice. 
 
ASSISTING HONEST CLAIMANTS. 
 
 339 
 
 The great aim of every adjuster should be to assist an honest 
 claimant in ascertaining his actual loss; and, on the other hand, 
 to ferret out a dishonest claimant and bring the incendiary to 
 proper punishment, securing his indictment through the Grand 
 Jury. (We never want a man arrested under any circum- 
 stances, except by the authorities after indictment by the Grand 
 Jury, before whom the underwriter knowing the facts should 
 appear.) This would save any suit for damages for false 
 imprisonment in case a charge could not be proven, or an 
 informant should be found untruthful, as is sometimes the 
 case. 
 
 The agent must not forget, however, that scrutiny and investi- 
 gation are never objectionable to honest claimants; indeed, they 
 generally court the most rigid investigation. We have fre- 
 quently discovered great errors in the books of account and 
 recollections of honest claimants, who have been most ready to 
 admit these errors when brought to their notice. Blanks for 
 proofs of loss are sent by the Company, to facilitate the collection 
 of losses by honest claimants. Dishonest claimants should be 
 left to prepare their proofs, without any suggestions, assistance 
 or blanks furnished by the agent. Direct the assured, in such 
 cases, to make his proofs in accordance with the conditions of 
 the policy, in which full and explicit directions are given. 
 
 Payment of Losses. Never draw drafts upon the Company for 
 the payment of losses until authorized by the Company to do 
 so, and then only on the form of blank draft, with receipt 
 attached, (the draft and receipt must not be separated), for- 
 warded for the purpose by the Company. The Company 
 altvays sends blank drafts and instructions. 
 
 It is the experience of the companies generally that those 
 claimants who, immediately after a loss, consult a lawyer and 
 place themselves in his hands, are generally conscious that their 
 claims need external assistance, and such losses should receive 
 the most rigid scrutiny. Under no circumstances should such 
 claims be paid before the expiration of the sixty days from the 
 filing of proofs. 
 
 Hasty Payments should be avoided. When a case of unusual 
 hardship would seem to require speedy relief, and the Company, 
 in view of all the circumstances, orders the amount paid, do 
 
340 
 
 HASTY PAYMENTS OF LOSSES. 
 
 not advertise Hie fact in the newspapers. Such advertise- 
 ments arc always followed by applications for insurance on the 
 part of an unprincipled class whose patronage we desire to 
 avoid. They misconstrue the mot i re of the pa /fluent, and, 
 supposing thai llie Company is seeking a reputation for so-called 
 "prompt payments," without proper investigation, they often 
 aid in increasing its opportunities for advertising. 
 
 The practice of making hasty payments of losses is not calcu- 
 lated to commend a company to an intelligent and desirable 
 class of customers. 
 
 Discounting Claims before Maturity. In those cases where the 
 justice of the claim is unquestionable and all the circumstances 
 of the fire satisfactory, and the assured desires to use the money, 
 before it is due, for the purpose of his business or to replace the 
 burned property, the Company will allow payment requiring, 
 o" course, a deduction for interest, that it may not lose by dis- 
 turbing its investments. 
 
 Payments in advance of maturity, however, should be made 
 with care. There are many claims which should wait the sixty 
 days. In the case of a claimant in the Northwest, where one 
 of our adjusters paid a man whom he had personally known for 
 many years a claim, discounting it in advance of maturity, he 
 received, after making the payment, an anonymous communica- 
 tion telling him where he could find all the doors, blinds and 
 movable portions of the building which he had just paid for, 
 concealed under a hay stack on the premises of the assured. 
 Nothing w r as left to him but to commence an action in court to 
 recover the money ; but the accused escaped on a technicality 
 as to the form of the loss draft and the papers served in the 
 case, and the adjuster was left with the consolation that he had 
 learned two important lessons: first, that a man might be mis- 
 taken, after long acquaintance, in the character of his friend; 
 and, second, that the sixty-day payment clause in a policy is a 
 wise provision. 
 
 In the commercial world thirty days is regarded as cash, and 
 few lines of goods are paid for within sixty days; so that even 
 in the case of a merchant who wishes to replenish his stock it is 
 not always necessary that he should pay cash ; and if the loss be 
 on a building, the money is not needed for rebuilding, except in 
 
WAIVER. 
 
 341 
 
 installments. S a that the cases where proper consideration of 
 the immediate needs of a c laimant is involved are not necessarily 
 numerous. 
 
 Those companies who pay losses before the smoke of a fire 
 has blown away, often make discoveries, in a clearer atmos- 
 phere, which are not apparent at the time, and find out their 
 mistake when it is too late to remedy it. 
 
 When a Loss is paid, cancel the Policy, taking a receipt for the 
 amount of the loss and of the return premium, if any, on the 
 face of the policy. Do this whether the loss is /ess than the 
 ((mount of the policy or not. 
 
 In those cases where it is necessary and desirable to continue 
 the insurance, it should be done by a new policy. 
 
 Waiver. Finally, there are some things that the agent must 
 certainby not do. He must not waive any of the provisions of 
 the policy, or the rights of the company; and to avoid this mis- 
 take, he must not do, say or Avrite anything that will have this 
 effect. 
 
 He must not deny liability, leaving that task, if it is necessary 
 to take such action, to the c< >mpany. Even where he has reason 
 to suspect fraud, he should not let the claimant infer that the 
 company is not liable. If convinced that the claimant is dis- 
 honest, he should say "The company does not admit nor deny 
 liability in the matter of your claim; jour policy tells you what 
 to do in case of loss ; you must govern j-ourself by its conditions 
 and requirements." In such cases he should avoid such state- 
 ments as "I will see you again." or "You will hear from me 
 later," or words of like tenor. The policy-holder might claim 
 that he had acted on the suggestion as an explanation of not 
 doing all that he was required to do. 
 
 If the papers submitted as proofs of loss are insufficient, he 
 should let the company decide the matter and write the neces- 
 saiy notice to that effect. 
 
 It is probably unnecessary to suggest to any intelligent man 
 that no threats or intimidations should be used under any cir- 
 cumstances. It ought also to be unnecessary to say that the 
 agent should not take any steps to adjust a loss (other than that 
 ( >f protecting the property especially an unroofed or open build- 
 ing from the weather, damageable goods from further injury 
 
342 THE GOOD FAITH OF INSURANCE C ONTRACTS. 
 
 by rust, mildew or otherwise) until he hears from the company. 
 Most agency companies have special agents and adjusters for 
 each State, who will promptly respond to any message from the 
 local agent. 
 
 THE GOOD FAITH OF INSURANCE CONTRACTS. 
 
 No contracts known to the commercial world are so generally 
 lived up to, without quibbling or evasion, as are Insurance 
 policy contracts on the part of the companies making them. 
 Owing to the neglect and carelessness of the insured, there is 
 none which might be so easily and frequently avoided, on 
 technical grounds, notwithstanding which they are generally 
 (always, by honorable companies) fulfilled to the very spirit of 
 their terms, whenever fraud is not manifest on the part of the 
 policy-holder. 
 
 In ordinary business transactions, if the endorser of a note is 
 not informed of its protest, through the inadvertence or igno- 
 rance of the holder, he rarely, if ever, fails to take advantage 
 of a release which the law gives him on merely technical grounds, 
 notwithstanding that he may not be, in any way, a sufferer 
 by reason of such want of notice and, notwithstanding, 
 that the moral obligation of suretyship remains unim- 
 paired. Not so with the underwriter. Every month in the 
 year he pays claims, without litigation, which he might avoid 
 on the most clearly settled principles of law — claims for many 
 times the amount of ordinary business transactions, and which, 
 if appealed to the courts, could not be enforced ; and yet when, in 
 consequence of some flagrant and inexcusable disregard of right, 
 a liberal sum is offered by way of compromise settlement of 
 what is really no legal claim whatever, the Company is assailed 
 with unjust criticisms, and with the cry of unfair treatment — 
 raised, it is true, most loudly by those who are anxious to coerce 
 the payment of unjust demands and for their own selfish pur- 
 poses, but — too often for their own real advantage — finding an 
 echo in the sympathies of many who are content to sit in judg- 
 ment, without taking that trouble, which simple justice requires, 
 of examining into the merits of the case. 
 
 It is far from uncommon to hear those complain of printed 
 
THE GOOD FAITH OF INSURANCE CONTRACTS. 
 
 343 
 
 conditions in a policy who are too indolent to read them, and 
 who are, probably, not aware of the fact that if the conditions 
 of the policy, instead of being plainly printed on its face, for 
 their information, were left to be inferred by the law (which is 
 very jealous in guarding the rights of that party to a contract 
 who relies entirely upon the honor and good faith of the other), 
 the interest of the underwriter would, in many cases, be still 
 better protected than now. The moment a company defines the 
 conditions of its policy, it becomes responsible for omissions, and 
 places itself under the well-known rule of construction, by which 
 a contract is held to permit much that is not expressly prohibited. 
 
 "If he who could and ought to have explained himself clearly 
 and plainly has not done it, it is worse for him ; he cannot be 
 allowed to introduce subsequent restrictions which he has not 
 expressed." — Vattel's "Law of Nations," Book ii, Chap. xvii. 
 
 It may, therefore, indeed be questioned, whether, in the at- 
 tempt to place clearly before the assured, in the policy, the con- 
 ditions upon which it is based, the underwriter does not lose 
 many advantages which a blank contract would secure before 
 a court of law, by the mere inference and operation of the law 
 itself. 
 
 With a policy en tirely f ree f rom conditions of any kind, 
 for instance, a company would be protected by conditions which 
 are implied by la w. Under such a contract it would be secured, 
 not less thoroughly than now, against the unreasonable claim 
 of one, for example, who should change the occupation of a 
 building, insured as a dwelling house, into that of a planing 
 mill, without its consent. In such a case, it would simply be 
 necessary for the company to say : ' 'In to this contract we never 
 en tered. We insured a dwelling, but it has been changed to a 
 more dangerous risk, for which we would have charged a higher 
 rate." It would require no policy condition to protect the com- 
 pany from the consequences of such an increase of the hazard, 
 and when it calls the attention of the assured to the fact that 
 any increase of the hazard will vitiate the policy, by clearly 
 printing the statement on the face of the contract, it does so 
 gratuitously, and in a spirit of fairness which is not always 
 appreciated. 
 
 The right of a landlord to be consulted as to any change in 
 
344 HONORABLE DEALING <»F INSURANCE COMPANIES. 
 
 the uses or occupation of bis property by ;i tenant is universally 
 recognized ; it should be remembered tbat the contingent 
 interest of an underwriter in an insured building is frequently 
 measured by no smaller sum than its full value. 
 
 The following extracts from the decisions of eminent jurists 
 show clearly that no policy condition is necessary to protect an 
 insurance company against those who are dishonorable enough 
 to conceal important and material facts, or who procure their 
 insurance by misrepresentation or fraud. 
 
 Angell says : 
 
 ' In every sort of insurance, whether Fire, Life or Marine, it, is held to be 
 one of the plainest principles of equity, that a contract, which one party has 
 
 been induced to enter into from his ignorance of the thing concealed, shall not be 
 enforced against him by the other who has concealed il " 
 
 Lord Mansfield said: 
 
 "Good faith forbids either party, by concealing what he privately knows, 
 to draw the other into a bargain, from his ignorance of that fact and his believ- 
 ing the contrary." 
 
 Chief-Justice Marshall said : 
 
 "The contract of insurance is one in which the underwriters generally act 
 upon the representation of the assured, and that representation ought, con 
 sequently, to be fair, and to omit nothing which is material for the under- 
 writer to know." 
 
 Judge Story said : 
 
 "In such cases, the underwriter necessarily reposes a trust and confidence 
 in the assured, as to all the facts and circumstances affecting the risk, which 
 an- peculiarly within his knowledge, and which are not of a public and general 
 nature, or which the insured knows or is bound to know." 
 
 Chief-Justice Gibson said: 
 
 "The contract of insurance is eminently a contract of good faith. It is not 
 sufficient for the insured to answer all the questions propounded to him. Like 
 a witness on the stand, he is bound to tell the whole truth, without waiting to be 
 interrogated." 
 
 As before stated, it is in a spirit of fairness, and that the 
 policy-holder may be informed for his own safety, that com- 
 panies print clearly in their policies, even those important con- 
 ditions which would be inferred by law from the very spirit of 
 the contract; and the business man who places a policy in his 
 office safe, without once reading it through, has only himself to 
 blame if he suffers the consequences of a negligence, which he 
 would not exhibit as to the most insignificant of other 
 
SMALL percentage of contested claims. 
 
 345 
 
 business papers. Says an able writer on Commercial Law: 
 "A majority of well-trained and careful business men, who 
 bave large amounts at tbe risk of fire, and whose indemnity 
 depends upon the policies of insurance which they hold, and 
 upon their conforming to the terms and conditions thereof, 
 never read the cut/re contents of a single policy of in- 
 surance held by them, or examine the conditions and require- 
 ments thereof, with a view to ascertain whether they are con- 
 forming thereto. It is not an unusual thing for a man, the 
 main bulk of whose property has jnst been destroyed by fire, to 
 get out from his .safe and read, for the first time, his con- 
 tracts of indemnity!'''' And he adds, with much truth, "The 
 business of insurance is, fortunately for the business com- 
 munity, mainly managed and controlled by men whose high 
 character and usually clem' sense of equity prevent them 
 from availing themselves of immaterial or technical objec- 
 tions, except in cases where they believe there has been 
 fraud." 
 
 A glance at the small proportion of losses contested by com- 
 panies wall establish the truth of this statement. 
 
 At the close of the year 1901, the reports of the companies 
 showed that a sum not equal to two per cent, of the amount 
 of losses paid by them during that year were in suit at its 
 close; and as those losses in suit were the result of an average 
 of, at least, three years' business, it follows that the losses 
 contested are less than one per cent, of the whole amount 
 of losses incurred! 
 
 When it is remembered how many fraudulent claims are 
 made upon underwriters, it becomes a serious question — not 
 whether too many claims are contested by them — but whether 
 enouqli are resisted to protect tla j interests and ensure the 
 security of their more honest claimants ! 
 
 i 
 
EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 One of the most important and difficult problems connected 
 with estimating the proper rate of a building is that of measur- 
 ing the effect upon it of other exposing risks. The following 
 tables were computed by me for estimating this hazard, while 
 at work as chairman of the Universal Schedule Committee. I 
 have already treated of this subject in a general manner on 
 pages 62 to 72, but the rules and tables for computing the cost 
 of an exposure which follow will. I believe, commend them- 
 selves as based upon correct assumptions of hazard. They can 
 be used for any system of rating, whether the "Universal" or 
 any other, but they presuppose a correct rate for the exposure, 
 by whatever process reached, as a necessary factor in computing 
 the exposure charge. 
 
 It will be conceded that the correct measure of the exposure 
 to a brick building by another of similar hazard sufficiently near 
 to it to cause damage would be such percentage of the occupied, 
 exposed rate (No. 131, page 21 of the Universal Schedule) of 
 the exposing building (after deducting whatever may have been 
 added in its rate, for the exposure to it by the risk which is to 
 be rated) as would pay for the damage. There should be first 
 eliminated from the rate of the exposure, it will be conceded, 
 whatever may have been included in it for the exposure to it by 
 the risk to be rated ; otherwise, the effect would be to charge for 
 the exposure of the risk itself. 
 
 The percentage of the exposure rate to be added to the risk to 
 be rated should vary, not only with the distance or intervening 
 space between the two risks but, also, according to the nature 
 of the construction and occupancy of the exposure and the 
 probabilities of its having frequent fires and intense fires causing 
 total destruction, or what may be termed its "ignitibility" and 
 "combustibility." 
 
EXPOSURES TO BKICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 347 
 
 Inasmuch as the Universal Schedule, by its occupied and 
 exposed rate (No. 131), will have measured all important feat- 
 ures of the exposure — construction, area, height, ignitibility and 
 combustibility of contents and the exposures to it of other 
 hazards than the risk to be rated — a percentage of its rate charged 
 will be the proper measure of its influence upon the risk. 
 
 By way of illustration, if the occupied, exposed rate of a risk 
 is 90 cents and this 90 cents includes, say 10 cents, which has 
 been added for the exposure of the risk to be rated, 80 cents is 
 the net, occupied, exposed rate the percentage of which should 
 be added to the risk to be rated to measure whatever danger 
 may be apprehended from the proximity of the exposing hazard. 
 If the risk would be damaged to the extent of say $2,000 by the 
 burning of the exposure then the rate of the risk should be in- 
 creased by such amount as would yield a premium on $2,000 at 
 the rate (80 cents) of the hazard which would cause the loss, 
 whose probabilities of burning, &c, are indicated or measured 
 by its rate of 80 cents. If the risk to be rated is one which 
 carries $10,000 insurance, then it is clear that the Company in- 
 suring it will be carrying, in addition to its own hazard, a 
 liability to loss of $2,000 by the burning of the exposure, and 
 should receive for such risk $16 additional premium ($2,000 at 
 a rate of 80 cents). To secure $16 on $10,000 insurance, would 
 require an addition to the rate of the risk (whatever its rate 
 may be) of 16 cents per $100, and if the specific rate of the risk 
 be 60 cents, its exposed rate would be 76 cents; if 1 the exposed 
 rate would be 116, &c. As before stated, the probabilities of 
 damage must be determined by considering the intervening 
 space and the character and construction of either or both of 
 the two buildings, not forgetting their relative height. 
 
 It is difficult to reduce all of these considerations to a uniform 
 rule, but the following rules and tables will enable a rating 
 expert to approximately estimate the exposure in all cases, 
 having in mind certain important considerations or propositions 
 hereinafter explained. 
 
348 
 
 EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 RULE FOR ESTIMATING EXPOSURES 
 
 OF BRICK BUILDINGS TO BRICK BUILDINGS WITH OPENINGS 
 WHERE THE SCHEDULE RATE OF THE EXPOSURE DOES 
 NOT EXCEED THAT OF THE RISK BY MORE 
 THAN 50 CENTS. 
 
 RULE: If the intervening space be less than 100 feet, add 
 T 2 u of 1 fc of the exposure rate for each foot that the inter- 
 vening space is less thou 100 feet in width, on. "protected 
 risks''' 1 (/. e. irith hi/drants icithin .">< M i fret ), and same amount 
 for each foot less than 120 feet on "unprotected" risks. 
 
 For example, if the distance between the risk and its exposure 
 be 90 feet, the addition would be of 1 $ for each of the ten 
 feet less than 100, or 2$ of the exposure rate. If the exposure 
 should be only 50 feet distant, the charge should be j% of 1 % of 
 the rate of the exposure for each of the 50 feet that the distance 
 is less than 100 feet, or 10$. If the exposure is only 10 feet 
 distant, the addition would be 18$ of the exposure rate. At 
 this distance, with openings, the two risks would be nearly one 
 hazard and the situation would be almost identical with a risk 
 of the combined area of the two, making allowance for division 
 walls, and charging for extra staircases, elevators, tenants, &c, ; 
 see note item No. 62, U. M. S. 
 
 The prevailing practice, at 10 feet, under such circumstances, 
 has been to make the rates of the two risks equal, inasmuch as 
 the intervening distance is so slight that the probabilities are 
 that both would burn together, but such estimate would over- 
 look an important fact, viz., that all fires are not total. In risks 
 of ordinary hazard, brick mercantile risks, for example, 70$ are 
 under $100 and, under the protection of fire departments, not 
 exceeding 5 fo are total. It is seldom that partial losses in a 
 brick building damage other risks. Therefore, in estimating 
 the danger of an exposure, that portion of its Schedule rate 
 which is intended to measure the claims for partial losses 
 although forming a proper part of the loading of the rate of the 
 exposure itself ought not to charged to the risk exposed. It 
 should, moreover, be remembered that, even in the case of fires 
 totally destroying an exposure, there are some chances that, at 
 a distance of only 10 feet, the exposed building would escape, 
 
KULE FOR ESTIMATING EXPOSURES, ETC. 
 
 349 
 
 by reason of the nature and direction of the wind at the time of 
 the fire. (See diagrams, page 68 etc.) 
 
 The measure of exposure damage of a building ten feet dis- 
 tant, with window openings in both, however, ought not to 
 differ materially from what would be the rate of both risks if 
 they were computed as one risk of the total area, allowing the 
 deduction for the division walls (item No. 62) and charging for 
 the extra tenants, stairways, &c. In other words, the rate of 
 two 50 foot front risks, within ten feet of each other, with open- 
 ings in both ought certainly not be greater than that of a 
 100'xlOO' risk, calculating the area, occupancy, extra tenants, 
 &c, as per the Schedule. In such a case there would be a 
 charge for area under No. 59, 24 cents (less deduction for two 
 subdividing walls), charge for at least one extra tenant, 2 cents, 
 an extra staircase, extra elevator, heating apparatus, etc., all 
 subject to deductions for proximity to hydrants, 155, etc., (there 
 would he no deductions from exposures, charge for which is 
 net, see No. 130) which would bring the two rates very closely 
 together. 
 
 In estimating the probabilities of ignition by a burning ex- 
 posure, the law of physics as to the radiation of heat at given 
 distances does not apply until the brick wall of the exposing 
 building, if not that of the risk also, has succumbed. Especially 
 in case of an exposure with a blank wall, but also in the case of 
 a wall with window openings, the question whether, at the 
 given distance, the probabilities are in favor of destruction of 
 the risk by the exposure is one of underwriting judgment and 
 not of science, depending upon the construction of the wall, the 
 nature and size of openings, &c, and the possibilities of a 
 collapse which would expose the risk to the full effect of the 
 volume of fire in the exposing building. 
 
 RULE WHERE THE RATE OF THE EXPOSURE 
 MATERIALLY EXCEEDS THAT OF THE RISK. 
 
 Where, however, the rate of one risk is materially greater 
 than that of the other, indicating greater ignitibility and com- 
 bustibility, something should be added to the minor hazard for 
 the excess rate of the major hazard, so that while an ordinary, 
 
15511 
 
 EXPOSURES TO P.KKK BUILDINGS. 
 
 mercantile risk would not add materially to another of like 
 hazard, a, planing-mill, subject to more frequent fires and more 
 intense combustion, ought to add a percentage of its excess rate, 
 gradually increasing with the deficiency distance between the 
 two. Thus each additional stratum or layer of hazard, so to 
 speak, should be provided for. This fact is frequently over- 
 looked in tables for computing exposure hazard. 
 
 The danger from an exposure increases not only inversely 
 with the distance between the two. but also directly as the rate 
 of exposure exceeds that of the risk, indicating greater igniti- 
 bility, combustibility. &c. If one should approach a fire with 
 a thermometer, the mercury would rise with each foot of 
 approach. It would also rise in proportion to the intensity and 
 volume of the fire. The exposure of a 1 # risk by a 1 % risk 
 would be greater at 10 feet distant than at GO feet distant, but 
 the exposure of a 3/o risk at 10 feet would also be greater than 
 that of a 1 $> risk at the same distance. The difference, more- 
 over, is not a pro rata or single percentage increase. These 
 considerations, therefore, give rise to the following rule : 
 
 RULE: Calculate the addition in rate for exposure on 
 the basis of ivhat it would be if both hazards were similar, 
 viz., for so much of the rate of the exposure hazard as 
 equals the rate of the risk itself, and add to the amount T V 
 of lfc FOR each 100 cents of rate that the exposure exceeds 
 that of the risk, for each foot of deficiency distance as 
 per Table B, in case the risk is "protected " or by Table D 
 if not "protected." 
 
 For example, suppose a 2$ risk exposes a 1 fo protected risk 
 at 20 feet. There should be added to the Ifc risk 16 cents by 
 Table A and 8 cents by Table B — in all 24 cents; so that the 
 exposed rate would be 1. 24. 
 
 Where the major or greater exposure hazard is not directly opposite, 
 but to one side of the line of frontage, calculate the exposure by 
 the risk opposite, which will contain in its rate the exposure of 
 any major hazards in the same row or block. 
 
 Prevailing Wind. If the prevailing wind blows from exposure 
 toward risk, increase exposure charge in Tables A and C 10^; 
 if from risk toward exposure, decrease exposure charge 10 
 
GLASS FRONTS OR SIDES, ETC. 
 
 :!.-)] 
 
 Glass fronts or sides. If the building has an excessive amount 
 of glass in its walls, show-windows, etc., for display of goods, 
 exceeding in glass area 70 % of the square surface of the first, 
 second or other stories, increase the amount of exposure charge 
 by 10$ of its amount for the first or grade-floor glass story, and 
 by 20$ for the second story and 10$ for each additional glass 
 story, but not exceeding a total which shall increase the rate 
 of the risk to exceeding 80 $ of a higher rated exposure. For 
 example, if the exposure charge is 20 cents and there be two 
 glass stories, the charge should be 26 cents. If one glass story, 
 grade floor 22 cents, &c. 
 
 If the exposure has glass sides or stories toward the 
 risk, increase the exposure charge 20 $ for each glass story above 
 the first. 
 
 Many of our city store buildings have so much glass in their 
 enclosing walls that they are no stronger for resisting fire than 
 so many glass show cases. 
 
 Shingle roofs. The tables are intended for buildings having 
 metal, tile, slate or approved gravel roofs. If the risk has a 
 shingle roof, increase the exposure charge 50 $ of its amount 
 (not 50 $ of the rate of the exposure) but not exceeding a sum 
 which would make the rate of the risk equal to that of the ex- 
 posure. 
 
 Frame exposures to Brick Buildings. Charge 50$ more than 
 for Brick exposure as per Tables A and C, (Tables E and F are 
 intended for Brick and Stone buildings only) but not exceeding 
 a sum which shall make the rate of the building equal to 80 $ of 
 that of the frame building. 
 
 Wooden Cornices. Wooden mansard. &c. Even if building has 
 blank wall, charge the same per tables as for buildings with 
 openings, at the given distance. 
 
 Buildings with Stone Fronts. Increase the final exposure charge 
 by 10$ of its amount if plain finish and by 20$ of its amount if 
 carved or ornamental finish. For example, the charge for ex- 
 posure being 10 cents, if plain stone front, should be 11 cents 
 and if ornamental, 12 cents. 
 
 Stocks. If building has blank wall toward exposure, charge 
 30 $ less on stock than on building. Grade floor Stocks in un- 
 protected buildings, 50$ less than charge on building (stocks 
 
EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDIXOS. 
 
 above grade, same charge as building). Stocks in Standard 
 buildings, one-half the charge for exposure to building, no 
 matter on what floor located. 
 
 Height. If the risk is less than five stories high, deduct from 
 the total, final exposure charge, 15$ thereof for each story less 
 than five in height, and add 15$ for each story in excess of five. 
 
 Height of exposure. If the exposure is less than five 
 stories high, deduct 10 $ of charge for each story less than five 
 but add 25 $ for each story over five. For example, the ex- 
 posure for a 2$ risk at 20 feet being 32 cents, if only two stories 
 high 30$, or it cents, should be deducted, making the charge 
 21 cents. 
 
 Buildings adjoining each other. Where brick or stone buildings 
 adjoin each other in blocks, a charge should be made as per 
 Tables E and F for exposure. As already stated, these two 
 tables are not intended for frames. 
 
 Defective walls. Walls having deficiency charges under No. 39 
 or No. 41 of the Schedule should entail a greater charge for ex- 
 posure as per tables. If the two adjoining walls are inde- 
 pendent, it may be that the two, although one may be defective, 
 would be equivalent to a fire stop and one half the charge may 
 be made — see tables E and F. 
 
 Wall not through Roof. If division wall between two adjoining 
 risks does not extend through roof, cutting off roof timbers, 
 charge same as per tables E and F for communications above 
 first floor with single fire door. 
 
 Falling Wall Hazard. If the adjoining building be of greater 
 height than the risk to be rated by a difference of 50 feet or 
 over, increasing the danger of falling on the risk, charge not 
 less than 2 $ of the rate of exposure, in addition to the Table 
 charges. In case there are windows or other openings in the 
 excess height, charge for exposure to the higher building by 
 the lower, as per tables E and F, and one-half as much to the 
 lower building for the exposure by the higher, unless the 
 windows in the higher are not within 6 feet of the roof of the 
 lower, in which case charge one-fourth; see Tables E and F. 
 
 If the exposed side or surface of the risk be less than 75 running 
 feet, deduct 1 $ of the exposure charge for each foot less ; for 
 
EXPOSURE OF EXCEPTIONAL AREAS, ETC. 
 
 353 
 
 example, if the front, rear or side wall exposed be 50 feet, de- 
 duct ->.v, ; if 40 feet, 35<; if 25 feet, 50$. If the side or .sur- 
 face of the exposure toward the risk be less than 75 running 
 feet, deduct }4 of 1 $ for each foot less. No deduction under 
 these items, however, if the exposure building contain Oils 
 or other "grease risks," Wholesale Drugs, stocks of Furni- 
 ture, Agricultural Implements, Carriage or Wagon materi- 
 als or other ivood risks — hazards of intense combust ibil it;/. 
 
 Exposure of exceptional areas. If the exposure has an unbroken, 
 ground floor area exceeding 10,000 square feet, increase the final 
 exposure charge 30$, and a further 5$ for each 1,000 square 
 feet of area in excess of 10,000. 
 
 Unbroken areas and large risks of this character when once 
 thoroughly on fire have an exposure effect which the best fire 
 departments are seldom able to control. 
 
 Fire Shutters — These, while supposed to be equal to blank 
 walls, are worth little more than half their theoretical value 
 within a distance of 40 feet. 
 
 For fire shutters to the risk deduct 50 $ of charge. 
 " " " "exposure " 30$ " " 
 " " " "both risk and 
 
 exposure deduct 60$ " " 
 
 If intervening distance exceeds 40 feet, increase the percent- 
 age of deduction by 1 $ for each foot that the distance exceeds 
 40 feet, not exceeding a total deduction of 90$. 
 
 Analysis of exposure hazard. It is sometimes the case that a 
 special hazard of high rate may have its least dangerous portion, 
 the office building or warehouse, for example, nearest the risk, 
 while the more hazardous portion may be sufficiently remote to 
 justify calculation of the exposure by that portion which would 
 endanger the risk. The New York Building Law, for example, 
 requires that all theatres having stores upon the street front 
 shall have such stores cut off from the rest of the theatre by a fire 
 wall. In this case it would be unjust to include in the exposure 
 to a building opposite the full charge for the rear portion or 
 more dangerous section of the theatre. Judgment must be 
 used in such cases, and the same rule should govern for calcu- 
 lating the exposure as if the two parts were separate risks, the 
 more dangerous portion exposing the less hazardous. 
 
354 
 
 EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 If both risk and exposure rates are less than 1 ;, pro-rate for both; 
 
 for example, the exposure of a 1 % risk at 20 feet being 16 cents 
 (Table A) the exposure of a 25 cent risk would be 4 cents, and 
 to a 25 cent risk 1 cent. 
 
 EXPOSURE RATING SLIP. 
 
 These various considerations have been provided for in a 
 rating slip arranged for easy computation, and the operation is 
 less complicated than a perusal of the foregoing paragraphs 
 would seem to indicate. 
 
 The tables A and C were arrived at in the following manner: 
 The effect of an exposure being, as already stated, inversely 
 as the distance and directly as to ignitibility, combustibility, 
 weakness of construction, &c, of the exposure, it follows that 
 the proportion of an exposure rate to be added to a risk should 
 be increased as the distance between the two decreases, and 
 also in proportion as the rate of the exposure exceeds that 
 of the risk to be rated. On this basis, 120 feet being regarded 
 as a safe distance in unprotected risks and 100 feet in the case 
 of protected risks, two-tenths of one per cent of the exposure 
 rate is added for each foot of the deficiency distance, or 2fo of 
 the rate for each 10 feet less than the safe distance; provided, 
 however, that the rate of the exposure does not exceed that of 
 the risk and that they are, therefore, similar hazards. On this 
 basis if the separating distance on a protected risk is 70 feet, 6 ft 
 should be added; if 60 feet, 8^; if 50 feet, 10 if 10 feet, 18 f,, 
 &c, &c. 
 
 Tables B and D are arrived at by computing the exposure 
 charge for each 100 cents of rxcESS of exposure rate, in 
 accordance with the rule already stated of adding T V of 1$ for 
 each foot of deficiency distance for each 100 cents of rate that 
 the exposure exceeds that of the risk. On this basis, in the 
 case of a protected or fire department risk at 70 feet distant, 3$ 
 of the excess exposure rate should be added for each 100 cents 
 of such excess, at 60 feet 4$; at 50 feet, 5#; at 10 feet 9 &c. 
 Thus, if the exposure rate exceeds that of a risk by 2$ at 10 feet 
 distance, 18$ of such 2fc, or 36 cents, should be added. If the 
 exposure rate exceeds that of the risk by 300 cents, at 30 feet 
 distance, 7 % of the excess rate for each 100 cents of excess, or 
 
ORDER OF COMPUTATION. 
 
 355 
 
 21$ thereof, (amounting to 63 cents) should be added for the 
 excess exposure; see table B. 
 
 It is thus necessar}- to have two sets of tables, for while a pro- 
 rata percentage addition would measure the exposure of risks 
 of the same hazard, such an addition would not be sufficient for 
 the exposure to a risk of minor hazard by one of greater danger. 
 The risk would increase in proportion to the difference in hazard, 
 and after adding for the excess as per table B and D, the ex- 
 posure charge for so much of the exposure as equals its own 
 rate must be added ; otherwise a small excess might be the only 
 charge made in high rated risks of nearly the same rate. 
 
 The mistake too often made of adding to the risk the same 
 percentage of the rate of the exposing building, no matter 
 whether the exposure be a high rated risk or a low rated risk, 
 is more fully explained on pages 72, and 73 (see ante.) For 
 example, it is customary in most tables for computing exposure 
 rates, like Table ''A," for instance, where a 1$ exposure is 18 
 cents, to add 1.26 (which would be 18$ of 7$,) for exposure to 
 a 1$ risk by a 7$ risk, instead of first taking 18 cents for the 
 exposure of 1$ of the exposure and adding 3.24 for the 600 cents 
 excess of the exposure rate. This would make 3.42 as an ex- 
 posure charge, the 1$ risk being rated 4.42 and the 7$ risk 
 7.18. Where the same percentage is taken, as is so frequently 
 the case, the \i risk would be rated at 2.26, and any under- 
 writer, at this great difference between the two rates, would 
 select the 7 $ hazard for a smaller line. 
 
 No other difference than that of the foregoing rules should be 
 made between fire department and non-fire department towns, 
 inasmuch as the Universal Schedule, in its key-rate and, also, 
 in the subsequent deductions for proximity to hydrants, steam- 
 engines, etc., will have, at No. 131, correctly measured and 
 considered the difference between protected and unprotected 
 risks in the probabilities of controlling and extinguishing a fire 
 and, therefore, of preventing its spread. The question, at this 
 point, becomes simply one of physical volume and distance. 
 
 Order of computation. The accompanying rate sl'p shows the 
 order in which the computation of exposure hazards should be 
 made. 
 
 It may be claimed that the detail features herein treated are 
 too numerous and the computation suggested too complicated, 
 
356 
 
 EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 but there are no considerations mentioned which an intelligent 
 expert would overlook in estimating exposure danger, and he 
 certainly cannot be hindered by having a list of them with a 
 charge for each. 
 
 N. B. — The criticism has been made of this scheme of ex- 
 posure charges that because risks of intense combustibility, such 
 as oil storks or wood workers, would be more likely to destroy 
 buildings exposed by them than would stocks of the same high 
 rate though of a harmless character, like millinery, hops, wall- 
 paper, etc., a higher percentage of the rates of risks of intense 
 combustibility should be added to measure the exposure danger. 
 But this view overlooks an important fact, viz., that it is the 
 percentage of the rate of the exposure building, and not of its 
 stock or contents, which is used for exposure charges. The 
 question whether contents of great ignitibility or intense "com- 
 bustibility*' will burn the building which contains them is 
 identical with that of whether they will damage an exposed risk 
 and is measured in the rate of the exposure building. Stocks 
 of wall-paper or millinery in a building exposing another would 
 themselves be rated high because of their susceptibility to dam- 
 age, but the building containing them would not, for they do 
 not make hot fires or increase the rate of a building. On the 
 other hand, oils in a building exposing another, might not 
 themselves be rated higher than millinery or wall-paper, but 
 the building containing them would be rated higher than one 
 containing the harmless stocks named ; and it is the percentage 
 of this higher building rate which is used for the exposure 
 charge. If the exposure charge on this basis is deemed in- 
 adequate to measure the probabilities of the destruction of the 
 exposed risk, it would argue, not that the percentage of exposure 
 is wrong, but that the rate of the exposing building, containing 
 the oils, etc., is inadequate, and if the rate of the building 
 containing the oils is not high enough to measure the proba- 
 bilities of its destruction by its contents, it should be raised. 
 Of course, if the oils will not destroy their own building they 
 cannot destroy the building of the exposure. 
 
Edition Jnt r ISM. 
 
 //.. 
 
 RATING SUP.- Exposures Brick Bpcs, 
 
 N. R— Cairn laic tin- exposure, a* ]iri I aide, for given 
 distance or condition for each side anil enter in its col- 
 umn, then ndd or subtract from charge as follows; cor- 
 rj \ds the not result by successive processes down the 
 t'ulnmu T • ' th.' hnilniti. 
 
 
 
 Front Ri-ht 
 
 A "'H'" 
 
 Rear 
 C 
 
 ( teft 
 
 'if 
 
 Buildings Separated.— With openings. 
 
 N. B. — (Wooden Roof, Cornice or Wooden 
 
 Mansard same as openings.) 
 Blank Wall of Risk toward exposure, deduct i of 
 
 charge if protected (i. e. fire Dipt.) § if not.) 
 
 No deduction if wooden roof, cornice ot man- 
 
 " " of Exposure toward risk, deduct J ii 
 
 protected ) if not.) 
 " " To both deduct ill) per cent if protected 
 
 <* if not.) 
 
 Openings not opposite to each other deduct 30 per 
 
 '* on grade or first floor only, deduct 25 per 
 
 Fire Shatters.— To window openings of risk dedue 
 50 % of charge. 
 " " To window openings of exposure de 
 duct 30 %. 
 
 " " to Both risk and exposure deduct 60* 
 If the intervening di-tariceexceeris 40 feet in 
 crease the percentage of deduction by 1 56 
 for each foot that distance exceeds 40 fee 
 not exceeding a total deduction of 90#. 
 
 Shingle Roof TO Risk increase charge 50 per cent bu 
 not exceeding a sum which would make risk 
 equal rate with exposure. 
 
 If Buildings Adjohiiug— Charge as per table E and F 
 
 log mill- -if - m.l.<|...<ii>!. i.t «ini..ui i.ni.iiilc iti-.n mr 
 
 Curried ithm-i- r..of Ki-r . vnriii .1. . if rl-K !>.- No 4ii tun. 
 exposure N.> »nv eixtli ■>! <"i , [a ..rl.'.u.- B li.,ul.J I. 
 Btithil for No. 123 
 
 N. B.— No deduction for Fine Door? lo rom 
 munlcutkm.,, If .-xj-onire be mi un. or "Omaie' 
 bus.— rate as one hazard. 
 
 Wall not through Roof. — If division wall between twe 
 adjoining risks dues not extend through roof 
 cutting off roof timbers, charge same as pet 
 tables E and F for communications above 
 first floor with single fire door. 
 
 Rate of Exposure less than 1 per cent., pro-rate 
 charge. 
 
 Length of Exposed Side of Risk.— Leas than 75 run 
 ning feet, 1 per cent, less for each foot. Nc 
 deduction ij .l.Iji-iinn^ with communication. 
 
 " op Exposure. — Less than 75 feet i per cent 
 less for each foot. 
 
 fN. B.— Nr. deduction under these Ilema, however, U 
 the esp-iMir L ' tiuil'lin^ i. utalri lia/aMa i.f irjlrns* 
 ct.nibuBill.i'ii^ -i nl~ -r -iticr ■ ctoi."* ricks" \Mmle 
 ■ftleOru^-s. r.l..tka .if 1 uniiltir.- Aim. nlinr.il ling ] L - 
 menu, Carriam* or \\ «■,'>>» materials or other w.km 
 
 Height of Exposure.— If less than rive stories deduct U 
 per cent, for each story let! than live If ovei 
 5 stories add 25 per cent, for each story over 5 
 
 Falling Wnll Hazard.— Add not less than 2 per cent 
 of the rate of the exposing risk. 
 
 Glass Front or Side of Risk.— Increase charge 10 pe 
 cent, if first story, 2l> per cent for second, am 
 ten per cent, for each additional story. 
 " " of Exposure. — Increase charge 30 per ceo 
 for each glass story above hrst or grade door 
 
 Stone Front. — If plain finish increase charge 10 per 
 cent. It carved or ornamental liuisb iucrcu.-i 
 20 per cent, 
 
 LargeCubroken Area of Exposure exceeding lO.nnr 
 suuare feet increase charge 80 per cent, anc; 
 add a further 5 per cent for each 1,000 in ex 
 cos Of 10.000. 
 
 Frame Exposure increase charge ."ill per cent, but noi 
 exceeding a sum which shall make rate ol 
 risk equal to 80 per cent of exposure 
 N.ite. Table* E and V 1- r flu. Inir.u LuILIil^t =r, 
 Intended tor Hrick and Stone IiqiI.iIdks .mly. 
 
 Prevailing Wind.— If toward risk increase charge 10 
 per cent. If toward exposure decrcu«t 
 charge 10 per cent. 
 
 If both Risk ami Exposnre rate are below 1 percent 
 take such percentage of final result as the 
 rate of ri-k bears to one per cent. e. g . if 05 
 cents, 65 per cent; if 45 cents, 45 per cent dV 
 
 Total Exposure Charge for all sides. 
 Height of Risk.— If under 5 stories high, deduct 15 per 
 cent of total charges (or each storv less than 
 five. If over five stories high add 16 per 
 cent for each story over live. 
 Stocks. — If building separated has blank wall toward 
 exposure, charge 8u per cent, less on stock 
 than on building. 
 
 Grade Floor Stocks In unprotected build. 
 Ings 50 per cent less than charge on building 
 (stocks above grade, vune charge as building ) 
 Stocks in Standard buildings one-half the 
 the charge for exposure to building no matter 
 on what floor located. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
table a. PROTECTED RISKS— SEPARATED. 
 
 (i. e. wilkin 500 feet of hydrants.) 
 BB1CK BCILDISGS BI BBICK BUILDINGS VT1TB 0PE5I50S. 
 
 Exposure DLstaoce 
 Separating Space. 
 
 ale of j^Rataof j^Raleof |^Rate of | Rat* of | Bate of 
 
 100 cents 200 ceo 
 
 io feet. 
 
 .tScts 
 
 .36 as 
 
 •S4Cts 
 
 .72CIS 
 
 ..jocts 
 
 i.o8cts 
 
 l.2t>CtS 
 
 20 " 
 
 .16 " 
 
 ■3' " 
 
 .48 » 
 
 .64 " 
 
 .80 " 
 
 .96 " 
 
 1. 12 " 
 
 JO « 
 
 .14 " 
 
 .28 " 
 
 .42 « 
 
 .56 " 
 .48 " 
 
 •70 " 
 
 .84 " 
 
 .98 " 
 
 40 " 
 
 .12 " 
 
 .24 " 
 
 .36 « 
 
 .60 ■' 
 
 .72 " 
 
 ■84 " 
 
 5° " 
 
 .10 " 
 
 
 •3° " 
 
 •4» " 
 
 •So " 
 
 .60 ■' 
 
 .70 " 
 
 60 •• 
 
 .08 " 
 
 !i6 " 
 
 .24 " 
 
 .32 " 
 
 .40 " 
 
 .48 » 
 
 .56 " 
 
 70 « 
 
 .06 " 
 
 
 .18 " 
 
 .24 " 
 
 •30 jj 
 
 .36 " 
 
 .42 » 
 
 80 " 
 
 .04 " 
 
 !o8 " 
 
 .12 u 
 
 .16 « 
 
 
 .24 " 
 
 .28 « 
 
 9» " 
 
 
 .04 " 
 
 .06 » 
 
 .08 " 
 
 .10 " 
 
 .12 " 
 
 .14 " 
 
 100 " 
 
 
 
 
 .00 " 
 
 
 .00 11 
 
 .OO " 
 
 If the rate be less than 1 <, reduce prorata. 
 RULE; If the. rnte of the exposnre does not exceed that of the risk by 
 more than 50 cents, add the amount named in the above table, A ', for the given distance. 
 
 If the rutc oftlie exposure exeeeils that of the risk by more than 50 tents, 
 add the amount ttamrd in the above table for so much of the rate of the exposure as equals 
 the rate of theiiii itself, and also the amount for the given distance in the following 
 table for such amount as the exposure exceeds the rate of the risk. 
 
 Foreiample, If it t riot c*poirs a 1 *ri»k nt SOfi-ct, ibc amount named for 1 « In the at-OTH 
 
 lihlu otipoflle 20 fi-.-I In It. . inf. r, 1 1 tj in Tal.le ii In Ion IVr W > o 1 I- i-irr — i . ft cents ninkiu? a 
 total of 24 cents If a 3 1 nek exposes a 2 x risk, the airo-iini f,, r : in Table A above at 20 feet 
 Is 83 cents, and fur mr. tenia t \c. -* In 1 nl.k It ln |..w 1- S cnn. nutm; n total or 40 cents. 
 Thn? the tale of the risk would be S 40 TI.e hi, rate of ti,.> :! : risk muuii be that of 200 
 cents In Table A at 21) feet, 9i cent*, makim* total exposed rate 3 33. 
 
 If risk ii as blank wall toward exposure deduct four- fifths amounts named In 
 Tables, If risk bus openings, but BXPOntM has iilamk wall toward risk, 
 deduct one-half amounts named in the Tables. 
 If both walls blaxk, deduct ninety per cent of amount named In T .' :• -. 
 If opentnos kot oppositf- each other, deduct 30 £. If openings on grade 
 floor only, deduct 25 %. 
 For flue smrrTEBS to the risk deduct 50 % of charge, 
 " *' " " exposure " 80 % '* ** 
 
 " " 11 " both risk 
 
 and exposure " AO < " " 
 If intervening distance exceeds 40 feet increase the percentage of deduction 
 by 1 $ for each foot that the distance exceeds 40 feet, not exceeding a total 
 deduction of 90 Jt. 
 
 TABLE B. 
 
 Exposure DlBtaucc 
 
 Separating Space. 
 
 ADD TO ABOVE FOR EXCESS OF EXPOSURE RATE. 
 
 100-, it» 
 
 Add for 
 200,,. , - 
 
 A, Id for 
 CXCCSS 
 
 Add for 
 l't(T^ 
 
 Add for 
 600 ecu 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 600 ateoti 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 700 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 to feet. 
 
 30 " 
 40 « 
 S» " 
 
 .0 9 CtS 
 .08 " 
 ■07 " 
 .06 " 
 
 .05 " 
 
 .36 cts 
 
 .32 " 
 .28 " 
 
 .24 " 
 
 • St CIS 
 .72 " 
 .63 " 
 
 •54 " 
 •45 " 
 
 I.44C1S 
 1.28 " 
 
 ! 9 6 " 
 
 .80 " 
 
 --. r,Cts 
 
 ■ 75 " 
 1.50 « 
 1.25 « 
 
 3.24cta 
 2.88 " 
 2.52 " 
 2.16 •' 
 1.80 •• 
 
 ). 4 ] ,. u 
 3-9» " 
 3-43 " 
 2.94 " 
 2 45 " 
 
 60 " 
 70 " 
 80 " 
 90 " 
 
 .04 " 
 •°3 X 
 .02 " 
 
 !i6 " 
 .12 " 
 .08 " 
 .04 '1 
 
 .36 ■' 
 .27 
 
 .18 •' 
 .09 « 
 
 .64 " 
 .48 •' 
 •32 " 
 .16 
 
 1.00 " 
 •75 " 
 .50 " 
 .25 " 
 .00 " 
 
 1.44 " 
 1.08 " 
 .72 " 
 .36 v 
 
 1.96 " 
 ■■47 " 
 .98 « 
 .49 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 PROTECTED RISKS— ADJOINING 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING * 
 
 !(.,■,. of Km.- i.r tin:- (.filtjiti' ^1 
 
 loifeS 200 et»lu3 eti 400 cu 
 
 Rate c-flltete of 
 Exp're Kip're 
 600 cie|600 cie 
 
 Rate of 
 700 c» 
 
 
 Walls noi Deficient exceed- 
 ing 10 cents under Nob. 38 or 30. 
 
 
 .04 
 
 
 cents 
 
 
 ,24 
 
 .28 
 
 Walls Deficient (exceeding 
 
 10 ceuts under 38 or 39. 
 
 If one wall deficient ono-balf chg. 
 
 .06 
 ■°3 
 
 .06 
 
 .18 
 
 .09 
 
 .24 
 .12 
 
 •3° 
 
 •■5 
 
 •36 
 .18 
 
 .42 
 .21 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 tn eicees height, on hleher building 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .08 
 
 ■24 
 .rc 
 
 ■36 
 •15 
 
 .48 
 
 .20 
 
 .60 
 •25 
 
 •72 
 ■3° 
 
 .84 
 •35 
 
 (Trade floor wltb single Are door 
 
 (If double doors, one-half charges/ 
 N. B -No deduction ron Fire- 
 
 Ilo.,|i-. if !■■,], o-iir.- I,i mi 1 III. oil 
 
 .08 
 .14 
 
 .16 
 .28 
 
 .42 
 ■54 
 
 •5» 
 •72 
 
 .70 
 .90 
 
 .84 
 1.08 
 
 .98 
 1.26 
 
 Party Wall with deficiencies 
 not over 2i cents under 40 or 41. 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 coed 21 rent* under 40 and 41, or If, 
 ai 1 1 run of wall Is less than U 
 
 .03 
 .08 
 
 .06 
 .16 
 
 .18 
 .24 
 
 •24 
 •32 
 
 •3° 
 .40 
 
 .36 
 .48 
 
 •42 
 5« 
 
 Wall Longer ok Shorter, openings being at riylit angles, charge one-fourth of 
 what would be charge for distance between nearest openings by tables A and B. 
 
 * Where the Oerupaney Table first column charge of the adjoining exposure ex- 
 ceeds that of the rtsk, add one-sixth of the excess to above charges unless the 
 separating walls nre independent, without communications and carried above roof . 
 
 RULE i If the rate of the exposure does not exceed that of the risk 
 
 by more than 5U cents, add the amount named ni the above table. 
 
 If the rate of the exposure exceeds that of the risk by more than 50 cents, 
 add the amount named in the above table for so much of the rate of the exposure as 
 equals the rate of the risk itself, and also the amount for the deficiency in the 
 following table for such amount as the exposure exceeds that of the risk. 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING. 
 
 i^o • - 
 
 2 00 ■ - 
 
 ■1,1,1 'or 
 300 ■ - 
 
 too ■ - 
 
 boo , '-- 
 
 Idd f,,r 
 600 r„ 
 
 Add for 
 700 n 
 
 Walls not DEFlClENTexceed- 
 lug 10 cenls uuder Nos 38 or 3B. 
 
 ■°3 
 
 ■'5 
 
 '•45 
 
 "s,i 
 
 '•25 
 
 I.80 
 
 2-45 
 
 Walls Deficient exceeding 
 
 10 cents under 38 or 30. 
 
 If one wall deficient one-half chg. 
 
 .08 
 ■°4 
 
 .3a 
 .16 
 
 •72 
 
 ■36 
 
 1.28 
 
 '■■4 
 
 I.OO 
 
 2.88 
 ■■44 
 
 392 
 
 1.96 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 lb excess belgbt charge on higher 
 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .08 
 
 .24 
 
 •54 
 •■5 
 
 .96 
 
 ■ •SO 
 •25 
 
 2.16 
 ■3° 
 
 2.94 
 
 •35 
 
 B'd'gs Communicating on the 
 
 
 
 63 
 1.89 
 
 
 
 
 
 grade Door with single Are door. 
 (If double doors, ont-balf charges.) 
 
 .06 
 .18 
 
 .28 
 .62 
 
 2.12 
 2.44 
 
 2- 75 
 
 3- 25 
 
 3.52 
 4.24 
 
 443 
 5-41 
 
 Pabtv Wall with deficiencies 
 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 1 i-dl .'i cents under 40 aud 41, or If 
 
 Inches thick. 
 
 .06 
 .09 
 
 .20 
 .36 
 
 •54 
 .St 
 
 .96 
 ■■44 
 
 ■■5° 
 2.25 
 
 2.16 
 3»4 
 
 2.94 
 4.41 
 
EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 351 
 
 table a. PROTECTED RISKS-SEPARATED. 
 
 (*. e. within 500 feet of hydrants.) 
 BRICK BUILDINGS BY BRICK BUILDINGS WITH OPENINGS. 
 
 Exposure Distance 
 or 
 
 Separating Space. 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 100 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 200 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 
 Exposure 
 300 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 400 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 500 cunts 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 60,0 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 700 cents 
 
 
 AMOUNT TO BE 
 
 ADDED 
 
 FOR EXPOSURE. 
 
 
 IO 
 
 feet. 
 
 .18 Cts 
 
 •36 
 
 cts 
 
 •54Cts 
 
 • 72CtS 
 
 -9octs 
 
 i.oScts 
 
 1. 26cts 
 
 20 
 
 it 
 
 .16 
 
 (l 
 
 •32 
 
 <( 
 
 .48 
 
 41 
 
 .64 " 
 
 .80 " 
 
 .96 " 
 
 1. 12 " 
 
 3° 
 
 (C 
 
 .14 
 
 a 
 
 .28 
 
 II 
 
 .42 
 
 41 
 
 .56 " 
 
 .70 " 
 
 .84 " 
 
 .98 " 
 
 40 
 
 
 .12 
 
 tt 
 
 .24 
 
 14 
 
 •36 
 
 (I 
 
 .48 " 
 
 .60 " 
 
 .72 " 
 
 .84 " 
 
 5° 
 
 a 
 
 .TO 
 
 tt 
 
 .20 
 
 
 •30 
 
 II 
 
 .40 " 
 
 .50 " 
 
 .60 " 
 
 .7C " 
 
 60 
 
 << 
 
 .08 
 
 
 .16 
 
 CI 
 
 .24 
 
 II 
 
 , , II 
 •6 - 
 
 .40 " 
 
 .48 " 
 
 .56 " 
 
 70 
 
 tt 
 
 .06 
 
 a 
 
 .12 
 
 it 
 
 .18 
 
 II 
 
 .24 " 
 
 .30 " 
 
 .36 « 
 
 .42 " 
 
 80 
 
 tt 
 
 .04 
 
 tt 
 
 .08 
 
 II 
 
 .12 
 
 II 
 
 .16 " 
 
 20 " 
 
 .24 « 
 
 .28 " 
 
 90 
 
 it 
 
 .02 
 
 a 
 
 .04 
 
 it 
 
 .06 
 
 <l 
 
 .08 " 
 
 .10 " 
 
 .12 " 
 
 •14 " 
 
 100 
 
 
 .OO 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 
 
 11 
 
 .00 
 
 II 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .OO " 
 
 If (he rate be less than 1 reduce pro-rata. 
 RULE: If the rate of the ex5)osure docs not exceed that of the risk by 
 
 more than 50 cents, add the amount named in the above table. A, for the given distance. 
 
 If the rate of the exposure exceeds that of the risk by more than 50 cents, 
 add 'the amount named in the above table for so much of the rate of the exposure as equals 
 the rate of the ; is/i itself, and also the amount for the given distance in the following 
 table for such amount as the exposure exceeds the rate of the risk. 
 
 For example, if n 2 % risk exposes a 1 % risk at 20 fret, the amount named for 1 % in the above 
 table opposite 20 fe< t is II) cents, and in Table li below for 100 cents excess is 8 cents makine a 
 total of 24 cents. If a 3 t risk exposes a 2 % risk, the amount for 2 % in Table A above at 20 feet 
 is 32 cents, and for 100 cents excess in Table B below is 8 cents, making a total of 40 cents. 
 Thus the rate of the risk would be 2. 40. The exposed rate of the 3 % risk would be that of 200 
 cents in Table A at 20 feet, 32 cents, making total exposed rate 3. 32. 
 
 If risk has blank wall toward exposure deduct four-fifths amounts named in 
 Tables. If risk has openings, but exposure has blank wall toward risk, 
 deduct one-half amounts named in the Tables. 
 
 If botii walls blank, deduct ninety per cent of amount named in Tables. 
 
 If openings not opposite each other, deduct 30 %, If openings on grade 
 floor only, deduct 25 %, 
 
 For fire shutters to the risk deduct 50 % of charge. 
 " " " " exposure " 30 % " " 
 
 " " " "both risk 
 
 and exposure " GO % " " 
 If intervening distance exceeds 40 feet increase the percentage of deduction 
 by 1 % for each foot that the distance exceeds 40 feet, not exceeding a total 
 deduction of 90 %. 
 
 TABLE B. 
 
 ADD TO ABOVE FOR EXCESS OF EXPOSURE RATE. 
 
 Exposure Distance 
 or 
 
 Separating Space. 
 
 Add for 
 1 00 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 200 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 300 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 400cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 500 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 600 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 700 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 IO 
 
 feet. 
 
 .09 
 
 cts 
 
 .36 cts 
 
 .81 cts 
 
 i-44Cts 
 
 2. 25CtS 
 
 3-24Cts 
 
 4.4icts 
 
 20 
 
 11 
 
 .08 
 
 
 .32 " 
 
 .72 " 
 
 1.28 " 
 
 2.00 " 
 
 2.88 " 
 
 3.92 " 
 
 3° 
 
 11 
 
 .07 
 
 
 .28 " 
 
 .63 « 
 
 1. 12 " 
 
 1.75 " 
 
 2.52 " 
 
 3-43 " 
 
 40 
 
 (i 
 
 .06 
 
 
 .24 " 
 
 •54 " 
 
 .96 " 
 
 1.50 " 
 
 2.16 " 
 
 2.94 " 
 
 5° 
 
 11 
 
 •°5 
 
 11 
 
 .20 " 
 
 •45 " 
 
 .80 " 
 
 1.25 " 
 
 1.80 " 
 
 2.45 " 
 
 60 
 
 11 
 
 .04 
 
 
 .16 " 
 
 .36 « 
 
 .64 " 
 
 1.00 " 
 
 1.44 " 
 
 1.96 " 
 
 70 
 
 II 
 
 •03 
 
 u 
 
 .12 " 
 
 .27 " 
 
 .48 " 
 
 •75 " 
 
 1.08 " 
 
 1.47 " 
 
 80 
 
 11 
 
 .02 
 
 
 .08 " 
 
 .18 " 
 
 .32 " 
 
 .50 " 
 
 72 " 
 
 .98 " 
 
 90 
 
 II 
 
 .01 
 
 11 
 
 .04 " 
 
 .09 ' 
 
 .16 " 
 
 .25 " 
 
 '36 " 
 
 • 49 " 
 
 100 
 
 11 
 
 .00 
 
 ii 
 
 .OO " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 i: 
 
 .00 " 
 
.358 EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 table e. PROTECTED RISKS— ADJOINING 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING * 
 
 Rate of Rate of 
 Kxp're 1 Kxp're 
 1 00 cts 200 cts 
 
 Rate of! Rate of 
 Kxp're Exp're 
 300 cts!400 cis 
 
 Rate of 
 Kxp"re 
 500 cte 
 
 Rale of 
 Kxp're 
 600 cts 
 
 Rate of 
 Exp'ie 
 700 eta 
 
 AMOUNT TO BE ADDED FOR EXPOSURE. 
 
 Walls not Deficient exceed- 
 ing 10 cents under Nos. 38 or 39. 
 
 cents 
 .02 
 
 cents 
 .04 
 
 cents 
 . I 2 
 
 cents 
 .16 
 
 cents 
 .20 
 
 cents 
 .24 
 
 cents 
 .28 
 
 Walls Deficient exceeding 
 
 10 cents under 38 or 39. 
 
 If one wall deficient one-half chg. 
 
 .06 
 •03 
 
 .1 2 
 
 .06 
 
 .l8 
 
 .09 
 
 .24 
 .12 
 
 •3° 
 •15 
 
 •3 6 
 .18 
 
 .42 
 .21 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 in excess height, on higher building 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .08 
 
 .02 
 
 .24 
 . IC 
 
 •36 
 •15 
 
 .48 
 .20 
 
 .60 
 •25 
 
 .72 
 •3° 
 
 .84 
 
 •35 
 
 B'd'gs Communicating on the 
 grade floor with single fire door 
 If above grade floor " " " 
 (If double doors, one-half charges.) 
 
 N. B — No DEDUCTION FOU FlHE- 
 Donrts, if exposure be an Oil or 
 "Grkase" risk — ra teas one hazard. 
 
 .08 
 .14 
 
 .16 
 
 .28 
 
 .42 
 
 •54 
 
 •56 
 .72 
 
 .70 
 .90 
 
 .84 
 I.08 
 
 .98 
 1.26 
 
 Party Wall with deficiencies 
 not over 24 cents under 40 or 41 . 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 ceed 24 cenis under 40 and 41. or if, 
 any portion of wall is less than 12 
 inches thick. 
 
 •°3 
 .08 
 
 .06 
 .16 
 
 .18 
 .24 
 
 .24 
 
 •3 2 
 
 ■30 
 .40 
 
 .36 
 .48 
 
 .42 
 •56 
 
 Wall Longer or Shorter, openings being at right angles, charge one-fourth of 
 what would be charge for distance between nearest openings by tables A and B. 
 
 * Where the Occupancy Table first column charge of the adjoining exposure ex- 
 ceeds that of the risk, add one-sixth of the excess to above charges unless the 
 separating walls are independent, without communications and carried above roof. 
 
 RULE : If the rate of the exposure does not exceed that of the risk 
 
 by more than 50 cents, add the amount named in the above table. 
 
 If the rate of the exposure exceeds that of the risk by more than 50 cents, 
 add the amount named in the above table for so much of the rale of the exposure as 
 equals the rate of the risk itself, and also the amount for the deficiency in the 
 folloiving table for such amount as the exposure exceeds that of the risk. 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING. 
 
 Add to Above for Excess 
 
 of Exposure Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 100 els 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 200 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 300 Clr 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 400 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 1 
 500 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 600 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 700 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Walls not Deficient exceed- 
 ing 10 cents under Nos. 38 or 39. 
 
 cents 
 
 •°3 
 
 cents 
 ■'5 
 
 cents 
 •45 
 
 cents 
 80 
 
 cents 
 1-25 
 
 cents 
 I.80 
 
 cents 
 2-45 
 
 Walls Deficient exceeding 
 
 10 cents under 38 or 39. 
 
 If one wall deficient one-half chg. 
 
 CO -t- 
 O O 
 
 •32 
 .16 
 
 .72 
 
 •36 
 
 I.28 
 I.14 
 
 2.00 
 1.00 
 
 2.88 
 
 1.44 
 
 3-9 2 
 1.96 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 in excess height charge on higher 
 building. 
 
 .08 
 
 .24 
 
 •54 
 
 .96 
 
 i-5° 
 
 2. l6 
 
 2.94 
 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .02 
 
 .IO 
 
 .15 
 
 .20 
 
 •25 
 
 •3° 
 
 •35 
 
 B'd'gs Communicating on the 
 grade floor with single fire door. 
 
 .06 
 
 .28 
 
 .63 
 
 2.12 
 
 2-75 
 
 3-52 
 
 4-43 
 
 If above grade floor " " " 
 (If double doors, one-half charges.) 
 
 .18 
 
 .62 
 
 1.89 
 
 2.44 
 
 325 
 
 4.24 
 
 5-4i 
 
 Party Wall with deficiencies 
 not over 24 cents under 40 or 41. 
 
 .06 
 
 .20 
 
 •54 
 
 .96 
 
 i-5° 
 
 2.16 
 
 2.94 
 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 ceed 24 cents under 40 and 41, or if, 
 any portion of wall is less than 12 
 inches thick. 
 
 .09 
 
 •36 
 
 .81 
 
 I.44 
 
 2.25 
 
 3-24 
 
 4.41 
 
EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 359 
 
 table c. UNPROTECTED RISKS-SEPARATED. 
 
 {not within 500 feet of hydrants.) 
 BRICK BUILDINGS BT BRICK BUILDINGS WITH OPENINGS. 
 
 Exposure Distance 
 or 
 
 Separating Space. 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 1 00 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 200 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 300 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 400 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 600 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 600 cents 
 
 Rate of 
 Exposure 
 700 cents 
 
 AMOUNT TO DE ADDED FOR EXPOSURE. 
 
 IO 
 
 feet. 
 
 .22 cts 
 
 •44 
 
 cts 
 
 .66 cts 
 
 .88 cts 
 
 I.IOCtS 
 
 I-32CtS 
 
 1 
 
 •54Cts 
 
 20 
 
 (i 
 
 .20 " 
 
 .40 
 
 1 1 
 
 .60 " 
 
 .80 
 
 it 
 
 1. 00 " 
 
 1.20 " 
 
 
 .40 " 
 
 3° 
 
 i« 
 
 .18 " 
 
 •36 
 
 it 
 
 •54 " 
 
 .72 
 
 tt 
 
 .90 " 
 
 1.08 " 
 
 1 
 
 .26 " 
 
 40 
 
 i< 
 
 .16 " 
 
 •32 
 
 a 
 
 .48 " 
 
 .64 
 
 tt 
 
 .80 " 
 
 .96 " 
 
 
 .12 " 
 
 5° 
 
 tt 
 
 .14 " 
 
 .28 
 
 tt 
 
 .42 " 
 
 •56 
 
 
 .70 " 
 
 .84 " 
 
 
 98 " 
 
 60 
 
 tt 
 
 .12 " 
 
 .24 
 
 1 1 
 
 .36 " 
 
 .48 
 
 t« 
 
 .60 " 
 
 .72 " 
 
 
 84 " 
 
 70 
 
 tt 
 
 .10 " 
 
 .20 
 
 tt 
 
 .30 " 
 
 .40 
 
 .i 
 
 .50 " 
 
 .60 " 
 
 
 70 " 
 
 80 
 
 it 
 
 .08 " 
 
 .16 
 
 tt 
 
 .24 " 
 
 •3 2 
 
 
 .40 " 
 
 .48 " 
 
 
 56 " 
 
 90 
 
 tt 
 
 .06 " 
 
 . 1 2 
 
 
 .18 " 
 
 .24 
 
 if 
 
 .30 " 
 
 .36 " 
 
 
 42 " 
 
 100 
 
 it 
 
 .04 " 
 
 .08 
 
 tt 
 
 .12 " 
 
 .16 
 
 It 
 
 .20 " 
 
 • 24 ::j 
 
 
 28 " 
 
 I IO 
 
 tt 
 
 .02 " 
 
 .04 
 
 it 
 
 .06 " 
 
 .08 
 
 
 .10 " 
 
 .12 
 
 
 14 « 
 
 1 20 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 
 00 " 
 
 If the rate be less than 1 reduce pro-rata. 
 RULE: If the rate of the exposure does not exceed that of the risk bv 
 
 more than 50 cents, add the amount named in the above table, C, for the given distance. 
 
 If the rate of the exposure exceeds that of the risk by more than 50 cents, 
 add the amount named in the above table for so much of the rate of the exposure as 
 equals the rate of the risk itself, and also the amount for the given distance in the 
 following table for such amount as the exposure exceeds that of the risk. 
 
 For example, if a 2 % rNk exposes a 1 7 rNl< at 2) feet, the amount named for 1 ;5 in the above 
 table opposite 20 feet is 20 cents, aud in Table D below for 100 cents excess is 10 cents, making 
 a total of 30 cents. 
 
 If risk has blank wall toward exposure deduct two-thirds amounts named 
 in Tables. If risk has openings, but exposure has blank wall toward risk, 
 deduct one-third amounts named in the Tables. 
 If both walls blank, deduct three-fourths amount named in Tables. 
 If openings not opposite each other, deduct 30 %. If openings on grade 
 floor only, deduct 25 %. 
 For fire shutters to the risk deduct 50 $> of charge 
 " " " exposure " 30 <fo " 
 " both risk and 
 exposure deduct 60 % " 
 If intervening distance exceeds 40 feet increase the percentage of deduction 
 by 1 % for each foot that the distance exceeds 40 feet, not exceeding a total de- 
 duction of 90 %. 
 
 TABLE D. 
 
 cXCESS Of EXPOSURE RATE. 
 
 or 
 
 Separating Space. 
 
 Add for 
 lOOccnts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 200 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 300 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 400 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 500 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 600 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 700 cents 
 
 excess 
 
 IO 
 
 feet. 
 
 . 1 1 cts 
 
 .44 cts 
 
 .99 cts 
 
 i-74Cts 
 
 2.75cts 
 
 3 96cts 
 
 5-39 cts 
 
 20 
 
 .1 
 
 .10 
 
 it 
 
 .40 
 
 tt 
 
 .90 " 
 
 1.60 " 
 
 2.50 " 
 
 3.60 
 
 ii 
 
 4 9.° " 
 
 3° 
 
 it 
 
 .09 
 
 it 
 
 •36 
 
 11 
 
 .81 " 
 
 1.44 " 
 
 2.25 « 
 
 3-24 
 
 it 
 
 4.41 
 
 40 
 
 it 
 
 .08 
 
 it 
 
 •3 2 
 
 it 
 
 .72 " 
 
 1. 18 " 
 
 2.00 " 
 
 2.88 
 
 it 
 
 3.92 " 
 
 5° 
 
 
 .07 
 
 tt 
 
 .28 
 
 tt 
 
 .63 « 
 
 1. 12 " 
 
 '•75 " 
 
 2-5 2 
 
 it 
 
 3-43 " 
 
 60 
 
 tt 
 
 .06 
 
 tt 
 
 • 24 
 
 tt 
 
 •54 " 
 
 .96 " 
 
 1.50 " 
 
 2.16 
 
 ii 
 
 2.94 " 
 
 70 
 
 tt 
 
 .05 
 
 << 
 
 .20 
 
 <t 
 
 •45 " 
 
 .80 41 
 
 1.25 « 
 
 1.80 
 
 it 
 
 2.45 " 
 
 80 
 
 tt 
 
 .04 
 
 tt 
 
 .16 
 
 tt 
 
 .36 « 
 
 .64 " 
 
 1. 00 " 
 
 1.44 
 
 it 
 
 1.96 " 
 
 90 
 
 tt 
 
 •03 
 
 it 
 
 . 1 2 
 
 <t 
 
 .27 " 
 
 .48 " 
 
 , -75 " 
 
 1.08 
 
 if 
 
 t.47 " 
 
 100 
 
 11 
 
 .02 
 
 if 
 
 .08 
 
 it 
 
 ,18 " 
 
 .32 " 
 
 1 -5° " 
 
 • 72 
 
 (( 
 
 .98 " 
 
 1 10 
 
 11 
 
 .01 
 
 << 
 
 .04 
 
 tt 
 
 .09 " 
 
 .16 " 
 
 | - 2 5 " 
 
 •36 
 
 ii 
 
 • 49 " 
 
 1 20 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 
 
 tt 
 
 .00 " 
 
 .00 " 
 
 | .00 " 
 
 .00 
 
 ii 
 
 1 .00 " 
 
360 EXPOSURES TO BRICK BUILDINGS. 
 
 table f. UNPROTECTED RISKS-ADJOINING 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING.* 
 
 3ate of 
 Exp're 
 100 cis 
 
 [?ate of 1 
 Exp're 
 200 Cts 
 
 Rate of 
 Exp're 
 300 cts 
 
 Hate of 
 Exp're 
 400 cis 
 
 Kate of 
 Exp're 
 500 cis 
 
 Rate of 
 Exp're 
 600 cts 
 
 Rate of 
 Exp're 
 700 eta 
 
 AMOUNT TO BE ADDED FOR EXPOSURE. 
 
 Walls not Deficient exceed- 
 ing 10 cents under Nos. 38 or 30. 
 
 cents 
 
 •°3 
 
 cents 
 .06 
 
 cents 
 .18 
 
 cents 
 ■32 
 
 cents 
 .40 
 
 cents 
 .48 
 
 cen ts 
 •56 
 
 Walls Deficient exceeding 
 
 10 cents under 38 or 39. 
 
 If one wall deficient one-half chg. 
 
 .IO 
 
 .20 
 .IO 
 
 •3° 
 
 •is 
 
 .40 
 .20 
 
 •5° 
 •25 
 
 .60 
 
 •3° 
 
 .70 
 
 •35 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 in excess height, on higher building. 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .10 
 
 •3 2 
 
 . I 2 
 
 .48 
 
 .18 
 
 .64 
 
 2 A 
 
 .80 
 
 "20 
 
 .96 
 ^6 
 
 1. 1 2 
 
 42 
 
 B'd'gs Communicating on the 
 grade floor with single lire door. 
 If above grade floor " " " 
 (If double doors, one-half charges.) 
 
 N. B. — No DEDUCTION FOR FlRE- 
 
 DOORS, if exposure be an On. or 
 "Grease" risk — rateasone hazard. 
 
 .10 
 
 .18 
 
 .20 
 •36 
 
 •54 
 .66 
 
 ■7- 
 .88 
 
 .90 
 I. IO 
 
 1.08 
 1.32 
 
 1.26 
 
 i-54 
 
 Tarty Wall with deficiencies 
 not over 24 cents under 40 or 41 . 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 ceed 21 cents under 40 and 41, or if. 
 any portion of wall is less than 12 
 inches thick. 
 
 .04 
 
 . I 2 
 
 .08 
 .24 
 
 .30 
 | .36 
 
 .40 
 
 . 4 s 
 
 ■5° 
 
 | .60 
 
 .60 
 •72 
 
 .70 
 .84 
 
 Wall Longer or Shorter, openings being at right angles, charge one-fourth of 
 what would be charge for distance between nearest openings by tables A and B. 
 
 * Where the Occupancy Table first column charge of the adjoining exposure ex- 
 ceeds that of the risk, add one-sixth of the excess to above charges unless the 
 separating walls are independent, without communications and carried above roof . 
 
 RULE : If the rate of the exposure does not exceed that of the risk 
 
 by more than 50 cents, add the amount named in the above table. 
 
 If the rate of the exposure exceeds \ hat of the risk by more than 50 cents, 
 
 add the amount named in the above table for so muck of the rate of the exposure as 
 equals the rate of the risk itself, and also the amount for the deficiency in the 
 following table for such amount as the exposure exceeds that of the risk. 
 
 BUILDINGS 
 ADJOINING. 
 
 Add to Above for Excess of Exposure Rate. 
 
 Add forUdd for 
 100 cts 200 cts 
 
 excess excess 
 
 Add for 
 300 CIS 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 400 cts 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for 
 500 cis 
 
 excess 
 
 Add for Add for 
 600 cts'700 cts 
 excess excess 
 
 Walls not Deficient exceed- 
 ing 10 cents under Nos. 38 or 39. 
 
 cents 
 .04 
 
 cents 
 .20 
 
 cents 
 
 •54 
 
 cents 
 96 
 
 cents 
 
 1 5° 
 
 cents 
 2. 16 
 
 cents 
 2 94 
 
 Walls Deficient exceeding 
 
 10 cents under 38 or 39. 
 
 If one wall deficient one-half chg. 
 
 .10 
 .06 
 
 •40 
 .20 
 
 .90 
 •45 
 
 I.60 
 .80 
 
 2.50 
 i- 2 5 
 
 3.60 
 I.80 
 
 4.90 
 2-45 
 
 Wall Higher and openings 
 in excess height charge on higher 
 building. 
 Charge on lower building. 
 
 .IO 
 
 •03 
 
 •36 
 
 .12 
 
 .72 
 .18 
 
 1. 18 
 
 •24 
 
 2.00 
 
 •30 
 
 2.88 
 •36 
 
 3-9 2 
 •42 
 
 B'd'gs Communicating on the 
 grade floor with single fire door. 
 If above grade floor " " " 
 (If double doors, one-half charges.) 
 
 .09 
 •27 
 
 .36 
 .98 
 
 .81 
 2.43 
 
 2.44 
 2.74 
 
 3- 2 5 
 3 75 
 
 4.24 
 4.96 
 
 5-4i 
 
 6.39 
 
 Party Wall with deficiencies 
 not over 24 cents under 40 or 41. 
 
 Party Wall if deficiencies ex- 
 ceed 24 cents under 40 and 41, or if, 
 any portion of wall is less than IS 
 inches thick. 
 
 •07 
 .11 
 
 •25 
 
 •44 
 
 .72 
 
 •99 
 
 1. 18 
 
 i-74 
 
 2.00 
 2.75 
 
 2.88 
 3-9 6 
 
 3-92 
 
 5-39 
 
NATIONAL BOARD RULES FOR THE CONSTRUCTION 
 OF FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 (The following are the rules and requirements of The National Board of Fire Underwriters. 
 By writing to the Company or to the General Agent of the National Board 
 at New York, they may be secured in pamphlet form.) 
 
 Class A. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Standard Tin-Clad Fire Doors. 
 
 1 . Openings in Wall. To be as few and made as small as the nature of 
 the business will permit. Walls to present smooth masonry surface without 
 any wood trimming. 
 
 2. Sills, a. To be of stone, built into wall at least six inches at each 
 end, and extended under and flush with outer surface of door. (See Figs 1 
 and 3.) or, 
 
 b. To be of wrought iron or steel plate not less than % inch in thickness, 
 on brick, stone or concrete support, built into wall at least six inches at each 
 end and extended under and flush with outer surface of door. (See Fig. 2.) or, 
 
 c. To be of concrete placed between suitable angle irons and made flush 
 with their upper surfaces. This angle iron to be placed on each side of the 
 wall, to be not less than y% inch in thickness, to have faces of equal width, to 
 extend six inches beyond the opening at each end, to be held in place by |^-inch 
 bolts run through the wall and to have its horizontal face extend under and its 
 edge flush with the outer surface of the door. (See Fig. 4.) 
 
 It is of particular importance that the workmanship be first class when the plate or angle iron 
 sills are used. No wood or other combustible material to be laid over any sill. 
 
 3. Lintel. Preferably to be brick arch, but subject to the approval of 
 the Underwriters having jurisdiction. Stone or tin-clad wood lintels not ap- 
 proved. 
 
 4. Size and Shape of Door. a. Sliding doors to overlap sides and top 
 of opening four inches. Top of door to conform to incline of rail, % inch to 
 one foot. 
 
 b. Swinging doors to shut into a brick rabbet in wall or into a 2' / 4x2}4 
 xX-inch angle iron rabbet secured on each side with 2^-inch bolts through the 
 wall, or into an approved door frame of iron. (See Fig. 5.) 
 
 5. Wood-Work. a. Stock to be sound, well seasoned white pine, or 
 
302 
 
 F1KK DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 similar non-resinous wood, dressed, tongued and grooved boards not over six 
 inches in width. 
 
 Wood containing sap, pitch or moisture of any kind is liable when heated, to generate gas, 
 which, if confined under the tin casing, may gather sufficient force to burst open the covering, 
 thus exposing the wood work to fire and rendering the whole door liable to destruction; for this 
 reason, only clear dry btock should be used. 
 
 b. Tlie thickness of the door required in each case to be determined by the 
 Underwriters having jurisdiction. When door is placed on one side of wall 
 only, it shall be not less than 2]/ 2 inches in thickness; when doors are placed 
 on both sides of wall, each door shall be nut less than 2 inches in thickness. 
 
 c. When the door is to be 2% inches thick, three equal thicknesses of 
 boards to be used, the outside layers to be vertical and the inner layer hor- 
 izontal. (See Fig. 6.) 
 
 d. A 2-inch thick door to be made of two thicknesses of one-inch boards, 
 one layer to be vertical and the other diagonal or at right angles. (See Fig. 7.) 
 
 e. Layers to be securely fastened together by wrought iron clinch nails 
 driven in flush and clinched so as to leave smooth surfaces on both sides of the 
 door. (See Fig. 8.) 
 
 f. Care should be taken to have all edges and corners smooth and square. 
 
 6. Tin Covering. 1 'lie fire-res i 'st i ng value of a wood door 
 encased in tin depends upon the exclusion of oxygen from 
 the wood, thereby retarding or preventing combustion. To 
 obtain this result the tin must be so applied that during ex- 
 posure to fire the tin will neither leave the door nor will 
 any joints or seams buckle open by expansion so as to ex- 
 pose the ivood. In covering the door follow carefully every 
 specification given below: 
 
 a. Use tin plates 14x20 inches, "IC" charcoal, 108 lbs. to the box. 
 
 The best grade is cheapest in the end. Never use zinc to cover a fire door. Use no solder. 
 
 b. When the door is to be exposed to dampness "terne" plates should be 
 used. 
 
 c. All joints should be locked y z inch and nailed under seams (except on 
 edge of door) as illustrated. (See Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.) 
 
 d. Cover four corners first. For each corner of door use a whole sheet of 
 tin without cutting, making a mitre fold instead of a mitre joint or seam, 
 driving two nails under each fold. (See Figs. 15, 16, 17 and 18.) 
 
 e. Next cover the edges with sheets of the same size (or long strips, if 
 preferred) and lock into corner pieces with a joint like Fig. 14, but without 
 nail. (See Fig. 19.) 
 
 f. Then apply side sheets, starting with first sheet at right hand lower 
 corner; (See Figs. 19a and Vdb.) then all horizontal seams when completed will 
 be like Fig. 14, except the last seam at the top of door, which will be like 
 Fig. 12. All vertical seams will be like Fig. 12. 
 
 g. Complete the tinning of one side before beginning the other. (See 
 Fig. 20. 
 
STANDARD TIN-CLAD FIRE DOORS. 
 
 363 
 
 h. Nails to be barbed 1)4 inches long for 2^ inch doors, and inches long 
 for 2-inch doors, flat heads. Use five nails on each side and four nails on each 
 end of each sheet. 
 
 i. Care should be taken to have sheets as flat against door as possible in 
 order to avoid air spaces. 
 
 7. Hardware for Sliding Doors. Complete the tinning before 
 attaching any hardware. (See Rule No. 9.) 
 
 a. Track. To be of best quality flat rolled steel, ^-inch thick by 3}4 
 inches wide and bolted every 2}4 feet with ^-inch bolts running through the 
 wall, having nut and flanged washer on the opposite side. 
 
 b. Hangers. To be of wrought metal, ^x3>£ inches, and attached by 
 }i-mch bolts. Wheel to have not less than H-inch bearing on axle, roller 
 bearing preferred, and to be of malleable or wrought iron. (See Fig. 21.) 
 
 c. The long end of hanger to be not less than 18 inches, and to be drilled 
 for not less than two |dnch carriage bolts. For doors less than 6 feet wide 
 two hangers are sufficient; for doors over 6 feet wide, three hangers to be used. 
 
 d. Binders. Wrought iron binders %-inch x 3i inches, drilled for 
 inch bolts. Each binder to have an angle flange at back end, 1 inch deep to 
 notch in wall, or to have two bolts, to prevent sagging. Two binders are re- 
 quired, one at side near floor, and one at same side near top, into both of which 
 the door closes. (See Fig. 22.) A roller guide to be located near bottom of 
 door at opposite side from binder stops. Guide to be of wrought metal, \ x 2 
 inches, the base to be U shape, countersunk in floor and wall and bolted to 
 wall. (See Fig. 23.) 
 
 e. C hafing Strips. One strip of 1-inch half-round iron to be screwed 
 to door on side next wall, located one-third the distance from bottom to top of 
 door, parallel to door track. Ends to be six inches from side of door. (See 
 Fig. 24.) A flat piece of metal to be attached to front of door to take the wear 
 of roller guide. Strips to be screwed to door and heads of screws to be coun- 
 tersunk. (See Fig. 25.) 
 
 f. Handles. Two required. One large, heavy wrought iron, bow- 
 shaped handle to be bolted to front of door. (See Fig. 25.) One on back to 
 be countersunk flush with surface of door. (See Fig. 24.) The two may be 
 attached by the same through bolt. 
 
 g. Bumper Shoes. Two made of -jV - inch plate iron, placed on door 
 where it strikes the binders in closing. (See Figs. 24 and 25.) 
 
 h. Weight. Should be flat and slightly in excess of weight required to 
 balance door. 
 
 i. Weight Cord. To be hard plaited, not twisted. 
 
 j. Fusible Links. Which will fuse at 160 degrees F., to be applied 
 in a manner subject to the approval of the Underwriters having jurisdiction. 
 
 8. Hardware for Swinging Doors. (See Rule No. 9.) 
 
 a. Wall Eyes. Wrought iron, for % inch pin, built in wall or bolted 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHATTERS. 
 
 through wall with ^-ineh bolt, with T ? tf -inch iron washer each side. Bolts 
 should always be put through brick work far enough from edge of opening to 
 prevent weight of door loosening the masonry. (See Fig. 28.) 
 
 b. Hi nge. Wrought iron, %-inch x 2\ inches, bolted to door with four 
 2-6-inch bolts, hinge to extend three-quarter way across door. (See Figs. 27, 
 28 and 29.) 
 
 c. Latch. Wrought iron, 3g-inch x 2 inches, bolted to door with %-inch 
 bolts. Keeper to be wrought iron and also bolted to door. (See Fig. 30.) 
 
 d. (Jdtch. Heavy wrought iron built in wall or bolted through. (See 
 Fig. 30.) 
 
 9. Fastening Hardware to Doors, ah wrought iron si, raves, hinges 
 
 and latches t<> be secured by bolls passing through door, the head of bolt 
 resting against a washer next to the tin, the nuts being against the wrought 
 iron. Do not use scrjsws to attach any hardware except chafing strips, bum- 
 pers and automatic attachment. 
 
 Do not use builders' ordinary east iron hardware. Use only best quality of bolts. 
 
 10. Approved Door Frame of Iron. (See Fig. 5.) 
 
 a. Jumbs. To be made of rabbetted 2 J -inch angle iron J^-inch thick 
 and held firmly in place by at least three ^-inch bolts each side, passing 
 through wall. 
 
 b. Metal Hill. (See Rule No. 2 b.) To be well secured to the 
 iron frame. 
 
 c. Catches for latches, also the pin blocks to receive the hinges, to be of 
 heavy wrought iron and properly riveted to the iron frames. 
 
 1 1. Setting up or Hanging of Doors. Do not hang door from 
 wood frame even if frame is tin-clad. Do not plug the 
 wall with ivood or lead to which to fasten door or shutter 
 supports. Do not use screws of any kind to hang the door. 
 
 a. Sliding Poor. Stand door on sill in its proper position when closed, 
 and slip under door a strip of wood ^-mch thick. Bolt the track in place at 
 an incline of }( of an inch to the foot, Distance between the top of door and 
 bottom of track should not exceed % of an inch. Place the hangers on the 
 track and mark Ideation of bolt holes on the door, locating hangers over track 
 bolts. Bore holes exactly where marked and then bolt hangers to door. Care 
 should be taken to prevent sagging of door so it will not chafe on sill when it 
 closes. 
 
 Next apply trimmings to door and adjust binders and catch, then the auto- 
 matic appliances. 
 
 When necessary, a light framework of slats should be built outside of sliding doors to pre- 
 vent piling of stock, etc., against them. 
 
 b. Stringing Door. In locating holes for the hinges, the front of 
 door should be raised a little higher to avoid sagging against Moor; otherwise 
 follow directions for sliding door. 
 
STANDARD TIN-CLAD FIRE SHUTTERS. 
 
 365 
 
 12. Vertical Door. Arranged to (troid (iccuhntts. (See 
 
 b l(J. "'/.) a. Under special conditions where swinging or horizontally 
 Sliding doors cannot be used an automatic vertical door may be arranged. 
 (See Fig. 81.) 
 
 b. The construction of the door proper to be the same as that of other tire 
 doors, but special hangers and trimmings are necessary. 
 
 c. Malleable or wrought iron wheels to be used. 
 
 d. The cord connecting with fusible link is attached to lower part of door 
 passing over its proper pulley to the left and supporting the smaller weight. 
 The heavier weight is permanently connected by a wire cable to the upper 
 loop at top of door, and is adjusted to prevent the sudden dropping of the 
 door, but allowing it to close when link fuses. 
 
 1 3. Painting. Bright tin fire doors resist fire better than if painted. 
 
 Do not paint the doors unless it is necessary and not until they have first 
 been given a coat of asphal'tum. A light colored paint does not absorb heat- 
 so readily as dark colored paint. 
 
 14. Care and Maintenance, a. Fire doors should be ready for instant 
 use at all times, therefore it is necessary to keep the surroundings clear of every - 
 thing that would be likely to obstruct or interfere with their free operation, 
 l in y should be kept closed and fastened at night and on Sundays and holidays, 
 and whenever the openings arc not in use. 
 
 b. Never lack any tin on a tin-clad door. When tin becomes worn sub- 
 stitute new sheets in the same manner as when covering a new door. 
 
 15. Placard. Notice — Watchman w ill please see that this door is kept 
 closed at night and when factory is shut down, and that it is in perfect work- 
 ing order. 
 
 Class B. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Standard Tin-Clad Fire Shutters. 
 
 16. Tin-Clad Fire Shutters. (See Fig. 32.) a. To be hung next 
 
 to masonry, either overlapping window opening 4 inches or fitting close inside 
 opening. 
 
 b. Construction to be same as for tire doors except that only two thick- 
 nesses of %-inch boards are required, layers of boards to be at right angles. 
 
 c. When made in pairs, the edges coming together should be flush (not 
 rabbeted.) 
 
 d. Tin covering to be the same as for fire doors except that seams should 
 lie made with the upper sheet lapping outside of under one so as to shed water. 
 
 e. Hinges to be wrought iron -inch x 1 ; 4 inches. Same to be secured 
 by bolts passing through shutter with washers under bolt heads. 
 
 f. Substantial wrought iron pin or eye blocks to be securely set in wall or 
 bolted through wall. 
 
 g. Shutters to be secured shut by an iron bar yi-\uch x 11 inches, same to 
 
:;i;t; 
 
 KIKK DOOKS AMi SHl'TTKRS. 
 
 be bolted through shutter and at least one in three on each floor above the first 
 to be constructed so that it cau be operated from both inside and outside. 
 ( latches to be bolted to shutter 
 
 h. When sliding shutters are used outside (should not be if avoidable,) 
 metal shields should lie provided to prevent accumulation of snow or ice on 
 the track. 
 
 17. Painting. A light colored paint is recommended for tire shutters 
 but first give them a coat of asphaltum. (See Rule No. 13.) 
 
 18. Care and Maintenance, a. Fire shutters should be ready for in- 
 stant use at all times, therefore it is necessary to keep the surroundings clear 
 of everything that would be likely to obstruct or interfere with their free 
 operation. They should be kept closed and fastened nights, Sundays and 
 holidays, and whenever the openings are not in use. 
 
 b. Never tack any tin on a tin-clad shutter. When tin becomes worn sub- 
 stitute new sheets in the same manner as when covering a new shutter. 
 
 Class C. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Special Fire Doors for Necessary 
 Shaft and Belt Openings in Fire Walls. 
 
 19. Shaft Openings. Special device for preventing spread 
 of fire through necessary shaft openings in fire walls (See 
 Fig. 35.) 
 
 a. To be made of two thicknesses of ^-inch narrow, matched, thoroughly 
 seasoned boards, put together at right angles and securely nailed with wrought 
 iron clinch nails. (See Rule 5.) 
 
 b. To be covered with heavy tin plates, locked joints, nailed under seams, 
 as per specifications for Tin-clad Fire Doors. (See Rule 6.) 
 
 c. To be hinged to single stud bolt in wall and retained at bottom by 
 proper reverse angle iron securely bolted to the wall. 
 
 20. Belt Openings. Double door to protect belt-openings 
 through wall. {See Fig. 33.) 
 
 a. To be made of two thicknesses of ^-inch boards. Otherwise follow 
 specifications in rule 5, and, so far as possible, in rule 6 of specifications for 
 Tin-clad Fire Doors. 
 
 b. To be provided with two suitable hooks and staples for holding doors 
 closed. 
 
 c. To slide in upper and lower guard rails or channels retaining the doors 
 in place. Channels to be made of 2%x2 1 4x # -inch angle irons securely riveted 
 together and secured by ^-inch bolts through the wall. Z bars of proper 
 dimensions may be used if obtainable. Channels to be long enough to retain 
 doors when open. 
 
 d. A metal hood constructed as shown in Fig. 34 may be used if securely 
 
AUTOMATIC TRAP DOORS FOR STAIRWAYS, ETC. 
 
 367 
 
 fastened to the wall. Hoods should be constructed of heavy galvanized iron, 
 without the use of solder. 
 
 Metal hoods arc inferior to the double doors and should be used only when the doors are not 
 practicable. 
 
 Class D. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Automatic Trap Doors for Stairways 
 and Stairway Enclosures. 
 
 21. Automatic Trap Doors for Stairways. Occasionally it is 
 necessary to have an open stairway, and in such cases an 
 automatic trap-door. (See Figs. 36 and 37.) 
 
 a. If the floor is not more than 1 inches thick, the door shall be made of 
 lj^-inch sound, well seasoned, narrow, matched boards, with battens screwed 
 on. 
 
 b. If the floor is more than 1 \l inches thick, the door shall be as just de- 
 scribed, and shall have standard lock-jointed tin covering as required for fire 
 doors, on the under side, the tin extended over the edges and nailed on the 
 upper side of the door. 
 
 c. Hinges to be of heavy wrought metal with straps extending well onto 
 the door. 
 
 d. To be balanced with a weight on a cord running over double pulley on 
 wall, a fusible link being inserted at point where cord is fastened to the door, 
 so that door will close automatically in the event of fire. 
 
 If door is heavy it should have a balance weight attached by wire cable to prevent accident, 
 and a gravity catch to hold the door when closed. (See Vertical Fire Door Specifications, also 
 Fig. 36.) 
 
 e. To be provided with a wrought metal bow high enough to form a stop 
 which will prevent the door being raised to a vertical line, thus keeping it in 
 such position that it is sure to drop when link melts. Bow to be securely 
 fastened to the upper side of the door so that it will serve as a handle. (See 
 Fig. 37.) 
 
 22. Stairway Enclosures. (See Figs. 38 and 39.) (Buildings 
 of ordinary construction.) 
 
 a. Stairways to have separate enclosure for each flight, not less than 1^ 
 inches thick, made tight and kept in repair. If approved fire-proof material 
 is not used, enclosure to be made of two thicknesses of matched boards, or of 
 tongued and grooved or splined planks. 
 
 Double boarding is preferable to single planking, as it is not so liable to warp and open up 
 at the seams. 
 
 b. To be provided with a door at each flight, preferably at bottom. 
 
 c. Doors to be not less than li inches thick and unless standard iron or tin- 
 clad, to be constructed of two thicknesses of matched boards or of tongued 
 and grooved or splined planks. Heavy wrought iron hinges, latches and 
 catches to be attached by bolts. 
 
368 
 
 FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 d. Doors to he kept closed and latched when not in use. It is preferable 
 to attach a stout spiral spring to all doors to keep same closed automatically, 
 and doors which are kept open during working hours to be held so by a book 
 attached to a fusible link located as high ou door as convenient. (See Fig. 38.) 
 
 e. Glass windows if needed in stairway enclosure or door, to be fixed (not 
 swinging) and of approved wired glass properly set. 
 
 23. Stairway Enclosures. {Buildings of fire-proof or mill 
 const ruction.) 
 
 Stair openings in buildings of such construction not 'cut off" in fire-proof 
 shafts are a violation of a most prominent principle of such construction. 
 
 When they exist, however, they should be enclosed by fire-proof material 
 under special specifications. 
 
 Class E. 
 
 Roles for the Construction of Automatic Elevator Traps. 
 
 24. Automatic Elevator Traps, a. Open elevator shafts and hatch- 
 ways shall be provided at each floor opening with a trap door which opens 
 and closes as the elevator passes. 
 
 b. If the floor is of ordinary construction, or not more than \^-\nah thick, 
 the trap door shall be made of l#-inch sound, well seasoned, narrow, matched 
 boards with battens screwed on. 
 
 c. If the floor is of mill construction, or more than 1% inches thick, the 
 trap door shall be as just described and shall have standard lock-jointed tin 
 covering, as required for fire doors, on the under side, the tin extended over 
 all edges including hole, if any, for cable, and nailed on the upper side of door. 
 The hole for cable, if any, shall be as small as possible. 
 
 d. When the trap-door is closed it shall extend beyond the opening on all 
 sides. 
 
 e. Elevator left at a landing shall not be accepted in lieu of a trap door. 
 
 A trap opened and closed by the moving elevator is regarded as distinctly superior to other 
 devices and should be generally used. However, if not employed, owing to high speed of eleva- 
 tor or other cause, automatic traps should be placed at each floor. They should be constructed 
 as above, secured by stout wrought iron hardware attached by bolts: be held open by a fusible 
 link located on shaft side of door; be actuated from behind by heavy spring which upon fusing 
 of the link will push trap beyond a vertical position so it will close by gravity; and be kept 
 closed except during working hours. 
 
 Class F. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Standard Iron Doors, Vault Pattern. 
 
 The following specifications ore for doors covering open- 
 ings not to exceed fifty square feet in area. Doors for 
 larger openings require special treatment. 
 
 25. Doors. 
 
 To be placed on each side of opening in fire wall. 
 
STANDARD IRON DOORS, VAULT PATTERN. 
 
 369 
 
 26. Sills, a. To be of iron or steel and raise'l not. less than two inches 
 above the floor on each side of the wall. (See Figs. 40 and 42.) 
 
 b. If of plate iron or steel, the edges to be securely fastened to 1 J x 1| x 
 inch angle iron, or heavier, on the inner side of the wall frame. (Sec Fig. 49.) 
 In all cases the sill to rest substantially on the solid brick wall, and to extend 
 to the upper edges of the wall frame. 
 
 27. Basement Floor, t o be of stone or concrete where the doors are 
 to swing. In no case to be of wood unless the doors swing clear of floor at 
 least six inches. 
 
 28. Wall Frame, a. To be made of 4 x 3 x ^-inch angle iron, (See 
 Figs. 40 and 41) or of 4 x ^-inch bar iron stiffened by \\ x \\ x J^-inch angle 
 iron riveted on the back. The latter frame is more suitable for flush doors. 
 (See Fig. 42.) 
 
 b. The bottom pieces of frame to project two inches above floor. (See 
 Fig. 42.) 
 
 Where the gliding door is used, t lie bottom pieces of the wall frame may consist of the angle 
 irons forming the lower channels. (See Fig. 49.) 
 
 c. Each set of wall frames to be connected by bars of 1}( x ^T-inch iron 
 spaced not over 24 inches apart all around, except where sill acts in place of 
 bars, (See Figs. 40 and 41) or by f£-inch bolts through the wall and spaced not 
 over 24 inches apart. (See Fig. 42. ) 
 
 Connections of V/° x 1^ x !4-inch angle iron in the upper corners can he used to advantage 
 when the angle iron wall frame is used. (See Figs. 40 and 41.) 
 
 d. Top and bottom pieces of wall frame to be joined to side pieces by wide 
 splice plates of f^-inch iron securely riveted in place. (See Fig. 41.) 
 
 29. Door Plates, a. To be of T 3 5 -inch iron or steel thoroughly straight- 
 ened. Single plates to be used where practicable. 
 
 b. To overlap wall frame at least one inch on all sides; or if doors are flush, 
 to shut into at least 5^-inch rabbet all around, formed by angle on back of wall 
 frame. 
 
 c. To be securely riveted to the panel frame and panel bars. (See Rule 31.) 
 
 d. Where two plates are used the joint to be reinforced by 3 x T 3 5 -ineh 
 strip or splice plate securely riveted to each plate. Rivets on splice plate to 
 be staggered and not to exceed 9 inches apart on each plate. 
 
 30. Panel Frame. {See Figs. 43 and 44.) 
 
 a. To be made of 2 x 2 x ^-inch angle iron, continuous with bent corners or 
 with corners reinforced by fillet angles where joined. Fillet angles to be se- 
 curely riveted in place. 
 
 b. To be stiffened with 2 x 2 x Sg-mch angle iron panel bars with ends off-set 
 so as to extend over sides of frame, or ends may be fastened with fillet angles. 
 
 c. Each frame to be provided with at least two panel bars and where doors 
 exceed seven (7) feet in height panel bars not to exceed two feet apart. 
 
 d. To be placed as near the edges of the door plate as practicable. 
 
 31. Riveting. Rivets to be of Norway iron, at least Y% of an inch in 
 diameter and spaced not over six inches apart. Steel rivets should not be used. 
 
370 
 
 FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 As the fire resisting qualities of the iron door depends largely on proper riveting, the rivets 
 should he properly placed and carefully drawn up. 
 
 32. Hinges. (See Figs. 40, 4%, 46 and 46.) 
 
 a. Doors to be hung to wall frame by at least three wrought iron hinges, 
 care being taken to install them in exact alignment. 
 
 b. Hinges riveted to wall frame to be at least 4x3 inches and made of 
 inch iron or heavier. To be fastened by at least three J^-inch rivets. 
 
 c. Hinges on door to be constructed of 2 x %-inch bar iron bent to overlap 
 the panel frame on the hinge side. Upper and lower hinges to extend across 
 I he door to panel frame on opposite side. Center hinge to extend at least one- 
 half of the distance across the door. To be securely riveted to door plate and 
 through panel frame on each side. 
 
 d. Pins to be of )£-inch turned steel. 
 
 33. Lever Bars. {See Figs. 46 and 47.) 
 
 a. Doors to be secured by at least three lever bars of 1£ x J^-inch iron, 
 working together. Upper and lower lever bars not to exceed twelve inches 
 from upper and lower edges of door opening. 
 
 b. To be operated from either side of door, to swing freely on %-inch pin 
 or rivet, to be provided with proper keepers securely riveted on outside of 
 door and with proper spring to insure latching. 
 
 c. To freely enter catches made of ^-inch Norway iron securely riveted 
 through the wall frame. 
 
 34. Double Swinging Doors in Pairs. (See Fig. 47.) 
 Double swinging doors in pairs refer to a pair of doors 
 
 on each side of the fire wall. 
 
 a. Construction to conform generally to foregoing rules. 
 
 b. To have two opposite doors fastened together by hooks of ^-inch round 
 iron, bolts or spring catches at top and bottom. 
 
 c. Right hand door to fold over left hand door lapping at least one inch, 
 or, where the doors are flush, to fold into rabbet of at least of an inch. 
 
 d. Catches to be of £-inch Norway iron securely riveted through door 
 plate and angle iron panel frame. 
 
 35. Sliding Doors. Not self-closing. (See Figs. 48 to 51.) 
 
 a. Construction to conform generally to rules for Swinging Doors. 
 
 b. Panel frames to be placed at extreme edge of door plates. 
 
 c. To slide in channels at the top and bottom. Bottom channel to be 
 formed by two angle bars 2i x y% and 1^ x % inches. Top channel to be 
 formed by two angle bars 2 x Y% and \\ x % inches. Channels to be securely 
 riveted or bolted to the wall frame, and where they extend beyond the wall 
 frame, to be firmly bolted to the wall by expansion bolts (4 x 4| in.) The lower 
 channel to extend beyond the wall frame at least twelve inches on the side 
 toward which the door opens. 
 
 d. To lap wall frame at least two inches at the sides and at least one inch 
 at the top and bottom. 
 
STANDARD IRON DOORS, VAULT PATTERN. 
 
 371 
 
 e. To be secured both in front and back by at least two lugs or binders on 
 each side, made of Jg-inch round iron passing through holes in the angle iron 
 panel frame when the door is closed. Lugs to be so arranged that they will 
 bind door to the wall frame when it is closed and latched. Lugs to be securely 
 riveted or bolted to the wall frame and in such manner as to prevent turning. 
 (See Figs. 50 and 51.) 
 
 f. Hangers to be of the anti-friction pattern and securely fastened to the 
 door plate by at least four one-half inch machine bolts at each fastening. At 
 least two hangers to be placed on each door. (See Figs. 48 and 49.) 
 
 g. Wheels to be of cast iron 3^ x 4i inches, and may be constructed with 
 curved grooves so as to bear only on each edge of the 1 -inch track. (See Fig. 49.) 
 
 h. Track to be without incline, of ^ x 5^-inch iron securely riveted on the 
 upper side of the angle iron channel and to be perfectly true and without 
 obstruction to wheels. (See Fig. 49.) 
 
 i. Doors to be provided with a latch formed of 2 x fl inch iron to which 
 the handle is fastened. (See Fig. 51.) 
 
 j. When necessary a light frame-work of slats should be built outside of 
 sliding doors to prevent piling of stock, etc.. against them. 
 
 36. Automatic Sliding Doors, a. The fusible link to be so arranged 
 that when it gives way under heat a sufficient excess in weight will be exerted 
 to pull and latch the door closed. 
 
 b. The cord on the latch side to be of flexible phosphor bronze, securely 
 attached to the door. The cord to which the link is attached may be of the 
 usual form if desired. Link to be so placed as always to be in door opening. 
 
 c. The cord sheaves to be securely fastened to the wall with expansion 
 bolts, to be provided with bronze bearings, and so constructed that the cord 
 cannot jump the groove. 
 
 d. The weight on the side toward which the door closes to be inclosed in a 
 suitable box to prevent molestation. 
 
 e. Latch to be provided with a suitable coiled spring for holding it in place 
 and to insure fastening. 
 
 37. Automatic Swinging Doors. Require a different arrangement of 
 the link and weights closing the doors. Weights to be properly boxed and 
 placed between doors Cords to pass through holes drilled in wall frame and 
 to be so arranged in sheaves that the fusing of the link will release sufficient 
 weight to pull and latch the door closed. Fusible links to be placed near the 
 ceiling and arranged so that the fusing of the link on either side of the wall 
 will operate both doors. Several links may lie placed on either side if desired. 
 The cords closing doors should be sufficiently weighted to keep them taut 
 when the doors are opened and closed. 
 
 38. Automatic Swinging Doors in Pairs. To be so arranged that the 
 right hand doors will fold over left hand doors. This requires an automatic 
 stop or trigger at the top of the doors which will hold the right hand door 
 sufficiently open to allow the lef hand door to close first. The closing of the 
 left hand door releases the trigger and allows the remaining door to close. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 The left hand floor to be provided with spring bolts or latches at both top and 
 bottom. These to In- operated from either side of the dour by proper handles 
 at the center. 
 
 39. Standard Sheet Iron Doors. These doors are lighter than the 
 
 vault doors and differ from them in the following particulars: 
 
 a. Xo. 12 ^age sheet iron or steel is used instead of j\-inch plate. 
 
 b. I'anel frames and liars an- made < " 2 x 2 x ^-ineli angle iron instead of 
 2 x 2 x %-inch. 
 
 Standard sheet iron doors may be used in less closely built tip districts anil 
 in localities where exposure is not liable to be severe. They are not recom- 
 ini nded. 
 
 40. General Notes on Construction, ah materials used should be 
 
 carefully and thoroughly straightened before the door is put together. Scrap 
 or short pieces not to be used where such material should be avoided. Rivets 
 to be drawn tight and all parts thoroughly painted with iron oxide mixed with 
 boiled oil. Doors to be made, finished and hung in a thoroughly workmanlike 
 manner. 
 
 41 . Setting up Doors. The thickness of the wall should be accurately 
 measured so that the bars or bolts fastening wall frame together can be cut to 
 the exact length. If the door is not installed when the wall is erected, or is 
 not placed in an old opening, the opening should be cut larger than the frame 
 and the jambs built up to the proper size, using cement mortar and thoroughly 
 pointing up around frames. 
 
 Frames to be set perfectly level and plumb and doors hung so as to fit the 
 wall frame closely all around. All doors to swing or slide freely and without 
 binding, care being taken to see that the latches or lever bars fasten properly. 
 
 42. Care and Maintenance. Fire doors should be ready for instant 
 use at all times, therefore it is necessary to keep the surroundings clear of 
 everything that would be likely to obstruct or interfere with their free oper 
 ation. They should be kept closed and fastened at night and on Sundays and 
 holidays, and whenever the openings are not in use All parts should be kept 
 thoroughly painted. 
 
 43. Placard. Notice —Watchman will please see that this door is kept 
 closed at night and when factory is shut down, and that it is in perfect working 
 order. 
 
 Class G. 
 
 Rules for the Construction of Standard Iron Shutters, 
 
 44. Standard Iron Shutters. {See Figs. 52 and 53. ) 
 
 a. To be made of No. 14 gage sheet iron or steel and so as to lap the wall 
 at least 1^ inches all around. The bottom of the shutter to fit the sill closely 
 if it is not practical to lap it. 
 
 b. Frames to be of 1\ x }(-mch angle iron with not less than two cross bars 
 
STANDARD IRON SHUTTERS. 
 
 373 
 
 of the same material. Shutters over six feet in height to have cross bars not 
 exceeding t wo feet apart. Frame to enter wall opening when shutter is closed. 
 
 Continuous welded frames and cross-bars of \y 3 x }4 inch iron are often used, but are not 
 considered the full equivalent of the angle iron frame. The welded frame is often necessary 
 when folding shutters are used. 
 
 C. To have not less than two lever liars of \\ x fg-inch iron and where 
 over six feet in height lever bars not to exceed two feet apart. Lever bars to 
 work together by |^ inch connecting rod and fasten into substantial lugs riv- 
 eted on each shutter or to proper fastenings in the brick wall if the shutters 
 are single. 
 
 Lever bars to extend at least one-third of the distance across the opposite 
 shutter when double shutters are used. 
 
 d. Hinges to be of 2 x l X \nch iron extending at least three-fourths of the 
 way across the shutter. Hinges not to exceed two feet apart, when the shut- 
 ter is over six feet in height. 
 
 e. Pin blocks or shutter eyes to be securely set in brick wall preferably 
 while building. On finished buildings pin blocks or eyes should be firmly set 
 in holes drilled in brick, and fastened with iron wedges and cement. Pins to 
 be of half-inch round iron. 
 
 f. Rivets to be of iron at least T 5 g inch in diameter and spaced not exceed- 
 ing 6 inches apart. 
 
 g. Hooks or gravity catches in wall to be provided to hold shutter in pos- 
 ition when open. 
 
 h. At least one shutter in three on each floor above the first to be constructed 
 so that it can be operated from the inside and outside. Handles on outside to 
 be so constructed that they can be operated by hand or pike pole: 
 
 i. Shutters to be thoroughly painted with two coats of iron oxide and 
 boiled oil or equivalent. 
 
 45. Care and Maintenance. Fire shutters should be ready for instant 
 use at all times, therefore it is necessary to keep the surroundings clear of 
 everything that would be likely to obstruct or interfere with their free oper- 
 ation. They should be kept closed and fastened nights, Sundays and holidays, 
 and whenever the openings are not in use. All parts should be kept thorough- 
 ly painted. 
 
 46. Steel Roll Fire Door and Shutter, should not be used where 
 
 Standard fire doors and shutters can be employed. Otherwise for front or 
 rear openings, exposed across narrow streets or alleys, they are recommended, 
 if of improved construction. 
 
374 
 
 FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 375 
 
370 
 
 FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 379 
 
380 
 
 FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 381 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 383 
 
384 
 
 FIRE lux His ANT) SHUTTERS. 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 385 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 387 
 
FIRE DOORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 389 
 
FIRE POORS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 Showing Position of Lu_gi or Binders 
 
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 E 
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392 
 
 FIRE DOOKS AND SHUTTERS. 
 
 
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 ±k\ : rr,>.,-n v 
 
 
 
 M 
 
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 Fip53 Iron Shutters Closed. 
 
SPECIAL HAZARDS HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 Manufacturing or "special hazards," so-called, have, as a 
 whole, been unprofitable to insurance companies. This result 
 in profit and loss is not apparent in the totals of the published 
 annual statements of the companies, but glaring differences as 
 to results by classes appear in their analysis tables. 
 
 The use of the various products of petroleum, not only for 
 lights, but in the processes of many manufactures; such, for 
 instance, as rubber works, shoe factories, printing offices, bleach- 
 eries and print works, dye works, plumbing and gas fitting; 
 gasolene soldering pots, etc., etc., has probably had much to 
 do with the increase in the number of fires in manufacturing 
 risks over those of former years. The enmity of dissatisfied or 
 discharged hands, also, especially in seasons of strikes, some- 
 times leads to fires, and is a danger which should be carefully 
 considered ; it may be regarded as always present, to the extent 
 of being considered an average danger, throughout all classes 
 for large territories. Employers who are constantly quarreling 
 with their help, particularly, are not safe men to insure, and 
 should be avoided. 
 
 Of course, the operation of mechanical force and of chemical 
 combinations would naturally involve greater fire hazard than 
 the simple storage of inert substances in warehouses, and it is 
 important that precautions as to cleanliness, management, fire- 
 extinguishing appliances, &c, &c, should be more rigidly 
 observed in manufacturing risks for this reason. 
 
 Indeed, there is no process of manufacture which involves 
 motion of any kind, or which depends upon the principles of 
 chemical combination, which is not dangerous to a greater or 
 less degree. It should be remembered, as already stated, that 
 heat results from almost every operation of force. So accurately 
 
■A'M 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 has science determined this fact that it is now known that heat 
 has its exact mechanical equivalent (Joule's Law.) A weight 
 of 772 pounds falling through one foot of space will generate 
 heat enough to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit; 
 and, reversing the operation, one pound of water falling through 
 one degree of temperature will produce force enough to raise a 
 weight of 772 pounds one foot high (772 "foot pounds"), thus 
 showing that heat and force are exactly convertible into each 
 other. The insurance inspector should educate himself to the 
 point where, in the interest of his company and, also, in the 
 interest of his customer, he may point out the hazards which 
 both wish to escape. The honest manufacturer, who is doing 
 a steady, profitable business, is frequently injured beyond the 
 amount of actual fire damage, in the interruption of his business 
 and will always be found receptive for suggestions. It is a duty 
 growing out of community relation that each member of a com- 
 munity should contribute for the benefit of his fellow citizens, of 
 the knowledge acquired by him in his calling, and the under- 
 writer should, therefore, fit himself so as to be able to advise his 
 customer not only as to methods which would tend to prevent 
 fires, but as to economies in manufacturing operations which 
 would save him loss of money in unnecessary expense. Such 
 an insurance inspector would always be welcome, and his 
 reception would be very different from that which often greets 
 the surveyor at the threshold of a manufactory, whose owner 
 has been annoyed with one incompetent inspector after another, 
 until he is in no amiable mood either to answer questions or to 
 permit inspection. 
 
 The importance of general knowledge on the part of the in- 
 surance inspector who desires not merely to save his company 
 from loss but, also, to enable it to receive a premium upon a 
 risk so improved by his intelligent suggestion that it may be 
 safely insured, does not require argument. With this aim in 
 view, he should keep pace with discoveries in mechanics, chemis- 
 try and applied sciences, in which more rapid progress is observ- 
 able in the development of economic processes of manufacture 
 than in safeguarding these processes as to the danger of fire. 
 When the writer of this, and many of his readers, studied 
 chemistry, years ago, there were only sixteen elements, of which 
 hydrogen was the basis. There are now nearly ninety. All of 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 395 
 
 the gases have been liquefied ; and the chemist of that period as 
 compared with the professor of the new chemistry of to-day 
 would be little better than the alchemist of olden time. 
 
 To the average chemist fire is simply an incident of chemical 
 reaction and receives from him no more consideration than 
 such phenomena as the casting of a white precipitate in a 
 chemical process, or the discoloration of his blue litmus paper in 
 contact with an acid. He regards spontaneous combustion and 
 ignition as an oxidation no more notable than the rusting of an 
 iron nail, which to him is only another form of combustion, the 
 quantity of heat given out depending for its intensity only upon 
 the time over which the action is extended, rust being simply 
 a slower combustion than that of burning tow or that which 
 ensues when metal is consumed in pure oxygen. 
 
 The insurance inspector should have in mind, therefore, at all 
 times, the danger of chemical combinations, which may cost 
 his company thousands of dollars, not merely in the manufactur- 
 ing portion of a risk, but in the warehouse connected with it, 
 where inert substances may, if mixed together through an acci- 
 dental breakage of their packages, cause a fire as inevitably as 
 if a lighted match were applied to flax. When a mixture of 
 potassium chlorate and sugar, for example, is touched with a 
 drop of oil of vitriol fire instantaneously occurs. 
 
 There are numerous chemicals which are harmless until united 
 with others, but which in combination with comparatively harm- 
 less organic substances, such as sugar, flour, sawdust, or such 
 chemicals as sulphur, turpentine, etc., would cause serious ex- 
 plosions, like that in the case of the Tarrant building in New 
 York, which lately destroyed hundreds of thousands of dollars 
 worth of property and resulted in the death of unsuspecting 
 citizens who were compelled to work for a livelihood amid 
 dangers of which they were necessarily ignorant. In this in- 
 stance the explosion was caused, probably, by a combination of 
 potassium chlorate with sulphur, but it may have been one of a 
 dozen combinations possible and common to miscellaneous chem- 
 icals stored in juxtaposition. The average chemist who under- 
 stands the chemical reaction of mixing sulphuric or nitric acid 
 with turpentine will yet complacently observe their juxtaposition 
 in a warehouse where a broken carboy or a leaking barrel might 
 
396 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 living about an inextinguishable fire. He also knows that 
 chlorine, bromine or iodine would have a similar effect. In the 
 same manner the combinations of potassium or sodium nitrates 
 or chlorates with sulphur, charcoal, etc., may result in the ex- 
 plosive properties of gunpowder of which they are the in- 
 gredients. It is supposed that the great conflagration in New 
 York of 1845 was caused by the combination of saltpetre with 
 the carbon of charred bags or burned merchandise and sulphur. 
 
 Indeed the inspector should always bear in mind that such 
 combinations may actually be brought about by the efforts of 
 firemen to extinguish a fire. An inch-an<l-;i-quarter-hose stream, 
 with an initial pressure at the nozzle of eighty pounds to the 
 square inch, would be a disturbing factor in a room filled with 
 miscellaneous chemicals and cause inextinguishable combina- 
 tions of substances supposed to be properly separated. I need 
 not suggest what would be the effect of phosphorous deprived 
 of its water covering and distributed over other merchandise. 
 
 One of the most disastrous explosions, resulting in loss of life 
 and property, occurred recently from the storage of potassium 
 chlorate on the same floor with sulphur, sugar or some other 
 organic substance. This salt deflagrates violently with com- 
 bustible matter and is liable to explode by friction or blows, and 
 for this reason is not used in making gunpowder, potassium 
 nitrate being preferable for that purpose. 
 
 A dangerous compound is produced by the contact of chlorine 
 with ammoniacal salt, resulting from the chemical reaction of 
 chlorine gas passed into solution of ammonia. In a fire, nitric 
 acid would form a most dangerous compound with hot powdered 
 charcoal or with warm oil of turpentine, and for this reason 
 should be stored under conditions preventing such combinations. 
 
 Chloric acid may be so concentrated as to set fire to paper or 
 other dry organic matter b} T reason of the fact that it is so easily 
 deoxydized by combustible substances. Nitrogen chloride is 
 probably one of the most dangerous explosive substances known. 
 
 But the chief reason why so many special hazards burn is the 
 want of foresight on the part of manufacturers, and of oversight 
 on the part of underwriters, in not securely separating from the 
 great bulk of property exposed to a fire those dangerous jjro- 
 cesses which might easily and at small cost be entirely isolated. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 397 
 
 It is too frequently the case that a dry kiln, for example, involv- 
 ing a value of only a few hundred dollars, is unnecessarily so 
 located as to inevitably burn the entire plant when it could be 
 isolated so as to burn without a loss greater than the value of 
 its own contents. Agents should aim to have risks subdivided 
 in this manner to insure greater safety and lower rates for the 
 larger values. Where rates are intelligently made, the owner 
 is sometimes handicapped for the entire life of the structure 
 with a higher rate charge on the entire value at risk, when he 
 might have been called upon to pay it only on a small amount 
 of specific insurance in the limited area of danger. 
 
 It took years of losses to convince the owners of cotton-mills 
 that the picker should be in a separate structure from the mill, 
 and it may require more years of disaster to convince owners of 
 flour-mills, planing-mills, paper-mills and other special hazards 
 that safety and economy lie in similar subdivisions of their risks, 
 so that the whole property need not be lost by a single accident. 
 
 On the top floor of a large department store in one of our 
 Western cities, where a millii >n dollars of insurance was carried, 
 the writer found a waste picker employed for tearing up jute 
 and other dangerous, ignitible materials for the manufacture 
 of cheap, upholstered furniture and so endangering the entire 
 plant and increasing the cost of insurance each year to the 
 extent of ten times the value of this department of the store, 
 when the whole thing might have been kept in a small, cheap 
 building outside. The owner was prompt to act upon so obvious 
 a suggestion, and possibly a million dollar loss may thus have 
 been prevented. 
 
 On the top floor of the large Coronado Hotel, at San Diego, 
 Cal., the writer found the shop for -upholstering and repairing 
 broken furniture, with heating of glue, &c. The work could 
 just as well have been done in a small, inexpensive building, 
 where it would not have endangered life or property. 
 
 It should be the business of underwriters to suggest and 
 enforce these improvements by discriminating rates. When 
 special hazards are constructed with reference to the rules of 
 prudence and common-sense, each establishment being divided 
 into two or more distinct risks, the more dangerous portions, 
 such as dry-rooms, paint-rooms, picker-rooms, boiler-rooms, oil 
 
398 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 storage rooms, etc., being completely isolated, so that their 
 burning will not endanger the larger values, we may expect to 
 see planing-mills and other dangerous specials insured at rates 
 which their owners can better afford to pay, but which will, at 
 the same time, yield a profit instead of a loss to the insurance 
 companies themselves. 
 
 It is possible, by the judicious division of even the most 
 dangerous risks, to confine a fire to a comparatively small value, 
 and thus materially to improve them. A very large percentage 
 of almost every manufacturing risk involves no greater hazard 
 than that of a storage warehouse, and might be insured at ware- 
 house rates but for unnecessary and inexcusable exposure of 
 large values to dangerous processes. The owner who subjects 
 the whole of his property to the consequences of a single accident 
 has no one but himself to blame if the underwriter who insures 
 his risk points out the danger and charges, on the whole value 
 at risk, the proper rate due to the most hazardous portion. 
 
 Agents cannot be too careful or thorough in their inspection 
 of special hazards. Every part of each building should be 
 examined, from sub-cellar to garret. Closets, work bench 
 drawers, tool chests, dark attics, and all concealed places should 
 be examined for oily rags or oily cotton waste. All concealed 
 places are dangerous. 
 
 While it is important that they should notice every detail of 
 construction and management, it is often the case that careful 
 men overlook vital faults which may involve the destruction of 
 a building, such as stone pillars, naked iron columns and un- 
 protected ironwork generally. A fire emphasizing the import- 
 ance of going to the very roof of a building occurred August 10, 
 1902, in the Bank of New York Building, No. 48 Wall Street, 
 and illustrated the utter unreliability of unprotected iron as a 
 building material. This building was intended to be fireproof. 
 It was occupied throughout for offices only, and there was 
 nothing in it more combustible than office furniture. But it 
 happened that a lawyer's office was being redecorated and the 
 furniture was temporaril)" placed in the hallway, where its 
 ignition from a fire caused, probably, by the spontaneous com- 
 bustion of painters' greasy overalls, afforded a strong draft 
 through a light-shaft extending from the second floor to the 
 roof. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 399 
 
 The roof was built of 4-inch tiles, between 2^ -inch inverted 
 T-irons, resting on 5-inch I-beams, and supported on light steel 
 angle-iron trusses. The tiles were covered with flat, one-inch, 
 roofing tiles, laid in an asphaltum composition. When the beat 
 reached the attic, in which several of the employes slept, it 
 warped and twisted the ironwork of this roof so that the T and 
 angle-iron failed to carry the superimposed weight and the roof 
 was wrecked. If the ironwork had been protected merely by a 
 suspended metal and plaster ceiling (although this is usually an 
 inadequate protection) it is not likely that it would have been 
 injured. Probably every inspector of this building had over- 
 looked this vital fault, if, indeed, he went so far in the course of 
 his inspection as this attic space or cockloft. 
 
 There are many inspectors of the casual kind who would have 
 described this attic, even if they had climbed so high, as a 
 fireproof room with an iron and tile roof, whereas a wooden 
 beam roof would probably have stood better. 
 
 The accompanying illustration shows the twisting of the iron- 
 work. The heat which wrought this damage was not sufficient 
 to thoroughly cremate all of the furniture of this attic bedroom. 
 
 Another instance, in the same city of New York, was that of 
 the damage done to the American Fine Arts Society Building, 
 in May, 1901. 
 
 The roof was of sawtooth type, partly built of 3" x 12" x 16" 
 tile blocks set between inverted iron T's, and partby of concrete 
 between I-beams, resting on light iron I-beams, all supported 
 on light iron trusses resting on the side walls and two cast-iron 
 columns. The ceiling of the top floor was plastered directly on 
 the underside of the roof blocks and concrete, but the iron I-beams 
 and roof trusses were entirely unprotected, and were warped and 
 twisted in all directions, the entire upper floor being practically 
 a total wreck. The cast-iron columns, being protected by a tile 
 covering, effectually resisted the heat. 
 
400 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 401 
 
 No doubt the inspector, if any there was who went so thor- 
 oughly through the building as to reach this portion of it, find- 
 ing little inflammable material and observing only iron and a 
 tile roof, concluded there was no danger; but the iron was so 
 light as to be strong enough only to support, while cold, the 
 dead load of the roof covering, and at the higher temperature 
 gave way and succumbed to its load. 
 
 In the case of the Home Life Building (see page 121) the 
 sturdy walls of the court on the north side were cracked and in- 
 jured hy the expansion thrust of iron plate and lattice girders, 
 which are shown in the photograph, and which actually injured 
 the brickwork they were intended to brace, although the heat 
 to which they were subjected was simply the ascending heat 
 of an exposing building. 
 
 A serious damage was done to the Manhattan Savings Bank 
 Building (page 123) by the expansion thrust of a large iron box 
 girder whose temperature was raised by a fire across the street 
 to a point where it forced out the side wall. 
 
 Could anything illustrate more clearly the utter unreliability 
 of iron when unprotected than the accompanying illustration of 
 the effect of fire on the sixth floor of the Home store building, 
 in Pittsburg, showing the collapsed roof? 
 
 Fi-om a report made by Inspector Stewart, of the Continental 
 Ins. Co., two days after the fire, I make this abstract : "Every- 
 thing on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors was destroyed, even 
 the nailing strips, buried in the concrete of the floor, burning. 
 A feature was the breaking off of the bottoms of the tile arches 
 in the ceilings of these stories, exposing the interior ribs, while 
 the upper surface remained intact and the steel work was un- 
 injured. The first, second and third floors were uninjured by 
 fire, but the flames communicated with the basement through 
 a chute inclosing an endless chain, used for carrying baskets 
 from floor to floor. With fierce fires above and below, it was 
 remarkable that the loss on the lower floors should be so light. 
 The weakest point in the building was the roof. No attempt 
 had been made to protect the steel work in the attic, and, as the 
 sixth floor was unusually full of reserve stock, the fierce flames 
 soon burned through the plaster on expanded steel which formed 
 the ceiling and damaged the steel work on the roof so that it 
 will have to be replaced." 
 
402 
 
VARIOUS PROCESSES, 
 
 403 
 
 The similarity of this photograph to that of the roof of the 
 Bank of New York Building is noticeablo. Can it be possible 
 that any Insurance Inspector, after seeing these two illustrations 
 of the utter unreliability of iron when uncovered, would fail to 
 call attention to such unsafe construction wherever met with ? 
 
 It is the inspectors who show discernment in such important 
 matters, detecting points of vital structural weakness which in- 
 volve the very life of a building, rather than those who pay 
 attention to detail at the expense of more important matters, 
 who make money for their companies and at the same time save 
 money to the property-owners whose risks they inspect, and who 
 are naturally ignorant of such facts as the unreliability of naked 
 iron and the utter worthlessness of stone as fire-resisting material. 
 
 My guide in the Adirondacks, in his pioneer work of removing 
 granite bowlders to make room for his forest home, economical 
 of gunpowder and dynamite, effectually disposed of the rocks 
 by kindling fires upon them and then, when thoroughly heated, 
 throwing water on them, quickly reducing them to sand and 
 fragments. Could there be a better illustration of the ridiculous 
 construction of using stone for weight-carrying members of 
 buildings! What a commentary upon the architecture and 
 engineering of the twentieth century that such material is relied 
 upon for pier bonds, caps, columns and the very foundations of 
 costly structures, where the same combination of fire and water 
 would result in a loss of millions of dollars. 
 
 VARIOUS PROCESSES. 
 
 An observing, intelligent inspector, while considering any 
 risk for insurance, would naturally give such careful investi- 
 gation where heat or light is employed as to need few suggestions 
 on this score. The old adage "Where there is smoke there is 
 fire" may well be supplemented by the statement: "Wherever 
 there is heat there is danger." 
 
 The very safeguards employed by ignorant people are fre- 
 quently unreliable and need to be thoroughly investigated. The 
 practice of putting bricks on a wooden floor under stoves or 
 furnaces, for example, is peculiarly dangerous, because coals 
 and hot ashes sift between the interstices of the bricks and ignite 
 the floor below, the bricks serving merely to conceal the charred 
 
104 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 floor. There should always be an iron plate under such a brick 
 platform. Metal nailed to woodwork as a fire screen to protect 
 it against the heat of a stove or furnace is usually fastened 
 tightly to the surface of the wood, instead of having an air space, 
 which is needed for protection. The bright tin, which reflects 
 heat, also conducts it. and the tin sheath — which if separated 
 a quarter of an inch from the wood would save it from burning — 
 would actually contribute to ignition if fastened to the surface 
 without any air space at all. In the case of fireproof doors and 
 doorframes, however, where the tin encloses the wooden door 
 or frame it must, of course, he nailed close to exclude air. 
 
 Steam pipes are often separated from wooden supports by in- 
 serting a piece of iron, which is no safer than a thicker steam 
 pipe would be. 
 
 Where steam pipes ]>;iss through floors, an iron guard of con- 
 ical or "canopy" form in two sections, of cast iron, should be 
 fastened to the floor around them so as to keep roving waste or 
 other ignitible material from collecting in the hole of the floor 
 around the pipe where it would be almost certain to cause a 
 fire. Such a cone-shaped protection extending two inches ab< >ve 
 the floor would facilitate sweeping for keeping the floors clean 
 and might prevent a fire. 
 
 The great enemy of the underwriter to be carefully watched 
 and provided against, which no obtainable rate will pay for, is 
 untidiness, carelessness as to rubbish, waste, ashes and other 
 accumulations, which are dangerous, whether found in the 
 cellar and attic of a dwelling house or in the various stories of 
 a mill. It is safe to assume that there is no such thing as 
 "clean waste" and that all accumulations of rubbish, even 
 leather chips, are objectionable, because they almost invariably 
 contain self -igniting substances or become the resting places for 
 castaway cigarettes, cigars or half burned matches. 
 
 As already explained, the sweepings of floors which have 
 been covered with sawdust are particularly dangerous, and all 
 sweepings and accumulations of rubbish or waste should be 
 kept outside of the building insured, where their ignition would 
 not endanger insured property. 
 
 It is always best to decline a dirty risk, and those owners 
 should be avoided wno do not follow up their employees to see 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 405 
 
 that all portions of a building, from the sub-cellar to the cock- 
 loft, are kept cleanly swept and free from rubbish. 
 
 The best receptacles for waste are large iron kettles or cans 
 on legs, lifting them from the floor, and with hinged metal 
 covers, whose contents might burn out without igniting the 
 premises; and they should be emptied each night, their contents 
 being burned under the boilers before the closing hours, or 
 removed from the premises to a safe distance. The best re- 
 ceptacles for matches are large stone jars with covers, as already 
 explained. 
 
 If the writer has become monotonous on tins subject it is 
 because he attaches greater importance to cleanliness than to 
 almost any other feature of a risk 
 
 In order to save the repetition in each risk of suggestions as 
 to the danger of various processes — drying, soldering, brazing, 
 japanning, &c, &c. — I shall, at this point, take up these vari- 
 ous processes, and merely refer to them later on in connection 
 with the various risks of which they form a feature. Most of 
 these processes require so little room, involve such small values, 
 but are so dangerous as regards fire, that the simple rule should 
 be observed of keeping them outside the main buildings, since 
 they can be easily separated from the larger values of com- 
 paratively harmless processes. 
 
 It is, for example, not at all necessary that singeing, napping, 
 drying, japanning or enameling, buffing, lacquering, tumbling, 
 picking, &c. , &c. , should be in or near buildings which would 
 be endangered by their numerous fires. 
 
 Annealing. Advise Company as to location of furnace and 
 fuel used. See that ovens are properly set and that all exposed 
 woodwork is properly protected. 
 
 Boiler Rooms. Should be cut off absolutely in all wood-worK- 
 ing risks, and in other kinds of risks if other than coal fuel is 
 used, especially if shavings or slabs are used for fuel. In 
 examining boiler rooms the agent should be careful to notice 
 whether any materials are deposited over the boilers to dry. 
 Wood for fuel is sometimes piled over them to dry, when wet — 
 a most dangerous practice. In one instance coming to my notice 
 a can of petroleum lubricating oil was kept over the boiler of a 
 mill, in order that tne oil might not freeze, where a leak would 
 have caused a destructive fire. Such practices should condemn 
 
SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 a risk. It is not safe to rely on assurances of reform in such 
 flagrant cases of carelessness. 
 
 Where the space above boilers is used for drying wool or 
 other materials, as it sometimes is in low grade nulls, great care 
 is necessary to keep the tops of the boilers cleanly swept. They 
 should always be covered with masonry, and the wool or other 
 material so secured that it cannot fall upon them. No risk of 
 this kind should be accepted unless inspected by the special 
 agent, and should be referred to the company Where boilers 
 aro forced at times above the pressure allowed by the boiler 
 inspector (and this is sometimes the case where the boiler is not 
 large enough for the horse power of the engine) the risk is not 
 a safe one and should be avoided. 
 
 Boilers underground are rarely safe, especially if the ground 
 above them is used for piling lumber or other combustible 
 material, as is sometimes the case in planing-mills, saw-mills, 
 etc. Owners rely on the masonry arches over the boilers, for- 
 getting that, in time, these must yield to the constant heat, 
 when flames are sure to escape to any ignitible material above. 
 
 Where shavings are used for fuel, at least three per cent addi- 
 tional should be charged if the boiler-room exposes the main risk. 
 The use of shavings for fuel is dangerous, not only because of 
 the creeping of fire from beneath the grate bars by the loose 
 shavings around the doors, but because of the danger of what 
 is known as a "back draft," which is a common cause of fires 
 in planing-mills. When the draft of the chimney fails, or is 
 poor, as it sometimes is, in damp weather, the entire contents 
 of the furnace may be thrown out into the shavings vault or 
 adjacent room. The furnace feed, therefore, should not be in 
 line with any communication with the main structure, but at 
 right angles to it, so that in case of a back draft the burning con- 
 tents of the furnaces cannot be thrown into the other rooms of 
 the risk. 
 
 Chimneys to boiler furnaces should be built especially for the 
 purpose. A chimney not so built, but afterwards adapted to 
 the purpose, is rarely large enough or safe. They should have 
 an internal capacity of not less than 12 inches in diameter, or 144 
 square inches, and should be constructed with double walls, 
 with an air space between the inner and outer walls, especially 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 if inside of the building. No woodwork should be framed into 
 them, and they should rise at least twenty feet above the peak 
 of any shingle roof near them; and where wood shavings or 
 slabs are burned for fuel they should be provided with good 
 spark-arresters. 
 
 Iron chimneys are liable to rust and permit sparks to escape 
 into roofing or other woodwork through holes. If used, they 
 should be well stayed with iron stay-rods or chains, and kept 
 clear of all woodwork by at least eighteen inches space and metal 
 sheathing. 
 
 Standard Boiler Room. A boiler room to be standard should 
 have nothing combustible in its construction. There is nothing 
 impracticable in this suggestion. The room is not necessarily 
 a large one. It requires no ornate finish. It is only one story 
 high, and as in most risks it is the most dangerous part of the 
 hazard and is liable to explosions of boilers and to ignition of 
 stores of fuel, especially where wood or shavings are used, there 
 is no reason why it should not be effectually cut off from the 
 main structure or why its construction should not be such that it 
 will safely cremate its own combustible contents of coal or wood. 
 The walls, therefore, should be of brick. Being one story, they 
 need not be over twelve inches thick, except that next the mill, 
 which should be 24 inches thick. The floor should be brick, or 
 concrete manufactured in the proportions named on page 81. 
 A concrete floor is best adapted for shoveling coal and for keep- 
 ing the combustible dust swept into the fire pit. The roof should 
 have nothing in its composition of a combustible character. It 
 may be laid on iron trusses of T and angle iron and these might 
 be fireproof ed, although as the structure is only one story it may 
 not be necessary. 
 
 Fuel. Examine the location of the supply of fuel, especially 
 if bituminous or soft coal is used, which is very liable to spon- 
 taneous combustion. In an exhaustive report on this subject 
 by Professor John M. Ordway to Mr. Edward Atkinson's com- 
 panies, he says : "The spontaneous combustion of coal is owing, 
 I believe, mainly to the oxidation of the pyrites contained in it. 
 Some coals are more liable to trouble than others, not simply on 
 account of their containing more pyrites, but rather on account 
 of the particular kind or condition of the pyrites. To favor the 
 oxidation there must be :- 
 
^08 
 
 SI'KCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 1. Some moisture. When the coal is quite dry there is less 
 danger. 
 
 2. A moderate supply of air. Total exclusion of air would 
 prevent it, and a thorough ventilation would also be likely to 
 prevent it ; but the thorough ventilation of large masses of coal 
 is impracticable. 
 
 :5. A great body of coal. 
 
 4. A warm place of storage. 
 
 5. Freshness. Coal just taken out of the mine is more in- 
 flammable than that which has been kept a year or more" 
 
 His deductions are that to guard against spontaneous com- 
 bustion one should avoid the use of coals which have a bad 
 reputation for spontaneous ignition. Coal should be kept dry 
 and cool and in piles of moderate size. The heaps should be 
 examined from time to time by digging in places to see if there 
 is any heating or any smell of gas. He suggests putting in a 
 few vertical iron pipes so that in case of smoke or suspicious 
 odors a hose could be attached and water thrown into the middle 
 of the pile, but he advises that these pipes should be plugged at 
 the top so as not to allow in air sufficient to give oxygen and yet 
 with enough vent for gases or smoke formed below . The coal 
 should not be in contact with the masonry work of boiler settings, 
 nor piled against wood or around wooden posts. 
 
 Oil for Fuel. The use of petroleum oils for fuel has been grow- 
 ing of late years. The regulations of the National Board should 
 be complied with in all cases and may be secured of the General 
 Agent in New York. Those systems which feed fuel to the 
 boilers by gravity should be prohibited. 
 
 Buffing. This is an important hazard of metal-working estab- 
 lishments, especially those manufacturing bright goods. The 
 lint or fluff, which is discharged from the wheels saturated with 
 grease and other substances, is subject to spontaneous com- 
 bustion. In all cases the machines should be connected with 
 blowers depositing "fly" into suitable receptacles partly filled 
 with water, located outside; metal receptacles should also be 
 provided in the buffer room for the smaller particles which are 
 not withdrawn by the blower system, and accumulations of 
 waste on wheels and bearings should be cleaned off daily. 
 When building is not fireproof, floors should be covered with 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 409 
 
 incombustible material and there should be no concealed places 
 where the lint or fluff can accumulate. 
 
 Brazing. If gas flame or blow-pipe is used it should stand 
 upon a bed of incombustible material, preferably on iron sup- 
 ports. All exposed woodwork should be thoroughly protected. 
 Where the two surfaces or points to be brazed are united by 
 being immersed in a crucible containing spelter in a molten 
 form, it is unnecessary to suggest that the surroundings should 
 be of fireproof material, and the furnaces should be provided 
 with hoods venting through the roof. 
 
 Where petroleum or its products are used for fuel and fed by 
 gravity the system is usually too dangerous for insurance pur- 
 poses, especially where artificial heat is applied to the kerosene 
 or petroleum to generate gas, as where the supply pipe passes 
 through a steam jacket or other heating surface. 
 
 Cutting. Most processes for cutting material, whether the less 
 hazardous of cutting cloth into clothing, or the more hazardous 
 of cutting ignitible materials into small pieces, as in paper mills, 
 are dangerous; and in the case of paper mills, where old rope, 
 junk and other material is reduced to the condition for making 
 paper pulp, should be separated from the main structure. 
 
 Deviling. This should be in a separate structure; is of the 
 nature of picking and cutting. 
 
 Dusting. All dusting processes should be in a separate struc- 
 ture where they would not endanger the larger values. 
 
 Drying. Dry -room for Wood, Lumber, Textiles, Wool, Cotton, 
 etc. , should be thoroughly cut off from larger values. The steam 
 or hot water pipes should be either above the material to be dried 
 or at the side of it, and not below the material, where distillations 
 of pitch, resin, etc., shavings, sawdust or other ignitible sub- 
 stances can fall and collect upon them. Any system of drying 
 which admits of the falling of material, shavings, or dust, &c, 
 upon heated surfaces is dangerous. 
 
 In all dry rooms ventilation should be provided, to admit of 
 the escape of inflammable gases generated during the process, 
 and they should, also, be so arranged that they can be closed 
 airtight if necessary, to smother a fire. 
 
 There can be little doubt that many of the fires originating 
 
410 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 in wood-drying rooms are caused by the ignition of inflammable 
 gases generated by the drying wood. That wood subjected to 
 heat will evolve such gases may be proved by the familiar ex- 
 periment of thrusting a stick of pine wood into a fire. At the 
 opposite end from the flame there will escape gases which may 
 be readily ignited by applying a match. 
 
 It is now claimed, after careful observation, (see p. 151) that 
 wood subjected for a considerable length of time to high temper- 
 atures, as in dry-rooms, gets into a condition which may be 
 termed self-igniting. This explains the mortality in wood dry- 
 rooms, laundry dry-rooms, wool dry-rooms, &c, &c. Whether 
 wood ignites spontaneously in this condition or not, no one will 
 dispute the fact that it is in such an ignitible condition that 
 contact with the slightest flame would spread instantly to all 
 portions of a room. 
 
 Automatic sprinklers should be provided in all dry-rooms. 
 
 Steam jets, which could be turned into such dry -rooms from 
 the boiler-room, would be admirable for extinguishing fires and 
 should never be omitted. They should be arranged with a 
 signal to the engineer, so that he could be notified to turn on the 
 steam instantly in case of fire. The door could then be closed 
 and any fire would be quickly smothered. 
 
 Enameling. See Japanning. 
 
 Forging. Floors should be of fireproof material; if wooden 
 floors beneath forges, they should be protected by one course of 
 brickwork on iron, and said protection should extend at least 4 
 feet around forges and surround anvils. Metal hoods should be 
 provided and chimneys and vents must be kept safe distances 
 from woodwork. 
 
 Galvanizing. Advise Company as to construction and location 
 of furnaces and fuel used, coal or coke being preferable to wood. 
 Setting of furnace should be investigated thoroughly, and the 
 floor, or certainly that portion within ten feet of the furnace, 
 should be fireproof. A good metal hood should be provided 
 over the entire furnace. 
 
 Gluing. Glue pots should be heated by electricity, steam or 
 gas. They should be on iron stands, free from woodwork, and 
 if they have to be set upon benches or tables the woodwork 
 should be protected with an air space between the wood and the 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 411 
 
 metal of at least half an inch. If set in wooden tables (i. e. 
 with tops flush with surface of tables) they should be protected 
 by metal collars at least 4 inches larger in diameter than the pots, 
 with an air space of at least 2 inches to the surrounding wood- 
 work; if an open flame is used, as in the case of a gas jet, the 
 burner should be at least two inches above the bottom of the 
 metal collar. Kerosene and gasolene for heating are especially 
 dangerous, involving the danger from carelessness in handling 
 the material as well as from explosion of the lamps. One great 
 danger of gluing processes is the tendency of workmen to leave 
 the gas or other heat on after the building is closed for the night, 
 where woodwork may become ignited by being overheated or 
 where ignitible substances can be blown by drafts of air into the 
 flame and ignited. 
 
 Japanning, Enameling, Etc. With any process of drying the 
 materials used for these processes are liable to form gases. They 
 are very volatile and inflammable. Not infrequently benzine 
 is a dangerous factor. The dipping process is especially hazard- 
 ous, owing to the presence of the volatile material in large 
 quantities, and all work of this nature should be cut off from the 
 main factory in a separate building where it could burn out 
 without endangering other values. The building in which ja- 
 panning is done should be fireproof. 
 
 Lacquering. This process is dangerous because of the volatile 
 and inflammable character of the lacquer. In some cases cellu- 
 loid thinned with ether and alcohol is used, shellac, varnish, 
 turpentine, etc. The method of dipping is more dangerous 
 than the old-fashioned method of applying the lacquer with a 
 brush. In the latter process, if on a small scale, it may be 
 carried on in main risk when good care is exercised; but in all 
 cases where a considerable quantity of this work is done or 
 when there is any dip work it should be outside of and not en- 
 dangering main buildings. 
 
 Melting. The smaller furnaces, such as those used for melting 
 the softer metals, confectioners' stoves, tailors' busheling stoves, 
 and other stoves requiring a high degree of heat should be 
 placed upon two courses of bricks well laid in mortar on sheet 
 iron extending at least 2 feet outside of furnaces on all sides. 
 If furnaces be on iron legs one course of bricks is sufficient. 
 
412 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 All exposed woodwork should be protected by incombustible 
 material. In cases where inflammable materials, such as resin, 
 etc., are heated, the floor protection should be surrounded with 
 a coping of sheet iron at least 4 inches high to prevent the burning 
 liquid, in case it should run over, from running on the floor. 
 Wherever fire heat is used it should be outside of the main 
 structure if possible. 
 
 Napping. This should be cut off from the main structure, 
 whether by gas or red hot iron. The process is a dangerous 
 one. 
 
 Painting. The danger of painting has been largely increased 
 of late years by the use of benzine and other dryers in place of 
 turpentine, which was bad enough. Inspect the painting room 
 carefully. Oily waste, rags, &c, should be kept in metal 
 receptacles and removed every riight. Linseed oil, as already 
 explained under the heading "Spontaneous Combustion," is par- 
 ticularly dangerous when spread out on finely divided organic 
 substances, like rags, waste, sawdust, etc. Sawdust should 
 never be allowed on the floors of a paint room ; it means the 
 ultimate gathering into barrels of a particularly dangerous 
 mixture. Sand in metal trays is the best material to put under 
 faucets, etc. 
 
 All painting, especially where cheap benzine dryers are used, 
 should be in a separate structure, and the supply of paints, oils, 
 &c, should be securely segregated. 
 
 Where painting is by the bath or dipping process, as in the 
 case of cheap furniture, great care must be taken, as the large 
 quantities of inflammable paint are liable to cause intense com- 
 bustion. Tanks should have tin-lined, hinged covers, so that 
 they can be closed at night when not in use, and when in use 
 should be held open by a fusible link, which would melt with a 
 rise of temperature and release the cover. 
 
 Pickers. All pickers of whatever character, whether woolen, 
 cotton, waste, upholstery or otherwise, should be cut off in a 
 fireproof room. They are peculiarly liable to fires from foreign 
 materials, such as nails, passing through the picker and striking 
 fire on the teeth and igniting the substance picked, which is 
 usually of an ignitible character. 
 
 Soldering. City gas is the safest fuel for heating irons, unless 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 413 
 
 gasolene gas is used, where great care must be exercised not 
 merely as to the construction of the fire-pot, but as to the storing 
 of the material. Large values should not be endangered by 
 this process, especially as it is unnecessary that they should be. 
 Charcoal pots should be stationary and the system of flues 
 should be metal leading to a brick chimney. The New England 
 Exchange requires that pots should be placed in an iron pan 
 filled with sand — an admirable precaution — and charcoal pots 
 must have a separate metal flue pipe, not less than 2% inches 
 in diameter, leading into a main pipe, which carries all the draft 
 into a brick chimney. Gas furnaces should have as good protec- 
 tion beneath as charcoal pots; if sand is not used they should 
 be set upon iron legs with at least three inches air space beneath, 
 and be placed on metal with additional air space to work bench. 
 Work benches where soldering is carried on should be of incom- 
 bustible material or metal covered. If gasolene gas machines 
 or oil systems are used, get the National Board specifications 
 for safety. They can be obtained by writing to the General 
 Agent of the National Board at New York, or to the insurance 
 company. 
 
 Sulphur Burning. This should, of course, be in a separate 
 structure, fireproof, where it would not endanger the main 
 buildings. 
 
 Tinning. This should be thoroughly cut off from the main 
 structure. The arrangement of furnaces, grease pots, etc., 
 should be carefully noted and the Company advised. Also 
 note care of cotton when used. The furnaces should be hooded. 
 
 Tumbling. The danger of this process is practically confined 
 to the waste material, especially where sawdust is used, which 
 with the iron clips when saturated with oils is liable to sponta- 
 neous combustion. 
 
 Varnishing. Under no circumstances should this process be 
 carried on in the main structure. It should be in a separate 
 fireproof room. The electric and friction hazard of machine 
 j tainting and varnishing is serious. Patent varnishing machines 
 with driers attached are especially dangerous. 
 
 Oil rooms, in which the supply of oils is kept, should be out- 
 side and never under or near stairways or elevators, so as to 
 endanger them in case of ignition or explosion. The burning 
 
414 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 of a large building with its contents, several hundred thousand 
 dollars in value, some years ago, was due to the rapid spread of 
 a fire originating in a closet under the elevator. Moreover, as 
 staircases and elevators are the means of egress for workmen, 
 and as vertical pipes and hose attachments ought to be near 
 stairways, for the use of firemen, not only may the property 
 be endangered if the stairways be made impassable, but the 
 lives of operatives and firemen, also. 
 
 Gas Meter. This should be in a safe part of a building, where 
 least liable to accidents, and whore it may have free ventilation 
 to the air, and the valve for shutting off the gas from the build- 
 ing should be near the entrance, so that the firemen may shut 
 off the supply from the building in case of fire. Indeed, all 
 buildings should be arranged for shutting off gas and electricity 
 at the street entrance. 
 
 Water Power. While water power is preferable, on some ac- 
 counts, to steam power, an irregular supply of water, as in the 
 case of a mill obliged to lose several months in every year owing 
 to a failure of water by drouth, is calculated to have a serious 
 effect upon the profitableness of the mill, and, consequently, 
 upon the moral hazard. Losses on "thunder gust" flour- mills 
 educated underwriters early to the danger of this class of risks. 
 The supply of water should be sufficient to keep the mill in con- 
 stant operation throughout the year, or steam power should be 
 provided to remedy the defect. An intelligent underwriter 
 will take into account the fact that cheapness of power might 
 be counterbalanced by expense of transportation, so that a 
 steam power manufactory, favorably located for saving freight 
 on materials and on finished goods, might compete successfully 
 with a water power establishment less favorably located. 
 
 Belt-Shafts. As already elsewhere explained, the maximum 
 danger of the spread of fire is to be found in conditions which 
 admit of its going from story to story, especially if increased by 
 construction which favors draughts. For this reason, boxes or 
 shafts for carrying belting should be fireproof and so arranged 
 as to prevent fire in lower stories from going into those above. 
 The ideal in construction is where these belt boxes are in a fire- 
 proof hallway or tower, the driving pulleys being on the tower 
 side, with the bearing in the wall arranged for oiling on the 
 
ELECTRICITY. 
 
 415 
 
 mill side, so that the shaft works in a tight box through which 
 fire cannot pass. In many cases belts pass through floors with- 
 out any protection whatever, or are carried in wooden boxes 
 which are dirty with flyings and ignitible fluff, besides being 
 oil-soaked and liable to burn like tinder. 
 
 Electricity. That the use of electricity for lights, heat or power 
 introduces an additional hazard is a matter as to which there is 
 to-day little doubt on the part of men of experience. It has been 
 aptly described as so much liquid fire running through a build- 
 ing from cellar to garret by night and by day. It can, however, 
 be made the safest method of lighting a building or of furnishing 
 power by electric motors, and the net effect for good or evil can 
 only be ascertained by charging it with fires due to its presence 
 and crediting it with the elimination of many things which 
 cause fires. For example, it does away largely with the use of 
 matches; with the danger of swinging gas brackets and the 
 ignition of curtains and draperies blown into flame by the wind ; 
 in premises where electricity is used exclusively it prevents ex- 
 plosions from ignited escaping gas ; the explosion of lamps, and, 
 to some extent, eliminates candle fires, especially in closets and 
 store-rooms. 
 
 Sum all these up, however, and millions of dollars of losses 
 have been due to electrical defects many of which might have 
 been corrected. The great trouble is that wires are installed in 
 buildings in many cases by the most incompetent persons, and 
 even when installed safely are frequently improperly changed 
 afterwards by owners or other employees, who do not realize the 
 danger. A lazy engineer or janitor tired of having ' 'trouble'' 
 on a line, will sometimes substitute for a safety fuse a piece of 
 metal of much greater carrying capacity than the wire it is in- 
 tended to protect. 
 
 The National Board of Fire Underwriters, as already ex- 
 plained, publishes a code of rules, which may be secured by 
 writing to the General Agent of the National Board, in New 
 York, and which is kept up to date, being revised from time to 
 time by conventions of engineers who meet for the purpose of 
 considering any new discoveries. 
 
 The following definitions of terms may be useful : 
 VOLT — Is the unit of pressure, or electro motive force (e. m. f.) 
 
41 li 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 AMPERE — The unit of rate of flow of current. A "coulomb" 
 (rarely used) contains the element of time and represents quan- 
 tity. For example, to express quantity of electricity in a storage 
 battery, it may be expressed in coulombs or ampere hours. 
 OHM The unit of resistance. 
 OHM'S LAW, so called, is 
 
 Volts Electric Motor Force 
 
 Current - Current = 
 
 Ohms Resistance 
 
 WATT — The unit of rate of flow of energy, and is the product 
 
 of Volts and Amperes. (1 Volt X 1 Ampere = 1 Watt.) 
 
 KILOWATT— 1,000 Watts. 
 
 HoRSK-PoWlvR Mo Watts. Therefore, a Kilowatt equals, 
 
 roughly, 1}4 Horse-Power, or H. P. equals ; { 4 Kilowatt. 
 
 1 incandescent lamp (10 candle-power) uses approximately % 
 
 ampere at 110 volts, or 55 watts rate of flow, which multiplied 
 
 by number of hours equals number of watt hours. 
 
 1 arc lamp uses approximately 500 watts. 
 
 It is erroneously supposed that a break in the insulation of 
 wires at single points necessarily means fires by ' 'arcing" or short 
 circuits. This, however, is fortunately not the case. A naked 
 wire in a perfectly dry place may be reasonably safe, but mois- 
 ture connecting it with another wire or any other conductor 
 would probably produce arcing and a short circuit, but the fuses 
 if properly graded and introduced would probably take care of 
 the trouble. Electrical experts attach more importance to the 
 fuses, and other approved safety devices, than to the insulation 
 of the wire, which does not, however, mean that they do not 
 attach importance to the insulation of wires, as shown by the 
 National Electric Code and its careful specifications as to the 
 amount of insulation, quality of pure Para rubber, &c, &c. 
 
 The object of safety fuses is to introduce into the circuit 
 wherever a connection is made between a larger and smaller 
 conductor an approved automatic device of less carrying capacity 
 which will fuse when the current passing through it is in excess 
 of the safe carrying capacity of the wire. 
 
 Stringent laws should be enacted prohibiting the installation 
 of wires or electrical apparatus by men who have not passed a 
 thorough examination, to determine their fitness for the task, 
 and it should be a penal offence for a man deliberately to ignore 
 
ELECTRICITY. 
 
 417 
 
 the rules of safety, especially where such flagrant disregard of 
 danger to life and property is displayed as, for example, in the 
 substitution of copper for a proper or approved fuse as is too fre- 
 quently the case. 
 
 Suggestions to Aid Property Owners in Determining Proper 
 Electrical Installations. 
 
 (These have been prepared in pamphlet form by expert underwriters, in 
 older to make clear in simple language explanations of various 
 electrical devices for the use of property-owners. They 
 make the matter so intelligible that I think them 
 worthy to be inserted at this point. 
 
 1. Transformers* must not be placed inside of any building, 
 or be attached to the outside walls of buildings unless separated 
 therefrom by substantial insulating supports. The proper place 
 for such a device is on a pole outside. 
 
 *A transformer consists of an iron box containing coils of wire usually 
 so arranged as to convert small currents at high pressure into larger 
 currents at a lower pressure. 
 
 2. Wires where entering buildings, and elsewhere through 
 walls, partitions, floors, etc., must be separately and properly 
 bushed* with non-combustible, non-absorj)tive (water-proof) in- 
 sulating tubes, such as glass or porcelain. 
 
 *Bushings are practically tubes made to protect wires where passing 
 through foreign substances. Only non-combustible, non-absorptive 
 materials should be used, and in outside walls they should slant 
 downward toward the outside and the wires entering tube should be 
 provided with drip loops. 
 
 3. Suitable switches,* arranged to cut off the entire current, 
 must be placed on all service wires as near as possible to the 
 point where they enter the building ; particularly on arc currents 
 where they should be located outside in a non-combustible case 
 easily accessible to police or firemen. Switches must be placed 
 in dry accessible places, and away from easily ignitible material. 
 
 'Switches are devices for turning the current on or off. They usually 
 consist of movable copper blades, operated by a handle, so mounted 
 as to secure connection when desired between the service wires from 
 the dynamo and the lights or motors. On some arc light circuits the 
 form of switch used resembles a small box, variously shaped, with a 
 movable handle projecting therefrom; the pushing of the handle to 
 one side or the other shutting off the current. 
 
418 
 
 SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 4. Fuses* must be placed on all service wires as near as 
 possible to tbe point where they enter buildings, and inside the 
 the walls, also at every point where a change in size of wire is 
 made. Circuit breaking devices, such as switches, fuse-blocks, 
 circuit l>rc;ikci\s, etc., must be mounted on non-combustible, 
 non-absorptive, insulating bn*< -s. such as slate or porcelain; anil 
 they must he located in a readily accessible place in saitahle 
 fire-proof and dust-proof boxes so arranged as to prevent sparks 
 or»the melted fuse metal from coming in contact with any com- 
 bustible material. Never replace fuses by copper wire, or by 
 fuse wire too large to properly protect the smallest wire in use ; 
 otherwise, when any excess current enters the building, instead 
 of the fuse melting as designed, and disconnecting the circuit, 
 the wires will become overheated, set fire to the insulation, and 
 finally to the building. 
 
 *Fuses arc protective devices intended to automatically break the 
 circuit in case of an excessive flow of current. Tliey blow out or 
 melt from excessive heat and thus at once stop, at a safe point, the 
 flow of current over the wire. (A fuse has the same effect as a switch 
 except the circuit is completed in the former by fusible strips acting 
 automatically and in the latter by movable copper blades operated by 
 hand.) No fuses of any kind are required on scries arc light systems. 
 Ask your light company in case you do not know system in use. 
 
 5. Wires not in conduits, must be separated at least one-half 
 inch from surfaces of ceilings, walls, etc. , wired over, on porce- 
 lain supports (never allow wood to be used under any circum- 
 stances) and those of opposite polarity* must be kept rigidly at 
 least two and one-half inches apart. In series arc lighting the 
 supports for the wires should be glass or porcelain, and must 
 separate the wires from the surface wired over by at least one 
 inch and wires must be kept at least eight inches from each 
 other. All wires must be kept free — by at least one inch — from 
 contact with gas, water or other metallic piping, or any other 
 conducting material which they may cross, by some firmly fixed 
 non-conductor (such as porcelain tube slipped over the wire), 
 and it is very important that they should never come in contact 
 with any substance other than their insulating supports. 
 
 *Polarity refers to the positive and negative wires, i. e., the outgoing 
 and return wires respectively. If they come in contact with each 
 other, or in contact with any conductors, such as metallic piping, a 
 "short circuit" or "ground" is produced, or, in other words, the current 
 
ELECTRICITY. 
 
 419 
 
 finds a patli of lower resistance than the normal circuit, the fuse is 
 blown out and a fire is very liable to occur. 
 
 6. Always keep in mind that even the best insulation is liable 
 to fail by abrasion, etc. , and therefore in stringing wires treat 
 all as if they were entirely bare and see that they are rigidly 
 fastened. When used in connection with gas fixtures insulating 
 joints must be provided. Wires exposed to injury from any 
 cause, such as moving of cases or barrels in a store, must be 
 protected either by boxing, having an air sjace of one inch 
 around the wire (in which case the boxing should be closed at 
 the top with the wires passing through bushed holes), or else 
 the wires should have an additional outer covering (of braid, etc.) 
 over the ordinary insulation and be carried through a metal pipe. 
 
 Wires in attics or places subject to dampness should be sup- 
 ported on porcelain insulators, or ' "cleats" (knobs) and hung free 
 and clear of everything else ; the}' should not be carried in wood 
 mouldings. 
 
 7. Unsoldered and untaped (not covered with rubber com- 
 pound or tape) joints are always dangerous. Wires must be so 
 spliced or joined as to be both mechanically and electrically 
 secure ; then they must be soldered and the joint covered with 
 an insulation equal to that on the conductors. 
 
 8. Arc lamps must be enclosed by tight fitting globes and 
 spark arresters ; and all dynamos or motors should be so located 
 that the sparks or small embers which are frequently given off 
 cannot come in contact with combustible material. 
 
 9. Never under any circumstances use current from ground- 
 ed* street car trolley circuits. 
 
 *A grounded circuit means a circuit having a ground return. For 
 instance, in a street railway system the outgoing current from the 
 dynamo follows the trolley wire to the point where it is in connection 
 with the ground through a car ; the current being transferred through 
 the trolley pole to the motors beneath the car and thence to the axle 
 where it reaches the track, and with this and the surrounding earth 
 as conductors returns to the dynamo. 
 
 10. Notify the Insurance Inspection Department having 
 jurisdiction of the territory in which your property is located 
 immediately upon the completion of every piece of wiring or 
 electrical construction work. 
 
 1 1 . When giving up the use of electricity, either temporarily 
 
420 I'R I \ ATE I" 1 1 1 I " i:.\TIN(;iISHIN(; AIM'LIAXCES. 
 
 or permanently, make sure that all current is turned off from 
 the building (by opening the switch mentioned in Section :i 
 above,) and that all interior wiring is therefore '"dead." 
 
 Suggestions for the Users of Incandescent Lamps. 
 
 1. Do not use flexible cord except for pendants, wiring of 
 fixtures and portable lamps or motors. Never use cord for 
 lamps in show windows, or as a support for clusters. 
 
 2. Flexible cord should not be hung on nails, gas, water or 
 steam pipes, as insulations arc liable to become worn and short 
 circuits result ; also avoid tying knots in them. 
 
 3. All wiring in show windows for decorative effects should 
 be attended to hy a competent electrician, and lamps should be 
 on fixtures only, away from inflammable material. Lamp 
 sockets should never be surrounded with decorations, as they 
 frequently become hot owing to bad contact in the socket or a 
 short circuit . 
 
 4. Incandescent lamps give out a dangerous degree of heat, 
 particularly as they get old, and in all cases where there is a 
 possibility of their coming in contact with merchandise the}* 
 should be protected with wire cages, to prevent their being 
 placed on open stocks, paper boxes, etc., which are often found 
 in a scorched condition from this cause. 
 
 5. Never use paper shades or ornament pendants with tissue 
 paper, which may take fire, either from a hot socket or a short 
 circuit, and fall, while burning, on inflammable material. 
 
 PRIVATE FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPLIANCES. 
 
 Casks and Pails. There should be six filled fire pails, or three 
 fire pails and one filled cask, for every 2,500 square feet of floor 
 area of manufacturing risks. The pails should be of metal, 
 painted red, with round bottoms ( with rims at bottom for easy 
 handling) so as to insure their being kept in a rack provided for 
 them and unfit them for setting on the floor and being available 
 for other purposes. If one or two pails are judiciously located 
 every 1,200 square feet filled with sand, which extinguishes oil 
 fires better than water, it would be an added and desirable pre- 
 caution. What promised to be a large conflagration was extin- 
 
PRIVATE FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPLIANCES. 
 
 421 
 
 guished while the writer was in a building in the city of Hartford, 
 some years ago, bv a boy with a pail of water. 
 
 I believe fire pails preferable to all other extinguishing appli- 
 ances, as every person knows how to use them, whereas extin- 
 guishers may not be in good order and few persons understand 
 them, some being afraid to use them. It is claimed that the 
 best and simplest arrangement for pails is to nest them under 
 water in the barrel, that each can be taken out full for use and 
 that the pails will not rust if wholly immersed. 
 
 It is claimed that chloride of calcium is a better agent for 
 preventing freezing than salt, which is liable to corrode metal 
 buckets. 
 
 Chemical Fire Extinguishers. These, if of approved make, con- 
 taining a sufficient quantity of the material and inspected reg- 
 ularly to see that they are in working order, are desirable, but 
 they are not equal to pails of water for the reason that many 
 persons do not know how to use them, whereas a child knows 
 how to use a pail of water. 
 
 Standpipe and Hose. Standpipes for extinguishing fire should 
 be not less than four inches in diameter, although a three-inch 
 standpipe in buildings under five stories high will do good work. 
 They should run near staircases or fire escapes, so that they can 
 be used to the last moment, and hose should be attached at each 
 floor. Standpipes are of little value, of course, unless the water 
 pressure is sufficient to throw a good stream across the room to 
 be protected, and this pressure can best be determined by the 
 simple process of turning on the water. Roof hydrants are 
 admirable and should be provided. 
 
 Water Tanks. These should be examined carefully as to the 
 danger of rust in the hoops. It will sometimes be found that a 
 tank is on the eve of rupture, and its failure coincident with a 
 fire would be a serious matter. Of late it has been found that 
 round hoops for tanks, which admit of covering the iron to a 
 greater extent of surface with rust-preventing paint, are better 
 than flat hoops, only one side of which, the outer surface, can 
 be painted. 
 
 Watch men s Lanterns should burn only the best quality of sperm 
 oil. The rules should forbid the watchman opening the lantern 
 for picking the wick or other purposes in the mill. Lanterns 
 
422 NATIONAL BOARD RULES AND REQUIREMENTS. 
 
 should be so locked that they cannot be opened except with a 
 key kept in the room where they are filled. The bottom should 
 be arranged with hook or other device to prevent its dropping 
 out while being carried in the hand. Lanterns should be prop- 
 erly guarded to prevent breakage and no solder should be used 
 in the framework. 
 
 Force Pumps. (See page 453. ) Undue reliance is placed by un- 
 derwriters 071 the protection to manufactories by city fire depart- 
 ments. 1 ii c.isc of conflagrations they arc unreliable, and for this 
 reason rates on the class are generally inadequate. Force pumps 
 should be provided, with sufficient private water supply. Had 
 it not been for their own fire pumps Pnterson, N. J., factories 
 would have, been destroyed by the burning of that city. 
 
 Roof Sprinklers. These are admirable. (See pp. 537, 666.) 
 
 Organization. Too much cannot be said in favor of a quietly 
 managed but thorough organization of the employees of a large 
 establishment, for the extinguishment of fire. It secures not 
 only the advantage of concerted and harmonious action, but an 
 exemption from panics, and prevents loss of time in an emer- 
 gency, ivhen moments are precious and cannot be spared. 
 
 Every employee should understand his duty and post, in case 
 of a fire, and the entire force should be as regularly drilled as 
 are the professional firemen of a city. 
 
 NATIONAL BOARD RULES AND REQUIREMENTS. 
 
 Agents should write to the General Agent of the National 
 Board of Fire Underwriters, in New York, for the small pam- 
 phlets giving up-to-date publications of rules and requirements 
 as to Electrical Wiring and Apparatus, List of Electrical Fittings, 
 Gasoline Gas Lighting Machines, Lamps and Fixtures, Acet- 
 ylene Gas Machines, Grain Dryers, Fire Doors and Shutters, 
 Automatic Sprinkler Equipments, Chemical Fire-Extinguishers, 
 Wired Glass, Fire Department Hose, Automatic Thermostat 
 Alarms, &c. , &c. These have been carefully prepared at con- 
 ventions of consulting engineers of the National Board, consist- 
 ing of representatives of the various insurance organizations 
 throughout the United States, thus securing the best expert 
 knowledge of the country — a wise provision of the National 
 Board made originally upon the suggestion of Mr. Henry H. 
 Hall, of New York. " 
 
MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Having dwelt upon the more dangerous general features of 
 risks and the hazards common in greater or less degree to all 
 manufacturing property, I will now proceed to take up each 
 class in its turn, suggesting hriefly those points as to which an 
 insurance company would need information from its agent, who 
 will be saved the trouble of writing explanatory letters later if 
 he reports upon the points referred to on his daily report, or 
 accompanying letter. 
 
 Abattoirs. See Slaughter-Houses. 
 
 Academies and Private Schools. Colleges. Seminaries and other 
 institutions of learning. These are generally considered good 
 risks, but they are susceptible to two kinds of moral hazard : 
 one, that of mischievous students; the other, that of unprofit- 
 ableness to the owner. They are, moreover, almost invariably 
 sh< art-insured, so that partial destruction results in total loss to 
 the insurance companies, unless an 80 fo co-insurance clause is 
 inserted in the policy, as it should be. The tendency, however, 
 is to omit the co-insurance clause. In fact, not long since a 
 movement was actually inaugurated by some college authorities, 
 by the use of circulars to various institutions of learning through- 
 out the country, advising them to accumulate a general fund 
 for the insurance of members for the excess above a uniform 
 amount of insurance to be carried — considerably less than fifty 
 per cent. Under such a scheme the insurance companies would 
 have been paying all of the partial losses, which while partial 
 as to the value of property at risk, would have been total as to 
 the amount of insurance carried. The scheme, of course, failed, 
 because underwriters were not so easily trapped into disregard 
 of the principle of a proper percentage of insurance to value. 
 
 Principal Hazards. These are heating, which suggests care- 
 
1 2 I 
 
 MANIFACTORIKS OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 ful examination ;is to furnaces, steam-pipes in contact with 
 wood, etc., etc., not forgetting slovenliness as to kindling, hot 
 ashes, etc., in cellars; lighting, danger from swinging brackets, 
 carelessness as to matches, etc. These risks very often carry 
 the dormitory and laundry hazards of hotels. 
 
 As ;i rule dormitories where the partitions between bedrooms 
 run to the ceiling are better than those in which the}- extend only 
 seven or eight feet, as romping pupils at night are apt to throw 
 pillows, shoes, etc., from one room to another, upsetting lamps, 
 etc. ('in-rent rates are too low. 
 
 Trade schools and colleges of technology involve all of the 
 physical hazards of woodworkers, metalworkers, chemical risks, 
 etc., and should he so regarded. The Company should be 
 advised as to precautions taken as to shavings, f< >rges, si Jdering 
 pots, chemical laboratories, &c. Those portions of the risk 
 occupied for manual training should be inspected in the same 
 manner as manufactories making the same goods, and automatic 
 sprinklers would be an admirable feature no less necessary in 
 the one ease than in the oilier. In all cases casks of water and 
 pails should be provided to extinguish incipient fires. 
 
 Private Country Boarding Schools and Academies. This 
 is an undesirable class of risks. It too often involves a moral 
 hazard growing out of the unprofitableness of the undertaking, 
 which, whether resulting in contrived fires or not, involves in- 
 difference to safety. It often happens that an individual will 
 purchase some palatial country residence (which will no longer 
 sell even for the price of a convenient sized dwelling house), or an 
 old summer or health resort hotel or sanitarium is taken, with the 
 result that the school does not prosper. A contagious disease 
 for a single season will sometimes destroy the reputation of the 
 school, and from thenceforward the building becomes a "white 
 elephant." The dormitory and laundry hazard is frequently 
 equal to that of a summer hotel. The values in the case of ad- 
 justments would be unsatisfactory, and it is best to decline them. 
 
 Acetylene Gas Plants. Refer to Company with full particulars 
 before binding. Get rules of the National Board of Fire Under- 
 writers as to installation. 
 
 Acid Works. These are often nuisances to a neighborhood 
 and should be carefully considered from this viewpoint. They 
 
TO [NSPECT THEM. 
 
 425 
 
 tend to depreciate the values of surrounding property, especially 
 for dwelling purposes, and owners i »f ad jacent land would rather 
 see them burn, especially if in the vicinity of a city whose 
 growth would make building lots valuable but for such nui- 
 sances. The physical hazards are connected with furnaces and 
 combustion in such towers as the Glover and Guy Lussac, use 
 of concentrators, sulphur, saltpetre, &c. It is not generally 
 known, as is elsewhere stated, that empty saltpetre bags are 
 liable to ignite spontaneously if exposed to the sun. Advise 
 Company fully as to the hazards mentioned. 
 
 Adze Manufactories. Same hazards as Hardware Manufac- 
 tories. Report fully as to the woodworking of handle making, 
 if any. 
 
 Agricultural Implement Manufactories. Advise Company as to 
 location of boilers, which, as in the case of all woodworkers, 
 should be outside, where fires caused by hack drafts would not 
 endanger the main values; as to paint-shop, if benzine or 
 naphtha dryers are used, as is generally the case; dry-rooms, as 
 to arrangement of pipes, painting, varnishing, etc. This class 
 should be fully protected by steam jets, automatic sprinklers, 
 fire pails and casks of water. 
 
 Woodworking and painting hazards predominate in most 
 factories of this kind and are generally not properly considered 
 in rating, a fact which has made this class unprofitable. 
 
 Agricultural Implements. Stocks of. A moral hazard is fre- 
 quently involved in these by reason of accumulations of ma- 
 chinery which has been superseded by later patents. Such 
 stocks are frequently utterly valueless because unsalable. The 
 class has not been a profitable one at current rates of premium 
 because so largely cousistmg of painted and oil finished wood 
 subject to a quick fire. 
 
 Album Manufactories. Advise Company as to gluing, binding, 
 &c, &c. They are about twenty-five per cent worse risks 
 than bi >< >kbinderies. 
 
 Alcohol Distilleries. These usually manufacture alcohol from 
 purchased "high wines." About two gallons of high wines 
 will make one gallon of 95$ alcohol, which is the highest grade 
 of commercial purity, absolute alcohol being used onby for 
 
420 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 chemical purposes and the percentage raised by quicklime, etc., 
 etc. Where high wines are purchased the risk is, of course, 
 free from the danger of grinding, malting, etc., incident to 
 whiskey distilleries and is practically only t hat of re-distilling the 
 high wines. Advise the Company as to furnaces, still and 
 precautions as to storage. The manufactured alcohol in harrels 
 should he entirely separated from the danger of the distillery 
 portion by warehouses so located that they could not he burned 
 by the burning of the distillery. If high wines are manufac- 
 tured in connection with alcohol works the rate should be that 
 for ordinary distilleries. 
 
 Alcohol, Wood. This process involves woodworking and the 
 reduction of wood to small pieces almost in the form of sawdust, 
 t he roasting and distilling hazard, the pn >d action of cre< >si >te oils 
 as "by-products", carelessness in the storage of unslaked lime, 
 fire heat in the retorts, the handling of charcoal, leakage and ex- 
 plosion of stills, &c. There are few insurable risks of the class 
 even at high rates, and they must not be bound without con- 
 sulting the Company. 
 
 Almshouses. New, brick, model-planned ones are reasonably 
 good risks, but the class as a whole has been unprofitable at 
 current rates. They are certainly w r orth as much as frame 
 summer hotels and involve also steam laundry hazards. They 
 should be referred to the Company before binding. There is no 
 reason why they could not be made safe and profitable, but they 
 are usually carelessly managed, in some cases being in charge 
 of the most incompetent and unprincipled persons, indifferent 
 alike to humane considerations for inmates and to safety from 
 fire. Insane patients are frequently kept, and inmates of this 
 character have been known to set them on fire. These risks are 
 usually connected, in the country, with a farm, and the barns 
 and outbuildings are carelessly managed as to lanterns, open 
 lights, smoking in barns, &c. Barns become lounging places 
 for inmates. 
 
 Animal Black. Animal Charcoal and Bone Black Manufactories. 
 
 Few companies write these. It is difficult to compute a proper 
 rate, and we prefer to decline them. 
 
 Armories and Arsenals. These are supposed to be exception- 
 ally good risks. Fires originate in them usually from careless- 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 427 
 
 ness of soldiers with cigars, cigarettes, &c. They are of large 
 area for drills, and although frequently as substantially built 
 externally as forts they contain enormous quantities of combus- 
 tible woodwork in the shape of Moors, partitions, lockers, etc., 
 internally. 
 
 The Armory of the Seventy-first Regiment, Park Avenue, 
 New York City, was destroyed by fire in February, 1902. It 
 was a complete wreck, although the appearance of the build- 
 ing externally indicated most massive construction, of granite 
 blocks. From the viewpoint of affording proper protection in 
 the event of riots, &c., they should be of fireproof construction. 
 
 Artificial Flowers. Feathers and Millinery Manufactories. The 
 chief danger of these risks is in the ignitible character of the 
 stocks, their great susceptibility to damage by smoke, water and 
 fire, heavy depreciations in value by changes of fashion and style 
 and the fancy values claimed for in case of loss. They are not 
 desirable risks except in the hands of honest and careful people 
 and then only at full rates. 
 
 Asbestos Manufactories. These would naturally be supposed 
 to be good risks, and are if properly constructed and managed 
 on lines already suggested for risks generally. There are not 
 many in the country, how r ever, and, like all other so-called 
 "fireproof" risks, they seem to burn. In the past five years fires 
 have occurred in these establishments, causing enough losses to 
 destroy the profit on the class. 
 
 Asbestos cloth manufactories use a small percentage of cotton, 
 which, although sometimes burned out afterwards, is a hazard 
 while in process of manufacture equal to that of a cotton mill. 
 
 Asbestos cement factories use lime, and asbestos paper mills 
 have many hazards which are far from fireproof, while asbestos 
 paint-mixing and roofing material factories are practically paint 
 risks and should be rated as such, especially when benzine is 
 used. 
 
 Asphalt and Roofing Material Works. These have been except- 
 ionally unprofitable, and the physical hazard of melting asphalt, 
 tar, etc., is a serious one, and fires once started are difficult to 
 extinguish. They should not be written or bound in any case 
 without first obtaining the consent of the Company, after full 
 advice as to the use of fire and precautions for extinction, etc. 
 
428 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Asylums. Those for the deaf, dumb, blind, aged and orphans 
 are usually good risks at a fair rate, with 80$ co-insurance, 
 [nsane asylums should rate .Mi', higher. 
 
 Auction Stocks. I >c< lin<- . values unsatisfactory. 
 
 Automobiles. These must not be insured without the consent 
 of the Company first obtained. Where gasoline is used for 
 motive power the rules of the .National Board should be com- 
 plied with. The best method of storing gasoline for supplying 
 the machines is to have an iron tank holding between two and 
 three barrels, or slightly more than one barrel where the gaso- 
 line is purchased one barrel at a time, buried under ground with 
 a vent pipe near the surface and a gauze vent on the Humphrey 
 Davy principle, with a pump for pumping out the gasoline. The 
 tank should be well covered with earth, which tends to prevent 
 an explosion by preventing the accumulation of vapor, as would 
 be the case in a vault. Some of the automobiles in use to-day 
 are of such large value as to make their insurance undesirable 
 — too much risk is concentrated in too small a space — on the 
 same principle explained as to the undesirability of insuring very 
 valuable race horses with one pair of lungs to be suffocated. 
 
 Axe Factories. These are good risks as a class, but are gener- 
 ally short insured, the owners retaining the best end of the risk 
 and insuring only the woodworking, handle-making portion, 
 &c. The Company would need advice as to the latter hazard 
 on the points indicated for woodworkers. The rates are too 
 often based on the metal hazard instead of on the woodworking 
 and painting hazard. 
 
 Bag Factories. Cotton Cloth. These ought not to be particularly 
 dangerous in the hands of careful, cleanly people; but owners 
 are often negligent as to accumulations of clippings, sweepings, 
 etc. 
 
 Bag Factories. Gunny Bags. Coffee Sacks. &c. These are more 
 hazardous than cotton cloth factories and should rate at least 
 50$ higher. It is necessary to inspect carefully as to cleanliness. 
 Ignitible flyings are frequently allowed to accumulate on shelves 
 and ledges and on the bearings of sewing machines, shafting, 
 &c. , where they can find a resting place, and sometimes on the 
 top of stovepipes running horizontally, where they might not be 
 noticed until ignited. Advise Company fully as to the use of 
 
lloW TO INSPECT THEM 
 
 129 
 
 fire, lighting arrangements (open lights should be prohibited) 
 and cleanliness. 
 
 Bag Factories. Leather. Traveling. Etc. (No trunk making.) 
 Stock is damageable by water and smoke; leather when dis- 
 colored by smoke or water is often claimed to be unsalable. 
 
 Bag Factories. Paper. Tins class has been unprofitable. They 
 are generally dirty and carelessly managed, and tbe stock and 
 material are easily ignited. 
 
 Bakeries. These risks are particularly dangerous where the 
 mouth of the oven is in a basement under wooden floor beams 
 of the story above. The room opposite the oven should be fire- 
 proof, with brick floor and brick arched ceiling. The oven of a 
 bakery should always be outside of the building, where it cannot 
 endanger the larger values. There should be a clear air space 
 around sides and top of ovens. Accumulations of empty flour 
 barrels, pasteboard boxes, &c, frequently lead to bad fires. 
 1 )oughnut and cruller stoves are liable to cause fire by the boiling 
 over of fat and its ignition. 
 
 Baking Powder Manufactories. Advise Company as to boiler 
 rooms, heating, lighting, dryrooms, packing materials, arrange- 
 ment of floors, as to cut-offs one from another and construction 
 of buildings. 
 
 Bamboo Furniture Manufactories. These ought not to be bad 
 risks, but the class has been unprofitable. Advise Company as 
 to heating, lighting, cleanliness, etc. 
 
 Bark Mills. These are usually connected with tanneries. 
 They are peculiarly dangerous because of the ignitibility of the 
 ground bark and its stubborn retention of fire when once ignited ; 
 in fact, it is almost impossible to tell when a fire once started in 
 a bark mill has been thoroughly extinguished; the fine, dry 
 powder, like punk, retains the fire and allows it to spread insidi- 
 ously out of sight until long after it is supposed to be thoroughly 
 wet through. The ground bark should drop into water and be 
 floated to the leaches instead of being stored dry. All level sur- 
 faces, like the upper surfaces of beams, ledges, &c. should be 
 avoided, as they tend to collect ignitible dust and lead to the 
 spread of fire throughout the entire structure. Steam jets are 
 admirable fire appliances for bark mills, and automatic sprinklers 
 would also be desirable. 
 
430 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OH SPECIAL HAZARDS, 
 
 Bark. Piled near tannery, should pay tannery rates Lf piled 
 in woods, should be regarded as uninsurable. If near railroad, 
 it is liable to the spark hazard and should pay nol less than five 
 pei' cent, with the location described and limited in the policy. 
 Policies should never cover hark distributed along railroads. 
 
 Barrel Manufactories. Advise ( iompany as to location of boiler 
 rooms, arrangement of furnaces, kilns, use of shavings or refuse 
 for fuel, charring process for charring the insides of barrels, 
 blacksmith-shop, etc. The finished material, manufactured 
 barrels, shooks, etc., should be stored where they will not be 
 subject to the fire hazards of the manufactory. Automatic 
 sprinklers are of little value in a ban-el factory because the water 
 is not apt to reach ignited surfaces of barrels in the lower por- 
 tions of a pile. Inspect and report on all of the above hazards. 
 
 Baseball Ground Buildings. Decline. 
 
 Basket Manufactories. Willow-ware Manufactories. Etc. The fin- 
 ished stock is damageable by fire, water or smoke, and the whole 
 risk belongs to the class in which fires rapidly spread. The 
 stock is an objectionable one to insure, as discoloration by smoke 
 results in excessive claims, unless the owners are exceptionally 
 honest. They should pay full rates and the Company should 
 be advised as to fires, lights, drying, cleanliness, etc. 
 
 Bath Houses. City. Turkish, Russian, etc., should be examined 
 carefully for steam-pipes in connection with wood and as to ar- 
 rangement of dry-rooms, as to which Company would want 
 advice. 
 
 Bath Houses at lake and seashore resorts. Are often of cheap 
 construction and have little insurable value. At hot springs, 
 health resorts, etc., they should be regarded from the moral haz- 
 ard viewpoint of permanence or experimental character of the 
 place. They, of course, become utterly valueless if the resort 
 ceases to be popular. The laundry and drying hazard may be 
 serious. 
 
 Bath-Tub Manufactories. Report fully as to enameling pro- 
 cesses, heat, boilers, etc. — the usual hazards of metal workers. 
 
 Batting and Wadding Manufactories. These are usually uninsur- 
 able. They are particularly liable to fires owing to the character 
 of the material used, which is not only liable to ignite easily, but 
 is of doubtful cleanliness ; and they have the physical hazard of 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 431 
 
 picker work, &c. All lights should be covered and so arranged 
 that they can be lighted from the outside of the building, the 
 light entering the building through glass, without an opportunity 
 l or material to be blown in contact with the flame or for ignitible 
 fluff to accumulate in the lamp, especially in the card rooms. 
 They should not be insured in any case without first obtaining 
 the consent of the Company after full survey and advice. 
 
 Bedstead Manufactories. Wooden. Same as Furniture Manufac- 
 tories, which see. If brass or iron, advise Company as to fires, 
 painting, enameling, shellacking, lacquering, buffing, cleanli- 
 ness, drying, etc. 
 
 Bell Manufactories. See Brass Manufactories. 
 
 Bellows Manufactories. Same as Woodworkers. 
 
 Bicycle Manufactories. These involve woodworking, metal- 
 working, screw cutting, brazing, buffing, japanning, enameling, 
 electroplating, rosin kettles, oil and grease hazards, vulcanizing 
 and crate making, with often a moral hazard, because the risks 
 as a class have been unprofitable to their owners ; new patents 
 have superseded less desirable and salable types, and values 
 rapidly shrink where this is the case. They are not desirable 
 risks and sometimes involve considerable woodwork, reslitting 
 saws, etc. 
 
 Billiard Table Manufactories. Same as Furniture Manufactories. 
 
 Blacking Manufactories. Shoe. Advise Company as to boilers, 
 heating, storage and use of lamj>black, oils, etc. An undesir- 
 able class on account of the use of lamp-black and oil. 
 
 Blacking Manufactories. Stove. These are undesirable risks, es- 
 pecially where naphtha is used. The Company will want full 
 advice as to use of fire heat, use of naphtha, lamp-black, etc. 
 
 Blacksmith-Shops. These are good risks in the hands of honest 
 men — and most blacksmiths are honest. If wheelwright and 
 woodworking are connected, a higher rate should be charged, 
 according to the hazard. See that forges are safely arranged. 
 They should not adjoin wooden partitions or wooden sidewalls. 
 
 Blast Furnaces. Where properly constructed, the physical 
 hazard is not serious. The roof over the casting floor should 
 be of iron. If of wood it should not be so low as to be ignited 
 in case of an explosion or "boil" of the molten metal. Great 
 care should be observed in the storage of charcoal. An intelli- 
 
1:32 
 
 MAXIFACTOKIKS <>K SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 gent investigation should be made as to the supply of ore, of 
 limestone for flux, coal, fuel, &<•., in order to sec that the fur- 
 nace is so located as to compete successfully and economically 
 with others. It may be so handicapped in these respects as to 
 be a worthless asset to the owners. 
 Blanket Mills. (Set Woolen Mills.) 
 
 Bleacheries. Dye and Print Works. Dry-rooms should he care- 
 fully inspected and risks should be declined if steam-pipes are 
 in contact with wood, or if the steam-pipes are so arranged as 
 to collect dyings or have material above them. Where singeing 
 or napping is done over an iron flue, it should be outside of the 
 main structure and in charge of a careful man, not entrusted to 
 boys. If benzine is used as a mordant in calico printing inquire 
 as to quantity used and how it is used. The storage of chemicals 
 used and compounding should be looked into and reported. 
 
 Blind. Sash and Door Manufactories. These have all the hazards 
 of carpenter-shops, planing-mills, saw-mills and paint- works; 
 the process tending to produce fine dust, shavings, etc. The 
 paint used is often a cheap quality of naphtha thinned paint 
 and is applied wholesale by dipping and other processes, and 
 dangerous vapors are generated. As a class they have been 
 very unprofitable. Full rates should be obtained and great care 
 observed in inspecting the boiler-room, dry-room, glue-room, 
 paint-room, etc. The Company will want full advice before 
 accepting the best of the class. 
 
 Block and Pump Manufactories. These are not serious hazards, 
 often involving hand work with axes, etc., but the values are 
 small. They need the careful inspection of woodworking risks. 
 
 Boarding Houses. These are good risks in cities, provided they 
 are not on the scale of hotels at boarding house rates. Where 
 they are of a temporary character, erected of cheap lumber, &c, 
 for the employees of contractors on railroad, dam, bridge work, 
 etc., they have usually cheap, temporary flues and the common 
 fault of stovepipes passing through the side walls and roofs; 
 the hazards of smoking, often of shiftless and drunken men ; 
 straw mattresses in dormitories, &c, and should be regarded 
 as uninsurable. 
 
 Boat Builders. These are good risks if carefully managed. 
 Advise the Company as to any planing or saw work; if steam 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 433 
 
 is generated the use of shavings under the boilers involves the 
 usual planing-mill hazard. 
 
 Boats and Boat Houses. If unexposed, these are good risks at 
 fair rates, whether in connection with hotels or club houses. 
 Private boat-houses connected with dwellings are. of course, 
 better risks, and may be taken at the barn rates of the property- 
 owner where gasoline or naphtha for launches is not stored. 
 See Automobiles for storage of gasoline. 
 
 Boating and yachting clubs are fairly good risks at full rates, 
 but in the case of hunting and fishing clubs care should be taken 
 to learn the hazards of forest or grass fires and any question of 
 moral hazard growing out of the enmity of neighbors who object 
 to being excluded from "preserved" streams or forests and in 
 consequence of differences or quarrels with the club officers may 
 set fire to buildings out of spite. It is best to decline hunting 
 and fishing clubs. The construction, especially of flues, is often 
 so poor as to make the physical hazard objectionable, to say 
 nothing of the moral hazard. 
 
 Bobbin and Shuttle Manufactories. Principal danger in addition 
 to that of regular woodworking mills is due to the friction of the 
 long and rapidly moving bits employed. The wood shavings 
 and turnings often become ignited by friction and they are liable 
 to spontaneous combustion unless great care is exercised as to 
 the use of oil. Like all other woodworking risks, the company 
 will need full advice as to the care taken, etc. 
 
 Boiler Makers. These are good risks at fair rates, where the 
 buildings are of a substantial character, and not of cheap con- 
 struction or low roofs. 
 
 Bolt and Nut Works. For some reason these have been unprofit- 
 able risks. The numerous fires have been attributed to the oily 
 sawdust used in cleaning processes, while many fires are un- 
 questionably due to the rusting of iron filings and to the extensive 
 use of oil, &c. Possibly these causes may have had something 
 to do with the mortality in the class. The Company will want 
 careful advice as to the tumbling barrels, the prosperity of the 
 owner, general condition as regards oil and grease, &c, &c. 
 
 Bone-Black. Ivory-Black and Animal-Black Manufactories. These 
 are hazardous risks owing to the danger of spontaneous com- 
 
434 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 bastion and the processes, and should not be insured without 
 first obtaining the advice of the company after full particulars 
 and survey. Inspect and report as to furnace hazard and stor- 
 age of manufactured material. 
 
 Bone-Boiling Establishments. These are so objectionable as 
 nuisances to all neighbors that few companies care to write 
 them. 
 
 Bone Mills. These are usually nuisances and should be declined. 
 
 Bonnet and Hat Frame Manufactories. Advise fully as to the 
 processes, care taken, the bleaching department, &c, &c. 
 
 Bookbinderies. These have been unprofitable risks at current 
 rates and as usually managed. Benzine is often carelessly used; 
 the heating of glue is usually unsafely arranged ; paper clippings 
 and other rubbish are allowed to accumulate around steam-pipes 
 or near stoves, and the employees — usually boys and young girls — 
 are frequently careless and indifferent to danger. Not a few 
 fires occur from the putting away of greasy rags in drawers 
 where they ignite spontaneously. Where these establishments, 
 as is frequently the case, are on the upper floors of buildings, 
 little or no salvage is to be expected in case of fire. There are 
 few companies who would not prefer to decline them at ordinary 
 rates. 
 
 Boot and Shoe Factories. See Shoe Factories. 
 
 Box Factories. These partake of the hazards of planing-mills, 
 saw-mills, dry-rooms, &c, &c, and should be inspected with 
 reference to such dangers. No company would wish to insure 
 a risk of this character unless exceptionally clean and well man- 
 aged. Do not bind the company without submitting the risk, 
 with full explanation. The majority of the class are of cheap 
 construction, of uncertain profit to their owners, and employ a 
 cheap class of careless hands, whether wood or paper boxes are 
 made. 
 
 Paper box factories involve most of the hazards of binderies 
 and printers, improperly arranged dry-rooms, careless heating 
 of glue, etc., etc. 
 
 Brass Works. These involve the hazards of casting, and re- 
 quire care as to patterns, fallow-boxes and moulds, which are 
 liable to be stored when too hot. Advise as to fire heat used, 
 buffing, lacquering, enameling, etc. 
 
HoW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 435 
 
 Breweries. These are good risks if properly constructed and 
 carefully managed. The malt house, if any, should be thor- 
 oughly cut off from the brewery proper, and care should be 
 taken in insuring the brewery to secure a co-insurance clause. 
 Report on location and arrangement of malt mill; the mill 
 should be equipped with magnets to catch nails, etc., and an 
 automatic explosion vent; steam jets, both in mill and elevator 
 legs, are also a valuable protection. If spent grain drying, 
 report carefully on arrangement of apparatus and storage of 
 material. 
 
 '"Pitching" should be thoroughly cut off and kettles should 
 have covers, and be so protected as to prevent pitch from getting 
 to the fires if they boil over. Pails of sand are desirable foi 
 extinguishing pitch fires. Electric lights are preferable for use 
 when varnishing the large tubs and casks. 
 
 The kilns should be constructed of brick or iron throughout 
 with no woodwork exposed to fire. Where any portion of the 
 kiln is of wood, they are, of course, not so safe, though many 
 are still constructed with woodwork resting on brickwork. The 
 company would do well to decline them, however. The fine dust 
 sifting from the grain through the drying floors of the kiln is 
 very combustible and should be regularly removed. The kiln 
 should be so constructed that this dust, sprouts, etc., cannot fall 
 upon the fire in the furnaces, which should be covered with an 
 arch of masonry or hood of sheet iron so that they would fall to 
 one side and not become ignited, thus setting fire to the grain 
 above. 
 
 If barrels are made on the premises a higher rate should be 
 charged, and the company should be fully advised as to process. 
 For rules of inspection see Barrel Factories. 
 
 Brick Manufactories. These are often constructed of cheap 
 boards, warped by the heat of the kiln and of the sun, and so 
 thoroughly dry as to burn like tinder. The values are small 
 and there is great liability to overinsurance. The better class of 
 brick factories are of substantial construction, with the roof so 
 arranged that it can be moved from over the kiln when burning 
 brick. Decline the cheap, dilapidated class, and always report 
 carefully on the construction and arrangement of kilns, dry- 
 rooms, etc. In modern factories the steam drying hazard is 
 
136 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OB SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 often serious. Scrutinize moral hazard as regards the exhaus- 
 tion of clay deposit. Usually a poor class of help is employed. 
 
 Bridges. These are of various classes, Covered railroad 
 bridges of wood, covered free bridges, covered toll bridges, open 
 or deck railroad free, open or deck toll bridges. Decline old 
 wooden bridges liable to burn to make way for modern steel 
 structures. 
 
 Broom Corn Warehouses and Barns. These have been unprofit- 
 able to companies; whether because of a moral hazard involved 
 or of liability to spontaneous combustion from overheating of 
 fibre with the oil expressed from the corn, or otherwise, the class 
 has been decidedly unprofitable. We prefer to decline them. 
 
 Broom Manufactories. These are not good risks, unless except- 
 ionally well constructed and with the hazards subdivided. Re- 
 port fully as to the tires used, gluing, handle-making, painting, 
 varnishing, bleaching. &c. 
 
 Brick Kilns. See Brick Manufactories. 
 
 Brush Manufactories. Report fully as to use of fire heat, handle- 
 making and extent of woodworking, gluing, drying, pitching, 
 varnishing, &c. If pitching or glue work is inside, 50 cents 
 should be added to the rate, even if safely arranged. 
 
 Bucket and Pail Manufactories. Metal. Advise fully as to solder- 
 ing, use of fire heat, boiler, painting, japanning, etc. 
 
 Bucket and Pail Manufactories. Paper. Advise fully as to process, 
 manufacture of pulp, material used, fire heat, etc. 
 
 Bucket and Pail Manufactories. Wood. These have been unprofit- 
 able risks at current rates. They involve the hazards of turning 
 and of woodworking, cutting and sawi.ig generally, use of heat 
 in the drying room, painting, varnishing, etc. Company will 
 want full advices as to these hazards. 
 
 Builder's Risks. These are desirable in order to secure the 
 building when finished, protection being necessary while in pro- 
 cess of construction. As already stated, the policy should cover 
 the builder and the owner, with loss if any payable as interest 
 may appear, to prevent double insurance and a moral hazard, 
 and also to prevent disputes in case of loss. (See page 129.) 
 
 Building Materials. Lime, hair, cement, etc. See Lumber- 
 Yards. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 437 
 
 Burial Case and Coffin Manufactories. Metal. These are less 
 hazardous than wood case manufactories. .Advise fully as to 
 various processes, varnishing, boiler-room, &c. 
 
 Burial Case and Coffin Manufactories. Wood. These are little 
 better than furniture manufactories. Advise fully as to gluing, 
 varnishing, shellacking, sawing, planing, drying, boiler-room, 
 etc. 
 
 Cabinet and Furniture Factories. Few classes of risks are so in- 
 adequately rated as these. They combine the hazards of planing, 
 wood and shavings fuel, varnishing, gluing, sawing, and almost 
 every dangerous process incident to woodworking. Small, hand- 
 power shops are better risks. There is no reason why the larger 
 shops should not be constructed with reference to safety, having 
 division walls between the various processes, especially separ- 
 ating the more dangerous ones from the other values. Advise 
 the company fully as to the boiler-room, glue pots, sawing, 
 planing, &c, &c. Special attention should be paid to the 
 upholstering department. If pickers are used for tearing ma- 
 terial they should be entirely isolated. ( >therwise all the danger 
 of the prohibited part of a cotton-mill or a jute factory may be 
 found, without the safeguards which are incident to the class 
 named. 
 
 Camp Meeting Ground Buildings. (See page 61.) 
 
 Candle and Soap Manufactories. These, as a rule, are undesir- 
 able and should be declined. They are frequently regardful as 
 nuisances in a neighborhood, and have not been profitable as a 
 class. Some of the modern soap factories where no rendering 
 is done, constructed with reference to economy of output and 
 safety from fire, are exceptions to the rule; but they are not 
 numerous. 
 
 Candy and Confectionery Manufactories. These have not been 
 profitable, and the stock is specially susceptible to damage by 
 smoke and water in case of fire, and is too frequently a total loss. 
 The line should be small. Explosions have occurred in them 
 from the use of flour and starch dust and from some of the 
 essences employed. One of our New York establishments was 
 thoroughly wrecked, some years ago, by an explosion of dust 
 which was never fully explained. Report carefully as to setting 
 of candy furnaces, batch- warmers, roasters, dry-rooms, &c. 
 
i:;s 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Cane Manufactories. Advise as to gluing, varnishing, shellac- 
 ing, drying, bending, and any use of fire heat. 
 
 Canning Factories. These have not been profitable ;isaclass. 
 They have the hazards of soldering, tinning shops, gasolene 
 soldering pots, cY/c, etc., mid are generally located beyond the 
 reach of fire departments. Full rates should be obtained and 
 the company should be consulted before writing. It is vitally 
 important to know if supply of vegetables, fruit, fish, etc. is 
 permanent or unreliable. Often of cheap construction and not 
 permanent . 
 
 Cap and Hat Manufactories. (See Hat Factories.) 
 
 Card Clothing Manufactories. No general suggestion is necessary 
 for the inspection of these risks. They have only ordinary haz- 
 ards and should pay full rates. The stock is usually claimed to 
 be a total loss because of rusting of wires, etc. 
 
 Card (Playing) Manufactories. They have all of the hazards of 
 printing and lithographing establishments and should be in- 
 spected and reported upon as such. The rules for inspecting 
 boiler rooms for cleanliness, &c, need to be observed. If prop- 
 erly managed the processes ought not to be hazardous. The 
 sti >ck is a damageable one and full rates should be obtained on it. 
 
 Car Stables or Barns, Horse and Street Car. Advise fully as 
 to the number of cars that can be stored in the various buildings 
 covered, and as to heating, whether by stoves or electrical ap- 
 paratus. An important fact in insuring cars in cities is too fre- 
 quently overlooked ; insurance is often sought for a less percent- 
 age of value at risk than is proper, the company relying upon 
 the number of cars that would be outside of the various shelters 
 at the time any one should burn. While the rate is usually 1 >ased 
 upon the expectation of the cars being outside of the car barns 
 for a large percentage of the twenty-four hours, there are, in 
 fact, generally cars of value to the full amount of the insurance 
 in the car barns and often on the upper floors, where they could 
 not be run out. This is especially true of lines running summer 
 and winter cars. During summer, the winter cars are all inside 
 and probably upstairs; during winter, the summer cars are 
 upstairs; and the insurance companies would probably have a 
 total loss unless with a full co-insurance clause. Be careful to 
 estimate storage capacity of the barns. Advise Company fully 
 
)|(>W TO INSPECT Til KM. 
 
 439 
 
 as to motive power, horse or electric trolley or storage battery, 
 <>r gasolene motors. Very often repair shops are connected and 
 the various hazards found in them should be reported on in 
 detail. 
 
 Car Manufactories. Full advices as to the woodworking haz- 
 ards, planing, sawing, gluing, upholstering, &c, will be needed 
 by the Company. Like most combined wood and metal workers 
 the rates have been too low on them, the wood-working hazard 
 having been underestimated. 
 
 Carpet Cleaning Establishments. These are invariably nuisances 
 and disliked by neighbors, and under no circumstances should 
 a policy be issued without the consent of the Company first 
 obtained — and it would be difficult to get this consent. Benzine 
 and naphtha are likely to be used in large quantities, and this 
 should be carefully investigated and reported upon. 
 
 Carpet Lining Manufactories. These should be rated and treated 
 as wadding and batting mills. 
 
 Carpet Manufactories. (See Cotton and Woolen Mills.) 
 
 Carpenter Shops. The large steam power establishments, using 
 planers and circular saws, should be classed as to rates and haz- 
 ards with sash and blind factories. Small, hand-power shops, 
 unless they have, as is too frequently the case, a stovepipe passing 
 out of the window or through the roof, or the stove is unsafely 
 arranged inside, are good risks at a fair rate. Old stoves with 
 cracks in them are too frequently to be seen in these risks, and 
 lumber is not infrequently left standing against stovepipes to 
 dry. Advise the Company fully in the case of the large shops 
 before binding. 
 
 Carriage Shops. These vary as much in hazard as they do in 
 size. Where well managed and arranged they are not bad risks, 
 but require full rates. The use of linseed oil makes them es- 
 pecially liable to spontaneous combustion, and a careful exam- 
 ination of closets and out of the way places is necessary on the 
 part of the inspector. In fact, in risks of this character there 
 ought not be any closets or concealed places. 
 
 Cartridge Manufactories. These have, in addition to the hazards 
 of metal-workers the serious hazard of loading. Owners, are, 
 as a rule, impressed with the necessity of isolating this process. 
 It should be far enough from the main structure to prevent 
 damage to it by explosion or fire. 
 
i to 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Celluloid Works. This process is s<> dangerous that it is hest to 
 let it go uninsured. It is manufactured from gnncotton and 
 camphor, and it is claimed articles made from it, such as combs, 
 billiard balls, trusses, etc., take fire sometimes spontaneously, 
 ignite almost like powder, and are so inflammable that a large 
 volume of water seems only to add to the intensity of flame and 
 heat, and the fire spreads so rapidly that little money can be 
 made by underwriters assuming the hazard. There are different 
 grades manufactured, some being susceptible of ignition at a 
 very low temperature. The stuff is explosive during the pro- 
 cess of manufacture, and if confined and subjected to heat. The 
 presence of the manufactured material in large quantities makes 
 such establishments subject to very quick total destruction in 
 case of fire. 
 
 Cement Mills. Thes< ght not to be unprofitable risks, but 
 
 they have been at rates of 3 The great hazard is. of course, 
 the furnace hazard in the burning of the material, and there is 
 also the hazard of grinding it, which makes a large amount of 
 dust which is likely to accumulate on the bearings and result in 
 hot boxes unless they are very carefully arranged to protect them 
 from the flying dust. Recently the hazard of pulverizing coal 
 for fuel has been introduced into these risks. It is claimed that 
 this process has burned several of them, the hazard b?ing that 
 of pulverizing bituminous coal and blowing it into the kilns 
 under air pressure, which is claimed to create a bad explosion 
 hazard, and at any rate the accumulation of fine particles of 
 pulverized coal, I should think, would create a spontaneous 
 combustion hazard. There should positively be no flame lighting 
 in the coal preparing department, and it should be thoroughly 
 ventilated. While the process is not necessarily a dangerous 
 one, yet fires have been so numerous as to lead to a suspicion 
 that there is an undiscovered hazard in the class. The Company 
 will want full and explicit advice before issuing the policy. 
 
 Chair Manufactories. These have the hazard of turning shops, 
 saw-mills, planing-mills, shavings for fuel, boilers, and the ad- 
 ditional hazard of dipping the chairs bodily into tanks of paint 
 and varnish in which cheap naphtha dryers are used. A fire in 
 such a room would spread rapidly and get beyond control. It 
 will be observed that the manufactured chairs are usually 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 441 
 
 wrapped with paper and excelsior and then stacked in store- 
 rooms in the worst possible shape for a fire to spread. If a fire 
 once starts there is little chance of its being extinguished. Full 
 rates should be obtained and the Company advised fully before 
 binding. 
 
 Chandelier Manufactories. (See Gas Fixture Manufactories.) 
 
 Charcoal Grinding. Process is a dangerous one and the risks 
 slu mid be declined. 
 
 Cheese Factories. 1 1 is safe to refer these to the Company with 
 full particulars as to tires used and carefulness of management, 
 and as to whether owner manufactures from his own dairy or 
 for farmers generally. It is claimed that factories owned or 
 operated by corporations or associations are not so desirable as 
 those owned and operated by single individuals. Boiler and 
 chimney arrangements should be carefully inspected and reported 
 upon. 
 
 Chemical Works. These should be referred to the Company 
 with full information as to the class of chemicals manufactured. 
 They are frequently nuisances and so regarded by neighbors. 
 The furnace hazard exists in them to an unusual degree, and 
 the construction of the furnaces and chimneys should be care- 
 fully inspected and reported upon. 
 
 Chocolate and Cocoa Manufactories. These are usually saturated 
 with cocoa-nut oil from top to bottom and burn like tinder. 
 Cleanliness should be required. The roasting hazard exists in 
 these factories to about as great an extent as it does in coffee 
 roasters, and they should be arranged in the same way as is re- 
 quired in such risks and the same arrangement should be had 
 for the handling of the hot beans after roasting. All other 
 hazards are ordinary in character and need no specific sugges- 
 tions to an intelligent agent. 
 
 Churches. The chief hazard, of course, is the furnace and 
 heating apparatus. It is particularly important that furnaces 
 and hot air pipes should be carefully inspected and the risk de- 
 clined unless they are arranged in a perfectly safe manner, there 
 being a proper clearance between the top of the furnace and the 
 nearest wood, and also between the hot air pipes and any wood 
 that may be near them; the great danger in these risks is that 
 they are left alone so much, fires being started in cold weather 
 
MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 when they are to be used, and forced so as to heat the building, 
 making the heating apparatus much more dangerous than where 
 it is in use continuously. It should be remembered that steam 
 pipes must not be in contact with wood. Examine the base- 
 ment particularly to see whether the janitor is careful as to 
 handling wood, shavings and other fuel. The valuable paint- 
 ings, tapestries and laces of the altars of Roman Catholic 
 churches make losses on these more serious than in the simple 
 structures of Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist Churches. 
 In the large cities, however, some of these, especially Episcopal 
 churches, are ornate in their fresco work and finish. 
 
 The organ in the church should not be separately insured, 
 unless by some other company than the one who furnishes this 
 Instruction Book. The most equitable way of insuring the 
 organ, which is particularly liable to damage, is to distribute 
 the insurance on it among all of the companies taking the 
 building. 
 
 Cigarette Manufactories. These should be declined at ordinary 
 rates. They need full rates, the most careful inspection, and 
 any company insuring them will want full advice on all points 
 of danger. 
 
 Cigar Manufactories. These are seldom found outside of towns. 
 They ought not to be hazardous, with reasonable care, but the 
 stock is particularly liable to damage. If cigar boxes made, in- 
 spect and report as for woodworking. Dust explosions are in- 
 cidents of these risks and should be guarded against. 
 
 Sweat room hazard; inspect carefully, especially as to setting 
 of stoves, &c. 
 
 An explosion occurred in the shavings vault of the William 
 Wicke factory in New York, destroying large values. Another 
 in the cigar box factory of Sheip & Co., Philadelphia. In the 
 latter case the door at the bottom of the shavings shaft was di- 
 rectly facing the furnace doors or the boilers. In this risk the 
 hazard was improved after the explosion by carrying the explo- 
 sive Cyclone Separator dust through metallic conductors to a 
 tank of water on the roof of the factory. 
 
 Cleaning and Dye Works. These use naphtha and benzine in 
 such quantities as to make them undesirable. There are ex- 
 ceptions to the class, however, and there is no reason why they 
 
now to inspect them. 
 
 should not be so constructed and the dangerous processes so 
 isolated as to admit of the latter burning out without damage 
 to the larger values. The di ving hazard is the most serious; 
 inspect carefully and report fully. 
 
 Cloak and Mantilla Manufactories. Those have not been profit- 
 able as a class, and great care should be taken as to moral hazard. 
 A company is liable to extravagant claims on the part of dis- 
 honest parties; a small hole burned in a garment is often urged 
 as a reason for treating it as a total loss. The pressing hazard, 
 heating of irons, etc., are serious. 
 
 Clock Manufactories. These may involve both metal and wood 
 working hazards, and need to be examined as to both, and the 
 company fully advised. Buffing hazard serious. Japanning 
 with metal cases is serious feature. 
 
 Clothing Manufactories. These ought to be good risks, but they 
 seldom are, and loss claims are large, especially where one 
 garment in a suit — a vest, for example — if injured is made the 
 basis of a claim for total loss on the entire suit. Full rates should 
 be obtained. Careful inspection is necessary to detect careless- 
 ness in the iron heating department, and the Company should be 
 fully advised. Where cloth is cut by electric power the rules of 
 the National Board must be followed. 
 
 Club Houses. City. These are not good risks as a rule. Adjust- 
 ments usually bring hard feeling unless exceptionally high prices 
 are paid for dishes, furniture, &c, as members of the club, with- 
 out personal knowledge as to facts, often form erroneous im- 
 pressions from reports of employes as to the fairness of the 
 company. They approach very closely to the hotel hazard and 
 should be rated at about the same figure. 
 
 Boating, Yachting, Hunting and Fishing clubs should be ex- 
 amined as to forest fires, or of possible enmity of neighbors of a 
 poaching disposition where hunting and fishing on preserves. 
 
 Coal Breakers. Be sure there is a coal mine at the foot of the 
 breaker. If the supply is exhausted the breaker is worthless. 
 The company will want full advice before issuing policy. 
 
 Coal Mine Property. Pockets. Miners' Dwellings, &c. Have not 
 been profitable as a class. To pick out good risks needs great 
 care, common-sense and good judgment. Decline if exposed by 
 slack washing. Be sure there is supply of coal. 
 
444 
 
 M INUFACTOR-IES OB SPEC! \l. 
 
 HAZARDS. 
 
 Coal Oil Refineries. Decline. 
 
 Coffee Roasting Establisments. The stork is usually a total loss, 
 and the buildings are usually carelessly built. The cooling and 
 drying troughs should be of metal. The coffee roasters should 
 be on a fireproof Moor. Frequently they rest upon bricks laid 
 on top of an ordinary wooden floor. Fire is certain to occur in 
 this class sooner or later. Unless standard, they should be de- 
 clined, and even then full rates should be obtained. 
 
 While the coffee roasting portion of the risk is very hazardous 
 and should practically be in a fireproof room, it is a fact that 
 fires have started more frequently in the mill room than in the 
 roasting room, probably due to the fact that the physical hazard 
 is apprehended and guarded against in one place and lost sight 
 of in the other. The mills should be of iron and not of wood. 
 Man}' fires have been caused in this room by the tobacco smoking 
 of operatives. Roasters that remove from the fire are safer than 
 those that draw out. Coolers should lie of iron witli facilities 
 f( >r daily cleaning. \V< » >den troughs and other than metal c< >< >lers 
 are unsafe. 
 
 Coffin Manufactories. (See Burial Case Manufactories.) 
 
 Cold Storage Warehouses. The physical hazard of these risks 
 is not great, but there is danger of a large loss where systems 
 of warehouses are dependent upon one source of supply for the 
 refrigerating material. The New York Fire Insurance Ex- 
 change has endeavored to provide for this consequential loss by 
 requiring that where the clause is used making a fixed liability 
 on merchandise for consequential losses resulting from the de- 
 struction or disablement of machinery, the policy must specify 
 the location of the building containing the machinery referred 
 to, and the rate on the insured property must be equal to the 
 combined rates on contents of both buildings. It may happen 
 that the pipes after leaving the refrigerating plant pass through 
 a number of other buildings whose destruction would intercept 
 the process and allow the merchandise to spoil. It is clear that 
 in such cases a company insuring the merchandise would be 
 carrying the risks of all the buildings whose destruction would 
 interfere with the process and should, therefore, have a high 
 rate. Unless specifically assumed in writing on the policy, a 
 company would not be liable for a loss due to a change of tern- 
 
HOW To INSPECT THEM. 
 
 44:» 
 
 perature owiug to any interruption of the process, but it is best 
 not to rely entirely on this exemption from claim, as hard feeling 
 would result in case of loss and claim denied. (See index for 
 forms. ) 
 
 Interference by Boards of Health, condemning food products, 
 has sometimes caused total loss where there was actually small 
 intrinsic damage. Rates are rarely adequate for contents of cold 
 storage warehouses. In some cases the stock would be no more 
 desirable than the plants in a greenhouse. 
 
 Colleges and Academies. (See Academies.) 
 
 Confectionery Manufactories. (See Candy.) 
 
 Cooper Shops. The large, steam plants are dangerous special 
 hazards, unless constructed with reference to division of the 
 danger by separating the various departments. The company 
 should be fully advised before issuing the policy, concerning 
 these points, location and arrangement of kilns, heaters, 
 extent of woodworking and general condition. 
 
 Copper Stamp Mills. (See Stamp Mills.) 
 
 Cord Wood. This should not be insured. It is usually piled 
 in the woods where cut or along railroads, subjecting it to the 
 spark hazard, and is almost invariably exposed to running grass 
 and brush fires. No obtainable rate is likely to pay the cost of 
 insuring it. 
 
 Cork Manufactories. The grinding process should be separated. 
 Fires are very liable to occur from the dry cork dust by spon- 
 taneous combustion and otherwise. As a class, the risk has 
 proved to be an undesirable one. They really involve hazards 
 of woodworkers and should be rated accordingly. The stock 
 is very damageable. 
 
 Cotton Gins. These should be declined. There are few com- 
 panies who write them. Fires are frequent, caused by foreign 
 substances, flinty stones, matches, &c, passing through the gin, 
 and by spontaneous combustion of cotton fibre saturated with 
 oil from the seed, expressed during the process of ginning, or by 
 electric sparks from the belts ; or by incendiarism on the part of 
 dissatisfied hands. There is also a moral hazard likely to creep 
 in the older gins due to improved processes of ginning. Ad- 
 justments are generally unsatisfactory, and companies as a rule 
 decline them. 
 
\l AM FACT< iRIES OR SPEC] VL HAZARDS. 
 
 Cotton in Transit. Railroads or Steamboats. Should not be in- 
 sured without consent of the company first obtained. 
 
 Cotton and Woolen Mills. Since the inventions of Hargreaves, 
 Crompton, Cartwright and Peel, great improvements have been 
 made in cotton and woolen mills, but still more important lias 
 been the progress in the direction of the prevention and extinc- 
 tion of fire. The first-class cotton or woolen mill of to-day is a 
 very different fire risk from that of even twenty years ago. 
 There is still, however, a large number -of mill owners who are 
 either ignorant or indifferent as to the truth of certain well 
 established and generally conceded facts — such, for instance, as 
 that steam-pipes will ignite wood; that cotton or woolen waste 
 will burn spontaneously and should not he left in the mill over 
 night, that, consequently, extreme cleanliness should be ob- 
 served ; and that the picker-room being, as statistics show, the 
 most dangerous part of the risk — especially in cotton mills — 
 should always be outside of the mill, and so protected that, in 
 case of its burning, it will not endanger the mill itself. 
 
 I shall endeavor, by placing before agents such statistics of fires 
 as may not exact too much space, to help them t< > c< mvince those 
 manufacturers who still entertain doubts on these important 
 points. Failing in this well-meant attempt, however, I think 
 no obtainable rate should be a sufficient inducement for a com- 
 pany to insure the mills of such owners as may prefer to wait 
 until the more expensive teaching of personal experience has 
 demonstrated the truth of our statements. 
 
 It may be well at this point to call attention to the fact that 
 fires in cotton and woolen mills result more frequently from 
 steam-pipes, spontaneous combustion and pickers than from any 
 other three causes. 
 
 As to the dangers of steam-pipes, see page 164 and as to the 
 danger of spontaneous combustion see page 140. 
 
 Construction. Mills should be constructed on slow burning 
 principles already explained, pages 124, 125, etc., especially with 
 reference to their being easily kept clean. Hollow wooden cor- 
 nices should be avoided, an ordinary bracket cornice being 
 equally ornamental and much safer. Boxings of eaves in attics, 
 etc., are objectionable, as is the ceiling of roofs, walls, or under 
 surface of beams; in fact no concealed place should be left large 
 enough for rats to secrete waste or oily cotton, or build nests in. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 447 
 
 All wool spouts or chutes should he closed when not in use, 
 that they may not conduct fire from story to story or increase 
 the draft. Band holes should be boxed and sills of doors laid 
 high to admit of flooding, at least one inch deep, in case of fire. 
 The floors should be of heavy plank, with matched (tongued and 
 grooved) flooring above this, and may be rendered almost fire- 
 proof, if laid in mortar. A mortared floor of this kind saved the 
 Pennacook Cotton Mill, at Fisherville, N. H., in December, 1866 
 — a fire burning the entire roof off without extending below. 
 
 Unless mortar of a good quality is used and well laid, it is 
 liable to disintegrate and afford burrowing places for rats and 
 mice between the planking. 
 
 The stairways should he outside in a fire-proof porch, or en- 
 closed in brick shafts (walls of shaft to extend through roof), 
 with standard fire doors on all communications to the different 
 floors; they should not be endangered or mode impassable, 
 by having the supply of oils kept under or near them. 
 Elevators should also be in the porch, or in brick shaft similar 
 to stairs. Belt towers should be arranged in the same manner: 
 power being transmitted by shafts through the wall into the 
 several floors (see. page 4f4.) Tops of vertical shafts should 
 be covered overhead by skylights glazed with thick glass, pro- 
 tected above and below by wire netting. 
 
 The loose flyings of cotton or wool should be carefully swept 
 from the upper surfaces of stove-pipes or steam-pipes, and 
 from rafters and other wood-work, especially near belts, which, 
 at a high rate of speed sometimes generate electricity and sparks 
 sufficiently strong to ignite wood at a distance of eight inches 
 from the pulley or belt. A fire occurred in this manner in the 
 day time, in the Appleton Cotton Mills, of Lowell, Mass. 
 When first discovered a constant stream of sparks was passing 
 between the belt and the corner of the timber which had been 
 on fire. 
 
 I quote from the Journal of the American Institute and the 
 report of the late Mr. James B. Francis, C. E., of Lowell, Mass. : 
 
 "It is not infrequent to find in the belt-boxes of a mill an accumulation of 
 dust and flyings of cotton or wool, covering everything not in rapid motion to 
 a sensible depth. In this case the belt box was very clean, to which fact, per- 
 haps, may be attributed the slow progress of the fire and the detection of its 
 cause." 
 
Us 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 •'Electrical excitement, manifested by sparks, shocks, and the symmetrical 
 arrangement of the fibres of cotton and wool, is so common in our col ton and 
 woolen mills as to excite no remark, it is, however, very different at differenl 
 times. It. is frequently used to light gas; a person standing on the wooden 
 floor, and presenting one finger to a belt from which he can draw sparks, and 
 another finger to the gas as it issues from a metal burner, the gas is instantly 
 lighted. When the electrical excitement is strong, t he same t hin g can be done 
 
 at a considerable distance by several persons holding each others hands. It 
 has never been observed here before, that any other substance than gas could 
 be I bus ignited. Since the fire, however, the xVgent of the Appleton Company 
 
 has sitceeded in igniting, tinder by the sparks passing between the belt and the top of 
 the bolt, and I have since done the same thing." 
 
 "Many fires have occurred in our cotton mills which could not be accounted 
 for at the time; ample means are provided for extinguishing fire, if promptly 
 applied, which they are likely to be when the machinery is in operation, when, 
 of course, the workpeople are at hand. So far as I have observed, electrical 
 phenomena are exhibited in the mills only when the machinery or shafting is 
 in motion. By the light of the late fire at the Appleton Mills, it appears prob- 
 able thai many other tires which were totally inexplicable at the time of their 
 occurence, may be attributed to this cause." 
 
 LIGHTING. If by kerosene lamps, they should not be sus- 
 pended by strings or cords; wires or chains alone being safe. 
 They should not be nearer to the ceilings or wood-work above 
 them than thirty-six (36) inches, and should be protected by 
 suspended shades, and not by metal nailed against wood-work 
 above, which may conceal charring without preventing it. An 
 instance is mentioned by Mr. Braid wood, Superintendent of the 
 London Fire Brigade, where a gas-light set fire to a ceiling 
 twenty-eight and one-half inches from it. 
 
 If lights are protected by coverings, whether of wire or glass, 
 care should be observed in keeping them clear of the dust, fly- 
 ings of cotton, etc. Unless this is seen to, shades are object- 
 ionable, as they serve only to collect inflammable materia] 
 in dangerous proximity to the flame. 
 
 Many fires are caused by swinging brackets, unprovided with 
 stops to prevent their being swung under or near wood-work. 
 If kerosene is used, only a safe article, not Jess than 110° flash 
 test should be permitted. If gas is manufactured from benzine, 
 benzole, naphtha, gasolene, or any product of petroleum, the 
 reservoir should be under ground, at least thirty (30) feet from 
 the mill, and the air-pump or blower, if in the building, should 
 be provided with an automatic valve to prevent the passage of 
 
1!()\V TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 440 
 
 gas to the air-pump from the reservoir. The air should be 
 taken into the air-pump or blower through a pipe connecting 
 with tbe outside of the building, so that any back pressure 
 will send the vapor into the open air instead of into the 
 building. The installation should be in accordance with the 
 rules and requirements of the National Board of Fire Under- 
 writers. (See page 160.) 
 
 No fire-heat should be applied to the gasolene in order to make 
 it vaporize, for the reason that gas-pipes are quite certain to be, 
 at some point, so placed as to be subject to severe cold, and the 
 result will almost inevitably be condensation, which is extremely 
 dangerous. 
 
 No material for making gas must be stored where, in case of 
 fire, it would endanger the building or insured property. 
 
 The gas-metre should not be exposed to fire in those parts of 
 the mill most liable to it, such as the picker-room, dry-room, or 
 in the boiler-room, where a leakage might ignite at the furnace. 
 (See page 414. ) 
 
 The Social Mill, of Woonsocket, R. I., a mill of 50,000 spin- 
 dles, was entirely destroyed by a fire which might have been 
 easily extinguished but for the fact that at its very commence- 
 ment, it attacked a large metre, melted a lead pipe and, filling 
 every room with gas, defied all attempts to save the building. 
 
 Watchman. Only a reliable and sober man should be em- 
 ployed, thoroughly conversant with all the pre appliances of 
 the mill. The keys or pulls of his watch or clock should be 
 located at the extremity of each room farthest from the entrance, 
 necessitating his traversing the entire length of the room to 
 make his record. Only sperm or lard oil should be used in his 
 lantern, which should be a covered, one. It should be locked 
 and the key to open it kept in boiler-room to prevent opening 
 the lantern in the mill. (See page 421.) A register should be 
 kept of his performance of duty, and the superintendent or owner 
 himself should take charge of his watch or clock. 
 
 Drying. This cannot be too carefully managed. (See page 
 409.) Ventilation should be provided to prevent the accumula- 
 tion of the highly inflammable gases generated in drying wool 
 at high temperatures. The watchman .should not enter the 
 room with a light, and .should be instructed as to the dan- 
 ger of doing so. 
 
450 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OB SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 In December, 1866, a fire occurred at (lie Burlington Woolen Milk, by the 
 ignition of gas in the drying room from the watchman's lantern, and another 
 at the Washington, Mills, in Lawrence, Mass., October 27th, 1868, from the 
 same cause. In both cases the drying-rooms were "illuminated as by flashes 
 of lightning," which would seem to indicate the presence of some highly in 
 flammable gas. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the quantity and eomliustible 
 character of the gases generated in the different processes of 
 woolen manufacture, from the fact that it is stated the gas con- 
 tained in the suint <>r fatty materials of the soap-suds used in 
 washing raw wool and spun yarns in a mill of 20,000 spindles 
 will be more than sufficient to light the mill throughout the year, 
 allowing five hundred (500) burners for daily use. (Wagner's 
 Chemical Technology. ) 
 
 Patent steam dryers are uninsurable, especially where the heat 
 is applied by pipes belt > ir the rcool and blown by fans. Cold air 
 dryers are safest. 
 
 Oils. Much depends for safety on the quality and character 
 of the oil used, not only for lubricating purposes, but on the wool, 
 and only those that have established reputations for purity and 
 safety should be employed. 
 
 Pickers and picker-rooms. Statistics show that no more 
 fruitful sources of fires in cotton or woolen mills exist than the 
 pickers. They should never be in the mill, or expose it, but in 
 all cases in a separate building, to leeward of the main structure, 
 (according to the prevailing wind) and built of brick or stone, 
 and with a metal roof — which will confine a fire longer than any 
 other. If the picker-building has openings — doors or windows 
 on sides next the mill — they should be protected by standard 
 doors and shutters, and the windows, if any, of the mill building, 
 on those sides exposed by the picker-room, similarly protected — 
 blank walls to both buildings are decidedly preferable. In this 
 connection it may be well to state that it is now generally con- 
 ceded that a wooden door or shutter, well lined with metal on 
 bttth sides, or an iron door, lined with wood on both sides, is 
 preferable to one entirely of iron. Neither of the former will 
 warp, and the wood, slowly reduced to charcoal, keeps the metal 
 in shape, while the iron door or shutter, never having the heat 
 applied uniformly over its surface, will be apt to twist or warp, 
 and let the flame through.* A wooden door, lined with metal 
 
 *A slirling door, so arranged that it will roll up an incline when opened, closing 
 itself by the force of gravity, is better than all others (See pp. 361-392.) 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 451 
 
 on both sides, at a fire which destroyed the Hartford Company's 
 Works, at Tarriffville, Ct., saved a building - abutting against 
 one destroyed, while all the iron doors and shutters to other 
 buildings proved unreliable. Where the door protects a com- 
 munication between two buildings, the frame-work and sill 
 should also he of iron or covered with metal. Picker-rooms 
 should not communicate with mill, but if they do, the door 
 should not swing into the picker-room, necessitating entrance 
 into this room to close it, and where it is more likely to be blocked 
 open with stock, but should be so hung as to be pushed against 
 a fire and protect the person closing it. In addition to a fusible 
 link, which on melting would enable the door to close automat- 
 ically, it would be advisable to have some simple mechanical 
 contrivance of a chain and pulleys, by means of which the door 
 could be closed and secured from a distance, in case the sudden- 
 ness or severity of a fire should prevent a near approach. Lights 
 (if used at all) should be covered, and so arranged as to be lighted 
 only from the outside. Boys and other low-priced hands should 
 not be employed at the pickers, but only the most experienced 
 and careful men ; and strict rules should be enforced as to smok- 
 ing and the carrying of matches in pockets — some of the most 
 careful manufacturers making it a practice to search the em- 
 ployees of the picker-room periodically, without previous notice, 
 in order to secure a compliance with this necessary regulation. 
 Oil should never be applied to wool at the pickers, as it increases 
 the danger of fire. 
 
 Those picker-rooms, where the stock is wound up in a lap at 
 each process, avoiding the accumulation of large quantities of 
 loose cotton, as in gauze-rooms or bins, are safest. Pickers 
 should not be allowed to run on loose pulleys, which are liable 
 to cause fires by friction; and should be daily overhauled to see 
 that all wool or cotton is taken off the arms and shaft of the 
 picker, where it comes in contact with the sides or any stationary 
 part of the frame. The room should have no woodwork exposed. 
 Steam jets are very efficient for extinguishing fires in picker and 
 gauze rooms, and a small jet connected with the dust boxes of 
 pickers is a judicious precaution. To be effective, they should 
 have valves outside the building, and there should be no inter- 
 mediate valve in the boiler-room (as is too often the case, to save 
 loss of steam by condensation), especially if the boiler-room is 
 
MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 locked at night. Few more effective fire appliances exist than 
 Automatic Sprinklers with a sufficient supply and head of water. 
 
 Casks of water and pails should be liberally provided — they 
 require little presence of mind or skill, and can be instantly ap- 
 plied at the commencement of a fire and while it is still within 
 control. They cost little, and their cheapness should insure a 
 plentiful supply. (See page 420. ) 
 
 That we are not unnecessarily strict in requirements and 
 recommendations as to pickers, the statistics of fires in mills will 
 show. The figures are startling when compared with the statis- 
 tics of fires in other classes of risks, in view of the large number 
 originating in the picker-rooms out of the whole number from 
 all causes. It must be remembered, too, that many small fires in 
 picker-rooms are never reported to the Companies by mill-owners, 
 through a fear of causing apprehensions in the minds of under- 
 writers, which might lead to an increase in the rate of premium 
 — a very small advance in which, where a large line of insurance 
 is carried, would amount to a sum possibly greater than any small 
 loss. I know of one fire occurring in a picker-room, resulting in 
 a loss of over one thousand dollars, which was never reported 
 for this reason, the owner not wishing to draw attention to any 
 want of safety in his large mills, of which he owned several. 
 
 In view of the large number of fires originating in picker- 
 rooms during the past ten years. I feel justified in pronouncing 
 any mill with the picker in the main structure — and not in a 
 fire-proof room — as uninsurable, and those mills where the 
 pickers are in separate buildings, not endangering the mill, as 
 the most desirable risks. 
 
 Fire appliances and apparatus. (See pp. 420 - 422.) 
 I have already mentioned steam jets, sprinklers, casks of water 
 and pails, in connection with picker-room fires. This water 
 should be salted, or chloride of calcium may be added, to prevent 
 it from freezing. Pails full of water should be plentifully dis- 
 tributed throughout the card, drying and spinning rooms. 
 
 Too much cannot be said in favor of these simple provisions. 
 What threatened to be a dangerous fire, in a New England mill, 
 was extinguished by the use of pails of water and wet brooms. 
 Sprinkler pipes should be of wrought iron, gradually decreasing 
 in size as they extend from the rising main, which, to supply them 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 4:.:', 
 
 fully, should be at least double the area of the total areas or 
 orifices of distribution, even when supplied by a reservoir LOO 
 feet higher than the mill. With a less head of water, as, for in- 
 stance, where the reservoir is not higher than the mill itself, the 
 proportion should be greater, say four or six to one. Vertical 
 stand-pipes from basement to attic, connected with a tank of 
 water in the attic and with the force pump, should be provided. 
 Tliey should be located near the stairways to enable their 
 being used for a longer time, and the hose should always be 
 attached to hydrants at each floor. It is needless to suggest 
 the difficulty and delay of adjusting the threads of couplings in 
 the excitement attending a fire. 
 
 The force-pump should not be located where it is liable to ha ve 
 its belt (if run by belt, which is objectionable) cut by a fire, and 
 if run by gears, should be thrown into gear at night. The 
 belt should not be left off the pulleys or hung up near by, as is 
 sometimes the case, rendering it liable to shrink beyond the pos- 
 sibility of springing it on in case of fire. It should be tried at 
 least once a week, to see that it is in order, and especially in 
 winter, to empty the cocks and see that pipes are free. 
 
 Force-pumps, no matter how large or powerful, are effective 
 only in proportion as they are supplied with power. If by steam, 
 the steam areas should be to the water areas as four to one;* a 
 less proportion is not sufficient. It need not be suggested that 
 sufficient steam should be kept up during the night and on holi- 
 days to operate the pump in case of fire. 
 
 If outside hydrants are provided, connected with a reservoir, 
 they should be protected from the frost, and have not less than 
 100 feet of good hose attached, and be protected from the weather 
 by suitable housings. The couplings of all hose of the mill should 
 fit that of the nearest city or village fire department, or reducing 
 couplings be provided to remedy the fault. 
 
 Roof hydrants are admirable and should be provided. 
 
 Fire extinguishers, especially those whose mechanism requires 
 merely that they should be reversed to be ready for use, are very 
 efficient, and if kept in every room will materially increase the 
 chances of extinguishing a fire. 
 
 Organization. Each man should have his appointed task 
 in case of a fire, and understand it beforehand. The greatest 
 
 *With steam at high pressure. 
 
454 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 safety lies in a just apprehension of danger, and the extinction 
 of a fire depends largely, if not entirely, upon the intelligence 
 and concert of its management. In the best managed mills the 
 male employees are regularly drilled to prepare them for an} - 
 fire that may occur, that there may be no confusion or panic, 
 and the proper action taken at the very beginning of a fire, when 
 alone it can be got under control, if at all. 
 
 Cotton Platforms. Railroad. To the inexperienced, bales of cotton 
 on an open platform near a railroad would suggest the minimum 
 of hazard from an underwriting viewpoint. But railroad plat- 
 form cotton has been a losing risk to companies. The writer's 
 early education as to lines and rates was emphasized by a fire at 
 Charlotte, N. C, in 1875. when a policy of $10,000 covering 
 cotton on a platform, which took fire at midday, when it might 
 reasonably be supposed that the laborers could have rolled the 
 cotton out of danger, proved a total loss. The cotton is es- 
 pecially liable to be ignited, not only by the sparks from loco- 
 motives, but by sparks from pipes, or by loose matches, or by 
 spontaneous combustion ; and small lines at full rates, and the 
 approval of the company, should be the rule. 
 
 Cotton Pickeries. Decline. 
 
 Cotton Presses. These should be carefully inspected with ref- 
 erence to arrangement of boilers; to the care and disposition of 
 the loose or waste cotton ; to the rules as to employees ; to the 
 storage of cotton in adjacent streets, and to the general care- 
 lessness which too frequently prevails. Boiler should be outside. 
 
 Cotton Seed Oil Mills. These involve all the hazards of cotton 
 in the lint room, and of cotton ginning to some extent. The 
 modern mills have been very much improved over those first 
 constructed. Fire appliances, especially pails of water in the 
 lint room, are important. A steam jet opening into the lint 
 room would be a desirable appliance. 
 
 Country Stores. These are undesirable, unless occupied in part 
 as a dwelling by the family of the owner, and unless located in 
 some good town or village. Where they are at cross-roads their 
 trade is precarious and their future uncertain. Isolated stores 
 not occupied in part as dwellings should be declined. They have 
 been losing risks to insurance companies, due probably to the 
 fact that they can be so easily robbed at night, by the wagon- 
 load, and afterwards burned to conceal evidence of the crime. 
 
HOW TO 1NSPKCT THEM. 
 
 455 
 
 Court Houses. These are supposed to be good risks by many 
 underwriters, but they have not proved profitable. Where any 
 rivalry exists between two towns in the same county as to the 
 location of the county buildings, it is not safe to insure them. 
 The inhabitants of a rival town naturally desire to secure the 
 trade which the holding of court brings to the county seat, and 
 vicious persons sometimes remove what they consider the prin- 
 cipal impediment in the way of a ''change of venue" by destroy- 
 ing the count}' buildings. Numerous court-houses have been 
 burned in the South and West to cover evidence of extensive 
 frauds in land titles, which were some years ago practiced in 
 some sections of the country and resulted in a serious moral 
 hazard to some of the risks of this class. There have also been 
 fires caused by criminal classes desiring to burn the evidence of 
 crime, indictments, affidavits, &c, &c, in the court-house or 
 in the hands of officials, district attorneys and others. The 
 buildings are often left uncared for after hours, and cigar stumps 
 and cigarettes thrown away in sawdust spittoons or waste paper 
 baskets are responsible for many fires not otherwise to be ex- 
 plained. Full rates should be obtained and buildings carefully 
 inspected with regard to heating apparatus and the care taken 
 of them. Jails connected with court-houses do not improve 
 them as risks; they should add about 25 cents to the rate. If 
 halls are rented for exhibitions, the rate for halls should also be 
 added. The county records should not be insured. 
 
 Cracker Bakeries. Where these are constructed properly they 
 may be taken at full rates. Special attention should be paid to 
 the ovens. Unless these are so constructed that fire cannot 
 possibly ignite any woodwork above them (neither the oven nor 
 its mouth should ever be under wooden beams or wooden struc- 
 tures) the risks should be declined. The accumulation of empty 
 boxes and barrels in proximity to the ovens, with the intention 
 of using them for fuel, is also objectionable, and if shavings are 
 used for fuel (and they frequently are, where a planing-mill is 
 in the neighborhood and they can be purchased cheaply) one 
 per cent should be added to the the rate. Specific amounts of 
 insurance should be written on the stock, on the machinery, 
 tools and fixtures, and on the building. 
 
 Creameries. These have not proved profitable risks. They 
 have about the same hazard as cheese factories and need the 
 
450 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 same inspection and care. Examine as to boiler hazard, co- 
 operative feature, &c. Worth 3^ to PAfc for best. 
 
 Crematories for Garbage. These are usually nuisances and, at 
 obtainable rates, arc unprofitable. Kverv person owning real 
 estate in the vicinity is apt to have an exaggerated idea both of 
 the future value of bis property and the injury to it wrought by 
 the crematory. Even though the wagons for hauling garbage 
 simply pass in front of his premises on the road to the crematory, 
 the average owner realizes that the locality will be unpopular. 
 The grinding, drying, grease hazard, &c, are serious physical 
 hazards. 
 
 Crematories for cremating human bodies ought to be incom- 
 bustible throughout. They are sometimes regarded as nuisances. 
 One was burned recently near Atlanta, Ga., after numerous 
 newspaper protests and efforts on the part of citizens to secure 
 injunctions. 
 
 Creosote Works. Wood Preserving. &c. These are special hazards 
 which should not be insured without the consent of the company 
 first obtained, upon full survey and information as to the par- 
 ticular process, the arrangement for heating creosote, storage of 
 wood, and dry -room, if any. 
 
 Crucible Manufactories. Refer to company with full report be- 
 fore binding. The kiln hazard is serious. 
 
 Currier Shops. These have been unprofitable at obtainable 
 rates. They are frequently dirty, liable to spontaneous com- 
 bustion, of cheap construction, and need to be most carefully 
 inspected. Oil and grease hazard is serious. 
 
 Cutlery Manufactories. These risks ought not to be objection- 
 able if the buildings are well constructed and the management 
 is a careful one. The stock is particularly susceptible to damage 
 by water and heat, and a much higher rate should be secured 
 upon it than on the building and other contents. 
 
 Cycloramas. Panoramas. &c. These are frequently of fancy value. 
 A hole burned in a large painting might result in a claim for a 
 large loss. As they are moved about from place to place, the}" 
 are seldom installed in any one locality with proper care as to 
 danger from fire, and the electric-light wiring is usually unsafely 
 arranged. They should not be insured except for small amounts, 
 
lloW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 and only then with the approval of the company first obtained. 
 The buildings are undesirable because of a temporary character 
 and unsuitable for anything else. 
 Depots. Refer to company. 
 
 Distilleries. Whiskey. High Wines. Etc. These should be sub- 
 mitted to the company in all cases before binding. The grinding 
 hazards should be inspected with all the intelligence and care- 
 fulness which is necessary in the case of flour-mills. The cooper- 
 shop should, also, have the attention due to its class. The haz- 
 ard of distillation ought not to be serious if the distillery is care- 
 fully constructed and managed. 
 
 Drain and Sewer Pipe Manufactories. The hazard of these risks 
 lies chiefly, of course, in the furnaces and kilns, and special 
 attention should be given to them, the company being advised 
 fully as to construction, care, &c, &c. Many of the buildings 
 are of cheap construction — and cheapness in construction is usu- 
 ally an incident of those classes of risks which show the highest 
 loss ratio. Steam drying and boiler hazards need careful in- 
 spection. 
 
 Driving Park Buildings. Decline. 
 
 Dredges. Refer to company before binding. 
 
 Drug Mills and Wholesale Drug Stores and Stocks. These are 
 unprofitable at ordinary rates. The stocks are peculiarly liable 
 to severe damage. Poisons are liable, through the medium of 
 saturated water, to render the balance of the stock unsalable. 
 It is almost certain to be condemned by boards of health. More- 
 over, fires once started are very rapid ; aided by elevators, lift- 
 ways, dumb waiters and the extremely combustible nature of 
 the stock, they are seldom extinguished until the property is 
 destroyed. Wholesale drug stores and drug mills are bad ex- 
 posures to neighboring buildings, and intervening walls should 
 be of unusual thickness and carried high above the roof to afford 
 proper protection. Sawdust sprinkled on floors is an incident of 
 these risks, and the presence of oils, especially of siccative or 
 drying oils, like linseed, cotton-seed, rape-seed, &c. , makes the 
 sweepings particularly dangerous. It is safe to decline to insure 
 a drug risk where sawdust is used for sprinkling the floors, and 
 where sweepings are not removed from the floor so soon as col- 
 lected ; and receptacles for sweepings should be of metal and 
 
T.S MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 kept on the sidewalk, where their ignition cannot cause a fire. 
 The proprietor of one wholesale drug store told the writer, who 
 remarked favorably upon the storage of the sweepings on the 
 sidewalk, that such sweepings had taken fire more than five 
 times, and that he (the owner) believed if they had been left in 
 the building the store would have been burned to the ground. 
 The drying and drug-grinding hazards are serious and should 
 be carefully reported on. 
 
 Special attention should be given to the oil room. Only sand 
 should be used on floor. This is frequently in the cellar, where 
 the darkness requires the use of artificial light — an objection. 
 
 Special attention should also be given to the packing room, to 
 see that the material for packing is kept in bins or boxes, and 
 that the floor is not so littered with material as to cause the rapid 
 spread of a fire. Refer to company before binding with full re- 
 port as to oils, explosives, ethers, acids, &c, stored. 
 
 Drug Stores. Retail and Perscription. These are good risks at 
 fair rates. Most of the stock is kept in bottles. They are neat 
 and clean as a rule, and the druggist is on hand at all hours of 
 the day and night. The packing ant 1 unpacking room is often 
 carelessly managed, and this should be looked into. Sometimes 
 there is a hazard due to incompetent help. 
 
 Dry Houses. (See page 409.) 
 
 Dry Plates. Photographer's, decline. 
 
 Dry-Rooms. (See page 409.) 
 
 Dwellings. A well built dwelling, with safe flues and careful, 
 
 honest tenant, is the best risk, at an adequate rate, which the 
 agent can secure. At the extremely low rates current in some 
 localities, however, dwellings may be more undesirable than 
 some special hazards. The construction of a dwelling, divided 
 up into various compartments or rooms, not offering, in case of 
 fire, facilities for drafts and currents of air from cellar to roof, 
 so common to warehouse and other risks, not only prevents the 
 rapid spread of a fire, but favors its extinction. The fact, also, 
 that the building is occupied day and night insures the detection 
 of fire and its extinction, and insures also an elimination of a 
 large proportion of the external incendiary hazard. It may 
 safely be assumed that the majority of those who would be 
 vicious enough to set fire to a building would be deterred from 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 459 
 
 doing so by the mere fact that its burning would endanger life; 
 and, of that minority who would be indifferent to such consider- 
 ation, it may safely be assumed that a majority would be deterred 
 from firing a dwelling because of the severe penalty attached to 
 the crime of incendiarism, where life is endangered, by the laws 
 of most of the States. 
 
 It is not unusual for inexperienced persons to recommend a 
 mercantile or other risk to the company as being "just as safe 
 as a dwelling," urging the absence of fires, lights and other 
 features of the risk as reasons why it should be insured even at 
 a lower rate. Such arguments result from inexperience. No 
 risk not constantly occupied can be as safe as one that is so 
 occupied. An old friend of the writer once remarked that a 
 mother's nose was the most reliable automatic fire alarm that he 
 knew of. It is safe to assume that ninety per cent of the fires 
 starting in dwelling houses are detected and extinguished with- 
 out ever being reported to insurance companies. 
 
 In inspecting dwellings the points to be examined for are, first, 
 the flues. These are often very insecurely built from an upper 
 floor, resting on posts or joists, and of a single brick in thick- 
 ness. As buildings settle, cracks open and sparks escape into 
 an unused attic, where all the woodwork and, possibly, a shingle 
 roof are as dry as tinder. Buildings do not settle equally and 
 chimneys crack, at places out of sight, frequently where they 
 pass through the roof. Defective flues figure largely in our 
 causes of fires — so largely, in fact, as to call for the greatest 
 care on the part of agents and inspectors, who should examine 
 the chimneys of buildings from the foundation to the roof. 
 Any one of the larger insurance companies probably loses a thou- 
 sand dollars a day (certainly twenty per cent, of its losses) from 
 defective flues, and would make a fair profit if this one item 
 could be corrected. Taking into account the annual loss of life 
 from this cause, does the fact not warrant stringent building 
 laws from the community viewpoint? Open pipe-holes cause 
 many fires by escaping sparks. They should be provided with 
 close-fitting metal stoppers, when not in use. Hearths should 
 not rest upon wooden beams (see page 89.) Furnaces should 
 be constructed as recommended on page 96. Ashes should not 
 be kept in wooden vessels in the building, or in barrels or wooden 
 boxes in contact with the frame wall outside. Wooden fire- 
 
t60 
 
 MANUFACTOKIKS OK SI'K< IA I. IIAZAKOS. 
 
 hoards are dangen uis in case of falling, burning soot. Kindling 
 wood should not be left in or near stoves to dry for the morning 
 fire. Housekeepers should be cautioned against this very com- 
 mon and dangerous practice, and also as to the use of kerosene 
 for kindling fires. The supply of kerosene — especially if any 
 quantity is kept in a can or barrel — should not be in the same 
 room with a fire, as, in case of a leak, the most serious conse- 
 quences might result. < )il kept in a warm room, as explained 
 on page L57, will evaporate a dangerous vapor, which, will ignite 
 at the fire or upon the approach of a light . Housekeepers should 
 be cautioned, not only as to the filling and trimming of kerosene 
 lamps near a light, hut near afire, also, which is equally dan- 
 gerous. Inquire as to the care of matches, and instruct house- 
 keeper as to their danger if left within the reach of children or 
 of rats and mice. If the building is lighted by gas, the burners, 
 especially in the case of movable brackets near curtains or wood- 
 work, should be provided with glass shades. 
 
 Stove-pipes should never pass out through side walls, win- 
 dows, or through roofs; and where so arranged, as in summer 
 kitchens, the agent should examine carefully to see if they are 
 safely protected by metal or in some other effectual way — they 
 can seldom be made safe. Advise the company fully on this 
 point. 
 
 In case painting is being done, or where the furniture or 
 woodwork is oiled, especially in the case of dwellings finished 
 with hardwood trimmings, the agent should caution the house- 
 keeper as to the danger of rags saturated with linseed oil — they 
 must not be left in the building after use. 
 
 We have been thus explicit on many points, already elsewhere 
 treated of, on account of the custom, on the part of agents, of 
 neglecting the inspection of dwellings. All risks need inspec- 
 tion, and the visit of an intelligent underwriter, even though 
 he may discover no fault in a risk, is valuable, as it may call 
 the attention of owners to the danger of fire, and lead to pre- 
 cautions which will secure immunity from it. (See "Causes of 
 Fires," page 131.) 
 
 Dwellings Unoccupied are poor risks and should be avoided, un- 
 less surrounded by good, occupied dwellings, and in charge of 
 some careful person. Chronic cases of vacancy, especially in 
 
II(»\V TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 461 
 
 isolated or unhealthy locations, are bad risks and should lie re- 
 garded as uninsurable. 
 
 Large dwellings, including so called "palatial residences," 
 are unprofitable at current rates. (See page GO.) The dining- 
 room of a large New York dwelling cost $80,000. It is needless 
 to say that a fire in this one room would be expensive. The 
 rate should approximate an increase over ordinary dwelling rates 
 by 1 4, for each 1 % excess of value over the average. Thus a 
 dwelling 50$ more valuable than the average of its neighbor- 
 hood ought to pay 50 % more rate ; one of double the average 
 value should pay double rate. 
 
 Season. — Summer or Winter dwellings. The rate for this 
 class should be 50$ more than for ordinary country dwellings, 
 and should be still higher where they are exceptionally large 
 and expensive. 
 
 Dye and Print Works. (See Bleacheries.) 
 
 Dynamos. Refer to company before binding. 
 
 Electric Car Stables or Barns. These require examination by 
 experts, and the local board inspector should be consulted. The 
 various hazards of electric wiring would require more space for 
 discussion than can be spared for the purpose. Even if it were 
 possible for an agent to educate himself for the task by studying 
 a printed treatise on the subject of electricity, it would be better 
 for him to rely upon the inspection of an electric-light plant by 
 a specialist, such as is to be found in the local board of most of 
 the important towns of the country. (See National Board Rules. ) 
 (See Page 438 as to insurance of cars.) 
 
 Electric Light and Power Stations. Refer to company before 
 binding. 
 
 Electrotypers. These are generally on upper floors of buildings, 
 and this fact should be taken into account in making the rate; 
 it is generally overlooked. Examine and report fully as to cast- 
 ing floors (these are too often protected only by loose bricks on 
 wooden floors below), metal melting furnaces, method of heat- 
 ing wax pots, wax irons and soldering irons, and the use of 
 benzine. Electrotype plates are undesirable insurance as a rule. 
 
 Elevators. Grain. Decline insurance on buildings. Accept 
 lines on grain contained in them, at short rates. 
 
 Where grain risks are desired by the year, the same rate 
 should be charged as on the building. Decline to insure, by the 
 
462 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 year, in the name of the warehouseman on grain stored in his 
 elevator. Under no circumstances should he be permitted to 
 obtain annual policies, at the current rates, in order to peddle 
 them out to his customers for short terms and at short rates. 
 Insurance is our business, not his. He would thus be enabled 
 to profit at the expense of those underwriters foolish enough to 
 consent to such arrangement. The rules arc not graded 
 for annual policies and are entirely too low, unless we obtain 
 short rates. We prefer risks on the grain in elevators to risks 
 upon the buildings themselves, even at the advance in the rate, 
 of fifty cents, usually called for by the tariff. Grain follows the 
 trade and market and is always to be found in paying localities, 
 but the elevator building remains through all the hazard of a 
 change of trade, and partakes, eventually, of the moral hazard 
 of an unpopular market or undesirable locality. Grain elevators 
 located on the line of railways may thus become liable to a ser- 
 ious moral hazard, in consequence of the building of a new 
 railroad and a change of trade. Examine carefully all bearings, 
 especially those in the upper portion of the building, and report 
 arrangement of separators, oat clippers, screens^ etc. , and gen- 
 eral condition as regards cleanliness, always keeping in mind 
 that the dust hazard is a serious feature of the class. Boiler 
 rooms should be cut off. The use of carbon bisulphide for erad- 
 icating weevils and other insects of late has added another and 
 serious hazard to the class. It is an extremely volatile liquid 
 and the fumes are ignitible and explosive, making it dangerous 
 to use lights until the odor has entirely evaporated. Either 
 steam-jets or sprinklers are desirable fire appliances, especially 
 for higher bearings in head hi >use. If broom corn stored, decline. 
 
 Elevator Car Manufactories. These have the hazards of wood 
 and metal workers and should be inspected the same as railroad 
 car manufactories. 
 
 Enameled Cloth Manufactories. Same as Oil cloth manufactories. 
 
 Engine (Steam) Manufactories. (See Machine Shops.) 
 
 Engine (Fire) Houses. Would seem to be good risks but they 
 burn often when men are away at fires. 
 
 Envelope Manufactories. There are so few of this class that 
 probably ninety-nine agents out of a hundred would have no 
 occasion to consider them. They could be made good risks if 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 463 
 
 managed with care and cleanliness. Paper clippings should be 
 properly stored and handled. Some of the larger risks of the 
 class carry the hazard of printing and paper box factories in 
 addition. 
 
 Excelsior Manufactories. Declined by most companies, and 
 those wbo write them charge a very high rate. The principal 
 hazard is in the manufactured material, which is subject to 
 quick flash fires, like shavings. Confer with company before 
 binding. 
 
 Fair Ground Buildings. Declined by most companies, and high 
 rates are charged by those who accept the class. Confer with 
 company before binding. This class of property is neglected 
 throughout the greater portion of the year and is sometimes 
 burned by incendiaries, who desire to have the fair buildings 
 transferred to another town. At the time of holding fairs the 
 most dangerous processes connected witli gasolene, calcium car- 
 bide, dangerous chemicals, etc., are on exhibition, and the 
 physical hazard at such periods is considerable, not overlooking 
 the great danger from cast-away cigarettes and cigars while 
 still ignited among refuse paper and in out of the way places to 
 cause a fire. The grand stands are particularly undesirable. 
 (See Grand Stands.) 
 
 Farm Risks. We lose money on this class at current rates, and 
 must insist not only on a personal inspection, but full information 
 regarding every risk. Must have in every case a liberal amount 
 of personal property insurance, including live-stock; decline 
 barns, small dwellings and other buildings at a distance from 
 the main group of buildings, also traveling threshing machines 
 and all property where they are stored. Write company for full 
 instructions and policy forms. 
 
 Felt Mills. (See Cotton and Woolen Mills.) 
 
 Fertilizer Manufactories. These are usually "nuisances" and 
 should be referred to the company. Where rendering is done, 
 using waste animal matter and dead animals, the grease and 
 bone grinding hazard predominates, and they are practically un- 
 insurable at obtainable rates. Phosphate mills are better risks of 
 the class, but require great care and intelligent examination to 
 prevent loss. Especially where sulphuric acid is manufactured, 
 saltpeter used, &c. , care should be taken in the storage of sul- 
 
it; I 
 
 UAM I A< TOKIKS OK SI'K( IAI, HAZAKHS. 
 
 phur, coal, &c. Empty saltpeter or nitre bags are especially 
 dangerous, being liable to take fire spontaneously. The salt- 
 peter, therefore, should be stored where its burning would not 
 endanger the risk, and under no circumstances should empty 
 bags be allowed about the premises. Great care is necessary in 
 the construction of the Guy-Lussac tower. (See Acid Works.) 
 
 Under no circumstances should risks be taken on the manu- 
 factured product, unless with an 80 '/o co-insurance clause. 
 < Hherwise, it will be short insured, and only for the amount 
 necessary to cover the burned surface, which would result in a 
 total loss under the policy. The entire surface of a quantity of 
 fertilizer might be burned off without injuring the unconsumed 
 portion. Without the 80$ clause, not less than double rates 
 should be charged. 
 
 File Manufactories. (See Hardware Manufactories.) 
 
 Fire-Arms Manufactories. These have the usual hazards, those 
 of machine-shops, foundries; &c. , and should be inspected with 
 regard to such features, also woodworking of gun-stocks, if 
 any. Where fixed ammunition is loaded, the rules with regard 
 to cartridge manufactories should be observed and a separation 
 from other values insisted upon. 
 
 Fire Engine Houses. (See Engine Houses.) 
 
 Fireworks Manufactories. Decline. 
 
 Fireworks Stocks, fire-crackers and torpedoes only. Increase 
 rate on the building and stocks with which they are kept 
 15 cents per $100 per month being short rates of 75 cents per 
 annum. 
 
 Fixtures and Furniture of Stores. This is desirable insurance. 
 (See form for insuring.) 
 
 Flags and Banners. Stocks of, decline. 
 
 Flax Mills. These have not been profitable risks at obtainable 
 rates. Carelessness as to open lights, and collections of com- 
 bustible fibre or flyings in closed lights or on tops of stovepipes 
 and on steam pipes, spontaneous combustion, &c, have caused 
 many fires. They should not be insured without the consent of 
 the company obtained after full survey and report. 
 
 Flour Mills. These should be referred to the company, after 
 thorough inspection and full report. The class has not been a 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 465 
 
 profitable one. Decline mills equipped with old style mach- 
 inery or located where a full supply of grain cannot be obtained 
 at prices which will enable them to compete with larger mills at 
 great grain centres. 
 
 The fine dust of flour mills is very inflammable, especially 
 that from the ''middlings," which has been known to take fire 
 readily — like gas — from the flame of a candle. For this reason, 
 no open lights should be used. Notice whether the floors are 
 kept cleanly swept, and free from accumulations of rubbish in 
 corners. Many millers, in case of a "choke" in the chutes or 
 elevators, shovel the bran or other material out upon the floor 
 and neglect to remove it. The overflow of oil on flooring, 
 underneath bearings, should be cleaned up daily. Metal 
 drip cups should be provided to catch the falling oil. The 
 smut machine should not be above the lower floor, where it can 
 be easily watched, and flooded with water, in case of fire, and 
 where the smell of fire or of a heated journal will be soonest de- 
 tected. Unless the smut is blown out of the building by the 
 machine, it should be removed daily, and not left in the mill 
 over night, as fires often occur from spontaneous combustion 
 where it is allowed to accumulate. Wooden journals are dan- 
 gerous, if the number of revolutions is over 100 per minute. 
 There is no excuse for them anyway. Decline water power mills 
 where the supply of water is not sufficient to keep the mill in 
 constant operation (unless steam power as an auxiliary is 
 provided. ) In water power mills, the fore-bay should be planked 
 above the highest rise of water, and the water-wheel securely 
 blocked, when the mill is stopped at night or on holidays, to 
 prevent freshets from running the mill while unattended 
 and causing fire from friction. Some advocate letting the 
 runner burrs down to hold the lighter running machinery. The 
 more secure way is to block the wheel. We prefer grist mills 
 doing custom work only, to those flouring grain for the general 
 market — the latter are speculative and liable to losses from 
 fluctuation in prices. Scrutinize values closely. Owing to the 
 large number of chutes, spouts and elevators in flour mills, they 
 usually prove a total loss, in case a fire starts, and this fact 
 should not be lost sight of in making a rate. 
 
 The numerous fires caused by the ignition and explosion of the 
 middlings and other fine dust of flour mills, in consequence of 
 
466 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 carelessness in the use of open lights, call for more than usual 
 care in the inspection of risks, and for warranties in the policy 
 that open lights shall not be permitted. It is not, however, by 
 open lights alone, that such fires may be caused. The same 
 result may be produced by electricity from belts or by the friction 
 of the stones, as where the feed goes off while at work. Being 
 of a flinty, hard rock, they strike fire easily. The "feed" may 
 go off for the want of grain in the hopper or in consequence of 
 an obstruction in the feed-pipe. A spider's web was sufficient 
 to stop it, in one case, and led to a violent explosion in an Eng- 
 lish mill. 
 
 When flour is showered from a sieve, over a gas flame, rapid 
 combustion takes place. The same result follows the contact 
 of flame with many other kinds of combustible dust. In the 
 Pullman palace car works in Detroit, an explosion occurred in 
 one of the chutes for conveying rubbish, shavings, etc., caused 
 by the ignition of the wood-dust, which had — probably for the 
 first time in years — assumed the precise proportions of admix- 
 ture with the air necessary to cause explosion. 
 
 The following are some of the many instances of fires in mills, 
 caused in the manner described. 
 
 Mill of Champion, Adams & Co., Detroit. This mill was 
 running at night, with the proper number of men. The man in 
 charge of that portion of the mill where the fire occurred went 
 into the bin where the middlings were stored, with a lighted globe 
 lamp, for the purpose of shoveling middlings. He placed his 
 lamp on the floor and proceeded with his work, raising clouds 
 of dust which filled the whole of that portion of the mill. The 
 glass globe of the lamp had been broken some time before, 
 and permitted access of the flour dust to the flame. The result 
 was a fire so rapid that the man was severely burned in his un- 
 successful attempts to extinguish it. 
 
 A fire destroyed the mill of Mr. Bertchy, at Milwaukee, and 
 was caused by a candle left burning near a feed spout. 
 
 The burning of the Tradeston Mills, at Glasgow, Scotland, 
 was caused by the ignition of flour-dust by the friction of the 
 stones — the feed having accidently stopped. The stoppage of 
 the feed is less likely to be noticed in a mill of many runs of 
 stone, than in a small mill of only two or three. The Tradeston 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 4G7 
 
 mills were among the largest in Scotland, and the explosion, in 
 the instance mentioned, burst the dust-box. "There were other 
 parts of the mill, where processes were going on, which produced 
 large quantities of combustible dust, and this was the cause of 
 the second and larger explosion, which blew out the gable ends, 
 reduced the mill to ruins, and set the woodwork on fire." — Glas- 
 gow Herald. 
 
 I quote from the report of Professors MacAdam and Rankine 
 as to the above fire as follows. The report states: 
 
 "That the tire inflamed the finely divided dust which was diffused through 
 the air in the exhaust conduits, and then passed on to the exhaust- box." 
 
 "That the sudden combustion of the dust diffused through the air would 
 produce a very high temperature in the gaseous products of the combustion; 
 and this would necessarily be accompanied by a great and sudden increase of 
 pressure and bulk — constituting, in fact, an explosion." 
 
 "We have ascertained, both from the evidence of eye-witnesses, and from 
 printed and published documents, that fire explosions similar in their cause 
 and nature to that at the Tradeston mills, are accidents of ordinary occurrence 
 in flour mills, especially since the introduction of the apparatus called the 
 exhaust.' This fact, however, is little known to the general public, or indeed, 
 to any one except those practically employed in working such mills, though 
 it appears to be better known on the continent than in Great Britain, being 
 mentioned in French and German treatises upon flour mills, but not, to our 
 knowledge, in the standard English books on that subject." 
 
 "Indeed, the readiness with which flame can be transmitted through an at- 
 mosphere of flour dust and air, may be experimentally shown by showering 
 some of the fine dust through a sieve placed a few feet above a gas jet or other 
 flame. The combustion of the dusty atmosphere takes place with explosive 
 rapidity; and. in some respects, resembles the flame traveling along a train of 
 gun-powder or flashing through a mixture of coal-gas and air." 
 
 "The flour dust mainly consists of starch and gluten, accompanied by 
 smaller proportions of gum, sugar and oil. All these substances are composed 
 in greater part of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and when burned they yield 
 carbonic acid and carbonic oxide gases and water vapor. These gases neces- 
 sarily' tend to occupy a greater space than the dust and air which give rise to 
 them, and this extra space demanded by the products of the combustion is 
 much enlarged by the high temperature produced during the burning, and 
 which tends greatly to expand the volume of the gases.' 
 
 " We haz>e determined, by direct experiment, that four-dust diffused through the air 
 contained in a box, and set fire to, explodes with violence, spills up the wood, bursts 
 the sides, and lifts up the box even when ladened with heavy weights. Indeed the 
 mixture of flour-dust and air is destructively explosive, and there can be no 
 doubt that the fire-explosion of the dusty atmosphere in the exhaust box in 
 the Tradeston mills, which was eighteen feet long, nine feet high, and seven 
 feet wide, would shatter the sides and force the accumulated fine dust lying 
 on the shelves and floor out of the box into the atmosphere of the mill." 
 
M;s manufactories ok special hazards. 
 
 The Mascoutah mills in Illinois, were burned. The miller 
 approached the middlings chest for the purpose of jarring the 
 middlings down, and the cloud of dust following the attempt 
 ignited at a small open lamp. 
 
 Schmidt & Co's mill at St. Louis was destroyed in the same 
 manner. 
 
 At Evansville, Ind., a fire occurred in the flour mill of Igle- 
 hart Bros., caused by the ignition of Hour-dust at the middlings 
 chest. 
 
 At Dover, Kentucky, a breakage in one of the floors of the 
 mill resulted in a shower of dust which ignited at the boiler 
 furnaces. 
 
 In this connection it may be well to state that the boiler and 
 furnaces of a flour mill should always be outside of the mill and 
 at the end farthest removed from the flour elevator, as the 
 draft of the furnaces would, naturally, have a tendency to draw 
 in the flour-dust floating through the air. 
 
 A fire and explosion occurred in the Atlantic Mills of Brooklyn, 
 caused by the ignition of flour-dust by an open light. The rope 
 to the return side in the bolting chest broke, and the miller, going 
 with an open light to repair the damage, caused an explosion 
 and fire, and was severely burned while trying to escape. For- 
 tunately a vertical stand-pipe, with hose attached, enabled the 
 employees to extinguish the fire. 
 
 I might add to the above list, but I think that it is sufficiently 
 long to convince agents and millers of the great danger of open 
 lights in a mill, near middlings-chests, feed-spouts, bolts, ex- 
 haust-boxes, or the stones themselves — in fact, anywhere outside 
 of the office. 
 
 A Da vies safety lamp should be used with the glass globe, as 
 the latter is liable to be broken by an accident, at a most inop- 
 portune moment. 
 
 It has, at last, become apparent that companies must insist 
 upon warranties in their policies as to the use of open lights. 
 
 The learned scientist, Dr. Mac Adam, in an interesting paper 
 read by him before the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, argued 
 that flour mills, under some circumstances of carelessness, are 
 almost as dangerous as gunpowder mills. He claimed that in 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 order to produce explosion, as well as fire, it is only necessary 
 that the flour mixture be more or less confined within a given 
 space, and that the fine, impalpable dust he diffused through the 
 air in certain proportions. He advocates 1 he separation of the 
 different processes of flour mills, so that the entire property need 
 not be destroyed by a single accident. 
 
 In entertaining applications for the insurance of flour "mills, 
 therefore, we desire our agents to notice whether both the owner 
 and men employed recognize this danger from open lights. The 
 stubborn skepticism of those claiming to be "practical" men, as 
 to what they are pleased to term "theory," frequently causes 
 losses. I have been thus explicit on this important point and 
 have devoted this much space to the statistics of fires, in the 
 hope that it will enable agents to convince the most skeptical as 
 to the danger from open lights, and, also, as to the danger of 
 permitting smoking in a mill, outside of the office. No reason- 
 able man would decline to learn from the misfortunes of his 
 fellows, and if any mill-owner persists in entertaining doubts on 
 this important subject, it is best to let him insure himself. 
 
 I think President Washburn of the Home was one of the first, 
 if not the first, to call attention to the explosiveness of flour dust 
 in mills. 
 
 Avoid over-taxed mills, i. e., mills which are run beyond 
 their average capacity. They are apt to break down or to burn 
 from friction. 
 
 Grain is sometimes stored so that it covers slow-running 
 journals. This is dangerous. Examine carefully all journals 
 on upper floors and in dark, out of the way places. They 
 should be regularly oiled, and any greasy rags or cotton waste 
 used about them should not be thrown carelessly aside, as is too 
 often the case, thus endangering the mill. Metal receptacles 
 for oily waste should be provided, and regularly emptied every 
 night. 
 
 The over-loading of floors, either with Hour or grain, is 
 liable to cause sagging and throw shafting "out of line," result- 
 ing in friction and heated journals. 
 
 The moral hazard of large flour mills doing a "merchant" 
 business — i. e., grinding to sell on owner's account — is often 
 very serious, owing to the fl ictuations of the market. A loss 
 
470 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 of a small amount in the market price of a barrel of flour may 
 entail a loss of hundreds of dollars per day in the case of mills 
 of large capacity. During seasons when mills are losing money, 
 some owners are not apt to examine, carefully, for heated jour- 
 nals or other dangers, especially if f ully insured; and it is 
 needless to remind an agent that a neglected journal will as 
 surely burn a mill as will the match of an incendiary. 
 
 A neglected wooden journal will soon take fire. It may be 
 seriously questioned if wooden journals are safe under any cir- 
 cumstances, or when running at any rate of speed, as, when not 
 properly oiled, the slowest journals are certain to heat. Wooden 
 journals, also, are generally in the upper stories of mills, where 
 they are more liable to be neglected and more dangerous in case 
 they ignite. 
 
 "Middlings Purifiers." — By this process, which is a simple 
 system of sieves, with exhausts to remove dust, chaff, etc., the 
 "spring" wheats make a better grade of flour than was formerly 
 produced from the best grades of "winter," as well as a larger 
 quantity (16 lbs.) to the barrel. 
 
 The fact that flour is ground coarser, or, technically, "higher" 
 than formerly — the stones not running so close as under the old 
 process — where the aim was to prevent, as far as possible, any 
 flour from passing into the middlings — might be a favorable 
 feature of the physical hazard if the process did not require a 
 greater number of stones to do the work, which may counter- 
 balance it. 
 
 Fire Appliances in Flour Mills. — There can be little question 
 —in view of the rapidity of flour mill fires, and the danger of 
 explosions, rendering ordinary appliances, such as force-pumps 
 and pails of water, almost useless — that steam jets and sprink- 
 lers would be the most efficient of all fire appliances for flour 
 mills, not only on account of the thoroughness with which they 
 extinguish fire, but also on account of the readiness with which 
 they may be applied. In view of the strong suction draft of 
 the exhaust box, a steam jet opening into it would be an 
 admirable precaution, and one which might be provided at 
 little expense. The combustible character of flour-dust would 
 be instantly neutralized by the volume of steam, which would 
 find its way through elevators, chutes, spouts, exhaust boxes 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 471 
 
 and other places, where water could not be applied, and would 
 extinguish a fire in a few moments. 
 
 The precaution of having the valves to steam jets and sprink- 
 lers outside of the rooms in which they are to be used is partic- 
 ularly important in flour mills. 
 
 Grist Mills, or mills doing a custom work only for sur- 
 rounding farmers, with not over four run of stones, and with 
 smut machines not above the first floor, are much better risks 
 than merchant flour mills, as the neighbors and farmers are 
 generally interested in their preservation, and the risks are free 
 from the moral hazard usually connected with the speculative 
 grinding of flour for the market. Submit surveys to company. 
 
 FloorCloth. (See Oil Cloth.) 
 
 Flowers. Artificial. Stocks of. These are very damageable 
 stocks, worse than millinery, and unprofitable to underwriters 
 at obtainable rates. Where they are in honest hands, they are 
 insurable at full rates, but few companies write them. 
 
 Florists* Stocks. Decline. 
 Foods. (See Cereal Foods.) 
 
 Foundries. Submit application to company. The amount in- 
 sured on. patterns should be very small — in no case exceeding 
 fifteen per cent, of policy. They are often entirely valueless 
 before a fire, but are sometimes claimed to be valuable after 
 they have been destroyed. Not over one-half the value claimed 
 for them should be permitted to be insured. Whenever a ma- 
 chine becomes unsalable, the patterns of its various parts become 
 worthless, and a moral hazard attaches to the insurance of them. 
 Very small amounts should be taken on flasks. After a casting, 
 flasks should not be piled up where they may endanger the 
 building in case they should take fire, as they sometimes do, 
 from being overheated or from concealed sparks. 
 
 The roofs or ceilings over casting floors should be high enough 
 to prevent their being endangered, in case of a "boil" or explo- 
 sion of molten metal. Examine carefully the core ovens, and 
 see that old wooden patterns, or other combustible materials, are 
 not piled over them. The cupola chimney should rise, at least, 
 10 feet above the highest point of any roof within a radius of 50 
 feet, and roof should have a clearance around stack by at least 
 
472 M A N U F ACTORI E S OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 3 feet. The pouring floor and charging floor should be built 
 entirely of fireproof material. Where more than the ordinary 
 amount of woodwork is done, carpenter shop rates should be 
 charged, unless in a separate building, where it will not endan- 
 ger the foundry. 
 
 For pattern shop, if more than two men employed and power 
 used, when in main building, or exposing same, an additional 
 rate should be charged. 
 
 Frame R ows and Ranges. (See page 6'5.) 
 
 Fruit Evaporators. Are accepted by few companies, and only 
 at high rates. The principal hazard is, of course, in the heat- 
 ing apparatus. The constant use of heat, as in the case of other 
 risks where drying is done, subjects the woodwork to quick fires, 
 if not spontaneous ignition. Confer with the company before 
 binding, and advise fully as to the heating apparatus storage 
 and care of fuel, etc., etc. 
 
 Fulling Mills. (See Cotton and Woolen Mills.) 
 
 Fur Stocks. A bad class, heavy claims always follow small 
 fires — better decline stocks and get building or furniture and 
 fixtures. 
 
 Furnaces. (See Blast Furnaces. ) 
 
 Furniture Factories. (See Cabinet Factories.) 
 
 Garbage Crematories. Decline. (See Crematories.) 
 
 Gas Works. These are not necessarily dangerous risks when 
 properly constructed. Applications should be referred to the 
 company. The hazard of explosion, except for loss by fire, 
 can not be assumed. 
 
 Gins. (See Cotton Gins.) 
 
 Glass Factories. The principal hazard is in the furnaces and 
 ovens, and, like all classes of risks using fire heat, the wood- 
 work is very ignitible. There should be no woodwork whatever 
 near the furnaces. Where factories use natural gas for fuel, 
 care should be taken to see that the supply of fuel is ample and 
 that its exhaustion would not involve a moral hazard. Advise 
 with company before binding. 
 
 Glove Factories. These seem to have been unprofitable risks to 
 the companies, and stocks are very susceptible to damage by 
 water and smoke. The physical hazard, however, does not seem 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 473 
 
 to warrant the mortality in the class. In safe hands, the risks, 
 when properly managed, ought to he insurable at proper rates. 
 
 Glucose Manufactories. Refer to the company before binding, 
 with full explanation, after, a careful survey. They combine 
 many of the hazards of starch mills, sugar refineries, kiln drying, 
 &c, and full rates are needed. 
 
 Glue Works. These are generally nuisances, and should be de- 
 clined. 
 
 Grand Stands at Race-Tracks, Fair-Grounds, &c, are un- 
 desirable risks and have been unprofitable as a class. Most 
 companies decline them altogether. Underneath the tier of 
 seats may be found quantities of waste paper, thrown away by 
 patrons after candy, luncheons, &c. , have been eaten, only to 
 catch the falling cigarettes or cigar stumps after the crowd have 
 left for the day. Obtainable rates are as a rule inadequate. 
 
 Grain Elevators. (See Elevators.) 
 
 Green Houses. These risks are not desirable, nor are risks on 
 the plants contained in them, which are easily injured, if not 
 killed, by smoke and water, or by the cold air consequent upon 
 the breakage of glass in case a fire occurs in winter. Fires have 
 been caused in green houses, also, by rats carrying combustible 
 material to the vicinity of heating pipes. Plants often have 
 fancy and extravagant values, especially after afire. Modern 
 structures, heated by steam or hot water, with boilers and heaters 
 outside of main building, are written by some companies at full 
 rates, but the company should be conferred with before binding. 
 
 Grist Mills. (See Flour Mills.) 
 
 Groceries. Wholesale. These risks have changed in character 
 seriously of late years. They suggest to the average under- 
 writer the nominal hazard of the old-time risk of sugar in hogs- 
 heads and barrels, flour and molasses in barrels, coffee in bags, 
 tea in chests, &c, &c. whereas the modern wholesale grocery 
 store is practically a compound special hazard, involving the 
 risks of coffee grinding, and sometimes of coffee roasting; of 
 spice grinding, frequently with old-fashioned wooden mills ; of 
 preserving, putting up of extracts, compounding, canning, cold 
 rectifying, and other hazards which make ordinary rates ridic- 
 ulously inadequate. 
 
474 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 The following are the charges to be added to the building rate 
 under the Universal .Mercantile Schedule, and indicate the care 
 requisite for insuring this class : 
 
 
 WHOLESALE GROCERIES OCCUPANCY CHARGES* 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 Contents 
 Rate. 
 
 
 
 
 Cents 
 
 Cents 
 
 1009 
 
 CLASS A. GROCERIES.— WHOLESALE. 
 
 
 
 
 Without manufacturing or any of the additional 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 CLASS V, 
 
 
 
 If bottling wines, liquors, olive oil, blueing, or 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CLASS C. 
 
 
 
 
 If mixing and packing Hour, starch, baking powder, 
 
 
 
 
 cereals or similar substances; 
 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 45 
 
 
 CLASS D. 
 
 
 
 
 If manufacturing flavoring extracts, essences or 
 
 
 
 
 drugs; 
 
 
 
 
 Or if rectifying by cold process only; 
 
 
 
 
 Or if molasses reboiliug or maple syrup mixing; 
 
 
 
 
 Or if coffee milling, polishing, separating, mixing, 
 
 
 
 
 and grinding, with power; 
 
 
 
 
 Or if fruit cleaning with power or dry room, or 
 
 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 50 
 
 
 CLASS E. 
 
 
 
 
 Or if coffee roasting, using only gas fuel standard 
 
 
 
 
 equipment, fire proof floors, metal cooling pans, 
 
 
 
 
 metal troughs, metal conveyors, and metal hoods 
 
 
 
 
 over roasters; 
 
 
 
 
 Or if spice grinding with modern iron frame mills 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 
 CLASS F. 
 
 
 
 
 Tf pnfTpp rnnQtintr ctnnrlnrcl omnnmpnt ncinnr r^tli^r 
 
 11 V^VJIA 1 UaoLlUg, oLilLUlcll v_l <-U 111 Ls 111 'III, Lloi *J III t_ 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 70 
 
 
 CLASS G. 
 
 
 
 
 If spice grinding with wooden frame mills 
 
 T5 
 
 75 
 
 
 CLASS H. 
 
 
 
 
 If coffee roasting, old style equipment, wooden 
 
 
 
 
 floors, wooden cooling troughs, or wooden con- 
 
 
 
 
 
 1.25 
 
 1.10 
 
 
 *Charges are not cumulative. The higher rate in 
 each case includes the less. 
 
 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 475 
 
 It will be observed that the maximum charge for each class 
 is not that fixed for the class in the schedule, which equitably 
 takes into account that each process in the case of the wholesale 
 grocery store is only an incident of the risk and not the entire 
 occupancy of the building. 
 
 Gun Manufactories. (See Fire Arms Manufactories.) 
 
 Halls. With Scenery. Where the ceiling over the stage is higher 
 than that over the auditorium, for the purpose of hoisting and 
 lowering scenery, the rate should be the same as that of a the- 
 atre. (See Theatres.) 
 
 Small, country halls, where a simple raised platform, without 
 traps, and perhaps two side dressing-rooms, comprise the only 
 theatre feature, may be insured at lower rates ; but all others 
 should have a full theatre schedule applied. The woodwork of 
 stage and wings, etc., should be painted with asbestos paint as 
 a fire retardant. It is usually exceedingly dry and liable to ignite 
 and flash into an uncontrollable fire. 
 
 Hardware Manufactories. Examine carefully the japanning 
 process. It should be carried on in a thoroughly fireproof 
 room or, better still, outside of the building. The buffing haz- 
 ard is an important one, the fine polishing dust resulting from 
 the process being peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion. 
 The room should be cut off from the main structure, and the 
 dust should be blown out of the building through metal spouts 
 or chutes. The working of celluloid for handles is a feature of 
 modern cutlery factories, which is, of course, a serious one, and 
 the company would want full advice. Where much woodwork 
 is done, as for handles of tools, &c. , the rate should be graded 
 accordingly and the risk inspected with reference to the hazard 
 of woodworking. 
 
 Hardware. Stocks of. Few classes of hazards are more inade- 
 quately rated than these. They damage easily by fire and water. 
 The burning of paper wrappers only on shelves, even where the 
 fire is extinguished, is apt to injure the contents by taking the 
 temper out of steel and by discoloring handles, &c. The sale of 
 kerosene, alcohol, turpentine, benzine and paints is frequently 
 carried on in connection with these stores and adds very much 
 to the hazard, especially where the handling of such dangerous 
 fluids is entrusted to clerks not acquainted with their danger. 
 
4?6 
 
 MANl" KA ( T< >i; I ES OK SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 The average retail druggisl km >ws bow to handle these materials, 
 and this is one reason why the percentage of loss to premium in 
 the case of retail drug stores is less than that of hardware stores. 
 
 Hat Factories. Thesi mbine many hazards — drying, bleach- 
 ing, felting, &c, &c. They should be referred to the company, 
 and sometimes need the careful inspection given to cotton and 
 woolen mills. The wool felt factories carry with them the haz- 
 ards of woolen mills and should be inspected for the same risks 
 as that class; the hazard of the picker and card room being 
 greater than that of most woolen mills, because of the low grade 
 of stock used and the necessary flyings in the card room, this 
 portion of the risk being usually very dirty. Fur felt hat fac- 
 tories do not involve all of these hazards, the chief being the 
 di ving and heating of slug irons. In straw hat factories the 
 hazards are, of course, bleaching, drying and pressing. 
 
 Hay in Stacks. Decline, unless close to the barnyard. Isolated 
 hay cocks in meadows and on prairies are uninsurable. A creep- 
 ing grass fire set by careless gunners, or by sparks from loco- 
 motives, will burn up enough of these in a year to prevent their 
 being profitable at any obtainable rates. 
 
 Hay Presses or Barns. These should not be insured without the 
 consent of the company first obtained. They are usually by the 
 side of railroad tracks, great carelessness is observable as to loose 
 hay and straw about the doorways, and they are not always 
 commercial successes. They are especially dangerous when run 
 by steam power, with the usual arrangement of boiler-room, &c. 
 
 Hemp and Jute Mills. These should be declined as a rule. 
 Under no circumstances should they be taken without the con- 
 sent of the company first obtained. They have been a losing 
 class, and always will be until the owners take precautions 
 which they are deterred from taking, as a rule, because of the 
 expense of safe construction. 
 
 The principal hazard is in the necessarily large amount of 
 waste in the working of the material, some of the processes 
 being very dirty; jute particularly is subject to spontaneous ig- 
 nition when damp. 
 
 Henneries. With incubators, refer to company before binding. 
 
 Hominy Mills. These are undesirable at obtainable rates. They 
 are usually cheaply constructed and careless in management. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 Hop Houses. Do not bind without consent of company. 
 Standard: brick; metal roofs; floors of stone, brick or earth — 
 never wood. First floor at least 12 feet high. Hop kiln joists 
 12 feet above heating pipes. Pipes riveted at each joint, or 
 wired with continuous wire, fastened around pipe at each joint ; 
 and must enter good brick flues — never pass out of side wall, 
 window or roof. Vessel in which brimstone is burned should 
 be covered with perforated iron. Pipes and stoves should be 
 dusted off thoroughly after each drying. No open lights. No 
 kerosene. Baling done by daylight only. Barrels of water 
 and pails. Constant watch during drying season. Stationarj- 
 ladder attached to side and roof of kiln. If wooden kiln, line 
 the sides with metal; and heating pipes must be at least 24 
 inches from wall. Front wall around heater must be brick, or 
 protected by space not less than ten inches, and lined with metal. 
 
 Basis Rates. B Class C Class D Class 
 
 Brick, Brick, Frame. 
 
 Metal Roof. Shingle Roof. 
 
 Hop kilns, without drying privilege 1.50 1.80 2.00 
 
 Hops, in storage house or cooling room 1.50 1.80 2.00 
 
 But not less, in any case, than the building rate, if building 
 rates are higher than above. 
 
 Hops while contained in kilns, or in buildings exposed by 
 drying, must be written at above basis rate for hops with the 
 following additional charge for drying privilege: 
 
 Class B, $1.70 Class C, $2.00 Class D, $2.50 
 
 This charge for drying covers one season only, and no de- 
 duction is to be made for shortness of term. 
 
 Any building provided with apparatus for drying hops must 
 be written for a term not exceeding one year and be rated as a 
 hop kiln. 
 
 Hop kiln should be at least 100 feet from storage or cooling 
 warehouses. 
 
 Hops in Bales. These were regarded for years as good stocks 
 to insure, and there is no inherent tire hazard to justify the 
 heavy loss ratio, which is due rather to the fact that when a fire 
 once starts the hops are easily injured by smoke and water, as 
 well as by fire, and claims, where owners are not conscientious, 
 are so excessive as to make it safe to decline the risks. Hops 
 in bales in disinterested custody, stored in warehouses, not 
 those of the owner himself, are insurable at proper rates — not 
 less than 1 °/> in any case. 
 
 Horse Cars in Horse Car Stables. These are usually insured 
 under a blanket form which insures total loss to the insurance 
 companies and a low rate to the car companies. Where insured, 
 
478 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 the policy should have the 80$ co-insurance clause attached. 
 (See page 438.) 
 
 Hosiery Mills. (See Woolen Mills.) 
 
 Hospitals. Decline those exclusively for contagious diseases, 
 pest houses, etc., especially where their presence will be object- 
 ionable to neighbors. As I write the destruction of one by a 
 mob at South Omaha illustrates the danger. It was a small- 
 pox hospital. Neighbors naturally objected and it was totally 
 dest n yed. 
 
 Hotels. A hotel with the laundry and kitchen outside, or in a 
 fire-resisting room, heated by steam, ought to be a profitable 
 risk at ordinary rates, and would be were it not for the fact that 
 the guests are not always of a careful character, and intoxicated 
 parties are liable to be careless with lights, cigars and fires. The 
 laundry should be completely cut off from the hotel building, 
 and the kitchen should lie safely arranged. Most hotels, how- 
 ever, are fire-traps, and the annual mortality of the class is so 
 great that if the facts were known to travelers they would be 
 appalled as to the risks they run. Probably few underwriters 
 take the trouble to inspect hotels while traveling for their com- 
 panies. They might well do so, in their own interest as well as 
 in the interest of their companies and of the community. Every 
 cause of fire removed tends to cut down the fire loss. Two of the 
 most frequent causes of fires are almost universally overlooked, 
 viz. , the proximity of window curtains to open fire-places and to 
 gas jets, where a current of air coming through the open win- 
 dow would blow the curtain inevitably either into the gas jet or 
 the fire. Sawdust spittoons are commonly used, and a lighted 
 cigar thrown into one of these late at night is almost certain to 
 escape the attention of sleepy employees. 
 
 There is no reason why a hotel, with its cellular construction, 
 so to speak, of divided rooms, like bulkheads, and its compara- 
 tively harmless processes, should not be among the safest of risks, 
 with reasonably slow-burning construction, which would not be 
 expensive. They are safe risks in every country except our own. 
 
 Season Hotels, Seaside Resorts, Summer Hotels, Sanit- 
 ariums. These as a class have not been profitable, except 
 where the greatest intelligence has been observed in noting 
 the question of whether or not they are commercial successes. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 47!) 
 
 Where they have become unprofitable for any reason, losing 
 their trade, especially in the case of health resorts, they should 
 be declined. They are usually constructed in the cheapest man- 
 ner, ordinarily of frame, with a si mile staircase, which would 
 cut off the escape of the inmates and prevent any intelligent 
 effort at extinction in the early stages of a fire. 
 
 Hotel Furniture. Few classes of property are more liable to 
 depreciation from wear and tear than hotel furniture. Second- 
 hand, partly worn out hotel furniture will not sell for twenty- 
 five per cent, of its original cost, and if stored and not in use 
 should be regarded as uninsurable above this percentage of 
 original value. A serious moral hazard is often involved. 
 
 HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 In view of the number of fires occurring, almost daily, throughout the 
 United States, in buildings occupied as hotels, resulting, in only too many 
 instances, in loss of life, it would seem clearly to be the duty of everyone 
 possessed of knowledge, no matter how acquired, as to ways and means of 
 preventing fires, to give the benefit of that knowledge to the public, and 
 particularly to those about to erect hotels. With this conception of duty. 
 I have prepared the following pages. They are the result of careful study 
 of the fires occurring in hotels throughout the past twenty years — not only 
 those insured by my own company (themselves not few in number), but 
 those which have occurred, whether insured or not, from Maine to California. 
 
 Not content with my own theories and investigations, I have taken the 
 precaution to send the proof of these pages to various experts of my acquain- 
 tance — underwriters, adjusters, architects, builders, and to hotel prop rietors 
 themselves, with request for a careful revision and suggestions, holding 
 that everybody knows more than anybody. Having taken such pains to 
 secure a consensus of judgment, I present the result to those who may be 
 interested, without diffidence, because I can claim they are not my own ideas 
 merely ; and that those who contemplate erecting structures which are to 
 shelter, during the night hours of greatest danger, their fellow-beings who 
 will be helpless because unconscious, will do well to study and follow the 
 advice presented. Certain considerations are of such vital importance that 
 it would be almost sufficient to name them merely, without argument or 
 explanation, were it not that much of the detail necessary to carry them 
 out would not be understood by those owners who have not practical 
 knowledge of construction. 
 
 Unfortunately, those who build hotels seem to lose sight of the fact that 
 there is a happy medium between a fireproof hotel and a tinderbox of frame, 
 and that this medium :an be reached by a slight advance in the cost of 
 building, as compared with what might be termed rapid-burning construction 
 as opposed to slow-burning construction. One great secret of securing the 
 
ISO 
 
 MANUFACTORIES Oil SPICCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 latter is the simple one of cutting off air drafts in the hollow spaces of 
 partitions and enclosing walls which run from story to story and not only 
 f tcilitate the spread of the fire, but contribute to its intensity ; and the further 
 important point of providing suitable exits for the inmates, especially by 
 enclosing the staircases either with fireproof walls of brick, or of burnt clay 
 blocks in T and angle-iron frames, orb}- filling in solidly between the wooden 
 studs of combustible enclosing walls with ordinary brick and mortar. Even 
 this last economical form of construction would probably hold a staircase for 
 safe exit of all the inmates. 
 
 It is with this view of the importance of the subject that I have prepared 
 the following piges (which have also been printed in pamphlet form, for the 
 use of those who contemplate erecting hotels), in order that when applied to 
 for information the Insurance Agent can offer his patrons valuable informa- 
 tion, which will save not only money but life. 
 
 I have combined with the points as to construction some practical sug- 
 gestions with regard to arrangement of rooms and other matters which I 
 have secured after conference with hotel men and other experts, and after 
 careful personal observation, for many years past, while traveling from one 
 city to another. Some directions (as to flues, for example) are repetitions 
 of previous ones in this book, but are inserted here in order that one studying 
 the subject will find all under one head. 
 
 HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 Construction. Fire resisting construction* for hotels in- 
 volves considerations so simple that they should occur 
 naturally to any thoughtful person. The most important 
 of these is the prevention of air drafts which would draw 
 flame from one story to another. Almost the earliest 
 practical lesson learned in life in connection with fire is 
 that combustion is accelerated by a good draft, jind that 
 fire, for want of a draft, will burn slowly, if, indeed, it does 
 not expire, as it certainly will if deprived of oxygen, even 
 to the extent that a closed room of small dimensions has 
 been known to suffocate an ordinary flame. But the child, 
 who learns to open the drafts of a stove, both in the stove- 
 pipe and at the bottom of the stove, seems to forget, in 
 maturer years, the danger of having such drafts in the 
 building in which he lives and sleeps as are afforded by 
 staircase shafts, elevator shafts and the hollow spaces in 
 the partitions and outer or enclosing walls. The dimen- 
 sions of each upright flue between the studs of a partition 
 
 * To those wishing to build fireproof hotels, a pamphlet on " How to 
 Build Fireproof " will be sent upon application. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 481 
 
 are often greater in square inches than the throat capacity 
 of the chimney of the house, and fhime getting access to 
 such air passages in improperly constructed buildings 
 will go more rapidly from cellar to roof than through a 
 chimney to find an exit. 
 
 I, therefore, dwell first upon the importance of cutting 
 off all communications from story to story, of whatever 
 character, as the most important step to be taken to insure 
 slow combustion, rapid extinction and the confinement of 
 a fire to its floor of origin. The maximum of safety and 
 the minimum of danger would be secured if the only 
 passageways, staircases, elevators, etc., for getting from 
 one story to another were entirely outside of the building. 
 This, of course, is not always practicable, but it is entirel}' 
 practicable, and ought to be a provision of every building 
 law, that all communications from story to story should be 
 in a separate enclosure tower of brick walls, with fireproof 
 doors at the openings ; and in buildings of larger ground 
 floor area than five thousand square feet there should be at 
 least two such systems of staircases, one at each end of the 
 structure. In these separate enclosures, or brick towers, 
 the staircases, elevators, dumb-waiters, risers for water 
 pipes, gas pipes, &c, &c, should be carried, and especially 
 the stand-pipes for supplying water for the extinction of 
 fires, so that the latter, with outlets for hose near the 
 stairways, could be used to the last moment by firemen or 
 by the employes of the hotel. They can be built flush 
 with the outer walls, so as not to interfere with archi- 
 tectural effects. Revolving doors, glazed with wire glass, 
 would prevent passage of smoke. 
 
 The inmates could escape by means of stairways so 
 enclosed, without danger of being burned. Stone stairs or 
 iron stairs with stone treads without an iron web beneath 
 the stone are dangerous, as they crumble if exposed to fire. 
 
 These enclosed hallways should be lighted throughout 
 by whale or lard oil lamps firmly attached to brackets, at 
 a sufficient height (seven feet) from the floor to prevent 
 their being knocked off by hurrying persons, (or in a pocket 
 
IS2 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OK SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 in the brick wall, in which the lamp could be placed, with 
 light metal frame door and red glass in same, with small 
 vent holes in frame for ventilation. This should be kept 
 locked to prevent removal of the lamp), so that in case the 
 gas or electric light should be cut off by a fire, as electric- 
 light and gas systems nearly always are, these avenues of 
 escape would not be darkened. 
 
 Oil lamps, with red glass, should be displa}'ed where 
 they can be seen throughout their entire length, to indicate 
 the doors to the staircases. In fact, all hallways of a hotel 
 should be lighted with whale or lard oil lamps or candles 
 by night, the lamps being so arranged as to illuminate 
 plainly printed directions to the staircases. Gasolene 
 must not be used, and kerosene is objectionable. 
 
 Lamps should be so secured that they cannot easily be 
 taken to rooms for heating curling irons. 
 
 Hotel halls should be straight and without turns, so that 
 the line of vision is clear from one end to the other, thus 
 facilitating the escape of guests in the event of fire. 
 
 I regard these suggestions as among the most important 
 for the safety of life, and I am confident they would be 
 so pronounced by every practical fire department chief 
 throughout the country. 
 
 FRAME OR WOODEN HOTELS. 
 
 It is not alwaj's practicable, especially in some locations, 
 to build expensive brick or stone hotels, and frame build- 
 ings are a necessity. The average man, however, who is 
 not an expert in construction, assumes that a frame build- 
 ing cannot be made slow burning. This is a great mistake 
 and an unfortunate one, for such a conclusion usually 
 results in a fire-trap, when a few dollars of expense in 
 directions which would add to the life of the structure 
 might secure the escape of the inmates and possibly result 
 in the extinction of the fire and the saving of the building. 
 
 An ordinary frame building may be made to burn slowly 
 by attention to suggestions already made as to cutting off 
 drafts. At every story the space between the floor beams 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 483 
 
 and the upright studs, both in partitions and in the 
 enclosing walls, should be filled with brides and mortar 
 or gravel and lime mortar, care being taken not to enclose 
 wooden beams in cement or plaster of Paris, as it will 
 cause dry rot. Lime mortar protects wood. The filling 
 in of partitions and side walls should be to the top of the 
 "mop boards' 1 or baseboards. A fire getting into these 
 upright wooden flues, filled in this way, would not go 
 rapidly from story to story. In most frame hotels there 
 are thousands of well-developed flues of this character. 
 One of the finest wooden hotels in the South, built by an 
 owner who had no need to economize and probably did not 
 desire to, was constructed without fire stops, the elevator 
 shafts being actually sheathed or lined throughout with 
 pitch pine. As the hotel is seven stories high in places 
 and thousands of feet long, the danger of spread of fire 
 may be imagined. 
 
 At each story, therefore, where stud walls or partitions 
 rest on walls or other partitions, the spaces between the 
 floor- joists immediately under such walls and partitions, 
 and between the sides of such joists, and to a line six inches 
 above the top of such joists, should be filled solid or flush, 
 with face of plastering on both sides, with bricks laid in 
 mortar; and if such studs or partitions rest on solid timber 
 or joists for the whole length thereof, such fillings should 
 be placed from the top of such joists to the same height as 
 above specified, or a strip of tin or galvanized iron at least 
 one inch wider than the width of said studding, and con- 
 tinuing under the footing of such walls or partitions, may 
 be substituted for the filling above described where there 
 is no partition or wall under. 25 cents per $100 or $2.50 
 per $1000 of insurance should be added to the insurance 
 rate for omission of this precaution. The cost per 100 
 running feet of three story wall would be less than $100, 
 and this would be saved in time in the insurance rate, to 
 say nothing of life. 
 
 The building law of New York requires that in all furred 
 walls the course of brick above the under side and below 
 
484 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OK SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 the top of each tier of floor-beams shall project the thick- 
 ness of the furring, more effectually to prevent the spread 
 of fire. 
 
 FIRE STOPS IN FLOORS AND PARTITIONS. 
 
 A cheap fire stop could be constructed of ordinary slush 
 mortar, filled in between the studs solidly to the top of the 
 mop-boards. (Lime mortar will not rot wood, in this 
 respect being unlike cement or plaster of Paris, which 
 should not be in contact with wood.) Broken glass mixed 
 with this mortar will prevent the passage of rats and mice, 
 or cheap, fine meshed, galvanized, wire netting may be 
 inserted to answer the same purpose. If "back plastering" 
 is used, so as to provide two air spaces between the inner 
 plastering and the outer sheathing, the hotel will be cooler 
 in summer and warmer in winter. 
 
 Even where the hollow spaces are not filled in with brick 
 between the upright studs, a heavy "plate" at each story 
 over the studs below for carrying the studs above will 
 delay the spread of a fire for a while, and where the studs 
 are securely fastened to the plate, being tenoned or toe- 
 nailed to them, very sturdy construction is secured. 
 
 A wooden building constructed in this manner, with all 
 air-passages cut off, with metallic lathing for the ceilings, 
 and salamander, asbestos, or other fireproof material 
 between the floors, will resist a fire much longer than 
 ordinary brick or stone buildings in which such simple and 
 inexpensive, but most important, precautions are omitted. 
 It will not cost much to construct a building in such a way 
 that ample time would be secured for the escape of the 
 inmates even if a fire should start in the night, and it is 
 
HOW" TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 485 
 
 almost criminal to erect buildings for the habitation of 
 human beings on modern fire trap principles. 
 
 Take, for instance, the simple precaution of throwing a 
 few shovelfuls of ordinary lime mortar into the hollow 
 spaces at the feet of ordinary "fore-and-aft" partitions, 
 such as those which divide rooms from hallways ; it would 
 seem that a conscientious builder, even if he were not paid 
 under his contract for taking this precaution, would not 
 neglect it. If at every floor he should let his workmen cast 
 in the broken bits of brick, loose mortar and incombustible 
 material which he afterward carts away at an expense, he 
 would make a partition almost as fireproof as if filled in 
 with brick from top to bottom, it being borne in mind that 
 the danger of an ordinary partition lies, not in the fact 
 that it is not filled in solidly with brick, or that it has an 
 air space, but that this air-space extends from one story 
 to another, creating a flue for a araft. This matter is 
 more fully explained by the accompanying illustration. 
 
 Fire Divisions. Where a frame hotel is a necessity, it 
 should be cut up into sections not longer than 100 feet 
 each, and the ends of the sections racing each other should 
 be of brick, separated, if possible, by a space of fifty feet or 
 more. A fireproof, connecting bridge way on the first floor 
 will secure the convenience of one structure. The end 
 brick or stone walls should be carried above the roof and 
 beyond the line of rear aad front walls, so as to prove a 
 sufficient barrier to the spread of fire from one division or 
 section to another. Fire shutters provided to the windows 
 in the ends which expose each other would be an admirable 
 precaution, but I presume would be regarded as an expen- 
 sive feature. Wire glass in metal frames would answer 
 the purpose. 
 
 Roof. Avoid mansard roofs, they are fire traps. Shingle 
 roofs to porticoes and piazzas under bed room windows, 
 are apt to be ignited by castaway cigars and cigarettes. 
 
 Revolving Doors. A revolving fireproof door, glazed with 
 wire glass, in the hall opening through walls dividing large 
 hotels into sections, would be an admirable precaution, 
 
48(5 
 
 MANUKACTOUIKS OK SPECIAL H A Z A lilts. 
 
 and preferable to an iron or tin-covered wood door, for 
 the reason that escaping inmates could see through it and 
 nse it without leaving it open. 
 
 Floors. Wooden floors should be double, one course 
 being laid diagonally crossway of the other. "Salamander" 
 (a fire retard ant constructed of heavy strawboard covered 
 with fireproof cement, both sides, so that it is like a piece 
 of slate) or sheet tin, or sheet iron, or asbestos between 
 floors would tend to retard the passage of fire. The floors 
 should be deafened in any case, for the comfort of inma tes, 
 to prevent the annoyance of noises passing from one story 
 to another. Tin's should be done by deafening boards on 
 cleats nailed to the beams, with lime mortar or concrete 
 laid on the deafening boards, and an airspace between the 
 top of the deafening and the floor boards above. This 
 would give two air spaces between the plastered ceiling 
 of the room below and the floors of the room above, and 
 would also be a partial fire stop. 
 
 In frame hotels the staircases should be protected in 
 brick towers, even if no other brick is used in the building, 
 and the ventilating shafts should be of burnt clay blocks 
 in "Tee" or angle iron framework, if the owner cannot 
 afford to construct of brick. There should be nothing 
 whatever of a combustible character in any shaft going 
 from floor to floor, as already stated. 
 
 Kitchen. The kitchen, as the greatest source of fire, 
 should be cut off from the main structure. Where the 
 owner cannot do this, even solid double planking between 
 the kitchen and the hotel may hold a fire sufficiently for 
 the escape of the inmates, as compared with a hollow wall 
 of the usual kind. It would cost little to put a brick or 
 stone wall between the kitchen and the main structure, 
 with tin-covered door and frame with iron or stone sill, 
 and this should be done. 
 
 Laundry. This should be cut off, also, as it is unnecessary 
 to have it so situated as to burn the hotel by its numerous 
 fires in dry-room, ironing-room, &c. It can at small 
 expense, especially where land is cheap, be located where 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 487 
 
 it would burn without endangering the main structure. 
 A cheap fireproof dry room can be made of sheet or corru- 
 gated iron on angle and Tee iron frame. For further 
 suggestions as to laundry, see page 496. 
 
 Staircases. These ought to be enclosed with brick walls. 
 The next best is with T and angle iron framing and 4-inch 
 burnt 'clay blocks, plastered on both sides. If the owner 
 cannot afford to do this, he would do well to use double 
 planking for the enclosure, especially if covered with tin, 
 so as lo prevent the rapid Hashing of fire. 
 
 Elevator Shafts. These should be enclosed in brick or terra 
 cotta, in the same manner as suggested for staircases. 
 
 The suggestions as to the construction of chimneys and 
 fireplaces elsewhere stated, as to the kitchen, dining-room, 
 laundry, slop closets, toilet-rooms, fire appliances, and 
 especially the simple and cheap but effective pails of water, 
 all apply to frame hotels. To the extent that an owner 
 feels he can afford to go in recognizing some of the other 
 suggestions made hereafter under the head of brick and 
 fireproof hotels, he must, of course, be the judge. 
 
 The following description of " The Mount Washington," 
 
 a frame hotel located at Carroll, N. H., will show how 
 
 thorough^ practicable it is to erect a wooden building on 
 
 slow-burning lines which will probably insure the escape 
 
 of the inmates in case of fire : 
 
 " The ouilding is substantial frame, covered with Portland cement 
 on expanded metal on a first-story of stone. Roofed with an approved 
 felt roofing. "Plates" form tire stops at each floor, in addition to 
 which spaces behind mop-boards (6 inches high) are filled in with 
 concrete, and joists are filled in above all girders with concrete flush 
 with floor, forming stops in all horizontal spaces. Finish is hard 
 plaster on metal lathing. All concealed spaces between studding and 
 joists, including both sides of first layer of floor boards, were painted 
 with approved fire retarding paint (asbestine) before applying finish. 
 Interior finish generally painted with similar paint or oil paint, under- 
 laid with fire-retarding paint. Elevators in fireproof shaft of metal 
 and hard plaster, with standard fire doors. Several good cut-off doors 
 in each corridor above first. Heat, steam from outside. Light, incan- 
 descent electric from outside. To have hydrants outside supplied from 
 reservoir on mountain at about 70 lbs. pressure through large mains. 
 Standpipes and small hose throughout. Grinnell automatic sprinklers 
 in all hazardous portions, including entire kitchen, entire basement, 
 elevators, porters' rooms, coat rooms and upper corridors. Laundry 
 is in separate building. Drilled fire department of employes Ample 
 
INS 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 fire escapes.- Watchman and watch-clock. All woodwork, exposed or 
 otherwise, is protected by approved lire retardants of the best grade, 
 and concrete stops are used freely to prevent any joist spaces from 
 acting as flues to convey fire." 
 
 BRICK OR STONE NON-FIREPROOF HOTELS. 
 
 It is safe to say that the majority of brick and stone 
 hotels, whose enclosing walls suggest to the inmates con- 
 ditions of safety, if not of fireproof construction, are simply 
 fire-traps of the worst description, like the Windsor Hotel 
 of New York ; infinitely less safe than the slow-burning, 
 frame construction alread^v explained. Their brick or 
 stone walls simply envelop cheap frame interiors, with 
 hollow spaces between plaster furring and the outer wall 
 and between the lath and plaster stud partitions separating 
 the rooms, which would literally breathe fire from cellar 
 to roof. 
 
 Outer Enclosing Walls. The best masonry for fire resisting 
 purposes is good, hard burned brick. Stone is not so safe, 
 especially limestone, granite, marble, etc. It is certain to 
 disintegrate under the combined effect of fire and water, 
 and should not be employed even for templates on which 
 to rest the ends of beams in the brick wall ; cast-iron 
 templates should be used for this purpose. 
 
 Roof. If the hotel is not of fireproof construction, a metal 
 roof of tin is better than slate or composition. Slates are 
 apt to crack with the heat and open up drafts. Moreover, 
 they involve a pitched roof, which implies an empty roof 
 space — always objectionable from a fire viewpoint. If the 
 building, however, is fireproof the roof should be in 
 keeping with the best methods of fireproof construction, 
 and any cheaper construction will be shortsighted and 
 inconsistent. 
 
 Mansard roofs are decidedly objectionable. Their con- 
 struction favors rapid burning ; even where the framework 
 is of T and angle iron it is not usually protected, and the 
 heat of a fire will cause an early collapse of the roof. A 
 mansard roof has been aptly described by an experienced 
 fire chief as a lumber-yard on top of a building. Where 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 489 
 
 hotel fires get into the hollow spaces of a roof, they are 
 seldom extinguished short of total destruction. 
 
 Plaster Corners. These should be avoided if possible, but 
 where unavoidable should be protected by wooden corner 
 guards, to keep the plaster from being knocked off by 
 moving trunks or furniture. 
 
 Elevator Shafts should be of fireproof material. Brick is 
 best for enclosing walls. Under no circumstances should 
 they be sheathed with wood, or with plaster on wooden 
 lathing; and the slide guides from top to bottom of the 
 shaft for the elevator car should be of iron ; they are 
 usually of wood, which becomes soaked with oil and the 
 medium of rapid ascent of fire. It is quite common in 
 hotels to sheath these shafts with yellow or pitch pine, 
 of the most ignitible character. Such was the lining of 
 the shaft in the Park Avenue Hotel, in whose disastrous 
 fire twenty lives were lost in February, 1902. This building 
 was in many respects one of the best fireproof hotels in the 
 country, having brick segmental arches in the floors. It 
 had, however, strangely enough, elevator shafts sheathed 
 with pitch pine ; one of the upper staircnses was of wood, 
 and some of the partitions of rooms were of ordinary 
 wooden lath and plaster. If the inmates had remained in 
 their rooms, however, they would probably have saved 
 their lives. They sought exit through the hallways and 
 were suffocated with smoke while trying to escape. 
 
 It may be mentioned here that few people are burned 
 to death in fires; fortunately the gases and smoke of com- 
 bustion suffocate them before they experience the torture 
 of being burned. If the unfortunates in this instance had 
 shut their doors and windows, the fire department would 
 have extinguished the fire and rescued them. 
 
 The insurance rate increase for wooden sheathing in 
 elevator shafts is 25 cents per $100, ($2.50 per 1000), a 
 lifelong tax. 
 
 The great loss of life in the Windsor Hotel fire, of March 
 17, 1899, was due to the fact that the fire spread rapidly 
 from top to bottom of the hotel because the windows on 
 
L90 
 
 M ANUFACTOKIKS OK SPKCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 every floor of the building were open, to enable the inmates 
 to see a procession which was passing at the time, present- 
 ing the condition of a stove with the lower and upper 
 dampers open. 
 
 In view of the fact that elevator shafts act as chimneys, 
 furnishing a strong draft to drive lire from the lower floors 
 to the upper stories, they should have nothing ignitible 
 in them. Where iron grillwork is used, wire glass should 
 be provided behind the grill, and any sash doors should be 
 of wire glass. 
 
 In the New Willard Hotel, in Washington, the doors to 
 the elevators are glazed from the top of the door to within 
 about three feet of the floor, which enables the operator 
 to see those waiting at landings. 
 
 A brick staircase tower built flush with the outer wall is 
 not unsightly, and one such at each end of the structure 
 would probably afford safe egress for all of the inmates. 
 If the entrance to this tower is arranged at each floor from 
 an outside iron balcony, it will prevent the tower from 
 becoming rilled with smoke. 
 
 It is, I think, a mistake to have staircases surround 
 elevator shafts, practically in the same opening, where 
 ascending smoke and gases would suffocate escaping 
 guests. They should be separated. 
 
 Lamp closets, oil closets and waste closets should not be 
 near the elevators, for obvious reasons, as a fire starting in 
 them would rapidly spread through the shaft. 
 
 An inexpensive elevator shaft, which will hold a fire for 
 a considerable time, is one built of porous terra cotta 
 blocks, using 6 inch blocks for the lower story and topping 
 out with 4-inch ; wire lath and plaster both sides ; Tee and 
 angle iron frame; no constructional work should enter 
 this at any floor. 
 
 The bottom of the elevator shaft should be cemented 
 and so constructed as to prevent the accumulation of 
 rubbish, waste paper, &c. It is not unusual to find 
 shavings, rubbish, oily waste and other dangerous material 
 at the bottom of elevator shafts. They should be watched 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 491 
 
 carefully and kept clean. All elevator shafts should 
 extend six feet above the roof. 
 
 Ventilating Shafts. It is, of course, necessary in hotels to 
 have ventilating shafts especially on lines of bath rooms 
 and toilet-rooms. These shafts should always be thorough- 
 ly fireproof, without any woodwork whatever in them. 
 They are too frequently, like elevator shafts, sheathed 
 with wood or finished in plaster on wooden lath. The 
 windows opening on them from bath-rooms should be of 
 metal sash, with wire glass, and care should be taken that 
 nothing to start a fire is allowed near the bottom of the 
 shaft. If the owner is not willing to go to the expense of 
 brick or fireproof terra cotta block construction for these 
 shafts (and he ought not to assume the care of his fellow- 
 beings by night and day unless he is), metallic lathing, of 
 the wire netting kind, should be used, as it is a valuable 
 fire retardant. 
 
 Wire Lathing. Plaster on wire lathing will prove more 
 economical than wooden lathing, as the latter results in 
 cracked ceilings, owing to the fact that the wooden laths 
 are often nailed too close together and sufficient plaster 
 is not pushed through the interstices to "clinch" or "key " 
 and make a good job. There can be little cheating by the 
 plasterer if wire lathing is used ; sufficient plaster must be 
 pushed through to get a good "clinch" on the back of the 
 wire netting. The result is a job which lasts longer and 
 resists fire and water sometimes for hours. While the 
 initial cost of metallic lathing is somewhat greater than 
 for wooden lathing, it will prove the more economical in 
 the end, if the building should last for say ten years. I 
 do not like expanded metal lath as well as wire lathing. 
 
 Chimneys, Flues, Etc. A correspondent writes me as follows : 
 
 " In adjusting a loss by lightning on a large new frame school build- 
 ing, I found the chimney demolished. It was built from the ground, 
 extended inside the studding up one end of the building to the end 
 joist of the second floor; here the flue builder dropped out two inches 
 to pass the 2" x VI" joist by setting a few courses of brick on edge flat 
 against this joist, enlarging the flue to its usual size from top of the 
 joist to the next floor, and so on ; in other words, the front of the 
 chimney was carried up even, so when complete it was a brick chimney 
 
492 MANUFACTORIES Oil SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 with a 2" x 12 " pine joist running through it at the top of each story. 
 Fortunately the stroke of lightning saved a fire, which must inevitably 
 have occurred, and probably saved the lives of many innocent school 
 children. At last accounts this contractor who built the job was still 
 at large, but he ought not to be" — 
 
 in which conclusion I agree with him. 
 
 Flues should never be surrounded with less than eight 
 inches of good brickwork, laid in cement. A further pre- 
 caution would be to line them with tubing of cast iron or 
 burnt clay; but a 4 inch or "half brick" fine lined with 
 burnt clay is not so good as one surrounded by 8 inches 
 of brick, for the reason that it is seldom faithfully con- 
 structed. The interior capacity of a flue, especially for a 
 fireplace burning wood, which is not always dry, should 
 be not less than eight inches by twelve. It should be 
 carried well above the roof, and in the case of a shingle 
 roof, well above the peak, and the flashing around the 
 chimney should be of copper or other metal, secure!}' 
 cemented into the groove or joint in the brickwork for a 
 height of at least 8 inches above the roof, and lap over 
 the flashing below, which should extend up 7£ inches 
 above the roof, but the lap should not be within one inch 
 of the roof. (Note. — This to prevent ascent of water by 
 capillar}' attraction.) Where shoulders occur in a roof, 
 tending to lodge snow, crickets or pitch roofs should be 
 made to slide snow beyond the chimney and prevent its 
 piling up behind it. 
 
 The chimneys, should be carried straight up from the 
 ground and not drawn to one side to reach convenient 
 opening places on upper floors. Above the roof black 
 cement mortar should be used, and all smoke-flues should 
 be carefully watched while being built, from the bottom 
 of the flue or from the throat of each fireplace continuously 
 to the extreme height of the flue. Some contractors save 
 brick without regard to possible loss of life. The ends of 
 the lining- pipe should fit close together, and the pipe 
 should be built in as the flue or flues are carried up. All 
 flues for fireplaces should be of a capacity 8" x 12", and 
 the furnace and range-flues should also be 8" x 12" inside 
 capacity. Vitrified drain pipe makes good flue lining. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 493 
 
 All flues which are not lined should have struck joints ; 
 no parging or plastering should be allowed on the inside 
 of any flue. All flues should be lined, however. 
 
 A builder of long experience and practical ideas* writes 
 
 me as follows : 
 
 " I dislike a stone cap on the top of a chimney. If you wish a down 
 draft and a smoky room put on a broad margin stone «ap and you will 
 get it every time. I run every flue lining say four inches above my top 
 course of brick ; batter back one-half inch each course until I get to 
 full size of chimney, and parge off the top course to within one inch 
 of the top of lining with best Portland cement. Here is a top that as 
 the wind strikes it creates a vacuum in the flue ; the sharper the top 
 of the chimney the better the draft." 
 
 I think his suggestion a good one, as the effect of the 
 wind from any direction on such a chimney top is to help 
 the draft, not to interfere with it. 
 
 It is claimed by the same gentleman that an 8"x 12" flue 
 
 will draw better than a circular flue. He writes me : 
 
 " I keep a space of one inch between the lining and brickwork, for 
 the reason that the brickwork will settle, while the lining does not ; at 
 the joints of each 2 // length of lining I corbel out a brick to just bite 
 the lining at the centre of the joint, ; I also plaster the chimney inside 
 to full height and outside to roof cover." 
 
 Fireplaces. The back of all fireplaces should be inclined 
 toward the front, beginning six courses of brick from the 
 floor of the hearth, as per drawings (see diagram, page 89), 
 to secure a good draft, and the fireplaces should be lined 
 with firebrick, laid with close-rubbed joints (or with cast- 
 iron fireplacedining, as per design and pattern specified, 
 if cast iron is preferred). The front opening of all fire- 
 places should be supported by two iron bars £"x2", 9 inches 
 longer than the width of the opening, and should be fitted 
 with automatic ash-dump grate. 
 
 It will also be observed in the illustration (page 89) that a 
 level shelf appears in the flue above the fireplace opening. 
 Descending currents of air and smoke strike this shelf, 
 rebound, and return up the chimney without puffing out 
 into the room. It is possible, and sometimes necessary, 
 to have a cast-iron plate resting on this shelf, so that it can 
 be drawn forward as occasion may require, to contract the 
 throat of the flue, the capacity of which, as already stated, 
 
 * Mr. J. C. Hosmkr of Boston. 
 
494 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 should correspond somewhat with the size of the fireplace 
 opening, to the extent of having an area about one-tenth 
 or one eleventh of the latter. 
 
 The Murdock Grate Company's throat damper, which 
 has a flange in front for support of opening, and is worked 
 by a drop lever easily with a poker, is an admirable 
 arrangement. 
 
 No chimney should be enlarged where it passes the roof 
 to form any overhang or projection over the roof. 
 
 The chimney walls from the cellar to first floor may be 
 carried up to form ash pits, securely inclosed with brick- 
 work, these to have 12" x 10" iron doors, with frame, in 
 cellar, to be built in during construction. 
 
 Chimneys must be built from ground. No chimney should be 
 started or built upon any floor or beam of wood, and in no 
 case should a chimney be corbeled out more than 8 inches 
 from the wall, and in all cases the corbeling should consist 
 of at least five courses of brick.* 
 
 All hearths should be constructed with trimmer arches 
 extending 20 inches from the chimney-breast to a "skew 
 back " or wedge-shaped piece of wood spiked to the header- 
 beam, and the top of the arch should be filled with 2 inches 
 of concrete to the top of finish floor. The header-beam 
 should be double tenoned into the trimmer-beams and oak 
 pinned. Stirrup iron construction is apt to cause cracks 
 in plastered ceiling, because of difference in shrinkage of 
 header and trimmer-beams ; and there should be no wooden 
 lath or furring on the chimney-breast. 
 
 It will be observed in the illustration, (page 89), that 
 the trimmer-arch abuts upon a wooden skew back or wedge 
 of wood securely spiked to the header-beam. The skew 
 back is in turn supported by a fillet of wood spiked to the 
 beam. This is necessary to secure a proper arch. If the 
 f outing of the arch comes squarely against the wooden 
 header-beam the shrinkage of the latter will in time release 
 the arch and allow it to fall. It is however, unfortunately 
 the practice not only to omit this skew back, but to omit 
 
 * This is a provision of the New York building law, and it ought not 
 to l»e deviated from in any case. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 495 
 
 the trimmer arch altogether, and to support the hearth 
 directly upon the floor-joists. This is a most dangerous 
 construction, and a lire is only a question of time. It seems 
 incomprehensible that an honest builder having any decent 
 
 TRIMMER BEAM 
 
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 TRIMMER 
 
 FIRE PLACE SHOWING HEADER, TRIMMER AND TAIL BEAMS. 
 
 regard for safety to life would build in this way; and yet 
 fires from this cause are frequent. In one case coming 
 under my observation serious damage was done to a hand- 
 some dwelling, where the builder had not only constructed 
 the hearth in this way, but had actually swept the wooden 
 shavings from the floors into the hollow spaces under the 
 hearth. But for the fact that the fire w;is extinguished 
 in time to discover this evidence of criminal indifference 
 to human life, the guilt of this builder, who was no better 
 than a would be murderer, would never have been known. 
 The writer cannot too earnestly urge the importance of 
 watching the construction of chimneys, hearths, etc. It 
 involves small expense, but important consequences. 
 
400 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 English tile 8 inches square and 2 inches thick forms a 
 good hearth, but is more expensive than the concrete. 
 
 Laundry. The laundry, unless in a thoroughly fireproof 
 room, should, in all cases, be outside of the building, where 
 its burning would not expose the hotel. In any case, the 
 dry-room should not have any woodwork about it. The 
 usual construction, even in the best hotels, is a network of 
 steam pipes on the floor, above which the clothes are hung, 
 shoved in and out on movable racks. Wood continuously 
 subjected to heat becomes so ignitible that it has been 
 suspected of spontaneous ignition. At any rate, a garment 
 falling upon the steam pipes below, or a match or name 
 touching the dry woodwork, would cause immediate-com- 
 bustion. Steam pipes should be protected with wire 
 netting to prevent their getting in contact with fallen 
 garments from the racks. To cover wooden or plastered 
 ceiling above, or the side walls, with sheet iron is not a 
 sufficient protection, although if the metal were kept far 
 enough away from the woodwork to leave an air space 
 behind it, the woodwork would probably not be ignited. 
 Most people make the mistake of nailing metal shields to 
 protect woodwork tightly to the woodwork itself. It 
 should always be kept away from wood, as iron is a con- 
 ductor of heat, and air is not. A space of even half an 
 inch would tend to safety. Sheet tin is much better for this 
 purpose than sheet iron, because of its reflecting qualities. 
 
 The laundry building should be not over one story high, 
 provided with a monitor skylight for ventilation and light- 
 ing purposes. A steu m jet is an admirable fire-extinguish- 
 ing precaution for the dry-room, and fire pails filled with 
 water should be liberally provided. 
 
 The floor of the laundry should be concrete with cement 
 surface, mixed one part cement to three of sand. It would 
 be well to float the floor to a drain with bell trap in the 
 center of the room. If irons are heated by electricity, 
 National Board rules should be followed. 
 
 Kitchen. This should be outside of the main structure, 
 unless thoroughly fireproof. Care should be taken to see 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 497 
 
 that the bake oven is not near woodwork of any kind. 
 Instances have been known where wooden posts have been 
 ignited through 20 inches of brickwork surrounding boilers 
 and ovens. The kitchen should be of liberal size. Any 
 experienced Chef will emphasize the importance of this 
 suggestion. The vegetable bakery, the butcher shop and 
 the pot-cleaning rooms should be separate, cut off by fire- 
 proof doors (" Underwriters'' tin-covered wood pattern), 
 with iron or stone sills. It is quite common to neglect 
 this latter precaution as to sills. 
 
 It would be well also to have the entire floor of the 
 kitchen of concrete or cement, or of brick or tile. 
 
 Range. The range should not rest on wooden beams or 
 flooring and should have a hearth projecting not less than 
 3 feet in front of the same and of the full width of the 
 range, of best quality of rubbed slate, 3 inches thick (or 
 stone or encaustic tile laid in a proper manner). 
 
 The range should have a ventilating-flue by the side of 
 the smoke-flue not less than 8 inches square, in addition to 
 the smoke flue, which should be not less than 8" x 12", 
 lined with tile. The range must not be set next a strut 
 lath and plaster partition. 
 
 Dining Room. This should have a high ceiling, to secure 
 ventilation without drafts, with windows in the " clere" 
 story and be on cool side of house. The best arrangement 
 of this kind I have seen is that of the Royal Poinciana. 
 
 Where a high ceiling cannot be provided, making it 
 necessary to open the lower windows to secure ventilation, 
 the simple precaution of opening them from the top about 
 half an inch all around the room would prevent complaints 
 of drafts and keep the air of the room in proper condition. 
 When one person complains of the heat of a room, the 
 average waiter will usually pull down windows for a foot 
 or more, insuring immediate and justifiable complaints 
 from others. If the windows were opened slightly from 
 the top before meals, they would not be noticed and a 
 rational adjustment of the matter would secure exemption 
 from complaint. 
 
498 MANUFACTORIES OK SPKCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Bath-Rooms. These need not be large, although they are 
 more comfortable if roomy. All bath-rooms and toilet- 
 rooms should Jiave windows to outer air. Ventilating 
 shafts are not so safe for health. The bath-rooms of the 
 New Willard Hotel, at Washington, are 5 feet by 8 feet 2 
 inches. A marble wainscot four feet high is an admirable 
 feature ; the floor being finished in a, sort of concrete with 
 marble chippings, rubbed to a smooth hard finish, is an 
 economical flooring and quire as good as one of mosaic 
 made with cement and square marble cubes. The bath-tub 
 in this hotel was 28 inches wide by 4 feet 9 inches long and 
 21 inches high above the floor, including the claw feet. 
 An admirable feature of this bath-room was a small round 
 stool, 13 inches in diameter, of wood stained to represent 
 cherry, and 17^ inches high — very convenient for dressing. 
 
 The smallest bath room I ever saw was in the Hotel 
 Cambridge, New York, being only 4 feet 7 inches wide 
 by 6 feet.l inch long, as per plan herewith. The bath-tub 
 occupied the entire length, with the toilet and wash stand 
 opposite each other, the door opening between them. This 
 small bath-room, (see plan), which is a very comfortable 
 one notwithstanding its size, is an evidence of what may 
 be done in hotels, the owners of which claim that bath- 
 rooms are impracticable for want of space. Bath rooms 
 have grown to be such necessities, to say nothing of com- 
 fort, in the estimation of the traveling public, that they 
 should be provided and at a reasonable charge. The latest 
 Astor Hotel in New York has four hundred bath rooms 
 to six hundred bed-rooms. One bath-room to two bed- 
 rooms is a better proportion. 
 
 An admirable arrangement of bath room and closets is 
 that of the Waldorf-Astoria, diagram herewith. This bath- 
 room and the arrangement of the New Willard, with closets 
 both sides, would commend themselves without elaboration. 
 
 Bath-rooms should be provided with small mirrors, 
 22x18. In the Royal Poinciana mirrors of this size are 
 made of common pine painted with enamel white paint, 
 with a small shelf and towel rack connected. They are a 
 most convenient feature. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 499 
 
 
 
 
 
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 DIAGRAM OF THE CAMBRIDGE, 
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 THIRTY THIRD STREET 
 
 WALDORF-ASTORIA, 
 
 Fifth Avenue, New York. 
 Fourth Floor— Showing rooms and arrangement of bath-rooms and closets. 
 
500 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 An important feature of a hotel bath-room which should 
 never be omitted is a waterproof floor, of concrete or asphalt, 
 so graded that in case the bath-tub overflows the water 
 will run to an ordinary pipe, inch and a quarter in 
 diameter, passing through the wall to the outside of the 
 building and connecting with a metal leader or projecting 
 sufficiently beyond the wall to prevent staining it. The 
 leader should not connect with the drain or sewer on 
 account of sewer gas. It can open on the ground, as it 
 would seldom run water. Such a leader would save the 
 wall from being stained. An elaborately frescoed ceiling 
 in the dining-room of the Waldorf-Astoria, New York, 
 was ruined in this way, and I have seen enough cases 
 of injury to ceilings of hotels from this cause to enforce 
 the wisdom and economy of 1 h is simple and inexpensive 
 precaution. The waste and overflow pipe of the tub should 
 be large enough to carry off water of both faucets, taking 
 into account velocity of flow or pressure, not less than 
 1^ inch in any case. 
 
 There should be a number of hooks in the bath room, on 
 the back of the door and at other points, as a convenience 
 for hanging clothes, towels, etc. The best towel rack is a 
 nickel-plated rod. 
 
 All bath and toilet rooms should have outside windows 
 with stained or ground glass. They need not be large. 
 
 Water Closets. In ordering these specify the pattern by 
 name, as manufacturers do not put their name on "seconds," 
 cracked or imperfect closets. 
 
 Closets. These should be liberal in size, lighted if possi- 
 ble by an electric light, which can be arranged to shut or 
 switch off by closing of door, and with shelves five feet 
 above the floor, and hooks below the shelves. It is always 
 a wise economy to take enough space from the bed rooms 
 to give liberal closets. 
 
 Windows. A storm-proof window, especially for northern 
 exposures, is made by having the sash grooved to fit a 
 tongue in the frame. The Waldorf-Astoria windows are 
 built in this way. In some cases the tongue is on the sill 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 501 
 
 and the groove in the bottom of the window sash ; but a 
 tongue and groove around the entire window is better 
 still and makes a noiseless and storm-proof window. If 
 windows are not grooved, anti-rattling catches should be 
 provided. Window chains are cheaper than cords. 
 
 Windows should have low sills and large panes; and a 
 better wall space for arranging furniture is secured by 
 putting two windows close together, instead of separating 
 them by a pier or wall space. 
 
 Avoid French windows, i. e., the kind that open like 
 doors. They are always inconvenient. 
 
 All windows should be provided with double curtains or 
 shades, one of green and the other of brown holland, and 
 they should always be provided with outside blinds. If 
 fly or mosquito screens are needed they should be of 
 "cop bronze," which is rustless. The outside blinds 
 should be of one piece, and not double, for convenience and 
 economy. They should be kept in good order and. should 
 not be stuck together with paint. Painters are usually 
 careless on this point, resulting in the slats being broken 
 in attempts to open them. 
 
 Outside blinds, however, are not convenient in cities 
 and are liable to be neglected and torn off by wind, and 
 inside or Venetian shutters are more convenient. 
 
 Doors. Double doors to communications between bed- 
 rooms en suite are especially important, particularly in the 
 case of bath-rooms. The locks should not be opposite 
 each other where double doors are provided. The panels 
 should not be less than f inch thick. Double doors are 
 necessary to prevent annoyance from loud talking and to 
 exclude the odors of tobacco smoke. Keyless double bolt 
 locks to doors should be provided. 
 
 Electric Wiring. This should be in accordance with the 
 rules of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, which 
 may be procured from any of the local insurance men. 
 
 Chandeliers should not hang within 6 feet 4 inches of 
 the floor. An economical lighting of rooms where elec- 
 tricity is available may be secured by clusters of three light 
 
MAN UFACTOKIKS OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 bulbs in the middle of the ceiling. This saves the cost of 
 a chandelier and gives a better diffused light. In the 
 ladies' writing room of the Royal Poiticiana, at Palm Beach, 
 three clusters of five bulbs each, light the room admirably, 
 and it is a large one. 
 
 Slop Closets. These should have an outer window, and 
 should not be iti communication with toilet rooms. In 
 some cases they are incorporated with the toilet rooms, 
 with partitions not running to the ceiling, which is deci 
 dedly objectionable. They should not be receptacles for 
 waste paper and rubbish, which should, in all cases, be 
 carried immediately out of the building, where its burning 
 would not endanger the structure. Slop closets should 
 not be under staircases or near elevators, for the reason 
 that they are too often receptacles for waste paper, rubbish, 
 oily waste and other fire breeders. All sweepings are 
 dangerous. A fire occurred under the main stairway of a 
 hotel in which the writer was a guest, caused by a cigarette 
 thrown carelessly through the door, which ignited the 
 waste paper kept in a barrel. Slop closets should have 
 sash doors, with ground wire glass, so that any fire starting 
 in them would be detected quickly ; and they should be 
 kept locked. They should be of large and convenient size, 
 and they should contain receptacles for soiled sheets and 
 linen. 
 
 Transoms. These should be one foot high and of dark 
 green glass, or else covered with green holland, to keep the 
 light of the halls from illuminating bed-rooms, to the 
 annoyance of guests, and hinged on the lower side so as to 
 open upward and prevent direct drafts over the beds. If 
 the doors were metal covered and the transoms "wire 
 glass" the conditions would be ideal. 
 
 Music Room. Ball Room, with Stage. &c. This should be out- 
 side the main building, or underneath rooms allowed for 
 bachelors or others who do not object to noise. In the 
 case of the Royal Palm, at Miami, Florida, this room is 
 outside of the main structure. Unless the music room is 
 separated from the main structure, there should be rigid 
 rules as to playing pianos after 11 o'clock P. M. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 503 
 
 Smoking Room. To some persons tobacco smoke is poison. 
 To all who do not smoke it is disagreeable ; and even to 
 those who do, too much smoke, especially a mixture of 
 bad cigars with good ones, is anything but comfortable. 
 At any rate, there is no reason why even a minority should 
 not be considered by having a proper amount of space in 
 the reading rooms, parlors and piazzas reserved for their 
 comfort. In most hotels they are utterly ignored. The 
 smoking-room should be ventilated by a 3-foot pipe carried 
 to the roof. This would keep the room comfortable for 
 those who smoke as well as for those who do not. In 
 too many cases the smoking-room is so arranged that the 
 smoke goes through all of the bed-rooms by natural drafts 
 through the halls. 
 
 Boot and Shoe Boxes. A convenient feature of the Waldorf- 
 Astoria, which I have not seen elsewhere, is a box in which 
 shoes are left at night, to be cleaned and blacked. It is 
 arranged in the closet and opens on the hall, with a door 
 having a pane of glass, through which the porter can see 
 shoes left for cleaning, unlocking it from the hallway. 
 The halls are thus kept clear of the slovenly appearance 
 of various kinds of footwear left in plain sight through 
 a large portion of the evening. 
 
 Writing Desks. These should be provided in rooms. They 
 may be made cheaply of stained wood or cherry, or white 
 pine painted with white enamel paint. They should be 
 substantial, not shaky. They are a great convenience, and 
 save money in the labor of carrying ink, pens, &c, to the 
 rooms, and, moreover, save staining of table cloths and 
 carpets, inevitable where they are not provided and where 
 ink is carried to rooms. In the writing room, separate 
 desks should be provided, as well as one large writing 
 table. Most people object to sitting near other persons 
 while writing letters. 
 
 Steam Risers. These if incorporated in the wall should 
 be protected with non conducting material to prevent their 
 heating intermediate rooms through which they pass, 
 whose occupants may not want the steam turned on. 
 There should be a separate line of risers for different floors. 
 
504 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OH SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Piazzas. These usually spoil the bed-rooms nearest them, 
 because of the noise and conversations carried on by those 
 guests who stay up late at night. An admirable arrange- 
 ment at the Hotel Royal Palm, at Miami, Fia., (see plan 
 herewith), is to have them arranged about twenty feet from 
 the main building, with a roof protecting them, the space 
 between the piazzas and the main building, containing bed- 
 rooms, &c, being utilized for shrubs, palms, etc. Where 
 they are next to dining-rooms there is not so much objec- 
 tion, but they darken a dining-room, and even in such case 
 it is better to have them separate. 
 
 One end of a piazza should be reserved where smoking 
 is not allowed. 
 
 The balusters can be protected from having the paint 
 worn off if a foot rest of 2 inch galvanized iron pipe is 
 arranged in front of them. Otherwise they will soon 
 become disfigured and unsightly. This pipe is a feature 
 of the Royal Poinciana and Breakers Hotels, at Palm 
 Beach. 
 
 Boiler Room. It is important that this should be kept 
 clean. Under no circumstances should fuel, especially 
 bituminous coal, be piled against the brickwork of the 
 boiler, and all kindling material should be kept a safe 
 distance from the furnace mouth. 
 
 Baggage Room. This should have rubber floor, unless 
 arranged under the office, where the noise of moving 
 baggage would not disturb sleepers. 
 
 FIREPROOF HOTELS. 
 
 These, of course, are not to be found, as a rule, outside 
 of large cities. The building law of New York requires 
 that all hotels over 35 feet, or three stories in height, 
 should be fireproof, and the law should be universal. The 
 construction should be that recommended on pages 106-111. 
 More explicit directions as to fireproof construction, have 
 been published by me in pamphlet form. 
 
 At this point I wish to emphasize that in no class of 
 hazards is it more important to avoid stone treads of 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 505 
 
508 
 
 MANUFACTOKIKS Oli SPifiClAL HAZARDS. 
 
 marble or slate for staircases, unless beneath the stone is 
 an iron support, which will insure a good footing after the 
 stone has disintegrated, as already explained on page 91. 
 
 Fire-Resisting Floors. The best floor is one of iron beams, 
 spaced not overlive feet on centres, with brick segmental 
 arches. Next to brick for such segmental arches in relia 
 bility is burnt clay or terra cotta. 
 
 It is my opinion — but there are many who entertain a 
 different one — that the old-fashioned brick segmental arch 
 is the most reliable for resisting fire ; that next to this in 
 safety stands the porous, terra cotta arch, with end con- 
 struction, i. e., t lie blocks or separate pieces placed end to 
 end between the beams, instead of side by side in what is 
 known as "side construction." This is said to be stronger 
 than side construction. It is claimed by many experts 
 that porous terra cotta is a better non conductor than brick 
 on account of its interior air spaces. The arch should not 
 be less than four inches thick at the crown, having a rise 
 of at least 1^ inches to each foot of span between the beams, 
 and there should be a covering of good Portland cement 
 and gravel concrete over this to ensure a waterproof floor. 
 Cinder filling will burn — crushed slag from blast furnaces 
 is better, but the Portland cement concrete should not be 
 omitted for waterproofing purposes. Concrete arches, 
 however, while not equal to brick, terra cotta or burnt clay 
 arches, are economical floors, and are practically safe 
 enough for the bed-room floors of hotels. 
 
 There are many patent floor arches for filling between 
 I-beams which have great merit when properly put in, 
 but I doubt if any of them is equal to brick or burnt 
 clay, and it should always be borne in mind that when 
 employed they should be constructed with the same care 
 with which they are prepared for tests. This is almost 
 equally true, however, as regards brick and burnt clay 
 arches. There is less likelihood of poor installation work, 
 however, with arches of brick or porous terra cotta or 
 burnt clay. Arches should be laid in cement, not lime 
 mortar. They should not be laid in freezing weather, and 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 507 
 
 where concrete is used the broken stone or gravel should 
 be carefully washed and the cement should be of the best 
 quality. Some of the better qualities of patent floors are 
 the following : Fawcett, G-uastavino, R;ipp (which should 
 be segmental arch form — not flat), Columbian, Metropolitan, 
 Roebling, Manhattan or Expanded Metal, etc. These floors 
 are fully illustrated in most of the text books on construc- 
 tion. In all of them, I repeat, the spacing of beams should 
 not exceed five feet. 
 
 If the building is to be throughout of fireproof construc- 
 tion, the roof to conform should be constructed of brick or 
 tile, the roof beams being of iron and, where tanks are 
 supported, of sufficient strength to carry many times the 
 actual probable weight of the water and the containing 
 tank itself. If possible the roof tank should start on a 
 corner of a brick building or straddle a party wall. 
 
 Slate roofs, on very high buildings, especially on street 
 fronts, are objectionable as, in case of fire, the slates crack 
 and, falling to the street, injure the firemen. A fiat roof 
 of brick-tile is better than any other. All slate should be 
 laid in elastic cement. 
 
 All water on roofs from rain or melting snow should 
 be drained from the front or sides to leaders, so as to avoid 
 drip points, from which icicles could form. Too little 
 attention is paid to the great danger of injury to pedes- 
 trians from falling snow or icicles on high buildings. This 
 may not be a suggestion strictly germane to this article, 
 but it is a matter so often overlooked as to warrant its 
 being referred to in a treatise intended to deal more or less 
 thoroughly with the subject of fireproof buildings. 
 
 CAUSES OF FIRES IN HOTELS. 
 
 The numerous fires in hotels are caused, in many cases, 
 by drunken guests, who are careless with cigarettes, cigars, 
 matches, &c, especially in toilet rooms, where loose paper 
 either on floor or in wooden boxes on the floor should not 
 be allowed. 25 cents per $100 extra should be charged for 
 this fault in the insurance rate. 
 
508 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OK SPKCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 By rubbish in cellars, at the foot of elevator shafts, 
 under piazzas which are raised from the ground, often 
 with open lattice work, or under platforms near the 
 entrances, with open finish, thro ugh the open cracks of 
 which lighted cigarettes or cigars find easy lodgment, to 
 ignite rubbish below — a common fault. 
 
 By matches kept in drawers of bureaus, ignited by 
 opening and closing of drawers and breaking out into fire 
 long after careless persons have left the room. Only 
 "safety" matches, igniting on specially prepared surfaces, 
 should be used in hotels. 
 
 Steam Pipes, put in insecurely and not arranged with 
 guards to keep them away from woodwork. 
 
 Electric-light Wiring. Not properly installed. 
 
 By incendiaries, who find many opportunities of setting 
 fire to rooms for purposes of robbery. 
 
 By carelessness of women using curling irons. 
 
 Lace and muslin curtains blowing into fireplaces or gas- 
 lights — a frequent cause of fires, especially in bed-rooms. 
 Curtains are liable to be ignited by careless guests using 
 matches. 
 
 As I write a fire occurs in the Herald Square Hotel in 
 New York in this way. 
 
 A fire in the Hotel Imperial of New York, October, 1902, 
 caused by curtains blown into an alcohol lump for heating 
 curling irons, emphasizes both causes. Fortunately the 
 building is fireproof and the damage was only $500. 
 
 By spontaneous combustion in waste closets. 
 
 By fires starting in repair rooms where old furniture is 
 mended, glued, upholstered, &c. In one of the largest 
 frame hotels in California I found the room for repairing 
 old furniture on the top floor of the building where its 
 burning would have involved the whole property. 
 
 In oil and lamp rooms, which should always be outside 
 of the main structure. No gasolene should be used about 
 a hotel ! 
 
 By swinging gas-brackets swinging against woodwork 
 or curtains. 
 
HOW TO BUILD A HOTEL. 
 
 509 
 
 Open fireplaces unprovided with wire netting fenders 
 covering the opening — very important ! 
 
 Sawdust Spittoons. These are prolific causes of fires from 
 cast off cigarettes or cigar stumps. They should not be 
 allowed in hotels, and are often found in bar-rooms and 
 toilet-rooms. 
 
 Kitchen Fires. These occur from bake ovens, boiling over 
 of fat used for frying doughnuts, &c, &c, or from piling 
 firewood near the ovens or ranges. 
 
 "A hotel man tells the following in regard to hotel fires : Whenever 
 you hear of a hotel fire whose origin is a mystery, it is safe to attribute 
 it to tiie cause I will give. The best cooking lard is the fat that is 
 fried out of the fat part of beef. In restaurants and hotels it is put 
 into a caldron during the day and set on the range over night. A 
 light tire is usually kept in the range to save the trouble of starting it 
 in the morning. During the night it may happen that an unusual 
 draught is created by a high wind. The fire blazes up, the caldron 
 begins to boil and the fat is in the flame. Next it is in the pot, and 
 then follows an explosion, scattering the blazing grease in every 
 direction. Result — a fire of mysterious origin, which destroys the 
 building and all of its contents." — From the Boston Advertiser. 
 
 FIRE APPLIANCES. 
 
 Every hotel should have a stand pipe not less than three 
 inches in diameter, (four inch pipe is better), with outlets 
 for hose every hundred feet and if possible near a staircase, 
 so that the hose can be used until the last moment. There 
 should be fifty feet of hose at each outlet, and the valve 
 should be a lever valve, opening by pulling it from the 
 wall, so that it can be pulled only in one direction. Few 
 persons understand handling a wheel valve, especially in 
 the excitement attending a fire. Automatic hose-reels 
 which open the valve when the hose is unwound are best. 
 
 Fire pails, painted red, with round bottoms, arranged 
 on a shelf with holes to fit the round bottoms (which 
 insures their not being carried off to use for other pur- 
 poses), should be provided at the rate of six filled pails 
 for every 50 running feet of hallway. They are admirable 
 fire-extinguishing appliances, superior to all others, because 
 anyone knows how to use them. 
 
 Axes and crowbars should be provided every hundred 
 feet. 
 
510 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OK SPICCIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Iii iire department towns there should be a special 
 building signal with alarm boxes in halls on each floor 
 connected with the nearest street box of the city tire 
 department, to insure prompt arrival of firemen. A liberal 
 supply of fire escapes should be provided and the ladders 
 leading from those on the exterior of the building should 
 be between windows and not opposite them. This precau- 
 tion is generally overlooked and a tire on any floor is apt 
 to interfere with passing down the fire escapes. Fire 
 gongs, which may be sounded from the office, should be in 
 the halls on each floor, or better still in each room, to 
 arouse guests in case of danger. 
 
 Watch-clocks, insuring careful work of watchmen, with 
 stations at proper points, to ensure thorough supervision, 
 are necessary ; and large alarm bells, capable of being 
 rung from the office as well as from each floor, should be 
 arranged for wakening guests. 
 
 Candles atid candlesticks should be provided in all 
 rooms. As already stated, electric lights and gas are 
 usually extinguished at an early stage of a fire. 
 
 As already suggested, lamps should be provided in the 
 halls, on shelves at least seven feet from the floor. Those 
 located near staircases and elevators with red shades. 
 
 PREVENTION VS. EXTINCTION. 
 
 All fire appliances, however, no matter how thorough, 
 important as they are, are of little value as compared with 
 the prevention of fire. In no other class of risks can it be 
 more truly said that an ounce of prevention is worth a 
 pound of cure. All dangerous processes which tend to 
 start fires, therefore, should be outside of the building. 
 The kitchen, the bake ovens, the laundry, the waste rooms, 
 the paint and oil rooms, the lamp filling rooms, furniture 
 repair and upholstering rooms, carpenter shop, &c, &c, 
 should never be allowed where their ignition would 
 endanger the main structure. 
 
 An average of over three hotels a day destroyed by fire 
 during the year just closed, throughout the United States, 
 is a fearful record of criminal indifference to proper con- 
 struction, fully justifying the admonitions of this treatise. 
 
HOW To INSPECT THEM. 
 
 511 
 
 Hot Houses. (See Green Houses.) 
 
 Houses of Refuge. Reform Schools. Etc. Decline. Tlie moral 
 hazard connected with unruly and vicious inmates is one that 
 cannot be measured by obtainable rates. 
 
 Hub and Spoke Factories. Refer to company with full partic- 
 ulars. 
 
 Ice Houses. These are not insurable unless so located as to be 
 surely rilled every year and winters can be relied upon. Where 
 the water is pure and not in danger of contamination and near 
 a good market, companies may regard them favorably at high 
 rates, but should be advised with before binding. It should be 
 remembered that ice will not bear high freight charges. The 
 question of forest or grass fire exposure is important. 
 
 Ice. Artificial. Manufactories. These are not desirable when in 
 competition with a sure supply of natural ice. Where natural 
 ice cannot be obtained they may be good risks at proper rates, 
 if the boiler hazard is properly guarded. Refer to company 
 with full explanation of the process and careful inspection and 
 report. 
 
 Incubators. Decline. 
 
 India Rubber Manufactories. These have not been profitable to 
 companies. Owing to the use of benzine, as a solvent, fires are 
 frequent and rapid. Decline them for this company. The use 
 of alcohol and linseed oil in the manufacture of rubber cloth 
 may be productive of fires in this class of risks. Bisulphide of 
 carbon used is volatile and liable to explosion. Great care is 
 necessary with it. 
 
 A fire occurred in the Goodyear India Rubber Glove factory 
 at Naugatuck, Conn., December 26th, 1872, caused by an ex- 
 plosion from electricity, to which these risks are peculiarly liable. 
 A workman was engaged, at the time, in hanging rubber cloths 
 in the steam vulcanizing chamber attached to the works. ' 'Sud- 
 denly, without any warning, the fire streamed from his hands 
 to the cloth, an explosion followed and, in a moment, the build- 
 ing was in flames. This cloth is treated with linseed oil and 
 alcohol, and it is the theory of the superintendent that the vapor 
 of the alcohol was ignited by the electric fire." Soft rubber fac- 
 tories use large amounts of benzine or naphtha cement, and 
 rubber boot and shoe factories use cement, also, in large quan- 
 
512 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 tities, together with varnish thinned with henzine or naphtha. 
 This hazard should be separated from the main building. Pails- 
 full of sand should be liberally provided in rooms where cement 
 is used. Gossamer rubber factories have the hazard of spreading 
 liquid rubber on cloth, the rubber being thinned with benzine or 
 naphtha. The process necessitates the presence of a large 
 amount of liquid rubber in the room and carries with it the haz- 
 ard of spreading by machinery. The room where this process 
 is carried on should be thoroughly ventilated, to carry off the 
 fumes, and the machine should be equipped to carry off electri- 
 city and so avoid the danger of electric sparks. Very few com- 
 panies write these risks and only at high rates, and the company 
 should be conferred with before binding. 
 
 There is less danger in hard rubber manufactories than in soft 
 rubber, on account of the difference in process. 
 
 Ink Manufactories. Advise company as to oil boiling and safety 
 of appliances for use of fire. These risks should pay full rates. 
 Those making writing ink are less hazardous than those making 
 printing inks. The latter carry with them the hazard of oil 
 boiling and mixing lamp-black, colors and linseed oil by steam 
 power — practically a paint mill hazard. 
 
 Insane Asylums. (See Asylums.) 
 
 Instrument Makers. The stock, especially in process of manu- 
 facture, is exceedingly delicate and liable to damage by water. 
 They should pay full rates. The physical hazards are simply 
 those of metal workers. 
 
 Iron Foundries. (See Foundries.) 
 
 Iron Furnaces. (See Furnaces.) 
 
 Iron Pipe Manufactories. (See Pipe.) 
 
 Jails. These risks as usually constructed are uninsurable ex- 
 cept at full rates, and they are bad exposures to court houses, 
 being sometimes intentionally set on fire by outside friends of 
 prisoners in the hope that the excitement attending the fire and 
 the removal of prisoners may offer facilities for escape or rescue. 
 
 Japanning Works. (See page 411.) 
 
 Jewelry Manufactories. These are good risks at fair rates. The 
 physical hazards will be readily seen on inspection, and should 
 be reported upon. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 513 
 
 Junk and Rag Stores. Decline. Aside from the unsatisfactory 
 character of the stock for the purpose of adjusting losses, they 
 contain heterogeneous accumulations of inflammable and com- 
 bustible materials, liable to spontaneous ignition, &c, and 
 there is no money in the class at current rates. 
 
 Jute Factories. These require the most careful examination and 
 rates should be full, and tbe risks should not be made binding 
 without the consent of the company first obtained. The pro- 
 cesses are dangerous and more or less dirty, and raw jute is 
 particularly subject to spontaneous ignition. Fires are rapid 
 and usually mean total losses. They should be thoroughly 
 sprinkled. 
 
 Kerosene Refineries. Do not bind without consent of company 
 first obtained. They are, of course, especially dangerous. 
 
 Kilns. These are undesirable as separate risks and they are 
 not favorably regarded even in connection with breweries, wood- 
 workers and other risks of which they are an incident. Where 
 any woodwork enters into the framing of the kiln, whether 
 claimed to be safely protected by brick or terra cotta or not, it 
 is safe to decline them. (See Dry-Rooms, page 409.) 
 
 Kindling Wood Factories. Decline. Few companies write them, 
 and only at very high rates. Buildings are usually of cheap 
 construction and the hazard is a dangerous one. In modern 
 risks the drying hazard is a serious one, and I have already 
 emphasized the almost uninsurable nature of a wood dry-room 
 process. 
 
 Knitting Mills. These have not been profitable at current rates 
 and companies do not write them unless exceptionally well con- 
 structed and managed. They should be inspected according to 
 the rules of Cotton and Woolen Mills, which see page 446. 
 
 Ladder Manufactories. Those manufacturing step ladders in- 
 volve soft wood processes and should pay about 50 <fo more than 
 rung ladder manufactories. They should pay same rates as 
 carpenter shops. 
 
 Laboratories, Chemical. Same rates as Chemical Works, which 
 see page 441. 
 
 Lamp-Black Manufactories. Few companies write these, and 
 they should be consulted before binding. The process is a dan- 
 
514 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 gerous one and buildings are usually of cheap construction, built 
 with the expectation of frequent fires. The material itself is 
 liable to spontaneous ignition and should be stored where it will 
 be kept dry. 
 
 Lamp Manufactories. These involve the hazards of Glass and 
 Metal Working and should be inspected and reported on accord- 
 ing to these hazards. 
 
 Lard Oil Refineries. As a class these are undesirable. They 
 should not be bound without consent of the company first ob- 
 tained and full report as to the use of fire, heat, boiling, etc., etc. 
 
 Lath and Shingle Mills. These have always been undesirable 
 risks. They are cheap offshoots of planing and saw mills and 
 the large quantities of small-dimensioned wood, excess of shav- 
 ings and chronic carelessness have made them unprofitable. 
 
 Laundries. These have not been profitable risks and fires are 
 almost certain to occur in the drying portion if it is not fireproof 
 as it should always be. Too often the clothes are dried on racks 
 which are shoved into wooden frames containing steam pipes, 
 and a garment falling on the pipes, or dust collecting, is almost 
 certain to result in fire. Floors should be concrete and wire 
 netting above steam pipes provided to prevent clothes from 
 falling on them. Advise company fully on these important 
 points. 
 
 Lead Manufactories. Lead pipe, sheet lead, etc. This involves, 
 of course, the furnace hazard, which should be carefully in- 
 spected and reported upon ; also the handling of hot metal in 
 large quantities. 
 
 Licorice Manufactories. These involve the physical hazards of 
 grinding, boiling, &c, which can be measured by any intelligent 
 agent. The dust hazard connected with the grinding should 
 not be ignored (see Flour Mills.) A stock of licorice root it is 
 claimed is very susceptible to damage, and it is said to become 
 easily impregnated with smoke and water and made unfit for 
 use ; special attention is drawn to this fact by the recent fire in 
 the MacAndrews & Forbes establishment in Camden, N. J. 
 Lines upon it should not be taken at rates less than 3$, even 
 with good buildings which under proper schedules would rate 
 not over 1 Be careful to insure the stock of licorice root 
 under a specific amount and rate. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 515 
 
 Linoleum Manufactories. (See Oil Cloth, page 521.) 
 
 Linseed Oil Mills. Refer to company with full advices as to 
 the particular process of manufacture. 
 
 Lithographing Establishments. An unprofitable class. In some 
 cases carelessly managed as to greasy rags, rubbish, refuse, etc. 
 The stock is peculiarly subject to damage and excessive claims 
 from water or smoke. The stones should never be insured 
 beyond their value as stones, as the drawings on them may be 
 utterly worthless after they have been once used for printing an 
 edition. The presses are heavy and they are frequently upstairs 
 where fires get under headway before being discovered and 
 where firemen cannot reach them. Do not bind without consent 
 of company first obtained on full advice. 
 
 Livery Stables. Small lines at full rates may be written, with 
 a specific and proper amount on horses and a limit of claim on 
 any one in case of loss. The class is often insured for a small 
 percentage of the value, with some such clause as, "on 10 horses, 
 not exceeding $150 on any one horse." This might mean any 
 ten of 100 horses, the owner counting on being fully covered 
 with insurance on ten with the expectation of not having more 
 than that number in the building at the time of the fire. 
 
 Such phraseology as "$500 on five horses" would not prevent 
 a claim of $500 on any one, even though there were twenty. 
 Nor would the additional words "not exceeding $100 on any 
 one" mend the matter, except to prevent claim for more than 
 that amount on any one. The policy would still be faulty in 
 that it might be covering a much larger number of animals than 
 five and a larger value than $500. In case any five animals 
 should be killed by lightning or burned, the claim would be that 
 the identical five were the ones insured. (See page 302.) 
 
 High priced animals, blooded stallions, jacks, race horses, 
 brood mares, etc., should not be insured without the consent of 
 company. 
 
 The concentrated value within the space of a horse stall, of an 
 exceptionally valuable animal, subject to total loss by the effect 
 of fire or smoke on a single vital organ, the suffocation of a 
 single pair of lungs, for example, is a feature which should not 
 be lost sight of in the rate. Five thousand dollars insurance on 
 50 animals where the loss of any one could not exceeed $100 is 
 
5 1 6 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OK SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 a much better risk with respect to probabilities of salvage than 
 $5,000 insurance on a single horse. 
 
 With a certain class of owners, also, a serious moral hazard 
 may arise from a slight injury to a valuable animal reducing its 
 salable value possibly 90 
 
 In the case of breeding, racing and training stables, the stable 
 rules should prohibit the use of matches, kerosene oil lanterns, 
 &c, &c. Probably the most fruitful causes of fires in stables 
 are dropped matches, the animals igniting them with their feet. 
 
 Animals above or below the grade floor should be charged for 
 at the rate of 10 cents added for each floor above or below the 
 grade. 
 
 City stables are sometimes three and four stories high and 
 horses stalled on these upper floors are nearly always suffocated 
 by the ascending smoke. It is unnecessary to suggest, also, that 
 sleighs on upper floors, or carriages, should pay higher rates 
 than where they are on the grade floor, where they can be saved, 
 although the rates are usually based on the supposition of such 
 favorable salvage conditions. Specific amounts should be in- 
 sured on horses, on rolling stock, with a limit on any one vehicle, 
 on hay and feed, and on harness. The last two items seldom 
 show any salvage and for this reason ought to be specifically 
 insured. Where horses are brought home late at night fires 
 sometimes result from careless use of lights by sleepy or intoxi- 
 cated hostlers. Automatic sprinklers would be admirable fire 
 extinguishing appliances for stables with a sprinkler head over 
 each stall. In such cases a fire caused by the ignition of a stray 
 match under the foot of a horse would be extinguished before it 
 could spread beyond the stall in which it started. 
 
 Live Stock, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Hogs. If the policy con- 
 tains the following clause, the company may authorize a reduc- 
 tion in rate on the amount covering live stock : 
 
 "The amount payable on any one animal in case of loss shall 
 not exceed the sum produced by dividing the total amount in- 
 sured upon the class to which the animal belongs by the total 
 number of animals in the class owned by the assured, not ex- 
 ceeding $ on any one, and in no case exceeding the 
 
 actual cash value of the animal." 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 51? 
 
 For example, $1,000 insured on horses would mean that $100 
 could be collected on any one if there were ten (and the one lost 
 were worth $100) ; $200 on any one if there were five, and the 
 one lost were worth $200. 
 
 No rate on live stock, especially on such animals as cattle, 
 sheep, &c, running at large in fields, could be relied upon 
 without some such clause as the above ; nor would the number 
 of animals on the farm at the time of writing the insurance be 
 any guarantee that the number at risk would not have been 
 largely increased at the time of a fire. A small amount of in- 
 surance on a large herd of cattle would entail severe loss to the 
 underwriter in the course of a five-year term from lightning 
 claims alone, especially in a wire fence country. 
 
 Lock Factories. Inspect as to boiler-rooms, dry-rooms, japan- 
 ning, forging, foundry work, etc., etc. 
 
 Locomotive Works. These may involve, in addition to machine 
 shop hazards, foundry work woodwork, sawing, planing, var- 
 nishing, turning, etc. Inspect carefully and advise fully. 
 
 Looking Glass and Mirror Plate Manufactories. These should pay 
 full rates. The stock is very susceptible to damage, both man- 
 ufactured and in process. 
 
 Lumber Yards. Those yards where lumber is piled high are 
 poorer risks than where the piles are low, fires being difficult to 
 extinguish when the piles are unusually high, and an additional 
 charge of twenty-five cents should be made in the rate if piles 
 are over ten feet high. Hardwood yards may, also, be insured 
 at lower rates than soft lumber. A difference may be made in 
 favor of "timber yards" where none of the timber is less than 
 3 x 5 in size. In such yards the piles are, usually, low and 
 the timber is piled solid, without stripping. It is also seldom 
 thoroughly dry and, therefore, does not ignite easily. 
 
 In case of a fire in a lumber yard, boards should be stood upon 
 end against the piles to be protected, on the side towards the fire, 
 with "broken" or "lap" joints and kept wet with the aid of the 
 engines. This will prevent the entrance of fire into the spaces 
 between the lumber. Lumber being generally piled with small 
 strips between the courses of boards, to admit of a circulation of 
 air for purposes of drying and seasoning, a fire is difficult to 
 extinguish when it once gains access to the interior of a high pile. 
 
518 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Lumber yards may be so exposed by planing or saw mills as 
 to call for mill rates. Wbere tbe owner agrees that a clear 
 space shall be maintained between the lumber and such an ex- 
 posure, to obtain a concession in rate, a warranty should be 
 written in the policy, as per following National Board Standard 
 Form No. 9 : 
 
 "It is a condition of tins contract that a continuous clear space of feet 
 
 shall be maintained between the property hereby insured and any woodwork 
 in. if establishment or dry kiln, otherwise this policy shall be void; this doesnot 
 prohibit the transportation of lumber or timber products across such clear 
 space." 
 
 If exposed by steam saw, planing, or shingle mill, a clear 
 space of, at least, 150 feet should be maintained to constitute an 
 unexposed risk. Recent fires indicate that even this space is not 
 sufficient. 
 
 Few classes of risks are so inadequately rated as lumber yards 
 exposed by saw or planing mills. It is safe as a rule to say that 
 such risks should pay the mill rates. The "mill yard" clause 
 of the National Board (see Index) should be used. 
 
 The continuous lines of lumber yards, so frequently to be 
 found along water fronts, are not desirable risks, and rates, and 
 particularly lines, should be governed accordingly. 
 
 Lumber in yards divided by streets or alleys of the width of 
 forty feet or more, must, in all cases, be insured specifically, or 
 the average clause inserted. The average or co-insurance clause 
 should be inserted in policies on lumber. 
 
 For a yard iv ell fenced, a deduction in rate may be made. 
 
 Lunatic Asylums. (See Asylums.) 
 
 Macaroni Factories. Report as to cooking, fire appliances, dry- 
 ing arrangements, etc., etc. 
 
 Machine Shops. Refer to company with particulars, especially 
 as to any woodwork done. In some machine shops the amount 
 of woodworking is so considerable as to require special rating. 
 
 Carelessness in not properly disposing of oily cotton waste or 
 rags used in wiping off machinery is observable in some estab- 
 lishments. Metal receptacles should be provided and regularly 
 emptied every night. The iron filings, lathe chips, etc., will 
 cause spontaneous ignition if permitted to accumulate and to 
 become rusty from dampness. (See page 142.) The floors 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM 
 
 51'.i 
 
 should, therefore, be kept clean. In nut and bolt works, es- 
 pecially, if sawdust is used for cleaning, the danger is increased. 
 (See Foundries, page 471.) 
 
 Not over 10 # of the amount of insurance should cover on 
 patterns, and it is important to see that those insured are 
 live patterns and not those of out of date machinery, which may 
 be no more valuable than so much kindling wood. Even 
 honest owners sometimes attach a mistaken value to a useless 
 pattern. 
 
 Malt Houses. Examine carefully as to kilns. It is safe to de- 
 cline those whose kilns contain any wood in their construction. 
 
 Match Factories. These are dangerous risks but it may bo 
 possible to construct them so that by subdividing the hazards 
 they may be insured at full rates, but it is not likely that any 
 match factories at present in operation can be regarded as in- 
 surable. The cutting of the splints, their dn'ing, the dipping 
 process — from the initial process to the packing for sale, inclu- 
 ding the box making — every process is hazardous. It is well 
 known that phosphorus deprived of the water in which it is 
 necessary to submerge it, will take fire, but knowledge of this 
 danger on the part of those using it suffices to make this serious 
 hazard less prolific of loss than some of the processes like dry- 
 ing, dipping, etc., etc., as to which parties are not so appre- 
 hensive. Potassium chlorate is dangerous in combinations and 
 would be especially so in connection with sulphur and other 
 chemicals used in the process. Saltpetre is also used. Under 
 no circumstances should the class be insured without the consent 
 of the company first obtained. Adequate rates are not likely to 
 be obtainable. 
 
 Mattress Making. Even the best of these risks should pay in 
 the neighborhood of 3 # and ought not to be insured without the 
 consent of the company first obtained. The picker room should 
 be completely isolated. 
 
 Menageries. Accepted by few companies. Valuable animals 
 liable to be suffocated by smoke, carelessness of hands as to 
 matches, etc., etc., tend to make the class undesirable. Obtain 
 consent of company before binding. 
 
 Mining Property. This should not be insured without full re- 
 port to the company and consent first obtained. Buildings are 
 
520 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 generally of cheap construction, and the arrangement of the 
 boiler and stack, which latter is generally of iron, should be 
 carefully investigated and reported upon. The class of help 
 employed usually involves a serious moral hazard. < >ften a 
 moral hazard is involved through uncertainty of veins. 
 
 Morocco Factories. Advise company as to processes and haz- 
 ards before binding. Building and machinery lines preferable 
 to lines on stock. The stock, both raw and finished, is more 
 susceptible to damage than that of ordinary leather workers, 
 but the old process morocco factories are not more dangerous 
 than any leather worker — in fact, not so bad as the ordinary 
 currier shop, with its grease and oil hazards. Some morocco 
 factories now operating under this name are really patent 
 leather factories, as they have the hazard of varnishing and 
 baking the leather, although not to the extent of a full-fledged 
 patent leather factory. The rate should be high. 
 
 Moss Factories. These are cheap structures as a rule, and the 
 processes exceedingly dangerous. We prefer to decline them. 
 
 Moulding Mills. Same as Planing Mills. They should rate 
 about 25$ higher than planing mills doing only tongueing, 
 grooving and surfacing. 
 
 Museums. The contents of these risks are undesirable as a 
 rule. The values are unsatisfactory as to claims in case of loss, 
 and they often combine a serious cheap theatre hazard with 
 scenery. 
 
 Nut and Bolt Works. (See Bolt and Nut Works, page 433.) 
 
 Oatmeal Mills. These have not been profitable risks. They 
 have all the dangers of flour mills — grinding, dust explosion 
 hazards, etc. — with the added hazards of kilns, which should be 
 fireproof but seldom are. Do not bind without consent of com- 
 pany obtained after full advice. 
 
 It is claimed that the material should not be discharged directly 
 from the shelling and grinding apparatus into the elevator, 
 because the movement of its cups would create a current of 
 air, but that they should pass immediately into a feeder, and 
 that the dust of oatmeal mills is so much dryer than that of 
 flour mills that a specially explosive hazard is involved. 
 
How TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 521 
 
 Office Furniture and Fixtures. (See Fixtures, page 4C.4. ) 
 
 Oil Mills. (See Linseed, Cotton Seed and Lard Oil.) 
 
 Oil Cloth Manufactories. These have not been profitable to com- 
 panies, notwithstanding the high rates paid on them. The pro- 
 cesses are exceedingly dangerous, and I have never seen a risk 
 which was properly divided. The chief hazard is the cutting of 
 the cloth, the printing and the drying, which includes the haz- 
 ards of painting and varnishing. There is more or less electric 
 hazard at the machine, and the extensive drying processes in- 
 volve conditions which mean rapid and serious fires, the cloth 
 being festooned in large drying rooms. There are also the 
 extensive mixing and grinding hazards by steam power equal 
 to those of a paint-mill. This part of the work should be entirely 
 separated from the other buildings. 
 
 Linoleum factories involve the grinding of cork and extensive 
 use of linseed oil, and have practically the same printing hazard 
 as an ordinary oilcloth factory. 
 
 Oil Clothing Manufactories. Some of these establishments are 
 of large area; the hazard is involved in the coating of the cloth 
 with linseed oil, extensive drying processess and the danger of 
 spontaneous combustion peculiar to the materials used. 
 
 Oil Refineries. Decline. 
 
 Oil Warehouses and Oil Tanks — Petroleum or Kerosene. Few 
 companies write these. 
 Opera Houses. (See Theatres. ) 
 
 Organ and Piano Manufactories. Report fully as to the various 
 processes — sawing, planing, cabinet work, gluing, drying, var- 
 nishing, etc., etc. They should pay full rates. The stock, 
 whether in process of manufacture or finished, is very suscept- 
 ible to damage by smoke, heat and water. 
 
 Organs in Churches. These should pay materially higher rates 
 than the church structure itself — at least four times as much. 
 As a rule they should be insured with the church and the 
 amount on the organ divided in this way among all of the 
 companies interested. 
 
 Packing Box Manufactories. (See Box Manufactories, page 434.) 
 
 Pail Manufactories. (See Bucket Manufactories, page 436.) 
 
522 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Paint Manufactories, including Color Manufactories. Inspect 
 carefully and advise company fully as to use and storage of oils, 
 etc., character of paint made, drying processes, furnaces where 
 material is burned, and drying of the ground material in oils. 
 Many of the establishments manufacturing cheap paints use 
 benzine and naphtha for thinning. Very high rates are nec- 
 essary and few companies write them. 
 
 Panoramas. Cycloramas, Cinemetographs, Etc. Decline. The 
 latter are very liable to fires from ignited celluloid films. 
 Extravagant claims are often made on large paintings where 
 only a small surface is injured by fire or smoke. Buildings are 
 unsuited for any other use and are undesirable. 
 
 Paper Box Manufactories. (See Box Manufactories, page 434.) 
 
 Paper Hanging Manufactories. (See Wall Paper.) 
 
 Paper Mills. Refer to company with full survey. These risks 
 would be much improved if the different processes were separ- 
 ated by fire walls and iron doors; the sliding, self-closing 
 doors recommended on page 371 being the most desirable for 
 the purpose. Such a division would, clearly, be more in the 
 interest of the owner than of the company, as he could then 
 insure the values of non-hazardous portions of his risk for spec- 
 ific amounts and at lower rates than are now charged for the 
 whole, thus securing the advantage of a saving in the matter 
 of rate, but a still greater advantage in the fact that his entire 
 property could not be destroyed, and his business brought to a 
 stand-still, by a single, untoward accident. 
 
 In a mill so divided, the dusting and cutting of rags by 
 machinery might be easily and at small cost isolated. The 
 storing of rags, more particularly of the lower grades, and the 
 sorting of them — unless thoroughly dusted before going into the 
 hands of the sorters — should be cut off by a fire wall with 
 standard doors. The sizing, also, should not be prepared (un- 
 less heated by steam) where it will endanger the mill. The 
 process of making paper, after the rags or stock are in the 
 bleach, is not a dangerous one; and where the drying of the 
 paper is safely managed — it is generally dried by steam-pipes 
 in the att:c, which should be thoroughly examined to see that 
 steam-pipes are, at no point, in contact with wood, and that 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 523 
 
 neither ligh ts nor smoking are permitted — a lower rate might 
 be charged than is due to the more dangerous processes. 
 
 The use of cotton waste should render a risk uninsurable. 
 (See "Cotton and Woolen Mill Fires.") 
 
 Examine as to the storage and handling of lime. 
 
 Straw Paper Mills and Man illa Mills, as usually managed, 
 are not desirable risks at current and obtainable rates. 
 
 The stacks of straw should be, at least, 150 feet from the mill 
 and only the straw required for each day's work should be per- 
 mitted in or near the mill. The cutting of old rope, etc., should 
 be separated from the mill, as before recommended. 
 
 Fire Appliances. — These should be complete, as recom- 
 mended for special hazards, pp. 420-421. Steam jets are, 
 probably, the most effective of all fire appliances for paper mills, 
 and should be provided in each room, particularly in the dusting, 
 cutting and drying rooms. A steam jet in each dusting ma- 
 chine would be a desirable precaution, in view of the fires caused 
 by matches or foreign substances passing through the machines. 
 
 Paper mills to be standard risks should not be over three 
 stories high. 
 
 Patent Leather Manufactories. The hazard of removing the fats 
 and greases from the leather by immersing hides in naphtha 
 baths is an especially dangerous one and needs to be carefully 
 isolated. The drying process and the arrangement of ovens 
 need careful inspection, especially as to the arrangement of 
 steam-pipes. The composition or mixture which produces the 
 patent finish on the leather is liable to ignition, and some suppose 
 to spontaneous ignition. The storage of lamp-black should 
 be safely arranged. The whole process is one favoring quick 
 ignition and intense combustion. The class has not been profit- 
 able, although high rates of premiums have been charged. They 
 should not be insured without the consent of the company first 
 obtained on full report. 
 
 Patent Medicine Manufactories. Report fully as to processes, 
 heat used, chemicals stored, etc., etc. Some of them have all 
 the hazards of chemical works. 
 
 Patterns. Wooden patterns, as already explained, for ma- 
 chines no longer in demand, are utterly valueless. Moreover, 
 
524 
 
 MAM F.UToKIKS OK SFK< IAI, HAZARDS. 
 
 a slight injury to any part of a pattern is sometimes claimed to 
 necessitate an entirely new pattern. They are undesirable and 
 they should only be insured as a certain percentage of insurance 
 on foundry or other risk using them. 
 
 Pawnbrokers. The following form of policy should be used, 
 full rates obtained, and moral hazard carefully investigated: 
 
 $ On the Right and Interest of the assured in the articles and 
 
 stork of merchandise, (merchandise in fireproof safes excepted) held in trust 
 or in pledge by said assured as pawnbrokers including interest accrued 
 thereon as allowed by law. 
 
 $ On the Right and Interest of the assured in the articles and 
 
 stock of merchandise, in fireproof safes only, held in trust or in pledge hy 
 said assured as pawnbrokers, including interest accrued thereon as allowed 
 by law 
 
 $ On merchandise, the property solely of said assured, all 
 
 contained in the building while occupied as 
 
 situate 
 
 This insurance does not protect the interest of parties whose goods are 
 pledged to the assured; nor does it cover the excess of the amount loaned, 
 with its lawful accrued interest, upon any article above the sound value of 
 the same at the time of any fire. 
 
 Penitentiaries. Prisons and Prison Workshops. These are un- 
 desirable risks, especially on goods of contractors in process of 
 manufacture. Shops are frequently burned by convicts com- 
 pelled to work in them against their will, either out of spite or 
 to secure excitement which would favor a break for liberty. 
 Consult company before binding. High rates are necessary. 
 
 Phosphate Mills. These combine the hazards of acid making 
 with Glover and Guy-Lussac towers, the use of saltpetre and 
 its storage, the danger of spontaneous ignition of empty saltpetre 
 bags in sunlight, the danger of spontaneous combustion in am- 
 moniacal products of blood, etc., and should be carefully in- 
 spected and consent of company obtained before insuring 
 
 Photographers' Stocks. The policy should exclude negatives, 
 dry plates and films. Insurance on these is usually worth five 
 times the rate on the general stock, whereas negatives are fre- 
 quently included in the policy covering the other property. It 
 is a safe general rule to limit the loss on any one negative to a 
 small nominal amount, say, ten or fifteen cents, and some- 
 times only to their value as glass. 
 
HOW TO INSPEC T THEM. 
 
 525 
 
 Manufactories of dry plates and films are exceeding hazardous 
 risks, the process requiring the use of explosive chemicals ; and 
 in making films there is the added hazard of the presence on the 
 premises of large quantities of celluloid, which in case of fire is 
 likely to result in quick and total destruction. 
 
 Piano Manufactories. (See Organ and Piano Manufactories.) 
 
 Picture Frame Manufactories. These are undesirable at current 
 rates. Much woodworking is done and the stock is particularly 
 susceptible to damage from water, fire and smoke. If moulding 
 is made on premises, same rates as moulding mills. 
 
 Pie Bakeries. (See Bakeries.) 
 
 Pipe Manufactories — Burned Clay Drain and Sewer Pipe, etc. 
 These have all the hazards of potteries and are usually of cheap 
 frame shed construction, and are undesirable risks. High rates 
 necessary. 
 
 Pipe Manufactories — Iron. These involve the hazards of rolling 
 mills, wrought iron works, and of foundries for cast-iron. In 
 cast-iron pipe manufactories there is added to the usual foundry 
 hazard that of making hay rope, with which the wooden core is 
 wound before being coated with clay, and this necessitates the 
 carrying of large quantities of hay and straw and storing of it ; 
 the process should be entirely separated from the other buildings. 
 They have also the hazard of tarring the pipe, which should be 
 done outside. 
 
 Cold drawn tube factories carry the hazard of a large amount 
 of mineral oil, making very greasy risks. 
 
 Planing Mills. These risks might be greatly improved. They 
 are, as at present constructed, very liable to fire, and being 
 generally filled with lumber, shavings and other combustible 
 material — every beam, rafter and flat surface, where dust can 
 find a resting place, being usually covered with a fine, combus- 
 tible collection of material which ignites like tinder — they gen- 
 erally prove a total loss. The dust of a planing mill, like that 
 of a tannery bark mill, will carry fire long after it is supposed 
 to be extinguished. It is also very liable to ignite from a heated 
 journal or from a spark of electricity from belts, and its collection 
 in the quantities usual to some risks should be prevented, if 
 possible, by avoiding the "shoulders" formed under eaves, and 
 
526 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 by squared timbers which afford resting places for it. The mill 
 should be so constructed that it may be easily kept clean, the 
 walls and ceilings being regularly swept down. 
 
 Planing mills are frequently set on fire by what are known as 
 "back draughts" at the furnaces, which are hazards inseparable 
 from the use of shavings for fuel. On rainy days, when the 
 fuel is damp, the smoke is dense and heavier than the atmos- 
 phere, for the double reason that, on such days, the atmosphere, 
 itself, is lighter than in fair weather, and the lumber to be 
 planed is wet, the shavings used for fuel being, therefore, more 
 or less damp and heavy. The draught of the chimneys, on such 
 days, is insufficient to carry off the smoke and is often reversed, 
 throwing the entire contents of the furnaces into the fire room. 
 For this reason, the boilers should either be outside of the mill 
 and in a room not communicating with it. or — if in a communi- 
 cating, fireproof room — so set that the line of furnace feed 
 may be either in an opposite direction from the communi- 
 cation with tlw mill, or at right angles to it, and not directly 
 in line with the door, as, in the latter case, the fire might be 
 emptied into the mill itself (see diagram and explanation, pp. 
 309-31 1. ) There should, properly, be no communication between 
 the mill and the boiler room, wdiich should be cut off by a good 
 fire wall. The shavings vault, or fuel room, should, if in or 
 under the mill, be fireproof, and so constructed, with iron 
 coverings to all openings, that it can, in case of fire in it, be 
 closed as nearly air-tight as possible. A steam jet in it would 
 instantly extinguish fire. Under no circumstances ought it to 
 have a flue or chimney to the outer air, as such a chimney would 
 supply the oxygen and draught for combustion and prevent the 
 possibility of smothering a fire. The door between the shavings 
 vault or fuel room and the boiler room should, also, open at 
 right angles to the furnace feed. A mill with the boilers 
 inside and not in a fireproof room should be regarded as unin- 
 surable. 
 
 Where boilers are underground, and where the space above 
 them is used for piling lumber or for storing shavings, it is 
 almost impossible to make them safe and best to decline the 
 mill. 
 
 Where shavings are conveyed to the furnaces by chutes or 
 conveyors, with blowers, the conveyors should be of metal and 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 52? 
 
 never of wood, and they should empty into the shavings vault 
 or fuel room and never into the fire room, and should be closed 
 when not in use. 
 
 The shavings should be removed, as fast as made, by blowers, 
 and if not so removed, should all be gathered into the vault at 
 night, and the doors to the vault securely closed. If it is im- 
 possible to get all of them in, they should be swept up into a 
 pile, the surface of which should be thoroughly wetted down 
 with a hose. Loose shavings, scattered over the floor, or about 
 the entrances of the mill, are more dangerous than those in piles. 
 In case of a fire, it will seldom be found that a large pile of 
 shavings is entirely burned up. As a rule, the surface only is 
 burned off and the fire goes out for want of air. The rule of 
 the mill, therefore, should be to have all shavings swept up at 
 night, and the hose well played over the pile and around the 
 doorways, to prevent danger from castaway cigars or matches 
 of passers-by or from the intentional acts of malicious persons. 
 
 Most of the machinery of a planing mill — the cylinders of 
 planing machines, tongueing and grooving cutter-heads, cir- 
 cular saws, etc., run at great speed, and journals of the best 
 and hardest metal are frequently melted by friction. The 
 boys or other low-priced hands employed, in some mills, to tend 
 small circular saws, seldom think of examining the bearings of 
 mandrels to see if they are thoroughly cool before going home, 
 and, for this reason, some reliable person should make it his 
 duty to regularly examine all journals after shutting down for 
 the day. 
 
 The watchman should commence his watch as soon as the 
 hands leave, and should be provided with a closed proper lantern. 
 (See page 421.) 
 
 A planing mill might be so constructed as to be insured at 
 four per cent, with more profit to underwriters than, as gener- 
 ally constructed, at eight per cent. 
 
 A mill built upon the following plan might be regarded as a 
 standard risk : 
 
 STANDARD PLANING MILL. 
 
 Building. Brick or stone walls, 18 inches thick, not over 5000 
 square feet of area (say 50 x 100,) one story high, roof of metal 
 
528 
 
 MANUFACTORIES <>K SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 or slate, or shingles laid in mortar, and floor of earth, brick or 
 stone or heavy two-inch (or three-inch) plank, laid upon the 
 earth, without any intermediate space. Such a floor is both 
 safe and economical. The main building should be used for 
 planing and sawing purposes only — the dry -room, boiler room, 
 sash and blind making and painting should be in separate, fire- 
 proof divisions, not endangering the mill. The shavings vault 
 or fuel room should be so constructed as not to expose the mill, 
 and with a steam jet (valve outside), and the shavings to be re- 
 moved from the machines to the fuel room, as fast as made, by 
 blowers and metallic conductors. 
 
 Heating. None except in office. 
 
 Lighting. Mill to run by daylight only. 
 
 Boiler Room. To be fireproof and not endangering the mill. 
 Earth, brick or stone floor and fireproof roof. Fireman to have 
 no other duties than attending to the boiler, and the boilers to 
 be so arranged that nothing combustible can be piled or de- 
 posited over them, as recommended on page 405. 
 
 Boiler Chimney. Of brick, double walls (see page 406), to be 
 not less than twenty feet higher than surrounding roofs, and 
 with a spark arrester. 
 
 Fire Appliances. Force pump with sufficient 2%-inch hose 
 attached to reach all parts of the mill. Steam jets to each 
 room, including the shavings vault and dry-room — valves to be 
 outside of the room in each case. Sprinklers in main mill, and 
 casks of water and pails to each room. 
 
 Watchman with Watch-Clock or Watch and using a covered light, 
 burning a safe oil. 
 
 Regulations. Mill to be cleaned up every night, all the shav- 
 ings to be gathered into the fuel-room and the mill to be well 
 wet down, especially about the doorways. The mill to be se- 
 curely closed so that nothing can be thrown in from outside. 
 
 Charge for deficiencies from such a standard, as follows : 
 
 Basis Rate $4.00 
 
 If Frame Walls, add 1.00 
 
 Note. — This charge does not include that for shingle roof. 
 
 Height. Each story over one (if over two, decline) 50 
 
 Area. Each 1000 square feet, or fraction thereof, over 
 
 standard 25 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 529 
 
 Roof. Composition 25 cents, shingle 50 
 
 Access to Roof. If over one story and no scuttle 25 
 
 Ladders. None 10 
 
 Floor. Not according to standard 50 
 
 Heating. Not permitted outside office. 
 
 Watchman. If none 50 
 
 If watchman but no watch clock 25 
 
 Boiler Room. Fireproof, but communicating with mill 
 by door, opening in an opposite direction from fur- 
 nace feed or at right angles to it — with iron door. .50 
 
 If without iron door 1.00 
 
 If communicating by door opening in direct line of 
 
 furnace feed, with iron door 1.00 
 
 If without iron door — uninsurable. 
 Communicating with fuel room by door opening at 
 right angles to furnace feed or in an opposite 
 
 direction from it — if with iron door 25 
 
 If without iron door 50 
 
 Communicating with fuel room by door opening in direct 
 
 line of furnace feed — if with iron door 50 
 
 If without iron door 1.00 
 
 Shavings or Fuel Room. According to standard — of 
 brick, with iron covers to all openings, whether for the 
 admission or removal of shavings — if not so constructed, 
 to be outside of mill, and where its burning would not 
 
 endanger the mill. If without steam jet 10 
 
 Blowers. If none to remove shavings to fuel room 25 
 
 Boiler Chimney. Of iron, through roof , 1.00 
 
 If metal stack on brick or stone base rising at least 5 
 
 feet above boiler house roof, not less than 50 
 
 No spark arrester 25 
 
 Dry-Room. To be cut off and according to standard rec- 
 ommended on page 409. 
 
 Force Pump and 2% Inch Hose. If without, add 25 
 
 Casks and Pails. Water salted — in every room. If 
 
 without 50* 
 
 Sprinklers. None 25 
 
 Steam Jet. In main mill, shavings vault, dry-room; if 
 
 *This charge intended to secure so important and inexpensive a precaution. 
 
530 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 none, charge for each room 
 Sash and Blind Making 
 
 .10 
 
 1.00 
 
 Night- Work. Two-tenths ( r 2 5 ) of rate per hour of night-work. 
 
 In view of the combustible nature of the materials and dust 
 of planing mills, it is a serious question as to whether any 
 obtainable rate is adequate for night work. Not less than 
 double rates should be charged for mills running at night, and 
 short rates for short periods Mills running only a portion of 
 the evening should pay at the rate of two-tenths ( x % or |) of the 
 rate for each hour of night-work , for example, a mill rated at 
 five per cent, running two hours every night, should pay T 4 „ of 
 5 per cent, extra, and, therefore, if desiring the privilege for a 
 month, should pay short rates of two per cent. — or 40 cents per 
 $100 extra. 
 
 The rate should be higher, in proportion, for running part of 
 the night than for running the whole, as the presence of work- 
 men, throughout the night, might secure the discovery and 
 extinction of fire, whereas, in the case of night- work for a few 
 hours only, the mill would be left, after a long day's work, with 
 heated journals and in the worst possible condition for fire. 
 
 Covered lights should be a stipulation in the policy. 
 
 If by Water Power deduct one-fifth. 
 
 Exposure. Charge according to hazard. 
 
 While substantial brick or stone mills are more desirable, on 
 many accounts, than frame structures, it should be remembered 
 that wooden buildings burn off more rapidly and with less 
 damage to substantial contents, such as planing machines, 
 engines, boilers, pumps, etc., and too great a difference in rate 
 should not be made in favor of brick mills for this reason. 
 Refer applications for insurance of planing mills to the 
 company, in all cases. 
 
 Plaster Mills. Refer to company with full particulars as to 
 arrangement of furnaces for heating the calcining kettles and 
 the handling of the freshly calcined calx or finished plaster, and 
 the other hazards come in contact with. Buildings are usually 
 cheap and boilers and chimneys need careful inspection. 
 
 Playing Card Manufactories. (See Card (Playing) Manufac- 
 tories, page 438.) 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 531 
 
 Plow Manufactories. Small hand-power shops usually rate 
 about like wheelwrights. Steam shops; report as to boiler 
 room, dry-room, painting, woodworking, etc., etc. 
 
 Poorhouses. (See Almshouses, page -126. ) 
 
 Pork Houses. Packing Houses. Etc. Refer to company, in ad- 
 vance of the season, for approval, after which policies may be 
 written by the agent. In inspecting risks of this class the fol- 
 lowing hazards, together with the incidental ones often found 
 in large establishments, should be investigated : Rendering and 
 lard tanks, oleo kettles, bone boiling, tankage drying, dry-rooms 
 for bones, bladders, press-cloths, hair, etc., smoking, branding, 
 sulphur burning, storage of saltpetre and lime, coopering, re- 
 pairing and the general grease hazard. 
 
 Rendering is usually done in large vertical iron tanks, gen- 
 erally steam heated. This method is much safer than direct 
 heat kettles, but grease, under a comparatively low pressure, 
 generates a very explosive gas, readily ignited by contact with 
 flame. For this reason, no lights should be permitted in the 
 lard room, and proper ventilation should be provided to permit 
 the escape of such gases. In addition to this there is the steam 
 pipe ignition hazard, and the clearance of pipes and tanks from 
 wood should be looked into. 
 
 If direct heat kettles are used, they should be well set in 
 masonry, the tops of kettles being one inch higher than the 
 surrounding brick-work, to prevent the piling up of fat beyond 
 the capacity of the kettles. The wall should be covered with 
 an iron plate having a guard around it to prevent the escape of 
 grease, and metal extinguishers should be suspended over the 
 kettles, to be let down in case of fire. Tight-fitting covers are 
 better extinguishers for burning grease than water. No wood- 
 work should be exposed in the lard room, and the ceilings should 
 be, at least, ten feet above tops of kettles, the floor being of 
 earth, brick, concrete or stone. 
 
 Fires should be carefully extinguished under all the kettles, 
 at night, to prevent their flaming up again, during the night, 
 and setting fire to the grease. Carbonic acid gas fire extinguish- 
 ers are valuable for extinguishing burning grease and should 
 be provided. 
 
532 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Where rendering is done by kettles, the Jives to the furnaces 
 should be carefully built, the walls being, at least, 12 inches 
 thick built from the ground. (See page 40(1.) 
 
 Smoking. This should be entirely outside of main building 
 or cut off by a fire wall, rising through and above roof, with 
 iron doors, which may be improved by having "eyesights" or 
 apertures in them, to enable the man in charge, or smoker, to 
 examine the interior, without opening the door and admitting 
 air. Nozzle holes, also, for the use of hose or, better still, for 
 the use of carbonic acid gas extinguishers, in case of fire, should 
 be provided. 
 
 At a distance of not less than nine feet above the fires, and 
 three feet below the meat, a perforated iron floor should be 
 provided, which will serve the double purpose of preventing 
 /lie falling of meat on the fires and of distributing the as- 
 rending smoke so that the meat in all parts of the room will be 
 reached. The fires should be so protected .that the drippings of 
 meat cannot fall on them. Ventilation must be provided to 
 prevent the accumulation of explosive gases evolved in smoke 
 houses. It is well known to intelligent and experienced pork 
 packers, that meat is better cured by a current of smoke than 
 by confined smoke, and that no saving is secured by the 
 absence of proper ventilation. 
 
 Numerous fires have occurred from the gases formed in 
 smoke-houses. A notable instance was the explosion in the 
 smoke-house of Muldoon & Sharp, in St. Louis. A fire was 
 discovered near the centre of the meat, but it was merely 
 smoking or smoldering. Water was introduced and an explo- 
 sion of the gases followed — windows and brick- work being 
 shattered. "'Simultaneously with the report (probably from 
 the admission of air) the flames arose in immense volumes, 
 where before had been only dense, black smoke." 
 
 The origin of this fire was attributed to the drippings from 
 lio ins upon the fires. 
 
 As I write, news comes of the destruction (November 
 1902) of the large Armour packing plant at Sioux City, Iowa, 
 and reports of tremendous explosions, which shattered build- 
 ings, due, probably, to gas explosions, although the explosions 
 of the ammonia supply tanks are mentioned specifically as 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 533 
 
 causing serious damage, and enforcing the importance of 
 having such supply tanks safely located. 
 
 The "singeing" process of removing the hair from hogs is 
 frequently unsafe. When it is a feature of the risk, it should, 
 in all cases, be done outside — the straw used not being kept 
 where it would expose the building. 
 
 Inspectors should notice whether safe lights are used. Cut- 
 ing and packing is often done at night and hands are frequently 
 careless. Decline any risks where workmen are permitted to 
 use, for candlesticks, such substitutes as pieces of meat or wood, 
 empty bottles or iron nuts. 
 
 Slaughtering. This should be so managed as not to be a 
 nuisance to those owning property in the vicinity. 
 
 In insuring pork houses, it is probably unnecessary to remind 
 agents that they should not write annual policies, at the current 
 rates, for the full line of the company, upon the building or stock, 
 tbus cutting the company off from the more profitable short- 
 rate business on stock. 
 
 When necessary to write an annual policy for a small amount, 
 it should expressly prohibit all of the privileges of slaugh- 
 tering, rendering and smoking, in order to insure their being 
 paid for, when the season commences. It is necessary to pro- 
 hibit them expressly, because a policy on a building privileged 
 to be occupied as a "pork house," might be claimed to permit, 
 inferentially, the processes incidental to a "pork house." A113' 
 policy, therefore, not expressly granting the privileges, for the 
 usual premium charge, should expressly prohibit them, as 
 follows: "smoking, rendering and slaughtering not per- 
 mitted under this policy.'"' 
 
 When privileges are granted, the following are the rules of 
 the National Board : 
 
 "Policies, in all cases, to limit the time of privileges in writing, or when 
 not granted, written stipulation to that effect to be made. 
 
 "All privileges granted must define the period for which such privileges are 
 granted, by an explicit provision, giving beginning and expiration of the 
 period, in form substantially as follows; 
 
 "In consideration of $ privilege is granted for days 
 
 privileges (here insert slaughtering, rendering or smoking, 
 
 as the case may be,) beginning on the day of 190. . 
 
 and ending on the day of 190. .at noon." 
 
534 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Potteries. Report fully as to drying ovens, kilns, storage of 
 wood, etc. They have been unprofitable as a class, and the 
 company will require full advices. The packing-room hazard 
 is a serious one, necessitating the use of large quantities of hay 
 and straw, and should be separated from the other buildings. 
 There is also a serious hazard of explosion when the kiln is open : 
 all kiln openings should be hooded. 
 
 Printeries. (See Bleacheries, page 432.) 
 
 Printing Offices. Inspect carefully for carelessness as to waste 
 paper, oily rags, use of benzine for cleaning type, &c. News- 
 paper offices have a great deal of night-work, when tired and 
 sleepy men are apt to leave the building at a late hour with 
 dangerous conditions as to hot journals, discarded cigar and 
 cigarette stubs, and fires are very likely to occur. The hazards 
 of electrotyping and stereotyping, carrying with them the fur- 
 nace hazard, and the use of hot lead in large quantities, are 
 common to newspaper printing offices, and should be in rooms 
 having fireproof floors, and the furnaces should be carefully 
 inspected. Binderies are often connected, and the company 
 should be advised of the extent of this hazard. 
 
 Prisons. (See Penitentiaries.) 
 Public Halls. (See Halls, page 475. | 
 
 Pulp Manufactories. The grinding process is usually a wet 
 
 process and supposed not to be dangerous, but explosions have 
 occurred in factories using the chemical process, which would 
 indicate that chemicals which cause them may be used in the 
 digesters. One such happened in August, 1902, causing the 
 loss of seventeen lives and great damage to property. Just 
 what caused the explosion has not been ascertained. The 
 digesters are filled with steam under high pressure, and it is 
 possible the explosion was due to steam. 
 
 In chemical pulp factories the furnaces for reclaiming the 
 chemicals should be separated from the other buildings. The 
 cutting of the wood into chips results in an accumulation of 
 waste wood in dangerous condition for ignition, that part of the 
 wood not used for pulp being usually used for fuel under the 
 boilers. In steam power plants it makes the boiler hazard just 
 as bad in such cases as the same hazard in a woodworker, of 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 535 
 
 back draft, &c. ; so that in most cases, if not all, the boiler 
 should be outside and cut off from the other buildings. 
 
 Decline chemical and sulphite mills unless furnaces are out- 
 side where they would not burn the main buildings. 
 
 Quartz and Stamp Mills. These do not suggest serious physical 
 hazards at first sight, but they have not been profitable. Pos- 
 sibly sufficient moral hazard exists in the class as to unprofit- 
 ableness of particular mills to explain the mortality. The 
 company would require full advice before authorizing lines, and 
 full rates. 
 
 Quilt Manufactories — Comforters, Etc. Using cotton battings. 
 These are rarely insurable; cheap work and great physical 
 hazard. Obtain consent of company before binding. 
 
 Rags. Rags in iron tied bags, with no assorting, may be 
 insured at full rates. Where assorting is done the danger of 
 spontaneous combustion is too great and so much care is nec- 
 essary that it is best to let the rag-man insure himself. Few 
 companies insure rag risks. Consult company before binding. 
 
 Railroad Property. This has been unprofitable as a class, and 
 when rates are raised to the point of adequacy the railroad men 
 immediately insure themselves with the exception of such par- 
 ticular structures, bridges, machine shops, or otherwise, as to 
 which they have apprehension or the value of which exceeds an 
 average line. 
 
 Rectifying Establishments. The cold process has little physical 
 hazard beyond the possible ignition of large bodies of liquor 
 exposed to vapor ignition. The hot process is that of a distillery 
 and should pay same rates. 
 
 Reduction Works. (See Quartz Mills.) 
 
 Refineries. Oil. (See Oil Refineries.) 
 
 Reform Schools. (See Houses of Refuge, page 511.) 
 
 Remote Risks. Obtain the consent of the company before 
 binding, giving full particulars. A remote risk of any kind is 
 likely to be undesirable ; manufacturing establishments, because 
 they are too far away from transportation facilities to be profit- 
 ably occupied; hotels, because they are likely to be used for 
 unlawful purposes, road houses, etc. ; dwellings, because no one 
 wants them after those who build them get through with them 
 
536 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 — and those who build them soon find they are too far away 
 from neighbors to be pleasant. Such property is usually not 
 salable and is likely to be neglected. The agent must be care- 
 ful to confine himself to the territory named in his commission; 
 his company needs not merely initial knowledge of a risk, but 
 frequent supervision of it. 
 
 Rice Wills. Notwithstanding the fact that there is little 
 physical hazard apparent about a rice mill outside of the boiler 
 room, they have not proved profitable risks even at what seemed 
 to be full rates. 
 
 Road Houses and Outskirt Saloons. The shady character of the 
 majority of these houses makes the class undesirable. Decline 
 them. 
 
 Rolling Mills. Refer to company. Modern mills are almost 
 fireproof construction, but there is a large class of cheap frame 
 mills with low wooden roofs which would not pay at obtainable 
 rates. If wooden or shingle roof it is best to decline. 
 
 Roofing Material Manufactories. Decline. They are usually 
 cheap structures with exceedingly dangerous materials liable 
 to running fires of pitch, asphalt, &e. 
 
 Rope Walks. These require full rates. The class has not been 
 profitable. 
 
 Rubber Works. (See India Rubber Manufactories, page 511.) 
 
 Safe Manufactories. Examine forging, japanning, varnishing, 
 painting, etc., etc., and report fully. 
 
 Salt Blocks or Works. These are usually cheap wooden struc- 
 tures, particularly liable to take fire easily in summer, in dry 
 seasons, and are often connected with sawmills or other expos- 
 ures. The old-fashioned block is fast disappearing, because the 
 more modern method of evaporating by steam is now used. 
 Arrangement of boilers and steam-pipes is frequently dangerous, 
 and the size of the structure makes a high rate necessary. 
 
 Sanitariums. Most of these have all the hazards of season 
 hotels, with a possible moral hazard involved in case of loss of 
 reputation for curative purposes. Many of them involve the 
 hazards of insane asylums, especially those for the cure of the 
 liquor habit. The company will want full advice on all these 
 points. Sanitariums should be constructed on the lines recom- 
 mended for Hotels, which see page 479. 
 
How TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 531 
 
 Sash and Blind Manufactories. (See Blind Manufactories, page 
 432.) 
 
 Saw Factories. Report fully as to metal working, and wood- 
 working of handles, etc. The stock is a damageable one by 
 water as well as by heat. 
 
 Saw Mills. A serious moral hazard attaches to all mills which 
 have exhausted the timber convenient to them, if the cost of 
 procuring logs is such as to prevent their competing successfully 
 with mills more favorably located. A moral hazard is, some- 
 times, connected with water-power mills, also, when the supply 
 of water is not sufficient to keep them in constant operation. 
 Examine carefully, all boiler rooms, to see that combustible 
 material is not stored over the boilers, and inquire as to journals 
 under floors. They are objectionable as they are liable to be 
 covered up and neglected. 
 
 Examine as to storage of lubricating oils, and see page 405 
 for an instance where oil was stored over the steam-boilers. 
 
 Decline all applications for insurance on dilapidated, un- 
 painted mills, with old machinery and worn-out boilers. There 
 are many such. Roof sprinklers would be desirable fire ap- 
 pliances for saw mills. (See page 422.) A roof -sprinkler saved 
 a large mill at Williamsport, Pa., the fire burning lumber near 
 the mill without igniting it. 
 
 In this case the sprinkler- pipe ran along the ridge of the roof 
 and under the eares, on each side, and kept the roof and sides 
 of the mill thoroughly wet. 
 
 Where the boiler-house of a saw mill is built of brick or stone, 
 with iron roof or girders, neither adjoining nor communicating 
 with mill building, no charge need be made for metal stack. 
 
 Schoolhouses. (See Academies, page 423.) The tendency to 
 total losses on this class has been greatly increased of late years, 
 by systems of ventilation for forcing fresh air throughout the 
 building, such as the Sneed Process. Of course, fire follows 
 the hollow air ducts and the building becomes practically a pair 
 of lungs for breathing flame. A valuable schoolhouse was 
 lately burned in Indiana in this way and was a total loss to the 
 insurance companies. A higher rate should be charged for this 
 system of ventilation — at least 25 cents extra per hundred dollars. 
 
538 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Segar Manufactories. (See Cigar Manufactories, page 442.) 
 Seeds and Seed Warehouses. Decline. 
 
 Shirt. Collar and Cuff Manufactories. Confine lines to buildings. 
 Machinery and stocks have been unprofitable risks. Report 
 fully as to laundry hazard. 
 
 Shoddy Mills. It is safe to decline these; few companies write 
 them ; the physical hazard is too great for obtainable rates, and 
 a moral hazard is also frequently involved. They have the haz- 
 ards of picking, with a low grade of stock and a large amount 
 of waste in the card room. The picking hazard should be in a 
 fireproof apartment where it could not possibly burn the mill. 
 
 Shoe Manufactories. These have not been profitable risks even 
 in New England, where probably the industry is more extensive 
 than in any other section of the country, a fact which ought to 
 have led to the detection of causes of fires and the best means 
 of preventing them. The use of rubber cement has been largely 
 controlled as a fire hazard but care still needs to be observed. 
 The use of lamp-black may result in fires from spontaneous 
 combustion if mixed with oil, and many persons are ignorant of 
 this fact. The scrapings of cutting boards and benches should 
 be carefully removed from the building as they are also liable 
 to spontaneous ignition. Examine carefully as to the heating 
 of paste, wax cups and kit lamps, drying of pasted stock, dis- 
 position of refuse from buffs, brushes, sandpapering machines, 
 edge-trimmers, etc., swinging uncovered gas jets, storage and 
 use of benzine, turpentine, etc. Cleanliness should be observed 
 everywhere. 
 
 Shot Towers. Decline. They are liable to fires and it is almost 
 impossible to extinguish them on account of their great height 
 where they are gravity towers. 
 
 Shuttle Manufactories. (See Bobbin Manufactories.) 
 
 Silk Mills. The physical hazard of this class seems to be a 
 clean one but rates have been too low and the premiums have 
 not equalled the losses and expenses. Fires spread rapidly and 
 losses are usually total. The loading of certain kinds of silks 
 and cordonnet with oil has been disastrous. Stocks of this kind 
 are particularly liable to spontaneous combustion. They should 
 be held to the same rules of construction, management, fire 
 appliances, etc., etc., as cotton and woolen mills. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 539 
 
 Skating Rinks. Decline. 
 
 Slaughter Houses. When rendering and the use of fire heat 
 are not connected the physical hazard is not serious hut they are 
 almost invariably nuisances to all neighbors and the class has 
 been unprofitable. They should not be written in any case 
 without the consent of the company first obtained on full report. 
 In connection with pork houses they may be taken as part of 
 the pork house risk. 
 
 Smelters. (See Quartz Mills, page 535.) 
 
 Smoke Houses. (See Pork Houses, page 532.) 
 
 Soap and Candle Factories. These are sometimes nuisances 
 where rendering is done and involve serious physical hazards. 
 We should not be bound on them without consent of company 
 first obtained. It is not likely that lines will be accepted, even 
 at full rates, if rendering is done. 
 
 Spice Mills. These are undesirable. The phj'sical hazard of 
 grinding is considerable and the susceptibilty of the stock to 
 damage by water or smoke makes ordinary rates inadequate. 
 Moreover, a fire in a spice mill results in a condition of atmos- 
 phere which prevents firemen from entering the building, and 
 fires are very apt to get beyond control for this reason alone. 
 
 Spool Manufactories. Advise as to woodworking hazards. 
 
 Sponging and Refinishing Works. Advise fully as to use of heat 
 and processes. They are not bad risks at fair rates. Most of 
 the stock is cloth in rolls. 
 
 Stables — Boarding, Car. Express, Training, etc., etc. (See 
 Livery Stables for physical hazards.) Avoid insurance on 
 animals of fancy values, stallions, racers, etc. We cannot 
 afford to pay large amounts, as already explained, from the 
 suffocation of a single pair of lungs by smoke from a little 
 burning straw or hay. 
 
 Stallions. Decline. A slight injury to these animals some- 
 times reduces their value 95 and no obtainable rate will pay 
 for the risk. 
 
 Stamp and Quartz Mills. The hazard most to be feared in this 
 class of risks, probably, is the moral hazard as to the profitable- 
 ness of the mill, permanence of supply of ore, etc., and the con- 
 venience for transportation facilities both ways. The physical 
 
540 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 hazards are simply those of steam boilers and machinery, with 
 an added hazard of the liability to friction in journals and, 
 therefore, overheated journals from the fine powder, which is 
 apt to ruin them and which is a result of the process. They 
 should rate high, and the company should not be bound, under 
 any circumstances, without its consent first obtained on full 
 advice; as it probably has information with regard to each 
 hazard in its office. (See (Quartz Mills.) 
 
 Starch Manufactories. These risks have been unprofitable to 
 companies. The drying of starch is a dangerous process and 
 should be completely isolated. Fires in the dry rooms are 
 peculiarly rapid and thorough inspection should be made. In 
 fact, we regard the hazards of a drying kiln as not ratable and 
 the contents as uninsurable. They should be entirely outside 
 of the main structure. Dust explosions are frequent. The 
 flour or grinding mill hazard should be examined. If the dry 
 kilns are completely outside of the factory (to communicate even 
 with iron doors is objectionable) submit full survey to company. 
 Potato starch factories are written by few companies and 
 then only at very high rates. 
 
 State Houses. Same as Court Houses, (see page 455.) 
 
 Stave and Heading Manufactories. (See Barrel Factories, page 
 430.) 
 
 Steamboats. These should be referred to company. Avoid 
 old boats and boats running at a loss to owners or on a line 
 where destructive competition exists or boats are laid up in 
 consequence of competition. They are sometimes burned by 
 rival interests. In applying to the company for insurance on 
 steamboats advise as to age, value, ownership, fuel burned, 
 general character of freight carried, and route (which latter 
 should be limited in the policy,) and especially whether a paying 
 investment to owners. The Marine ratings are important, and 
 no boats rating lower than A l l A should be taken. Where 
 boats are laid up during the winter the location of winter moor- 
 ing should be ascertained and the company advised. It quite 
 frequently happens that all the boats of a line are moored for 
 the winter not only in dangerous proximity to woodworking and 
 other special hazards on the water front, but so near to each 
 other that they would inevitably he destroyed by a single fire 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 541 
 
 and the Company might have as many lines involved as there 
 are boats. In considering the possibility of assistance from fire- 
 boats, harbor tugs, etc., the probabilities of inaccessibility in 
 winter owing to ice must be taken into careful consideration. 
 The Company would want advice as to all of these facts and as 
 to the number of watchmen employed, etc., etc. Steam tugs 
 and steam dredges have been particularly unprofitable. Ex- 
 cursion boats are worth 50 fc more than regular trip boats. 
 
 Stereotypers. (See Electrotypers, page 461.) 
 
 Stock Yards. Cattle Pens, Etc. These should be examined 
 carefully as to storage of hay and straw, carefulness of employes 
 as to matches, lanterns, etc., and proximity to special hazards. 
 The Company would require full advice before authorizing lines. 
 
 Stove Foundries. (See Foundries, page 471.) 
 
 Straw Board Mills. (See Paper Mills, page 522.) 
 
 Straw Goods Manufactories. Refer to Company with full par- 
 ticulars as to bleaching, drying, etc. These hazards should be 
 entirely separated from danger to the main values. 
 
 Sugar Refineries. These risks are seldom found outside of 
 large cities, where they are controlled by large corporations. 
 The buildings are unusually high and a fire once started in them 
 is likely to prove total. They are liable to spontaneous com- 
 bustion in the char house and should be carefully inspected as 
 to boiling and other heat processes. They are generally, how- 
 ever, carefully managed. It is seldom that they should rate 
 less than 2 
 
 Sugar Houses on Plantations. Advise fully as to the heat 
 hazard, especially as to the fuel used and the care of manage- 
 ment. They have not been profitable as a class. The method 
 of handling cane, however, is undergoing a change. Large 
 plants for this purpose are located at central points and buy 
 their cane from the planters, so that many of the old-fashioned 
 sugar houses are out of use. They should be reported on as to 
 this condition. 
 
 Tack Manufactories. These have been very unprofitable. It 
 would naturally be supposed that tacks being incombustible are 
 not liable to damage. On the contrary they will rust from 
 water thrown, and heavy claims result, especially from un- 
 
542 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 scrupulous owners; and after severe heat the entire contents of 
 a box of tacks will be found almost inseparable, a solid mass of 
 worthless iron. 
 
 Tanneries require the most intelligent examination and super- 
 vision to escape the moral hazard attaching to many risks. 
 Physically, they are much improved by the complete isolation 
 of the bark mill and boiler room, and by the stacking of bark 
 so that it will not expose the tannery or be exposed to locomotive 
 or other sparks. Bark-dust is very retentive of fire ; in fact, it 
 is almost impossible to extinguish a fire in it when once kindled, 
 and after a fire is supposed to be out it may conceal and carry 
 sparks for hours. No lights, fires, or smoking should be per- 
 mitted, and where spent bark is used for fuel, under the boilers, 
 the boiler-room, as before stated, should not expose the tannery. 
 (See Bark Mills, page 429.) Care should be taken to arrange 
 the conveyers of bark to the boiler rooms so that they may not 
 prove conveyers of flame, in case of fire. The boiler chimney 
 should be of brick, as recommended on page 406, and should be 
 provided with a spark arrester. Care should, also, be observed 
 in the storage of lime. The loosening of wool from skins is 
 sometimes dangerously managed. A serious moral hazard 
 sometimes results when the supply of bark has been exhausted, 
 necessitating its transportation, at great expense, from a dis- 
 tance. "A. 1" ownership, and location in cities or large villages, 
 usually insisted upon. Refer all applications for insuring 
 tanneries to the Company. 
 
 Telephone Offices, Central Stations. These must not be insured 
 without consent of Company first obtained, submitting the 
 proposed form. The switchboards especially are very suscep- 
 tible to damage and are often of large value; that of the 
 telephone exchange in New York, it is said cost half a million 
 dollars. 
 
 Water pipes, which would be liable to leak, or automatic 
 sprinkler pipes, are objectionable over switchboards, unless 
 canopy shelters are arranged to carry water past the contact 
 points. Such shelter should also be provided over dynamos. 
 
 Theatres. Opera Houses. Etc. These risks as usually constructed, 
 especially in country towns, are uninsurable at obtainable rates. 
 When built in accordance with obvious rules of safety, we mav 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 543 
 
 begin to write them; but as at present constructed, they are 
 unprofitable risks. They are carelessly managed. The carpen- 
 ter shop, paint shop, etc., expose the main building, whereas 
 they should be entirely outside where their burning could not 
 injure the theatre, and the construction of the stage, with its 
 great depth for lowering scenery and its great height for rais- 
 ing it, with highly combustible scenery painted with inflam- 
 mable paints, wooden shifting appliances in a dry state, flies, 
 rigging loft, etc., etc., it is almost impossible to extinguish a 
 fire when once started. Carelessness of actors and employes as 
 to cigarettes, cigars, etc., and the fact that all of them leave 
 the building at night too tired to be careful to see that all fires 
 and lights are out and that no fires are smouldering, makes 
 them exceedingly dangerous. Many of the exhibitions, more- 
 over, use dangerous materials for scenic effects and fireworks, 
 and the fire appliances are seldom of the best. The day will, 
 probably, come when all theatre and opera houses will be re- 
 quired, by law, to be securely divided into two separate risks, 
 by a fire-wall running through the roof — effectually cutting off 
 the stage, dressing rooms, carpenter shop, etc., from the audi- 
 torium, a fireproof curtain or drop door being so constructed as 
 to cut off all communication between the stage, with its scenery, 
 and the rest of the building. The draught formed by opening 
 the doors, for the exit of an audience, would have the tendency 
 to draw the smoke, gases and flame of a stage fire into the 
 auditorium (as in the case of the Brooklyn Theatre), to the 
 great danger of those who might, otherwise, escape. For this 
 reason, the wall should extend through the roof, effectually 
 cutting off all communication between the stage and the empty 
 space or attic usually left between the ceiling of the audi- 
 torium and the roof. 
 
 All passageways, hall- ways, etc., should gradually widen 
 to the point of exit, sharp angles and corners being avoided. 
 This simple precaution would prevent the choking of a passage 
 by a crowd, as it would be impossible to block up a passage- 
 way so constructed. Under no circumstances, should a hall- 
 way be narrower, at any point in its length, than at its exit 
 beginning. Strong iron railings, without balustrades * should 
 
 *Balustrades are objectionable as, in case of a leg or foot becoming caught 
 in them, they might lead to an obstruction of the passage. 
 
544 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 be provided on each side of all staircases, as they would assist 
 in preventing the falling of individuals and other ill effects of a 
 rush. The terrible disaster in the Brooklyn Theatre, in De- 
 cember, 1876, by which over three hundred human beings 
 perished, would indicate that the floors and supports of halls 
 and staircases should be much stronger than the other portions 
 of the building, and that the strength required by law to bear 
 the safe loading (see page 90) is not sufficient, in view of the 
 vibration and sudden strain caused by a rush and panic of 
 the inmates. 
 
 Doors to places of exit should always swing outwards, and 
 each section of seats should have a separate exit, to avoid the 
 Crowding incidental to an alarm of fire and a panic on the part 
 of the inmates. 
 
 The New York Building Law is very stringent. It requires 
 that there shall be at least one front on a street and, unless on a 
 corner, that there shall be passageways on both sides of the 
 building for the escape of the audience. This would facilitate, 
 also, the operations of the firemen. To overcome differences of 
 level between courts, corridors, lobbies, etc., gradients or inclined 
 floors must be employed instead of steps, with a rise of not over 
 1 foot in 12. All doors are required to open outwards and to 
 be fireproof. No workshop, storage or general property room 
 is allowed above or under the stage or auditorium or in any 
 of the fly galleries. They may be located in the rear or at the 
 side of the stage, but it is required that they shall be separated 
 by a brick wall with fireproof doors. The staircases are required 
 to be enclosed in brick walls and fireproof, and a proscenium 
 wall built of brick is required between the auditorium and the 
 stage and extending at least four feet above the stage roof, with 
 a fireproof curtain to protect the opening, sliding within iron 
 grooves with a lap of not less than six inches on each side of 
 the opening. Skylights are required over the stage, so con- 
 structed as to open instantly on the cutting or burning of a 
 hempen cord, to admit of the escape of smoke or gases at the 
 early stage of a fire. The stage is required to be of fireproof 
 materials and the fly galleries, including pin rolls, to be con- 
 structed of metal with fireproof floors. The rigging loft is also 
 required to be fireproof, and the stage scenery is to be saturated 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 545 
 
 with some fire resisting material or chemical. The walls sepa- 
 rating the dressing rooms, and the partitions dividing the dress- 
 ing rooms, are required to he fireproof. Circular or winding 
 stairs are prohibited. The width of staircases is proportioned 
 to the seating capacity. All staircases over 8 feet in width are 
 required to have a center hand rail of metal, strongly supported 
 by metal standards, to prevent individuals from falling on the 
 stairs in a panic. Automatic sprinklers are required over the 
 stage, with standpipes at each proscenium opening. Fire hose, 
 casks of water, and huckets, and other appliances for extinguish- 
 ing fire, are to be provided, and a fireman from the city fire 
 department is required to be present at ever} r performance. Oil 
 lamps are required on shelves, to be kept lighted, in case the 
 electric lights or gas lights become extinguished. Every city 
 and town in the country would do well to enact a law on the 
 lines of the New York regulations. The precautions observed 
 in Paris might, with profit, be followed here — those of permit- 
 ting no performance to take place without a small engine sta- 
 tioned on the stage, with two or more experienced firemen in 
 attendance. 
 
 Some of the fires in this class of risks may be due to the spon- 
 taneous combustion of scenery canvas, painted in oil colors, and 
 rolled up when not in use. (See page 145.) While in use ex- 
 posed to currents of air, it would not be dangerous, except from 
 its liability to ignite upon contact with flame, but when rolled 
 up or covered up, in any way, so as to confine the heat gene- 
 rated spontaneously, it would be very liable to burn. 
 
 The fact that so long ago as 1830 Mr. Braid wood, Superin- 
 tendent of the London Fire Brigade, recommended the simple 
 but important precaution of cutting off the stage, with its 
 accompaniments of dressing rooms, storage rooms, paint room 
 and carpenter shop, from the auditorium, by a fire-wall and iron 
 curtain, and the fact that, up to this time, there are only a few 
 cities which require it, shows how little attention is usually paid 
 to the opinions and suggestions of experienced and practical 
 firemen. If these curtains should be double, with an air space 
 between the two, they would be better, and, besides, in case one 
 should not happen to work, the other might. It should be the 
 business of a particular individual, regularly and judiciously 
 
546 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 stationed for the purpose, to attend to the letting down of the 
 curtains, in case of fire, and they should be so arranged as to be 
 closed from the auditorium side. Egress may be easily pro- 
 vided from the stage and dressing rooms for actors and em- 
 ployees. The simple provision of sprinkler pipes between these 
 curtains, so arranged over the top of the arch and down the 
 sides as to form, literally, a curtain of ivater, in case of a fire, 
 would not only keep the iron from warping, but prevent the 
 escape of smoke and gases into the auditorium. Such a pro- 
 vision would be somewhat similar to the spray of water used in 
 connection with a hose pipe, to enable firemen to approach fire, 
 without danger or discomfort. 
 
 A system of sprinklers above the scenery and woodwork of 
 the stage is such a valuable protection that it should always be 
 required. 
 
 While all appliances for the control of a fire and its extinction 
 and for the escape of the audience, however, are desirable and 
 imperative, it should be remembered that precautions for pre- 
 venting fire are still more important, and, to this end, the 
 scenery and woodwork of the stage, instead of being highly in- 
 flammable, as is now almost universally the case, should be 
 rendered incombustible by preparing them with simple, in- 
 expensive and well known chemicals. 
 
 All of the appointments of the stage — the scenery (often 
 painted with oil paints), borders and woodwork — are of the 
 most inflammable description, in some cases, benzine actually 
 being used, and purchased by the barrel. It is unnecessary to 
 state where this dangerous material is used on scenery, no 
 provision of wire screens to protect foot and border lights would 
 prevent fire, as the gas generated by the benzine would, itself, 
 seek the gas jet and ignite through the wire. 
 
 Among the chemicals recommended for the purpose of render- 
 ing scenery uninflammable may be mentioned borax, alum and 
 the tungstates of sodium or potassium. 
 
 The canvas, ropes, etc., may be soaked in a solution of tung- 
 state of soda (one bucketful of the salt to seven bucketfuls of 
 hot water) for thirty minutes, and when thoroughly dry, in a 
 solution of silicate of soda, commonly known as "soluble 
 glass,''' diluted in the same proportion. The same application 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 547 
 
 will render woodwork safe, but it is claimed that a solution of 
 tungstate of molybdenum is better for the purpose. 
 
 Phosphate of ammonia is, also, recommended for scenery. 
 It requires only one process and is, therefore, more convenient 
 than the tungstates. 
 
 Thread Manufactories. (See Cotton and Woolen Mills, page 446. ) 
 
 Tile Manufactories. Report fully as to character of buildings, 
 arrangement of kilns, etc., etc. They are usually cheap affairs 
 and uninsurable, and the Company will want full advice before 
 authorizing lines. 
 
 Tobacco Barns or Curing Houses. These are farm risks located 
 near the tobacco fields and are usually of light frame or log 
 construction. The hazards connected with the drying process 
 are serious, and usually poorly guarded, and the class has been 
 unprofitable. The salable character of tobacco tempts dishonest 
 parties to rob them at night and set fire to them to cover the 
 theft, which is probably the reason that enough are burned out 
 of one hundred to make obtainable rates inadequate. 
 
 They cannot be safely insured during the time when fire heat 
 is used, and for this reason annual or long term policies must 
 not be written without the following clause : 
 
 "The use of artificial or fire heat is not permitted while 
 th is policy is in force. " This will insure notice when fire heat 
 is used. 
 
 The arrangement of tobacco for curing in a tobacco barn 
 presents every element of danger. It is usually hung on sticks 
 and so arranged as to hang higher in the centre than on the 
 sides, leaving a hollow space in the centre. In the middle of 
 the floor a log fire is made, any sparks from which, as when 
 the fire is being fed, are liable to ignite the tobocco. We prefer 
 to take no chances, Seventeen barns controlled by one concern 
 were burned in two weeks. 
 
 As already stated under heading ' 'Tobacco Prizing and Re- 
 handling Houses," those hazards are sometimes insured as 
 barns, when prizing and rehandling houses are the risks 
 covered. 
 
 Decline tobacco barns for tenants. 
 
 Obtain consent of company before binding. 
 
548 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Tobacco Prizeries, Stemmeries and Rehandling Houses. Refer to 
 
 Company. These risks are often in towns with fire department 
 protection, hut on account of their light construction combined 
 with the large quantities of loose and hanging tobacco, total 
 losses usually result when they once get on fire. The chief 
 hazard is the use of steam for "ordering" and drying; pipes 
 should be kept free from woodwork and not under the drying 
 tobacco where it could fall on them. Dry room should prefer- 
 ably be cut off from main building. No smoking or lights 
 should be permitted. Casks of water and pails should be liber- 
 ally provided. 
 
 The class, as a rule, may safely be declined. It has been very 
 unprofitable. If any exceptions can be made it is only in the 
 case of houses in towns having a population of 2,500 or over, 
 where the warehousemen are monied men and do a small 
 prizing and rehandling business to accommodate producers in 
 the immediate vicinity of the town. The smaller houses in the 
 country may be regarded as uninsurable. Books of account 
 are generally burned with the house, and the only book pro- 
 duced by the owner is usually a small pocket, pencil memor- 
 andum, wholly unreliable. 
 
 Houses using fire heat, in districts producing dark, heavy 
 tobacco, are especially dangerous while in process of drying, fire 
 heat being necessary to cure the heavy, large tobacco growing 
 on low, flat and black soil, like that in certain sections, which 
 tobacco is full of water and cures too slowly without fire heat. 
 It is largely stemmed for the English market. 
 
 Tobacco raised on hilly ground is usually a light, small leaf, 
 does not require heat, and the fire risk is a better one. 
 
 It is customary to call prizing and rehandling houses tobacco 
 barns, and care must be taken to see that the company is not 
 insuring a more objectionable risk under the description of a 
 "barn." As already stated, however, it is best to decline risks 
 outside of important, larger towns, with fire departments. 
 
 Tobacco Storage and Sales Warehouses. Physical hazards con- 
 nected therewith are not important, but if a fire once starts 
 serious loss usually results. No smoking should be permitted 
 during sales. Obtain from Company at the beginning of the 
 season the maximum line it is willing to carry. 
 
HOW TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 549 
 
 Tobacco Factories. Refer to Company, with advices regard- 
 ing the class of goods manufactured, and the processes con- 
 nected therewith. Special attention should he given to arrange- 
 ment and location of dry rooms, dressers or steamers (these 
 should be located outside — if inside an extra rate should be 
 charged) ; and flavoring or licorice kettles should be safely 
 arranged on the ground floor. If fine cut or smoking tobacco 
 is manufactured look carefully into the heating apparatus con- 
 nected with the rotary dryers. Presses should be insured 
 specifically and separately from machinery or fixtures. Keep 
 stock lines down on account of susceptibility to damage. 
 
 Experience teaches that large claims are sometimes made on 
 tobacco, after a fire, where the actual loss is trifling. 
 Toboggan Slides. Decline. 
 
 Tool Manufactories. (See Hardware Manufactories, page 475.) 
 
 Town Halls. Same as Court Houses, (see page 455.) 
 
 Toy Manufactories. Few companies write these, even at high 
 rates; the physical hazard and susceptibility of stock to damage 
 make obtainable rates inadequate. Wooden toy factories have 
 all the hazards of woodworkers, together with the additional 
 hazard of painting, generally done by dipping. This should be 
 carried on in a separate compartment where it would not en- 
 danger the main values, and the room needs to be freely venti- 
 lated, as the paint is usually thinned with benzine or naphtha. 
 The company should be consulted before binding. 
 
 Traction Risks — Horse Car, Trolley, Etc., Etc. The Company 
 will want full advice as to the motive power. If by horses or 
 mules, they will want full advice as to the stables; also as to 
 whether stoves are used in the cars; if not, how heated. Numer- 
 ous fires have occurred from carelessness as to stoves, and also 
 from electric heaters when trolley poles are not removed from 
 the wires as soon as cars are brought into the barns. Co-insurance 
 to the extent of 80$ of value will be insisted upon, and cars 
 will not be insured under any circumstances without co-insur- 
 ance or at low rates. (See Car Stables, page 4:58.) 
 
 Training Stables. (See Livery Stables, page 515.) Blooded 
 animals of fancy values may safely be regarded as uninsurable 
 at obtainable rates. We prefer to decline them. 
 
550 
 
 MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Trunk Manufactories. These have been exceedingly unprofit- 
 able. The physical hazards of woodworking, gluing, etc.. etc., 
 justify full rates. Painting and japanning should he cut off. 
 
 Tug Boats. (See Steamboats). 
 
 Turpentine Distilleries. Decline. Structures are cheap and the 
 hazard of ignition serious. 
 
 Type Foundries. These are unprofitable as a class. They are 
 usually on the upper floors of buildings, are too often carelessly 
 managed ; and the melting arrangements are often on shabby 
 wooden platforms covered with a single brick in thickness, with 
 room between the bricks to allow ashes, etc., to sift down be- 
 tween, only serving to conceal charred floor conditions. 
 
 Upholsterers. (See Mattress Factories, page 515.) The 
 physical hazard of picking combustible material, &c, is suffi- 
 cient to justify higher rates than those obtained, to say nothing 
 of other dangers. 
 
 Varnish Factories. Full rates should be charged. The burn- 
 ing should be entirely separate from the other processes and 
 values and in a fireproof structure, and not covered by the 
 policy. The fact is the class do not usually pay adequate rates, 
 except for fireproof establishments, which as a rule are not in- 
 sured . 
 
 Vessels. (See Steamboats. ) 
 
 Vinegar Manufactories. Those manufacturing vinegar from 
 fruit, apple cider, etc., are not serious risks if properly con- 
 structed. Those that use alcohol should be declined. 
 
 Wadding and Batting Manufactories. Decline. (See Batting 
 Manufactories, page 430.) 
 
 Wagon Manufactories. The large works involve all of the 
 woodworking hazards, especially the naphtha paint hazard, to- 
 gether with the usual metal working hazards, and the Company 
 should be advised fully as to all of these. A full-fledged wagon 
 manufactory is practically a machine shop, planing mill, saw 
 mill, and paint shop combined. Small wheelwright shops are 
 profitable at fair rates. 
 
 Wall Paper Manufactories. These risks have never paid at cur- 
 rent rates. Aside from the physical hazard of paper mills they 
 have the hazard of chemicals, coloring processes, sizing, etc., 
 
ITo\V TO INSPECT THEM. 
 
 551 
 
 etc., and the stock is exceedingly susceptible to damage by 
 water and, it is claimed, also by smoke. In fact, claims upon 
 wall paper have been so serious of late years, even in the case 
 of stocks of stores, that the companies find it necessary to de- 
 cline them unless in conscientious hands and at very full rates. 
 In a recent instance it was claimed that a stock of wall paper, 
 which had been damaged so slightly to all appearances that the 
 adjusters thought the damage was only s^on, was damaged to 
 a considerably greater extent. The companies were confronted 
 with demands for an appraisal, which resulted in an award of 
 over $80,000, the owners claiming that defects in the wall paper, 
 owing to chemical reactions due to the heat and smoke, might 
 develop months after the paper was on the walls of dwelling 
 houses. Such claims would justify declining the class unless 
 at rates which would practically be prohibitory. The drying 
 process is a dangerous one, the arrangement of stock forming 
 ideal conditions for the quick spread of fire. Losses are usually 
 total. 
 
 Waste, "clean." It is often the case that cop and other waste, 
 silk noels, etc., are claimed to be so clean as to warrant low 
 rates of insurance, but the claimant overlooks the fact that 
 almost any collection of so-called ' 'clean waste' 1 is liable to have 
 in it oily waste, where an employe in a manufactory has used a 
 small portion for wiping off machinery, and it is safe to decline 
 any risk on the material and to assume that there is no such 
 thing as ''clean waste." 
 
 Watch Manufactories. The physical hazard of this class is not 
 serious. Advise the Company fully as to construction, use of 
 fire heat, carefulness, etc., etc. The stock is very susceptible 
 to damage and should pay full rates. It is more damageable 
 in the exposed conditions of unassembled parts, as in a factory, 
 than in the case of finished watches in a jewelry store, although 
 some underwriters seem to regard a watch manufactory as 
 favorably as a jewelry store. All the machinery is delicate 
 and easily ruined. 
 
 Water Cures, Sanitariums. (See Sanitariums.) 
 
 Weaving Mills. (See Cotton and Woolen Mills, page 44t;.) In 
 this class of risk the spinning, carding and picking hazards 
 would be eliminated, the mill buying its warps. 
 
MANUFACTORIES OR SPECIAL HAZARDS. 
 
 Wire Works. Advise Company fully as to construction, care- 
 fulness of management, etc. They have not been profitable 
 risks. Report fully as to the use of oil for tempering, and 
 arrangement and location of apparatus. A fire occurred in the 
 R. H. Wolff & Co. wire works, New York, caused by over- 
 heating of oil in a tempering furnace tank. The outlet pipe at 
 the bottom of the tank became clogged and the heated wire 
 passing through the oil raised its temperature to the point of 
 ignition and fire ensued. This outlet pipe should be of sufficient 
 size to prevent clogging. A fire occurred April. 18!)G, in the 
 Washburn & Moen Mfg. Co. factory, Worcester, Mass. The 
 oil used as a fuel in tempering and hardening furnaces was 
 stored in two large tanks outside, being pumped to a secondary 
 tank inside. It is probable that a small quantity of oil in the 
 pipe, released l>y workmen in making repairs, flowed down up- 
 on a portion of the ovens. The ovens were not being operated 
 but were hot enough to vaporize this oil and set it on fire. 
 
 Where electrical insulated wire is made the additional hazard 
 of handling rubber and weaving the covering, etc., adds to the 
 risk. 
 
 Wood. (See Cord Wood, page -445.) 
 
 Wood Pulp Manufactories. (See Pulp Manufactories, page 534.) 
 
 Woodworkers. The hazards of planing and saw mills, box 
 manufactories, furniture manufactories, etc., have already been 
 explained. They involve the hazards of all other classes of 
 woodworking. 
 
 White Lead Works. These should be referred to the Company 
 before binding and an additional charge of hot less than Ifc 
 should be made where boiling of oil is done in the building or 
 where its burning will expose the building. The class has not 
 been profitable. 
 
 Willow-Ware Manufactories, or stocks composed wholly or largely 
 of willow-ware, are not desirable risks at current rates. Such 
 merchandise damages easily by smoke. 
 
 Wooden Ware Manufactories. These have been unprofitable to 
 companies. The physical hazard is serious, especially as to dry 
 rooms, and current rates are inadequate. Advise the Company 
 fully before binding. 
 
!lo\\ TO [KSPECT THEM. 
 
 553 
 
 Wool Scouring Risks. It is difficult to account for the tires 
 that have occurred in this class, hut it is possibly due to the dry- 
 ing hazard. The scouring of wool is a soap and water process, 
 water being used in large quantities, so that a large portion of 
 the establishment is wet. New processes are being introduced 
 involving the use of chemicals and benzine and should be care- 
 fully watched. 
 
 Woolen and Cotton Mills. (See Cotton Mills, page 446.) 
 
 Yachts. Refer to Company with full particulars. They are 
 unprofitable as a class, rapidly deteriorate in value, changing 
 with the whims of owners, who soon tire of them or want larger 
 and speedier boats and lose interest in the safety of one well in- 
 sured. 
 
 Zylonite Manufactories. (See Celluloid.) 
 
 N. B. — The reason for marking so man}* of the foregoing 
 hazards as to be declined is that, at current rates, they are 
 unprofitable. 
 
 When circumstances are so modified as to make them paying 
 risks, companies are entirely willing to write them. In the 
 meantime, where a number of special hazards, including those 
 marked to be declined, are located at an agency, the agent 
 should report the fact to the Company, in order that an inspec- 
 tion of them may be made by a competent special agent, and a 
 specific understanding arrived at as to the insurance of them ; 
 for while, as a class, many of them may be bad, some may be 
 fit to be insured at a proper rate. 
 
FORMS OF POLICIES. 
 
 I approach this subject with a profound sense at once of its 
 importance and of the difficulty of properly treating it. After 
 the rate has been carefully computed the form of policy may be 
 so worded as to literally cut it in two, perhaps in four, as was 
 the case actually in a manufacturing risk of large values divided 
 into four separate risks, where specific insurance was sought 
 for a small percentage of the value in each and floating insurance 
 for the difference covering in its range all four localities. 
 Underwriters were deceived by the clause in the floater that the 
 policy should not attach until the specific insurance was ex- 
 hausted. It was exhausted one day in one of the four sub- 
 divisions and the floating insurers paid a total loss, whereas the 
 specific insurers got off with salvage on account of the 80$ co- 
 insurance clause. 
 
 The late Mr. Clarence Knowle's once described a floater as a 
 policy which floats all around until there is a fire and then lights 
 at the exact location. 
 
 It was recently discovered in the territory of the New York 
 Fire Insurance Exchange that floating policies might be ex- 
 hausted and the specific insurers escape with a still greater sal- 
 vage under the standard co-insurance form of New York State, 
 which provides as follows : 
 
 This Company shall not be liable for a greater proportion of any loss or 
 damage to the property described herein than the sum hereby insured bears to 
 eighty per centum (80 %) of the actual cash value of said property at the time 
 such loss shall happen. In case of claim for loss on the property described 
 herein not exceeding five per cent. (5£) of the maximum amount named in the 
 policies written thereon and in force at the time such loss shall happen no 
 special inventory or appraisement of the undamaged property shall be required. 
 If the insurance under this policy be divided into two or more items, these 
 clauses shall apply to each item separately. 
 
NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY. 
 
 It will be observed that this clause does not provide that any 
 specific amount of insurance shall be carried by the property- 
 owner, but that the company shall not be called upon to pay a 
 greater percentage of any loss than the amount of its policy 
 bears to 80 # of the actual cash value of the property. It 
 would, therefore, be "exhausted" when it had paid all it could 
 be made to pay in accordance with its terms. 
 
 Let us suppose, for example, a value of $100,000 in a given 
 warehouse insured specifically for $20,000. A specific insurance 
 to this amount in case of a $40,000 loss would be liable for only 
 one-fourth of the $40,000, or $10,000, that being the proportion 
 which twenty thousand bears to eighty thousand or 80^. The 
 floating insurers, however, might claim that they were not 
 liable until the specific had been exhausted, meaning thereby 
 the whole $20,000 had been paid, which would make the float- 
 ing insurance loss $20,000. But this contention would not hold 
 under the phraseology of the clause, and they would clearly be 
 liable for $30,000. 
 
 1 was impressed while chairman of the Committee of the 
 National Board of Fire Underwriters on Forms of Policies, 
 which had repeated sessions, with the difficulty of drawing con- 
 tracts which would be just alike to the companies and to the 
 assured. In repeated instances phraseology which seemed so 
 nearly right that a unanimous vote could have been secured 
 upon it was afterwards found defective in one respect or another, 
 necessitating reconsideration. The patience which the gentle- 
 men composing the committee brought to the task and their 
 willingness to listen each to the opinion of every other member 
 resulted in the adoption of a series of forms which proved gener- 
 ally acceptable to the fraternity. 
 
 I believe this task of formulating contracts which shall cover 
 all classes of risks and all conditions of hazards is the most 
 important one connected with the business of insurance. The 
 ablest lawyers should be employed ; but lawyers alone could not 
 deal properly with the question without the advice and judg- 
 ment of underwriters, whose experience as to the construction 
 of clauses and the handling of claims would be absolutely 
 necessary for the proper performance of the task. They would, 
 in fact, be more independent of the lawyers than would the 
 lawyers be of them. 
 
FORMS OF POLICIES. 
 
 The standard form of policy of Now York State was adopted 
 by a combination of these two important elements, and the 
 policy which has since been adopted by other States is the re- 
 sult of their conferences and combined judgment. It may 
 be susceptible of improvement, of course, but asa whole it meets 
 the case more clearly than any policy contract yet drawn. 
 Those who framed it brought to their task an honest desire to 
 make a policy which should not only protect the rights of 
 underwriters, but be just to all honest claimants; and the 
 phraseology of the contract was specially designed to meet the 
 construction which had been placed upon ambiguous phrases 
 by the courts of highest resort. It would be well in all cases 
 of lawsuits to bear in mind when decisions are glibly quoted 
 to sustain interpretations of particular phrases, that the policy 
 in question before the court may have been very differently 
 worded from the standard form now in use. 
 
 In a very early and celebrated case, a learned English judge 
 remarked; "A policy of insurance has at all times been con- 
 sidered in courts of law as an absurd and incoherent instrument ; 
 but it is founded on usage, and must be governed and construed 
 by usage." Another of the justices in the same case, Lord 
 Kenyon, made the following statement: "I remember it was 
 said, many years ago, that if Lombard street (the insurance 
 thoroughfare of those days) had not given a construction to 
 policies of insurance, a declaration on a polic3 r would have been 
 bad in a general demurrer; but the uniform practices of mer- 
 chants and underwriters had rendered them intelligible." 
 
 From these two remarkable declarations, it may be inferred, 
 not only that the insurance contracts of that early day must 
 have been most unskilfully drawn, but that the first claimant 
 in a court of law, under a policy, would have fared but poorly, 
 since he would have had no usages or "uniform practices" of 
 underwriters to plead in support and explanation of his policy ; 
 and we may also infer that the equitable and honorable practices 
 of underwriters, even at that early day — practices which have 
 ever been characteristic of the profession — rendered lawsuits 
 to inforce just claims unnecessary until at some later date, when 
 the first unreasonable policy-holder, possibly the first who de- 
 veloped a "moral hazard," found that the "uniform practices" 
 
NEW YoKK STANDARD I'OUCY 
 
 551 
 
 of underwriters had, at last, established a standing in court for 
 his contract. 
 
 Since that early time in the history of underwriting, the form 
 of policy lias been altered and added to until we may imagine 
 the learned judge, in the case mentioned, would have been 
 astonished at the voluminous form of the insurance contract, 
 framed to meet the adverse decisions of court after court, and 
 to provide for one form of rascality after another, until, at one 
 time, it filled whole pages of restrictions and conditions. Indeed, 
 in a well-known insurance case, the judge remarked ; "A modern 
 policy is a very complicated contract. Before executing almost 
 any other instrument of equal perplexity, the parties would 
 deem it necessary to take advice of able counsel." 
 
 In its later form it met with criticisms at the hands of 
 judges of a very different character from that of the ancient 
 English justices whose opinions have been referred to, and it 
 at last, became a grave question whether, in view of the pre- 
 judice with which its fine print and numerous conditions were 
 regarded by both judge and jury, the underwriters would not 
 secure more substantial justice in the courts of law to which 
 they were sometimes driven by dishonest or unreasonable claim- 
 ants, if they had shorter contracts, printed in larger and clearer 
 type, relying more upon the substantial protection which the 
 written and unwritten law extends to a contract in which one 
 party reposes entirely in the good faith of the other. 
 
 In one case a distinguished judge, in speaking of the old form 
 of policy before the jury, made the following statement : "Now 
 we know, from common observation, that not one in a hundred 
 of those who procure policies gives any attention whatever to 
 the finely printed page containing the conditions of a policy. 
 They cannot afford to expend the time required to study them 
 over and they take it for granted that they would not be enlight- 
 ened if they should." A learned chief justice of Massachusetts 
 made a similar criticism. What the effect of such a declaration 
 from the court would be upon a jury may easily be imagined by 
 any one who has had experience in defending lawsuits brought 
 against insurance companies, and who has observed the deter- 
 mination, frequently taken at the very outset of a case by the 
 twelve disinterested men in the jury box, to disregard the 
 
55ft 
 
 POIIMS OP I'OUCIKK. 
 
 plainest provisions of a policy which is the undisputed contract 
 between the parties. 
 
 A dishonest, selfish and short-sighted w illingness to do in- 
 justice to an honest company, in order to secure for themselves 
 immunity in the future from the consequences of their neglect 
 of proper business precautions, not un frequently led intelligent 
 business men. when in the jury box, to forget the obligations of 
 a juror's oath, and to ignore the violated conditions of a plain 
 contract in favor of a dishonest claimant, ostensibly on the 
 miserable plea of "fine print." but, really, because they feared 
 that, at some time or other, they might themselves suffer from 
 their own inexcusable neglect. 
 
 THE STANDARD POLICY OF NEW 5TORK. 
 
 Having this prejudice on the part of judge and jury, there- 
 fore, in mind and, at the same time, remembering that the con- 
 ditions of a policy, when not intended for the information and 
 protection of honest policy-holders, are designed to defeat fraud 
 on the part of dishonest ones; the Commission of underwriters 
 and lawyers appointed to frame The Standard Policy of New 
 York approached the serious task of cutting down an important 
 and well considered contract in order to meet a popular and 
 unwise prejudice, with the determination to use extreme care 
 and to be fortified with an intelligent reason for each and every 
 alteration and elimination. 
 
 In his wonderful commentary on the English law, Lord 
 Blackstone says : ' 'The common law of England has fared like 
 other venerable edifices of antiquity which rare and unexperi- 
 enced workmen have ventured to new-dress and refine with all 
 the rays of modern improvement. Hence, frequently its sym- 
 metry has been destroyed, its proportions distorted, and its 
 majestic simplicity exchanged for specious embellishments and 
 fantastic novelties." The commission were in no haste to prune 
 and improve a contract which was the result of ripe thought 
 and the outgrowth of years of experience on the part of wise 
 men, and yield to a popular but mistaken prejudice, remembering 
 that the interests of honest policy-holders, if they could only be 
 brought to realize it, are best subserved by explicit contracts, 
 
NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY. 
 
 559 
 
 with conditions and restrictions which will entrap rogues, who 
 arc the enemies not of the insurance companies alone but of 
 society itself. 
 
 The task of preparing a form of policy was not an easy one. 
 It is difficult to provide for the cases which our experience 
 teaches us are sure to arise. How much more difficult to provide 
 for those which have not yet arisen, hut which we ma}' be sure 
 will present themselves ! 
 
 Language itself is imperfect. "If," says Vattel in his Law of 
 Nations, "the ideas of men were always distinct and perfectly 
 determined; if for the expression of those ideas they had none 
 but proper words, no terms but such as were clear, precise, and 
 susceptible only of one sense, there would never be any difficulty 
 in discovering their meaning in the words by which they in- 
 tended to express it ; nothing more could be necessary than to 
 understand the language; but even in this supposition, the art 
 of interpretation would still not be useless. In all contracts it is 
 impossible to foresee and point out all the particular cases that 
 may arise. We decree, we ordain, we agree upon certain 
 things, and express them in general terms; and although all the 
 expressions of a general contract should be perfectly clear, plain 
 and determinate, the true interpretation would still consist in 
 making, in all the particular cases that may present themselves, 
 a just application of what has been agreed in a general manner.'" 
 
 In this view, it behooves us to keep in mind the numerous 
 rules of construction, and chiefly should we remember that most 
 important one laid down by the same eminent authority last 
 quoted, that "If he who could and ought to have explained him- 
 self clearly and fully, has not done it. it is the worse for him; 
 he cannot be allowed to introduce subsequent restrictions which 
 he has not expressed.'' And also that other significant rule laid 
 down by a high court — "conditions and provisos in policies of 
 insurance are to be construed strictly against the underwriters, 
 as they tend to narrow the range and limit the force of the 
 principal < >1 ligation . " 
 
 In view of the numerous objections which have been urged 
 against the old form of policy, it was deemed best to eliminate 
 every condition which could possibly be dispensed with, having, 
 a proper regard to the safety of the company and its honest 
 
500 
 
 FORMS < > F POLICIES. 
 
 policy-holders; relying, in many cases, merely on conditions 
 which would he implied by law, whether printed in the contract 
 or not. 
 
 Those requirements which it would he difficult or impossible 
 for the company to prove had not been complied with, were 
 omitted altogether. That, for example, which states that the 
 policy shall be void if the building be unprovided with good and 
 substantial brick or stone chimneys has been omitted. It would 
 be difficult to disprove a dishonest claimant's statement that his 
 chimneys were all that had been required. Indeed, a learned 
 and ingenious judge held, in one case, that a building which had 
 one good and substantial brick or stone chimney could not be 
 held to be unprovided with those useful articles, even though 
 every other chimney in the building had been constructed of 
 mud and sticks. 
 
 The clause requiring notice to and consent of the company for 
 other insurance has been framed to meet decisions of the Courts 
 in two well known cases, to the effect that a subsequent policy 
 containing the same clause, viz., requiring notice of existing in- 
 surance, would be void ab in it io by reason of the neglect, willful 
 or otherwise, of the assured to give such notice, and. therefore, 
 would not be "other insurance," and not sufficient to invalidate 
 the first policy. We all know that the underwriter objects to 
 over-insurance only because of the temptation it offers to an 
 assured to burn his property for gain. In other respects, where 
 it does not lead to a fire, it is an advantage to the underwriter, 
 as it tends to diminish his loss. It is because of the incentive 
 to fraud which it offers that it is objectionable, and it is not the 
 less so if the assured supposes the insurance to be valid and 
 collectible. 
 
 Says a learned writer on this subject: "The spirit of the 
 condition is, therefore, violated, whether the second policy is 
 void or valid, whenever the insured supposes it to be good, and 
 this he must always suppose or he would not pay the premium 
 to procure it." 
 
 It was reserved, at last, for a judge in the state of Iowa — all 
 honor to his intelligence — to rebuke the impudence of this plea, 
 and to remind the ingenious attorney making it that the law did 
 not countenance such a monstrous injustice as that of permit- 
 
NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY. 
 
 561 
 
 ting a wrong-doer to take advantage of his wrong; to remind 
 him that if the policy was void by reason of his wrong-doing he 
 was not the proper one to plead its avoidance, and could have 
 no standing in court for such a purpose; that, on its face, the 
 policy was a valid one, and that, until the company issuing it 
 chose to plead its invalidity, it was a valid instrument in the eye 
 of the law, and the holder of it was estopped from pleading its 
 invalidity. 
 
 To prevent any doubt on this point, the clause as to other in- 
 surance was made to read as follows: "If the assured now has 
 or shall hereafter make or procure any other contract of insur- 
 ance, whether valid or not." etc. 
 
 The aim has been, in short, to make a form of policy as brief 
 as is consistent with safety, believing that by a shorter form in 
 plain long primer type — the font prescribed by law in one of the 
 States — substantial justice will be oftener secured before pre- 
 judiced juries than with longer and more explicit forms. 
 
 We should approach the task of making a contract, in the 
 good faith of which the households and commerce of a continent 
 repose, with a proper appreciation of the importance of the 
 undertaking — with something more than a sense of duty to our- 
 selves only. We know that those who accept our policies have 
 rights as well as we, and they expect that we will secure their 
 rights while we protect our own. We know that while many 
 of them never read our policies because of the time and trouble 
 it requires, there are not a few who neglect this precaution be- 
 cause they have faith in our fair dealing and confidence in our 
 rectitude. Let us remember that he who draws a contract for 
 his neighbor and himself should protect that neighbor not less 
 than himself. Finally, not only in the form of our contract, 
 but in the adjustment of losses under it and in the conduct of 
 our business generally, let us continue to deserve that ancient 
 and honorable reputation for fair dealing and "uniform prac- 
 tices" for which our profession, as a whole, has ever been dis- 
 tinguished ; and, in the words of the great Apostle, in his letter 
 to the people of that eternal city which gave to the world the 
 Justinian Code, one of the great corner-stones of the English 
 law and of our own. let us "Provide things honest in the sight 
 of all men !" 
 
562 
 
 FORMS OP POLICIES. 
 
 DOES THE NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY LAW PROHIBIT THE 
 USE OF CLAUSES OR FORMS WHICH HAVE NOT BEEN 
 FILED WITH THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT ? 
 
 It has been claimed by many that, under the law of the State 
 of New York, only those forms that have been filed with the 
 Superintendent of Insurance can be used in any case. While I 
 differ from this view, the companies generally would prefer to 
 take the ruling of the Attorney-General and the Superintendent 
 of Insurance, and it would probably be safest to do so. My own 
 recollection is (for 1 was a member of the Commission which 
 framed the Standard Policy) that the various forms for endorse- 
 ments, etc. , were filed as surplusage, and I have never regarded 
 them as required to be filed by law. Even if they had been, I 
 contend that the phraseology of the law and of the Standard 
 Policy itself would admit of other forms better suited to meet 
 the requirements of any particular case, and especially if in the 
 interest of the property-owner. 
 
 Chapter 513 of the Insurance Law of 1901 provides that "No 
 fire insurance corporation, its officers or agents, shall make, issue 
 or deliver for use any fire insurance policy, or a renewal of any 
 such policy, on property in this State, other than such as shall 
 conform in all particulars, as to blanks, sizes of type, context, 
 provisions, agreements and conditions with such printed blank 
 form of contract or policy, and no other or different provision, 
 agreement, condition or clause shall be in any manner made a 
 part of such contract or policy, or endorsed thereon or delivered 
 therewith, except as follows: 
 
 First. Name of corporation, etc. 
 
 Second. Printed or written forms of description and specifi- 
 cation or schedules of the property covered by any particular 
 policy, and any other matter necessary to clearly express all 
 the facts and conditions of insurance on any particular 
 risk, not inconsistent with or a waiver of any of the conditions 
 or provisions of the Standard policy herein provided for."' 
 
 The law of 1901 is a re-enactment of the law of 1886, with the 
 exception of a clause which provided for transferring from the 
 office of the Secretary of State to the office of the Superintendent 
 of Insurance the standard forms, &c. , that had been filed in the 
 
NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY. 
 
 563 
 
 first named office, "together with such provisions, agreements 
 or conditions as may previous to the thirty-first day of December, 
 1901, he filed by the New York Board of Fire Underwriters in 
 the office of the Superintendent of Insurance and approved by 
 him, which provisions, agreements or conditions shall be void if 
 they are inconsistent with the Standard fire insurance policy 
 heretofore filed in the office of the Secretary of State." 
 
 It must be conceded that it would be impossible at any fixed 
 date to conceive of forms which would, thereafter and for all 
 time clearly expi*ess all the facts and conditions of insurance of 
 particular risks, for new risks and new conditions are continually 
 arising, and the law evidently contemplated that such must b<' 
 provided for, stipulating only that such conditions should not be 
 inconsistent with or a waiver of the standard form. In short, 
 the law contemplated that the necessities of commerce, agri- 
 culture and business generally should be met by clauses which 
 would clearly describe conditions which underwriters might be 
 willing to assume, not inconsistent with the standard policy. 
 
 That the standard policy itself contemplates such conditions 
 is plain from its own provisions. In line 11, for example, of the 
 clause which provides for acts or laches of the assured which 
 would void the policy, it is contemplated that the compan}' may 
 provide by agreement endorsed on the policy for exceptions it 
 may be willing to make as to this clause. The language is as 
 follows: "This entire policy, unless otherwise provided by 
 agreement indorsed hereon or added hereto, shall be void," 
 &c. It is plain that the Legislature and the framers of policy 
 contemplated enlarging the policy in the interest of the property- 
 owner as occasion and justice might require. 
 
 Provision was also made in lines 56, 57, 58 and 59 as follows : 
 
 "If. with the consent of this company, an interest under this 
 policy shall exist in favor of a mortgagee or of any person or 
 corporation having an interest in the subject of insurance other 
 than the interest of the insured as described herein, the con- 
 ditions hereinbefore contained shall apply in the manner ex- 
 pressed, in such provisions and conditions of insurance 
 relating to such interest as shall be written upon, attached 
 or appended hereto" it is clear, therefore, that conditions other 
 than those of ownership may be provided for by conditions 
 
504 
 
 I i »RMS OF POLICIES. 
 
 written upon, attached or appended to the policy. A clause 
 providing that the loss, if any, shall be payable to a party as 
 mortgagee, "or his assigns," would clearly be in line with this 
 provision of the policy, and not a waiver of its conditions, for the 
 conditions themselves contemplate providing for specific in- 
 terests of payees; and, moreover, a contract between an in- 
 surance company and a mortgagee of insured premises touching 
 the interest of the mortgagee therein is an independent and 
 collateral agreement, according to the late Mr. William Allen 
 Butler. Mr. Butler was the counsel of the commission that 
 prepared the standard policy and so-called standard clauses. 
 In a letter written January loth 1898 he says: 
 
 'As the law expressly permits conditions as to particular risks 
 not inconsistent with or a waiver of am* of the provisions or 
 conditions of the Standard policy, and the mortgagee clause is 
 an enlargement thereof for the benefit of the mortgagee, it 
 may be written according to the particular terms agreed upon, 
 which in general are well expressed by the clauses formulated 
 by the framers of the New York Standard Policy and filed with 
 the Insurance Department as customary clauses in general 
 use, not as binding forms. If the New York law had re- 
 quired all clauses and conditions inserted in the policy to be 
 formulated, and a mortgagee clause had been so formulated, its 
 use would be binding on the insurance companies ; but it makes 
 no such requirement." 
 
 In the concluding paragraph of the letter of Attorney-General 
 O'Brien of Sept. 13, 1887, replying to letter of Mr. E. R. Kennedy, 
 Chairman of the Committee on Laws and Legislation of the Xew 
 York Board of Fire Underwriters,* of August 31, 1887, is the 
 following : 
 
 ''I am of the opinion that fire insurance companies should 
 conform to the letter of the statute and that they issue none 
 other than the standard clauses, although others ma}- cover sub- 
 stantially the same condition as those incorporated in the stand- 
 ard clauses, unless there is some particular feature about 
 the policy which is in no way inconsistent with the proviso 
 ions of the standard policy, which facts may be added to 
 the regular form of the standard policy" 
 
 *Mr. Kennedy was, also, Chairman of the Commission which framed the 
 Standard Policy. 
 
NEW YORK STANDARD POLICY. 
 
 5G5 
 
 The law did not require the riling of standard forms and 
 clauses for all conditions and hazards that might arise; that, for 
 example, of abnormally powerful electric currents passing 
 through dynamos or other electrical apparatus. No provision 
 could contemplate and provide for the various hazards which 
 would arise from time to time, and which, in the interest of the 
 community as well as of the underwriters, would need to be 
 provided for in the policies. Therefore, the mere tiling of those 
 forms which, at the date of filing, were supposed to be necessary 
 could not be held to preclude the use of forms which might 
 afterwards be found necessary in order to protect the companies 
 and the community from dangers which would arise from time 
 to time by discoveries in manufactures, chemistry, etc. — new 
 explosives, for example. 
 
 I respectfully submit that the Attorney-General and the 
 Superintendent of Insurance are mistaken in holding that the 
 filing of particular forms or clauses precluded the companies 
 from using any other matter necessary to clearly express all the 
 facts and conditions of insurance on any particular risk. In 
 lines Its, ;»'.) and 100 of the Standard Policy the following words 
 clearly contemplate the use of clauses which would thus apply, 
 to wit: "The extent of the application of the insurance 
 under this policy or of the contribution to be mode by this 
 company in cose of loss may l>e prodded for by agreement 
 or condition written hereon or attached or appended her e- 
 to." 
 
 And if any doubt could remain as to the right of companies 
 thus to provide for contingencies whose hazards they were un- 
 willing to assume, it would seem that such doubt would be re- 
 moved by the concluding paragraph of the Standard policy, as 
 follows : 
 
 "This policy is made and accepted subject to the foregoing 
 stipulations and conditions, together with such other provis- 
 ions, agreements or conditions as may be endorsed hereon 
 or added hereto, and no officer, agent or other representative 
 of this company shall have power to waive any provision or con- 
 dition of this policy except such as by the terms of this policy 
 may be the suhject of agreement indorsed hereon or added 
 hereto, and as to such provisions and conditions no officer, agent 
 
566 
 
 FORMS OF POLICIES. 
 
 or representative shall have such power or he deemed or held to 
 have waived such provisions or conditions unless such trainer, 
 if ant/, stiatt he irritten lijxm <>r attached hereto." 
 
 Thus the policy, by line 1 1, by lines 56, 57, 58 and 59, lines 
 98, 99 and loo. and the important paragraph with which it term- 
 inates, clearly contemplates specific conditions necessary to de- 
 scribe the risk and the conditions which the company assumes, 
 or is unwilling to assume ; and the insertion of such conditions 
 cannot p< issibly be regarded as inconsistent with or waiver of the 
 conditions of the Standard policy while these provisions cited 
 remain a portion of it. How can a clause or agreement endorsed 
 on a policy or attached thereto be "inconsistent" with the "con- 
 ditions or provisions of the Standard Policy"' if it be endorsed in 
 the manner prescribed by the Standard Policy itself, for just 
 such purposes and "to express all the facts and conditions of in- 
 surance on any particular risk?" 
 
 To hold that property-owners engaged in commerce and manu- 
 factures cannot secure insurance on terms of contract mutually 
 satisfactory to the insurance companies and themselves and, at 
 the same time, not contrary to public policy or prejudicial to the 
 rights of others, and that they are limited to forms of contract 
 framed at a date when no human foresight could possibly have 
 contemplated subsequent discoveries and processes, would be to 
 assume that the Legislature intended to make no provision for 
 growth and, therefore, was willing to cripple enterprise in all 
 lines of human effort; for insurance against disaster is necessary 
 for all business enterprise. That the Legislature in framing the 
 Standard conditions did not contemplate such a cast-iron policy 
 is evidenced by the liberal and elastic paragraphs of the Standard 
 Policy itself above quoted. 
 
 FORMS FOR POLICIES, ENDORSEMENTS, TRANSFERS. 
 ASSIGNMENTS, ETC., ETC. 
 
 Note. — For full instruc tions as to the writing of policies, see pages 287 to 307. 
 
 The following general forms will be found convenient for 
 making transfers, assignments, etc. 
 
POLICY FORMS. 
 
 567 
 
 I have not given much space to specific forms for insuring 
 buildings and their contents, as most companies furnish these 
 in printed blanks for attaching to policies. 
 
 Average clauses, co-insurance clauses, etc., vary, one State 
 with another, by reason of legislation and adopted forms ap- 
 proved by the Insurance Department. New Jersey has a sepa- 
 rate co-insurance clause, New York another. I regard the 
 clause of the National Board of I' nder writers as the best aver- 
 age or co-insurance clause, and next to this the standard clause 
 of New York State. 
 
 There could be no better evidence of the unwisdom of pro- 
 hibiting co-insurance, or stipulating that an exact form shall be 
 followed by a State (unless, indeed, an ideally correct form could 
 be agreed upon), than in the State of New Jersey, which pro- 
 videsa clause which cannot be departed from. The consequence 
 is that underwriters who would be quite willing to insert the 
 five per cent waiver clause as to inventory and appraisal in the 
 case of small losses (which forms a part of the New York clause 
 and which property-owners in New Jersey might well wish in- 
 serted) cannot give their customers the benefit of the clause be- 
 cause of the statutory prohibition. 
 
 The following forms were prepared by the committee of the 
 National Board, of which the writer was chairman. As the 
 National Board has no authority to require that they shall be 
 used, their use is optional, and I print them here because they 
 were carefully considered, and in the absence of any form re- 
 quired by State legislation they would probably be better for 
 the company and the assured than any framed less carefully. 
 
 The following is the report of the Committee: 
 They have endeavored to keep in mind the various decisions of the higher 
 courts, adopting in all eases phraseology whose interpretation seems to be well 
 settled by the courts. In order to reach a correct opinion, they have secured 
 from the various insurance associations throughout the country, the forms 
 adopted by them, with their explanation of preference for particular phrase- 
 ology. 
 
 They have, as a rule, avoided wherever possible the phrase "it is under- 
 stood and agreed," as admitting of evidence in case of litigation to disprove 
 the statement, and have instead used the phraseology "it is a condition of this 
 contract," or "it is expressly stipulated and made a condition of this contract," 
 etc. In the case of occupancy, the phrase ' 'while occupied for" has been taken 
 in preference to the phrase "privileged to be occupied for." 
 
COLD STORAGE FORMS. 
 
 The lightning clause recommended precludes all possibility of claim for 
 electrical damage to dynamos, wiring or other electrical appliances, in order 
 that the ordinary lightning clause attached to policies covering buildings con- 
 taining dynamos and other electrical appliances should not subject the com- 
 panies to claim for a loss which was not contemplated. 
 
 Coi.d Storage Clauses — The Committee found the conditions of the 
 situation with regard to cold storage to be manifold First, the companies 
 arc divided into two classes, those who are willing to assume only the direct 
 tire loss and arc unwilling to cover the indirect or consequential loss due to a 
 change of temperature by interruption of process, some of this class of com- 
 panies holding that they have no right under their charter to assume the in- 
 direct or consequential loss, especially where the interruption of process is by 
 afire occurring outside of the premises, as where a distant plant is burned. 
 Second, those companies who are willing, for an extra premium, to assume 
 the consequential loss or damage. 
 
 The warehouse men — or at least most of them — desire insurance covering 
 this consequential damage in order that they may, in securing loans from 
 banks give the policies as collateral security, the banks being unwilling to 
 accept as collateral a policy which excludes consequential damage, which may 
 involve the entire value of the merchandise. 
 
 Again, the warehouses seem to be divided as fire risks into no less than five 
 classes or kinds, viz. : 
 
 1. Those having the refrigerating or cooling plant in the building itself, 
 in which case it would be difficult to draw the line between the actual fire 
 damage and a direct damage of increased heat caused by combustion of 
 merchandise, as compared with the indirect damage from the rising of tempera- 
 ture owing to the interruption of the refrigerating process. 
 
 2. A warehouse having its cooling process or plant outside of the main 
 building, under control by the owner, as where it might be adjoining and 
 thoroughly cut off by a fire wall. 
 
 3. A warehouse — one of a number or system — supplied by a central plant 
 located, perhaps, at a distance of blocks from some of the warehouses protected. 
 
 4. A warehouse, one of a system, supplied by duplex plants, either or 
 both of which might be fireproof, and so reasonably assured against interruption 
 of process with duplex systems of pipes. 
 
 5. A warehouse distant from the supplying plant, but with pipes connect- 
 ing it passing through other hazards, some of them special hazards, and liable 
 to be interrupted or cut off by a tire in any one of the intermediate buildings. 
 
 It seemed clear to the Committee that their duty was oidy twofold: 
 
 (A) That of preparing a clause which should especially except any claim 
 for consequent ial damage, although this damage would probably be excepted 
 under the standard policy without any special clause or notice. 
 
 (B) A clause assuming the consequential damage, for which a chargeshould 
 be made; this charge or rate to be determined by the rating organization, like 
 the New York Fire Insurance Exchange, Boston Board or others, which would 
 certainly name a rate measuring each of the five conditions above named. 
 
COLD STORAGE FORMS. 
 
 It is probable that a company would assume the additional hazard for an 
 additional premium, and therefore use the clause I! But it is also possible 
 thai in the case of a warehouse system supplied by duplicate fireproof plants, 
 for example, the owner might object to paying the rate charged for the possi- 
 bility of interruption and assume this himself , in which case he would want 
 the policy without the consequential clause at the rate fixed for it. It is clear 
 lie should have this choice if he can find companies to insure him on such a 
 basis. 
 
 The problem is a complex one and, while possibly easily understood, re- 
 quires care on the part of the companies. Those who insure the direct fire 
 loss .md exclude the consequential or indirect damage are liable to have trouble 
 in case any company should assume both the lire loss and the consequential 
 damage in the same warehouse, as perplexing distribution questions would 
 arise in ease of loss. 
 
 The Committee felt that it was necessary to enumerate the various buildings 
 in which fires would occasion a loss under a policy covering the one insured, 
 inasmuch as consequential damage in a building resulting from the destruction 
 by a tire outside of the building would not be covered unless the policy assumed 
 liability for tires outside the building containing the merchandise insured, and 
 they felt it would be too indefinite to have the form read "by loss resulting 
 from fire in the above described building or outside of said building." There- 
 fore, the specific naming of all locutions w hose fires would in volve a loss claim 
 is deemed by the Committee nece ssary to insure that the policy would cover 
 such outside fire and at the same time insure that the company should have 
 notice of any change in hazard by changing the supply pipes to run through 
 other buildings than those named, and thus subject the company to additional 
 hazards not contemplated when taking the insurance. 
 
 It is important, that two sets of policies should be written, so as to prevent 
 complications arising out of non-concurrence and questions of contribution. 
 The companies assuming the fire risk only should except, by form "A," the 
 liability for the indirect or consequential damage. For the same reason, the 
 companies assuming the indirect or consequential damage alone should except 
 the fire hazard, so that they could not be called upon to contribute for the in 
 direct fire loss. Only in ease all of the companies insuring the property assume 
 both fire hazard and indirect or consequential hazard should the two hazards, 
 the fire and the consequential, be written on the same policy. 
 
 It is obvious that in cities where a refrigerating plant, whether single or 
 duplex, supplies a large number of risks (in one instance in New York 84 
 different buildings are so supplied) a company should know the facts in order 
 that it may not have an excessive line by a single fire. A company having 
 $10,000 in each of the twenty cold storage stores supplied by a burned plant 
 would be confronted with claims for $200,000 by the burning of such plant. 
 
 The question, therefore, is not merely one of rate, which might involve 
 charging in addition to the rate of the warehouse containing the property the 
 rates of all other risks whose burning would cause an indirect or consequential 
 damage, but is also one of line. Those companies who assume the conse- 
 quential damage will need to be very careful as to this point. 
 
POLICY FliKllS. 
 
 At the List. Animal Meeting of the Board, held in May, 1902, the Committee 
 was authorized to promulgate the forms which had been submitted for the 
 consideration of the Board and referred to the Committee witn power. The 
 following are such clauses and forms. 
 
 National Hoard Standard Form No. 1. 
 
 TELEPHONE FORM. 
 
 On machinery, apparatus, tools and implements, cables, wires and cords, 
 furniture and fixtures, printed and blank books and stationery, material and 
 sup] dies, t heir own or held by them in trust, or on commission or leased, for 
 which t lie assured may be legally liable, or sold hut not delivered, all while 
 contained in or on the telephone exchange si :tt ions hereinafter ii nire specifically 
 mentioned and described, and not to exceed in amount the sums set opposite 
 each place or locality. 
 
 (Here follows description of the places anil amounts covered.) 
 
 This company shall not be liable for any loss or damage resulting- from any 
 electrical injury or disturbance, whether from artifical or natural cause, in or 
 to any of the property hereby insured, unless fire ensues, and then for the loss 
 resulting from fire only. Nor shall this company be liable for any greater 
 proportion of any loss than the amount hereby insured at each place bears 
 to. . . .per cent, of the actual cash value of the property insured at such place. 
 
 It is further understood and agreed that, in case of any loss or damage by 
 fire, the assured is at liberty to make immediately all necessary repairs, notice 
 of such loss to be given to this company without delay. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. 2. 
 
 AVERAGE CLAUSE. 
 
 It is expressly stipulated and made a condition of this contract that this 
 company shall be liable for no greater proportion of any loss than the amount 
 hereby insured bears to. . . .per cent, of the actual cash value of the property 
 described herein at the time when such loss shall happen, nor for more than 
 the proportion which this policy bears to the total insurance thereon; provided, 
 however, that if the aggregate claim for any loss shall not exceed five (5) per 
 cent, of such actual cash value, no special inventory or appraisement of the 
 undamaged property shall be required. 
 
 If this policy be divided into two or more items, the foregoing conditions 
 shall apply to each item separately; and it' two or more buildings or their con- 
 tents be included in a single item, the application of the provision as to special 
 inventory or appraisement shall be limited to each building and its contents. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
POLICY FORMS. 
 
 571 
 
 National Board Standard Kokm No. :! 
 
 REDUCED RATE AVERAGE CLAUSE. 
 
 In consideration of the reduced rate at which this policy is written, it is 
 expressly stipulated and made a condition of this contract that this company 
 shall be liable for no greater proportion of any loss than the amount hereby 
 insured hears to. . . .per cent, of the actual cash value of t he property described 
 herein at the time when such loss shall happen, nor for more than the pro- 
 portion which this policy bears to the total insurance thereon; provided, how- 
 ever, that if the aggregate claim tor any loss shall not exceed five (5) per cent, 
 of such actual cash value, no special inventory or appraisement of the un- 
 damaged property shall be required. 
 
 If this policy be divided into two or more items, the foregoing conditions 
 shall apply to each item separately; and if two or more buildings or their con- 
 tents be included in a single item, the application of the provisions as to special 
 inventory or appraisement shall be limited to each bin. ding and its contents. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. 4. 
 
 COLD STORAGE CLAUSE "A." 
 
 This insurance is against only direct loss or damage by fire, and does not 
 cover any loss or damage caused by change of temperature resulting from the 
 total or partial destruction or disablement by fire or lightning of the cooling or 
 other apparatus, connections or supply pipes, nor by the interruption of the 
 cooling or other processes from any cause. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. (See pages 568, 009, &c.) 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. 5. 
 
 COLD STORAGE CLAUSE "B." 
 
 This insurance being otherwise against only direct loss or damage by fire, 
 
 in consideration of 8 additional premium this company also assumes 
 
 liability (not exceeding the amount of this policy remaining after the liability 
 of this company for any direct loss or damage has been determined,) for any 
 loss or damage to the property described while contained in the above-named 
 building, caused by change of temperature, resulting from the total or partial 
 destruction or disablement of the cooling apparatus, c onnections or supply 
 pipes by fire occurring in the above-described building, or in any other of the 
 following buildings. 
 
 (Here name the location of the refrigerating plant and any other building through which the 
 supply pipes pass, and which, if burning, might disable them ) 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. (See pages 508, 569, &c.) 
 
572 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. C. 
 
 KENT CLAUSE. 
 
 $. . . .On the rents of the story building, situated and known as 
 
 No 
 
 The intention of this insurance is to make good the ioss of rents, caused by 
 fire or lightning, actually sustained by the assured on occupied or rented 
 portions of the premises which have become untenantable, for and during such 
 time as may be necessary to restore the premises to the same tenantable con- 
 dition as before the fire; said time, in case of disagreement, to be determined 
 by appraisement in the manner provided in the conditions of this policy; but 
 this company shall not be liable for a greater proportion of any loss than the 
 sum hereby insured bears to the actual annual rental of such occupied or 
 rented portions of the premises. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. 7. 
 
 LIGHTNING CLAUSE. 
 
 (EXCLUDING WAMAfiE TO KLKCTRICAL APPARATUS.) 
 
 Tins policy shall cover any direct loss or damage caused by lightning (mean- 
 ing thereby the commonly accepted use of the term "lightning" and in no case 
 to include loss or damage by cyclone, tornado or windstorm) not exceeding the 
 sum insured nor the interest of the insured in the property and subject in all 
 other respects to the terms and conditions of this policy; provided, however, 
 that if there shall be any other insurance on said property this company shall 
 be liable only pro rata with such other insurance for any direct loss by light- 
 ning, whether such other insurance be against direct loss by lightning or not; 
 and provided further that, if dynamos, wiring, lamps, motors, switches or 
 other electrical appliances or devices are insured by this policy, this company 
 shall not be liable for any loss or damage to such property resulting from any 
 electrical injury or disturbance, whether from artificial or natural causes, un- 
 less fire ensues, and then for the loss by fire only. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Boaku Standard Form No. 8. 
 
 ELECTRICITY CLAUSE. 
 
 The use of electricity for light, heat or power is prohibited, unless a certifi- 
 cate shall have been issued by (here name the representative of 
 
 Underwriters having jurisdiction) that the wiring and equipment are in full 
 compliance with the requirements of the National Electric (Ode. 
 
 No alteration shall be made in the equipment after certificate is issued with- 
 out written approval from said 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
POLICY FORMS. 
 
 573 
 
 National Boakd Standard Form Xo. 9. 
 
 LUMBER CLEAR-SPACE CLAUSE. 
 
 It is a condition of this contract that a continuous clear space of feet 
 
 shall be maintained between the property hereby insured and any wood-work- 
 ing establishment or dry kiln, otherwise this policy shall be void; this does not 
 prohibit the transportation of lumber or timber products across such clear space. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Boakd Standard Form No. 10. 
 
 MILL YARD LI MBER CLAUSE. 
 
 It is a condition of this contract that a continuous clear space of feet 
 
 shall be maintained by the assured between the property hereby insured and 
 any wood-working establishment or any dry kiln (except tramways upon 
 which lumber is not piled) and that such space shall not be used for the piling 
 of lumber or timber products, but this shall not be construed to prohibit load- 
 ing or unloading within, or the transportation of lumber and timber products 
 across such clear space; otherwise this policy shall be void. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy Xo. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 National Board Standard Form No. 11. 
 
 SPRINKLER CLAUSE 
 
 This policy being written at a rate based on the protection of the premises 
 by the sprinkler system, it is a condition of this policy that, in so far as the 
 sprinkler system and the water supply therefor are under the control of the 
 assured, due diligence shall be used by the assured to maintain them in com- 
 plete working order, and that no change shall be made in the said system or in 
 the water supply therefor without the consent of this company in writing; 
 otherwise this policy shall be void. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No. . . .of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 Copies of these forms may be procured by addressing II. K. Miller, General 
 Agent, 32 Nassau Street, New York. 
 
 CO-INSURANCE OR AVERAGE CLAUSE. 
 
 It has always been a condition of marine insurance, as it 
 should always have been a condition of fire insurance, that the 
 principle of average or co-insurance should apply in determining 
 the amount to be paid in case of loss. It would be as unjust to 
 insure the properties of two owners, at the same rate, the one 
 
f'O-INSt'R A \'< K OH AYERAOE FORMS. 
 
 insuring for 50^ and the other for L00#, as to assess the values 
 of their properties for the purposes of municipal or State taxation 
 <»n different percentages of value. 
 
 The old French co-insurance clause read as follows: 
 "If, at the time of the fire, the value of the objects covered by the policy 
 is found to exceed the sum total of the insurance, the assured is considered as 
 having remained his own insurer for that excess, and he is to bear, in that 
 character, his proportion of the loss." 
 
 The German clause was as follows: 
 
 "If, in case of loss, the insured objects should exceed the sum insured, and 
 they should be partly saved, the assured will be considered as self-insurer for 
 the excess, and is to bear his share of the loss pro rata." 
 
 These two clauses met the issue squarely and left no room for 
 mistake as to what was intended; but after the slipshod Ameri- 
 can methods of nearly a century of insurance it is doubtful if 
 the use of these clauses, which were perfectly proper and 
 straightforward, would be accepted without the criticism of 
 placing a portion of the burden of insurance upon the policy- 
 holder, overlooking the fact that if his rate is graded according 
 to the amount that he carries, there is no more reason why he 
 should complain than in the case of goods purchased at retail as 
 compared with wholesale prices. 
 
 The following are the forms of co-insurance clause of New 
 York State. 
 
 New York Standard, Average Clause. 
 
 This Company shall not be liable for a greater proportion of any loss or 
 damage to the property described herein than the sum hereby insured bears 
 
 to per centum ( %) of the actual cash value of said property at the 
 
 time such loss shall happen. 
 
 If the insurance under this policy be divided into two or more items this 
 Average Clause shall apply to each item separately. 
 
 New York Standard, Average Clause. 
 
 With Exemption of Speciiil Inve ntory or Appraisement in Certain Cases. 
 
 This Company shall not be liable for a greater proportion of any loss or 
 damage to the property described herein than the sum hereby insured bears 
 
 to per centum ( %) of the actual cash value of said property at the 
 
 time such loss shall happen. 
 
 In case of claim for loss on the property described herein not exceeding five 
 per cent. (5%) of the maximum amount named in the policies written thereon 
 and in force at the time such loss shall happen, no special inventory or appraise- 
 ment of the undamaged property shall be required. 
 
CO-INSURANCE, WAIVER OF INVENTORY. 
 
 575 
 
 If the insurance under tliis policy be divided into two Or more items these 
 clauses shall apply to each item separately. 
 
 Waiving Special Inventory and Appraisal. It will be 
 observed that the operation of the co-insurance clause is not 
 waived by this form. It simply provides that in case the 
 amount of loss under any item of the policy shall not exceed five 
 per cent, of the total insurance no special inventory or appraise- 
 ment of the undamaged property shall be required. This is a 
 very different matter from waiving the operation of the co- 
 insurance clause in totO'. 
 
 A prominent insurance association authorized the following 
 form : 
 
 "Provided, however, that if the aggregate amount of any loss shall not ex- 
 ceed five per cent, of the total cash value of any building and (or) its contents 
 wherein such loss shall occur, the application of the co insurance clause shall he 
 waived." (!) 
 
 In case of a fireproof building, insured for a very .small per- 
 centage of its value, or in case of a policy covering a number of 
 buildings, no two of which could burn together, insured only 
 for the value of one of them, such a clause might have the effect 
 of doing away with the co-insurance feature altogether. 
 
 This objectionable clause has been copied at various points 
 throughout the country, and the greatest care should be observed 
 by agents to see that such objectionable phraseology is not em- 
 ployed. It seems only fair to relieve the assured in the case of 
 a large stock of merchandise, damaged for only a small per- 
 centage of its amount, from the labor of an inventory and 
 appraisal on the whole stock, but out of the disposition on the 
 part of underwriters to relieve the assured in such case has 
 grown the phraseology which does away with the principle of 
 ct i-insurance altogether. 
 
 Another important insurance association had the following 
 clause : 
 
 " This clause shall be inoperative in the settlement of loss under any item of 
 this policy when the amount of loss under such item or the. total insurance 
 thereon equals or exceeds the percentage above specified, or when the loss is 
 less than five per cent, of the total insurance thereon." 
 
 It is to be hoped that the promulgation of the National Board 
 form and the New York State Standard form will do away with 
 these waivers of the entire clause. 
 
POLICY FORMS. 
 
 These two clauses, both promulgated by intelligent boards of 
 underwriters, emphasize the importance, already suggested, of 
 the careful preparation and scrutiny of insurance forms. Some 
 years ago an ingenious broker succeeded in placing insurance 
 on a stock of fire-arms, cutlery, &c, with the following clause: 
 "Privileged to keep gunpowder according to law and ball car- 
 tridges. " It will be observed that the ball cartridges are well 
 outside of the restrictions of municipal regulation. 
 
 Mr. J. T. Trezevant, of Dallas, Texas, has prepared a clever 
 illustration of the fairness of co-insurance as follows : 
 
 "To write a blanket policy upon large manufacturing plants wbich are 
 composed of divers risks without the co-insurance clause is the equivalent of 
 assessing a tax on your largest buildings here in San Antonio at 30 per cent, of 
 their value, while all other property in the city is assessed at 60 per cent. 
 This discrimination, if made by your tax assessor, would be promptly corrected 
 by the board of equalization; and yet by a singular paradox legislators who 
 arc insisting upon an equitable and equal assessment and collection of the fire 
 tax have attempted in some states to force us to tax the poor man at double 
 the rate that we tax the rich corporation. To show you how necessary it is to 
 collect a tax based upon about approximately 80 per cent, of the value of the 
 properties I will use an illustration which the insurance gentlemen present will 
 understand, and which I hope will be perfectly clear to the laymen present. 
 
 Take 1000 detached frame dwellings worth §1200 each, and insured at $1000 
 each. The premiums at 1 per cent, would be $10,000. Experience in this 
 South Texas field demonstrates that the loss would be approximately $6000, or 
 60 per cent, of the premiums. Going further into detail, the underwriter who 
 is making the rates finds that at least 00 per cent, of this total amount comes 
 from trilling losses that range from §1.00 to §150; that there will be two or 
 three losses where the damage will be practically 50 per cent., or §500 each, 
 and two losses where we will say the losses are total, $1000 each. We then 
 have the figures: 
 
 Now then let us suppose that some underwriter new to the business has 
 entered the field, and has an opportunity to scoop this 1000 good detached 
 dwellings. The owner has found out that most of his losses are small, and he 
 (■(includes to take a small amount of insurance and no co-insurance. The tyro 
 in the business takes $500 insurance on each one of these 1000 dwellings at the 
 same rate, 1 per cent., which would make his premiums $5000. The losses are 
 the same as before. Let us see where each one of the underwriters will find 
 himself. The figures in the last case would be as follows: 
 
 2 total losses of $1000 each 
 
 2 losses of 50 per cent., §500 each 
 
 50 losses in small amounts from $1 to $150 
 
 §2000. 
 1000. 
 3000. 
 
 2 total losses, §500 
 
 2 damage losses of $500 each (but as the policies are 
 
 §1000. 
 
AVERAGE CLAUSE. 
 
 577 
 
 for only $.500 each there are two total losses to 
 the company tinder these policies) 1000. 
 50 losses same as in first example, being for small 
 
 amounts 8000. 
 
 Total losses paid $5000. 
 
 The result of this brilliant feat of underwriting, in which the underwriter 
 insures only one half the value of the property without co-insurance, will be 
 premiums $5000, losses to the insurance company $5000, and he is minus his 
 expenses, which at 35 percent, would amount to $1750. The company writing 
 without the co-insurance clause, or at half value, has made a loss of $1750, or 
 about 35 per cent., but this loss does not fall upon the company. Every com- 
 pany recoups its losses by an increased assessment of tax in some other direction, 
 and the result is that the neighbors of the man who had these 1000 dwellings 
 are assessed to pay the $1750 losses made in handling his business, together 
 with a small profit which is needed for the company to continue in business. 
 Is it fair to the owners of property throughout the state, who have been 
 mulcted to pay the loss on this individual because he was improperly assessed?'' 
 
 The following illustration of President Evans of the Conti- 
 nental also shows how unfair is a policy without the co-insurance 
 clause issued at the same rate as one containing the clause. 
 
 A and B each own a half interest in a building having a 
 present structure value of $20,000. Each insures his half in- 
 terest separately and in different companies; each company 
 charges the same percentage or "rate" for insuring the property, 
 and that "rate" is one per cent, or ten dollars for $1,000 of 
 insurance. A insures his half in the Y company for $10,000 
 and pays for his policy $100. B insures his half in the Z com- 
 pany for $5,(ioo and pays for his policy fifty dollars. A fire 
 occurs and the building is damaged $10,000 only. Company 
 Y, insuring A, is called on to pay but fifty per cent, of the 
 amount of its policy, while Company Z pays loo per cent; and 
 yet Company Y received twice as much premium as did Com- 
 pany Z. 
 
 DISTRIBUTION FORM OF THE AVEKAtiE CLAUSE. 
 
 It is sometimes impossible for the owner of property of a 
 movable character, changing its location from day to day, and 
 often from hour to hour in each day, as in the case, for example, 
 of the product of a paper-mill, which in the morning may be 
 in the paper machines at one end of the mill and by evening in 
 the dryhouse, to accept insurance covering specifically. Under 
 
57* 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 such circumstances the distribution form of the average clause 
 may be used, which practically secures specific insurance in that 
 proportion which the insured would fix at the moment of a fire 
 if he knew the value in each location. In short, the policy 
 applies for such proportion of its amount in any one location 
 as the value in such location bears to the value in all locations. 
 
 Of course, the full co-insurance clause, the insurance being 
 equal in amount to the value of all of the property, no matter 
 where located, would take care of the interest both of the assured 
 and of the company, but the property-owner is not always will- 
 ing to have a full co-insurance clause, and under the mistaken 
 legislation of some States the use of any average or co-insurance 
 clause is prohibited. The full co-insurance clause provides that 
 whatever fraction or percentage of the value is destroyed that 
 fraction of the insurance is payable. If one half the value is 
 insured one half the loss is collectible of the insurance company. 
 If the whole value is destroyed the whole insurance is collectible. 
 
 Let us suppose a merchant having goods stored in two differ- 
 ent warehouses, A and B, so located relatively that they could 
 not burn by one and the same fire. In l 'A" he has $6,000 and 
 in "B" $3,000. If he should take out a policy of $6,000 cover- 
 ing in both, without specific amounts and without the average 
 clause, it is clear that the policy would effectually protect him, 
 since a loss in either building would be covered by his insurance, 
 and hence an insurance of $6,000 would be almost as effectual 
 as an insurance of $9,000 written specifically, the only chance 
 of his losing more than $6,000 being in case both buildings 
 should happen to burn at the same time. Any intelligent 
 underwriter would decline to issue such a policy except at 
 double the rate; but if the merchant should claim that he could 
 not tell at any one time just what proportion of value would be 
 in each warehouse and for that reason alone could not insure 
 specifically, and is unwilling to pay for insurance in excess of 
 two thirds of the value, the "distribution form" of the average 
 clause would adjust the matter so that the policy would cover 
 in each in proportion as its value should bear to that in both. 
 This would be better than a specific policy for his purpose and 
 equally as fair for the underwriter, since its effect would be to 
 distribute the insurance at the time of the happening of a fire so 
 as to cover or apply in each warehouse in the proportion that 
 
DISTRIBUTION FORM OP AVERAGE CLAUSE. 
 
 579 
 
 the value in such warehouse bears to the value in both. The 
 insurance on this plan is thus made to follow the value, no 
 matter how often it fluctuates. 
 
 Let us suppose the values, then, are $6,000 in "A" and $3,000 
 in l 'B" aud that a fire occurs doing a damage in "A" of $4,000; 
 as the insurance covers in this building in the proportion that 
 its value ($6,000) bears to the value in both ($9,000), two-thirds 
 of the insurance, or $4,000, would attach in "A" and in this case 
 be sufficient to pay the loss. 
 
 Under the full co-insurance clause, by which the policy pays 
 that proportion of the loss that the whole insurance ($0,000) bears 
 to the whole value of the property ($9,000), or two-thirds, the 
 owner would only receive two-thirds of his loss of $4,000, or 
 $2,666.60. 
 
 The following diagram will serve to show the difference be- 
 tween the operation of the two forms of clauses. 
 
 INSURANCE 
 $6,000. 
 
 UNDER DISTRIBUTION FORM. 
 
 Insurance applies $4,000 in "A" and $2,000 in "B." 
 
 In B— Loss of $1,000. 
 Co. pays 1,000. 
 Loss of 2,000. 
 Co. pays 2,000. 
 Loss of 3,000. 
 Co. pays 2,000. 
 
 In A— Loss of $1,000. 
 Co. pays 1,000. 
 Loss of 2,000. 
 Co. pays 2,000. 
 Loss of 3,000. 
 Co. pays 3,000. 
 Loss of 4,000. 
 Co. pays 4,000. 
 Loss of 5,000. 
 Co. pays 4,000. 
 Loss of 6,000. 
 Co. pays 4,000. 
 
 It will be noticed that as insurance covers $4,000 in A and 
 $2,000 in B, the company never pays more than $4,000 in A nor 
 
 more than $2,000 in B— no matter what the loss, 
 
.VsO 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 UNDER FULL CO-INSURANCE FORM. 
 
 Insurance being J^rds of value pays %rds of an}' loss. 
 
 In A— Loss of $1,000. In B— Loss of $1,000. 
 
 Co. pays % 6G6%. Co. pays % 666%. 
 
 Loss of 2,000. Loss of 2,000. 
 
 Co. pays % 1,333%. Co. pays % 1,333%. 
 
 Loss of 3,0()(). Loss of 3,000. 
 
 Co. pays % 2,00(i. Co. pays % 2,000. 
 
 Loss of 4,000. 
 Co pays % 2,666% 
 Loss of 5,000. 
 Co. pays % 3,333%. 
 Loss of 0,000. 
 Co. pays % 4,000. 
 
 It will be seen from this that the distribution form of the 
 average clause would be more favorable to the assured than the 
 full co-insurance clause. 
 
 If instead of the full co-insurance clause the 80 fc co-insurance 
 clause is used the policy for $6,000 would pay such proportion 
 of the loss $4,000 that $6,000 bears to $7,200 (80$ of $9,000) or 
 five-sixths of it, i. e. $3,333.33. 
 
 GRADED RATES FOR CO-INSURANCE. 
 
 I have always believed that it was a mistake to insist upon 
 insurance to 80 fo of the value of property, because it antagonizes 
 property owners and, therefore, legislators, who object to the 
 compulsory rule and enact legislation prohibiting the use of the 
 clause altogether. There is no reason why a rate cannot be 
 graded according to the amount of insurance carried. 
 
 For a full explanation of the matter and the computation of 
 the cost of insuring with varying percentages of insurance to 
 value refer to "History and Analysis of the Universal Schedule." 
 The percentages of losses are based upon actual experience 
 through a series of years covering millions of dollars of losses 
 and carefully tabulated by my own hand. I, therefore, feel 
 able to vouch for the correctness of the tabulation. (See pages 
 709, 710 and 711.) 
 
DWELLING FORMS. 581 
 
 PRIVATE DWELLING FORM. 
 
 $ on story roofed Building, while occupied as a 
 
 private dwelling with ad joining and communicating additions thereto, includ- 
 ing foundations, piping, plumbing, fixed heating and cooking apparatus, and 
 
 all irremovable fixtures, as a part of the building, situate 
 
 (Co-insurance Clause.) 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 Specific form for Frescoing and Mural Decorations, 
 etc., in expensive dwellings. I have already referred to ex- 
 pensive dwellings (see page <>0) as one of the most uprofitable 
 classes of risks at current rates. The small premium obtainable 
 on a dwelling house policy makes the cost of thorough inspec- 
 tion an expensive percentage of the amount, and the careless 
 underwriter is apt to write on a dwelling of this class in igno- 
 rance of the large values subject to damage by water and smoke 
 in the shape of fresco- work on walls and ceiling, expensive wall 
 hangings, tapestries, satin, etc. For this reason and, also, for 
 the general reason that all insurance should be specific, it is best 
 to write on the following form devised by President Evans of 
 the Continental Ins. Co. 
 
 $5,000 On his four-story, brick building, while occupied as a private dwelling, 
 and located at No. 503 Fifth Avenue, New York City. 
 
 This item does not cover frescoing, hangings or other wall coverings, 
 tapestry or wood panelings on the walls or ceilings, in excess of ten per 
 cent, of the amount of this policy; and it is a part of the consideration 
 of this policy and the basis on which the rate of premium is fixed that 
 no claim shall be made hereunder for loss on frescoing, hangings, tapes- 
 try or wood panelings on the walls or ceilings for an amount exceeding 
 such ten per cent, of the total amount insured under this policy, unless 
 the amount on such frescoing, hangings, tapestry or wood panelings be 
 specifically mentioned herein, and then only for such specific amount. 
 
 In case insurance is desired on this damageable property in 
 excess of ten per cent, of the amount of the insurance, it may be 
 accepted under the following form and at double the rate : 
 $3,000 On frescoing, hangings, tapestry or other wall coverings or wood panel- 
 ings on the walls or ceilings of the above described dwelling. 
 
 A rate fully twenty five per cent, higher should be fixed by 
 the Local Board for the full form without specific amount on 
 fresco-work and wall hangings and without the ten per cent, 
 limit. 
 
 Nothing, it seems to me, could be fairer than this proposition, 
 
582 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 for it prevents ;i necessarily high rate on all dwellings in order 
 that companies may recoup themselves for the losses on dwell- 
 ings which have such valuable furnishings the owners of 
 which ought to pay for them. Under other conditions the 
 policy-holders of moderate circumstances and simple tastes are 
 obliged to pay a round rate to cover the losses of the rich. Not 
 infrequently walls are covered with satin of the most delicate 
 tints, put on the walls in plaits and folds, and in case of fire even 
 an honest claimant, who might not have noticed before the fire 
 the difference in color of the satin within the folds as compared 
 with the faded material of the exposed surface, would claim and 
 think that the damage had been done by smoke. Walls finished 
 in this way are worth three or four times the rate of ordinary 
 plain finish wall-paper dwellings. In one case coming to the 
 writer's notice ten thousand dollars was paid for damage done to 
 one room in an expensive dwelling. In another instance nine 
 thousand dollars was paid for damage to wall hangings in the 
 house of a wealthy New Yorker, caused by a small fire in the 
 cellar, the smoke coming up the hot air flues and, as it was 
 claimed, spoiling the lustre of the silk hangings. 
 
 It is best to decline to insure such buildings altogether, unless 
 at rates which will pay for the hazard and with specific amounts 
 named in the policy to define the limit of claim. 
 
 HOUSEHOLD AND KITCHEN FURNITURE. 
 
 $ on household and kitchen furniture and house furnishing 
 
 goods, useful and ornamental; beds, bedding, linen, family wearing apparel, 
 silver and plated ware; printed books and music; scientific and musical instru- 
 ments, including stools and covers, sewing machines; (and, at not exceeding 
 cost, on sculpture, mirrors, pictures, portraits, paintings and engravings, and 
 their frames, watches and jewelry in use, curiosities and brie a brae,) crockery, 
 glass and china-ware, fuel, family stores, bicycles, travelling and sporting 
 equipments, articles of amusement and entertainment, and all articles generally 
 used in housekeeping, the property of the assured or any member of the family, 
 including guests and servants. 
 
 $ on garden tools and implements, hose, lawn mower and awnings, all 
 
 while contained in the story roofed building and adjoining 
 
 and communicating additions while occupied as a private dwelling house and 
 
 situate 
 
 This policy does not cover any painting, tapestry, statuary or other work 
 of art to an amount exceeding $500 unless specifically insured and then only to 
 
 the extent of such specific amount, 
 
HOUSEHOLD FURNITURE FORMS. 
 
 583 
 
 S on paintings, tapestries, statuary and other works of art, as per 
 
 schedule hereto annexed, not exceeding the specific amount named on any one. 
 
 CO-INSURANCE CLAUSE, 
 
 This Company shall not he liable for a greater proportion of any loss or 
 damage to the property described herein than the sum hereby insured bears to 
 eighty per centum (80^ ) of the actual cash value of said property at the time 
 such loss shall happen. In case of claim for loss on the property described 
 herein not exceeding live per cent. ( V, | of the maximum amount named in the 
 policies written thereon and in force at the time such loss shall happen, no 
 special inventory or appraisement of the undamaged property shall be required. 
 If the insurance under this policy be divided into two or more items, these 
 clauses shall apply to each item separately. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 The above form has been made explicit in order to meet the 
 mistaken views of many property-owners who suppose that an 
 elaborate form of this kind is necessary to protect them. It is 
 unnecessary to suggest to the underwriter, however, that, as a 
 rule, short forms may be equally comprehensive and on some 
 accounts preferable from the viewpoint of the assured. All of 
 the items mentioned in the above form, for example, would be 
 covered in the following : 
 
 $ On household furniture, wearing apparel, printed books and music, 
 
 musical and scientific instruments, plate (and, at not exceeding cost, 
 on pictures and their frames, sculpture, curiosities, watches and 
 jewelry in use and brie a brae), family supplies, articles for amuse- 
 ment, entertainment and sport. 
 
 This policy does not cover any painting, tapestry or other work of 
 art to an amount exceeding $500 unless specifically insured and then 
 only to the extent of such specific amount. 
 
 $ On paintings, tapestries, statuary and other works of art, as per 
 
 schedule hereto annexed, not exceeding the specific amount named 
 on any one. 
 
 $ On garden tools and implements and awnings, all while contained 
 
 etc., etc. (Co-insurance Clause.) 
 
 The phrases referring to kitchen and house furnishing goods 
 are unnecessary ; furniture is furniture, whether in the kitchen 
 or parlor and whether it is "useful or ornamental"; silver and 
 plated-ware are articles of furniture ; piano stools, covers, sew- 
 ing machines, mirrors, crockery, glass and china-ware are 
 covered by the phrase "household furniture," and fuel and 
 family stores would be covered by the phrase "family supplies." 
 The assured might well object to having his policy cover the 
 
584 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 wearing apparel and jewelry of his guests, since, unless he were 
 over-insured, it would amount to his paying for such lost prop- 
 erty out of his own pocket. 
 
 Paintings, Tapestries. Statuary. Curios. Works of Art. Etc. should 
 be insured by schedule, with the <•< .si < .f each, and a clause inserted 
 that claim in case of loss shall not exceed cost, and the usual 
 80$ co-insurance clause. If the limit of claim to cost cannot be 
 secured the schedule is still preferable. It is much better to in- 
 sure such works of uncertain value of this class by schedule 
 than to insure them, as is generally done, by the usual household 
 furniture form. In the latter case, if a damage should occur to 
 a few paintings and none or very little to the furniture, the 
 assured is tempted, if he be unscrupulous, to claim an excesssive 
 value for these items, whereas if, in advance of a fire, he has 
 knowledge that on every dollar of insurance specified he must 
 pay a premium he is not likely to overvalue them, and the com- 
 pany will, in any event, secure a premium on the amount of 
 insurance carried. Indeed, with an honest assured and an in- 
 telligent appraisal of values, there is less objection to a valued 
 policy on property of this character than so often lies in the 
 case of other property, and the company may consent to issue 
 a valued policy upon full explanation and knowledge of the 
 assured and the facts, having in mind the great difficulty of 
 ascertaining a fair valuation after a fire and the tendency of 
 juries to favor the assured and give him the benefit of any 
 doubt even in cases of excessive value. It ought to be much 
 easier to determine a fair value before a fire than after it. 
 
 There is a further advantage in having a schedule, and it is 
 in the fact that it gives the insurance company an opportunity 
 to know whether or not it is insuring articles of exceptionally 
 large values, as otherwise it might be in ignorance. The 
 assured, moreover, as already stated, is not likely to over- value 
 his paintings when making up his schedule before a fire if 
 he realizes that he will have to pay premium on each dollar of 
 valuation — an important consideration. 
 
 Paintings of large value should be distributed among a num- 
 ber of companies, so that one does not have an excessive 
 amount. An excess line might otherwise easily be assumed and 
 the company subjected to a severe loss by a small burning in 
 
CHURCH FORMS. 
 
 585 
 
 the limited space of a picture frame. Excessive lines of this 
 character are contrary to the principle of insurance, which is to 
 distribute the risk so that a happening of a single contingency 
 may not interfere with the principle of average. A small hole 
 burned or punched in a valuable painting might ruin it, and 
 there is the same objection to insuring a large amount on a 
 single painting as in the ease of insuring valuable animals; see 
 page ■ > l 5. 
 
 After the above bad been set up, and before going to press, a 
 fire occurred, on January 13th, in the dwelling of Mr. George 
 Goidd, in New York City, which so forcibly illustrates the im- 
 portance of the suggestions that I state the facts here. The 
 damage to an ordinary building would have been very slight ; 
 in fact, the loss was stated to be less than a thousand dollars. 
 But after the fire, it was discovered that Louis XIV. tapestries, 
 made in the seventeenth century, valued at $60,000, and a Van 
 Dyke valued at $60,000, with portraits said to be worth $8,000, 
 were destroyed in the hallway and on the line of the stairs. 
 
 It is probable that if Mr. Gould, instead of being insured on 
 the blanket household furniture form, had been obliged to 
 specify the amount on these valuable items he might have 
 specified a smaller amount rather than pay the extra premium ; 
 or that he would have paid premium on the amount of insurance 
 required. 
 
 Most property-owners would suppose that paintings hung in 
 the hallway and on the line of the staircase could be easily re- 
 moved; but most underwriters, knowing the drafts incident to 
 staircases for fire and smoke, would have regarded them as 
 particularly liable to destruction. It is said no water was thrown 
 in this fire but only chemical extinguishers used. 
 
 Without the co-insurance clause in the case of a fireproof 
 dwelling and short insurance, underwriters could easily make 
 a total loss in a single room. 
 
 CHURCH FORM. 
 
 $ ou story roofed building, with spire 
 
 or tower and adjoining and communicating additions, foundations 
 and irremovable fixtures, including fixed heating apparatus and 
 piping, while occupied as a place of public worship and known as 
 
r.si; 
 
 POLICY FORMS. 
 
 $ on organs with operating motor, pianos and other musical 
 
 instruments while therein. 
 
 S on church and other furniture and fixtures, useful and 
 
 ornamental, vestments, chancel-rail, fonts, clock, bell, gas fixtures, 
 chandeliers, (pictures, paintings, engravings with their frames, statu- 
 ary, stained glass windows, altar vessels and other altar furniture, 
 with frescoes on walls and ceilings, — value claim in case of loss not 
 to exceed cost,) printed church and Sunday sch >ol books, movable 
 heating apparatus and fuel. 
 
 All while contained in the above described church building, with 
 adjoining and communicating additions and situate 
 
 $ other concurrent insurance permitted. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 To the Agent. — Churches have not been profitable risks owing probably to 
 the frequency of fires caused by de/ective heating apparatus and the fact that 
 they are usually lightly insured and nearly always total losses, there being no 
 partition walls to check the progress of a fire once started. Examine carefully 
 the heating apparatus (see instruction book page 441,) and report concerning 
 same being sure also to state proportion of insurance on each item to total value of 
 same. Local Boards should rate churches and other public buildings such as 
 schools; court houses, etc., with and without the co-insurance clause. In 
 absence of board rates this company will regard favorably at lower rates church 
 and public building insurance, the co-insurance clause being attached to our 
 policy. 
 
 A higher rate should be charged on a church with a spire or 
 steeple, although it can seldom be secured. Underwriters fre- 
 quently overlook the danger to church spires of stone, especially 
 when carved, from fires in neighboring buildings. An entire 
 stone spire might have to be taken down because of the com- 
 bined effect upon it of water and heat from burning exposures. 
 
 All spires should be protected by lightning rods carried well 
 into moist ground. 
 
 Stone columns in the interior of churches, so frequent in those 
 of Gothic architecture, might result in the total destruction of a 
 building supposed to be fireproof. There would be enough heat 
 in the burning pews and floor boards to destroy stone piers and 
 columns vitally important to the structure. Agents should look 
 carefully to this matter. In fact, all stone columns carrying 
 superimposed weights should have an interior cast-iron column 
 of sufficient strength to carry the load. 
 
 There are probably few classes of risks so generally short in- 
 sured as churches and schoolhouses, and rates should be graded 
 
LEASE CLAUSE, ETC. 
 
 587 
 
 according to the amount of insurance carried, the best plan be- 
 ing, however, to have the 80$ co-insurance clause on all church 
 policies. 
 
 Christmas Tree Festivities. These add to the hazards 
 of churches. The ignition of evergreen trees by lighted wax 
 tapers is a danger always to be guarded against. A safer plan 
 for lighting a Christmas-tree is by electric bulbs. Where a 
 Santa-Clans- personation is a feature of the entertainment the 
 cotton or other fibre which is employed in his make-up should 
 be first soaked in a strong solution of alum water or tungstate 
 of soda, mixed one part of tungstate of soda to seven parts of 
 water. (See page 54G.) Every year Christmas festivities, in 
 some section of the country or other, are marred by fatalities 
 due to neglect of simple and inexpensive precautions. 
 
 LEASE CLAUSE. 
 
 S nil. . . .lease of the story roofed building, privi- 
 leged for hazardous occupation, situate 
 
 Loss, if any, payable as per lease clause attached. 
 
 It is a condition of this insurance that, in case of such destruction by lire of 
 the above-named premises the lease held by the assured shall be, by its terms 
 and in fact, canceled, then this Company shall be liable to pay the whole 
 amount hereby insured, less a deduction at the rate of (here insert one- 
 twelfth^^), or other proper proportion of the policy, according to its term and the 
 value of the lease) dollars per month, for such time as shall have elapsed be- 
 tween the date of this insurance and the happening of such fire. 
 
 MERCANTILE BUILDING FORM. 
 
 $ on story roofed building, with adjoining 
 
 and communicating additions, including foundations and irremovable fixtures, 
 
 while occupied as '. 
 
 and situate 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 MERCHANDISE FORM. 
 § on Stock of Merchandise, consisting principally of 
 
 and all other goods, wares and merchandise not more hazardous kept 
 for sale by assured, not specified in the foregoing, while contained in 
 
 story roofed building and adjoining and 
 
 communicating additions thereto, while occupied as 
 
 and situate 
 
iifS.S 
 
 I'HLH V KoKMS. 
 
 $ on Store and Office Furniture and Fixtures including Safe, Signs and 
 
 Awnings, while contained in or on said building. 
 
 $ on 
 
 $ on 
 
 § Other concurrent insurance permitted. 
 
 Restrictions as to lights. Keeping and Vending of Coal Oil. Gunpowder and Salt- 
 petre. — The use, as a light, of Refined ( 'oal ( )il or Petroleum, of lawful fire test, 
 is permitted. Merchants accustomed to deal in the articles are privileged to 
 keep for sale pounds of Gunpowder in close tin can, to be sold by day- 
 light only, and pounds of Saltpetre; also barrels of refined Kerosene, 
 
 of lawful fire test, provided the same be not drawn by artificial light placed 
 within the distance of ten feet thereof. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy Xo of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 RE-INSURANCE FORM. 
 
 $ on a pro rata part of its liability as Insurer under its Policy Xo 
 
 issued at its Agency, to and covering the property of 
 
 for $ as follows, viz: 
 
 It is a condition of this re-insurance that if the re-insured policy is cancelled 
 or reduced in amount, this policy shall be cancelled or reduced in like pro- 
 portion, and that the re-insured Company is to retain at its own risk (exclusive 
 of any and all re-insurance) under the policy hereby re-insured an amount equal 
 to the proportion which the amount of this policy bears to the amount of the 
 particular policy hereby re-insured at the date this re-insurance is effected. 
 
 It is further understood and agreed that such re-insurance is a pro rata part 
 of each and every item insured by the policy of the re-insured Company, and 
 is subject to the same risks, valuations, conditions and mode of settlement as 
 may be taken or assumed by said re-insured Company, it being expressly 
 agreed, however, that notice of any change in the risk or additional privilege 
 granted shall be at once given to this Company. Loss, if any, payable at the 
 same time and in the same manner and pro rata with amount paid by said re- 
 insured Company. Other re-insurance permitted subject to the aforesaid 
 conditions. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 N. Y. & New Jersey Standard. 
 
 LIGHTNING CLAUSE. 
 
 This policy shall cover any direct loss or damage caused by Lightning, 
 (meaning thereby the commonly accepted use of the term Lightning, and in 
 no case to include loss or damage by cyclone, tornado, or wind-storm) not 
 exceeding the sum insured, nor the interest of the insured in the property, and 
 subject in all other respects to the terms and conditions of this policy. Provided, 
 
THREE-Fi il'RTHS VALUE CLAUSE. 
 
 ;,s;t 
 
 however, if there shall he any other insurance on said property this company 
 shall be liable only pro rata with such other insurance for any direct loss by 
 Lightning, whether such other insurance be against direct loss by Lightning 
 or not. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 THREE-FOURTHS VALUE CLAUSE. 
 
 It is a condition of this insurance that, in the event of loss or damage by 
 fire to the property insured under this policy, this ( !ompany shall not be liable 
 for an amount greater than three-fourths of the actual cash value of each item 
 of property insured by this policy (not exceeding the amount insured on each 
 such item) at the time immediately preceding such loss or damage; and in the 
 event of additional insurance — if any is permitted hereon — then this Company 
 shall be liable for its pro rata proportion only of three-fourths such cash value 
 of each item insured at the time of the fire, not exceeding the amount insured 
 on each such item. 
 
 Attached to and made a pari of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 THREE-FOURTHS LOSS CLAUSE. 
 
 It is a condition of this insurance that, in the event of loss under this policy, 
 this Company shall not he liable for an amount greater than three-fourths of 
 such loss (not exceeding the sum hereby insured), and, in the event of additional 
 insurance permitted hereon, then this Company shall not be liable for an 
 amount greater than its pro rata proportion of three-fourths of such loss; in 
 both events the other one-fourth to he borne by the assured. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 IRON SAFE CLAUSE. 
 Warranty to Keep Books and Inventories, and to Produce Them in Case of Loss. 
 Tlie following covenant and warranty is hereby made a part of this polity: 
 1st. The assured will take a complete itemized inventory of stock on hand 
 at least once in each calendar year, and unless such inventory has been taken 
 within twelve calendar months prior to the date of this policy, one shall be 
 taken in detail within 30 days of issuance of this policy, or this policy shall be 
 null and void from such date, and upon demand of the assured the unearned 
 premium from such date shall be returned. 
 
 2d. The assured will keep a set of hooks, which shall clearly and plainly 
 present a complete record of business transacted, including all purchases, sales 
 and shipments, both for cash and credit, from date of inventory as provided 
 for in first section of this clause, and during the continuance of this policy. 
 
 3d. The assured will keep such books and inventory, and also the last 
 preceding inventory, if such has been taken, securely locked in a fireproof safe 
 at night, and at all times when the building mentioned in this policy is not 
 
590 
 
 IM . I . H V F« iRMS. 
 
 actually open for business; or, failing in tliis, the assured will keep such books 
 and inventories in sonic place not exposed to a fire which would destroy the 
 aforesaid building. 
 
 In the event of failure to produce such set of books and inventories for the 
 inspection of this Company, this policy shall become null and void, and such 
 failure? shall constitute a perpetual bar to any recovery thereon. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 LOSS PAYABLE CLAUSE. 
 
 Loss, if any, under this policy shall be payable to Mortgagee, 
 
 as his interest may appear, but only as such loss shall be ascertained and agreed 
 upon by the insured and this Company, and this clause is subject in all respects 
 to the stipulations, provisions and conditions contained in this Policy. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 PERMIT To SELL KEROSENE OIL. 
 
 Permission granted to keep for sale not exceeding barrels of 
 
 Kerosene or Illuminating Oil, which shall be of not less than the United States 
 standard of 110°. Not to be handled or sold by artificial light within the dis- 
 tance of fifteen (15) feet. 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Com pany. 
 
 TRANSFER FOR CHANGE OF LOCATION. 
 
 190 
 
 Permission is hereby given to remove the property insured under 
 
 items of this policy to 
 
 anil for not exceeding days from date hereof this Policy shall attach 
 
 in both locations in proportion as the value in each bears to the value in all, 
 
 and after such days in new location only, and not as heretofore. 
 
 Rate increased to. . . additional Premium $ Rate reduced to £ 
 
 Return Premium $ 
 
 Attached to and made a part of Policy No of Insurance 
 
 Company. 
 
 To the Agent. — In making transfer refer to "first," "second." "third" or "all" 
 items, as case may be, attacli slip to regular endorsement report and to avoid 
 correspondence be sure and limit, by wording the endorsement, the occupation 
 of the buildings containing the property in the new location, giving particulars 
 concerning new location, exposure, occupancy, etc. As a rule policies cover- 
 ing in a number of buildings (farm risks) should not be transferred but rewritten. 
 
 COMMISSION CLAUSE. 
 
 § To cover merchandise, their own, or held by them in trust, or on 
 
 commission, or sold, but not delivered (do not use the -word "removed ") 
 
SUNDRY CLAUSES. 
 
 591 
 
 OTHER INSURANCE. 
 
 $ other insurance, concurrent herewith, permitted. 
 
 Note. — Limit the amount of additional insurance, in every case — and all policies should be 
 concurrent with the policy of this Company. 
 
 GUNPOWDER <)X SALE. 
 
 "Privileged to keep on hand for sale in said building, not to exceed twenty- 
 five pounds of gunpowder, the same to he kept in closed metal or earthen can- 
 isters, to be handled by daylight only." 
 
 Note. — The amount of gunpowder prescribed by law should never be exceeded. 
 
 CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP. 
 
 This Company hereby agrees to recognize as sole owner 
 
 of the above-named property. Loss, if any, payable to him. 
 
 Note. — This may, also, be done by assignment on back Of policy. See printed form. 
 
 ASSIGNMENT OF POLICY. 
 
 (See the printed form on the hack of the policy itself.) 
 
 In reporting an assignment to the Company on the small 
 blank provided for that purpose, it is not necessary to copy the 
 whole printed form, but merely to state that policy has been 
 assigned to the assignee, giving the name and interest of the 
 latter. In all cases, the interest of the assignee should be 
 stated in the report. 
 
 ASSIGNMENT AFTER A LOSS. 
 
 Do not consent to any assignment, or other change in a policy, 
 after a loss. When a fire occurs, the policy should be per- 
 mitted to remain exactly as it was before the loss. 
 
 BUILDINGS ON LEASED GROUND. 
 
 It is understood that the above-named building stands on leased ground, the 
 
 lease having years to run, (always insert the number of years), from 
 
 190. . (insert date of commencement.) (See Page 59.) 
 
 ASSIGNMENT OF MORTGAGE INTEREST. 
 
 The interest of as mortgagee in this policy, having been assigned 
 
 to . . consent thereto is hereby given, and loss, if any, payable to him 
 
 as such assignee mortgagee. 
 
 FORM OF PERMIT TO KEEP FIREWORKS. 
 
 In consideration of $ additional premium (charge 50 cents per §100 of 
 
 insurance for every month, or fraction of a month) permission is granted to keep 
 
 fireworks, for one, mouth ending. . , , , , , , , 19. . , 
 
592 
 
 Policy FORMS. 
 
 PERMIT TO HUN MACHINERY EXTRA HOURS. 
 
 In consideration of!}! additional premium, permission is granted to 
 
 run the machinery extra hours, not later than o'clock P. M., to even up 
 
 work. 
 
 Where the machinery is run later than ten o'clock the time 
 must be charged for, at the same rate as day work, although 
 worth more on account of the danger from the carelessness of 
 tired and sleepy employees. 
 
 Where manufactories (other than those in w hich night work 
 is an incident of the process, such, for example, as rolling mills, 
 blast furnaces, etc.) are run all night, double rates should be 
 charged. 
 
 Certificate to be taken for a Policy lost or destroyed, where no 
 premium has been paid . 
 
 Albany, N. Y\. January 10th, 1903. 
 
 "This is to certify that policy No renewal No of the 
 
 Insurance Company of issued to me at its agency at Albany, 
 
 N. V., on the stock of merchandise contained in the brick, metal roof building- 
 situate , cannot be found, and said policy and renewal arc- 
 hereby declared to be null and void, the said Company being hereby released 
 from all liability thereunder; and I further agree that, in case said policy and 
 renewal should, at any time, be foiind they shall be forwarded to said Insurance 
 Company, at its office in the ci ty of New York, without any delay." 
 
 Certificate of Discharge for a Policy lost or destroyed, to be taken, 
 in all cases, where it is necessary to cancel a policy and to pay 
 an y ret urn prem i um. 
 
 Albamy, N. Y., January 10, 1903. 
 
 "This is to certify that policy No renewal No of the 
 
 Insurance Company of issued to me at its agency at Albany, 
 
 N. Y\, on the brick, metal roof building situate cannot 
 
 be found, and, in consideration of the sum of Ten and jYb dollars ($10. 50) return 
 premium to me paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, the said 
 policy and renewal are hereby canceled in full, the said ( 'ompany bcinir released 
 from all liability thereunder; and it is further agreed, that, in case said policy 
 and renewal should be, at any time, found, they shall be, at once, forwarded 
 to the office of the Company. 
 
 AWARD OF APPRAISERS. 
 
 We, the undersigned, appointed to appraise and estimate the actual damage 
 to each article named in the schedule hereunto annexed, marked A, which was 
 
 damaged or destroyed by fire on the day of 190. ., 
 
 do hereby certify that we have truly and conscientiously performed the duty 
 
POLICY FORMS. 
 
 593 
 
 assigned us, and have awarded as the actual cash value of and damage to each 
 article the amount as therein set forth. 
 Witness, 
 
 i>- 8.] 
 
 PRINTED SLIPS AND FORMS. 
 
 Where a printed form is used, it should he signed hy the 
 agent and numbered to correspond with the policy, as follows : 
 
 "Slip No attached to policy No of the 
 
 Insurance Compan y." 
 
 Agent. 
 
STRENGTH OF MATERIALS FOR BUILDING. 
 
 Beams. Girders. Columns or Pillars. Etc. 
 
 To determine the strength of materials for building is an im- 
 portant matter in construction, and while the ascertainment of 
 rules involves considerable engineering knowledge, the appli- 
 cation of those rules requires no more fitness for the task than 
 every fairly educated mechanic possesses, with such text-books 
 at his hand for reference as Trautwine or Haswell's Engineer's 
 Hand-Book. Ganot's Physics, Molesworth's Engineering For- 
 mulae, etc., etc. Probably Traut wine's Engineering Pocket - 
 Book would supply him with all the tables and explanations he 
 would need. I shall not, for want of space, go much into detail 
 as to computing strains or stresses, so-called, but content myself 
 (and possibly my readers) with brief explanations of methods, 
 definitions of terms and a few concise tables. 
 
 The ''ultimate stress" or breakage or yielding point of a beam 
 depends upon its area (usually expressed in square inches), its 
 depth in inches, and its length between bearings or supports, 
 (for convenience, also computed in inches) and also upon the 
 material of which it is composed, viz., cast-iron, steel, wrought 
 iron, oak, white pine, yellow pine, spruce, hemlock, etc., and on 
 conditions, as of seasoning in wood, well seasoned wood being 
 stronger than green. 
 
 The "ultimate" stress of a material is that which is just short 
 of enough to break, crush or destroy it, and some smaller stress 
 or load must be employed for safety by a fraction known as the 
 "factor of safety." 
 
 By the "length" of a bod}- is meant its dimension in the line 
 of the stress, and by the "area" the area in square inches of the 
 cross section strained, at right angles to the "length." 
 
 A stress is usually stated in pounds per square inch, and the 
 number Qf pounds per square inch which short blocks of a given 
 
STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 
 
 595 
 
 material, iron or wood, will withstand is known as its "constant'' 
 or "coefficient" or "modulus," which when ascertained enables 
 one to compute the "ultimate''' stress, or breaking point, of any 
 longer beam or pillar by ratio computation. The constant or 
 coefficient of any material is, therefore, such number of pounds 
 per square inch of short blocks, say G inches long, as is constantly 
 used for computing its strength. The "stress" is usually ex- 
 pressed in pounds, the "stretch" and the "length" in inches, and 
 the "area" in square inches. These are units adopted in all 
 computations. 
 
 Stresses or strains are of various kinds, viz., the compressive 
 strain, or that of resistance of a column or pillar from the base 
 of its support to a superimposed weight; the tensile strain, or 
 the operation of a force tending to tear or pull the particles of 
 the tested beam apart, as when a piece of iron or wood suspended 
 from a secure point has to support a weight at its other end ; 
 whereas the compressive strain or stress tends to push the parti- 
 cles of a body closer together, as where a superimposed weight 
 presses a pillar against an immovable base; the / ra i inverse or 
 cross strain, as in the case of a load on a beam, tending to bend 
 it ; the torsional strain, or twisting strain, as where two forces, 
 called, in engineering parlance, "contrary couples" of forces 
 acting on parallel lines but against each other, act upon it in 
 different directions, as in the case of a ship's screw shaft, the 
 steam acting in one direction and the resistance of the water in 
 the opposite direction; and the shearing strain, as when acted 
 upon by a force or weight tending to slide its particles over each 
 other, as when a piece of wood, for example, supported at each 
 end upon immovable supports, is acted upon by a weight so 
 great as to push that portion between the two supports out of 
 place, shearing it off, so to speak, by a transverse stress. It is 
 of the same nature as the operation of a punch and die strain. 
 
 A beam or girder subjected to a stress shows a "deflection" 
 and the limit of "elasticity" is that point at which it is liable to 
 break and where the deflections are observed to increase per- 
 ceptibly faster than the load. Hence the rule that the actual 
 load must not only never exceed the elastic limit but should not 
 exceed more than one-third or, at the most, one-half of it, under 
 any circumstances. There are rules for computing deflection 
 of beams, which may be found in Trautwine, Kidder, Moles- 
 
596 
 
 STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 
 
 worth. Haswell or other engineering hooks. Trautwine and 
 Haswell are the ones usually preferred. 
 
 When a load or stress is removed the tendency of the beam is 
 to recover its original shape, but there is apt to be a permanent 
 bend, or what is known as the permanent "set." This, in fact, 
 takes place in all cases of stress, even under moderate loads. 
 
 The elastic ratio, so-called, of material is ascertained by divid- 
 ing the elastic limit by the ultimate strain, and is usually ex- 
 pressed in a decimal fraction. 
 
 It must be remembered that weights of the beam or of the 
 materials themselves must be added to get the "neat" or "safe 
 load" — usually adding one-half the weight of a beam, for ex- 
 ample, the distributed weight of a beam being, like that of its 
 distributed load, about one-half of its concentrated weight. 
 The weight of materials may be such as, carried to a great 
 height, wovdd destroy themselves. Brickwork weighs 112 
 pounds per cubic foot, and as it would crush under thirty tons 
 per square foot, a vertical column of it 600 feet high would crush 
 under its own weight. (We may find some comfort as to sky- 
 scraping buildings in this fact.) 
 
 The strength of material also depends upon conditions (such 
 as dryness or degree of "seasoning" of wood — seasoned wood 
 being stronger than green) and shape; a square post being 
 stronger than a cylindrical one — in the case of wood, because of 
 the greater area of cross section, while in the case of cast-iron, 
 the cylindrical column is stronger, (with the same amount of 
 metal) because there is less likelihood of defective castings, 
 "floating cores," &c, in round eastings than in square. 
 
 There is a great difference between the stress of a force or 
 weight acting slowly and constantly ;is compared with one act- 
 ing suddenly. A suddenly applied load would strain at least 
 twice as much as the same weight at rest; and for this reason 
 troops in crossing bridges are always required to "break step," 
 and floors for dancing need to be stronger than for dormitories. 
 Moreover, all materials constantly subjected to the same stresses 
 become in time "tired," and at the end of a long series of stresses 
 will yield to a smaller load than that which originally they c< >uld 
 carry safely. Such facts have to be provided for. Wrought 
 iron, for example, which carries as a "constant" 53,000 pounds 
 
NEW YORK BUILDING LAW. 
 
 597 
 
 per square inch for 800 applications, broke at 35,000 pounds after 
 ten million applications. 
 
 Iron caps for wooden pillars are admirable, but, as elsewhere 
 stated, the weight should be carried by a pintle going through 
 the girder or beam to the iron plate of pillar of the story above 
 (see page 125), so that there shall not be shrinkable timber 
 beams in the line of supports. As already stated, wood shrinks 
 by the contraction of its cells and, therefore, horizontally, rather 
 than vertically, and the shrinkage of four 1 2 -inch beams would 
 amount to the shrinkage of 48 inches of horizontal wood. 
 
 The following are the provisions of the New York Building 
 Law as to weights of materials, computations of strength, 
 factors of safety and working stresses : 
 
 Strength of existing floors to be calculated. 
 
 In all warehouses, storehouses, factories, workshops, and stores where heavy 
 materials are kept or stored, or machinery introduced, the weight that each 
 floor will safely sustain upon each superficial foot thereof, or upon each vary- 
 ing part of such floor, shall be estimated by the owner or occupant, or by a 
 competent person employed by the owner or occupant. 
 
 Such estimate shall be reduced to writing, on printed forms furnished by 
 the Department of Buildings, stating the material, size, distance apart and 
 span of beams and girders, post or columns to support floors, and its correctness 
 shall be sworn to by the person making the same, 
 
 And it shall thereupon be filed in the office of the Department of Buildings. 
 
 But if the commissioners of buildings shall have cause to doubt the correct- 
 ness of said estimate, they are empowered to revise and correct the same, and 
 for the purpose of such revision the officers and employes of the Department 
 of Buildings may enter any building and remove so much of any floor or other 
 portion thereof as may be required to make necessary measurements and ex- 
 amination. 
 
 When the correct estimate of the weight that the floors in any such build- 
 ings will safely sustain has been ascertained, as herein provided, the Depart- 
 ment of Buildings shall approve the same, 
 
 And thereupon the owner or occupant of said building or of any portion 
 thereof, shall post a copy of such approved estimate in a conspicuous place on 
 each story, or varying parts of each story, of the building to which it relates. 
 
 Before any building hereafter erected is occupied and used, in whole or in 
 part, for any of the purposes aforesaid, and before any building, erected prior 
 to the passage of this Code, but not at such time occupied for any of the afore- 
 said purposes, is occupied or used, in whole or in part, for any of said purposes, 
 the weight that each floor will safely sustain upon each superficial foot thereof, 
 shall be ascertained and posted in a conspicuous place on each story or varying 
 parts of each story of the building to which it relates. 
 
 No person shall place, or cause or permit to be placed on any floor of any 
 building any greater load than the safe load thereof, as correctly estimated anil 
 ascertained as herein provided. 
 
 Expense for examining into strength of floors. 
 
 Any expense necessarilv incurred in removing any floor or other portion of 
 
508 
 
 SAFE LOADS. \\ EIGHTS, ETC. 
 
 any building for the purpose of making any examination herein provided for 
 shall be paid by the Comptroller of The City of New York, upon the requi- 
 sition of the Board of Buildings, out of the fund paid over to said board under 
 the provisions of seetion one hundred and fifty-eight of this Code. Such ex- 
 penses shall be a charge against the person or persons by whom or on whose 
 behalf said estimate was made, provided such examination proves the floor of 
 insufllcient strcngt li to carry u it h salel y the loads found upon t hem when such 
 examination was made; and shall he collected in an action to he hrought by the 
 Corporation Counsel against said person or persons, and the sum so collected 
 shall be paid over to the said Comptroller to be deposited in said fund in 
 reimbursement of the amount paid as aforesaid. 
 
 Floor calculations filed with application to build. 
 
 W hen the architect of record for any building has filed with his application 
 to build the data required to determine the st ren L r t h of tloors. on one of t he 
 blank forms provided for that purpose, such examination shall not be required 
 provided that the purposes and uses of the building have not been changed. 
 
 Safe load for masonry work. 
 
 The safe-bearing load to apply to brickwork shall be taken at — 
 Eight tons per superficial fool when lime mortar is used; 
 Eleven and one half tons per superficial foot when lime and cement mortar 
 mixed is used; 
 
 Fifteen tons per superficial foot when cement mortar is used. 
 
 Rubble-stone work. 
 
 The safe-bearing load to apply to rubble-stone work shall be taken at — 
 Ten tons per superficial foot when Portland cement is used; 
 When cement other than Portland is used, eight tons per superficial foot; 
 When lime and cement mortar mixed is used, seven tons per superficial 
 foot; 
 
 And when lime mortar is used, five tons per superficial foot 
 
 Concrete. 
 
 The safe-bearing load to apply to concrete — 
 
 When Portland cement is used shall be taken at fifteen tons per superficial 
 foot; 
 
 And •when cement other than Portland is used, eight tons per superficial 
 foot. 
 
 Weights of certain materials. 
 
 In computing the weight of walls. 
 
 A cubic foot of brickwork shall be deemed to weigh one hundred and 
 fifteen pounds. 
 
 Sandstone, white marble, granite and other kinds of building stone shall be 
 deemed to weigh one hundred and seventy pounds per cubic foot. 
 
 Computations for strength of materials. 
 
 The dimensions of each piece or combination of materials required shall be 
 ascertained by computation, according to the rules prescribed by this Code. 
 
STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 
 
 599 
 
 Factors of safety. 
 
 AYliere the unit stress for any material is not prescribed in this Code the 
 relation of allowable unit stress to ultimate strength shall be — 
 
 As one to four for metals, subjected to tension or transverse stress; 
 As one to six for timber, 
 
 And as one to ten for natural or artificial stones and brick or stone masonry. 
 But wherever working stresses are prescribed in this Code, varying the 
 factors of safety herein above given, the said working stresses shall be used. 
 
 Strength of columns. 
 
 In columns or compression members with Hat ends of cast iron, steel, 
 wrought iron or wood, the stress per square inch shall not exceed that given 
 in the following tables: 
 
 Working stresses per square inch of 
 When the length divided by least, radius of , section 
 
 gyration equals 
 
 120. 
 110. 
 100. 
 
 90. 
 
 80. 
 
 70. 
 
 60. 
 
 50. 
 
 40. 
 
 30. 
 
 20. 
 
 10. 
 
 
 
 Wrought 
 
 Cast iron. 
 
 Steel. 
 
 iron. 
 
 
 8,240 
 
 4,400 
 
 
 8,820 
 
 5,200 
 
 
 9.400 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 9,980 
 
 6,800 
 
 
 10,560 
 
 7,600 
 
 9,200 
 
 11,140 
 
 8,400 
 
 9,500 
 
 11,720 
 
 9,200 
 
 9,800 
 
 12,300 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,100 
 
 12,880 
 
 10,800 
 
 10,400 
 
 13,460 
 
 11,600 
 
 10,700 
 
 14,040 
 
 12,400 
 
 11,000 
 
 14,620 
 
 13,200 
 
 And in like proportion for intermediate ratios. 
 
 Working stress per square inch of 
 When the length divided by (he least , ■ section 
 
 diameter equals White pine, 
 
 Long leaf Norway pine, 
 
 yellow pine. spruce. Oak. 
 
 30 460 350 390 
 
 25 550 425 475 
 
 20 640 500 560 
 
 15 730 575 645 
 
 12 784 620 696 
 
 10 820 650 730 
 
 And in like proportion for intermediate ratios. Five-eighths the values 
 given for white pine shall also apply to chestnut and hemlock posts. 
 
 For locust posts use one and one-half the value given for white pine. 
 
 Columns and compression members shall not be used having an unsupported 
 length of greater ratios than given in the tables. 
 
 Columns eccentrically loaded. 
 
 Any column eccentrically loaded shall have the stresses caused by such 
 eccentricity computed, and the combined stresses resulting from such eccen- 
 tricity at any part of the column, added to all other stresses at that part shall, 
 in no case, exceed the working stresses stated in this Code. 
 
 The eccentric load of a column shall be considered to be distributed equally 
 over the entire area of that column at the next point below at which the column 
 is securely braced laterally in the direction of the eccentricity. 
 
GOO 
 
 SAFE LOAD COMPUTATIONS. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 What will be the safe load for a yellow-pine post 10" x 10" — 10 feet in 
 length? 
 Length in ins. 
 120 
 
 ~ —-— ~ ~ 12, for which the working stress per square inch of section 
 
 10 in t lie above table is 784 
 
 least diameter. 
 
 The sectional area of a 10" x 10" post is 100 square inches. 
 Sectional area. Working stress. 
 Therefore 100 "x 781 = 78,400 lbs., or 39.2 tons, safe load. 
 
 What will be the safe load for a yellow-pine post 8" x 10" — 10 feet in 
 length? 
 Length in ins. 
 ^20 
 
 * 15, for which the working stress per square inch of section 
 8 in the above table is 730. 
 
 least diameter. 
 
 The sectional an a of an 8" x 10" post is 80 square inches. 
 Sectional area. Working stress. 
 Therefore 80 x 730 - 58,400 lbs., or 29.2 tons, safe load. 
 
 What will be the safe load for a round yellow-pine column 10" dia. — 10 feet 
 in length? 
 Length in ins. 
 120 
 
 m ^^— mm ^— = 12. for w hich the working stress per square inch of section 
 10 in the above table is 784. 
 
 least diameter. 
 
 The sectional area of a 10" round column is 78.54 square inches. 
 Sectional area. Working stress. 
 Therefore 78.54 x 784 01.575 lbs., or 30.79 tons, safe load. 
 
 "Working stresses. 
 
 The safe carrying capacity of the various materials of construction (except 
 in the ease of columns) shall be determined by the following working stresses 
 in pounds per square inch of sectional area. 
 
 Compression (Direct). 
 
 Rolled steel 16,000 
 
 Cast steel 16,000 
 
 Wrought iron 12,000 
 
 Cast iron (in short blocks) 16,000 
 
 Steel pins and rivets (bearing) 20,000 
 
 Wrought iron pins and rivets (bearing) 15,000 
 
 With Across 
 
 Grain. Grain. 
 
 Oak 900 800 
 
 Yellow pine 1,000 600 
 
 White pine 800 400 
 
 Spruce 800 400 
 
 Locust 1,200 1,000 
 
WORKING STRESSES. 601 
 
 Hemlock : ' 500 500 
 
 Chestnut 500 1,000 
 
 Concrete (Portland) cement, 1; sand, 2; stone, 4 230 
 
 Concrete (Portland) cement, 1 ; sand, 2; stone, 5 208 
 
 Concrete, Rosendale, or equal, cement, 1; sand, 2; stone, 4 125 
 
 Concrete, Rosendale, or equal, cement, l;sand, 2; stone, 5 Ill 
 
 Rubble stonework in Portland cement mortar 140 
 
 " " " Hosendale cement mortar Ill 
 
 " " " lime and cement mortar 97 
 
 " " " lime mortar 70 
 
 Brickwork in Portland cement mortar; cement 1 — sand 3 250 
 
 " Kosendale, or equal, cement mortar; cement 1 — sand 3. . . . 'Jos 
 
 " lime and cement mortar; cement 1 — lime 1 — sand ti 160 
 
 " " lime mortar; lime 1 — sand 4 Ill 
 
 Granites (according to test) 1,000 to 2,400 
 
 Greenwich Stone 1,200 
 
 Gneiss (New York City) 1,300 
 
 Limestones (according to test) 700 to 2,300 
 
 Marbles (according to test) 600 to 1,200 
 
 Sandstones (according to test) 400 to 1,000 
 
 Bluestom — North River 2,000 
 
 Brick (Haverstraw, flatwise) 300 
 
 Slate 1,000 
 
 Tension (Direct). 
 
 Rolled Steel 16,000 
 
 Cast "• 16,000 
 
 Wrought Iron 12,000 
 
 Cast " 3 000 
 
 Yellow Pine 1,200 
 
 White •' 800 
 
 Spruce 800 
 
 Oak 1,000 
 
 Hemlock " 600 
 
 Shear. 
 
 Steel Web Plates 9,000 
 
 " Shop Rivets and Pins 10,000 
 
 " Field " 8,000 
 
 " Bolts 7,000 
 
 Wrought Iron Web Plates 6,000 
 
 " Shop Rivets and Pins 7,500 
 
 *« " Field " 6 000 
 
 " " " Bolts •. 5,500 
 
 Cast Iron 3,000 
 
 With Across 
 
 Fibre Fibre. 
 
 Yellow pine 70 500 
 
 White " 40 250 
 
 Spruce 50 320 
 
 Oak 100 600 
 
 Locust 100 720 
 
 Hemlock 40 275 
 
 Chestnut 150 
 
 Safe Extreme Fibre Stress (Bending). 
 
 Rolled Steel Beams 16,000 
 
 " " Pins, Rivets and Bolts 20,000 
 
602 STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 
 
 Riveted " Beams (Net Flange Section) 14,000 
 
 Rolled Wrought Iron Beams 12,000 
 
 " Pins. Rivets and Bolts 15,000 
 
 Riveted " " Beams (Net Flange Section) 12,000 
 
 Cast Iron Compression Side 16,000 
 
 " Tension Side 3,000 
 
 Yellow pine . 1,200 
 
 White " 800 
 
 Spruce 800 
 
 Oak : 1,000 
 
 Locust 1,200 
 
 Hemlock 600 
 
 Chestnut 800 
 
 Granite 180 
 
 Greenwich Stone 150 
 
 Gneiss (New York City) 150 
 
 Limestone 150 
 
 Slate 400 
 
 Marble 120 
 
 Sandstone 100 
 
 Bluestone, North River 300 
 
 Safe Extreme Fibre Stress (Bending). 
 
 Concrete (Portland) Cement 1 — Sand 2 — Stone 4 30 
 
 "1 "2 " 5 20 
 
 " (Rosendale, or equal) Cement 1 — Sand 2 — Stone 4 16 
 
 " " " 1 "2 " 5 10 
 
 Brick (Common) 50 
 
 Brickwork (in Cement) 30 
 
 The following tables, computed according to the formulas of 
 the New York City Building Law, as published in the Code, 
 will be found convenient for estimating safe floor loads : 
 
 Safe loads, in tons of 2.000 pounds, on Cast-iron Rectangular 
 
 Columns. 
 
 Size in 
 Inches. 
 
 Thickness 
 of shell in 
 
 Length in Feet. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 
 u 
 
 128 
 
 127 
 
 125 
 
 124 
 
 122 
 
 8 x 10 
 
 1 
 
 165 
 
 163 
 
 161 
 
 159 
 
 158 
 
 
 1% 
 
 200 
 
 197 
 
 195 
 
 192 
 
 190 
 
 
 K 
 
 144 
 
 142 
 
 141 
 
 139 
 
 138 
 
 8 x 12 
 
 l 
 
 186 
 
 184 
 
 182 
 
 180 
 
 178 
 
 
 
 226 
 
 223 
 
 220 
 
 217 
 
 215 
 
 
 u 
 
 146 
 
 145 
 
 144 
 
 142 
 
 141 
 
 10 x 10 
 
 1 
 
 189 
 
 188 
 
 186 
 
 184 
 
 182 
 
 IX 
 
 230 
 
 228 
 
 225 
 
 223 
 
 221 
 
 
 l'A 
 
 267 
 
 265 
 
 262 
 
 259 
 
 257 
 
 
 
 162 
 
 161 
 
 159 
 
 158 
 
 157 
 
 10 x 12 
 
 1 
 
 211 
 256 
 
 209 
 254 
 
 207 
 252 
 
 205 
 249 
 
 203 
 247 
 
 
 1^ 
 
 299 
 
 296 
 
 294 
 
 291 
 
 288 
 
SAFE LOADS FOR CAST-IKON COLUMNS. 
 
 603 
 
 Safe loads, in tons of 2.000 pounds, on Hollow Cylindrical Cast-iron 
 
 Columns. 
 
 Diameter 
 
 in 
 Inches. 
 
 Thickness 
 of shell in 
 Inches. 
 
 JL 
 1 
 
 IK 
 
 IK. 
 
 ' '4 
 i'/ 2 
 
 13// 
 
 Length in Feet. 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 uU 
 
 59 
 
 oo 
 
 57 
 
 
 76 
 
 75 
 
 73 
 
 71 
 
 
 OA 
 '.III 
 
 OO 
 
 00 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 74 
 
 71 
 
 70 
 
 70 
 
 94 
 
 92 
 
 91 
 
 89 
 
 88 
 
 112 
 
 110 
 
 ins 
 
 106 
 
 104 
 
 87 
 
 86 
 
 85 
 
 83 
 
 82 
 
 112 
 
 110 
 
 108 
 
 107 
 
 105 
 
 134 
 
 132 
 
 130 
 
 128 
 
 126 
 
 100 
 
 99 
 
 98 
 
 97 
 
 95 
 
 129 
 
 128 
 
 126 
 
 125 
 
 123 
 
 156 
 
 154 
 
 152 
 
 150 
 
 148 
 
 181 
 
 178 
 
 176 
 
 174 
 
 171 
 
 147 
 
 145 
 
 144 
 
 142 
 
 141 
 
 178 
 
 176 
 
 174 
 
 172 
 
 170 
 
 207 
 
 205 
 
 203 
 
 200 
 
 198 
 
 234 
 
 232 
 
 229 
 
 227 
 
 223 
 
 165 
 
 163 
 
 162 
 
 160 
 
 158 
 
 201 
 
 199 
 
 197 
 
 195 
 
 193 
 
 234 
 
 232 
 
 229 
 
 227 
 
 224 
 
 264 
 
 262 
 
 259 
 
 256 
 
 253 
 
 183 
 
 182 
 
 179 
 
 178 
 
 176 
 
 223 
 
 221 
 
 219 
 
 217 
 
 215 
 
 261 
 
 258 
 
 266 
 
 253 
 
 251 
 
 296 
 
 294 
 
 291 
 
 288 
 
 285 
 
 330 
 
 327 
 
 324 
 
 321 
 
 317 
 
(104 
 
 SAFE LOADS FOR WOODEN BEAMS. 
 
 Safe (uniformly distributed) floor loads, in pounds, for each superficial 
 foot. Wooden beams, spaced 16 inches on centres. 
 
 Wood. 
 
 Size of 
 
 
 
 Span 
 
 in feet. 
 
 
 
 Brums. 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 3 x 10 
 
 158 
 
 109 
 
 80 
 
 70 
 
 62 
 
 55 
 
 39 
 
 27 
 
 
 3 x 12 
 
 227 
 
 158 
 
 116 
 
 101 
 
 89 
 
 78 
 
 57 
 
 39 
 
 
 3x14 
 
 309 
 
 91 4 
 
 157 
 
 137 
 
 121 
 
 107 
 
 
 54 
 
 HEMLOCK. 
 
 4 x 10 
 
 210 
 
 146 
 
 107 
 
 93 
 
 82 
 
 73 
 
 53 
 
 36 
 
 
 4 x 12 
 
 302 
 
 210 
 
 154 
 
 134 
 
 118 
 
 105 
 
 7li 
 
 52 
 
 
 4x14 
 
 412 
 
 286 
 
 210 
 
 183 
 
 101 
 
 112 
 
 103 
 
 71 
 
 
 3 x 10 
 
 203 
 
 141 
 
 103 
 
 90 
 
 79 
 
 70 
 
 51 
 
 35 
 
 
 3 x 12 
 
 292 
 
 203 
 
 149 
 
 130 
 
 114 
 
 101 
 
 73 
 
 51 
 
 
 3 x 14 
 
 397 
 
 276 
 
 203 
 
 176 
 
 155 
 
 137 
 
 99 
 
 69 
 
 SPRUCE. 
 
 4 x 10 
 
 270 
 
 188 
 
 138 
 
 120 
 
 105 
 
 93 
 
 68 
 
 47 
 
 
 4 x 12 
 
 389 
 
 270 
 
 198 
 
 173 
 
 152 
 
 135 
 
 97 
 
 68 
 
 
 4 x 14 
 
 529 
 
 368 
 
 270 
 
 235 
 
 207 
 
 183 
 
 132 
 
 92 
 
 
 3 x 10 
 
 203 
 
 141 
 
 103 
 
 90 
 
 79 
 
 70 
 
 51 
 
 35 
 
 
 3 x 12 
 
 292 
 
 203 
 
 149 
 
 130 
 
 114 
 
 101 
 
 73 
 
 51 
 
 WHITE 
 
 3 x 14 
 
 397 
 
 276 
 
 203 
 
 170 
 
 155 
 
 137 
 
 99 
 
 69 
 
 PINE. 
 
 4 x 10 
 
 270 
 
 188 
 
 138 
 
 120 
 
 105 
 
 93 
 
 68 
 
 47 
 
 
 4 x 12 
 
 389 
 
 270 
 
 198 
 
 173 
 
 152 
 
 135 
 
 97 
 
 68 
 
 
 4 x 14 
 
 529 
 
 368 
 
 270 
 
 235 
 
 207 
 
 183 
 
 132 
 
 92 
 
 
 3 x 10 
 
 316 
 
 218 
 
 160 
 
 140 
 
 124 
 
 110 
 
 78 
 
 54 
 
 
 3 x 12 
 
 454 
 
 316 
 
 232 
 
 202 
 
 178 
 
 156 
 
 114 
 
 78 
 
 YELLOW 
 
 3 x 14 
 
 618 
 
 428 
 
 314 
 
 274 
 
 242 
 
 214 
 
 154 
 
 108 
 
 PINE. 
 
 4 x 10 
 
 420 
 
 292 
 
 214 
 
 186 
 
 164 
 
 146 
 
 106 
 
 72 
 
 
 4x12 
 
 604 
 
 420 
 
 308 
 
 268 
 
 236 
 
 210 
 
 152 
 
 104 
 
 
 4 x 14 
 
 824 
 
 572 
 
 420 
 
 366 
 
 322 
 
 284 
 
 206 
 
 142 
 
 >, t otk. — For Locust post use one and a half the value for White pine — N. 
 Y. Bdg. Law. 
 
 Flitch plate girders or spliced or double girders bolted together may be 
 as strong for carrying purposes as single sticks but they will not so well resist 
 fire as the latter. 
 
SAFE LOADS FOR FLOORS. 
 
 605 
 
 N. B, The following formula from llie New York Building Law was arrived at as the result 
 of Governmental testa unci i- endorsed by the best engineering authorities. It ha* also Iktu 
 adopted by the building laws of several other cities. The tests will be found higher than for- 
 merly employed for wooden columns, and the rule will enable anyone to compute quickly safe 
 loads lor wooden beams. 
 
 To calculate safe distributed load on wooden floor beams. 
 
 The safe carrying capacity of wooden beams for uniformly distributed 
 loads shall be determined by multiplying the area in square inches by its 
 depth in inches ami dividing this product by the span of the beam in feet. 
 This result is to be multiplied by- — 
 
 Tn for hemlock, 
 
 90 for spruce and white pine. 
 120 for oak. and by 
 140 for yellow pine. 
 
 EXAMPLES. 
 
 What would be the uniformly distributed safe load in pounds, according to 
 the above, for a spruce beam 3" x 10" — 20' span? 
 
 Area, Depth. Co-efti- Safe distrib- 
 
 3" x 10" x 10 Result, cient. uted load. 
 
 1 1 ~ x 90 = 1,350 His. 
 
 20' 
 span. 
 
 What would be the uniformly distributed sale load in pounds, according to 
 the above, for a ycllow-pine beam 4 x 12" — 22' span? 
 
 Area. Depth. Co-effi- Safe distrib 
 
 4" x 12" x 12" Result, cient. uted load. 
 
 1 fl — °" x 140 = 3,668 lbs. 
 
 99' 
 
 span. 
 
 Safe load, tons of 2.000 pounds, on Yellow Pine Columns. 
 
 Shape of 
 Column. 
 
 1 Hameter in 
 Indies. 
 
 8 
 
 Length in Feet, 
 9 10 11 12 
 
 13 
 
 
 8 
 
 19.T 
 
 19.0 
 
 18.4 
 
 17 7 
 
 17.0 
 
 16.3 
 
 
 9 
 
 25.7 
 
 24.9 
 
 24.2 
 
 23.4 
 
 22 7 
 
 21.9 
 
 
 10 
 
 32.5 
 
 31.6 
 
 30.H 
 
 29 9 
 
 29.1 
 
 28.2 
 
 Round. 
 
 11 
 
 40.1 
 
 39.1 
 
 38.2 
 
 37 2 
 
 36.3 
 
 35.4 
 
 
 12 
 
 48.4 
 
 47.4 
 
 46.4 
 
 45.4 
 
 44.3 
 
 43 3 
 
 
 13 
 
 57.5 
 
 56.4 
 
 55.3 
 
 54.2 
 
 53.1 
 
 52.0 
 
 
 14 
 
 67.5 
 
 66.3 
 
 65.1 
 
 63.9 
 
 62.7 
 
 61.5 
 
 
 8x8 
 
 25.1 
 
 24.2 
 
 23.4 
 
 22 5 
 
 21.6 
 
 20.8 
 
 
 9 x 9 
 
 32.7 
 
 31.8 
 
 30.8 
 
 29 8 
 
 28.8 
 
 27.9 
 
 
 10 X 10 
 
 41.4 
 
 40.3 
 
 39.2 
 
 38.1 
 
 37.0 
 
 35.0 
 
 Square. 
 
 11 x 11 
 
 51.0 
 
 49.8 
 
 48.6 
 
 47.4 
 
 46.2 
 
 45.1 
 
 12 x 12 
 
 61.6 
 
 60.3 
 
 59.0 
 
 57.7 
 
 56.5 
 
 55.2 
 
 
 13 x 13 
 
 73.3 
 
 71.9 
 
 70 5 
 
 69.1 
 
 67.7 
 
 66.3 
 
 
 14 x 14 
 
 85.9 
 
 84.4 
 
 82.9 
 
 81.4 
 
 79.9 
 
 78.3 
 
606 
 
 SAFE LOADS FOR FLOORS. 
 
 The safe loading of floors is a most important matter, from 
 the fire viewpoint as well as from the structural viewpoint. 
 The tendency of the average occupant of a building is to load 
 the various floors of it according to his needs for storage, with- 
 out reference to what weights the floors are calculated to carry. 
 In the case of dwellings, for example, farmers often store grain 
 in them, and often on the upper floors, which have the lightest 
 floor beams. We have had numerous fires from the injury to 
 flues caused by the sagging of floor timbers, deflection of beams, 
 etc., disturbing the flues even where the beams have not reached 
 the breaking point. 
 
 Seed warehouses have given way under the weight of quant- 
 ities of seed in bags tiered up to a point beyond the capacity of 
 the beams to carry them. And this class of risks has been very 
 unprofitable. 
 
 Agents should pay especial reference to such matters. The 
 average man does not give any thought to the matter. 
 
 The writer once found whiskey stored in a dwelling, altered 
 over for a store, and tiered up to a point which required im- 
 mediate shoring from below, but which would not have been 
 done except for the suggestion as to the strength of the floor. 
 
 It is the tendency in cities to meet the demand for new stores 
 or warehouses by altering buildings in the dwelling section with- 
 out strengthening the floor beams or increasing the thickness of 
 enclosing walls, and such risks may safely be regarded as liable 
 to be overloaded and, therefore, dangerous. 
 
 The majority of buildings outside of territories covered by 
 building laws are constructed of 2 x 10 floor beams, which are 
 practically only 2-inch plank on edge. No floor, even for a 
 dwelling, should have beams smaller than 3 x 10, spaced 16 
 inches on centres and cross-bridged every five feet. 
 
 In calculating factors of safety a margin should be allowed 
 for the weight of water thrown by the fire department to ex- 
 tinguish fire — an important matter in the case of merchandise 
 of an absorbent character like fibre. (See page 90.) 
 
FIRE TEMPERATURES. 607 
 
 Fire Temperatures. 
 
 Red 977 degrees. 
 
 Cherry..., 1470 
 
 Orange 2000 " 
 
 White 2370 
 
 Dazzling 2730 
 
 Cast-iron fuses at » 2000 
 
 Glass " 2377 
 
 Steel " 2550 " 
 
 Wrought iron" 2900 
 
 Fire-brick " 4000 
 
 Wood chars at 350 " 
 
 Wood burns at 550 " 
 
 Steam is resolved into its natural gases, 
 Oxygen and Hydrogen at 1470 
 
 DANGER OF RUST IN IRON MEMBERS. 
 
 At a convention held some 3 r ears ago in New York, at which 
 were present a greater number of experts in iron than probably 
 ever met before or since in one room, there was not one who 
 contended that cast-iron would rust beyond the harmless in- 
 crustation of the thickness of a knife blade, whereas there was 
 not one who did not believe wrought iron would rust to the point 
 of danger; and there was not one who claimed to know whether 
 steel would or not, each admitting that steel had not been 
 sufficiently tested as to rust to warrant a reliable opinion. If it 
 could be relied upon as rust proof, it would be superior to all 
 < >ther material for fireproof buildings because of its great strength 
 in proportion to weight. The use of steel in construction is grow- 
 ing, because it is cheaper than wrought iron, as lighter weights 
 are used for the same strength, but while in some respects 
 superior to wrought iron, some of the prevailing impressions 
 with regard to it are erroneous. Defects not possible of detec- 
 tion by tests are liable to exist in its structure. Among the first 
 steel beams brought to the city of New York there were in- 
 stances in which they were actually broken in two by falling 
 from the level of trucks to the pavement, probably due to their 
 having been rolled when too cold, as steel when rolled below a 
 certain temperature becomes brittle. Better beams are now 
 made. 
 
008 RUST IN IKON MEMBERS. 
 
 I have already stated that experience with steel to he im- 
 hedded in the enclosing walls and fireproof ing of htiildings has 
 heen so hrief that no one can tell whether or not it would resist 
 rust. Recent experiments would indicate that it is almost cer- 
 tain to rust to the point of destruction where the fireproof cover- 
 ing of concrete or plaster should crack and admit air. It is 
 claimed that "neat" Portland Cement is a preventive of rust, 
 and by some that concrete would also be a safe covering mixed 
 in the proportions given, Portland Cement, sharp clean sand 
 and hard broken stone, (p. 81 — one, two and five,) the steel be- 
 ing pickled with acid, then dipped in hot milk of lime, and when 
 cold the lime removed with a wire brush — all of which careful 
 preparation, it is needless to say, could not he counted upon in 
 actual every-day practice. Where a vacant space with air 
 should occur in the concrete, a defective cinder or a crack, 
 especially if the coincidence should be near a leaking water, 
 steam or sewer pipe, the most serious results might follow. 
 
 While doubt exists as to the exemption of steel from rust, 
 however, there is no doubt whatever entertained by experts as 
 to the rusting of wrought iron to the point of destruction. Cast- 
 iron alone, as already stated, seems immune from the danger of 
 rust. 
 
 Numerous newspaper paragraphs appear, at intervals, which 
 claim that metal stripped of its covering of cement has been 
 found exempt front rust, with the paint intact, &c, and the 
 fact is cited as evidence that cement is a preservative of iron 
 and that the danger of rust is over-estimated. Painting, by the 
 way, as already stated, should be done with the hest quality of 
 linseed oil and without the use of turpentine, benzine or dryers. 
 It should be thoroughly applied in three coats, with about a 
 gallon to 400 square feet, but the iron should first be thoroughly 
 cleaned of rust and dirt, by pickling or other process. Paint is 
 rarely properly applied, however, and even when of the best 
 quality, is a preservative of the metal, as already stated, only 
 so long as the oil in it lasts.* 
 
 Those who claim to have evidence of the exemption of iron 
 from rust rely, I think it will be found, upon iron which has 
 
 *It should not be applied in damp weather but only when the metal surface 
 is perfectly dry. 
 
EXPANSION OF IRON. 
 
 i ill! i 
 
 been under exceptionally favorable conditions, free from damp- 
 ness, the action of gases, etc., overlooking the fact that a leak- 
 ing water pipe or steam pipe, or the escape of gases from boiler 
 furnaces, will attack iron and gradually but surely consume it. 
 A notable instance of this is the case of the plate girder of the 
 Washington Bridge over the Boston & Albany Railroad, in 
 Boston, where a quarter inch plate girder was recently found to 
 be entirely consumed in places from the operation of gases from 
 the locomotives passing below. 
 
 It is quite common to have advocates of wrought iron cite 
 railroad bridges and the elevated railroad structures of New 
 York as proof of their claims, but if they will take the trouble 
 to examine these structures they will discover that, in spite of 
 the fact that they are exposed to view, so that they can be 
 painted frequently, the evidences of rust are unmistakable, 
 especially about the rivets; and one can well imagine what 
 would be the result in the case of riveted iron members in the 
 skeleton structure of a building where such ironwork is entirely 
 concealed from view, periodical inspections being impossible. 
 
 Rust is especially liable in the cellars and basements of build- 
 ings. The wrought iron friction brakes of freight elevators in 
 the cellars of stores, for example, are frequently found so con- 
 sumed with rust as to be easily rubbed to pieces in the hand. 
 
 Steel rivets are dangerous and they should never be used, 
 unless of a very superior quality, so soft that hammering will 
 not crystallize the material and yet with sufficient tensile strength 
 to insure perfect holding qualities. This is difficult to secure. 
 Their use in columns for buildings is objectionable, as they rust 
 badly under certain conditions. The beam bearing bracket shelf 
 on cast-iron columns should be cast in one piece with the column, 
 and the beams should be bolted to the columns to secure rigidity. 
 
 EXPANSION OF IRON. 
 
 It is generally supposed and frequently stated that there is a 
 great difference between the expansion of iron and masonry by 
 heat. This is not the case. For example, the length of a bar 
 which at 32 degrees is represented by 1. at 212 degrees would 
 be represented as follows: 
 
610 
 
 EXPANSION OP IRON. 
 
 Cast Iron 
 
 Wrought Iron 
 
 Cement 
 
 Granite 
 
 Marble 
 
 KandstoTie 
 
 Brick 
 
 Fire-brick 
 
 1.0011 
 l.(i()12 
 1.0014 
 1.0007 
 1.0011 
 1.0017 
 
 1.0005M 
 1.0005 
 
 In the fireproof building of the Western Union Telegraph 
 Company in New York, some years ago, a heavy brick pier, 
 seven or eight feet in diameter, adjoined the wall of the boiler 
 furnaces. The difference in expansion in the brickwork next 
 to this furnace wall as compared with that of the remaining 
 brickwork of the pier was so great as to produce a crushing of 
 the material from top to bottom of the pier, for a depth of 
 several inches, and it was found necessary to change the furnace 
 wall and leave an air space between it and the pier. 
 
 Where iron beams and girders are inserted in walls without 
 sufficient space left for their expansion under heat they are 
 almost certain to overthrow the bearing walls by their expansion 
 thrust. A large warehouse in Vienna in which such provision 
 had been contemplated by the architect was totally destroyed, 
 with its contents, by reason of the fact that an officious subord- 
 inate, discovering the space in the wall purposely left at the end 
 of each beam, deliberately poured liquid cement therein, which, 
 having set, effectually thwarted the well meant intention of the 
 architect, and resulted in the destruction of the building. 
 
 It is a well-known fact that iron responds so readily to tem- 
 perature that in surveying land, the expansion of a surveyor's 
 one hundred foot iron chain will, in measuring the distance of a 
 mile, result in a variation of five feet between winter temperature 
 and summer temperature, causing an error of one acre in every 
 533. Of course atmospheric rises of temperature would not 
 affect the protected structural iron in a building. 
 
 The expansion thrust of iron beams may be computed upon 
 the following factor of expansion : rolled iron of a length of 1502 
 feet will expand one-eighth of an inch for every degree of tem- 
 
 PROYISION FOR EXPANSION. 
 
EXPANSION OF IRON. 
 
 611 
 
 perature. The heat of a burning building, as already stated, is 
 enormous — sufficient to fuse most known materials; it may 
 safely be estimated to be at least 1000 degrees; therefore, a length 
 of rolled iron of 1562 feet at 1000 degrees of temperature would 
 expand about 1 "25 inches, and a 50-foot length of iron girder 
 would expand between four and five inches, showing that there 
 should be a play at each end of at least two inches if the iron is 
 not fireproofed. Inasmuch as in iron construction the iron 
 beams and girders are usually anchored to the walls to steady 
 them, the space should be left and the tie to the anchor should 
 be by a movable hinge joint, which would be of equal 
 strength with an inflexible anchor for all tying purposes but 
 would yield under the thrust pressure like an elbow and allow 
 play of the beam, or stiff anchors should have elongated holes 
 to allow expansion when beams are of great length. Girders 
 are seldom over 25 feet long, but if bolted together, as is fre- 
 quently the case, they may be 120 feet or more long, and a line 
 of columns from cellar to roof of a building may easily have one 
 continuous iron structure of two hundred or more feet. It 
 should be remembered, however, that this danger from the ex- 
 pansion of iron may be almost wholl3 r counteracted by protect- 
 ing it from exposure to fire through the use of non-conducting 
 material. It is more important to protect girders than beams, 
 and columns than either. 
 
 The mistaken pride with which the owners of some buildings 
 point to exposed iron beams in ceilings as evidence that the 
 floors are "fireproof," actually justifying the supposition that 
 they are left exposed for such display, would be ludicrous if it 
 were not serious. In buildings occupied for offices or dwellings, 
 where there is not sufficient combustible material to endanger 
 the beams, it is not so objectionable; but in warehouses and 
 stores, filled with merchandise, such construction is dangerous; 
 and if one of the upper floors should give way it would come 
 hammering down to carry with it all below and thoroughly 
 wreck the structure. 
 
 In this connection it is well again to say that combustible 
 merchandise should never be stored one hundred feet above the 
 street grade even in a fireproof building, since the average fire 
 department cannot reach it at that height. 
 
 The destruction by fire of two fireproof cotton mills in Eng- 
 land, one at Stockport on November 5th, 1902, and one near 
 
612 
 
 CONDUCTIVITY OF IRON. 
 
 Manchester on November ISth, illustrates the importance of 
 fireproofmg iron columns and the soffits or undersides of iron 
 girders and beams. 
 
 A remarkable feature of tin; Stockport fire was the death and 
 wounding of a number of operatives, who failed to escape, not- 
 withstanding that there was a staircase at each end of the 
 structure. It has generally been supposed that fireproof floors 
 with a staircase at each end of a building insured safety for 
 inmates, but in this ease the supposition proves incorrect. It 
 may be that the treads of these staircases were of stone and 
 yielded, as I have elsewhere stated they would yield, to the 
 combined action of fire and water, but at this writing I have not 
 the particulars. I cannot believe the staircases were properly 
 constructed and enclosed. 
 
 The great fire in Montreal destroying the Board of Trade 
 building and large warehouses showed the superiority of terra- 
 cotta protection for iron columns over wire lathing and plaster 
 as fireproofmg material, and also demonstrated the superiority 
 of cast-iron as compared with steel construction, although the 
 fire showed that both should be protected by a covering of fire- 
 proof material. Cinder concrete used in the floor arches was 
 also found destroyed, (see page 502.) 
 
 CONDUCTIVITY. 
 
 While the difference in expansion between masonry and iron 
 incorporated with it is less per running foot than is generally 
 supposed and while the difference in expansion between a cubic 
 foot of iron and that of a cubic foot of masonry would hardly be 
 noticeable, especially if the iron were covered on all four sides, 
 yet in stretches of 50 feet or more, as in the case of iron I-beams 
 and girders, the cumulative effect of expansion in uncovered 
 iron might be a serious matter — quite sufficient, with the rises 
 of temperature due to a burning building, to push out the bear- 
 ing walls and wreck the building. Especially is this true of 
 temperatures higher than 500 degrees. It is unnecessary to 
 suggest that metal differs from masonry in the important re- 
 spect that heat does not travel throughout the entire length of 
 the latter, while it does in the case of metal. 
 
 In other words, while the difference between the expansion 
 of a lineal foot of iron as compared with a lineal foot of masonry, 
 
CAST-IRON COLUMNS. 
 
 613 
 
 marble, brick, etc., is very slight, the difference in conductivity 
 is very great. The conducting power of silver, for example, 
 being represented by 1. copper would be .845, cast-iron .259, 
 gold .981, marble . 024 and brick .01 — an important fact to be 
 considered in tbe construction of buildings. Brickwork raised 
 to a white beat would not raise the temperature of other mas< >nry 
 iu tbe same wall a few feet away, but one end of an iron I-beam 
 could not be raised to a white heat without raising the tem- 
 perature of the beam for its entire length. 
 
 CAST-IRON VERTICAL SUPPORTS. 
 
 Tbe vertical supports, columns, pillars, etc., as already stated, 
 should be of cast-iron, cylindrical in form, of liberal thickness, 
 especially in the lower stories, thoroughly tested as to sand boles, 
 thin places from "floating cores," etc. Cast-iron columns 
 should be round, and not square. In the former shape there is 
 less likelihood of defects in casting, sand boles, etc., which pre- 
 vent uniform sound thickness of shell. The columns should be 
 planed to smooth bearings, so that the entire system from the 
 foundation to the roof, may be securely bolted together and form 
 a continuous line with joints for expansion and without any in- 
 equalities of bearings. Under no circumstances should wedges 
 or "shims"* be allowed. This most important matter is often 
 neglected. The flanges and corbel brackets for supporting 
 beams should be cast in one piece with the column and not 
 depend upon rivets or bolts. Rivets, aside from the danger of 
 shearing strains, are almost certain to rust to the point of 
 danger. The beams should be bolted to lugs on the columns, 
 however, as a tie between the side walls, holding the entire 
 structure firmly and consistently together as one rigid whole and 
 yet with play for expansion. 
 
 All iron work, columns and pillars, beams and girders, should 
 be fireproof ed, i. e., covered with at least four inches of incom- 
 bustible material, terra cotta or brick. At the floor, and for a 
 height of four feet in mercantile buildings, a metal guard should 
 be provided to prevent the column from being stripped by 
 collisions with rolling trucks for moving merchandise. It ought 
 to be unnecessary to suggest thai wooden lagging should, under 
 
 *"Shims" are pieces of slate or iron inserted to secure a Irue vertical where 
 the two surfaces have not been properly leveled or planed. 
 
614 
 
 FIRE PROOFING IRON COLUMNS. 
 
 no circumstances, be used to protect the iron, were it not for the 
 fact that in one of the largest and most costly dry-goods stores 
 in New York, the fireproof covering of the iron columns, which 
 had been seriously damaged by trucks, was being systematically 
 removed in order to substitute wooden lagging, when the fault 
 was, fortunately, detected by an inspector of underwriters. 
 Thick hardwood cleats showing the plaster behind might answer 
 as fenders or guards. Four inches of good brickwork is a good 
 covering, but porous terra cotta or even wire lath and plaster 
 may prove effective. Where wire lath and plaster is used the 
 column should first be wrapped with a quarter-inch thickness of 
 asbestos hound with wire. This would prove reliable and in- 
 expensive. 
 
 It is a fact, showing how common is the neglect to cover iron 
 with non-conducting material, that in the New York State 
 Capitol, in the library, is a large plate girder entirely exposed. 
 This girder supports the ceiling beams, and there is enough 
 combustible material in the oak bookcases, furniture and floor- 
 ing to wreck this portion of the building in case of their combus- 
 tion by expansion of the beams. The ceiling of the Senate 
 chamber is of heavy hard wood attached to the soffits of the 
 iron beams, which would, if ignited, probably warp and expand 
 the beams to a dangerous point. The New York Building Law 
 was enacted in this building. 
 
 A notable instance showing the necessity of protecting iron- 
 work with incombustible material, and the danger of expansion 
 in long lines of iron girders or beams, was that of the destruction 
 of a fireproof spinning mill at Burnley, England, recently. 
 This mill was 210 feet long by 120 feet wide. Six cast-iron 
 girders of the Hodgkinson type, each 20 feet long, spanned the 
 120 feet width, being bolted to cast-iron columns and carrying, 
 in turn, cross girders of wrought iron. The expansion of these 
 120-foot girders (they were unprotected) resulted in the disrup- 
 tion of the floor and the destruction of the mill. The cast-iron 
 columns, being unprotected, collapsed under fire and w r ater. 
 The floors were 10' 6" bays. As already stated, beams should 
 not be spaced over five feet on centres. Wider spacing results 
 in weak arches, liable to be buckled out by heat or punched 
 through by the falling of safes or of other heavy articles from 
 upper floors. 
 
COMPARATIVE TESTS. (ilo 
 
 The probability is thai if the 20-foot girders in this building 
 had been arranged with provision for expansion, and all the 
 ironwork had been thoroughly protected with fireproof material, 
 little damage would have been done. The effect would have 
 been more rapid if the floors had been loaded with combustible 
 merchandise. There was little wood to burn in the contents of 
 the spinning mill, and yet the destruction was thorough. Such 
 buildings with uncovered iron work are more dangerous than 
 those of heavy wood construction, in which the timbers are 
 twelve inches in diameter. A properly constructed building 
 with protected iron, however, is, of course, superior to any other 
 form of building. Experienced firemen are afraid to enter 
 buildings supported by iron columns unless they are thoroughly 
 fireproof ed, as they are liable to snap without warning under 
 the influence of fire and water, whereas wooden posts burn 
 slowly and give notice of collapse. They will stand a severe 
 fire without being charred for more than two inches of their 
 surface. 
 
 COMPARATIVE TESTS OF FIREPROOF MATERIAL. 
 
 Tests of fireproof material, iron beams, pillars, floor arches, 
 etc., to be of any value must be conducted under circumstances 
 which insure uniform conditions ; otherwise comparisons are un- 
 reliable. It is quite customary to refer to results of fires in 
 different buildings, having differing forms of construction, as 
 supporting theories of relative merit ; but ordinary conflagrations 
 cannot be relied upon, for the reason that in two buildings, side 
 by side, the conditions may be widely different, Eddies and 
 currents of air, changes of prevailing wind, etc., may secure 
 exemption from damage. It happened in the large confla- 
 grations of Chicago, Troy, Boston, etc., that the most phe- 
 nomenal escapes were observed. In some instances frame build- 
 ings, surrounded by brick structures which were totally des- 
 troyed, escaped with no further damage than the blistering of 
 paint. 
 
 Even where tests are carefully arranged, especially weight 
 tests, obvious precautions are sometimes overlooked. It will be 
 observed, for instance, where bricks are piled on a surface of 
 floor arch and iron beams to secure a certain weight per square 
 foot, the pile of bricks may be so disposed as to have a hearing 
 on both of the iron beams and the full weight may not come 
 
616 UNDERWRITERS AND FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 upon the fireproof arch between them. The lateral bond of ;i 
 pile of bricks a few courses higher than the floor to he tested, 
 may have all the effect of a relieving arch and materially re- 
 duce the strah is. In furnaces constructed to secure high tem- 
 peratures, also, draffs and currents of air should he provided 
 for with great care and under the direction of the most com- 
 petent and intelligent experts. 
 
 Under no circumstances should the iron frame work of a 
 skeleton building be incorporated in thin enclosing walls. No 
 wall that has not a cross section sufficient to support itself with- 
 out the iron work, should he allowed, aside from the importance 
 of having it thick enough to prevent the passage of heat from 
 1 an adjoining building. ( !urtain walls for enclosing walls, sup- 
 ported by the longitudinal members of skeleton construction 
 are objectionable; they are liable to be buckled out by the 
 expansion of the framework. The great trouble with modern 
 fireproof structures, even under the New York Building Law, 
 is that while the separating fireproof floors tend to prevent the 
 passage of flame from one story to another, the enclosing walls 
 are often insufficient to prevent heat from igniting the contents 
 of an adjoining building, so that what is gained by preventing 
 the spread of fire vertically is lost laterally. 
 
 THE INTEREST OF UNDERWRITERS IN FIREPROOF 
 CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 In conclusion it may be well to state, in view of the general 
 misapprehension which prevails with regard to the interest of 
 the fire underwriter in the improvement of construction, that it 
 makes no difference to him whether a building be fireproof or 
 not ; his rate of premium and the amount which he insures are 
 both based upon the characteristics of each building insured. 
 He would make just as much money on $100 of premium secured 
 at a proper rate of 5$ (or $50 per $1,000) for $2,000 insurance 
 on a wooden saw-mill, as on $100 of premium secured for 
 $100,000 insurance on a fireproof building the rate of which 
 is 10 cents per $100 or $1 per $1,000. 
 
 The suggestions of underwriters as to safe construction, so 
 frequently made, are evidence rather of their sense of their duty 
 to the community, as good citizens, than of a desire to secure 
 profit through immunity from fire. Indeed, they often make 
 
TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 617 
 
 more money on high rated risks of poorly constructed, wooden 
 buildings than on the lower rates of those of the best construction. 
 
 TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 The following tables of weights and measures, including the 
 decimal Metric System of France, may be found useful : 
 
 AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT. 
 
 drachms. 
 
 ozs. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 qrs. cwts. 
 
 1= 
 
 :.0625 
 
 = .0039 
 
 = .0001 39 = .000035 
 
 16 = 
 
 1 
 
 = .0625 
 
 = .00223 = .000558 
 
 256 = 
 
 16 
 
 = 1 
 
 = .0357 =.00893 
 
 7168 = 
 
 448 
 
 = 28 
 
 = 1 =.25 
 
 28672 = 
 
 1792 
 
 = 112 
 
 = 4 =1 
 
 573440 = 
 
 35*41) 
 
 = 2240 
 
 = 80 =20 
 
 ton. 
 
 :. 00000174 
 .000028 
 :. 000447 
 = .0125 
 = .05 
 = 1 
 
 French 
 grammes 
 
 = 1.77184 
 
 = 28.3495 
 
 = 453.59 
 
 = 12,700 
 
 = 50,802 
 
 = 1,016,040 
 
 TROY WEIGHT. 
 
 ;rains. dwts. 
 
 ozs. 
 
 lb. 
 
 French 
 grammes. 
 
 1= .04167= .00208 = .0001736= .0648 
 .004167 = 1.555 
 = .0833 = 31.1035 
 = 1 =373.242 
 
 24=1 
 480=20 
 
 = .05 = 
 
 5760=240 =12 
 
 175 lbs. troy = 144 lbs. avoirdupois. 
 
 lbs. avoirdupois X .82286=lbs. troy. 
 
 lbs. troy .. X 1-2153 =lbs. avoirdupois. 
 
 LONG MEASURE, 
 
 nches. 
 
 feet. 
 
 yards. 
 
 fath. 
 
 poles. 
 
 furl. 
 
 mile. 
 
 French 
 metres. 
 
 1 = 
 
 .083 
 
 = .02778 
 
 = .0139 
 
 = .005 
 
 = .000126 
 
 = .0000158 
 
 = .0254 
 
 12 = 
 
 1 
 
 = .333 
 
 = .1667 
 
 = .0606 
 
 = .00151 
 
 = .0001894 
 
 = .3048 
 
 36 = 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 = 5 
 
 = .182 
 
 = .00454 
 
 = .000568 
 
 = .9144 
 
 72 = 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 = 1 
 
 = .364 
 
 = .0091 
 
 = .001136 
 
 = 1.8287 
 
 198 = 
 
 164 
 
 = 5J 
 
 = 2J 
 
 = 1 
 
 = .025 
 
 = .003125 
 
 = 5.0291 
 
 7920 = 
 
 660" 
 
 = 220 
 
 = 110 
 
 -= 40 
 
 = 1 
 
 = 125 
 
 = 201.16 
 
 63360 = 
 
 5280 
 
 = 1760 
 
 = 880 
 
 = 320 
 
 = 8 
 
 = 1 
 
 = 1609.315 
 
 A "cable" = 120 fathoms = 720 feet. 
 
 SURVEYING MEASURE (Lineal). 
 
 inches. 
 
 links. 
 
 feet. 
 
 yards. 
 
 chains. 
 
 mile. 
 
 h rench 
 metres. 
 
 1 = 
 
 .126 = 
 
 .0833 
 
 = .0278= 
 
 .00126= 
 
 .0000158= 
 
 .0254 
 
 7.92 = 
 
 1 = 
 
 .66 
 
 = .22 = 
 
 .01 = 
 
 .000125 = 
 
 .2012 
 
 12= 
 
 1.515 = 
 
 1 
 
 = .333 = 
 
 .01515 = 
 
 .000189 = 
 
 .3048 
 
 36= 
 
 4.545 = 
 
 3 
 
 = 1 = 
 
 .04545 = 
 
 .000568 = 
 
 .9144 
 
 792= 
 
 100 = 
 
 66 
 
 = 22 = 
 
 1 = 
 
 .0125 = 
 
 20.116 
 
 63360 = 
 
 8000 = 
 
 5280 
 
 = 1760 = 
 
 80 = 
 
 1 = 
 
 1609.315 
 
 1 knot or geographical mile = 6082.66 feet=1854 metres= 
 1.152 statute mile 
 1 Admiralty knot =1.1515 mile =6080 feet. 
 
618 
 
 TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 
 
 inches. 
 
 feet. 
 
 SQUARE MEASURE, 
 yards. perches. roods. 
 
 1 = .00694 = 
 144= 1 = 
 1296= 9 = 
 39204= 272^= 
 1568160= 10890 = 
 6272640= 43560 : 
 
 .000T7' 
 .111 
 1 
 
 304 
 1210 
 4840 
 
 J! 255 .0(101)111164 .000000151) 
 
 = . 0( )367 =.()()()( 19 1 s = .000023 
 = .0331 = .000826 = .0002062 
 = 1 =.025 =.00625 
 = 40 =1 =.25 
 = 160 =4 =1 
 
 1 chain wide. . . =8 acres per mile. 
 10 square chains = 1 acre. 
 1 hectare . . .=2.471143 acres. 
 
 ( =27878400 sq. feet. 
 1 square mile -j =3097600 sq. yards. 
 ( =640 acres. 
 Acres X .0015625=sq. miles. 
 Sq. yds. X . 000000323 =sq. miles. 
 
 ins. 
 
 1 
 
 1728= 1 
 46656 = 27 
 
 CUBIC MEASURE 
 yard. 
 
 feet. 
 0005788 = 
 
 cubic metre, 
 or stere. 
 .00000214 = 000016386 
 .03704 = 028315 
 1 =.764513 
 
 square 
 metres. 
 = .000645 
 
 .0929 
 =.8361 
 =25.292 
 =1011.7 
 =4046.7 
 
 ALE AND BEER MEASURE. 
 
 pints. 
 
 2 = 1 quart. 
 
 8 = 4 = 1 gallon. 
 
 72 = 36 = 9 = 1 firkin. 
 
 144 = 72 = 18 = 2 = 1 kilderkin. 
 
 288 = 144 = 36 = 4 = 2 = 1 barrel. 
 
 432 = 216 = 54 = 6 = 3 = 1\= 1 hogshead. 
 
 576 = 288 = 72 = 8 = 4 = 2 = 11 = 1 puncheon. 
 
 864 = 432 = 108 = 12 = 6 = 3 = 2 = 1£= 1 butt. 
 
 MEASURES OF CAPACITY. 
 
 pints. 
 
 gall. 
 
 peck, bushel quarter 
 
 wey. 
 
 last. 
 
 cub. ft. 
 
 litres. 
 
 1 = 
 
 .125= 
 
 .0625=. 01562=. 00195= 
 
 .00039 = 
 
 000195 
 
 = .02 = 
 
 .5676 
 
 8= 
 
 1 = 
 
 .5 =.125 =.0156 = 
 
 .00312= 
 
 .00156 
 
 = .1604 = 
 
 4 541 
 
 16= 
 
 2= 
 
 1 =.25 =.03125= 
 
 .00625 = 
 
 .00312 
 
 = .3208= 
 
 9.082 
 
 64= 
 
 8= 
 
 4=1 =.125 = 
 
 .025 = 
 
 .0125 
 
 =1.283 = 
 
 36.32816 
 
 512= 
 
 64= 
 
 32 = 8 =1 = 
 
 .2 = 
 
 .1 
 
 =10.264= 
 
 290.625 
 
 2560= 
 
 32o = 
 
 160 = 40 = 5 = 
 
 i = 
 
 .5 
 
 = 51.319= 
 
 1453.126 
 
 5120 = 
 
 640= 
 
 320 = 80 =10 = 
 
 2 = 
 
 1 
 
 = 102.64= 
 
 2906.25 
 
 1 gallon in wine, ale, or dry measure 
 
 =277 J- cubic inches = .16 cubic foot 
 
 = 10 lbs. of distilled water 
 Cubic feet X 6. 2355= gallons. 
 Cubic ins. X .003607 = gallons. 
 1 bushel =2218.19 cubic iuches = 1.28 cubic foot. 
 Cubic feet X .78=bushels. 
 Cubic ins. X .00045=bushels. 
 
FRENCH METRIC SYSTEM. 
 
 G19 
 
 WINE MEASURE. 
 
 pints 
 
 2 = 1 quart. 
 8 = 4 = 1 gallon. 
 330 = 168 = 42 = 1 tierce. 
 504 = 252 = 63 = 11= 1 hogshead. 
 672 = 336 = 84 = 2"= 1$= 1 puncheon. 
 1008 = 504 = 126 = 3 = 2 = 1£= 1 pipe. 
 2016 = 1008 = 252 = 6 = 4 = 3 = 2 = 1 tun. 
 
 FRENCH METRIC SYSTEM. 
 
 LONG MEASURE. 
 
 
 Metres. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Yards. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 
 .001 
 
 .03937 
 
 .00328 
 
 .00109 
 
 
 
 .01 
 
 .3937 
 
 .0328 
 
 .0109 
 
 
 
 .1 
 
 3.937 
 
 .328 
 
 .1093 
 
 .00006 
 
 
 .1 
 
 39.37079 
 
 3.2809 
 
 1.09363 
 
 .00062 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 32.809 
 
 10.936 
 
 .0062 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 328 
 
 109.36 
 
 .06214 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 3280.9 
 
 1093.6 
 
 .62138 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 
 6.21382 
 
 *1 metre = 1.093633056 yard. 
 
 SQUARE MEASURE. 
 
 
 Square 
 
 Square 
 
 Square 
 
 Square 
 
 Acres. 
 
 
 Metres. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 feet. 
 
 yards. 
 
 
 .1 
 
 155 
 
 1.076 
 
 .119 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1550 
 
 10.764 
 
 1.19 
 
 .00025 
 
 
 10 
 
 15501 
 
 107.64 
 
 11.96 
 
 .0025 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 1076.4 
 
 119.6 
 
 .0247 
 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 1,196 
 
 .2471 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 11,960 
 
 2,4711 
 
 •(•Or 1 square metre = 1.196033292 square yard. 
 
 SOLID MEASURE. 
 
 
 Cubic metre. 
 
 Cubic inches. 
 
 Cubic feet. 
 
 Cubic yards. 
 
 
 .001 
 
 61.028 
 
 
 
 Centistere 
 
 .01 
 
 610.28 
 
 .353 
 
 
 
 .1 
 
 6,102.8 
 
 3.5317 
 
 .1308 
 
 Stere, or cubic metre. 
 
 1 
 
 61,028 
 
 35.317 
 
 1.308 
 
 Decastere 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 13.08 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 130.802 
 
G20 
 
 FRENCH METRIC SYSTEM. 
 
 WEIGHTS. 
 
 
 
 Avoir- 
 
 Avoir- 
 
 Cwts. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 (Tains 
 
 
 Grammes. 
 
 dupois 
 
 dupois 
 
 Troy. 
 
 
 
 ounces. 
 
 lbs. 
 
 
 
 
 M il 1 i "Tiuninc 
 
 .001 
 
 _ 
 
 
 
 
 
 .015 
 
 
 !oi 
 
 
 
 
 
 .154 
 
 
 .1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1.543 
 
 Gramme 
 
 1 
 
 .035 
 
 .0022 
 
 
 
 15.432349 
 
 Decagramme 
 
 Kl 
 
 .35 
 
 .022 
 
 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 3.527 
 
 .22046 
 
 
 
 
 Kilogramme 
 
 1,000 
 
 35.2739 
 
 2.2046 
 
 .019 
 
 .00098 
 
 
 Myriagramme 
 
 111,111 III 
 
 
 22.04 
 
 .1968 
 
 .(Kills | 
 
 
 Quintal 
 
 100,000 
 
 
 220.46 
 
 1.9684 
 
 .0984 
 
 
 
 1,000000 
 
 
 2204.62 
 
 19.6*4 
 
 .984206 
 
 
 ]>KY AND FLUID MEASURE. 
 
 
 Litres. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Feet. 
 
 Gallons. 
 
 Bushels. 
 
 Millilitre 
 
 .001 
 
 .061 
 
 
 .00022 
 
 
 Centilitre 
 
 .01 
 
 .61 
 
 — 
 
 .0022 
 
 
 
 .1 
 
 6.1 
 
 
 .022 
 
 .0027 
 
 
 1 
 
 61.02 
 
 .0353 
 
 22 
 
 .0275 
 
 
 10 
 
 610.28 
 
 .353 
 
 2.2 
 
 .276 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 3.53 
 
 22 
 
 2.751 
 
 Kilolitref 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 35.317 
 
 220 
 
 27.512 
 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 353.17 
 
 2200.967 
 
 27.5121 
 
 *Lit re = .22009668 gallon = a cubic decimetre, 
 •f- Kilolitre — a cubic metre. 
 
standard 
 Universal Schedule 
 
 FOR RATING 
 
 MERCANTILE RISKS 
 
 EDITION JANUARY, 1 902. 
 FOR INDEX SEE BACK OF BOOK. 
 
 N. B.— This schedule must be taken as a whole to get proper results ; 
 charges and deductions are numerous and not over-large in any case, the 
 idea being to make equitable rates, so that every property owner will pay 
 for the defects of his risk, and get the full benefit of all its good points. 
 
UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE COMMITTEE. 
 
 F. C. MOORE, Continental Ins. Co., 
 J AS. A. SILVEY, German American Ins. Co , 
 GEO. W. BABB, Jr., Northern Assurance Co., 
 E. G. RICHARDS, National Insurance Co., of Hartford. 
 
 CO-OPERATING COMMITTEES. 
 
 .New England Insurance Exchange* 
 
 H. R. TURNER, Niagara Insurance Co., 
 J. M. FORBUSH, German American Ins. Co., 
 HENRY N. BAKER, American Ins. Co., Boston, 
 
 G. E. KENDALL, New Hampshire Firf Ins. Co., 
 W. R. GRAY, Jno. C. Paige Agency. Boston, 
 
 U. C. CROSBY. Phenix Ins. Co., of Brooklyn, 
 C. M. GODDARD, Sec. New England Ins. Exchange 
 
 Underwriters' Association New York State. 
 
 0. W PALMER, Franklin Ins. Co., Philadelphia, 
 J. M. CAROTHERS. Phcenix Ins. Co., Hartford, 
 EDWARD CLUFF, London Assurance Corporation, 
 
 H. B. SMITH, Home Ins. Co. , New York, 
 
 C. L. HEDGE, Fireman's Fund, California, 
 
 E. M. McCHESNEY, Westchester F. Ins. Co., N.Y. 
 
 Underwriters' Association of Middle Department, 
 
 E. O. WEEKS. Aetna Ins. Co., Hartford, 
 J. B. KREMER. Liverpool and London and Globe Ins. Co., 
 JNO. J. BABCOCK, Springfield Fire and Marine Ins. Co.. 
 ALFRED ROWELL, Imperial Fire Ins. Co., Philadelphia, 
 S. S. CHILD, Orient Ins. Co., Hartford. 
 
 Southeastern Tariff Association. 
 
 CLARENCE F. LOW, Liverpool and London and Globe Ins Co. 
 L. R. WARREN, Phcenix Assurance Co., London, 
 CHAS. C. FLEMING, German American Ins. Co., 
 GEO. W. DEWEY, Niagara and Caledonian Ins. Cos., 
 S. Y. TUPPER, Sec. South Eastern Tariff Assn. 
 
 National Board of Eire Underwriters. 
 
 E. F. BEDDALL, Royal Ins. Co., 
 C C. LITTLE, Phenix Ins. Co., of Brooklyn, 
 WEST POLLOCK, Niagara Ins. Co., 
 F. W. ARNOLD, Equitable F. and M. Ins. Co., Prov., 
 CHAS. E. CHASE, Hartford Fire Ins. Co., 
 
 New York Board of Fire Underwriters. 
 
 H. E. BOWERS, Guardian Fire & L. Assce. Co., 
 M. S. DRIGGS, Williamsburgh City Fire Ins. Co., 
 E. LITCHFIELD. Lancashire Ins. Co., 
 W. S. BANTA, General Agent, New York, 
 W. H. CROLIUS, American Ins. Co., New York. 
 
623 
 
 EXPLANATORY. 
 
 The plan or scheme on which the Committee have framed 
 the following schedule has been to secure a rate on which 
 the fire cost of the past five years per $100 of insurance, 
 would result in such percentage of the premium as with an 
 allowance for proper expenses and, also, for accumulation 
 for periodical and inevitable sweeping fires or conflagrations, 
 would leave margin for a moderate profit not exceeding 
 five per cent. The insuring public cannot object to rates 
 based upon so moderate a profit. 
 
 In localities where the fire loss exceeds $5 per $1,000, re- 
 sulting from abnormal local causes or moral hazard, the cost 
 of which can only be assumed from results and measured 
 accordingly, they have provided (at No. 30) for an addition 
 to the rates, for each one dollar of loss in excess of five, of 
 20$ of the key-rate, which will amount to ten cents on each 
 $100 of insurance, and approximately maintain the equi- 
 librium between fire-cost and rate of premium. 
 
 The Committee have not only carefully considered the 
 actual experience of the last five-year period in fire-cost per 
 one hundred dollars of insurance, but they have also secur- 
 ed, by conference, concurrent expert opinion as to charges. 
 
 In fixing the charges for variations from standard con- 
 struction, they have graded them according to their relative 
 importance with reference to the integrity of the entire 
 building, those for defects in the more important portions 
 of the building from fire-resisting standpoints- — staircases, 
 elevator shafts, floors, &c, for example — being larger per- 
 centages of the rate of a standard structure. 
 
 The rates have been graded to admit of liberal concess- 
 ions for effective fire appliances; in the case of casks and 
 pails, for example, a percentage has been allowed which will 
 secure their general introduction. Experience justifies this. 
 In mills, a class of risks where they are generally provided, 
 over sixty per cent, of the total number of fires have been 
 extinguished by their use, due of course, to the fact that 
 the most ignorant employee knows how to apply them. 
 No fire ever started which could not, at one stage, have 
 been extinguished by a cupful of water. 
 
624 
 
 While the requirements for standard construction in the 
 
 schedule may be regarded as exceptionally high, and while 
 there are few buildings which comply with them, it will be 
 conceded that there ought to be more, and the compilers 
 believe that the best way to secure their erection is to recog- 
 nize, in advance, the merits of ideal construction. They 
 realize, however, that if, in order to secure this, they should 
 frame an elaborate schedule to be applied by charges for 
 deficiencies, to all risks (the great majority of which are un- 
 provided with such exceptional and unusual features of 
 construction as wire lathing, heavy floor beams, fire stops 
 in partitions, etc., etc., and are outside the protection of 
 such fire-extinguishing appliances as water-towers, extra 
 large fire departments, automatic fire-alarms, etc., etc.) they 
 would cause unnecessary labor in nine risks out of ten. 
 They have, therefore, arranged the schedule by providing 
 for exceptional features by means of deductions, and the 
 main body of the schedule is so framed as to be applicable 
 to the majority of risks and towns. In fact they have not, 
 in all cases, charged for deficiencies from specifications 
 of a standard building, especially in such requirements as 
 chamfering the ends of floor beams, fire stops in partitions, 
 etc., which an inspector would find it difficult to investigate. 
 There is good reason, nevertheless, for including these 
 specifications in the standard, which is intended to be edu- 
 cational, in order that it may be placed in the hands of a 
 property-owner contemplating the erection of a building, as 
 an explanation of proper construction. 
 
 On the other hand, there will be found, in some instances, 
 an apparent duplication of charges or deductions, which is 
 not, however, without reason. For example, city fire de- 
 partments and water-works are first considered in the City 
 Schedule, because all risks partake in the general benefit of 
 their power to prevent sweeping conflagrations; while, after- 
 wards, in the Building Schedule, a deduction is made for 
 proximity of each risk to one or more hydrants, with a fur- 
 ther deduction if the street water-pipe be fed by mains at 
 each end, which would double its capacity to supply engines. 
 This arrangement with the provision as to accessibility of 
 street to fire engines, etc., insures indirectly that only those 
 risks shall get the full benefit of the fire department in rate 
 which come thoroughly under its protection. 
 
 The compilers of the schedule believe that only two or 
 
G25 
 
 three applications of it will be necessary to disabuse the 
 mind of any first impressions as to its being either intricate 
 or unnecessarily elaborate, and they hope that a careful ex- 
 amination of its provisions will convince any underwriter 
 that, although he will have to know a great deal about a 
 risk before he can apply it, yet, unless he possesses such 
 knowledge of the risk on every point for which there is a 
 charge or a deduction, he will not know enough about the 
 risk to insure it. If, therefore, for the purpose of insuring 
 it he must be possessed of the information needed to apply 
 the charges, the application of the schedule cannot be other 
 than a help to him, if only as a check upon memory and 
 judgment as to the relative and consistent value of all fea- 
 tures of construction or extinction, some of which would 
 certainly be overlooked by any other process ; in fact, no 
 mere mental process would correctly sum up all the good 
 and bad features of a risk so as to accurately measure them 
 in the rate, no matter how thorough and competent might 
 be the examining expert. 
 
 The committee have taken pains to secure the advice and 
 suggestions of hundreds of expert underwriters throughout 
 the country, and they believe the schedule to be correct. 
 If, however, in any locality, it is thought to produce results 
 which are too low, in the opinion of local underwriters, they 
 suggest that it will be better to make any additions which 
 may be deemed necessary by percentage additions after the 
 rate of each risk has been obtained by the schedule, rather 
 than by making any changes in the specific items of the 
 schedule itself. Whatever in the judgment of its critics, 
 may be its faults, its compilers claim that it is at least con- 
 sistent, and that the charges and deductions are relatively 
 correct — a most important matter. If mere off-hand opin- 
 ion, no matter how expert, is to be regarded as the test of 
 its accuracy, then even those who rely upon such a test will 
 surely not reject, as a basis for opinion, a result arrived at 
 by a process designed to be thorough, systematic and analy- 
 tically harmonious. The Committee, therefore, urge that 
 all risks be rated by it, and that afterward any percentage 
 additions be made to the result which may be thought 
 necessary to adjust the rates to local conditions, after which 
 they can be printed in tariff form for the use and convenience 
 of local agents. 
 
 The committee further suggest that, in case reductions 
 
62G 
 
 are found to be necessary to meet the competition of com- 
 panies disposed to cut rates, it will be better to adhere to 
 the printed tariff obtained in this manner, and meet the cuts 
 by percentage deductions therefrom rather than to throw 
 prices open ; in this respect following the example of mer- 
 chants, who adhere to a "price-list" but sometimes vary the 
 discounts, finding it much easier afterwards to reduce the 
 discount, and so indirectly raise the rate, than to alter the 
 printed figures of the price-list. As a rule, policy-holders 
 refer to their policies to ascertain previous rates when re- 
 newing them, and can be more easily convinced that the 
 discount of a previous year has been found to be too large 
 than that a rate written in the policy has been too low. 
 
 The history of the insurance business proves that where 
 rates are once thrown open, it is difficult afterwards to raise 
 them and that they generally, if not invariably, readjust 
 themselves upon some lower level than that from which 
 they fell. 
 
 ORDER OF TREATMENT. 
 
 It is believed that no experienced underwriter would 
 question the propriety of the order of treatment in 
 which the various considerations are arranged for 
 computing the rate. 
 
 First. The key-rate of the city is computed. 
 
 Second. To this are added the charges for the 
 deviations from standard construction of the particular 
 building to be rated. 
 
 Third. Features of exceptional construction of 
 rare occurrence, as already explained, are treated as de- 
 ductions, saving the time — a serious matter — which 
 would be required to consider them if treated by charges 
 made for their absence; and saving, also, the loss to the 
 companies in case charges should be overlooked, as thej 
 frequently would be. 
 
 Fourth. Deductions for fire appliances. At this 
 point the rate of the building and the rate of its stocks of 
 merchandise proceed on different lines. Fire-extinguish- 
 ing appliances in some cases are of greater benefit to 
 buildings than to stocks. Certain features of construc- 
 tion, like No. 178, for example (self- releasing floor beams), 
 are of advantage to the building, but of none whatever 
 
627 
 
 to the stock, which would be totally destroyed at the 
 point where the floor beam or girder should break. Some 
 considerations, moreover, like skids for raising merchan- 
 dise above the floor, apply to stocks but not to buildings. 
 
 The deductions for sprinklers. This last deduction 
 follows all the rest, for two reasons: First, the owner of 
 property does not decide to put in sprinklers, in any 
 case, until he is in position to tell what his net rate is 
 and what he will save by so expensive a precaution; and, 
 second, the underwriter cannot properly estimate the 
 value to him in rate of automatic sprinklers unless the 
 percentage of allowance is based upon the net rate after 
 all other fire-extinguishing appliances have been 
 estimated and allowed for. 
 
 Fifth. Exposure should be treated differently also, 
 for buildings and stocks. 
 
 Sixth. Co-insurance. The deduction for co-insur- 
 ance naturally comes last of all, for the double reason 
 that on the final rate of a building, measuring its proba- 
 bilities of salvage, depends the value or necessity of 
 co-insurance, both from the underwriter's point of view 
 and the property-owner's point of view. All rates are 
 promulgated at the net figure for Sofo co-insurance. If, 
 at any time, mistaken legislation in any state should 
 prevent the introduction of the 80$ co-insurance clause 
 and the allowance for it, the situation will be easily 
 met, since the rate will then be put back to that at No. 
 131, and it will be plain to the legislator, as well as to 
 the owner, that the whole question is purely one of rate 
 and the legislation will only deprive the assured of a 
 reduction in rate to which he would be entitled by the 
 amount of insurance carried by him because he is pro- 
 hibited from inserting the clause in his policy, as was 
 the case not long since in the state of Maine. There 
 would be a great advantage in not having to raise the 
 rates to meet the new condition, it being only necessary 
 to take the rate already computed by the schedule for 
 insurance without co-insurance. 
 
 Seventh. Faults of Management. These, as here- 
 after explained, follow all other charges, so that they 
 can be deducted bodily in gross without computations 
 in case they are corrected, as they generally would be. 
 
028 
 
 EXPLANATIONS TO PROPERTY OWNERS. 
 
 The committee believes that it would be wise to let 
 the property owner see how his rate is computed in every 
 case, in order that any corrections may be made at once, 
 as most of them would be. We believe that it would be 
 as injudicious, not to say unfair, to a property owner to 
 refuse to let him see how his rate is computed as it 
 would be unfair and suspicious for a tradesman to refuse 
 to let his customer see merchandise weighed or measured. 
 If anything would tend to make the property owners of 
 the city satisfied with their rates, or, at any rate, deprive 
 them of grounds of objection, it would be a system of 
 rating which discriminates as to faults and merits and 
 has the advantage of being thorough. 
 
 SOME ADVANTAGES OF RATING BY SCHEDULE. 
 
 ist. It secures accurate rating, by carefully taking 
 into account each feature of construction and each feature 
 of fire prevention and extinction. 
 
 2d. It secures consistent and, therefore, equit- 
 able rating, by rating risks of the same character in the 
 same town alike, and risks of the same character in different 
 towns on the same basis. 
 
 3d. As a consequence of these two, it prevents 
 
 OPPOSITION ON THE PART OF POLICY-HOLDERS AND 
 
 legislators, which, as a rule, grows out of apprehensions 
 of injustice and invidious discrimination either as to risks 
 or localities, sometimes too well founded, and which cannot 
 be allayed, except by intelligent explanation. With a print- 
 ed schedule which puts every man's risk and every city on 
 a like basis, and which can be handed to the property- 
 owner, enabling him to examine for himself why the rate of 
 his risk is higher than that of his neighbor, there can be no 
 ground for prejudice or jealousy. 
 
 4th. It encourages proper construction of build- 
 ings, by intelligently charging for deficiencies from standards 
 ?nd by recognizing exceptionally good construction by de- 
 ductions. The architect, builder and property-owner, in- 
 formed at the outset as to what can be saved by proper 
 
629 
 
 construction, will be led to avoid many of the faults now 
 prevailing, which have grown, not unnaturally, out of the 
 present system of conducting the insurance business. In- 
 telligent and explicit answers to inquiries of this nature are 
 due to every inquiring property-owner, and can be best 
 provided for by a proper rating schedule. With such a 
 schedule, dealers in building materials and fire- resisting 
 and extinguishing appliances will become advocates and 
 exponents of it, using it to induce owners to construct new 
 buildings in accordance with correct methods, thus lessen- 
 ing the danger of sweeping conflagrations in cities, since a 
 single building, properly constructed in a large city, may 
 prove the barrier which will enable the fire department to 
 control a fire, as was the case in the great Boston fire of 1889. 
 
 5th. It is calculated to prevent anti-compact 
 laws prohibiting agreements as to rates It would require 
 slight argument with an intelligent legislator to convince 
 him that a proper schedule for correctly measuring fire 
 hazard is directly in the interest of all property-owners and 
 in line with public policy, and that it can only be secured 
 by conference of companies for combining their experience 
 and by their co-operation to secure its enforcement. It may 
 be possible to convince him that security to the policy- 
 holder depends not alone upon capital, but upon intelligent 
 management, correct methods and adequate rates. An idiot 
 or a spendthrift can dissipate capital, no matter how large, 
 whereas intelligent management, correct methods and ade- 
 quate rates are always indispensable with capital as security. 
 
 6th. It will discourage the payment of excessive 
 brokerages and commissions, discriminating as to so- 
 called "preferred" classes of risks. By rating all classes — 
 buildings and stocks — on a basis which will make all alike 
 desirable, there will be no reason for discriminating com- 
 missions. If the schedule is correctly made, there will be 
 as much profit for the underwriter in the poorer classes, at 
 the higher rates of premium, as in the better classes, at the 
 lower rates of premium. 
 
 7th. It will insure more thorough inspection, 
 which implies correction of faults and prevention of fires. 
 Enforcing knowledge on the part of the inspector of each 
 departure from correct standards, it will be a check not 
 only upon his thoroughness, but upon his judgment and 
 memory. It will tend to educate inexperienced inspectors 
 
630 
 
 for their work. It will do away with "sidewalk, inspections" 
 and necessitate that each building shall be examined from 
 cellar to garret. No underwriter can be sufficiently inform- 
 ed as to the details of a risk, unless he knows enough of it 
 to rate it by this schedule. 
 
 8th. It will prevent excessive deductions for 
 fire departments. At present, the purchase of a new 
 steam fire-engine is regarded by property-owners and by 
 some insurance agents as a reason for at once cutting 
 rates in two. With a proper schedule in the hands 
 of local underwriters no such mistake need be made. The 
 schedule will also assist in securing reforms in fire depart- 
 ments by making proper charges for faults, disbanding of 
 force, failure of waterworks, etc., etc., which when now 
 made in specific cases are regarded as threats and antago- 
 nize property-owners. With a standard schedule, to which 
 their attention can be called, showing that the demand is no 
 new thing or invidious exaction, but an obvious and neces- 
 sary adherence to the basis on which the rates of the town 
 have been made, such antagonism and hard feeling will be 
 avoided. 
 
 9th. It will tend to prevent competition and the 
 cutting of rates. A merchant when informed as to the 
 system by which his rate is ascertained as the result of con- 
 currence of judgment and actual experience, and on a basis 
 of adequacy will not be so ready to accept the policy of a 
 Company which makes its price by "rule of thumb" and can 
 give no intelligent explanation of its ability to carry the risk 
 at the lower rate. If, on the other hand, rates are not made 
 by schedule, the most intelligent underwriter can give no 
 better reason for requiring the higher rate than can his 
 competitor for accepting a lower one ; in either case it is a 
 matter of expert opinion, with the property owner's inclina- 
 tions in favor of the lower-priced man, since property owners, 
 as a rule, regard their own risks as free from fault. 
 ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF ACCURATE RATING. 
 
 A schedule to be correct must recognize each of the fol- 
 lowing principles : 
 
 First. — Standards of construction and standards of 
 environment or condition as to fire departments, water- 
 works, topography, etc. 
 
 Second. — Fire Departments and extinguishing appliances 
 
631 
 
 must receive three-fold treatment and be divided so as to 
 apply 
 
 a. For the minimum credit, to all risks benefited 
 as regards conflagration hazard or danger from sweep- 
 ing fires. 
 
 b. For the maximum credit, for full protection, 
 only to those risks entitled to it by reason of prox- 
 imity to hydrant service, fire-engine houses, size of 
 street mains, accessibility of streets, etc. 
 
 c. To buildings separately from stocks. 
 Third. — Exposures must receive separate treatment as 
 
 to buildings and stocks. 
 
 Fourth. — Stock rates must differ from building rates 
 according to construction and fire department. 
 
 A Standard City is one having gravity waterworks, with 
 head sufficient at all hours, to throw over five-story build- 
 ings. The main supply pipe to be in duplicate unless inter- 
 mediate storage reservoir be provided. Water pipes and 
 mains to be not less than six inches in diameter in dwelling 
 section, and not less than eight inches (as a minimum) in 
 mercantile section (they ought to be ten and twelve inches); 
 a paid fire department, 12 men to each steamer; not less 
 than two steam fire-engines to each square mile of compact 
 portion, or one to each 10,000 population up to 500,000 
 population ; hook and ladder trucks, one to every four 
 steamers ; fire-alarm telegraph ; efficient police ; paved, mac- 
 adamized, or other hard streets, the majority of which — say 
 60 <fc — are 70 feet or more in width ; a good building law, 
 well enforced ; no outlying exposures, such as lumber 
 districts, etc., to cause sweeping fires; no unjust municipal 
 and State taxation and a previous five-year, fire record of 
 not exceeding $5 annual fire loss to each $1,000 of insurance. 
 
 A Standard Building is one having walls of brick or 
 stone (brick preferred), not less than twelve inches thick at 
 top story (16 inches if stone), extending through and 36 
 inches above roof in parapet and coped, and increasing four 
 inches in thickness for each story below to the ground — the 
 increased thickness of each story to be utilized for beam 
 ledges. Ground floor area not over 2,500 square feet (say, 
 25 by 100) ; height not over four stories, or 50 feet; floors 
 of two inch plank, (three inches better) covered by | or 
 
632 
 
 one-inch flooring, crossing diagonally, with waterproof paper 
 
 or approved fire resisting material between (if tin or sheet- 
 iron between, see deductions) ; wooden beams, girders, and 
 wooden story posts or pillars twelve inches thick, or protect- 
 ed iron columns ; elevators, stairways, etc., cut off by brick 
 walls or by plaster on metallic studs and lathing, communica- 
 tions at each floor protected with approved tin-covered 
 doors and fire-proof sills ; windows and doors on exposed 
 sides protected by approved tin-covered doors and shutters; 
 walls of flues not less than eight inches in thickness, to be 
 lined with fire-brick, well-burned clay or cast-iron, and 
 throat capacity not less than 96 square inches if steam- 
 boilers are used ; all floor timbers to be trimmed at least 
 four inches from outside of flue ; heated by steam ; lighted 
 by gas ; cornices of incombustible material ; roof of metal or 
 tile ; if partitions are hollow or walls are furred off there 
 must be fire-stops at each floor. 
 
 Basis Rate. — The basis rate of a Standard Build- 
 ing in a Standard City 25 cts. 
 
 To ascertain the basis rate of a Standard Building in any 
 city Or town differing from the above standard, add to the 
 basis rate of 25 cents for a Standard Building in a Standard 
 City, the following charges for deficiencies of the city from 
 such standard. 
 
 Note.— The Standard Building is intended to be educational in order that 
 any one contemplating the erection of a building may be advised how to build 
 as well as how to escape charges in rates of insurance. For this reason, re- 
 quirements of safe construction are mentioned which are not charged for after- 
 ward if omitted, because, after a building is erected, the Inspector cannot 
 ascertain whether they have been complied with or not. A sensible owner 
 may, if advised, comply with them even though no penalty bo imposed. 
 
ANALYSIS OF CITY SCHEDULE TO ASCER- 
 TAIN THE KEY-RATE. 
 
 1. NON-FIRE DEPT. TOWNS— If town is deficient in 
 having no water-works (n), fire-engines (12), fire-alarm 
 telegraph (14), police system (1 5), fire department organiza- 
 ti jn (16), fire marshal or fire coroner(22), nor other appliances 
 
 than buckets and cisterns, add 32 cts. 
 
 Note. — This clause is intended to group the charges of towns lmvine no 
 fire-department or water-works, to save time in making up the " key-rate," 
 and covers ! <ems 2 to 22 botli inclusive. 
 
 It is not necessary to elaborate upon the explanation 
 of this clause ; it greatly facilitates computing the key- 
 rate of towns which are entirely without fire appliances. 
 
 2. WATER-WORKS— If gravity system but not stand- 
 ard pressure or direct pressure, being simply sufficient to 
 
 keep mains full for supply of engines, charge 2 cts. 
 
 Note.— This deficiency will entail charge for No. 12, if no steamers 
 to Btipply needed pressure, and will, also, not entitle the city to reduction 
 for auxiliary steamers, No. 33, which will practically increase charge. The 
 advantages of water-works are brought home to each risk by hydrant de- 
 ductions, Nos. 155, 190, &c. 
 
 A gravity system of water-works is of importance for 
 two reasons : 
 
 1st. The pressure is always available night and day 
 for supplying the necessary force, which cannot be said 
 of the so-called direct pressure systems, such as the 
 Holly system and others, which may not have steam up 
 for the pumping engines, or which have been known to 
 break down when most needed. 
 
 2d. Exerting a uniform pressure on the pipe system, 
 there is less danger of rupture of mains than in the case 
 of direct systems, which exert suddenly an abnormal 
 pressure for an occasion. 
 
 The schedule is, therefore, based on a standard of 
 gravity water-works with sufficient head, and any varia- 
 tion from this requirement entails a charge, not meas- 
 ured simply by the two cents in the key-rate above, but, 
 as suggested in the above note, subjecting the city to 
 the charge for absence of steamers, at No. 12, and de- 
 priving the city of the reduction for auxiliary steamers, 
 No. 33. 
 
 Indirectly the advantages of a gravity system are 
 recognized by hydrant deductions later on, 155, 190, &c, 
 and the deduction for gravity pressure on both buildings 
 
14 
 
 CITY SCHEDULE!. 
 
 and stocks, pages 47 and 50. These properly recog- 
 nize the advantages of a gravity system. 
 
 3 If not gravity, standard pressure, but instead thereof 
 a direct pressure system, duplicate pumps operated by 
 water power, add 3 cts. 
 
 For reasons already stated, a direct pressure system 
 is not equal to the gravity, and should be charged for. 
 Water power pumps are preferable to steam pumps as 
 iteam might not be up at time of fire. 
 
 The succeeding paragraphs, Nos 4, 5 and 6 recognize 
 the difference between duplicate pumps and single 
 pumps, and pumps operated by steam power, both single 
 and duplicate machinery. 
 
 4. If pumps not in duplicate, charge instead of No. 3 . . . 5 cts. 
 
 5. If direct pressure system, pumps operated by steam- 
 power, but with the pumping machinery in duplicate, charge 4 cts. 
 
 6. If direct pressure system, pumps operated by steam- 
 power, pumps not duplicate, charge 7 cts. 
 
 The duplication should extend to all essential features of the plant, 
 boilers, etc. 
 
 7. If direct pressure, but without stand-pipe or reservoir 
 with capacity of ten hours' supply, at full pressure — 75 lbs. 
 at hydrant, (unless pumping machinery is in duplicate, in 
 which case add 2 cts.), charge in addition to Nos. 3, 4, 5 or 6. 5 cts. 
 
 A stand-pipe or elevated reservoir even of ten hours' 
 supply is of advantage, but particularly in cases where 
 the pumping machinery is not in duplicate, as is 
 recognized in this paragraph. 
 
 8. If pumping station is endangered by, or occupied in 
 part for, electric-light station, special hazard, or for other 
 purpose, add not less than 10 cts. 
 
 The fault of utilizing the machinery and building of a 
 pumping station for an electric-light station or other 
 hazard, whose destruction would endanger the pumping 
 station, in itself not likely to burn, seems to be over- 
 looked with a frequency that is incomprehensible. 
 
 Fire-proof Pumping Station. It would seem un- 
 necessary to state that the building on whose existence 
 the safety of a city depends should be safe from fire and 
 separated from dangerous manufacturing or other haz- 
 ards and especially from Electric Lighting Stations. It 
 will be observed that charge is made (item No. 8) for an 
 electric-light station or other special hazard in the 
 pump-house or exposing it. It is a grave question if 
 this charge ought not to be higher, even to the extent of 
 making the " key-rate " of a city having a direct pressure 
 system, so jeopardized, higher than that of a town with' 
 
CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 635 
 
 out any water-works at all, in view, first, of the fact that 
 individual risks in such a town get credit afterwards for 
 proximity to hydrants to the extent possibly of 15$ 
 (see Nos. 155, 156) and, second, of the fact that a com- 
 pany's conflagration line in the direct pressure town 
 would have been increased by reason of the pressure, 
 but all benefit of the system lost if a fire destroying the 
 pump-house should happen to be coincident with the 
 raging of a conflagration in the city. 
 
 g. If not duplicate Supply Main from reservoir or pump- 
 ing station, add 2 cts. 
 
 (If intermediate storage reservoir or stand-pipe with 10 hours supply to 
 be relied upon in case of breakage, no charge.) 
 
 This charge probably does not need suggestion as to 
 its propriety. 
 
 10. If water-pipes in mercantile portion be less than 8 
 inches, as a minimum, or if hydrants be less than 6-inch 
 barrels, charge according to deficiency, but not less than. . 3 cts. 
 
 This matter will be found to be more fully explained 
 
 in the article on Water Supply. 
 
 11. If the only water supply is from public and private 
 wells and cisterns, or natural streams, canals or ponds near 
 enough to compact portion to be available with engine suc- 
 tion, charge, according to supply, not less than 10 cts. 
 
 This clause is self-explanatory, but it may be well to 
 
 state here, what will probably be observed, viz., that it 
 
 does not measure the entire difference between a town 
 
 without any water supply other than private wells and 
 
 cisterns and a town with a poor water supply ; an un- 
 
 supplied town would have higher rates by not securing 
 
 the deductions later on for proximity to hydrants, etc., 
 
 Nos. 155, 156, etc., page 45. 
 
 WATER-WORKS IN THE UNIVERSAL 
 SCHEDULE. 
 
 It will be observed that the schedule recognizes effi- 
 ciency and reliability of water-works in the following 
 order : 
 
 1. Gravity system, with an "effective head "and " vol- 
 ume " at the hydrants. For recognition in schedule rating, 
 the reservoir should contain at all times at least five days' 
 supply for domestic and fire service which should be main- 
 tained and is more reliable if supplied by hydraulic pumps 
 in duplicate, from a river or other inexhaustible supply, 
 
636 
 i6 
 
 CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 not liable to drought. If the pumps, whether steam or 
 hydraulic, are arranged to secure also direct pressure on 
 the pipes in emergency, as already explained, both kinds 
 of service may be secured. 
 
 2. Hydraulic Pumps, in duplicate, with storage reser- 
 voir or tank stand-pipe of ten hours' supply for domestic 
 and fire service. 
 
 3. Steam Pumps, in duplicate, with a tank stand-pipe 
 or storage reservoir of ten hours' supply for domestic 
 and fire service. 
 
 4. Direct pressure from Hydraulic Pumps, in dupli- 
 cate, without tank stand-pipe or storage reservoir. 
 
 5. Direct pressure from Steam Pumps, in duplicate, 
 without tank stand-pipe or reservoir. 
 
 A reservoir system is preferable to all others, and in- 
 sures uniform pressure in pipes, involving less danger of 
 breakage. While a large reservoir is desirable for storage 
 purposes, however, it is not indispensable for fire pur- 
 poses. A reservoir sufficient to hold a supply for both 
 domestic and fire service of ten hours would probably be 
 ample for extinguishing any fire. One million gallons 
 storage will supply eleven, standard, 250 gallon fire 
 streams for six hours, and for the ordinary city up to 
 15,000 inhabitants, a million gallons could be considered 
 an ample storage reserve for fire purposes. 
 
 CAPACITY OF CISTERNS OR STAND-PIPES IN U. S. GALLONS. 
 
 For each 12 inches of depth. 
 
 The following table will enable any one to estimate the capacity 
 of tank stand-pipes or cisterns of cylindrical form in U. S. gallons 
 for each 12 inches of depth : 
 
 4 feet diameter, 
 
 94 
 
 1 1 
 
 feet diameter, . 
 
 711 
 
 5 " 
 
 II 
 
 • 147 
 
 12 
 
 <( « 
 
 . 846 
 
 6 " 
 
 «( 
 
 2Il| 
 
 13 
 
 (1 1C 
 
 993 
 
 7 " 
 
 II 
 
 . 288 
 
 14 
 
 (( (1 
 
 
 8 " 
 
 <l 
 
 • 37 6 
 
 15 
 
 It <( 
 
 1,322 
 
 9 " 
 
 II 
 
 . 476 
 
 20 
 
 II II 
 
 2.350 
 
 10 « 
 
 << 
 
 • 537* 
 
 25 
 
 ft << 
 
 3,672 
 
 For example, a 
 
 cistern 2 
 
 5 feet 
 
 in diameter would con- 
 
 tain 3,672 
 
 gallons 
 
 for every 
 
 foot of depth ; and if 
 
 10 feet 
 
 deep, 36,720 gallons, or 918 bbls. 
 
CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 637 
 17 
 
 A simple rule may be stated as follows : To find the 
 contents in U. S. standard gallons for each foot of depth of a 
 cylindrical cistern with a circular base, multiply the square 
 of the diameter {in feet) by 5/6 ; the product will be the con- 
 tents in gallons. * 
 
 For example, a cistern 20 feet in diameter and 10 feet 
 deep would contain 20X20X5^6X10.-23,500 gallons (see 
 table on page 16). 
 
 12. STEAM FIRE-ENGINES— If none, add 7 cts. 
 
 " " If one, add 4 cts. 
 
 No charge for absence of steam fire-engines, if direct pressure system or 
 gravity water-works with head sufficient, to throw a 1 % inch stream through 
 200 feet of hose over highest building and sufficient good hose for at least 
 six streams. This would require au effective head at hydrants of 100 feet, 
 or say a pressure of 75 lbs. 
 
 This charge is intended to measure the absence of 
 steam fire engines only in the key-rate and its effect 
 upon all risks in the town. The standard requirement 
 is two steamers per square mile and this is a deficiency 
 charge. 
 
 13. HOSE — If less than 1,000 feet of serviceable hose 
 per steamer (there should be 2,000 feet) or less than 20 feet 
 per hydrant, if direct pressure (but not less in any case than 
 a total of 2,000 feet), charge according to circumstances, 
 
 size of town, character of buildings, etc., but not less than.. 3 cts. 
 
 (No charge, of course, if charge has been made for absence of steamers, 
 of direct pressure, etc.) 
 
 14. FIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPH— If none, add 5 cts. 
 
 (Underground wires preferable.) 
 
 Note. — If fire-alarm system is by key boxes (objectionable), the keys to 
 be deposited in some public place accessible to citizens as well as police- 
 men and firemen. Neighboring drug stores, for example, are good deposi- 
 tories, because accessible at most hours of the day and night. The Central 
 Station should not be in a dangerous building. 
 
 The keyless boxes are preferable to make sure that 
 an alarm will be sent in promptly and to save the delay 
 of searching for the key. The fears that alarms will be 
 sent in by mischievous persons prove unfounded in 
 actual practice. Underground wires, of course, prevent 
 interruption of service by storms or falling buildings. 
 
 15. POLICE ORGANIZATION.— If none, add 2 cts. 
 
 Self-explanatory. 
 
 *The cubic contents in feet of a cylinder like a cistern are obtained by multiplying 
 the area of the circle by the depth in feet. Inasmuch as the area of a circle is ob- 
 tained by multiplying the square of the diameter by .7854, and inasmuch as a cubic 
 foot of water contains 7.48 gallonB, it is only necessary to multiply the square of the 
 diameter by the product of 7,48 X ,7854=5%, to obtain the result m gallons, wituout 
 the longer computation. 
 
638 
 i8 
 
 CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 16. FIRE DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATION— If 
 
 none, charge 6 cts. 
 
 (If charge is made for 16, omit 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.) 
 
 17. If less than 12 paid men to each steamer, or four 
 men to each hose cart where direct pressure or gravity 
 system is relied upon, add 2 cts. 
 
 18. If only engineer and driver paid, add 3 cts. 
 
 If not paid l>y municipality but by Volunteer Department charge 4 
 cents and omit No. 21. 
 (No charge if no steamers ) 
 
 19. If firemen paid according to number of fires attended, 
 charge same as No. 16 6 cts. 
 
 20. If paid fire department, but not free from improper 
 political control and influences, add from 1 cent to 4 cts. 
 
 21. If volunteer, add 5 cts. 
 
 These charges will be self-explanatory. 
 
 22. FIRE MARSHAL OR FIRE CORONER— If none, 
 
 add 2 cts. 
 
 The smallness of the charge would probably be the 
 only criticism made upon it ; but it was carefully con- 
 sidered and is believed to be relatively correct. 
 
 23. STREETS — In mercantile section, if not paved or 
 macadamized, or if exceeding say 10% are impassable for 
 engines during wet seasons, add 2 cts. 
 
 Note. — While streets are impassable the fire engines and extinguishing 
 appliauees of a city are, of course, practically useless. 
 
 24. If exceeding 40$ of whole number in mercantile 
 section are less than 70 feet wide, add 2 cts. 
 
 These clauses need no explanation. 
 
 25. BUILDING LAW — If none, or not well enforced, 
 
 or if no ordinance as to storage of explosives, etc., add .... 3 cts. 
 
 If has been suggested that charge No. 25 is too low, 
 but the intimation overlooks the fact that this entire 
 Schedule is, in effect, a building law and, by its penal- 
 ties of charges and encouragement of deductions, will 
 do more to enforce proper building methods than any 
 municipal or state regulation which is simply mandatory. 
 
 26. ELECTRIC TROLLEY (or other dangerous) system 
 
 of street railway, add 2 cts. 
 
 27. CONFLAGRATION HAZARD — Danger of sweep- 
 ing fires from outlying exposures, such as extensive frame 
 or lumber districts, aggregations of special hazards, 
 especially wood-workers, about a common water-power, or 
 along a water-front near enough to endanger city, not less 
 
 than 5 cts. 
 
 This charge should be very carefully considered. The 
 schedule is based upon the ordinary conflagration hazard 
 of the average city. Where mercantile and other build- 
 
CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 R39 
 19 
 
 ings are abnormally high, especially in the class of towns 
 known as " six-story towns with two-story fire depart 
 ments," water mains small, and general construction 
 poor, by reason of incorrect building methods, defective 
 bricks and mortar, etc., a liberal charge should be made 
 under this item. The " lay of the land " also should be 
 taken into account, and an extra charge should be made 
 for cities built upon a hill or mountain side, such as 
 Quebec, St. Johns, N. F., Lynchburg, Va., etc. Such 
 conditions minimize the separating effect even of wide 
 streets. Where cities are located in canons, also, a 
 charge should be made, as in the case of Hot Springs, 
 Ark., Virginia Citv, etc. (The latter town was destroyed 
 in 1875.) In Astoria, Ore, the business section is Luilt 
 on spiles, with an air space below, and is therefore more 
 liable to a sweeping fire by reason of this fact. 
 
 The destruction, in May, 1900, of Ottawa and Hull, 
 Can., due to the burning of large accumulations of 
 lumber, outlying exposures, etc., is a more recent in- 
 stance enforcing the importance of studying the envi- 
 ronment of cities. 
 
 28. NATURAL GAS OR OIL FOR FUEL, add 2 cts. 
 
 The hazard of natural gas has of late years been better 
 
 understood, and the great number of fires due to its use 
 when first applied for heating, cooking, etc., has been 
 largely cut down. Meanwhile, the insurance companies 
 stood in the breach, as it is always their misfortune to 
 do in the case of all new hazards, and paid for all 
 mistakes and lack of proper precautions. 
 
 29. HIGH WINDS — If city subject to high winds, add 
 according to hazard, say 5 cts. 
 
 30. PREVIOUS FIRE RECORD— This schedule is based 
 on the supposition of a normal fire record of the city 
 or town to be rated. If, however, the previous fire 
 record of the place has been abnormal and disastrous, a 
 higher basis rate for a standard building in such place 
 should be made, in accordance with such record. An 
 average annual loss on mercantile risks for the previous 
 period of five years of not exceeding $5 for each $r,ooo 
 of insurance or value, as shown by the books of the prin- 
 cipal insurance agents, may be regarded as normal. For 
 
640 
 
 20 
 
 CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 each dollar of loss or part thereof, in excess of $5 per 
 $1,000 of insurance on Mercantile Business, 20% should 
 be added to the above basis rate of a standard building 
 in the city to be rated. 
 
 (Twenty per cent, of the key-rate to be the maximum 
 increase or addition for any one sweeping fire or confla- 
 gration.) 
 
 For example, if the average annual fire loss for the pre- 
 vious five years has been at the rate of $7 per each $1,000 
 of insurance, and the rate of a standard building in such 
 city has been ascertained, as above, to be 40 cents, 40$ 
 thereof, or 16 cents, should be added, making 56 cents 
 is the basis rate of a standard building. 
 
 By way of illustration, let us suppose a town whose 
 insurance on mercantile values — buildings and stocks — 
 amounts to $20,000,000. If its average losses amount to 
 |ioo,ooo per annum, they would be at the rate of $5 per 
 $1,000 of insurance, or normal. If the average rate be i# 
 the premiums would be $200 000, and the loss ratio 50^ ; 
 but, let us suppose that instead of $100,000 losses per 
 annum, the annual loss is $140,000. This would be at 
 the rate of $7 per $1,000 or $2 per $1,000 in excess of 
 normal, and 70$ of the premiums at if e . The schedule 
 would increase the rate 20$ for each dollar in excess of 
 five, or 40$, and, at a rate of 140, the premiums would be 
 $280,000 on which the $140,000 of losses would be 50^ 
 Mercantile values of a city and the annual fire loss can 
 be estimated with approximate correctness by an intelli- 
 gent expert, assisted by the local agents or by the Com- 
 panies. Even where not possible to get accurate figures, 
 however, anything gained under this item of the schedule 
 will be a practical improvement on present methods, 
 which ignore this feature of previous fire record 
 altogether. 
 
 REDUCED FIRE WASTE — There should be a reduction, 
 also, of 1$ of premium rate for each 1$ decrease in fire 
 waste below 55^, not exceeding 15$ on a three year 
 period. (See page 123.) 
 
 31. EXCEPTIONAL FEATURES OF CITY.— If the 
 city or town has unfavorable features [not provided for in 
 the schedule] which are exceptional, and which should be 
 
CITY SCHEDULE. 
 
 041 
 21 
 
 provided for in the general city charge as affecting all 
 structures in the compact portion, charge according to 
 danger 
 
 "Note. — The only supply water-main for an important Southern city, for 
 example, crosses a wooden railroad bridge, the locomotives using wood 
 for fuel. An important Western city was dependent, at one time, upon 
 the working of a telephone to secure water for fires. It did not. work and 
 a conflagration was the result. Such faults should be roundly charged for. 
 
 The Galveston, Texas, water supply was cut off by the great storm of 
 September, 1900. The water supply of an important city in North 
 Carolina depends upon a single fireman some distance from the 
 city and an accident to him would cripple the service. It is strange that 
 such contingencies are so frequently overlooked. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS. 
 
 32. CHEMICAL ENGINES ON WHEELS. — For each 
 deduct (not exceeding 5^ in all) from foregoing total 3 % 
 
 These are admirable in their way, and where used with 
 intelligence by the chief of the fire department frequently 
 save immense loss to underwriters, which would other- 
 wise result from throwing large quantities of water on 
 damageable stocks, like hardware, millinery, etc. They 
 are gradually winning their way, so that most of the 
 practical fire chiefs are using them. 
 
 33. AUXILIARY STEAMERS— Where a city has grav- 
 ity water-works, with head sufficient to throw over highest 
 building, or direct pressure system, and sufficient hose for 
 six streams, if one or more steam engines, maintained in 
 
 good condition, are also provided, deduct 5 # 
 
 It is too frequently the case that municipalities with 
 gravity water-works, or with a direct pressure system, 
 fail to provide fire steamers, or, having them already, 
 dispense with them upon securing the direct pressure 
 system. Those towns which keep them should have 
 recognition of them. 
 
 34. HOOK AND LADDER TRUCKS— One to every 4 
 steamers 5 % 
 
 RESULT— The Basis or "Key-Rate" for a Stand- 
 ard Building in said city 
 
 (For illustration see page 59.) 
 
 This basis rate once obtained, in this manner, will be 
 the " Key " Rate for rating all buildings in the city, and 
 so ascertained, it is only necessary, thereafter, to use the 
 following schedules for rating all structures. 
 
SCHEDULE FOR "NOMIRE-PROOF" 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 KEY-RATE— The key-rate of the city is intended to 
 measure the average rate of a standard building in the 
 city ; but such a building would receive further deductions 
 later, for proximity to hydrants on an adequate water 
 main, and for private fire appliances 155, 156, etc. 
 
 The various items of the schedule are numbered ami 
 
 arranged in their numerical order, and they will, therefore, 
 
 be explained in the order of their arrangement, as follows: 
 
 38. WALLS (other than "Party," for which see No. 
 40) — If the two side or bearing walls (or either of them 
 — charge for worse but not both), vary in thickness from 
 standard construction, add according to deficiencies. 
 
 This may be computed by charging- for variation of the 
 wall from the standard by estimating the average thick- 
 ness of the standard required for a building of equal 
 height and charging at the rate of 2 cents for each de- 
 ficiency of 4 inches of average thickness or fraction 
 thereof. (if building over 4 stories high, double the 
 charge.) For example, the average thickness of a four- 
 story wall according to standard would be 12 plus 16 plus 
 20 plus 24, equals total 72 inches, averaging say 18 inches 
 throughout. If the wall should be 12 inches average 
 thickness, 4 cents should be added. If two independent 
 walls adjoin, 4 inches may be deducted from the average 
 of these requirements. 
 
 The standard building of the schedule is seldom to be met 
 with, even in cities with admirable building laws. Most 
 builders and architects regard a rule requiring an increase 
 of four inches in thickness for each story to the bot- 
 tom as too severe a requirement. Such a building, how- 
 ever, would be calculated to confine a fire within its 
 own four walls, and we do not hesitate to express the 
 opinion, after long consideration of the matter, that all 
 buildings in the compact portions of cities should be con- 
 structed in this manner. Tn isolated locations, where the 
 owner of land has no neighbors, he may well claim that 
 he should be allowed to build as he pleases; but proper 
 consideration for community interests requires that, in 
 cities and towns, each property-owner should be required 
 so to build that the burning of his property would not nec- 
 essarily destroy that of his neighbor. Whatever hardship 
 this may be to him is more than offset by the great advan- 
 tage of having his neighbors held to the same rule, in view 
 of the fact that they outnumber him a thousand to one. 
 
"non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 23 
 
 The schedule recognizes the merit of a wall such as is re- 
 quired by the New York building law, however, as it will 
 be found the charge for variations from the standard are 
 very light. A wall 12 inches in thickness, for the upper- 
 most 1 5 feet, increasing 4 inches in thickness for every 1 5 feet 
 below to the foundation, is a good wall and should not be 
 penalized more seriously than the schedule provides. 
 
 39. WALLS, on buildings over three stories high, if 
 average thickness be less than 12 inches (no portion to 
 be less than 8 inches), charge according to danger and 
 adjoining buildings, not less than 8 ots. 
 
 (This in addition to No. 38.) 
 
 It will be observed that this section provides for a wall 
 which by reason of a number of thick sections making a high 
 average of thickness might yet be weakened by one or two 
 sections only 8 inches in thickness, as is sometimes the case. 
 
 40. PARTY WALLS should average 4 inches thicker 
 than independent walls, and should be 16 inches for the 
 top story, increasing 4 inches for each story to the foun- 
 dation; no portion to be less than 12 inches. For each 
 inch of deficiency of the average thickness of the 
 wall to be rated (charge for worse but not both), from 
 the average thickness of a standard wall, charge (If 
 building is over four stories, double the charge.) 1 ct. 
 
 For example, a standard four-story party wall would 
 be 16 plus 20 plus 24 plus 28, equal total 88, or average 22 
 Inches; and if risk is 18 Inches average thickness, 4 cents 
 should be charged. 
 
 Party walls should be thicker than independent walls, 
 as they are laid with less care. Two independent walls 
 would be brought to face" on both sides and properly 
 bonded; but party walls may be filled in with "bats" and 
 may have air spaces, and should be, as is here required, at 
 least four inches thicker than independent walls. 
 
 41. PARTY WALLS— If party wall be less than 12 
 inches thick for any portion thereof, charge according to 
 danger and adjoining buildings, not less than 10 cts. 
 
 (This In addition to No. 40.) 
 
 This requires a charge for any section less than 12 inches 
 thick. An 8-inch party wall would bring the ends of the 
 floor beams of the two buildings too near together. 
 
 Note. — In buildings where wooden beams or girders 
 are used, the ends of beams should be protected by iron 
 anchor boxes or tin, to prevent charring if in proximity 
 to flues. The timbers should also be chamfered off or cut 
 on a bevel of 3 inches, so as to be self-releasing in case 
 they are burned through, permitting them to fall without 
 tearing out the walls. At least one beam In five, however, 
 should be tied to the walls, to strengthen the building. 
 This may be accomplished by a projecting tongue or lug 
 on the bearing corresponding with a groove in the lower 
 
644 
 
 24 "xon-fibe-pboof" schedule. 
 
 side of the beam, which would lift off the lug in case the 
 beam should fall. If these provisions are made a deduc- 
 tion may be made. See item No. 178. 
 
 42. WALLS — If walls not parapet through roof, at 
 
 least 12 inches, and coped, add for each exposed side. ... 5 cts 
 
 Note. — If the building be higher or lower than the ad- 
 Joining building by a difference of 12 inches or more, 
 without openings in excess height — unless openings be 
 protected with approved tin-covered wood shutters, and 
 without wooden cornices or exoosed woodwork, no charge 
 need be made for absence of ^arapet. If parapet exceeds 
 12 inches in height, a deduction will be made at No. 126. 
 
 If it be claimed at this point that a parapet wall 
 should proper!}- be three feet high , it can be answered that 
 such walls are rarely built, and to charge for deficiency at 
 this point would entail an unnecessary amount of labor in 
 ninety-nine risks out of a hundred. The greater height 
 of wall is provided for by deduction, Xo. 126, so that it 
 will receive recognition in the few instances in which it is 
 to be found, without adding to the labor of the great ma- 
 jority of buildings not so protected. 
 
 43. WALLS — If the brick are not hard burned and of 
 good quality, or if the mortar be of poor quality for want 
 of sharp sand, etc., an additional charge should be made 
 
 of not less than 20 cts. 
 
 This charge is necessary and should be intelligently 
 made. In many sections it is customary to charge all build- 
 ings a higher rate to cover faults of bricks and mortar inci- 
 dent to the majority; but this is unjust to those property- 
 owners who are exceptions to the rule. In Brooklyn, for ex- 
 ample, for many years the market for "pale" or poorly 
 burned brick because of a poor building law, if an owner 
 bought well burned bricks, with sharp sand, and erected 
 a proper structure, and his enterprise should not be rec- 
 ognized, there would be no encouragement for such a public- 
 spirited citizen, other than that of self-approbation. 
 
 44. IRON FRONTS— For each iron front or side not 
 backed up solidly with bricks and mortar, charge 5 cts. 
 
 This is an important charge and it is safe to make it, un- 
 less correctly informed as to the facts, so general is the pre- 
 vailing negligence with regard to the precaution of filling 
 in the ironwork. Even when backed up with bricks and 
 mortar an iron front should be charged for as a deviation 
 from a brick wall. This is provided for in the following 
 charge. 
 
"xox-fire-proof" schedule. 25 
 
 45. IRON FRONTS— If so backed up, charge 2 cts. 
 
 46. IRON FRONTS — If building adjoins other iron 
 fronts, making one continuous iron frontage, add for each 
 
 ikon front in the continuous line 2 cts. 
 
 Note. — Buildings having a continuous iron frontage are 
 not only liable to be ignited by the raised temperature of 
 the iron front of the one on fire, but the connection be- 
 tween the division walls and the iron front is not always 
 thoroughly cut off where the front connects with brick 
 side walls, nor can defects always be discovered, which is 
 one reason for the extra charge. 
 
 On the night of the great fire in Worth street, Xew York, 
 January 17, 1S79, the rapidity with which the fire proceed- 
 ed from one building to another, apparently without any 
 intervening obstacle, was amazing. The mystery was solved 
 later, when it was found that the dividing brick walls were 
 not carried out to the iron front in the attics, the most dan- 
 gerous portions of the buildings, so that there was nothing 
 to prevent the passage of flame from one building to another 
 throughout a block which had always been regarded as com- 
 posed of a number of distinct and separate risks. A loss of 
 millions of dollars was the result of this culpable negligence 
 on the part of the builders and architects. 
 
 47. ROOF — if approved composition covered with 
 gravel, add 1 ct. 
 
 It will be observed that a metal roof is standard. An ap- 
 proved composition, covered with gravel, approaches it in 
 safety. 
 
 48. ROOF—If slate roof, add 2 cts. 
 
 Slate roofs are objectionable not only because the slates 
 
 are liable to crack in case of fire, allowing a draft, but also 
 because they are liable to fall and injure firemen, inter- 
 
 fering with their efforts to save the structure. 
 
 49. ROOF — If shingled, add 15 cts. 
 
 50. If Mansard Roof with Wooden Frame, even 
 though covered with slate or metal, for 3 or 4 story build- 
 ing, add for mansard one side 15 cts. 
 
 For each additional side 5 cts. 
 
 51. For mansard, as above, on a building of five stories 
 
 or more, add for one side 20 cts. 
 
 For each additional side 10 cts. 
 
 (This In addition to height charge, 63, 64, 65.1 
 
 A wooden mansard roof has been aptly compared by an 
 experienced fire chief to a lumber-yard placed out of reach 
 of the fire department. It is, of course, objectionable in 
 proportion to its height above the grade, hence the charge 
 for height. 
 
li Mi 
 26 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 52. EOOF SPACES. BLTND ATTICS, COCK-LOFTS, 
 ETC. — If hollow air space left next roof, plastered or 
 ceiled below, add for each vertical foot 3 cts. 
 
 If pitch roof or slanting- roof charge for maximum 
 height (not exceeding a total of 10 cts.) 
 
 Tf said air space communicates with elevator or other 
 shafts connecting it by air drafts with the main build- 
 ing, see No. 153. 
 
 Eoof spaces, it will be conceded, are decidedly objection- 
 able. They are usually constructed with exposed wood- 
 work, and fire gaining access to them soon reaches the un- 
 extinguishable stage. They are found more frequently in 
 the South than in the North, to give relief from summer 
 heat. They should be cut off from all the vertical drafts, 
 like staircases, elevator shafts, etc. 
 
 53. FLOORS — If not standard, but of two thicknesses 
 of floor plank, and less than 3 inches thick, or if one course 
 
 of 2 inch plank, add 3 cts. 
 
 If the two courses of floor plank cross each other diago- 
 nally, which would prevent co-incidence of cracks or joints, 
 the floor would be more fire-resisting and waterproof. 
 
 54. FLOORS — If single, i. e., with only one course of 
 
 floor plank less than 2 inches thick, charge 5 cts. 
 
 55. FLOORS — If floor beams or joists be less than 3 
 
 inches (say 3 x 10) thick, charge in addition to 53 or 54 3 cts. 
 
 This charge is an important one and, in some cities, 
 should be larger, not only on account of the small carrying 
 capacity of the floor, but also on account of the brief resist- 
 ance to flame which smaller floor beams than 3 x 10 (prac- 
 tically two-inch plank on edge) present. In some sections 
 this plan of construction is so common that it is safe to 
 assume and charge for the fault in the absence of knowl- 
 edge, if investigation or inquiry fails to determine the facts. 
 
 If first floor "fireproof or fire -resisting," according to 
 standard, see deductions, No. 119, etc. 
 
 56. WOODEN CEILING — If ceiling is sheathed with 
 wood or strawboard or other combustible material, add 
 according to hazard, not less than 5 cents for one story 
 and 3 cents for each additional story 
 
 57. WOODEN SHEATHING— If side-walls are 
 sheathed with wood, wood lath, furring or other combus- 
 tible material (no charge for dados), charge for one 
 story 5 cents and 3 cents for each additional story 
 
"non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 27 
 
 57a. Cloth or paper ceiling or siding on wooden studs, 
 each story, 10 cents. 
 
 Few property owners appreciate the difference in fire- 
 resisting properties between the old-fashioned plaster, and 
 wooden ceilings with varnished surfaces. Ordinary plaster, 
 even on wooden laths, will resist fire for a much longer time 
 than most persons suppose. It is for this reason that broken 
 plaster is penalized by a fault of management charge, No. 
 144. 
 
 58. AREA — If ground-floor area in excess of 2,500 
 square feet and not exceeding 5,000 square feet, add for 
 
 each 1,000 square feet in excess of 2,500 square feet 1 ct. 
 
 59. AREA — If ground floor exceeds 5,000 square feet, 
 add for each 1,000 in excess of 2,500 up to 10,000 : 
 
 In buildings not over 3 stories high 2 cts. 
 
 " " over 3 stories and not over G 3 cts. 
 
 CO. AREA — If ground-floor exceeds 10,000 square feet, 
 add for each 1,000 or fraction thereof in excess of 2,500 : 
 
 In buildings not over 3 stories high 2% cts. 
 
 " " over 3 stories and not over 6 „ 5 cts. 
 
 (Not exceeding a total of 200 cents.) 
 
 G2. AREA — If building exceeds 6 stories in height and 
 10,000 square feet of ground floor area, double the area 
 charge 
 
 (Not exceeding a total of 300 cents.) 
 
 If building is of standard fire-resisting construction 
 throughout, one-half the area charge only to be made. 
 
 One-Story Building, one-half the charge for three- 
 story. 
 
 Two-Story Building, two-thirds the charge for three- 
 story. 
 
 If curtain, cross or division walls, sub-dividing and 
 Strengthening the building, even though with arched open- 
 ings or door ways, deduct 10 per cent, of area charge for 
 each wall so dividing the risk, not exceeding a total deduc- 
 tion of 40 per cent, of the area charge. Communications 
 with adjoining buildings unprotected, charge for area both 
 buildings and allow for the division walls. 
 
 Single Occupancy — If only one tenant (outside of 
 dwelling and oftice tenants ) twenty per cent. ( 20 % ) of 
 the area charge may be deducted. (N. B. — Single occu- 
 pancy, as a rule, involves, with undivided responsibility 
 and management, greater care and cleanliness and, also, 
 less crowding of merchandise on floors by piling or tier- 
 ing-) 
 
 These charges are framed recognizing the fact that area, 
 iwhile in itself objectionable, is especially so when found 
 
28 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 in connection with height. Fires in buildings of large area 
 and excessive height combined are rarely extinguished, 
 when once started, by even the best fire departments, and 
 are generally " conflagration breeders." 
 
 Division partition walls are recognized as deserving of 
 lower rates for two reasons : First, because they deaden the 
 fire, on the same principle that bricks mixed with the coal 
 in a furnace would retard combustion; and, second, be- 
 cause they afford barriers and corners, compartments or 
 bulkheads, so to speak, into which the fire department can 
 
 crowd a fire and possibly extinguish it. 
 
 63. HEIGHT — For fifth story, add 5 cts. 
 
 64. HEIGHT — For sixth story, add 10 cts. 
 
 65. HEIGHT — For seventh story, add 25 cts. 
 
 ^ 66. HEIGHT — For each story in excess of seven, add. 40 cts. 
 
 These charges cumulative; for example, a seven story 
 building would have 40 cents added. If any story double 
 height, charge for two. 
 
 Note. — If building is of standard construction through- 
 out it may be seven stories high without extra charge in a 
 fire department town whose key-rate does not exceed 30 cents. 
 
 66a. For eighth story on standard building 24 cts. 
 
 66b. For ninth story on standard building 40 cts. 
 
 Those who think larger height charges than the above 
 should be made must not overlook the fact that the pro- 
 visions of Nos. 38, 39, 40 and 41, as to wall requirements, 
 together with the area charges 62, etc., will make the rate 
 sufficiently high for tall buildings, especially if not excep- 
 tionally well constructed. 
 
 While the charges for the sixth, seventh and higher 
 stories may be regarded by some as severe, there are few un- 
 derwriters who would not prefer to let seven-story build- 
 ings of ordinary construction go uninsured at prevailing 
 
 rates. 
 
 67. ELEVATORS — If not in shaft, according to the 
 standard, but in hall-way or enclosed in lath and plaster 
 partitions, or with self-closing traps at each floor, charge. . 5 cts. 
 
 67a. Cut off by brick or fire-proof shaff, but doors not 
 standard, or with wood sills, or if windows in shaft are not 
 wire glass or otherwise fire resistant, charge 3 cts. 
 
 68. ELEVATORS— If open from floor to floor and 
 varying from above, charge 12 cts. 
 
 69. ELEVATORS— If the shaft is sheathed or lined 
 with wood (unless covered with tin or galvanized iron, 
 
 in which case half charge), charge 15 cts. 
 
649 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 29 
 
 If elevator and stairway are combined and contained 
 in the same shaft or opening, make only one charge for 
 the two. If more than one elevator, charge for worst and 
 add one-fourth charge for each in excess of one. If 
 elevators are provided with traps which are not automatic, 
 or traps closed only at night, no deduction can 
 be made for the same. If bottom of elevator Bhaft 
 used for closets, see No. 141. 
 
 70. ELEVATORS— One-half the above charges for 
 elevators in buildings otherwise standard throughout, or 
 in buildings occupied exclusively fob offices. 
 
 Nothing so weakens the fire-resisting properties of a 
 building as unprotected openings from cellar to roof, such 
 as unenclosed stairways, open elevator shafts, well-holes, 
 etc. They insure the rapid progress of fire throughout the 
 structure on the same principle that a stovepipe promotes 
 combustion in a stove ; and there is no excuse for such faults 
 in mercantile buildings. Even when enclosed in ordinary 
 lath and plaster partitions, with wooden doors at each floor, 
 combustion may be retarded sufficiently to enable the fire 
 department to arrive in time to save the building. Every 
 minute gained when a fire starts increases the probability 
 of extinction. In this view, it is a grave question if the pro- 
 tection of these communications from floor to floor be not 
 more important than the structural composition of the 
 floors themselves. It is possible to protect an elevator shaft 
 even after the erection of a building, by metallic lath and 
 plaster. 
 
 71. STAIRWAYS— If not enclosed according to the 
 standard, but in separate hallway or shaft enclosed by 
 lath and plaster partitions with self-closing spring-doors 
 
 at each floor, or automatic trap-doors in floors, charge 7 cts. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 67, 68 or 69 one-half 
 charge— halve the smaller charge.) 
 
 71a. If stairways are simply provided with traps which 
 are closed only at night, charge 12 cts. 
 
 71b. Cut off by brick or tile hallways, but doors not 
 iron or metal covered, or if lights in panels are not wire 
 glass, or otherwise lire resistant, charge 5 cts. 
 
 71c. If stairs in the above case be fire-proof with in- 
 combustible treads, charge only 2 cts. 
 
 72. STAIRWAYS— If the enclosure is of wooden par- 
 titions instead of lath and plaster, with self-closing doors 
 
 at each floor, charge 10 cts. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 67, 68 or 69 one-half 
 charge— halve the smaller charge.) 
 
 73. 'STAIRWAYS— If open staircases from floor to 
 
 floor throughout building, not cut off by partitions with 
 self-closing doors, charge according to hazard, not less than 15 ctf 
 
650 
 
 3° "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 67, 68 or 69 one-half 
 charge— halve smaller charge J 
 
 If more than one stairway charge for worst and add one- 
 fourth charge for each additional. 
 
 No charge under these stairway items for buildings 
 
 occupied exclusively for offices or dwellings above first story 
 when stairway does not open into store. 
 
 There would be no charge, of course, for stairway in 
 standard building. 
 
 It will be observed that provision is made for smaller 
 charges for each subsequent breaking of a floor by stair- 
 cases, elevators, etc., on the principle that while two holes iu 
 a fence are worse than one, they are not twice as bad. 
 
 74. WELL-HOLES, HATCHWAYS, ETC.— If not pro- 
 vided with self-ciosing traps, add, according to size, for 
 
 each floor pierced, not less than 5 ets. 
 
 If well-holes have approved traps, half charge. 
 
 Make full charge for each, for each floor. No allowance 
 for traps which are not automatic in every particular and 
 which do not lit openings closely. 
 
 Probably no better illustration of the difficulty of extin- 
 guishing a fire in a building with well-holes is to be found 
 than in the case of the Home Building, in Pittsburg, which, 
 although of fireproof construction, failed to protect the 
 merchandise in its various stories, which was burned as 
 effectually as if in a stove. 
 
 75. WOODEN CHUTES, DUMB-WAITERS, (unless 
 enclosed in brick with standard doors), VENTILATING 
 SHAFTS, BELT HOLES and openings through floors for 
 steam and water pipes, etc., tend to the rapid spread of 
 fire throughout the building and should be charged for 
 according to size, not less in any case, for each and 
 
 for each floor pierced, than 2 cts. 
 
 If dumb-waiters are in brick shaft, but the doors to 
 floors are not sheet iron or metal lined, deduct only 50$ 
 from charge in order to compel their being made standard. 
 
 Note. — No charge need be made for openings for steam 
 and water pipes if the space around the pipes is filled in 
 with mineral wool, asbestos or other incombustible ma- 
 terial, or otherwise arranged to prevent draughts and 
 leakage of water to floor below. 
 
 A fire in the "fire-proof" Mills Building, New York, 
 passed from one story to another through the channels for 
 electric light wires and pipes. Such communications from 
 one floor to another, especially where dumb-waiters are 
 used, should always be charged for. 
 
 Dumb-waiters should be in a fire-proof shaft, with 
 standard doors at cacli story. This is required by the 
 New York Building Law. 
 
651 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 31 
 
 In the case of the fire in the Cammeyer Building, 
 January 18, 1899, the fire went rapidly from one story to 
 another through dumb-waiters with wooden shafts 
 and wooden doors, which had been used for sending goods 
 from one story to another. The firemen could not under- 
 stand the matter until the fire had revealed the fault. 
 It is a grave question whether such concealed avenues 
 for fire are not much worse than well-holes, which the 
 firemen know they must guard. An illustration of this 
 was to be found in the fire in Bloomingdalc Bros.' 
 store, in New York, where the fire department held the 
 fire at the well-hole, knowing the danger, although the 
 same men failed to hold the fire in the Cammeyer Build- 
 ing owing to the fact that they were ignorant of these 
 concealed passages for flame. 
 
 76. SKYLIGHTS— If more than three feet square 
 (nine square feet), add for each nine square feet or frac- 
 tion thereof in excess (not exceeding a total of 25 cents) 2 cts. 
 
 (If metallic frames and heavy deck or prismatic glass or 
 wire glass, no charge. Glass should be J^-inch it through roof 
 and %-inoh if through floor.) 
 
 77. SKYLIGHTS— If covered above and below with 
 strong wire netting, one-half charge 
 
 78. SKYLIGHTS— If skylight is monitor style, i. e., 
 box form with raised sides, charge for square feet in sides 
 as well as top 
 
 It is so easy to construct these in such manner that they 
 will not afford an entrance to burning brands, by wire glass 
 or wire protection, that they should be roundly charged for. 
 A large skylight of ordinary construction may readily be as 
 objectionable as a shingle roof. 
 
 79. CORNICES — For wooden cornices, wooden dormer 
 windows, cupolas, monitor roofs, large wooden signs, or 
 other exceptional features, add according to hazard, tak- 
 ing into account height of building and nature of ex- 
 posures, not less, however, in any case than 3 cts. 
 
 This charge is probably self-explanaiory. 
 
 80. WOODEN AWNINGS— If building has wooden 
 awnings, and is only one story high, so that awning 
 
 would endanger roof, add 10 cts. 
 
 81. If in non-fire department town, charge from. ... 10 to 20 cts. 
 
 82. WOODEN AWNINGS— If building is two stories 
 or more high (in which case there would be less danger 
 
 to roof timbers), charge 1 ct. 
 
 83. If in non-fire department town, charge from 5 to 10 cts. 
 
052 
 32 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 The difference in charge for wooden awnings on one-story 
 buildings is due to the fact that they are generally framed 
 into the roof timbers, and an entire block might in this way 
 get on fire, as was the case some years ago in Pensacola, 
 Fla., where a block of one-story brick buildings, supposed to 
 be exceptionally good risks, burned from this cause, and one 
 company lost $18,000. They are less dangerous, of course, 
 in higher buildings, where the framing of the awnings 
 would be in the brickwork of the building, and would have 
 no connection with the woodwork thereof. 
 
 84. LIGHTING — If by electricity, with system and 
 installation in compliance with National Board rules and 
 specifications, add 2 cts. 
 
 85. If electrical installation not in compliance with 
 board rules, or in unsafe condition, see No. 154. 
 
 For swinging gas brackets, see No. 142. 
 No matter how safe the electric light installation may be 
 supposed, it is worth two cents in the rate ; and if unsafe it 
 is difficult to place any proper charge upon it. The penalty 
 of 25 cents (154) is not too high. 
 
 86. LIGHTING— If by kerosene, add 2 cts. 
 
 (No charge if charge of two cents or more has been made for 
 electric light.) 
 
 Any other system of lighting must be subject to 
 approval of Local Board of Underwriters and charged for by rule. 
 
 At the Hartford convention, which passed upon the Uni- 
 versal Schedule, the point was aptly made by one of the dele- 
 gates that inasmuch as electricity and kerosene were 
 charged the same rate, they should be treated as inter- 
 changeable; and, logically, if half the building should be 
 lighted by electricity and the other half by kerosene, there 
 should be one charge for the whole building. The conven- 
 tion took this view of the matter. 
 
 87. HEATING— If by furnace, add 3 cts. 
 
 88. HEATING— If by furnace with metallic cold-air 
 box and hot-air pipes through brick walls, and one register 
 fastened open, add (instead of No. 8?) 2 cts. 
 
 All vertical hot-air pipes should be inclosed in the brick 
 walls whenever possible ; if passing horizontally between a 
 floor and the ceiling below, or vertically in lath and plaster 
 partition between studs, they should be double, with an inch 
 space between the two pipes, and the studs should be 
 sheathed with tin. Inasmuch as it is impossible to ascer- 
 tain these facts, some charge should be made for all hot-air 
 
"non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 053 
 33 
 
 pipes of this character and not less than two cents should 
 be added. 
 
 A metallic cold-air box or duct of tin or galvanized iron 
 is essential for health as well as for safety from fire. A 
 wooden box soon opens joints and cracks from shrinking, 
 taking the foul air of the cellar, from damp coal, decaying 
 vegetables, etc., and forcing it throughout the living and 
 sleeping rooms of the house by the operation of the furnace. 
 If property-owners could be made to realize this all cold-air 
 boxes would be of metal. 
 
 89. HEATING — If by stoves, add 2 eta. 
 
 90. HEATING— If stove-pipes through floors or hollow 
 partitions with double thimbles or safely protected, charge 
 
 for each passage from 2 cts. to 10 cts. 
 
 91. HEATING— If through partition not protected, 
 charge at No. 140. 
 
 92. HEATING — Stove-pipes through windows, roofs, 
 etc., protected by double metal chimneys, etc., No. 140. 
 
 93. HEATING — Stove-pipes through windows, roofs, 
 etc., not protected by double metal chimneys, etc., No. 
 140. 
 
 94. HEATING— If stove-pipe enters bottom of flue 
 vertically, charge at No. 140. 
 
 95. HEATING — If stove-pipe enters chimney in attic 
 or unused room, charge at No. 140. 
 
 96. HEATING— Natural gas or oil fuel, with approved 
 
 pressure regulating appliances, add 5 cts. 
 
 97. CHIMNEYS — If not built from ground but resting 
 on beams or brackets, charge for each 5 eta. 
 
 Note. — There should be not less than six courses of 
 brick at the bottom, or three courses with a flagstone. 
 
 These would get an additional charge if less than 8 inches 
 thick, under No. 98, and if of poor bricks and mortar 
 would be charged again under No. 100. 
 
 98. CHIMNEYS — If inadequate for service required 
 or with flue-walls less than 8 inches thick — ' ' half brick 
 chimneys," unless latter are lined with pipe of burnt 
 
 clay or cast iron, charge from 5 cents to 50 cts. 
 
 99. CHIMNEYS — If chimney rests on attic floor beam 
 
 or roof joists, charge (in addition to No. 97) 25 cts. 
 
 100. CHIMNEYS — If constructed of poor bricks or 
 mortar, charge not less than (this is in addition to No. 
 
 43 ) 20 cts. 
 
 101. CHIMNEYS— If cement or terra cotta chimneys, 
 
 add 60 cts. 
 
 102. STREET— If Btreet on which building fronts is 
 unpaved or otherwise inaccessible, especially during wet 
 seasons, for fire department, add, according to hazard, not 
 
 less than 10 cts. 
 
 (If no fire department, no charge for this.) 
 
fi.54 
 34 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 103. STREET— If less than sixty feet wide from build- 
 ing to building (i. e., including sidewalks), but not less than 
 
 50, add (unless opposite side of street is vacant) 2 cts. 
 
 104. STREET— For each 5 feet less than 50 in width, 
 
 unless opposite side of street is vacant, add 2 cts. 
 
 Note.— This charge for narrowness of street on which the build- 
 ing is located is necessary in addition to any charge that may have 
 been made in the basis rate in a city of narrow streets, which 
 charge is intended to cover the conflagrat ion hazard; the charge on 
 each building for inaccessibility of street to fire department is 
 necessary even where the extra city charge has been made. In St. 
 Joseph, Mo., or Mobile, where the majority of the streets are from 40 
 to 50 feet in width, toe rate of a risk, even on a street 120 feet wide, 
 by reason of the exposure of all building-i behind it, rendering it 
 more liable to burn by a sweeping conflagration, should be greater 
 than that of a building which fronts on a narrow street lying 
 between two 120 foot streets, in a ciiy like Washington or Salt Lake, 
 where only the charge for the risk itself is necessary. 
 
 105. OVERHEAD WIRES, TELEGRAPH, ETC., on 
 poles in front of building in sufficient number to interfere 
 with operations of fire department, charge according to 
 quantity not less than 2 cts. 
 
 These interfere seriously with the operations of the lire 
 department, especially in the case of water-towers and 
 ladders. 
 
 106. NUMBER OF TENANTS (other than office and 
 dwelling tenants) — For each tenant in excess of one, add 2 cts. 
 
 This is intended as a personal charge, only, to cover the 
 average moral hazard, carelessness, negligence, etc., which 
 increase in proportion to the number of tenants. 
 
 The physical hazard of additional tenants by reason of 
 extra quantity or cubic feet of material, stock, etc., will be 
 provided for by other charges, area, height, etc., and by 
 the charge for stocks above or below the grade floor, and 
 area charge (Note to No. 62), where it will be seen dis- 
 crimination is made in favor of single occupancy buildings. 
 
 As explained, this clause is not intended for the physical 
 hazard of a tenant, but as a personal charge. Of course, 
 there is a personal equation in the case of every tenant of a 
 building, and each additional human being with interest in 
 collecting insurance may be said to increase the moral 
 hazard. On this account, it has been argued that the charge 
 for every tenant should be at least 5 cents, but this would 
 increase the rate to an uncollectible figure, and, moreover, 
 would be unjust, as we think the following considerations 
 would demonstrate: 
 
 In fire department cities less than 5% of the losses are 
 cotal. We think it will be conceded that the majority of 
 
655 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 35 
 
 incendiary fires would result in total losses. With the 
 choice of time and circumstance the incendiary is almost 
 certain to succeed; his fires usually take place in the night, 
 and he can so contrive them as to insure totality. This 
 being so, incendiary fires, or at least a very large majority 
 of them, would be found in the total losses and, therefore, 
 must be less than 5$ of the whole number of fires. We 
 think few underwriters would claim that one-half of the 
 ' 'total" fires were incendiary ; if this be a fact, one cent would 
 be enough on a 50 cent risk and two cents on a 1% risk. 
 These supposititious figures arc confirmed, we may add, by 
 the tabulation of the causes of fires made by taking the 
 opinions of careful adjusters, expressed at the tune of inves- 
 tigating and adjusting the loss, in more than 20,000 fires. 
 
 106a. For each manufacturing tenant in addition to the 
 highest rated one (which is charged for in No. 128) add 
 ten per cent. (10%) of the first column charges of such 
 additional tenants. 
 
 As already explained, the ignitibility and combustibility 
 hazards of occupancy are measured by the first column 
 charge in the table; the addition, therefore, of 10^ of this 
 first column charge for each manufacturing tenant in excess 
 of the highest rated one (which is charged for specifically 
 at No. 127) will adjust the rate to the compound hazard of 
 a number of manufacturing tenants. 
 
 This charge and 10Gb are intended for rating mercan- 
 tile buildings occupied in part for light manufacturing 
 purposes, such as are found in the larger cities. 
 
 106b. MANUFACTURING RISKS— Charge one-fifth of 
 .01 for each operative employed in excess of lO.not exceed- 
 ing a total of 25 cents in risks where the first column charge 
 does not exceed 25 cents, and double this amount in wood 
 working and other hazards where the first column charge ex- 
 ceeds 25 cents, but not exceeding a total of 100 cents 
 
 In a building with a number of tenants the charge 
 should not be doubled for all of the open ♦ivep, but only 
 to? the number of operatives of the woodworker or other 
 tenant whose first column charge is in excess of 25 cents.. . 
 
 It is believed this charge will be self-explanatory, as in- 
 tended to measure the extent of processes according to the 
 number of operatives. 
 
 107. AGE OF BUILDING — If over 20 years, add 2 cts. 
 
 If building is in poor repair, charge at No. 144. 
 This is intended to measure the hazard of age in all 
 buildings as an average, and would probably cover the cases 
 
656 
 36 
 
 "non-fire-froof" schedule. 
 
 which are not specifically measured as to variations from 
 standard, etc. 
 
 108. FRAME REARS, EXTENSIONS, ETC.— Ac- 
 cording to danger and number in block, not less than. ... 10 cts. 
 
 If frame portion is protected with approved metal cover- 
 ing, halve charge. 
 
 Note. — This is very important, as entire brick blocks 
 are frequently destroyed by reason of small frame rears 
 and extensions. See diagram of Sullivan, Ind. 
 
 Brick buildings with frame extensions may often prove 
 no more desirable or safe than frame buildings. 
 
 109. STONE PIERS, STONE COLUMNS, PILLARS, 
 or brick piers with bond stones, carrying important 
 weights, especially if supporting beams or girders in the 
 interior of buildings, in basements, cellars, etc., charge 
 according to number not less than 5 cts. 
 
 (Stone columns subjected to fire and water are certain to dis- 
 integrate and wreck the building if located in the interior. In ex- 
 terior walls they are not, as a rule, dangerous.) 
 
 This charge is an important one. Stone is a dangerous 
 building material, especially so in the case of columns. 
 
 The danger of bond stones in piers is that they disin- 
 tegrate under the action of fire and water, and, the moment 
 they crack, fail in their purpose of distributing the super- 
 imposed weight over the entire pier and throw the excess 
 of it on a comparatively small area, which splits the brick- 
 work and results in the fall of the pier if not of the en- 
 tire structure. Strangely enough, they are advocated by 
 many builders and architects, who have in mind only the 
 strengthening of the pier for weight-carrying purposes, 
 overlooking the serious danger of the failure of the bond 
 stones and cap stones for that very purpose in case of fire. 
 
 The burning of the Cammeyer building, in New York, 
 January 18, 1899, showed how utterly unreliable, in case of 
 fire, are bond stones and cap stones, even if of granite of ex- 
 tra thickness. They ought to be prohibited by law, and 
 would be under the New York building law but for the fact 
 that the stone interests opposed their exclusion. 
 
 The best bond for a pier is a cast-iron bond, with holes 
 for the incorporation of the mortar. Cast-iron will not rust 
 to the point of danger and will answer the purpose admira- 
 bly. 
 
 110. UNPROTECTED IRON COLUMNS— Cast-iron, 
 10 cts. ; ateel or wrought-iron, 15 cts 
 
"non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 657 
 37 
 
 The greater charge for steel or wrought-iron columns is 
 due to the greater danger of rust (see page 63) and of 
 warping. This is in accord with the general opinion of 
 iron experts almost without exception, and the various 
 fires in New York, especially that of the Appleton Build- 
 ing, in Bond Street, a number of years ago, and of the 
 later fire in the Cammeyer Building, already referred to, 
 where 6-inch cast-iron columns stood the heat better 
 than the bondstones in piers, justify the difference in rate. 
 
 111. STEAM BOILER— (except for heating) Inside first 
 floor or basement, .05; upstairs, .10; wood shavings for 
 fuel, 1.00 
 
 If boiler in fire-proof room cut off in approved manner, 
 no charge. 
 
 112. POWER — Steam, electric, gas or gasoline for 
 running shafting, charge according to hazard and Board 
 Rules. If unsafely arranged, charge under faults op 
 
 MANAGEMENT. 
 
 116. Total Deficiencies i'lus Key-Rate 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION, ETC. 
 
 117. If no cellar or basement, deduct 10 % of above total 
 
 118. SMALL RISKS -If building is not 
 over 1,500 square feet of ground floor area, say 
 
 25x60, and not over three stories high, deduct. .10 % " " 
 
 119. FLOORS— For tin or sheet-iron between 
 floors, deduct from schedule rate obtained an 
 amount equal to 5 % " 
 
 120. FLOORS— If water-proof, deduct 2 % " 
 
 121. FLOORS— If water - proof, arranged 
 with waste-ways and scuppers and inclined to 
 carry off surplus water thrown by fire depart- 
 ment to sewer or street, deduct 5 % 
 
 121a. If floors exceed 3 inches in thickness 
 deduct \% for each excess inch (this in addition 
 to 119, 120 and 121). 
 
 122. FLOORS— If the grade floor be fire- 
 proof, protecting the upper portion of the 
 building from fires in the basement or cellar, 
 
 and the communicating stairway to main 
 building thoroughly cut off , deduct 10 % " 
 
 123. FLOORS— For each fire-proof floor 
 
 above the grade floor, deduct 5% " 
 
 (Not exceeding 40% in all.) 
 
 124. CEILINGS AND PARTITIONS— If 
 
 of incombustible material throughout or plaster- 
 ed on metallic studs and lathing, the lathing to 
 have a good key for plaster, (no deduction for 
 this in fire-proof construction), deduct 10 % 
 
(358 
 38 
 
 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 125. CEILINGS, PARTITIONS AND 
 FURRING— If metallic lathing on wooden 
 
 studs, deduct 5 % of above total. 
 
 Notr— If the main " fore and aft " partition separat- 
 ing halls containing stairs and elevators from the 
 stores, be of brick or metallic I ithing, etc., with pro- 
 tected openings it would save building from charges 
 C7, 68, 69, 70, etc., as to elevators and stairways. 
 
 126. PARAPET WALLS— If carried more 
 than 12 inches above roof on all exposed sides, 
 and coped or covered, deduct for each foot in 
 
 excess of one (not exceeding 3% in all) 1 % " " 
 
 Note.— Parr\ pet walls which are three feet or more 
 in height are improved if pierced tor the use of hose. 
 
 Total Deductions % (of No. 116) 
 
 These are treated as deductions for two reasons : First, 
 they are of exceptional occurrence and save the time of 
 considering them in at least 95% of all risks, which would 
 be lost by charging for their absence as a deficiency. 
 Second, treating them as deductions prevents loss to 
 the companies if overlooked by rating experts. The prop- 
 erty-owner may be relied upon not to overlook them. This 
 will further explain the apparent inconsistency of making 
 deductions for exceptional features of risks notwithstanding 
 the fact that they have been stipulated for in the require- 
 ments for a standard building. It is believed that the 
 two reasons given for recognizing them by deductions 
 will be regarded as sufficient ; while, on the other hand, 
 it would probably be conceded that it is best to make 
 the description of a standard building as nearly perfect as 
 possible, in order that it may be educational to an owner 
 who contemplates building as a guide for such construc- 
 tion as will secure for him the lowest rate, either by 
 escaping charges for variations from standard or by 
 securing deductions for exceptionally good features. 
 
 127. RESULT— RATE OF BUILDING UNOCCUPIED. cts. 
 
 OCCUPANCY, add the figure named for the occupancy in the first 
 column of the alphabetical table of occupancies, p. 143, selecting, in 
 case there be more than one occupancy, the highest rated one for 
 such addition, to get the occupied rate of building ; retail drugs, for 
 example, add 10 cents, while cigars and tobacco add only 5 cents ; 
 the 10 cent charge, therefore, should be selected. 
 
 128. RESULT— RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED... . 
 
 Subject to any deductions to which the risk may be entitled in 
 the liit, Nos. 155, 156, &c, page 45 
 
 129. RESULT— NET RATE OF BUILDING OCCU- 
 PIED. UNEXPOSED 
 
"non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 39 
 
 130. EXPOSURE — Add according to hazard* 
 
 130a. CONFLAGRATION HAZARD due to congested 
 
 business district 
 
 Note. — Charge No. 27 inlhe City Schedule is intended to cover 
 the danger of a sweeping lire liablo to destroy mercantile district, 
 while the charge here refers merely to the conflagration group 
 found in some cities, such as New York, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, 
 et al, due to high and large area buildings, combined with de- 
 ficient street mains, etc. 
 
 131. RESULT— NET RATE OF BUILDING OCCU- 
 PIED AND EXPOSED 
 
 131a. AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS— (See rule page 51). 
 DEDUCT FOR..£ CO-INSURANCE— (See rule p. 52) 
 On buildings in fire department 
 
 towns, for 80,1 15% of above total. 
 
 On buildings in non-fire department 
 
 towns, for 80$ 7'/ 2 % " " 
 
 For explanation of these percentage deductions see page 108. 
 
 132. RESULT— RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED, 
 WITH % CO-INSURANCE 
 
 Note.— To secure deduction for co insurance the percentage co- 
 insurance clause must be attached to policy. 
 
 ADD FOR ADVERSE LEGISLATION, taxation, 
 etc., No. 13G to No. 139, p. 42 
 
 ADD FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, if any, 
 No. 140 to No. 154, pp. 42-43 
 
 FINAL RATE OF BUILDING 
 
 To Obtain Rate on Stock. 
 
 Rate of building occupied, No. 128 cts. 
 
 Deduct a sum equal to one-fourth of the defi- 
 ciencies of the building 
 
 (t. one-fourth of excess of item No. 127over25 cents) 
 
 as follows— Kate No. 127 cents, minus 25 cents, 
 
 equals cents: one-fourth of which 
 
 cents (deducted from No. 128) leaves 
 
 (Extend difference into further column) 
 
 N. B. — This will be the KEY OR BASIS RATE for all 
 Stocks in the building. 
 
 *Note.— This will involve careful consideration of many facts and conditions, 
 the distance of the risk from the exposure, the relative area, size and height 
 of the two buildings, the thickness of walls and the numbei and protection of 
 openings, the character of roofs and other features of construction, as well 
 as the nature of oontents (a building containing oils or a st>ck of lurniture, for 
 example, being a much worse exposure at the same distance from a risk than 
 one containing millinery good-) and also upon the provisions, public and 
 private, for extinguishing fire. It should be borne in mind that to the extent 
 a risk exposed would be damaged, even in paint or glass, ihe Company 
 insuring it is carrying the risk of the exposing hazard. If, for example, a 
 building worth $50,0.i0, whose unexposed rate would be 50 cents, is exposed 
 by a planing mill worth ;0 per cent., whose burning would probably damage 
 the risk, in the opinion of the rating expert, to theextentof $.11 0, the insurance 
 companies are clearly running the additional risk of having $500 involved in 
 the burning of the 10 per cent, mill, and ought, theretore, to receive $50 
 additional premium for it. To collect this on the $50,000 risk would requtre 
 an addition to its rate of 10 cents per $10 i, which would increase its rate 
 from 50 cents to 60 cents. While a buildiug of standard construction ought 
 not only to protect its own contents from outside exposure and also prove a 
 safe oven for the cremation of its own contents without damage to adjacent 
 property, an exposure charge should invariably be applied in all cities 
 where there are continuous blocks of ordinary buildings. Exposure charges 
 are generally inadequate, especially where the exposing risk is of large 
 area with inflammable contents, or where it is of greater height so as to 
 end inger the risk if its walls should fall. (See Schedule for rating Exposure 
 Hazard.) 
 
660 
 4° 
 
 "non-kike-proof" schedule. 
 
 This computation is necessary to adjust the difference in 
 rate between a building and its stock. Obviously the dif- 
 ference between the two should be greater in proportion 
 as the building is of substantial construction; in other 
 words, the better the building the greater should be the 
 difference between its rate and that of its stock, which is 
 more susceptible to damage ; and the poorer the building 
 the less should be the difference, for a building of weak 
 construction is almost as certain to be totally destroyed 
 as the stock contained in it. Clearly, the amount added 
 to the key-rate (or rate for a standard building) for vari- 
 ations of the building from standard construction is the 
 proper guide for determining the relative weakness of the 
 building and, therefore, whether more or less should be 
 added to the building rate to obtain its stock rate. 
 
 From the maximum sum to be added to the rate of a 
 standard building to obtain its stock rate, 25% of the de- 
 ficiencies of the building, (viz., the rate of the building at 
 No. 127) deducted from the amount to be added for the 
 stock rate will have the effect of bringing the two rates 
 nearer together in proportion as the building has deficien- 
 cies or variations from safe construction. The same re- 
 sult will, of course, be obtained by making this deduction 
 from the occupied building rate, No. 128, and the differ- 
 ence will be the "key-rate of the building" for all stocks 
 contained in it, to which it is only necessary to add the 
 second column charge in the table, for susceptibility to 
 damage of any stock, to obtain its rate. This will, of 
 course, be subject thereafter to additions for height above 
 the grade and to deductions for fire appliances, Nos. 190, 
 21 T, etc. 
 
 All stocks are arranged in a table of two columns. The 
 first column contains the measure, in cents, of those fea- 
 tures of a stock which cause fires and, when once started, 
 bad or intense fires — liable to destroy both building and 
 contents. The second column contains that feature of 
 the stock which may be termed its susceptibility to damage 
 by water, smoke, etc. 
 
 All stocks, for insurance purposes, should be regarded 
 from these three standpoints. Those which, like whole- 
 sale drugs, stocks of furniture, oils, etc., are liable to cause 
 
"NON-FIRE-PROOF" schedule. 
 
 66] 
 
 41 
 
 fires and to furnish fuel for intense combustion, should in- 
 crease the rate of any building into which they enter, and 
 also the rate of all other stocks under the same roof. The 
 susceptibility to damage feature, however, is not one which 
 makes the building worse. A stock of cutlery, for example, 
 is peculiarly liable to damage by water or smoke, and this 
 fact should be taken into account in fixing the rate upon 
 it, but it does not add anything to the hazard of the build- 
 ing containing it. See also pp. 53, 54, 55, etc. 
 
 Add tbe figure in second column of occupancy 
 table for " susceptibility " of the stock to be 
 rated 
 
 Add if entire stock is above or below grade floor, see 
 rule p. 58 
 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES and Storage Stores BONDED, 
 complying with rules of Local Board, deduct 3'6^% 
 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES and Storage Stores FREE, 25* 
 
 PRIVATE WAREHOUSES— Original unbroken pack- 
 ages only, 20%. Sales by sample only, 15%. Delivery of 
 broken packages, 10% 
 
 133 
 
 Subject at this point to any deductions to which risk may bo en- 
 titled, Nos. 190, 191, 192, etc. 
 
 134. RESULT— NET RATE ON STOCK IN UNEX- 
 POSED BUILDING 
 
 N. B.— MINIMUM STOCK RATE — The stock rate at this point. 
 No. 134, must exceed that of Building at No. 129 by an amount equal 
 to at least 20% of the second column charge in the table for the 
 stock; if it does not, increase it to such figure. 
 
 1 34a. EXPOSURES* see note page 39 , add according to 
 hazard 
 
 131b. CONFLAGRATION HAZARD due to congested 
 business district 
 
 134c. AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS— See page 51 ... . 
 
 DEDUCT FOR . . .% CO-INSURANCE (see rule p. 52) 
 
 135. RESULT— RATE OF STOCK WITH....£ CO- 
 INSURANCE 
 
 Note. — To secure deduction for oo-insurance the percentage co- 
 insurance clause must be attached to policy. 
 
 ADD FOR ADVERSE LEGISLATION, taxation, etc., 
 No. 136, etc., (page 42) 
 
 ADD FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, if any, 
 Nos. 140 to 154, p. 42 
 
 fINAL RATE OF STOCK 
 
 * In non-fire department towns not exoeeding one-balf the ex- 
 posure charges to a weak building badly exposed should be added 
 to the rate of a movable grade floor stock contained in it. 
 
662 
 
 4 2 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 CHARGES FOR ADVERSE LEGISLATION. 
 
 136. VALUED POLICY LAW— If law applies to per- 
 sonal property as well as buildings, add from 50 cts to. . . 100 cts. 
 
 137. VALUED POLICY LAW— If law applies to build- 
 ings only, add to building rate, according to ellect of law, 
 
 from 10 cts. to 50 cts. 
 
 And on stocks and other personal property therein, 
 according to effect of law, from 5 cts. to 25 cts. 
 
 Note.— In those States like Texas, where the provisions of the 
 valued policy law as construed by the courts are especially danger- 
 ous, these charges mav be too small ; while in such of the remaining 
 valued policy 1 >w States (Ohio. Wis , Mo., N. H., Ark., Del., Neb.) 
 where the observed effect of the laws as construed by the courts is 
 less expensive, the charge may be modified. 
 
 138. ANTI-COMPACT or other laws prohibiting agree- 
 ments among Companies, add, according to increased ex- 
 pense of transacting business, from 2 cents to 10 cts. 
 
 Note. — Equitable and discriminating rating by schedule is only 
 possible by co-operation or Insurance Companies for comparing 
 their experience, and sharing and lessening the expense, and is in 
 the interest of all property owners. 
 
 139. TAXATION AND LICENSES, State and Munici- 
 pal — If taxation other than on net results to company 
 after deducting losses and expenses* and not exceeding 2% 
 thereon, add according to amount 
 
 FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, NEGLIGENCE, ETC. 
 The following charges being for faults which would 
 naturally and probably be corrected to escape the penalty, 
 have been arranged as a final addition ajter the net 
 rate with co-insurance has been computed, in order that 
 the computation will not have to be reopened and deduc- 
 tions again calculated when the fault is corrected. 
 
 140. STOVEPIPES— If through floors or hollow par- 
 titions unprotected, charge 50 cents. If through windows 
 or roofs protected by double metal chimneys, 50 cents, (if 
 unprotected, 100 cents.) If pipe enters bottom of flue 
 vertically, 25 cents. If pipe enters flue in attic or un- 
 used room 25 cts. 
 
 140a. If floor beneath stove is not protected by metal, 
 add 5 cts 
 
 141. If bottom of elevator shaft is used for storeroom, 
 
 coat closets or lamp and oil closets, charge 50 cts. 
 
 This fault led to the destruction of one of the largest 
 buildings in the country. 
 
 * This Schedule is based upon a5J profit above the actual cost 
 of insuring property, and contemplates no tax other than that ex- 
 plained under item 139 above. Of course, if a turthertaxis imposed, 
 the expense of the Companies will be to that extent increased and 
 an extra premium must De collected. Insurance Companies do not 
 object to paying to any .State a percentage tax on the profits of 
 their business in the State, or upon the excess of their rectived 
 premiums over paid losse-s and expenses. It is difficult for them to 
 see why they should be called on to pay a tax on the gross pre- 
 miums of any State where the amount paid by them to its citizens 
 in the shape of fire losses and commissions to agents, who are resi 
 dent citizens, may consume all or more than the premiums received. 
 In such case they are taxed for the doubtful privilege of leaving 
 more money iu the State than they take out of 1t. Charles Sumner 
 spoke truly when he said : " A tax upon Insurance Is a tax upon a 
 tax and, therefore, a barbarism." 
 
"fon-fike-pkoof" schedule. 43 
 
 142. Swinging gab brackets unprovided with stops, or 
 within 36 inches of woodwork overhead, or otherwise un- 
 safe, (ditto as to bracket lamps), for one, add not less than 5 cts. 
 
 For eaih additional one add 1 cent. 
 
 143. Charge for untidiness as to rubbish, ashes, etc., 
 especially in cellar, not less than 25 cts. 
 
 Packing material not in bins 15 cts. 
 
 144. ducked or bulged walls, bond timber in walls, 
 thin and worn floors, broken plastering exposing lathing, 
 broker windows, especially on lower floors, etc., 10 to 25 cts. 
 
 \4'o. Empty boxes, rubbish and barrels in rear yard or 
 alL-ys or in the recess for windows below grade, or in area 
 f>i cellar openings under sidewalk gratings 10 cts. 
 
 146. Lights in show windows, open or unprotected, or 
 if electric bulbs be covered with tissue paper or paper 
 shades 25 cts. 
 
 147. Sawdust spittoons, or sawdust on floors, espe- 
 cially in drug and oil stores 25 cts. 
 
 148. If kerosene is used on floors when sweeping 25 cts. 
 
 149. ASH AND WASTE CANS to be of metal. If 
 
 not, charge 10 cts. 
 
 150. HOT AIR FURNACES— The top of a brick fur- 
 nace should be not less than four inches below wooden 
 beams or plastered ceilings cbove, with a hanging shield. 
 If portable furnace not less than twelveinches, with shield; 
 charge for deficiency from 10 cents to 25 cts. 
 
 BOILER — Unsafely arranged, charge not less than. 25 cts. 
 
 151. FIREPLACES— Wooden floors should be trimmed 
 at least sixteen inches from the front of chimney 
 breast or fireplace, with a hearth of stone, brick or tile, 
 supported by trimmer arch, which should be at least six- 
 teen inches in width, measuring from the face of the 
 chimney breast. If not so trimmed, or if hearth rests on 
 wooden beams, or if wooden fireboards or summer pieces 
 are used, or if wooden mantels are not protected with 
 brickwork, or if stovepipe holes are not provided with 
 
 metal stoppers, charge from 5 cents to 25 cts. 
 
 152. STEAM PIPES— In contact with woodwork, 
 charge not less than 1 ct. 
 
 153. ROOF SPACES, BLIND ATTICS, COCK 
 LOFTS, ETC.— If elevator shaft, ventilating or other 
 shafts communicate with roof space, connecting it by air 
 
 drafts with the building, add not less than 25 cts. 
 
 154. ELECTRIC LIGHTING or other system with in- 
 stallation not in compliance with Underwriters' Rules ; 
 
 or arc lights unprotected by tight globes or screens 25 cts. 
 
 154a. Crowded merchandise without proper aislts op- 
 posite or too near windows, overloading, not less than. ... 25 cts. 
 
 These charges, it is unnecessary to explain, are intended 
 to be corrective. The faults would probably be removed 
 with the incentive of a high rate charge, and their correction 
 would tend to reduce the fire losses of the city. They 
 are added as the last item of the schedule, after all de- 
 ductions for fire appliances, etc., have been made, so that 
 their correction would not necessitate a second computation 
 of the rale, it being only necessary to deduct the gross 
 charge from the final rate in case the risk is improved. 
 
064 
 
 44 "non-fire-proof" schedule. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL FEATURES 
 OF FIRE APPLIANCES, CONSTRUCTION, ETC. 
 
 The following deductions are separated so as to apply, 
 some of them to buildings and some of them to stocks. 
 Certain features of construction and extinction may be of 
 advantage to the one and of none whatever to the other. 
 
 The deduction for self-releasing floor-beams, arranged 
 to prevent their tearing out the walls in case they should 
 burn through and fall, No. 178, for example, has not been 
 credited to stocks, because at the point where such pro- 
 vision would insure salvage on the walls the stock would 
 have been destroyed. In like manner, fire patrols or 
 salvage corps for saving merchandise by tarpaulin covers, 
 etc., are credited to stocks, being of little value to the 
 building. 
 
 No system of schedule rating can be correct which first 
 builds up the rate of a building, taking into account all 
 features of extinction and construction, and then adds to 
 the final building rate, so obtained, a fixed sum intended 
 to measure the additional cost of insuring the stock. 
 Even a charge for exposure to a building ought to be con- 
 sidered and treated separately from the stock. An ex- 
 posure which would damage the building might not in 
 any way endanger a stock contained in it. 
 
 If an ideal or perfect standard should be employed for 
 rating each risk, necessitating charges for variations or 
 deficiencies, unnecessary labor would be entailed for the 
 large majority of risks to be rated. The treatment of 
 exceptional features of construction by making deductions 
 not only saves labor on the large majority of risks which 
 are deficient, but also insures that in case any feature is 
 overlooked, the insurance company will not be the loser, as 
 would be the case if recognition of the exceptional feature 
 should be provided for by charges for its absence. 
 Omissions would be especially frequent in the case of such 
 features as self-releasing floor beams, waterproof paper 
 between floors, metallic lathing, etc., which are not 
 always easily ascertained. If the property owner is en- 
 titled to them he is not likely to overlook them. 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM BUILDING RATE, NO. 128. 
 
 665 
 
 45 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM RATE OP BUILDINGS. 
 
 The following deductions for exceptional features may 
 be made from the occupied rate of buildings, after the 
 occupancy charge has been added, by the following per- 
 centages of such occupied or gross rate (No. 128) : 
 
 155. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If building within 300 feet 
 of one post or flush hydrant, supplied by 8-inch or larger 
 water-pipe, deduct 5% 
 
 (If 6-inch pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
 156. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If within 300 feet of two or 
 more hydrants, supplied by 8-inch or larger water-pipe, 
 deduct 10% 
 
 (If 6-inch pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
 157. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If said water-pipe be fed at 
 
 both ends by mains or sub-mains, deduct an additional. . . S 
 
 (If 6-inch pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
 Note.— Hydrants form the connecting link with the fire depart- 
 ment of the city, and on their proximity depend the availability 
 and value of stealers, etc. For this reason, risks in tbe suburbs 
 of a city which are unprovided with hydrant service ought not to 
 receive the full credit of the fire department. 
 
 158. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM, for approved tele- 
 graph signal to a central station, or tire dept. station, with 
 thermostats, deduct 6 % 
 
 158a. BURGLAR ALARM— If approved system to 
 central station, deduct 8 % 
 
 158b. SPECIAL BUILDING CALL DIRECT TO 
 FIRE DEPT., approved system, telegraphic call box each 
 
 floor, etc 5 % 
 
 (One-half allowance if no watchman.) 
 
 159. CHEMICAL ENGINES ON WHEELS— If one 
 or more chemical engines are available in case of fire, 
 deduct 5 % 
 
 160. FIRE ESCAPES — If iron fire escapes are pro- 
 vided on the outside of building, with landings at each 
 
 floor, deduct % % 
 
 Note.— These are of advantage and are relied upon by firemen 
 for fighting a fire, enabling them to hold advantageous positions to 
 the last moment. 
 
 161. CASKS OF WATER or filled water pails on each 
 floor, deduct, if no public hydrants within 300 feet 10#, if 
 hydrants within 300 feet 5 % 
 
 Note. — To receive above deduction thpre must be at least six 
 filled pails for each 2,500 square feet of floor area. If one-naif the 
 number of pails be filled with sand, especially in Oil Stores, sand 
 being better than water for oil fires, or where water would be likely 
 to freeze, it would be an improvement. One cask may be consid- 
 ered the equivalent of three pails. 
 
 162. STAND-PIPES— INTERNAL, adequate number 
 
 near stairways, supplied from tank, with hydrants and 
 sufficient approved hose attached at each floor at land- 
 ings, deduct 2 % 
 
 163. If stand-pipes without tank, but under pressure 
 to ensure water on highest floor \ % 
 
666 
 
 46 DEDUCTIONS FROM BUILDING BATE, NO. 128. 
 
 164. STAND-PIPES— EXTERNAL, for use of fire de- 
 partment, with Siamese connections, deduct 1 % 
 
 165. ACCESSIBILITY TO FIRE DEPARTMENT — 
 If building is on a corner or extends through to rear street 
 or wide alley, affording access to fire department for tire 
 extinction or removal of goods, deduct for each side or rear 
 
 so accessible (none for front) 3 % 
 
 166. PROXIMITY TO FIRE ENGINE HOUSE, ETC.— 
 If risk to be rated is within 300 feet of a tire dept. house, 
 engine or hose house, which would insure prompt response 
 
 of skilled men to any fire alarm, deduct 2 % 
 
 If next door or opposite side street 5 % 
 
 167. BASEMENT AND SUB-CELLA.R SPRINK- 
 LERS — If perforated 2J^-inch pipe be provided in base- 
 ment and sub-cellar, with attachment at street grade for 
 fire department, standard size of thread and coupling, and 
 standard butt and with waste ways to sewer, deduct from 
 
 total building rate 2} % 
 
 Note. — Aside from the fact that fires are most likely to start In 
 basements and sub cellars, where accumulated rubbish, etc., cause 
 them, it Is difficult for the firemen to reach them; a system of 
 piping, therefore, which would enable them to make hose connec- 
 tions at the street level would be of great advantage. 
 
 168. AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS IN BASEMENT 
 and sub-cellars. If approved installation (unless deduc- 
 tion has been made for sprinklers throughout building, in 
 
 which case no allowance for this), deduct 5 % 
 
 169. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If the occupancy 
 of the building above ttie grade floor is for a family dwell- 
 ing exclusively, 20$ may be deducted from the" rate of 
 
 the building 20 % 
 
 (If one floor only bo occupied deduct 10 %.) 
 
 170. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If upper floors oc- 
 cupied by two families 15$ 
 
 171. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If occupied by 
 
 more than two families 10 % 
 
 172. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If occupied as a 
 tenement-house above the grade floor, with the grade floor 
 
 hall door open night and day, deduct only 5 % 
 
 173. OFFICE OCCUPANCY— If building occupied 
 throughout exclusively for offices or office and dwelling, 
 deduct 25 % 
 
 174. OFFICE OCCUPANCY— If building occupied 
 above grade floor exclusively for offices, or offices and 
 dwelling, deduct 10 % 
 
 175. WATCHMAN — If watchman (on premises) but no 
 watch-clock, deduct 5 % 
 
 176. WATCHMAN— If watchman (on premises) with 
 watch-clock or electric detector, deduct 10 % 
 
 (N. B. — If automatics, No. 158, allow only one-half deduction for 
 watchman.) 
 
 177. ROOF HYDRANTS, protected from freezing, 
 deduct 2 % 
 
 178. SELF-RELEASING FLOOR BEAMS — If floor 
 beams and girders are arranged so as to be self-releasing 
 in case of tire by means of metallic anchor-boxes or other 
 provisions, deduct 1 % 
 
 (See note 41. p. 23.) 
 
 179. AUXILIARY PRIVATE FIRE PLANT, Force 
 pump, etc., available for day, night and holidays; stand- 
 pipe, hose attached at each floor ; competent engineer on 
 
 hand at all times, deduct 10 % 
 
 (This in addition to 163, 164 and 176.) 
 
 186 Total, 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM BUILDING RATE, NO. 128. 47 
 
 EXCEPTIONAL CITY FIRE DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 (The following deductions to be made from net rate of building 
 No. 1:29 after above deductions have been made.) 
 
 184. EXTRA STEAMERS— If exceeding five 
 steam fire-engines can be supplied with water and 
 assembled at a fire, deduct for each engine in excess 
 of five (one-half of one per cent.) not exceeding 
 
 total of 20% J^jt of net rate. 
 
 (N. B.— If the horses of any steamer are used for any other 
 work, or it' at least lour of the men a e not paid firemen, 
 no deduction shall be allowed under this item.) 
 
 Note.— The immense advantage in the cumulative effect 
 of a large number of steam fire-eneines which can be 
 assembled at a fire, to the number of fifty or more, in cities 
 like New Yom, Chicago, BostOD, etc., even though there be 
 no more than two to each square mile of compact portion 
 (see p. 11), is not overestimated in the above percentages. 
 
 185. WATER-TOWER— If one, deduct 2% % " M 
 
 " If two, deduct 5 % " " 
 
 Note. — To secure this, risk must be within reach of tower. 
 
 186. FIRE-BOATS— For risks near water-front, 
 say within 500 feet or on pipe lines where protection 
 
 of fire-boats can be secured, deduct 5 % " " 
 
 186a. GRAVITY PRESSURE — For every effective fire stream 
 available at the building and supplied by a gravity pressure of not 
 less than 40 lbs. at the base of the nozzle by a hydrant on an eight- 
 inch or larger main, deduct 1 % of the rate of building No. 129, not 
 exceeding 15 % in all. If the main, be six inches, one-half the above 
 deduction. 
 
 Only one-half the foregoing deductions (whichever applies) in case the 
 supply main from the reservoir is not in duplicate. 
 
 These allowances in addition to the allowances for extra steamers. See 
 note, page 50, for explanation of this allowance. 
 
 If precautions are not systematically taken by the city to prevent freezing 
 of hydrants, only one-half the deductions either for Extra Steamers or Gravity 
 Pressure or Hydrant Deductions should be allowed. 
 
 N. B.— To entitle a risk to those deductions certain important conditions 
 must exist, and they are easy of ascertainment. .First, there must be the 
 actual pressure at the base of the nozzle at all hours of the day and night with 
 the maximum number of streams for which credit 'tins been gnen in full play. It 
 may happen that a pressure of 40 lbs. at the nozzle may be drawn down so soon 
 as other hydrant outlets are opened. This is important. The pressure recog- 
 nized, therefore, should be the minimum pressure at the hour of the day when 
 it is least— on Monday morninas for example. To deliver a stream of 40 lbs. 
 pressure at the nozzle would require that the pressure at the hydrant should be 
 80 lbs. to the square inch, using not over 250 feet of hose. Where the distance 
 from the hydrant to the building is greater, requiring a greater longth of hose 
 and therefore involving greater friction, the pressure at the hydrant would 
 need to be greater than 80 lbs. The allowance also requires street mains of 
 adequate capacity and strength. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, No. 133. 
 
 The following deductions for exceptional features may be made from the 
 rate on stocks obtained by the rule explained on pages 39 to 41. The per- 
 centage to be deducted is the percentage of the said total stock rate (No. 133): 
 
 190. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If building within 300 feet 
 
 of one post or flush hydrant, supplied by 8-inch or larger 
 
 water-pipe, deduct 4 % 
 
 (If 6-inch pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
 191. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If within 300 feet of two 
 or more hydrants, supplied by 8-inch or larger water-pipe, 
 deduct 6 * 
 
 (If 6-inch pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
f>68 
 
 48 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, NO. 133. 
 
 192. HYDRANTS, ETC.— If said water-pine is fed at 
 both ends by mains or sub-mains, deduct an additional ... 4 % 
 (If 6-inoh pipe one-half deduction.) 
 
 Not«.— The same percentage of deduction is not allowed as in 
 the case of building, for two reasons: first, the water throwing of a 
 fire department is not as beneficial to stocks as to buildings; and, 
 second, the stock rate being the larger rat > of the two, would, on 
 the lowei percentage of deduction, get the full measure of credit. 
 
 193. AUTOMATIC FIRE ALARM-For approved 
 automatic lire alarm telegraph signal to a central station 
 
 or a fire dept. station, with thermostats, deduct 5 % 
 
 193a. BURGLAR ALARM— If approved system to 
 central station, deduct 2 % 
 
 193b. SPECIAL BUILDING CALL DIRECT TO 
 FIRE DEPT 5 % 
 
 This must not be allowed uuless there is at leaBt one call on every 
 floor, and half allowance if no watchman. 
 
 194. CHEMICAL ENGINES ON WHEELS— If one 
 or more chemical engines are available in case of fire, 
 deduct 5 % 
 
 195. FIRE ESCAPES— If iron fire escapes are pro- 
 vided on the outside of building, with landings at each 
 
 floor, deduct 2 % 
 
 Note.— These are of advantage and are relied upon by firemen for 
 fighting a fire, enabling them to hold advantageous positions. 
 
 196. CASKS OF WATER or filled pails on each floor, 
 deduct, if no public hydrants within 300 feet 10£, if hy- 
 drants within 300 feet 6 % 
 
 Note. — To reoeive above deduction there must be at least six filled 
 pails for each 2,500 square feet of floor area. If one-half tne number 
 of pails be filled with sand, especially in Oil Stores, sand being better 
 tban water for oil fires, or where water would be likely to freeze, it 
 would be an improvement. One cask may be considered the equiva- 
 lent of three pails. 
 
 197. STAND-PIPES— INTERNAL, adequate number 
 near stairways, supplied from tank, with hydrants and 
 sufficient approved hose attached at each floor at landings, 
 deduct 2 % 
 
 198. STAND-PIPES— EXTERNAL, for use of fire 
 department, with Siamese connections, deduct , 1 % 
 
 199. ACCESSIBILITY TO FIRE DEPARTMENT — 
 If building is on a corner or extends through to rear street 
 or wide alley, affording access to fire department for fire 
 extinction or removal of goods, deduct for each side or rear 
 
 so accessible (no deduction for front) 3 % 
 
 200. PROXIMITY TO FIRE ENGINE HOUSE, 
 ETC. — If risk to be rated is within 300 feet of a fire engine 
 house or hose house, which should insure prompt response 
 
 of skilled men to any fire alarm, deduct 2 % 
 
 If next door or opposite side street 5 % 
 
 201. BASEMENT AND SUB-CELLAR SPRINKLERS 
 —If perforated 2£ inch pipe be provided in basement and 
 eub-cellar, with attachment at street grade for fire depart- 
 ment with standard size of thread and coupling, and 
 standard butt and with waterways to sewer, and merchan- 
 dise be on skids, deduct 2 % 
 
DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, NO. 133. 49 
 
 202. AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS IN BASEMENT 
 
 and sub-cellars. If approved installation, deduct 5 % 
 
 (Unless deduction has been made for sprinklers throughout build- 
 ing, in which case no allowance lor this.) 
 
 203. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If the entire occu- 
 pancy of the building above the ground floor is exclusively 
 
 for a family dwelling, deduct 20 £ 
 
 If one floor only so occupied, deduct 10 % 
 
 204. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If upper floors oc- 
 cupied by two families 15 % 
 
 205. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If occupied by more 
 
 than two families 10 
 
 206. DWELLING OCCUPANCY— If occupied as a 
 tenement-house a'love the grade floor, with the grade floor 
 
 hall door open night and day, deduct only 5 % 
 
 207. OFFICE OCCUPANCY— If building above grade 
 
 floor is occupied entirely for offices, deduct 5 % 
 
 208. OFFICE OCCUPANCY— If building above grade 
 
 floor is occupied entirely for offices and dwelling, deduct.. 15 % 
 
 2C9. WATCHMAN — If watchman on premises and no 
 ■watch-clock, deduct 5 % 
 
 210. WATCHMAN— If watchman on premises with 
 ■watch-clock or electric detector, deduct 15 % 
 
 Note.— One-half deduction for watchman if automatio alarm 
 No. 193. 
 
 211. ROOF HYDRANTS, protected from freezing, 
 deduct 1 % 
 
 212. FIRE PATROL— For salvage corps or fire patrol, 
 
 if supported by city, deduct 8 % 
 
 If supported by the Insurance Companies, no deduction. (Hav- 
 ing paid tor it, they are entitled to it.) 
 
 213. COVERS, TARPAULINS— If merchandise cov- 
 ered by tarpaulins or other water-proof covers each night, 
 deduct 5 % 
 
 (These oovers may be made fire-resisting by fire-proofing proc- 
 esses.) 
 
 214. TIN-COVERED CASES —If merchandise be kept 
 
 in tin-covered wooden side-wall and other cases, deduct. . . 5 % 
 
 Note.— These cases may be economically made of ordinary white 
 pine, covered with tin, in the same manner that tin-covered doors 
 and shutters are made (see specifications on thtse points) and may 
 be grained to resemble woods, or may be veneered with real woods- 
 mahogany, cherry, or others,— without impairing their fire-resisting 
 qualities. Especially should the top and back of the case be covered 
 with tin, to shed water, tbe top being inclined to throw the water 
 beyond the line of frontate. If tin-covered sliding doors to these 
 cases would prevent display of stock, glass doors may be used, 
 which would save such stocks as hats, millinery, silks, cutlery, etc., 
 from water damage. 
 
 215. SKIDS — If mdse. on skids or platforms 
 
 six inches high, deduct 2 % 
 
 216. GRADE FLOOR STOCKS — Deduct for 
 a stock entirely on grade floor, in non-fire depart- 
 ment town, 10%*; in fire department town 5 % 
 
 *This deduction may result, in the case of a building of poor con- 
 struction, especially if an exposed risk in a non-fire department 
 town, in a lower rate on stock, than on building, but under such cir- 
 cumstances the discrimination would be proper. 
 
670 
 5° 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, NO. 133. 
 
 If the stock extends over only ouc additional floor, viz., 
 the second or basement, deduct 3^. If stock extends over 
 grade floor, basement and second floor, no deduction or 
 charge (see rule for stocks above grade floor, p. 58). 
 
 217. AUXILIARY PRIVATE FIRE PLANT, Force 
 pump, etc., available for day, night and holidays; stand 
 pipe, hose attached at each floor; competent engineer on 
 hand at all times, deduct 5 ,. 
 
 (This in addition to 197, 198 and 210.) 
 
 Total, 
 
 EXCEPTIONAL CITY FIRE DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 (These deductions to be made from net rate of stock No. 134, after 
 above deductions have been made.) 
 
 Note. —There are two reasons for making a separate deduction 
 for exceptional Fire Departments ; one is note No. 184 ; aud the other 
 that it saves charges for deficieocies on the large majority of cities 
 and towns unprovided with such exceptional appliances. 
 
 219. EXTRA STEAMERS— If exceed- 
 ing five steam fire-engines can be supplied 
 with water and assembled at a fire, deduct 
 for each engine exceeding five, one-quarter 
 
 of one per cent. (J£ of 1 %) of final rate (134). % of net rate. 
 
 N. B —If the horses of any steamer are used for 
 any other work, or it at least four of the men are 
 not paid firemen, no deduction shall be allowed 
 under this item. 
 
 220. WATER-TOWER — If one, deduct 2t£ % " " 
 
 " " If two, deduct 5% " " 
 
 Note.— To secure this, risk must be within reach 
 of tower. 
 
 221. FIRE-BOATS— If risk near water 
 front, say within 500 feet, or on pipe lines 
 where protection of fire-boats can be se- 
 cured, deduct 5 % " " 
 
 221a. GRAVITY PRESSURE— For every effective fire stream 
 available at the building and supplied by a gravity pressure 
 of not less than 40 lbs. at the base of the nozzle by a hydrant on an 
 eight-inch or larger main, deduct x i of 1% of the rate of stock No. 
 134, not exceeding 1%% ia all. If the main be six inches, one-half 
 the above deduction. 
 
 Only one-half the foregoing deductions (which ever applies) in case 
 the supply main from the reservoir is not in duplicate. 
 
 These allowances in addition to the allowances for extra steamers. 
 
 If precautions are not systematically taken by the city to prevent 
 freezing of hydrants, only one-half the deductions either for Extra 
 Steamers or Gravity Pressure, or Hydrant Deductions should be 
 allowed. 
 
 N. B.— To entitle a risk to thsse deductions certain important conditions 
 must exist, and they are easy of ascertainment First, there must be the 
 actual pressure at the base of the nozzle at all hours of the day and night 
 with the maximum number of streams for which credit has been given, in full play. 
 It may happen that a pressure of 40 lbs. at the nozzle may be diawn down so 
 soon as other hydrant outlets are opened. This is important. The pressure 
 recognized, therefore, should be the minimum pressure at. the hour of the day 
 when it is l-ast— on Monday mornings, for example. To deliver a stream of 40 
 lbs. pressure at the nozzle would require that the pressure at the hydrant 
 should be 80 lb- u the square inch, using not over 250 feet of hose. Where 
 the distance from the hydrant to the building is greater, requiring a greater 
 length of hose and therefore involving greater friction, the pressure at the 
 hydrant would need to be greater than 80 lbs. The allowance also requires 
 street, mains of adequate capacity and strength. 
 
 Note. — The reason for this extra allowance for gravity pressure in addition 
 to the recognition of gravity pressure in the key-rate will be apparent from a 
 consideration of the fact that in a town whose average pressure on the water 
 
671 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOB AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS. 5 1 
 
 mains is only sufficient to supply steamers for suction there may, notwith- 
 standing, be risks on lower levels than the average where it is only necessary 
 to attach a hose to the hydrant to throw an effective fire stream. In the city 
 of New York, for example, where the average pressure in the daytime for 
 nine-tenths of the area is not over 22 lbs. to the square inch, there are three 
 localities where the pressure at the hydrant is over 90 lbs. to the square inch. 
 There are numerous cities throughout the country having different grades and, 
 therefore, different hydrant pressures, such as Kansas City, Albany, Brooklyn, 
 etc. A warehouse located on the lower level, having the benefit of full press- 
 ure, is certainly, in that respect, better than a similar one less favorably 
 located. 
 
 The fact will not be overlooked that steamers may be prevented from 
 reaching a fire by severe suo vv storms or blizzards, such as that which occurred 
 in New York in March, 1888, or by an epizootic among the horses, such as 
 occurred at the time of the great Boston conflagration of 1872. Even with 
 auxiliary steamers, therefore, an adequate gravity pressure is a decided 
 advantage, especially as credit for it is given only to the specific risks bene- 
 fited. It would seldom be found that a city would get the allowance for both 
 extra steamers and gravity pressure. Steamers are seldom purchased or 
 retained where a gravity pressure is adequate If steamers should be main- 
 tained, however, in conjunction with gravity pressure, as in Boston, for 
 example, where the Introduction of a high pressure system is probable, justice 
 would require recognition of so important a fact. Where no steamers are 
 supplied, the above credit, in addition to hvdrant deductions, Nos. 155, 190, 
 etc., would recognize the advantage of gravity pressure over direct pressure, 
 explained in the article on Water Works (which see) of uniform pipe strains 
 and constant readiness. 
 
 AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS— For approved WET 
 PIPE SYSTEMS deduct on buildings as follows; and on 
 stocks three-fourths of the amounts named. 
 
 For DRY PIPE SYSTEMS make only three-quarters of 
 allowance given for wet pipe systems. 
 
 The allowances assume that 80$ co-insurance is carried. 
 Decrease the deductions for each 1$ of co-insurance 
 less than 80$ on building and stock. 
 
 Equipments to be in compliance with the standard of the 
 underwriters having jurisdiction, relative to number and 
 location of sprinklers, size of pipes, feed mains, valves, 
 fittings, etc. 
 
 Grade "A." If connected with at least two 
 approved independent water supplies, one of 
 which must be automatic, in addition to approved 
 outside connection for City Fire Department, 
 deduct 40 $ 
 
 Grade " B." If connected with at least two 
 approved water supplies without connection 
 for City Fire Department, deduct 35 4, 
 
 Grade ' - C." If connected with one approved 
 water supply in addition to approved connec- 
 tion for City Fire Department, deduct 30 ^ 
 
 Grade " D." If connected with one approved water 
 supply without approved connection for City 
 Fire Department, deduct 25 $ 
 
52 CO-INSURANCE. 
 
 Note— Deductions for fire extinguishing or detecting appliances, such as 
 automatic sprinklers, automatic alarms, etc., should be by percentages of the 
 rate, for they clearly become valuable in proportion to danger, especially In 
 the direction of increased ignitibility, and combustibility, it being important 
 that in the case of rapid or intense fires these appliances should act promptly. 
 No one would claim, probably, that any allowance should be made for sprink- 
 lers in a dwelling house, whereas a material reduction would be warranted in 
 a woodworker. The intermediate degrees of hazard would best be measured 
 by a percentage which would adjust the allowance according to the rate, 
 which indicates the hazard. Especially should the allowance increase in the 
 case of rates based upon large areas, for example ; for as the rate grows larger 
 in proportion to area the advantage of detection and extinction should in- 
 crease proportionately, as it would by a percentage. If a sprinkler is good 
 for 10,000 square feet of area in a risk of 50 000 square feet, more should be 
 allowed if the whole area is protected than if a portion should be. 
 
 OUTSIDE SPRINKLERS (Not Automatic) — For 
 approved equipment as per standard requirements adopted 
 by the National Fire Protection Association or the under- 
 writers having jurisdiction, deduct 50f of what the exposure 
 charge would otherwise be. 
 
 N. B. — Reference may be had for information as to the proper installation 
 of sprinklers to the National Board requirements and also to those of the New 
 York, Boston and other boards. 
 
 CO-INSURANCE. 
 
 Co-insurance being most valuable where risks are under the pro- 
 tection of Fire Departments which tend to insure partial instead of 
 total losses, and least valuable under conditions which result in 
 total losses, the following rule should be observed, viz. : Deduct 
 (with the percentage co-insurance clause in policy) for co-insurance on 
 risks under the protection of Fire Departments — 
 
 ON BUILDINGS — £ of 1% of rate for each per cent, of stipulated 
 co-insurance in excess of 50%, not exceeding \5'J> in all. 
 
 ON STOCKS — 5 of \% of rate for each per cent, of co-insurance in 
 excess of 50%, not exceeding 1%% in all. 
 
 ON RISKS NOT UNDER PROTECTION OF FIRE DEPART- 
 MENTS — Deduct I of \% of rate for each per cent, of co-insurance 
 in excess of 50% on both buildings and stocks, not exceeding 7 '\% in all. 
 
 N. B. — To secure these deductions the percentage co-insurance 
 clause must be endorsed on the policy. 
 
 EXAMPLE — In the case of a risk in a fire department town, carrying 80% 
 insurance, or 30% in excess of 50%, deduct \5% of rate on building and 7}&% (J4 of 
 30%) on stocks. On a risk carrying 80^ insurance in a non-fire department town, 
 deduct 714% (% °f 8WJ on building and the same percentage on stock. 
 
 Note.— Deductions for co-insurance must not be made vntU all other deduc- 
 tions have been made and a final rate obtained. (See Nos. 132 and 135.) 
 For explanation of rule see page 108. 
 
 IF INSURANCE IS LESS THAN 50% OF VALUE add 1% of 
 rate for each per cent, that insurance is less than 50% of value. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY. 
 
 673 
 53 
 
 FOR EXAMPLE— If insurance is 40$ add 10$ of 
 rate ; if 30$ add 20$ of rate. 
 
 GOODS IN FIRE-PROOF SAFES— If in building of 
 ordinary floor construction with specific amount in safes 
 ■with co-insurance clause, deduct 33-|$ of final rate on non- 
 combustible goods, jewelry, etc., and 20$ on combustible 
 goods, silks, etc. This in addition to final deduction for 
 Co-insurance. 
 
 (If in fire-proof building, see 333, page 73.) 
 
 TERM POLICIES— No policy shall be written for more 
 than one year on building, lease or rents of any risk, ex- 
 cept on the basis of adding three-fourths of the annual rate 
 for each year in excess of one.* For fractional parts of a 
 year in excess of one year, a pro rata proportion of the 
 annual rate shall be added. No term policy to be written 
 on stocks or other contents. 
 
 RENT RATES— If building of standard size, 25 x 100, 
 four stories high, charge one-half of building rate, provided 
 form contains full co-insurance clause. Increase rate ten 
 (10) per cent, for each additional 50,000 cubic feet of con- 
 tents, which obtain by multiplying ground floor area by 
 height. 
 
 (The larger the building the longer the time required to rebuild and the 
 greater the loss of rents.) 
 
 If no co-insurance clause, rate should be same as that of 
 
 building. 
 
 LOWEST MINIMUM RATE. 
 No building, no matter how constructed or no matter 
 what be the deduction to which it is entitled (even though 
 sprinkled, co-insurance, etc., etc.), shall be rated below 12 
 cents, nor shall its contents, merchandise stored therein in 
 original packages, be rated at less than 25 cents. If mer- 
 chandise not in original packages, net rate shall not be less 
 than 30 cents. 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, 
 
 MERCANTILE STOCKS AND OTHER CONTENTS OF 
 BUILDING. 
 
 In the table of occupancies, page 143, the first column 
 contains the amount which should be added to the un- 
 occupied building rate, ascertained by preceding schedule, 
 
 * This would yield 2y 3 annuals for 3 years and < annuals for 5 years. 
 
54 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY. 
 
 page 38 (item 127), to measure the increased risk of the 
 building by reason of such occupancy, and to obtain the 
 "occupied building rate" (item 128), which will then be 
 subject to the deductions on page 45. 
 
 The figures in the second column represent the sum to 
 be added to the building rate to ascertain the rate at which 
 the insurance on the stock or other contents should be 
 written, said sum being reduced if the building is not 
 standard, or if the city in which it is located is not stand- 
 ard, according to deficiencies as hereinafter explained. 
 
 In fixing a rate for a stock of merchandise, three features 
 must be taken into account ; first, the susceptibility of the 
 stock itself to damage by fire, water or smoke ; second, its 
 liability to ignite easily or to cause fires ; third, its liability 
 by reason of inherent qualities, when ignited to cause dan- 
 gerous or intense fires, resulting in total destruction of 
 building and contents. These last two features should 
 increase the rate of the building itself, and are measured in 
 the following table by the amount named in the first 
 column. All three should be taken into account in rating 
 the stock itself. 
 
 Such stocks as laces and embroidery, wall-paper, milli- 
 nery, artificial flowers, cutlery, etc , illustrate the first- 
 named feature, while wholesale drugs, oils, cabinetware, 
 household furniture, etc., illustrate the second and third 
 features combined. Indeed, wholesale drug stocks or 
 stocks of cabinetware would illustrate all three, being not 
 only particularly susceptible to damage but liable to cause 
 fires and those of destructive character. 
 
 If two stocks in the same building differ as to these last 
 two features, one adding a greater amount to the building 
 than the other, the difference between the two should be 
 added to the minor hazard in fixing its rate. In the case of 
 artists' materials and wholesale drugs, for example, the 
 hazards of wholesale drugs, so far as they affect the build- 
 ing, adding thereto 100 cents, include all of the hazards of 
 artists' materials, which add to the building 10 cents ; the 
 difference between the two (90 cents) measures the net 
 effect of wholesale drugs upon a stock of artists' materials 
 when both are under the same roof. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY. 
 
 55 
 
 RATES OF BUILDINGS AS COMPARED WITH 
 STOCKS. 
 
 Every underwriter of experience will understand, without 
 explanation, that in direct ratio as a building approaches 
 standard construction and in direct ratio, also, as the city 
 in which it is located approaches the standard city, as to 
 waterworks, fire-extinguishing appliances, etc., will the 
 difference between a building and the merchandise con- 
 tained in it increase ; in other words, the better the 
 construction and fire department the better will be the 
 building as a risk compared with the stock, and the poorer 
 the construction and fire department the less should be the 
 difference in rate between the building and the stock. The 
 system or plan of making additions to the building to obtain 
 the stock rate, therefore, should be sufficiently elastic to 
 conform to this principle. Inasmuch as the preceding 
 schedule, by its deficiency charges, is intended to measure 
 these differences, both of fire-extinguishing appliances and 
 construction, the following rule for rating stocks will be 
 conceded to recognize the principle stated : 
 
 RULE FOR RATING STOCKS. 
 
 From the rate of the Building occupied, No. 128, deduct 
 a sum equal to 25$ of the charges for deficiencies* of the 
 building from standard, as ascertained page 38 (item 127). 
 The remainder will be the Key-rate of the Building for 
 rating all stocks contained in it. To this should be added 
 the second column figure of any stock to obtain its rate 
 which is then subject to dedtictions No. 190, etc. Under 
 no circumstances, however, must the difference between the 
 stock rate and the building rate be less than 20^ of the second 
 column figure for the stock to be rated, which shall be the 
 minimum addition to any building for the stock rate.\ 
 
 For example, let us suppose that it is desired to obtain 
 the rate for a stock of dry-goods in a building whose un- 
 occupied rate (item 127) is 65 cents. Of that sum the 
 deficiency charges are, of coarse (the standard being 25 
 
 * 25 cents being the rate of a standard building in a standard city, the excess 
 of this sum will be the charge for deficiencies of the building to be rated. 
 
 t Only in the case of movable grade floor stocks in exposed and weak 
 buildings in non-tire department towns, should a stoqk rate be lower than a 
 brick building rate ; see note 216, page 41). 
 
676 
 
 56 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY. 
 
 cents), 40 cents; 25$ of which, or 10 cents, should be de- 
 ducted from the occupied building rate before adding the 
 rate named in the second column of the table for dry- 
 goods (50 cents), making 1.05 for the stock, which rate 
 would be subject to such further deductions for any ex- 
 ceptional features of fire extinction, etc., as are heretofore 
 provided for, page 47. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the unoccupied building rate 
 should be 41 cents, 25$ of the deficiencies (16 cents), or 
 4 cents, should be deducted from the occupied rate of the 
 building (No. 128), before adding the 50-cent charge for 
 stock, making 87 cents the rate on the stock, so that the 
 building rate would be 41 cents, and the stock rate 87 cents. 
 A building so nearly standard as to be rated under the sched- 
 ule at 29 cents, would have deficiency charges of only 4 
 cents; 2o$ of which, or 1 cent being deducted, would leave 
 28 cents, to which 50 cents being added for the stock, 
 would make 78 cents as the rate for the stock and 29 cents 
 as the rate of the building, the stock being nearly three 
 times the rate of the building, as should be the case in a 
 building of such construction. 
 
 It will thus be seen that the stock rate and the building 
 rate will approach each other exactly in proportion as the 
 building becomes undesirable and high-rated, whereas the 
 stock and building rate will diverge exactly in proportion 
 as the building approaches the standard as to construction 
 and fire appliances. 
 
 BUILDINGS OF TWO OR MORE TENANTS— In 
 buildings having more than one tenant the charges are not 
 cumulative, but the rate of the most hazardous stock 
 should be the one added to the schedule rate of the 
 building at No. 127. 
 
 For example, in a building containing toys, which increase 
 the building rate 10 cents, hardware, which increases the 
 building rate 10 cents, and cabinetware and furniture, 
 which increase the rate 25 cents, the sum total of these 
 three should not be added to the building, but the highest 
 rated one of the three. Therefore, the unoccupied rate of a 
 building (item 127) should have added to it only 25 cents 
 if containing the three stocks named. 
 
 In rating a stock in a building of two or more tenants, 
 the amount named in the first column for the most hazardous 
 
CHAKGES FOK OCCUPANCY. 
 
 077 
 
 57 
 
 occupancy in the building is taken for the occupied building 
 rate, and 10^ of the first column charge of each manufactur- 
 ing tenant (other than the highest rated one, which is 
 charged for at No. 128) is added at No. 106a. 
 
 If any stock in a building is of a character to increase 
 the rate of the building, it should certainly, by the same 
 amount, increase the rate of any other stock in the build- 
 ing, and the amount named in the first column of the 
 occupancy table, therefore, as the measure of increase on the 
 building is included in the rate of the most hazardous 
 stock. For instance, artists' materials add 10 cents to the 
 rate of the building, -while wholesale drugs add 100 cents, 
 and the difference, 90 cents, should be added to the rate of 
 a stock of artists' materials, to measure the increased haz- 
 ard by reason of its being under the same roof with whole- 
 sale drugs. 
 
 GENERAL MERCHANDISE, MIXED STOCKS, DE- 
 PARTMENT STORES, ETC., should be rated according 
 to the proportion of various kinds of stock. This, of 
 course, can only be approximately estimated by the person 
 applying the schedule. He can, however, by intelligent 
 observation of the stock, estimate the various kinds of 
 merchandise and the proportion which each bears to the 
 whole value, and thus easily determine about what average 
 rate should be obtained. For example, in a stock consist- 
 ing of paper hangings, wall-paper, etc., for which the rate 
 is If , and carpets, oilcloths, etc., for which the rate is 40 
 cents, the addition to the building to obtain the stock rate 
 should not be 140, but should be graded according to the 
 preponderance of either stock. If the total stock is $100,000 
 in value, of which $90,000 is carpets (No. 634, which at 40 
 cents would yield $360 premium) and $10,000 wall-paper 
 (No. 1622, which at lf would yield $100 premium), the 
 total premium for the stock would be $460, which would be 
 an average rate of 46 cents. The rate for the second col- 
 umn of the table, therefore, to be added to the building 
 should be 46 cents, the average of the two. If, however, 
 the proportion were reversed, and the wall-paper should be 
 $90,000 in value (premium on which would be $000) and 
 the carpets $10,000 (premium for which would be $40), the 
 total premium would be $940, and the average rate 94 
 
678 
 
 58 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY. 
 
 cents. The rate of the second column, therefore, to be 
 added to the building rate should be 94 cents. 
 
 A simple method of arriving at the proper figure for the 
 second column is to add such fraction of the rate therein 
 named for each class of merchandise as its value bears to 
 the total value. 
 
 For example, in the above case, if three-fourths of the 
 stock were carpets and one-fourth wall-paper, the rate 
 would be three-fourths of 40 cents (30 cents), and one- 
 fourth of 100 cents (25 cents), or 55 cents in all. 
 
 STOCKS ABOVE AND BELOW THE GRAD E FLOOR 
 — In other than single occupancy buildings, where the 
 entire stock to be rated is above or below the grade floor, 
 add 5 cents to the rate of stock for each floor above or 
 below the grade. 
 
 If the stock to be insured extends over two or more 
 floors, the charge should be an average for the floors cov- 
 ered, obtained by adding the charges for the different floors 
 and dividing by the total number. For example, a stock 
 covering the third, fourth, and fifth floors should be charged 
 10 plus 15 plus 20, total 45, divided by 3, equals 15 cents, 
 which would be the average of the three charges. If stock 
 extends over the three floors, grade, basement and second 
 floor, no charge or deduction should be made. 
 
 For Grade Floor Stocks, see No. 216, p. 49. 
 
RATINC SLIP.-NON-FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 InsfetteJ by 
 
 UNIVERSAL MERCANTILE SCHEDULE. 
 
 Risk 
 
 Stock of— 
 
 Story _ 
 
 -Street, 
 —Bldg. 
 
 Ins. Map, page. . Block City of 
 
 DEFICIENCIES. 
 
 KEY-RATE OF CITY tSee page 13.) 
 
 WALLS— Independent (for Forty we No. 40) 38 Charge for 
 
 n average from standard (r/ W^. t 
 
 80 On bull JIu cis over :( stones hlizh if «vi ni-t thick ne-W levs than 12 in, lies, 
 
 add (in addition to No BR not loss Uud 08 
 
 II two Inclrpriiilri.i n iin .v!)o n. t n. r ii.-. :n. . i. .Wudj"! from «> *r%$t of UV»e rrqulit- 
 
 o4«Vln''tI. n - l.!t '-uli -'.t. t- it-.. I r,n uM .1- If H -t .ri.i 1 nutvericeel 
 
 IS In, I,.-, if « •l.'rt.l. I« InrHc. J,ti.rl.«. J! Inrh.. fl.torii* i'lnrll.*. 7 H.'H.» SUnttltS 
 
 40 Paiity Wall— Charge for each inch deficiency In average from 
 standard (•/ fi!J; c-rr 4 i/mn J.-uhlt iht thargt). 
 
 41 If party wattless than " 
 
 l 1J indies thick in any [.onion. adJ (in addition 
 
 10 
 
 r 3 -I'-ry I . I d k* . 33 hit lit*, i ■tory. S IlithBi, Sltor7, 
 
 i posed side 08 
 
 :> with bricks and mortar 05 
 
 ROOF— 47 Compoiiiioi 
 
 ROOF SPACE. BLIND ATTIC, i 
 
 FLOORS— 53 Double flooriti 
 
 64 Single flooring iew'th 
 55 PtoOB Beams t'ii Ton 
 CEILING OR SHEATHING— .-,11 
 
 each additional story 
 
 67 Woodorgtrawboardf 
 If sidewalk Fuhkbdb. 
 
 r.T.i Cloth or paper colling 
 AREA— (Ground floor ) 
 
 68 2., r .(K> sq. ft to 5,000, i 
 .Mi 5,000 " *■ 10,000, 
 
 5,000 " " 10,000, 
 
 -52 Tnko maximum height If 
 . ,03, not exceeding a lota) of .10 
 ics thick, or single 2-lnch floor- 
 
 »- hoard Cbilino, one story .05 
 
 ory ii"); each additional story. . .03 
 half charge fur wnnd sheathing. 
 
 wooden MinK each story 10 
 
 ft. Total aq. ft. 
 
 :h 1,000 in excess of S.MCsq. ft.. .01 
 
 .08 
 
 " » " " .09 
 
 01 10,000 
 62 10,000 
 
 height-^ 1 
 
 04 Sixtht 
 
 r 11 dories, double the urea charge. 
 
 riniuN !iX-dMiUnn^i!id^r«n0fVi.liji|j th« holltlln^. 
 
 .1.-1. .'Iinrv.' I''' itfn Ivlli I. iIMIt,.-. I ml, u 
 iirv-.- iiinl. -I ' Kll"..iiri V 1 forilrli-rtl.. .I.flw. ^ tw t 
 
 I..TLC lllfll I. ll.-llllll-l 
 
 I For flfth story, add 06 
 
 fllta Eighth slury on standard building 
 
 li.lh V.t.ll, -I. TV it, AliLI.-litnl tulililini; 
 
 E LEVATORS— 117 Km los.d in huh mi.l plaster shaft ..r hull way, or If pro 
 
 with approved mil omul if I nip floors 
 
 07s Fire proof shaft, hut defective doors, or walls not through roof . 
 
 08 Open 
 
 09 Wooden shaft will t pip|ir..i-. tl nulimiatu- imps 
 
 70 Ooe-half above charges fur elevators in buildiuga otherwise 6Un 
 
 or fn office buildings. 
 STAIRWAYS- rT'l-iV, l'".' l !i C i';! r |. 1 th and piaster hallway or provided with 
 
 umllc trap doors in floors 
 
 71ft Simitar to nlmve with traps closed only at night , 
 
 71b Fire proof tnelonire. but J. f-. live duors. ett 
 
 "'" Enclosed in wood « ilh -ell eli>«ing doori each Hour 
 
 73 Op* 
 
 WELL-HOLES — 74 If open 
 
 chutes.'dumb-waiters, 
 
 SKTLIGHTS-TO L [f ..f Lhll 
 
 ■I ijvolllai;. 
 
 upprovi il 
 
 WOODEN CORNICES. CUPOLAS. ETC. 
 WOODEN AWNINGS-SO On one story nun 
 
 81 One Storv hiiildines in lion (ire d>'p:i 
 
 82 On buildings over one story 
 
 88 On building* over one story 1 t, 
 
 LIGHTING — S4 Kli Hricity, approved, (if i 
 80 Kerost lie (iifi cbarg. il < barged for 
 
 HEATING — s7 It bv hot air furnace. . 
 
 88 Furnace, with metallic cold i 
 through brick walls and oue n 
 No. 87) 
 
 89 Stove* 
 
 00 If stove pipes through floors 
 
 not exceeding a total of. .„ .^.^ 
 Ofi Natural g».Tor o(Pf iiel. appro v 
 CHIMNEYS-U7 Not hullt from groui 
 OS If Inadequate for service icq. 
 
 is lop. If protected 
 
 09 If r 
 
 STREET— 
 103 Ifl< 
 
 Joists, add . 
 No. 43).... 
 
 , under 50 feet, add for each S feet less 
 
 WIRES — 105 Overhead to interfere with lire dept. (telegraph, trolley, . 
 
 TENANTS— 100 B ich in excess of one. exclusive of office and dwe 
 
 lOOu For each u ,\st r .u tukino ten wt In no ■&* of the hlchc-M rated oi 
 (which Is charged for in No lWi, add UK of il- tlrst eoluuin ehurjie 
 occupancy lahle ■ • 
 
 100b If lUM FACTrutM-i iti-kiidd 1 of (»1 for each opi-raliv« employ i-l 
 no-"[ 10 , i, ■ ..In.j. . e L.I ,-f m ri.k. nh-r- 11,,^ ilnl col(im;i ebaref ilf 
 
 AGE ..I l'!ii.l'iiriL'"'lli:' Ov.r JO ve if of In pimr r.pai r charge at No. 14-1 ) ' 
 
 FRAME REARS-l»s KiMisiont. etc* , nM'ef^M 10 
 
 STONE PIERS-lUli^S 
 
 iTltig h»t( chiref 
 
 nc columns, pillars, or brick piers with bond stones, 
 inpurtiint iir-i L -ht- .no/, m i on I in if to nnui Iht not h — than n.'i 
 IRON COLUMNS UNPROTECTED — 1 III Cast iron 10; steel or wrougW 15 
 STEAM BOILER - 1 1 1 o"tii r tlmn h. atinci Charcc if in I. .-, i.u-nt 05; above 
 
 basement HI; wood shuviiurs for fu. l 1 i«i adilii lonal 
 
 POWER— 1 11 ' harev n..fjnliiig to hazard 
 
 Total Deficiencies Puis Ket-Rate 
 
 DEDUCT FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 117 No cellar or basement, deduct W 
 
 118 Shall Run under UN ao, ft ground floor area and not over 
 
 8itorica high 10J 
 
 119 Tin or sheet inm between floor! 6J 
 
 120 Water- proof pnp. r . r u rn. ill hi t mm floors W 
 
 121 Floors water pn-of and also inclined wilh scuppers to carry oB 
 
 surplus water to sewer ......Hi 
 
 121a If fluor> ciett-il .'I inch.* in ttiiel.n.j deduct If for each ex «sa 
 
 inch (in adding to liy. 1^0 and 121) 
 
 lit If grade floor flrc-proof IV^iZ 
 
 128 Each fire pro* if II. - -r ahov, gn.de I not t in i-din^' a lolal Of 4tW) 51 
 
 124 Metallic studs and laihinc, tlin.in;)euil 10» 
 
 125 MeUllic lathing on w.»len studs ■ ■ 
 
 126 Pahaflt Wamj* en redinc one f.»,t aL-.ve f -f on all exposed 
 
 •Idas, deduct for each foot In exceas of one (not cxeaadlng ft 
 total of 3ft « 
 
 Total.. 
 
 127 RATE OF BUILDING UNOCCUPIED. FonwARD (ovxn) . 
 
127 RATE ( 
 
 OCCUPIED Tir>or>:.E!T F.n.wviuo . 
 
 A.I.) lor ..c.iipvi. v n i u Alt', in l«,- i l ,mn«lul.,. Ml > 1«, 
 
 «w lb. mil iMM/iluuj ut-uy*n<j In u» bultdlug i 
 
 12S RESULT— RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR FIRE APPUANCES. ETC. ON BUILDINGS. 
 
 1.1.1 One hydrant supplied by (Much water main, within .:■•> feel fi* 
 
 l.iti Two or i„..r. in.lrniiu.- in. h, main uiiinyi i.<t lm 
 
 157 Ifaaid wdi.-r pi> I"' fed „i boiuvuds t-y LiL-iiu. .5*; (15* io all) 
 
 Aiilnmnli, lirT- li'ir m '< ■ n: rll >i i r hi..-\j. |.( 5* 
 
 102 Susiulplpe internal with t 
 
 (if do hydrants 
 
 ■« n> i-nrTi floor » 
 
 ll.-l [Mil ach ■!.'■>*< 
 
 ■ u WK) ft lOfl 
 
 k supply if 
 
 tank supply 1* 
 
 1«* " eslcmi.l with M-uru-o t -.rm, ct mri f..r use of fire drpt It 
 
 It;,. Fn. Ii -i.k' it r. jr .uy. -.-idle l<> nr.? 1 1. |i t modulo* ii,.n f..r fr,,fit . ;.- 
 l«(l Fir.- d.-parlmcnt hollae, engine, hose or h.-.k ntid Ud.br, wltjijn 1IIK) r. . 1 
 if in M .I- .r ..r mi ,i|.|.miH. -ii|... nf -In , t 
 
 1(17 Base in. nt mid Ilur p-rfonitcd pipe -.prm I. l-r* . ■ . 
 
 108 Automatic «|.niihl, nt In In. at, (no d. dm f id Ion 1, . . I . n 
 
 mnrlo for sprinkl. r. IhroiiL'hout luiild u. L - . fil 
 
 1C9 Occupancy, en lu-m k bine: id.mve trade floor, if one family 2"* 
 110 " - 00 * 00e """"^n^p fmaillM, is* 
 
 Ul " " " if mm tli.m two families 10* 
 
 172 '* if tenement house above grade floor B* 
 
 173 " If buildum '<'* opii.l TliruiiLdiout i'm Ih-itHv f,.r . ttl.i -.-r 
 
 dwelling and offices 33* 
 
 174 " If occupied , x. linivt ly almvo grade floor for offices, or 
 
 ofnc.-S and dwelling 10* 
 
 175 Watchman but no watch clock f,* 
 
 1 <tt " with ivati-h cluck it id'i in. d, i, . mt. bull .1, .1 i, |, , 
 
 wBtrliinun, if ant at ic id.irm No. 158) io* 
 
 177 Hoof liydrnnls I'toli-i t..i fr.Tii freezing 2* 
 
 17S Floor bcami ii n. ! fifli r* self r-liaMug If 
 
 179 Auxiliary private lire Hunt, force pump, etc 10* 
 
 Total Dbdcctioxs 
 
 EXCEPTIONAL CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT— 1 S4 Estra slean.ers, U of IK for 
 each one III vKcosa of live (not i-\v. .din- n tilal of \"i I-.;. \\ in 
 tower*, if one, ■:, if two. ,11 1>.« Fin- t«.at available S*. Wis 
 Gmvily Pressure; for each effective lire str.mn available nt risk, 
 supplied hv n gravity pr- ^nre of not lew ttinn 40 11m. nl tins- of 
 noMte. by ludroii on - in, b ,.r lurc-r nmin. deduct H (not excopdm™ n 
 ^totnlofiv: i If (1 im h i ,i on b-df deduction. 
 
 Ih.' , II. 1,, j'.f.-., 1,1 Ir,. . lr,_ I , i .1 ; . I , s,, 
 
 Tot At. 
 
 1^0 RESULT — X. l r.,l. ,.f boil, 
 
 )l{0 EXPOSUHE If i,n\ I i 
 
 lill,, r ON Ft rtf, HATION tilVZARO . 
 
 181 RESULT— Nlt IUtKOI It 
 
 ADD FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT. EA! 
 
 HO If stovepipes thnni»li floors or iiariition, 
 window, rr«ifor\mll, witb double nn-lnl , 
 1.00; entering bottom of Hue vertically. .1 
 
 Hi 
 
 143 Until 
 
 144 C'rark-d or bulu'i.il widU, thin and worn U 
 14i Emjity boxus. rubblnli. etc., in rear yard, 
 
 t LT.lt. (■ 
 
 i;>iu Crowded . 
 
 FINAL RATE ON I 
 
 , charges for faults of management, etc.) 
 
 Add amount 
 Add (in otlie 
 
 TO OBTAIN RATE ON STOCK. 
 
 x piibility" of the 
 oor on which the 
 
 GRADE FLOOR STOCKS ll s It . v. bi.iv, lv on L -r.„|. lb, „ In ,„, n tin ,1. |.l towns , 
 
 10S; in Are dept. towns, d.du. t r>1- if slm k cul.-ndt onlv over »nt additional 
 biineiuenl si-coinl, ■ 1. 1 J ll. t Hi. 
 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES mid Stor:,-,. Ston-s BONDED, ,b d n. I :t:t' . ■. 
 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES mid Stong,. S|.,rca FREE, .k-du.-t 'J,,, 
 
 PRIVATE WAREHOUSES ttn-inul iitib.okut jnii.kHL-ft only, SOI, Bftlu by sampie only IM 
 Delivery of broken packages 10* 
 
 138 
 
 Total, 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR FIRE APPLIANCES, ETC. ON STOCKS. 
 
 r-pipc f. .1 nt lioib ."n. Is by i 
 ■untie tire i.l'.irni t,. ll 
 
 witter-muin »itbin :110 ft 4f 
 
 it. r -muin within UUU ft 0* 
 
 in, nilditionid 4ji tHU in ulli 
 
 I.Htl„.n Ni l ]!«!, IS), IUJ) 
 
 r ceutnil Btutlou 6)f 
 
 lepitrtmcnt, (one I ml f nllowiuic- if no 
 
 Ing at each floor St 
 
 pints to nn b 'J. fii.HI s.iunre 
 
 i 300 ft , 101.) 
 
 lie of lire- di-pt 1J 
 
 etion for frout).... !« 
 il. r witbiu UlXi feet. 'J.', 
 
 w 
 
 lers, and utork be on 
 
 SOI Basement and sub-cellar perforated pipe 
 
 202 Auloimitic Bprlnkleni in bimeinent mo deduction if allowance bus been 
 
 liiude lor .[.rinkt. r- t b ron flu .m bniMiiiL-i 
 208 Occupanev, ii. tu-i vcl v dwr lllng above lirst 
 
 flnit floor, if one family... 3U< 
 
 20.5 
 20 7 
 
 SOS 
 
 il luiil,h„ L . 
 
 if ■ 
 
 0» Watchman bi 
 allow onli 
 
 if more tb.m two fnuiili.-s 10* 
 
 if tenement-bouse rihov,. grade Moor 6* 
 
 egfttdc floor enlirely for olllces, .'j* 
 
 21 I R.K.f hydmut, ii 
 
 c detector, (if nnlninnllcs No. HW. 
 
 Fire 
 
 atrol, a 
 
 companies uolbiug ) 111 
 
 EXCEPTIONAL CITr FIRE DEPARTMENT— 
 
 eath in exec^. of five loot exceed , . 
 rone. S.'.t; if (wo. .V; 1>21 Fire liiut, .iviiibibb, ,',(. 22U (inivilv 
 1 r. — ore; f„r , ... b .H.-etiv- lire itr. uni nvi.ilut.le nt risk -uj.|.ti. ,l by 
 I ' ' ' -lire of „,,i b-,- linin -111 Hih tit bus. ..f iii>//I. I., hydrulil 
 - *" it larger n, d. iluct of K (not exceeding a total of" 7 "j*). 
 
 If nmin o 
 
 134 RESULT-N.i 
 
 n. .O. ,)r NiU.f 
 
 i I St. mi,. I nirwl ttu 
 tun tb*rgs In tbi ulili I 
 
 134c AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS— See rule page 51 
 
 DEDUCT FOR < CO-INSURANCE I7<{* for 80*1 
 
 l:t.5 RESULT— Nm It.ti,- ..s st.-- R With * Volxirnxycn. ... ^\\\y 
 ADO FOR ADVERSE LEGISLATION, Tu-ntion V ilu. d I'ol l A ,v S 130 nase 49 
 
 '• FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, if any, 140 to 154 above 
 
 FINAL RATE ON STOCK -< Including Co ins., charge* for faults of management, eto.). . 
 
679 
 
 APPLICATION OF SCHEDULE. 59 
 
 APPLICATION OF SCHEDULE. 
 The following example will illustrate the application of 
 the schedule : 
 
 Let us assume that a building is to be rated in 
 a given citj and that, starting with the charge for 
 basis rate of a standard building in a standard 
 
 city, of 25 cts. 
 
 the following additions thereto are to be made for 
 variations of the city from standard : 
 Waterworks, direct pressure system, 
 pumps by steam-power, in duplicate 
 
 (No. 5) 4 cts. 
 
 Absence of standpipe or intermediate 
 reservoir, affording a supply in case 
 pumping machinery should not work 
 
 (No. 7) 2 cts. 
 
 No Fire Marshal (No. 22) 2 " 
 
 No building law (No. 25) 3 " 
 
 Electric trolley railroad (No. 26) 2 " 
 
 Natural gas for fuel (No. 28) 2 " 
 
 15 cts. 
 
 Total 40 cts. 
 
 From this, if auxiliary steamers are provided, a de- 
 duction would be legitimate of 5$ 2 " 
 
 Leaving the key-bate of the city in which risk is 
 
 located 38 cts. 
 
 Let us assume that to this key-rate should be added for 
 deficiencies of the building to be rated from standard 
 construction, as follows : 
 
 "Walls, not according to standard (No. 38) 2 cts. 
 
 Slate roof (No. 48) 2 " 
 
 Floors, ordinary (No. 54) 5 " 
 
 Area (No. 59) 3 M 
 
 Stairways (No. 72) 10 " 
 
 Lighting by kerosene (No. 86) 2 " 
 
 Heating, by furnace (No. 87) 3 " 
 
 27 cts. 
 
 Result, Rate of Building Unoccdpied .... 65 cts. 
 
 (Subject to deductions for any exceptional features, page 45.) 
 
080 
 
 Co APPLICATION OF SCHEDULE. 
 
 If at tbis point, for example, we desire to obtain the rate 
 on a stock of retail dry goods, for which tbe cbarge in the 
 second column of tbe table is 50 cents, we deduct from tbe 
 above rate of 65 cents for building unoccupied, 25$ of the 
 deficiency charges contained in such unoccupied building rate 
 of 65 cents (65 minus 25 equals 40) or 10 cents leaving 
 55 cents as the key or basis rate of the building for rating 
 all stocks contained in it, and to this key-rate we add the 
 50 cents for dry goods (No. 811 in table), making 1.05 as 
 the rate on the stock. If the risk be entitled to no other 
 deductions contained in the list, page 47, it may safely be 
 assumed that under tbe encouragement of tbe deduction 
 No. 196 of 10$, casks and pails will be introduced, and tbe 
 stock rate, therefore, will be 10 cents less, or 95 cents. 
 
 If, instead of being in a single occupancy building, a 
 stock of wholesale drugs with compounding is also in tbe 
 building, the rate of tbe building and dry goods will be in- 
 creased 100 cents, which would make the rate of the build- 
 ing 1.65 or, deducting 10$ for casks and pails, 1.49 net. 
 Tbe rate on the dry goods would be computed as follows : 
 
 To the building rate, as above 65 cts. 
 
 Add for the amount which wholesale drugs increase 
 
 the building and all other stocks therein 100 " 
 
 Result, occupied building rate (No. 128). . . 165 cts. 
 From which deduct 25$ of tbe deficiencies 10 " 
 
 Result, key-rate of building for rating stocks 155 cts. 
 To which 50 cents would be added for dry goods 
 
 rate, making 205, and 85 cents (No. 806) for 
 
 wholesale drugs, making 240 cents the rate for 
 
 the latter stock. 
 From which deducting for casks and pails 10$ in 
 
 each case, would give a net rate for dry goods 
 
 of 185, and for wholesale drugs of 216. 
 
 Stated by way of formula : 
 
 65+100=165 Building rate. 
 165-(40-*-4) = 155+85 = 240=Drug rate. 
 165-(40-*-4) = 155+50=205=Dry goods rate. 
 
 It will be observed that the difference between the rates 
 for the two stocks is exactly that of the difference between 
 
APPLICATION OF SCHEDULE. 
 
 681 
 61 
 
 their second column figures in the table of occupancies, i e , 
 35 cents, which measures their difference as to susceptibility 
 to damage. They differ also as to " ignitibility," and '•com- 
 bustibility," but being under one roof the Dry Goods have 
 been brought to this feature of Wholesale Drugs by the 
 addition of 100 cents (the first column figure for wholesale 
 drugs, the highest rated stock) in fixing the key-rate of 
 the building for all stocks in it. 
 
 Nearly one- half of the labor in the computation, it will 
 be observed, is that of ascertaining the key or basis rate of 
 the city, which, however, once obtained in this manner does 
 not have to be again computed. Every risk in the town 
 can be rated by simply starting with 38 ctnts basis or 
 key-rate obtained as stated. Before half a dozen risks have 
 been rated, the deductions which are provided for will be 
 understood without checking off the list for each risk ; and 
 the compilers believe that those who regard the application 
 of the schedule as an arduous task will be convinced that it 
 is not. 
 
FIRE-PROOF SCHEDULE. 
 
 This schedule is arranged for rating a fireproof building 
 so that the initial rate will be that necessary to cover the 
 •wooden trim, plate glass, decoration, floor boards and other 
 combustible materials — the rate at this point (No. 320) ap- 
 proaching that for a non-fireproof building. It will re- 
 ceive a lower rate thereafter only in proportion as the in- 
 surance approaches the value, as will be seen by the table, 
 and in proportion as the insurance actually covers the fire- 
 proof portion. 
 
 A building, for example, which would rate 86 cents with 
 20% of insurance would rate 34.4 cents with 80% co-insur- 
 ance. A fire-proof building which would rate 116^ 
 with 15% insurance would rate 40 cents with 80% co-insur- 
 ance. With 15% insurance the company would be liable 
 practically for the destructible portions of the building; 
 with 80% of insurance it would be covering also bricks and 
 mortar, iron beams, etc. 
 
 The committee believe that the comparative rates on fire- 
 proof buildings and the stocks contained in them will com- 
 mend themselves to underwriters as being relatively cor- 
 rect. Merchandise on a single floor of a fire-proof building 
 once on fire would probably be as thoroughly destroyed as 
 in a non-fire-proof building. It would have the advantage 
 of being cut off horizontally as well as laterally from other 
 floors and other buildings, but unless the floors are cut off 
 at each story little is gained and the schedule does not 
 make material reductions in rates. Where the floors are 
 cut off at each story, and the policy covers merchandise 
 on various floors, the deduction is made at the point for 
 co-insurance — obviously the correct place for recognizing 
 this feature of the risk, for without co-insurance the ad- 
 vantage would pass to the owner. 
 
 It will be observed that the deduction for 80% co-insur- 
 ance on cne floor is 15%, as compared with 30% deduction 
 where the policy covers four or more floors. 
 
 Stone Treads to Staircases. — These have been charged 
 
FIRE-1'ROOF SCHEDULE. 
 
 683 
 63 
 
 for, as they are found to be serious faults, the stone treads 
 yielding early in the fire to fire and water. Where they are 
 let into rabbets in an iron frame the result is an iron stair- 
 case of holes which would be impassable for the exit of in- 
 mates or the ascent of firemen. The new building law of 
 New York requires that the stone treads shall in all cases 
 be supplemented with iron treads beneath the stone. 
 
 Unprotected Iron Columns, Etc. — The schedule rec- 
 ognizes a difference between cast iron, steel and wrought 
 iron in accordance with the views of iron factors and other 
 experts. In a large convention of iron factors held some 
 time since in this city, there was not a dissenting voice 
 as to the superiority of cast-iron in the matter of rust over 
 wrought-iron, and possibly over steel. All agreed that 
 cast-iron would not rust to the point of danger, but that 
 wrought-iron would rust to the point of destruction, 
 while steel had not been tested a sufficient length of time 
 to tell whether or not it would be susceptible to the 
 danger of rust. This is an important matter where iron 
 is required to be covered with incombustible material, 
 preventing its examination from time to time. The lire 
 in the Appleton Building some years ago, and in the 
 Cammeycr Budding more recently, not to mention other 
 tests, prove the superiority of cast-iron pillars over 
 wrought-iron for resisting tire. 
 
SCHEDULE FOR "FIRE-PROOF" BUILDINGS. 
 
 Standard Building. — Walls not less than 10 inches for the 
 upper 25 feet portion, thence increasing 4 inches for each 25 feet 
 to the hottoin ; not exceeding five thousand square feet of ground 
 floor area; height not over eight stories; lloor beams and girders 
 to be supported by masonry, (if "skeleton" construction, floors 
 carried entirely by iron framework, see No. 280.) Not to be oc- 
 cupied above seventh Hoor for storage of merchandise or other 
 combustible material whose burning would injure the ironwork, 
 see Deficiencies, No. 207a. All iron beams, girders and pillars or 
 story posts to be protected by approved fire-resisting material, ex- 
 cept in office and hotel buildings, in which half charge for absence 
 of covering. If wrought iron or steel is used in construction, that 
 portion of the masonry in contact with the metal should be free 
 from cement or plaster of Paris, and only lime mortar should be 
 used. At least one stairway to be fire-proof with metal treads ; 
 stone treads, whether marble or slate, being dangerous. 
 
 Note— Cast-iron will not rust to a dangerous point, but 
 wrought iron, and possibly steel, especially where constructed on 
 the "Z" iron method, with riveted joints, are especially liable to 
 rust in the joints. Cement and plaster of Paris are absorbents 
 of moisture from the atmosphere, and should never be in contact 
 with iron or wood. Lime mortar is not injurious. 
 
 285. KEY-RATE OF THE CITY, as ascertained by 
 Schedule, see page 13 
 
 2S6. WALLS. — If "skeleton" construction, i. e., thinner 
 walls and flows carried by riveted wrought iron or steel 
 posts or columns, charge 5 eta. 
 
 Note. — No charge if the upright or vertical supports, 
 pillars or story posts be of cast-iron. The beam-bearing 
 brackets should be cast in one piece with the pillar, and 
 not secured by rivets, which are liable to rust, especially 
 if of wrought iron or steel. 
 
 Skeleton construction, while not bo durable for weight- 
 carrying purposes, and from a structural view point (on 
 account of the liability of vertical members, posts, pillars, 
 etc., to rust when enclosed), as the old-fashioned construc- 
 tion in which all of the weights are carried by the brick 
 or stone walls, is yet only little inferior for fire-resisting 
 purposes, where the iron members are protected with in- 
 combustible materials. 
 
 287. WALLS. — If the average thickness of the two side 
 or bearing walls (or either of them) be less than 20 inches 
 (obtained by adding the thickness of the various stories 
 ana dividing by the number) charge for each inch of 
 deficiency 2 cts, 
 
 If any portion of the wall be less than 12 inches, double 
 the charge. The growing practice of lessening the thick- 
 ness of the walls of fire-proof buildings in "skeleton" con- 
 struction is calculated to lose, in the way of vertical fire- 
 stops, all that is gained in the horizontal fire-stops of sep- 
 arating fire-proof floors, so that while a building may be 
 protected from a fire spreading throughout its own floors 
 it will not be safe from fire in an adjoining building. 
 
 288. STONE FRONTS OR SIDE WALLS.— If of stone 
 or of stone ashlar, plain or "axed" finish, add 1 cent for each ; 
 
 if carved or ornamental, add 2 cts. 
 
685 
 
 SCHEDULE FOR "FIRE-PROOF" BUILDINGS. 6<? 
 
 This charge may seem small, in view of the perishable 
 character of stone and the serious damage by the joint 
 action of fire and water to carved surfaces, but when is 
 taken into account that the extra charge is distributed over 
 tir entire amount of insurance on the building, and that 
 the Company receives it on the bricks and mortar, and 
 iron work, as well as on the carved side and front, it will 
 be seen that the charge is sufficient, and can reasonably be 
 a small fraction of what would be necessary for the stone 
 side or front itself, if its value were the only subject of in- 
 surance. 
 
 289. WALLS. — If the brick are not bard burned and of 
 good quality, or if the mortar be of poor quality for want of 
 sharp sand, etc., an additional charge should be made of 
 
 not less than 20 cts. 
 
 290. UNPROTECTED IRON. — If columns and lower 
 flanges of iron beams unprotected, charge as follows : for un- 
 protected cast-iron columns,. 10; unprotected wrought-ironor 
 steel columns, .15 ; unprotected lower flanges of beams, .02. 
 
 Note.— Half charge for this in hotel or office building9 
 in which there is not enough combustible material to de- 
 stroy the iron work. 
 
 Office buildings include partial occupancy by sample stocks or 
 small restaur.mts or grade floor stocks whose first columu charge 
 is less than 15 cts. 
 
 All experts in iron concede that wrought-iron is certain 
 to rust to the point of destruction, and is also liable to 
 yield to heat and fire, and that the durability and stability 
 of steel has not yet been determined. Inasmuch as all iron 
 members should be protected by incombustible material, 
 which necessitates concealment of rust conditions, the 
 preference has been given to cast-iron columns. In the 
 case of the Cammeyer building fire in New York, in Jan- 
 uary, 1899, 6-inch cast-iron columns, as elsewhere stated 
 (page 37), stood the fire better than brick piers with bond 
 stones. 
 
 291. WOODEN CEILING.— If ceiling of wood or 
 strawboard or other combustible material, add, according 
 to hazard, not less than 1 cent for one story, and % cent 
 for each additional story 
 
 292. WOODEN SIDING. — If side-walls ceiled with 
 wood or other combustible material from floor to ceiling 
 (no charge for dados), charge for one story 1 cent and 
 y<2 cent for each additional story 
 
 293. AREA. — If ground floor area exceeds 5,000 square 
 feet, up to 10,000 charge for each 1,000 or fraction thereof 
 
 in excess of 5,000 % of 1 ct. 
 
 (If building occupied above grade floor exclusively for 
 offices or dwellings, no charge for area.) 
 
686 
 
 66 SCHEDULE FOR "FIRE-PROOF" BUILDINGS. 
 
 204. AREA. — If ground floor area exceed* 10.000 
 square feet, charge for eaeli 1,000 or fraction thereof in 
 excess of 10,000 (tint exceeding a total of 40 cents; 4 cts. 
 
 If mercantile building exceeds 10 stories, double charge. 
 
 There is a point at which area in a fire-proof building 
 may become an advantage, rather than an objection. It 
 
 is for this reason that a limit of charge is made. 
 
 (If building occupied above grade floor exclusively for 
 offices or dwellings, no charge for area.) 
 
 205. HEIGHT. — For each story in excess of eight, up 
 to twelve, charge 1 ct. 
 
 290. HEIGHT. — For 12th and each story over 12 up 
 to 15, charge 3 cts. 
 
 207. HEIGHT.— For 15th and each story over 15, 
 charge 10 cts. 
 
 297a. IF MERC H ANDISE BE STORED ABOVE 7TH 
 FLOOR, charge 15 cents, and add 2 cents more for each 
 floor over 7th up to lOtli, and 5 cents more for 10th and 
 
 each (loor above 10th. For example: an eleven-story 
 building would have 29 cents added. 
 
 It probably requires no explanation or argument to 
 
 state that the storage of merchandise at a greater height 
 
 above the street than seven stories, or 85 feet, where a fire 
 
 department would experience difficulty in handling a fire, 
 
 would be an added hazard, not merely to the merchandise 
 
 so located, but to all other materials in the building, and 
 
 to the structure itself. 
 
 298. FLOORS. — Wooden floor boards laid solid on con- 
 crete without air space, 10 cents; if with air space, 15 
 cents (office buildings one-half). 
 
 Standard construction would be incombustible asphalt 
 or concrete floors, without any wooden floor boards what- 
 ever. A nailing strip can easily be inserted around the 
 border for fastening carpets or other floor covering. 
 
 298a. FLOOR ARCHES. — If concrete, cement or ap- 
 proved plaster composition floor arches with iron centres 
 
 or supports (such as Metropolitan, Roebling, Expanded 
 Metal, Fawcett, Columbian, Bailey, Guastavino, Rapp arch 
 construction, etc.) (no charge for segmental arches of brick, 
 burnt clay or terra cotta) 10 cts. 
 
 If on exposed corrugated iron centres 15 cts. 
 
 If flat arch supported on iron (such as Rapp's flat type). . 20 cts. 
 
 If space between iron floor beams exceeds 5 feet, for each 
 foot in excess 2 cts. 
 
 N. B. One-half these charges in office or hotel buildings. 
 
 The best floor arch is the old-fashioned brick segmental 
 arch properly bonded ; it will successfully resist the pas« 
 
SCHEDULE FOR " FIRE-PROOF " BUILDINGS. 
 
 6sr 
 6 7 
 
 sage of flame and heat. Tile arches of well-burned clay 
 rank second to brick, but are not equal to brick arches, 
 because of the difficulty of properly laying them, which 
 involves the danger of carelessness and indifference on the 
 part of masons, and because of the danger of fractures. 
 Some of the patent floor arches are good in their way, but 
 none of them is equal to brick or tile. 
 
 299. E LEVATORS. — If not in shaft, according to the 
 standard, but in hallway, or enclosed court, or if provided 
 
 with approved automatic trap-doors in floors, charge 6 cts. 
 
 (Office or hotel buildings one-third charge.) 
 
 300. ELEVATORS. If open from floor to floor and 
 varying from above, charge 12 cts. 
 
 (Office or hotel buildings one-third charge.) 
 
 301. ELEVATORS. — If shaft is sheathed or lined with 
 wood (unless covered with tin or galvanized iron, or en- 
 closed as above), charge (one-half charge for office build- 
 ing) 15 cts. 
 
 If elerator and stairway are combined and contained 
 in the same shaft or opening, make only one charge for 
 the two. For each additional elevator not cut off add 2 
 cents. 
 
 302. STAIRWAYS. — If not enclosed according to the 
 Btandard, but in separate hallway or shaft enclosed by 
 lath and plaster partitions with self-closing spring doors 
 at each floor, or automatic trap-doors in floors, charge (no 
 charge in building occupied ab ve grade floor exclusivdy lor 
 offices or dwellings) 5 cts. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 299, 800 or 301 one-half 
 charge.) 
 
 303. STAIRWAYS.— If the enclosure is of wooden par- 
 titions instead of lath and plaster, with self-closing doors 
 
 at each floor, charge 10 cts. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 299, 300 or 301 one-half 
 charge. ) 
 
 304. STAIRWAYS.— If open staircases from floor to 
 floor throughout building, charge not less than 1 cent each 
 
 floor not exceeding a total of 12 cts. 
 
 If office building, not exceeding total of 4 cto. 
 
 (If charge has been made for 299, 300 or 301 one-half 
 charge. ) 
 
 For each additional stairway add one-fourth charge. . . . 
 
 305. STAIRWAYS.— If at least one stairway is not 
 fire-proof with metal treads (no charge for hard wood treads 
 over iron), charge as many times .02 as the building has 
 floors (one-third charge for office building). If stairway in 
 fire-proof hall or enclosure protecting stone treads from 
 heat one-half final charge. 
 
 A destructible Btaircase with stone treads may result in 
 Jiie destruction of a building otherwise fire-proof. Where 
 
68 
 
 SCHEDULE FOR FIRE-PIiOOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 etone treads are used, they should rest upon an iron tread, 
 which would keep the stone in place for a footing when 
 cracked or pulverized hy heat. Stone treads of marble or 
 slate are often laid into the rabbets of the iron frame, and 
 are supported simply around their edges. Such treads 
 would easily yield to fire, and falling, would punch out the 
 treads below, endangering firemen, and prove a delusion 
 and snare to all who attempt to use them. They should be 
 prohibited by law, and are now prohibited by the building 
 law of New York, but in no other city. A building having 
 one safe staircase escapes charge No. 305, but it is a ques- 
 tion if a building so protected should not be charged some- 
 thing additional, if it has an unreliable stone staircase, even 
 though it may have in addition a safe one. 
 
 306. WELL-HOLES, HATCHWAYS, ETC.— If not 
 provided with self-closing traps, add, according to size, 
 
 for each lioor pierced, not less than 3 cts. 
 
 (No charge for ollice building.) 
 
 307. WOODEN CHUTES, DUMB-WAITERS, VEN- 
 TILATING SHAFTS, BELT HOLES and openings 
 through iloors for steam and water pipes, etc., tend to the 
 rapid spread of fire and smoke throughout the entire 
 building, and should be charged for according to size, not 
 
 less in any case, for each floor pierced, than. . . 2 cts. 
 
 Note. — No charge need be made for openings for steam 
 and water pipes if the space around the pipes is filled in 
 with mineral wool, asbestos or other incombustible ma- 
 terial, to prevent draughts. 
 
 The chief merit of a fire-proof floor is the prevention of 
 flame passing from one story to another. This advantage 
 is lost if the stories are connected with wooden chutes, 
 dumb-waiter shafts, or even with channels in the wall for 
 the passage of electric light wires, gas, water and other 
 pipes. 
 
 308. SKYLIGHTS. — If more than three feet square 
 (nine square feet), add for each nine square feet or 
 fraction thereof in excess (not exceeding a total of 10 
 cents.) 1 ct. 
 
 (If metallic frames and heavy deck or prismatic glass 
 or wire glass, no charge.) 
 
 309. SKYLIGHTS.— If covered above aDd below with 
 approved wire netting, one-half charge 
 
 310. STREETS. — If street on which building fronts is 
 less than 60 feet wide from building to building (i. e., 
 including sidewalks), and not less than 50, add (unless 
 opposite side of street is vacant) 2 cts. 
 
 311. STREETS. — For each 5 feet less than 50 in width, 
 unless opposite side of street is vacant, add 2 cts. 
 
SCHEDULE FOR FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 69 
 
 312. OVERHEAD WIRES, TELEGRAPH, ETC., on 
 poles in front of building in sufficient number to interfere 
 with operations of fire department, charge according to 
 
 313. NUMBER OF TENANTS (other than office and 
 dwelling tenants.) — For each tenant in excess of one, add 1 ct. 
 
 313a. MANUFACTURING RISKS.— Charge 1 cent for 
 every 10 operatives employed in excess of 20 not exceeding 
 a total of 10 cents in risks where first column charge does 
 not exceed 25 cents, and double this amount in wood work- 
 ing and other hazards where first column charge exceeds 25 
 cents, but not exceeding a total of 25 cents. 
 
 This charge is probably self-explanatory, and corresponds 
 with 10Gb. non-fire-proof structures. 
 
 314. LIGHTING. — If by electricity with system and in- 
 stallation in compliance with underwriter's rules and 
 specifications (if not in compliance, sec No. 888,) add 1 ct. 
 
 315. STONE PIERS, stone columns, pillars, or brick 
 piers with bond stones or cap stones, carrying important 
 weights, especially if supporting beams or girders in base- 
 ments, cellars, etc., charge according to number, not less 
 
 than 2 cts. 
 
 Note that the charge for pillars, piers, etc., is for those 
 carrying important weights, especially in cellars where 
 they could not be reached by the fire department. Where 
 pillars are located on the street front, are simply ornamen- 
 tal, and carry only stone lintels for porches, and are not at 
 all vital to the structure, they should not be charged for. 
 
 316. TOTAL DEFICIENCIES PLUS KEY-RATE. . . . 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 317. FLOORS. — If fire -proof surfaces of cement, con- 
 crete or asphalt, deduct 5 % 
 
 318. FLOORS. — If water-proof, arranged with •wnstc- 
 ways and scuppers and inclined to carry off surplus water 
 ihrown by department to sewer or street, deduct 5 % 
 
 319. FIRE-PROOF WOOD, OR OTHER FIRE-PROOF 
 
 320. RESULT . — UNOCCUPIED BUILDING RATE. 
 
 321. OCCUr ANCY. — Add one-half amount named in 
 first column of table of occupancies, page 143. 
 
 322. RESULT. — OCCUPIED BUILDING RATE. 
 Subject to any deductions to which risk may be entitled, 
 
 Nos. 340, 341, etc., page 73. 
 
 Deduct for Exceptional City Fire Department, page 47, 
 
 323. EXPOSURES.— Charge for exposures, according to 
 hazard, especially if ''skeleton" construction and even if 
 the exposure is sufficient only to damage paint, glass, 
 etc. (See note, page 39.) 
 
 324. RESULT. — NET RATE OF BUILDING OCCU- 
 PIED AND EXPOSED. 
 
 Subject to deductions for Sprinklers (see rule, p. 51) and 
 Co-insurance, 
 
 quantity not less than 
 
 y 2 ct. 
 
 TRIM, deduct 
 
 5;. 
 
090 
 
 7© CO-INSURANCE ON "FIRE-PROOF" BUILDINGS. 
 
 325. CO-INSURANCE ON "FIRE- PROOF" BUILD- 
 INGS. — For insurance not exceeding 15% of the value of 
 building, charge full rate obtained by the Schedule at No. 
 324. For any percentage of value in excess of 15% take 
 the rate as shown in the following table: 
 
 (For explanation of Table see page 112.) 
 
 326. RESULT. — RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED 
 WITH % CO-INSURANCE 
 
 No office building to be rated below 5 cents and no 
 mercantile building below 10 cents after deducting for 
 co-insurance. 
 
 (To which add for any faults of Management. Page 76.) 
 
 RATE , 
 No. 314 of 
 
 
 PERCENTAGE OF INSURANCE TO VALUE. 
 
 
 UniTerwl 
 Srh.dule.* 1 
 
 20 <fo 
 
 30 <fo | 40 $ 
 
 5° $ 
 
 60 $ 
 
 70 % 
 
 75 % 
 
 80 io 
 
 90 <f> 
 
 100 % 
 
 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cent9. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 cents. 
 
 i5cts. 
 
 I2 -95 
 
 I0.35 
 
 8.67 
 
 7-45 
 
 6.52 
 
 5-77 
 
 5-46 
 
 5-16 
 
 4.63 
 
 4.20 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 II.04 
 
 9.24 
 
 7-95 
 
 6.96 
 
 6.16 
 
 5.82 
 
 5-50 
 
 4-94 
 
 4.48 
 
 1 7 
 
 « 
 
 I4.67 
 
 n-73 
 
 9.82 
 
 8.44 
 
 7-39 
 
 6-54 
 
 6.18 
 
 5-84 
 
 5-25 
 
 4.76 
 
 I o 
 
 (« 
 
 15.53 
 
 12.42 
 
 IO.40 
 
 8.94 
 
 7-83 
 
 6 -93 
 
 6-55 
 
 6.19 
 
 5-56 
 
 5 °4 
 
 r 9 
 
 CI 
 
 16.39 
 
 13. 1 1 
 
 IO.98 
 
 9.44 
 
 8.26 
 
 7-3 1 
 
 6.91 
 
 6-53 
 
 5-87 
 
 5-3 2 
 
 20 
 
 (( 
 
 17.26 
 
 13.80 
 
 II.56 
 
 9.94 
 
 8.70 
 
 7.70 
 
 7.28 
 
 6.88 
 
 6.18 
 
 5.60 
 
 2 I 
 
 u 
 
 I8.I2 
 
 14.49 
 
 12.13 
 
 ^0.43 
 
 9- r 3 
 
 8.08 
 
 7.64 
 
 7.22 
 
 6.48 
 
 - DO 
 5.88 
 
 2 2 
 
 CI 
 
 18.98 
 
 15.18 
 
 12.71 
 
 10.93 
 
 9-57 
 
 8-47 
 
 8.00 
 
 7-56 
 
 6.79 
 
 0. IO 
 
 23 
 
 II 
 
 I9.84 
 
 15-87 
 
 13.29 
 
 ".43 
 
 10.00 
 
 8.85 
 
 8-37 
 
 7.91 
 
 7.10 
 
 6-44 
 
 24 
 
 (( 
 
 2O.7I 
 
 16.56 
 
 I3-87 
 
 1 1.92 
 
 10.44 
 
 9.24 
 
 8-73 
 
 8.25 
 
 7.41 
 
 6.72 
 
 25 
 
 C( 
 
 K 
 
 21-57 
 
 17-25 
 
 14-45 
 
 12.42 
 
 10.87 
 
 9.62 
 
 9.10 
 
 8.60 
 
 7.72 
 
 7.00 
 
 26 
 
 22.43 
 
 17.94 
 
 15.02 
 
 12.92 
 
 n. 31 
 
 10.01 
 
 9.46 
 
 8-94 
 
 8.03 
 
 7.28 
 
 27 
 
 l( 
 
 23-3° 
 
 18.63 
 
 15.60 
 
 i3-4i 
 
 11.74 
 
 10.39 
 
 9.82 
 
 9.28 
 
 8-34 
 
 7-56 
 
 28 
 
 <« 
 
 24.16 
 
 1932 
 
 16.18 
 
 !3-9! 
 
 12.18 
 
 10.78 
 
 IO.19 
 
 9- 6 3 
 
 8.65 
 
 7.84 
 
 29 
 
 <« 
 
 25.02 
 
 20.01 
 
 16.76 
 
 14.41 
 
 12.61 
 
 11. 16 
 
 IO -55 
 
 9-97 
 
 8.96 
 
 8.12 
 
 3° 
 
 ci 
 
 25.89 
 
 20.70 
 
 17-34 
 
 14.91 13.05 
 
 II -55 IO -92 | io.32 
 
 9.27 
 
 8.40 
 
 35 
 
 (1 
 
 30.20 
 
 24-15 
 
 20.23 
 
 17.39 15.22 
 
 13-47 
 
 12.74 
 
 12.04 10.81 
 
 9.80 
 
 40 
 
 (( 
 
 34-52 
 
 27.60 
 
 23.12 
 
 19.88^7.40 
 
 15.40 14.56 13.76 
 
 12.36 
 
 11.20 
 
 45 
 
 «( 
 
 38.83 
 
 3 J -05 
 
 26.OI 
 
 22.36 19.57 
 
 17.32 
 
 l6 .38,i5.48 13.90 
 
 12.60 
 
 5° 
 
 It 
 
 43-15 
 
 34-5° 
 
 28.90 
 
 24.85 
 
 21-75 
 
 19.25 
 
 I0.20 17.20 
 
 15-45 
 
 14.00 
 
 55 
 
 11 
 
 47-46 37-95 
 
 3!-79 
 
 27-33 
 
 23.92 
 
 21.17 20.02 
 
 18.92 
 
 16.99 
 
 15-40 
 
 60 
 
 II 
 
 51.78 41.40 34.68 
 
 29.82 26.10 
 
 23.10 21.84 
 
 20.64 
 
 18.54 
 
 16.80 
 
 65 
 
 (< 
 
 56.0944.85 
 
 37-57 
 
 32.30 28.27 
 
 25.02 
 
 23.66 
 
 22.36 
 
 20.08 
 
 18.20 
 
 70 
 
 <« 
 
 60.41 
 
 48.30 40.46|34.79'30.45 
 
 26.95 
 
 25.48 
 
 24.08 
 
 21.63 
 
 19.60 
 
 75 
 
 (< 
 
 64.7 1 
 
 51-75 
 
 43-35 
 
 37.26 32.61 
 
 28.86 
 
 27.30 
 
 25.80 
 
 2317 
 
 21.00 
 
 80 
 
 (1 
 
 6 9-°4 55- 20 
 
 46.24 
 
 39.76 34.80 
 
 30.80 
 
 29.12 
 
 27.52 
 
 24.72 
 
 22.40 
 
 S5 
 
 C4 
 
 73-35 5 8 -65 l 49- I 3 42.24 
 
 36.97 
 
 32.72 
 
 30.94 
 
 29.24 
 
 26.26 23.80 
 
 90 
 
 II 
 
 77.67 62.10 52.02 
 
 44-73 
 
 39-15 
 
 34-65 
 
 32.76 
 
 30.96 
 
 27.81 
 
 25.20 
 
 95 
 
 it 
 
 81.9865.55 
 
 54-9 1 
 
 47.21 
 
 4i-3 2 
 
 36.57 
 
 34o8 
 
 32.68 
 
 29-35 
 
 26.60 
 
 too 
 
 IC 
 
 86 30,69.00 
 
 57.80 49.7043.50 
 
 38.50 
 
 36.40 
 
 34-4o 
 
 30.90 28.00 
 
 "N. B.--For any intermediate rate combine two of above; for 
 example, the rate of 31 cents would be that for 15 cents and 10 
 added; the rate for 32 would be double that for 10. 
 
 For example, if the rate be SO cents and the percentage of in- 
 surance carried (percentage co-insurance claxise in the policy) is 
 50% the rate will be 50% of 80, or 30.70 cents. If the rate at 
 No. 324 be 50 cents, for 00% co-insurance the rate would be 44% 
 ©f 50 cents, or 21.75 cents, etc., etc, 
 
691 
 
 7i 
 
 TO OBTAIN RATE ON STOCK IN FIRE-PROOF 
 
 BUILDING. cts. 
 
 Unoccupied Building Rate, No. 320 
 
 Add the sum named in the second column of the table 
 of occupancies, page WW 
 
 Add one-half the amount named in the first column 
 for the slock to be rated 
 
 Add, in case there be any other occupancy of building 
 which increases the rate of the building by a greater 
 amount named for the first column of the occupancy 
 table than the risk to be rated, one-half the difference 
 between such higher figure and that named for the 
 risk (for example, retail drugs adding 10 cents to 
 building, and a cigar store adding 5 cents, half the 
 difference, iVz cents, should be added to the stock 
 rate on cigars) 
 
 If the higher rated or excess hazard be separated 
 from the stock to be rated by fire-proof partitions or 
 floors, deduct io',' of the excess charge for each sepa- 
 rating fire-proof floor or partition not exceeding fifty 
 per cent, in all of such excess. For example, in the 
 case cited, if five such separations occur, 50,,' of the 
 lYi cents excess of retail drugs, or \% cents only, 
 should be added to the cigar rate. 
 
 Note.— The final charge under this item should be made for 
 Hint occupancy 'Which gives tlie highest result, and not lor 
 each, occupancy whose first column charge is greater than 
 stock to be rated (the higher charge includes the less). 
 
 If Merchandise is stored above the 7th Floor, 
 
 add to the rate of each slock in the building, no mailer 
 on what floor located, as many times three cents as 
 the building has stories in height 
 
 (For example, in a 10-story building occupied 
 throughout for mercantile purposes, 30 cents would 
 be added; in an 11-story building, 33 cents, etc.) 
 
 Merchandise should not be stored at a greater 
 height from the street grade than 85 feet, even with 
 the best fire department. At that height it is liable 
 to wreck the building and affect every stock in the 
 building, as well as the building itself, see Note 297 a. 
 
 Stocks Above or Below Grade Floors. — Charge as 
 many times 5 cents as the floor on which stock is 
 located is stories above the fourth or bei.ow the 
 grade. If distributed over two or more floors for 
 same assured, and with 80^ co-ins., and cut off each 
 story, three-fourths of average charge. 
 
 For example, merchandise on the fifth floor 
 should pay 5 cents; on the sixth floor, 10 cents; 
 seventh floor, 15 cents; on all, 30 cents; average 10 
 cents, three-fourths of which, 7^ cents (if cut off 
 each story), is the proper charge for same stock cover- 
 ing these three floors. 
 
 5rade Floor Stocks.— Deduct for stock entirely on 
 grade floor, 2o r ;; if on second, deduct lo#; if stock 
 extends over grade and second, deduct I5<; if on 
 : rade and also floors below grade, deduct 5 %. 
 
 Forward '. 
 
72 
 
 RATE ON STOCK IN FIUE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Brought forzvard. 
 
 Public Warehouses and Storage Stores Bonded, 
 complying with rules of Local Board, deduct 33%#. 
 
 Public Warehouses and Storage Stores Free, 25 . . 
 
 Private Warehouses. — Original unbroken packages 
 only, 20,e. Sales by sample only, 15^. Delivery of 
 broken packages, io^ 
 
 327 
 
 Subject at this point to any deductions to which risk 
 
 may be entitled, No. 357, &c. , page 74 
 
 Deduct for Exceptional Fire Department, if any, 
 
 page 50 
 
 Add for Exposure according to hazard 
 
 329. Result. — Kate of Stock, subject to Sprinklers and 
 
 Co-Insurance 
 
 329a. Automatic Sprinklers. — See rule, page 51. 
 
 330. Co-Insurance on Stocks in fire-proof buildings, if 
 
 policy covers only one floor, or more than one but 
 not cut off at each story, % of 1% for each T% of co- 
 insurance in excess of 20;,' of value (1558 for 80C). If 
 policy covers two floors cut off at each story, 20^; 
 three floors cut off each story 25^; four or more 
 cut off a.1 each story 30^ for 8o£. 
 
 In order to entitle a stock to the deductions above 
 15$ for co-insurance for floors cut off at each story 
 the enclosure must be of fire-proof material, with 
 self-closing doors. If with heavy wood doors and 
 heavy glass sashes, increase the 15^ allowance one- 
 third of the difference between 1 5^ and the maxi- 
 mum credit for standard cut-offs, to which stock 
 might be entitled according to the number of floors 
 upon which it is located. If the doors be metal cov- 
 ered or kalameined, but are not thoroughly standard, 
 or have wood sills, or do not fit openings closely, in- 
 crease the 15^ allowance two-thirds of the difference. 
 Deductions for 80^ co-insurance clause by above 
 
 rules are as follows : 
 
 Stock Wood Non-Standard Standard 
 
 Distributed Over Doors. Fire Doors. Doors. 
 
 2 floors l6§^ iS^ 20$ 
 
 3 " 18^ 2I§2 25# 
 
 4 " or more 20^ 25^ 30^ 
 
 No stock to be rated below 15 cents. 
 
 Note. — In rating stocks in fire-proof buildings, it 
 shouldbeborneinmindthat.nomatterhow fire - proof 
 a building may be, there is no more reason why the 
 combustible merchandise or contents of any one of 
 its stories, once ignited, should not be effectually de- 
 stroyed than there is why the fuel in a stove should 
 not be consumed. So far, therefore, as stocks in 
 fire-proof buildings are concerned, the only advan- 
 tage of a fire-proof building over one of ordinary 
 construction is to protect its contents against outside 
 exposures and to confine a fire to a single floor or 
 room — a consideration which makes it exceedingly 
 important to insist upon co-insurance, especially 
 
 Forward. 
 
BATE ON STOCK IN FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Brought forward . 
 
 where the policy covers throughout the entire struct- 
 ure. Otherwise a company may be as effectually 
 carrying a numberof separate risks for one premium 
 as if insuring the contents of a number of separate 
 brick stores under one sum. Under some circum- 
 stances, merchandise in the upper stories of a fire- 
 proof building might be a poorer fire risk than on 
 the grade floor of an ordinary building. 
 
 331. Result.— Rate 011 Stock with .. Co Insurance 
 
 Add for Faults of Management, page 76 
 
 Minimum Rates. — No office building to be rated below 
 
 5 cents and no mercantile building below 10 cents, 
 and no stock below 15 cents, after deducting for co- 
 insurance and sprinklers. 
 
 332. Jewelry in Safes with full co-insurance in fire-proof 
 
 buildings may be insured at 25 % more than the rate 
 of building occupied. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 340. Hydrants, Etc.— If building within 300 
 
 feet of one post or flush hydrant, sup- 
 plied by 8-inch or larger water-pipe, 
 
 deduct 4?of final bldg 
 
 rate. (322 ) 
 
 341. " If within 300 feet of two or more hy- 
 
 drants, supplied by 8-inch or larger 
 
 water-pipe, deduct 6% " " 
 
 342. " If said water-pipe be fed at both ends 
 
 by mains or sub-mains, deduct an 
 
 additional 4# " " 
 
 343. Automatic Fire Alarm.— For ap- 
 
 proved telegraph signal to a central 
 or fire department station, with ther- 
 mostats, deduct 5Jo " " 
 
 343a. Special Building Call Direct to Fire 
 Department, with approved tele- 
 graphic call box each floor, deduct 2 % " " 
 
 (One-half allowance if no watch- 
 man ) 
 
 344. Stand-Pipes — External, for use of fire 
 
 department, with Siamese or double 
 
 connections, deduct 2% " " 
 
 Note — This provision important, 
 as it saves time of carrying hose to 
 the top of a high building. 
 
 345. Stand-Ripes— Internal, supplied from 
 
 tank, with hydrants and hose attached 
 
 at each floor at landings, deduct 1% " " 
 
 346. Basement and Sub-Cellar Sprinklers. 
 
 If perforated 2% inch pipe be provided 
 in basement and sub cellar, with 
 attachment at street grade for fire de- 
 partment, standard size of thread and 
 coupling, and standard butt and with 
 waste-ways to sewer, deduct 2^ " '* 
 
 Forward . 
 
694 
 
 74 DEDUCTIONS FROM BUILDING RATI:, NO 322. 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 347. Automatic Sprinklers in Basement 
 
 and sub-celars. If approved instal- 
 lation, deduct (no deduction if allow- 
 ance has been made for sprinklers 
 
 throughout building) 5 £ of final bldg. 
 
 rate (322.) 
 
 348. Office Occupancy.— If building occupied 
 
 throughout exclusively for offices, de- 
 duct 20% " " 
 
 349. " If building occupied above grade floor 
 
 exclusively for offices, deduct 10^ " " 
 
 350. Roof Hydrants, protected from freez- 
 
 ing, deduct 1 £ " " 
 
 351. Casks of Water or filled pails (at least 
 
 six filled pails to each 2,500 square 
 
 feet of floor area), deduct 5 % " " 
 
 352. Watchman. — Tf watchman (on prem- 
 
 ises) with watch clock, deduct 10 £ " " 
 
 N. B. — I f automatics. No. 343 only 
 one-half deduction for watchman. 
 
 353. Auxiliary Private Fire Plant, Force 
 
 Pump, Etc. , available for day, night 
 and holidays ; stand-pipe, hose at- 
 tached at each floor; competent en- 
 gineer on hand at all times, deduct. ... 10 £ " " 
 (This In addition to 344, 345 and 352.) 
 
 Deduct 
 cts. 
 
 TOTAI 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATES, FIRE-PROOF 
 BUILDINGS. 
 
 The following deductions for exceptional features may 
 be made from the rate on stocks obtained by the rule ex- 
 plained on page 71. The percentage to be deducted is the 
 percentage of the said total stock rate (No. 327): 
 
 357. Hydrants, Etc. — If building within 300 
 feet of one post or flush hydrant, sup- 
 plied by 8-inch or larger water-pipe, 
 
 deduct 4 % of final stock 
 
 rate (327.) 
 
 35S. " If within 300 feet of two or more 
 hydrants, supplied by 8-inch or larger 
 water-pipe, deduct i>% " " 
 
 359. " If said water-pipe is fed at both ends 
 
 by mains or sub-mains, deduct an ad- 
 ditional 4 % " " 
 
 360. Fire Patrol. — For salvage corps or fire 
 
 patrol, if supported by city, deduct... 3% " " 
 
 If supported by the Insurance Com- 
 panies, no deduction. (Having paid 
 for it they are entitled to it.) 
 
 Forward , 
 
G95 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, NO. 327. 75 
 
 Deduct 
 
 Brought forward cts. 
 
 361. Covers, Tarpaulins. — If merchandise 
 
 covered by tarpaulins or other water- 
 proof covers each night, deduct 5 % of final stock 
 
 (These covers may be made fire- rate (327. ) 
 resisting by fire-proofing processes.) 
 
 362. Proximity to Fire Engine House, 
 
 Etc. — If risk to be rated is within 300 
 
 feet of a fire engine house or hose house, 
 
 which should insure prompt response 
 
 of skilled men to any fire alarm, deduct, 2% " " 
 
 If next door or opposite side street.. . . 5$ " 
 
 363. Basement and Sub-Cellar Sprink- 
 
 lers. — If perforated 2^2-inch pipe be 
 provided in basement and sub-cellar, 
 with attachment at street grade for fire 
 departmen t with standard size of thread 
 and coupling, and standard butt and 
 with water-ways to sewer, and mer- 
 chandise be on skids, deduct 2 <?<, " " 
 
 364. Automatic Sprinklers in Basement 
 
 and sub-cellars. If approved installa- 
 tion, deduct 5 % " " 
 
 (Unless deduction has been made fur 
 sprinklers throughout building, in 
 which case no allowance for this.) .. 
 
 365. Casks of Water or filled pails on each 
 
 floor, deduct 5 % 
 
 Note. — To receive above deduction 
 there must be at least 6 filled pails for 
 each 2,500 square feet of floor area. 
 
 366. Tin-Covered Cases. — If merchandise be 
 
 kept in tin-covered, wooden side-wall 
 and other cases, deduct 5 % 
 
 367. Office OccnpailC}'. — If building above 
 
 grade floor is occupied entirely for 
 offices, deduct 5 % 
 
 368. " If offices and dwelling 10% 
 
 369. Watchman. — If watchman on piemises 
 
 but no watch-clock, deduct 5 % 
 
 370. " If watchman on premises with watch 
 
 clock or electric detector, deduct io% 
 
 Note. — One-half deduction if auto- 
 matic alarm No. 374. 
 
 371. Stand -Pipes — Internal, supplied from 
 
 tank, with hydrants and hose attached 
 
 at each floor at landings, deduct r % 
 
 372. Stand-Pipes— External, for use of fire 
 
 department, with Siamese connections, 
 deduct 2 % 
 
 373. Chemical Engines on Wheels.— If one 
 
 or more chemical engines are available 
 in case of fire, deduct 5 % 
 
 Forward. 
 
696 
 
 7 6 DEDUCTIONS FROM STOCK RATE, NO. 327 
 
 Brought forward 
 
 37-4. Automatic Alarm. — For approved 
 automatic fire alarm telegraph signal 
 to a central station or lire dept. station 
 
 with thermostats, deduct 5 £of final stock 
 
 (rate 327.) 
 
 374a. Special Building Call Direct to Fire 
 Department, with approved tele- 
 graphic call box each floor, deduct... 2 % " " 
 lOne-half allowance if no watchman.) 
 
 375. Skids. — If merchandise on skids or plat- 
 forms, deduct 2^ " " 
 
 370. Auxiliary Private Fire Plant. Force 
 Pump, Etc., available for day, night, 
 and holidays ; 6tand-pipe, hose at- 
 tached at each floor; competent en- 
 gineer on hand at all times, deducts,^ " " 
 (This in addition to 339, 871 and 372.) 
 
 377. Floors arranged for carrying off water 
 
 with scuppers 5^ " " 
 
 Total. . . 
 
 ADD FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, IF ANY. 
 
 380. If bottom of elevator-shaft is used for store- 
 
 room, coat closets or lamp and oil closets, 
 charge 10 cts. 
 
 381. Swinging gas brackets unprovided with stops, 
 
 or within 36 inches of wood work overhead, 
 or otherwise unsafe (ditto as to bracket 
 
 lamps), for one, add not less than 5 " 
 
 For each additional one add 1 cent. 
 
 382. Untidiness, as to rubbish, ashes, etc., especially 
 
 in cellar, charge not less than 10 " 
 
 383. Empty boxes, rubbish and barrels in rear yards 
 
 or alleys 2 *' 
 
 384. Lights in show windows, open or unprotected.. 5 " 
 
 385. Sawdust spittoons or sawdust on floors, espe- 
 
 cially in drug and oil stores 5 " 
 
 356. If kerosene is used on floors when sweeping 10 " 
 
 357. Ash and waste cans to be of metal. If not, 
 
 charge 10 " 
 
 388. If lighted by electricity, with system and instal- 
 
 lation not in compliance with board rules, or 
 in unsafe condition, or if arc lights be not pro- 
 vided with wire or metallic screens above and 
 below, or tight globes to prevent fall of 
 carbons, charge 25 " 
 
 389. Crowded Mdse. without proper aisles opposite 
 
 or too near windows, not less than 5 " 
 
 FOR RATING COMBINED FIRE-PROOF 
 AND NOM - FIRE - PROOF BUILDINGS 
 WITHOUT STANDARD CUT-OFFS. See 
 rule, page 94. 
 
 Deduct 
 cts. 
 
RATING SLIP.-FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 Inspected by 
 
 UNIVERSAL MERCANTILE SCHEDULE. 
 
 Stock of in. JStory.„. 
 
 Ins. Map, Page ... Block City of __. 
 
 -Street, 
 —Bld£. 
 
 KEV-RATE OF CITY See page 13) 
 
 WALLS - 2«6 Pkei.eto* Co same en on, wrought Iron or steel columns or 
 
 TertlC&l Supports {nt i\argt fe* tail ircn), c bar «c . . OS 
 
 287 If average thickness of two side or hearing (or either of them) 
 
 less Iban iYi Inch. - charge for r*. 11 rsrn ■!> fluency 09 
 
 If any portion of wnll leis tlntri Vi inch.-, double t he charge 
 
 *"° Stume Fuonth on Side Wamj, or veneered with stone ashler, charge 
 
 ed" finish .01;lf c 
 
 so., fi 
 
 for each if , 
 
 2S9 Poon Buicks or po_. 
 UNPROTECTED IRON— 290 I'lmriju as follows, for u 
 umns .10; unprotected w n.iiL'ht iron or ateel co 
 
 lower flanges of tennis 
 
 CEILING OR SHEATHING' iVu ' ' \'\ ".1J".'r"Ur^'l^ ,',?]' 
 
 less than .01; each additional story 'j cent 
 
 20i Wood or stravvUiitnl sililMi.unr'turv ul; inch additional story W 
 
 ARE* — (Ground floor ) ft. X ft- Total 
 
 2118 5.000 s.) fi to lii.ooo. . tiF,r L -..- f„r n„ h 1.000 in ckccss i 
 204 If over 10.000 B q ft charge for each 1,000 Id excess or iu.wu(not 
 
 ei coed log a total of .40) 04 
 
 If mercantile building i m ■. uls |. n stories, double area charge, 
 ^ If building octupl«l oicluiivelv iboto grade floor Tar officii* or dwelling* no efcsigo 
 
 HEIGHT — ( . , .Stories) 205 For each story over eight up to twelve, charge .01 
 
 290 F, ir twelfth and esi h story river twelve up to fifteen 03 
 
 297 For lift.-r iii.l ,-■„ h -ir.ry in-, r fifteen 1(1 
 
 MERCHANDISE ABOVE 7th 'flOoW— °^iariri UM 7o , \ind° ad'PoS more for 
 each floor over seventh up to tenth, sod .05 more for leiiih mid each ilo-.r 
 above tenth. For cssmplc- riWrn-itorr bonding would turs mtddfd. 
 
 FLOORS— Silt Wholes Ki ... a IIoaiu.- b,id -..lid ..n concrete wit! t nir 
 
 ^spaoc .10; with air space 15 (one-balf charge in office buildings) 
 
 (such as Metropolitan, Itoebllng, Expanded 
 
 299a Floor i 
 Metal. Fat 
 
 :. Columbian, 
 
 i .So.. 
 
 ELEVATORS— 299 N..1 cut off according to sLimhird. but In hallway or en- 
 closed court, or if provi.l. d " iilt itnT. .inai !<■ trip doors, charge 00 
 
 800 Opeo It 
 
 301 Wooden shaft of approved metal ctneniJi; half charge) 15 
 
 For each additional elevator not cut off, add 02 
 
 8TAIRWAYS-302 " Kim \.,'-"'\ m \v...Vi i.it'lV'.oid" pia-ler" hallway, or provided 
 
 with unliirnallc (ran doors in floors 05 
 
 :t«:l Km li.- d j., w.-hI with m lf i-I.isIiilt doors eur-h floor 10 
 
 804 Open, charge 1 1 ■ - T I. Mem "I , . Ii II. mr, n..| evenling a total of .12 
 
 805 If at least nm 
 
 :, oolr uar ctiSigcTor 
 eta I treails under 
 charge fur hardw.-nl trends < .vcr iri.ni, charge as many 
 ling has floors (one third charge for office building). If 
 eJiili .Mire proti-L-tiiig tr. tuU fr.iin heat, one. 
 
 less than 08 
 
 stairway In fire proof 
 half final charge. 
 WELL -HOLES— 3011 Arid f..r each floor pierced. 
 
 CHUTES. DUMB-WAITERS, VENT, SHAFTS ?unles9 U< fire" proof shaft), and small 
 floor openings— 307 ^ For each floor pierced, not less in each ease t.ban .02 
 
 ■KYUSriVS— 80S If of thin glass (less tlum ^-inch;, orlf unprotectod wooden 
 frames, charge for inch bii . ft In csccss of 9 s.j. ft (not exceeding a 
 total of .101 01 
 
 STREET— iiii/ r 'lf -ir. 
 
 n which huildir.L- InmLi 
 
 -r unr-bit/cturgc. 
 than 60 feet wlilc but 
 
 811 If under .'H) fi et, add f..r earb . r . feet less 02 
 
 WIRES 1112 Uverln-ad to iiilerfere with Are df-pt. not leas than .. Cent 
 TENANTS— HI 8 Each In excess of one, exclusive of i.ttlce ami dwelling 
 
 i add .01 for every 10 operatives employed In 
 
 LIGHTING — ;l 14 Electricity, approved (if unsafe see No 38S)odd 
 
 STONE PIERS-Illo Stone column*, pillar*, or brick piers with bond »l 
 ' .charge it 
 
 Total Dkpk if-nctes Plcs It kv- Rate 
 
 DEDUCT FOR EXCEPTIONAL CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 e -proof [li-,r surfaces of cement, concrete or asphalt . . . .St 
 carry off 
 
 ' and Incllued with scuppers I 
 
 818 Floors ■ 
 
 819 Fire proof wood-work, trim, etc BH 
 
 822 RESULT— RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR FIRE APPLIANCES, ETC. ON BUILDINGS. 
 
 Tmaln, within 800 ft. ii 
 
 342 If s.-iid water pipe be fori nt both ends by mains . 41 (10* in nil 
 
 843 AutomiiM. lire ularui. ti ll trnipiile aiyaal to centrul station or tire 
 
 dcpikrtmeDi house 6J 
 
 343a B«eU building call direct to Are department (one-half allow. 
 
 844 Stand pi j..,' e.vf.-rrinl with -himese "connection," forusoof 'lire 
 
 84S If buil.lin- orcii 
 
 both 
 
 849 If in. lipir.l . M/l 
 
 ll.'il) ](.-,( Iivdmnls pr.it. Tt.'.l fr.nn to. . -in 
 831 fask-o'f water or fill.. I pill-..., ,„-|, ii 
 
 floor 
 
 I dwellings, or i ■'■'I., above 
 
 332 If wal. Lilian ... 
 833 Auxiliary priv ; 
 
 uvwlnble at , 
 than 4U M-- : 
 
 main, d.-tupt 
 
 (6 j- ol- to 2500 sq. ft. 
 
 -■ with rlo. k or electric del - dor. . K1 
 
 fin- plant, force pump, etc 
 
 r r , |... ; , ri 
 
 322 
 
 e of buil.llng occupied, unexposed 
 ■y, add according to haxan) 
 
 323 EXPOSURE-If. 
 328* AUTOMATIC SPR1NKERS— See rule page 81 
 
 324 RESULT— Net rate building, occupied and exposed. FoirwajiD.. 
 
824 NET RATE OF BUILDING OCCUPIED AND EXPOSED. Bi.oooht FonwABD 
 825 CO-INSURANCE ON "FIRE. PROOF" BUILOINGS. 
 
 L" c .^ I . n ^ 1 ?* °'. , . ho Taluo ° r building, charge 
 
 A INL- J.-l 
 
 f.ill uUl.,li„-i l.y H„.. S, InO,,!, „ 
 of value ia excess of lOi take the (o 
 
 v, ■ f., r 2^1 • <>i viii ut. .„ : „, ,,„. rJ: ; f „ r ; ,v : nt 4 — 
 
 (- Ml-. .I T. f,,r (III; i) M . f ,, r , m j. ; 2HT -,-,,„ fll „„ wil , , 
 will snow the proper rut* fur any percentage of co-insurance 8 
 
 l'f 
 
 UN TAG 
 
 
 
 ;i LjL 
 
 4o*| 50 « 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '- 55 
 
 
 
 
 7, 
 
 etuis' 
 
 "cVr.r." 
 
 
 r nr." 
 
 '.V- '■ 
 
 
 >° 35 
 
 
 7-45 
 
 u 5. 
 
 5-75 
 
 5-4<S 
 
 " n io 
 
 
 
 
 [3 Si 
 14.6) 
 
 1 1 04 
 
 
 7-95 
 
 6.96 
 
 6.16 
 
 5.82 
 
 5-sC 
 
 49' 
 
 4.4S 
 
 17 II 
 
 H-73 
 
 9..>. 
 
 B 44 
 
 7-39 
 
 fi-54 
 
 6.18 
 
 5.84 
 
 5- a S 
 
 4.76 
 
 
 '5-53 
 ifi.39 
 
 
 
 8.94 
 
 7-83 
 
 6-93 
 
 fi-55 
 
 6.19 
 
 S 
 
 5 "4 
 
 19 II 
 
 13.11 
 
 10.9I 
 
 9.44 
 
 S..H 
 
 7-3' 
 
 6.91 
 
 6 5 
 
 5 s; 
 
 
 
 1 T. 3 ( 
 
 13.8c 
 
 [I.5< 
 
 9.94 
 
 8.70 
 
 7.70 
 
 7.28 
 
 6 . v- 
 
 6.18 
 
 5.60 
 5 SS 
 
 
 
 14.49 
 
 1 2. 1 
 
 10.43 
 
 9 13 
 
 8.08 
 
 7.64 
 
 7.22 
 
 6. 4 > 
 
 
 18,98 
 10.54 
 
 15.18 
 
 
 10.93 
 
 9-57 
 
 8-47 
 
 8.00 
 
 7.56 
 
 6.79 
 
 6 16 
 
 23 1. 
 
 •5-S7 
 1656 
 
 1 -' : ' 
 
 11.43 
 
 
 8.8 j 
 
 8.37 
 
 7.91 
 8 J 5 
 
 7 10 
 
 6,44 
 
 
 20.71 
 "-57 
 
 
 11.93 
 
 10,44 
 
 9.34 
 
 8-73 
 
 7-41 
 
 6.7; 
 
 »5 
 
 36 " 
 
 17.35 
 
 
 
 10.87 
 
 
 9.10 
 
 S.60 
 
 7.7 a 
 
 7.00 
 
 
 "■43 
 
 "7 94 
 
 1 5.0 j 
 
 & 
 
 11.31 
 
 
 9.46 
 
 8-94 
 
 8.05 
 
 7.28 
 
 27 " 
 
 ? ; V : 
 
 18.63 
 
 
 
 n.74 
 
 10.39 
 
 9.82 
 
 9.28 
 
 8-34 
 
 7-56 
 
 38 " 
 
 24.16 
 
 19-3' 
 
 1 
 
 13-9" 
 
 
 10.78 
 
 10.19 
 
 963 
 
 8,65 
 
 7.84 
 
 8.12 
 
 39 j 
 
 o-o: 
 
 
 
 14.41 
 
 I2.6l 
 
 
 10.55 
 
 
 8.96 
 
 ^° , 
 
 25 «<) 
 
 30.70 
 
 
 14.91 
 
 13-05 
 
 "t 
 
 10.92 
 
 10.32 
 
 9.37 
 
 S.40 
 
 3S ( " 
 
 30.20 
 
 24.15 
 
 
 17-39 
 
 15.22 
 
 13-47 
 
 12.74 
 
 13.04 
 
 10.8] 
 
 9.80 
 
 
 34 5* 
 
 
 23." 
 ■&OI 
 
 19.88 
 
 17-40 
 
 154- 
 
 14.56 
 
 13.76 
 
 '2.36 
 
 
 45 " 
 
 
 3105 
 
 ".3° 
 
 19.57 
 
 
 10.3*. 
 
 15.48 
 17.30 
 
 13.90 
 
 12.60 
 
 50 J! 
 
 43< >i 
 
 34-5° 
 
 
 34.85 
 
 "-75 
 
 s 
 
 
 1545 
 
 
 60 " 
 
 47.46 
 
 37-95 
 
 31-79 
 
 37-33 
 
 '.5.5 J 
 
 
 
 18.92 
 
 16.99 
 
 15.40 
 
 51-78 
 
 ;L 0-; 
 
 41.40 
 
 34-68 
 
 39.83 
 
 6,io 
 
 
 21 S.) 
 
 20.64 
 
 18-54 
 
 ib A So 
 
 fis " 
 
 H.Sj 
 
 37-57 
 
 5 -'-30 
 
 Z8.27 
 
 
 -'300 
 
 22.36 
 
 
 18.20 
 
 70 
 
 60.41 
 
 |8 ia 
 
 
 34-79 30.45 
 
 26.95 as.48 
 
 .4 06 
 
 "63 
 
 
 75 " 
 So " 
 
 6-t 71 
 
 5i-75 
 
 43-35 
 
 37. 2632.6! 
 
 
 27.30 
 29,12 
 
 : 5 So 
 
 »3 i? 
 
 69.04-55.20 
 
 46.34 
 
 39-7 6 34 «o 
 
 30.80 
 
 27.52 
 
 =4-7 = 
 26.1 (, 
 
 22,40 
 
 85 " 
 
 is 
 
 ■ s "5 
 
 19. T 3 
 
 43.24 
 
 
 
 94 
 
 29.34 
 
 '3 80 
 25-ao 
 
 90 
 
 -7-67 62.10 
 
 
 44-73 
 
 
 
 30.96 
 
 27.81 
 
 95 " 
 
 Bl -9 8 , 6 5-55 54-9J 
 36.30I69, 00 57.80 
 
 49 7^ 
 
 
 
 
 ja.68 
 14-49 
 
 39.35 
 30.90 
 
 26.60 
 28.00 
 
 82« RESULT-Kaii: 
 
 Bdtldino Occupied With. . 
 ADO FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT I 
 
 i Co -Insurance. . 
 
 . h additional. . . . 
 Untidiness, rubbish, ash. 
 Empty boxes, rubblsb, el 
 
 :_ '"■ Id show -« mili.iws, 
 
 .'(Ho Sawdust 
 
 Afti iiinl wnilc rung not metal 
 
 Ltoctrie lighl swem fiml inslidlalion not : 
 
 writers' rules, or urc lights unprotciiid 
 ( nm. lid ni. riliiii.il-,. without proper ni 
 
 cents after all dd in m.i,- n, i", j j, - in.','" ,] J , " '^antili- building below 1 
 
 TO OBTAIN RATE ON STOCK IN FIRE-PROOF BUILDING. 
 
 RATE OF BUILDING UNOCCUPIED, No, 320... 
 
 to of the buiklinp 
 i tban the risk to 
 it named for the 
 ar itoro adding 6 
 a cigars)... 
 .ml by lir. 1 
 
 in.c Mr, 
 
 ., _ .jo ea~v 
 druga, or l'f 
 
 STOCKS ABOVE OR BELOW GRADE FLOORS— 
 
 If distributed ov» 
 ' each story, three- 
 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES ai 
 PUBLIC WAREHOUSES ai 
 PRIVATE WAREHOUSES- 
 
 IMS T' 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR FIRE APPLIANCES, ETC. ON STOCKS. 
 
 Hydrants; if one, supplied by fvinch water main, within 300 fl 
 
 )fl.. 
 
 W'au r pipe fi ll ill tii'lh ends by mains ml. 1 11'h >n 
 ISIJO Kir. (.■ 1 ii..l,upp.'ri,,ll.y,.„y,ul by insurance companies, nothing), 81 
 1101 If nicrehuuiliM' ,.>v.rod by tarpaulin covers, ea. h iiiirln OX 
 3(12 Proximity lo lire ib-purl lu. nl (.toti-.n, li„-e .'.r book mid linliler ixrilse ■ it 
 o«o 1. "" h "' f '''!; n, ' xl ' l "" r " r '"' "PI>"-'<- M.le r.f sired 'fi? 
 
 .1.1 J.^,m. nt riinl -ul. i-.-lbir p. rf..r..t..l pip,- sprinklers, if ^...N .... skids « 
 8«4 Auioioiilio simrikk-rs 111 l.,es,u,„„r ,,„, ,i,d„, ti..n if al],,« ilhl -,. u, n 
 mude f..r s|irinkli rs dir.. , rein, ul building) 5* 
 H(i,> tasks. ,f wnler or lilbd puils u.t 1, ust six lillnl V „A, lo eaeb V oou Si ,, lt ii e 
 
 feet of floor area) H » 
 
 IIIHI Mi r. l,:i,,.li-..- in iin covered cases M 
 
 8(17 If building occupied enUuly^bove gr,„|o lioor for offlceg. M 
 
 Ulill VViiK li iiuiij but no watcil -clock, 
 
 870 Wtttchiuan ivilb wmeli . loek or electric del 
 
 allow only ,!, deduelion for walcliman). 
 
 871 Standpipe, int, riuil, will, l ink supply 
 
 872 " external with sinm.-se coi.iiwtioi 
 1(78 If one or mure elioriiicul engiac-B on wheels. 
 U'.i A,H,,i,,iilie lire alarm li> lire depuniui-iii 
 Ill-la Spei-l.il bnil.lii.i; t-ill direct to tire deprirlun 
 
 watcliruan) 
 
 875 Ifraerehan.il,.. on wki.ls or platforms I) inch', 
 siiiary private fire plant, foreo ptiniyi 
 
 III,-. . 
 
 877 Floors arranged \ 
 
 t balf rdlowniice If 11 
 
 a 
 
 hicli, deduct 2 
 
 scuppera for carrlng off water. ! ! ! ', '. 5 
 Total 
 
 EXCEPTIONAL CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT — 210 Extra steamers, 
 each one In excess of Ave (not excoc " 
 Water-to wi r. H one, a 1 .*; it two, 6%. 
 
 221n Gravity Procure; for.neli etleetive tire stream available .. 1,. 
 supplied by u L'ravu, |, r ,- a „ir,- of not 1,-ss tban 40 lbs. at base of 
 by hydrant on «-ineb or lare- r main, deduct K of If (not 
 
 Extra steamers, if of if f„ r 
 tag a total of mi la all). 220 
 221 Fire boat, available, 6< 
 
 If inch ^ 
 
 1 one-half deduct io 
 
 RESULT— RATE OlJ STOCK EXPOSED! 
 
 INSURANCE— I f'po^cy 
 ory. '4 of 1< for each 1* of c 
 y covers two floors cut oj? at 1 
 mure tut e/fat each story 80% 
 
 ily one floor, or more thaji "one bi 
 
 i-unuice >i, e.veeis „l Jll : [ of value- iio> 
 li ^ry,20< ; thret. floor. <u, 
 
 331 RESULT— Net IUtb on Stock With % Co-ljfsrjiuacB. . 
 
 ADO FOR FAULTS OF MANAGEMENT, tF ANY. B80 etc above 
 E»«LBATE ON STOCK-. Including eo-im. . charges for faults of maaaWnwot. < 
 
 1 after all deduction's Including ' ( 
 
HISTORY AND ANALYSIS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Universal Mercantile Schedule. 
 
 By F. C. MOORE, 
 
 Chairman of the Universal Schedule Committee. 
 
 It is unnecessary to explain to Underwriters that by 
 " schedule rating" is meant a specific, accurate measure 
 from the view-point of advantage or disadvantage, by a 
 scale of insurance rates or prices, for every feature of a 
 building and its contents, of construction, occupancy, fire 
 resisting or extinguishing provisions, and also of its environ- 
 ment or surroundings ; involving in the latter, consideration 
 of such features as the liability of the city in which the 
 building is located to conflagrations ; the width and grade 
 of its streets ; its previous fire record ; its Police and Fire 
 Departments, and, in fact, every consideration which an 
 ideal underwriter, supposedly possessed of the knowledge 
 and experience combined of all engaged in the business, 
 would take into account in fixing a rate. 
 
 Inasmuch as natural sectional jealousies exist between 
 citizens of one city or State as compared with another, and 
 between different citizens of the same city, and inasmuch 
 as such jealousies lead frequently to adverse legislation, it 
 is obviously expedient that rates throughout the United 
 States should be made upon one and the same basis, to 
 say nothing of the honest duty, paramount to the rule of 
 business expediency, which devolves upon underwriters, to 
 treat all of their customers equitably and alike, in no case 
 placing the burden of one class on the shoulders of another, 
 by a system of " robbing Peter to pay Paul." 
 
 CAN AN INSURANCE SCHEDULE BE UNIVERSAL 
 IN ITS APPLICATION ? 
 
 If it be a fact — and probably no one will gainsay it — that 
 a risk located in a section where the most favorable con- 
 ditions and loss ratio justify low rates of premium — trans- 
 
608 
 
 ported bodily by some process to a locality of the worst loss 
 
 ratio and conditions, would still be a risk deserving of as 
 low a rate except for hazards of its new environment and 
 such local conditions as ought easily to be discovered by an 
 intelligent observer on the ground and charged for, then it 
 must follow that if a thousand risks transported in this 
 manner to a new location should be found to show a greater 
 mortality than in the old, the cause for the excess loss 
 should be looked for in the new location and would be 
 clearly outside of the hazards themselves. If, however, the 
 mortality should remain the same, but a thousand risks 
 constructed in the new location after the same model should 
 show a greater mortality than the transported risks, any 
 intelligent investigator would look for the cause in the new 
 risks themselves, and would probably discover it in defective 
 bricks and mortar or other faults peculiar to the place and 
 therefore endemic or purely local. 
 
 No small portion of the adverse legislation in force 
 to-day on the statute books of the various States has 
 grown out of real or suspected invidious discrimination as 
 to localities. If the man in Texas is rated by the same rule 
 as the man in New York or New England he is satisfied. 
 It has been wisely said that the average man is not so much 
 exercised as to what rate he has himself to pay for insur- 
 ance as to what " the other fellow " pays. A business man 
 does not like to make a poor bargain ; he feels especially 
 dissatisfied if a rival in his own line of trade makes a better 
 one ; and if his rate is higher than that of his business 
 competitor he must be convinced that there is a good reason 
 for it. A dry-goods merchant in St. Louis, for example, 
 visits Chicago or New York, and returns to his fellow- 
 citizens with a statement that he finds a dry-goods stock in 
 a brick, metal roof building in the city visited is rated at 
 one-half the rate which he himself pays ; the fact so briefly 
 stated, is regarded as sufficient evidence of the need of 
 interference by the Missouri legislature. 
 
 The description "a brick, metal roof building" is as far 
 as the average layman usually gets into those features oi a 
 risk which enter into the consideration of rate. If, when he 
 complains of unequal rating, he can be shown the items 
 which make not only his own rate, but his own city, differ 
 from the one with which he has compared his risk, he will 
 be answered, if not convinced 
 
699 
 
 It was claimed by some critics that a schedule could not 
 be prepared which would properly rate risks in all parts of 
 the country. The Committee believed otherwise, holding 
 that local reasons could be found everywhere for abnormal 
 losses, either in faults of construction, defective materials, 
 deficiencies in fire departments, or other physical features. 
 
 Said a critic on one occasion, who had not read the 
 schedule, " You cannot make a schedule which will rate in 
 Connecticut and also in the South, where we lose two 
 dollars for every dollar lost in the North." 
 
 " But why ? " was the answer. 
 
 " Because the construction and other features in the 
 South are so inferior to those of the North." 
 " Name them," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, in the South it is customary to sheathe side 
 walls and ceilings with wood, generally inflammable yellow 
 pine, in place of the old-fashioned and safer plaster of the 
 Northern building. A fire is not only more likely to start 
 with so much wood-work, but more likely to get beyond 
 control. It is a bad feature of Southern risks." 
 
 " Granted," was the reply. " What else ? " 
 
 "Well, in many portions of the South the bricks and 
 mortar are of poor quality, causing the spread of fires from 
 building to building." 
 
 " Granted ; what else ? " 
 
 " Well, on account of the heat of the climate the build- 
 ings in the South are constructed, as a rule, with air spaces 
 or blind attics next the roof, which are objectionable, 
 because if a fire gets into them it is almost impossible to 
 extinguish it." 
 
 " Granted ; what else ? " 
 
 " Well, I think, the colored servants in many localities 
 are careless with ashes in wooden boxes and barrels." 
 
 " Granted ; the same fault is to be found in the North, 
 however. Do you think of anything else ?" 
 
 " No, not at this moment." 
 
 "Well, the Schedule treats of each of the faults you 
 have mentioned, which ought to be charged for wherever met 
 with — North or South — and it provides for some others 
 cpiite as important. Let us see. Take, f or example, a good 
 brick building which would rate at, say, 50 cents in Con- 
 necticut or Massachusetts, with none of the faults referred 
 to. Let us take a similar building in the South and see 
 
how the schedule would handle it. If it has wooden sheath- 
 ing on side walls and ceiling, for one story the charge 
 would be 10 cents, and for each additional story 6 cents, so 
 that if only two stories were so finished the rate instead of 
 being 50 cents would be 66 cents, quite an increase — nearly 
 a third more — but not more than it is worth. The charge 
 is the same for this feature everywhere, however, North as 
 well as South, and the fault is to be found in the North, 
 although not so frequently as in the South. 
 
 " If, to proceed with the illustration, the building has 
 defective bricks and mortar in the walls the charge is 20 
 cents, but, if in its flues, 20 cents more ; the rate is now 
 106. If there is an air space of say 3 feet next the roof, 9 
 cents is added, making 115, and if the elevator shaft or 
 stairway opens into this roof space making it worse in case 
 a fire starts below (a fault you did not mention) 25 cents 
 more is added. If ashes are kept in wooden boxes or 
 barrels 25 cents is charged. So that without going further, 
 the Schedule has increased the original rate of 50 cents 
 materially but not more than it should, no matter where the 
 risk is located. In a certain Southern town a property 
 owner erected a building of the best burned brick, bringing 
 a vessel load of them from the North for the purpose. 
 Why should his rate not be 40 cents lower than that of his 
 neighbors whose structures would hardly stand a good rain 
 storm ? If his carefulness is not recognized not only will 
 injustice be done him but his example will not be followed." 
 
 NECESSITY FOR A PRINTED LIST OR 
 SCHEDULE OF CHARGES. 
 
 The mere fact that there are more than a hundred 
 features of construction in a single building which should 
 enter into the consideration of its rate, irrespective of nearly 
 forty features of its city or environment, nearly forty more 
 different features of fire appliances, to say nothing of more 
 than a thousand possible hazards of occupancy; and the 
 further fact that no individual knowledge is equal to the 
 task of putting a price upon so many items, nor any indi- 
 vidual memory capable of remembering them, proves, 
 without further demonstration, the necessity not only of 
 conference to secure combined knowledge for fixing prices 
 but, also, a printed record or schedule, to prevent omissions 
 or mistakes. 
 
701 
 
 In 1891 a committee of four underwriters was appointed 
 to prepare a schedule for rating mercantile risks which 
 should be universal in its application throughout the 
 country. Early in their deliberations they reached the 
 conclusion that such a schedule should be formulated upon 
 the following lines, and that it should recognize : 
 
 First. A standard of environment — the city. 
 
 Second. A standard of construction — the building. 
 
 Third. An addition for the ignitibility and combustibility 
 features of occupancy. 
 
 Fourth. An addition to all three of these to get the rate 
 of any damageable contents {incidentally this latter to be 
 varied in buildings which are not standard, because there 
 should be less difference between the rate of the building 
 and of its contents in buildings of poor construction than in 
 buildings of standard construction?) 
 
 Fifth. An allowance on both building and stock for excep- 
 tional features of fire extinction, proximity to hydrants, 
 engine houses, automatic fire alarms, etc., this being necessary 
 to recognize the obvious difference between two risks of the 
 same construction and occupancy even in the satne city. 
 
 They decided, further, that those faults of management 
 which lead to fires (more than 50 per cent, of the amount 
 paid by Insurance Companies in each year being due to 
 preventable causes) should be penalized — in most instances 
 to the point of prohibition — and, in order to save the labor 
 of computing net deductions in case these faults should be 
 afterwards corrected or removed (as in 99 cases out of 100 
 they would promptly be if roundly charged for) they placed 
 these charges outside of the schedule proper as final addi- 
 tions to the rate, after all deductions for fire-extinguishing 
 appliances, co-insurance, etc., had been computed. 
 
 The Schedule prepared by this Committee, now known 
 as the " Universal Mercantile Schedule," thus recognizes 
 in its plan of arrangement : 
 
 First. A key-rate — as to which various cities and towns 
 differ. 
 
 Second. Charges for variations from standards of con- 
 s-t-ruction — which ought to be the same everywhere. 
 
 Third. Charges for hazards of occupancy — which ought 
 to be the same everywhere. 
 
702 
 
 Fourth. Charges for insuring contents according to their 
 susceptibility to damage — which ought to be the same every- 
 where. 
 
 Fifth. The variation of these charges, according to the 
 construction of the building. Clearly the same amoutit should 
 not be added, even for the same stock, to two different build- 
 ings where one is an exceptionally good building and the 
 other an exceptionally poor one ; there should be more differ- 
 ence between the building and stock rate in the one case than 
 in the other. 
 
 Sixth. The treatment of fire extinguishing facilities, 
 proximity to hydrants, etc., for the particular risk rated, 
 according to circumstances ; it being clear that if the risk is 
 within reach of hydrants, steam engines, etc., and on an eight- 
 inch or larger water main, it should rale differe?itly from 
 another of like kind, even in the same to7vn, if the other risk 
 be not so fortunately located. 
 
 The preparation of this Schedule occupied the constant 
 labor of the Committee for nearly two years, and it was 
 not finally promulgated until after it had been submitted, in 
 six successive proofs, issued months apart, to underwriters 
 throughout the United States, Canada and England, whose 
 suggestions were finally considered in two conventions, one 
 held in Hartford and the other in New York, the latter 
 being largely attended by underwriters from various sections 
 of the country. 
 
 Their first "proof" of the schedule was a short form 
 intended to facilitate the easy rating of risks, without much 
 detail, but they soon found lhat any schedule which did not 
 penalize every fault of construction and encourage each 
 meritorious feature of construction, fire prevention, and 
 extinction would not only fail to secure improvements but 
 would, in effect, penalize the good by encouraging and pro- 
 tecting the bad, and prove detrimental to the best interests 
 of the insurance business and of the public as well. Faulty 
 architecture is clearly encouraged by any system of insur- 
 ance which does not charge for every fault and recognize 
 every good point. 
 
 The Committee became convinced, moreover, that what- 
 ever time was saved in studying a short schedule would be 
 more than lost afterwards in' applying it, as the rating 
 expert would certainly be delayed at every stage which 
 
703 
 
 required consideration or thought. In the one item of 
 area, for example, the first proof contained a charge for 
 various areas without reference to the height of the build- 
 ing — an important factor in area — and without reference to 
 whether or not a building was divided by cross or curtain 
 walls, which not only strengthen structures but enable fire- 
 men to fight fires into corners, thus preventing the cumu- 
 lative force of fires incidental to large, unbroken areas 
 whose intense combustion is seldom extinguished. They 
 found it necessary, also, to charge less for area in a single 
 occupancy risk than in one of omnibus occupancy, where 
 tenants, crowded upon single floors, have usually larger 
 volumes of merchandise piled or tiered from floor to ceiling 
 and where the rules of cleanliness are less likely to be 
 observed. 
 
 So in other items or features of the schedule, the Com- 
 mittee found it necessary to go into every detail of hazard, 
 leaving as little as possible to the judgment of a rating 
 expert, so as not only to save his time in thought at every 
 stage of the rating process, but to prevent, also, those in- 
 consistencies of rating in risks of one and the same hazard, 
 resulting from fluctuations of judgment, which so often 
 produce dissatisfaction on the part of owners and result in 
 appeals for legislative interference with rating organizations. 
 
 Before the Committee had issued their third " proof " 
 they had abandoned all idea of a so-called short schedule, 
 and had addressed themselves assiduously to the task of 
 preparing one which should recognize every feature of a 
 risk which ought to be considered, either in fixing a rate or 
 determining a line. They now submit that the only test 
 which should be applied to determine the question as to 
 whether or not it is unnecessarily long is, that if there be a 
 single item in it which ought not to be considered by an 
 underwriter in fixing his rate or line, it should have been 
 omitted, but if there be no such item, then the schedule 
 cannot be too long. 
 
 If the result of their work is not correct, it can certainly 
 be claimed for it that there is no other way to approach 
 accuracy. It must, of course, be conceded that the work 
 will be improved upon in coming years, but it is doubtful 
 if any system of rating will ever proceed upon different lines 
 to measure the varying hazards of varying localities; for it 
 
;o4 
 
 may safely be asserted that a schedule to be correct must 
 recognize each of the following principles : 
 
 First. Standards of construction and standards of en- 
 vironment or condition as to fire departments, water-works, 
 topography, etc. 
 
 Second. Fire Departments and extinguishing appliances 
 must receive three-fold treatment and be divided so as to apply 
 
 a. For the minimum credit, to all risks benefited as 
 regards conflagration hazard or danger from sweeping fires. 
 
 b. For the maximum credit, for f ull protection, only to 
 those risks entitled to it by reason of proximity to hydrant 
 service, fire-engine houses, size of street mains, accessibility of 
 streets, etc. 
 
 c. To buildings separately from stocks. 
 
 Third. Exposures must receive separate treatment as to 
 buildings and stocks. 
 
 Fourth. Stock rates must differ from building rates 
 according to construction and fire department. 
 
 It may be well to touch briefly upon the various points 
 of the Schedule. 
 
 First. — A Standard City was conceived and described. 
 It involved level and wide streets, gravity water works, 
 adequate pipe service and other features fully explained. 
 
 Second. — A Standard Building was described, which may 
 be regarded as a model of ordinary construction, not fire- 
 proof. 
 
 Third. — A key-rate. 
 
 BASIS RATE. 
 
 The Basis Rate or starting point for rating a standard 
 building in a standard city was fixed at 25 cents, after 
 careful consideration of the experience tables of the Com- 
 panies. It surely was not a difficult task to fix this rate 
 for the simplest form of risk under the best conditions as a 
 starting point. It has been criticised as being an arbitrary 
 figure. Even if it had been, it would not differ in this 
 respect from other standards of measure, the units of which 
 were fixed in a much more arbitrary way. For example, it 
 is well known that the English yard was the length of the 
 arm of King Henry I. An inch was three barley corns. 
 The letters of the alphabet and the nine digits or numerals 
 
705 
 
 were arbitrary. Even if this 25 cents had been a guess, it 
 should not be overlooked that it is better to have a guess 
 of an inch than of a mile, and that, under the present 
 systems of rating, guesses are made as to the entire rates of 
 buildings often without examining or inspecting them. 
 
 KEY RATE OF CITY. 
 
 From this starting point or basis rate of 25 cents, and 
 to obtain the Key Rate of any city, or that figure at which a 
 Standard Building in the city should be rated, additions 
 were made according to the deficiencies of the city as to 
 Water Works, Fire Department, Building Laws, inaccessible 
 or narrow streets, etc., etc. This Key Rate, so determined, 
 is thereafter used to obtain the rate of any building in the 
 city to be rated by adding to it charges for its deficiencies 
 from the specification of a Standard Building. The thick- 
 ness of walls, the quality of bricks and mortar, character of 
 roofs and floors, and especially of floor openings, area, 
 height, skylights, heating, lighting, &c, have been carefully 
 charged for according to their relative importance, in 
 determining which, the charges for the various features 
 •>f buildings, construction, etc., were graded according to 
 aeir tendency to contribute to the destruction of the 
 ouilding by fire, and it will be observed that the charges 
 for such features as open elevators, staircases, well-holes, 
 air shafts, skylights, etc., bear about the same proportionate 
 relation to the total rate that the features themselves bear 
 to the integrity or strength of the structure. 
 
 Certain features, also — area and height — were measured 
 with reference to each other when in combination, for the 
 reason that when combined they have a cumulative effect 
 of increasing the danger of total destruction. The charge 
 for area, for instance, is greater in a high building than in 
 a low one. 
 
 THE BUILDING STANDARD EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 It will be observed, however, that the working schedule 
 does not charge for all variations from the standard, which 
 is ideal and educational ; being designed to be handed to 
 a builder or owner contemplating the erection of a building, 
 as an explanation of safe construction. Some of the 
 specifications, for example, cannot be examined or tested 
 afterwards, such as the filling in of hollow partitions at 
 
Tim; 
 
 each floor, but the recommendation may, nevertheless, 
 secure them at the hands of a conscientious owner. 
 
 DEDUCTIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL FEATURES. 
 
 To avoid the labor of applying a severe detailed schedule 
 to the thousands of average risks, the great majority of 
 buildings being of ordinary construction, exceptional 
 features such as are rarely met with, are provided for in 
 the Universal Schedule by a system of deductions. This 
 scheme practically makes the Schedule a short one for 
 ordinary risks, since one familiar with it is enabled to pass 
 over whole paragraphs of features which he knows are not 
 to be found in the building to be rated or, for that matter, 
 it may be, in the entire town, on the same principle that 
 one using a two-foot rule would not open it out full length 
 to measure two inches. The Schedule treats by deductions 
 such exceptional features as metallic lathing, water proof 
 floors, fire proof grade floors, extra parapet walls, extra 
 thickness of floor beams, self-releasing floor-joist, etc., etc., 
 and it has the further advantage of providing for those 
 improvements which we may well expect may be devel- 
 oped year by year, and which can thus be recognized 
 without necessitating a rearrangement of the entire schedule, 
 as would be the case if it were framed upon a plan 
 which required a charge for each variation of an ex- 
 ceptional and infrequent character from a high standard. 
 Spare numbers have been left at various points of the 
 schedule for such new features. There is a further 
 decided advantage, also, in a system of deductions foi 
 unusual features over any system of charges in the fact 
 that if overlooked by the rating expert — and even careful 
 experts are liable to overlook exceptional features — the 
 Company will not lose by the full amount of the charge, 
 as it inevitably would under a treatment of infrequent 
 features by charges. It may safely be assumed that the 
 property owner will remind the rating expert of any feat- 
 ure of his risk which would entitle him to a deduction. 
 
 FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND EXTINGUISHING 
 APPLIANCES. 
 
 These were treated separately for stocks and for build- 
 ings by a system of deductions, it being obvious that 
 they should have separate treatment, inasmuch as the 
 
707 
 
 value and efficacy of water-throwing facilities differ as 
 to stocks and buildings. Moreover, certain features of 
 construction, such as self-releasing floor beams, skids for 
 raising stocks above water on floors, tarpaulin covers, &c, 
 &c, which belong exclusively to either the stock or. the 
 building, but not to both, are and should be separately 
 treated. 
 
 Fire departments under the Universal Schedule, receive 
 three-fold treatment. All other systems of rating give them 
 single treatment, rating all risks in a city as if they shared 
 equally in the benefit of a fire department, whereas acres 
 of buildings and stocks may be on the lines of small and 
 insufficient water pipes and remote from engine service and 
 therefore inadequately rated. In an important city it was 
 recently discovered that millions of dollars worth of prop- 
 erty was dependent upon a 4-inch water pipe and when an 
 8-inch pipe was laid the Underwriters breathed more freely, 
 until they discovered, some months afterward, that the 
 hydrants were still connected with the old 4-inch pipe! 
 The Universal Schedule gives all risks in a city the credit 
 of fire departments to the minimum extent, only in the Key 
 Rate. It is of course an advantage to a risk that the city in 
 which it is located should have a fire department and water 
 works even though the building may be two miles from a 
 water pipe or fire engine house, since if a fire should start 
 two and a half miles away it might be prevented from 
 spreading to the risk. Only to this minimum extent, how- 
 ever, in the Key Rate should it get the credit for a fire 
 department. There are, to-day, acres of buildings and 
 millions of values on which the companies are losing money 
 in low rates which would be corrected by the Schedule. 
 
 Second. — A fire department for the maximum benefit 
 is brought home to each risk by deductions for proximity 
 to hydrants. 
 
 The importance of not allowing credit for a full city fire 
 department except for hydrant proximity and proper mains 
 was illustrated by the burning of a risk worth several 
 hundred thousand dollars, in a suburb of New York, the 
 rate of which had been based on the assumption that fifty 
 steamers and two water towers could be commanded. 
 After the fire, underwriters were mortified to discover that 
 steamers could not get to the risk owing to its inaccessible 
 location. They were comforted to learn later, however, that 
 
even if the steamers had gotten there, they would have 
 found neither water mains nor hydrants, so that nothing 
 was actually lost by reason of the inaccessibility of the 
 street ! 
 
 Under present systems of rating, risks on the line of 
 ample water mains are paying for risks without water mains, 
 or on the line of 4-inch mains, which is unjust. Aside 
 from the injustice of the matter to property owners, no 
 company can afford to belong to a board which does not 
 make proper discrimination unless all other companies are 
 in the board and honest. 
 
 Third. — Fire departments are treated separately as to 
 buildings and stocks, a clear necessity if correct results are 
 to be secured, for the benefits of water throwing differ as to 
 both. 
 
 EXPOSURES. 
 
 In all other systems of rating, the method of arriving at 
 a stock rate is to build up a building rate, including the 
 addition for exposure, when to the final rate so obtained, 
 some fixed sum is added (usually ten cents) — no matter 
 what the fire department and no matter what the character 
 of the building — to get the stock rate. This has the effect 
 of making the same charge for exposure to both building 
 and contents. The exposure charge should not, in all 
 cases, be the same for building and stock. The construc- 
 tion of a building may be of so substantial a character as 
 to effectually protect its contents from any outside fire 
 although itself liable to a paint or glass damage. Under 
 such circumstances to charge anything to the stock for 
 exposure would be unjust to the stock and result possibly 
 in the loss of the risk at the hands of some more intelligent 
 competitor. 
 
 CO-INSURANCE ON NON-FIREPROOF 
 BUILDINGS. 
 No Schedule should be framed upon a basis which 
 does not recognize a certain named percentage of insur- 
 ance to value. To fix rates without reference to the 
 amount of insurance carried would be not less foolish 
 than to sell dry goods without yard-sticks, or to sell silks 
 and satins at the same price per yard as calico. It 
 
requires no argument that rates are based upon the bricks 
 and mortar of a building as well as upon the wooden 
 trim, and that if the insurance be for only ten or fifteen 
 per cent, of the value of both, the Company would be 
 insuring the wooden trim at a rate based upon consider- 
 ations of bricks and mortar. 
 
 The Universal Schedule, however, does not enforce or 
 require any particular amount of insurance, but simply 
 adjusts itself, by the rule on page 52, to whatever amount 
 the property owner elects to carry. There is no com- 
 pulsion. If the insurance is 50 per cent, of value no 
 deduction is allowed. If the amount of insurance car- 
 ried exceeds this percentage, a deduction of one-half per 
 cent, of the rate for each one per cent, of insurance in 
 excess of 50 per cent, of insurance to value is allowed. 
 If less than 50 per cent, of insurance to value is carried, 
 1 per cent, of the rate is added for each per cent, less 
 than 50 per cent. It will be conceded that there are few 
 buildings — and probably no stocks — insured for less 
 than 50 per cent., and that, therefore, this percentage 
 will cover all practical cases, and reduce to a minimum 
 the number of risks that need inquiry. 
 
 The propriety of not insisting upon co-insurance but 
 of grading the charge according to the amount carried 
 will be demonstrated by the friction saved. The aver- 
 age man declines to be coerced; he rebels against being 
 dictated to as to quantity as well as price, claiming, 
 with much reason, that he has the right to buy as much 
 or as little of the article purchased as he chooses. The 
 Universal Schedule meets him upon this basis, and the 
 underwriter is enabled to say to him: "We do not 
 care how much or how little of our commodity you de- 
 sire — you decide that for yourself — our prices, of course, 
 are fixed, like your own, lower rates being made for 
 wholesale quantities than for retail purchases." 
 
 The reason for the scale of reduced rate is based on 
 the following fact : The experience of companies, as to 
 the distribution of losses according to percentage of value 
 in fire department cities, is about as follows : 
 
 68 per cent, of the losses in number are under $100 in 
 amount; 15 per cent, are over $100 and under 25 percent. 
 
no 
 
 of the value of the property; 7 per cent, in number are 
 between 25 percent, and 50 percent.; 5 percent, between 
 50 per cent, and 80 per cent., and 5 per cent, total. 
 These percentages, while "round figures," are close to 
 the exact percentages. 
 
 Let us assume 10,000 risks of $1,000 value each, carry- 
 ing $500 insurance each (or 50 per cent of value), at a 
 rate of 1 per cent., yielding a total premium of $50,000 
 and a loss experience of 200 losses amounting to $27,500, 
 or 55 per cent, of the premiums. About 63 per cent, of 
 the 200 losses, or say 136 in number, would be under $100; 
 about 15 per cent, of the 200 losses, or 30 in number, 
 would be over $100 and under 25 per cent.; about 7 per 
 cent., or 14 in number, would be from 25 per cent, to 50 
 per cent.; about 5 per cent., or 10 in number, would be 
 from 50 per cent, to 80 per cent.; and about 5 per cent., 
 or 10 in number, would be total. 
 
 The following table would show the distribution of 
 losses and premiums: The column headed ''Value Loss" 
 would show the estimated amount of loss or damage to 
 the property based upon the tabulated Company experi- 
 ence. 
 
 „ „ ... . Per Cent , r , Ins. Loss Ins. Loss Ins. Loss Ins. Loss 
 
 No of No. of of Loss \ al " e wi'h with Willi with 
 
 Kisks. Losses. to Value. Loss - 50 % Ins. 70 % Ins. 80 # Ins. 100 % Ins. 
 
 10.000 136 under $100 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 $3,500 
 
 30 $100 to 25 % 7,00) 7,000 7,000 7,000 7,000 
 
 14 25 % to 50 % 7,000 7,000 7,000 7.000 7,000 
 
 10 50 % to 80 % 7.500 5,000 7,000 7 503 7.500 
 
 10 Total or 100 % 10,000 5,000 7,000 8.000 10.000 
 
 10.000 200 $35,000 §27,500 $31,500 $31,000 $35,000 
 Rate 1 % 90 cts. 85 cts. 75 cts. 
 
 abed 
 Am't of Premiums (10,000 Risks), $50,000 $33,000 $f,8,000 $75,000 
 
 a. 10,000 risks insured for 50 per cent, of value, or $500 each, at 1 per cent., would 
 yield $50,000 premiums. On this amount of premium the insurance loss ($u'7,50u) 
 would be just 55 %. 
 
 b. 10,000 risks insured for 70 percent, of value, or $700 each, at 90 cents (100 minus 
 10 per cent., Leinir a reduction in rate of per cent, for each 1 per cent of insurance 
 in excess or 60 per cent., f. 20 per cent.), would yield a premium of $>G3,000. On 
 this amount of premium the insurance lots ($31,500) would be just 50 %. 
 
 r. 10.000 risks insured for 80 per cent, of value, or $800 each, at 85 cents (100 
 minus 15, bem;; J4 l ,cr cent, reduction for each 1 per cent, of the 30 per cent., which 
 £0 per cent, insurance is in excess of 50 p~r cent.), would yield $iis,000 premium. On 
 this amount of premium the losses ($33,000) would be safely within 50 %. 
 
 it. 10.000 risks insured for 100 per cent, of value, or $1000 each, at 75 cents (beinc, 
 a reduction of 25 per cent, or of 1 per cent, for each 1 per cent, of the 50 per cent, 
 which 1UU per cent, exceeds 50 per cent.), would yield $75,000 of premiums. 
 
 This computation, on an actual experience of the dis- 
 tribution of partial and total losses, shows that the rule 
 
: ii 
 
 of deducting per cent, for each i per cent, of co-insur- 
 ance in excess of 50 per cent, would be a safe one, the 
 amount of premium resulting being adjusted at a safe 
 multiple of the amount of loss at each point, or percent- 
 age of insurance carried (see a, />, </, in preceding table). 
 
 It will be apparent that co-insurauce or contribution is 
 of no value whatever, on total losses, and of little value 
 on those under $100 in amount. These two classes form 
 7S per cent, of the entire number of losses. It is practi- 
 cally on the remaining one-fourth (losses between $100 
 and total) that co-insurance is a benefit, and from this 
 benefit or salvage on partial losses, must be deducted the 
 increased insurance loss on the total losses to get the net 
 benefit of co-insurance in connection with the increased 
 premium. The computation also demonstrates that the 
 value of contribution is measured by the percentage of 
 rate proposed, since it will clearly make no difference in 
 the percentage of loes to premium of the company 
 whether it has all of the insurance or whether a portion 
 in excess cf its line is carried by other companies. If, 
 for example, it has one-half of the insurance it will have 
 half of the premium and incur one-half the loss. 
 
 The computation also shows that the assumptions fre- 
 quently made that a 1 per cent, deduction in rate can be 
 allowed for each 1 percent, of co-insurance in excess of the 
 percentage of value on which a rate is based are incorrect. 
 Those who have advocated such concessions for co-insur- 
 ance have overlooked the facts developed in the above 
 distribution of losses. For example, if from rates based 
 upon an insurance of 50 per cent, of va'.ue a deduction of 
 50 per cent, should be made for full insurance, the 
 premium on a thousand risks would be only $50,000, 
 whereas the losses, as shown in the table, would be 
 v"35> 000 > an( l tne percentage of Idss to premium would 
 have increased from 55 per cent., in the first example 
 given, to 70 per cent. This shows that the deduction of 
 Yz of 1 per cent, in the rule, is much nearer the correct 
 figure than a deduction of 1 per cent, for each 1 per 
 cent, of co-insurance which would result in loss with full 
 insurance. While full insurance is an advantage in 
 partial losses, it increases the insurance loss on all losses 
 which are total, the insurance loss being increased in 
 direct proportion as the insurance approaches the value. 
 
; i-.' 
 
 CO-INSURANCE ON FIREPROOF BUILDINGS. 
 
 HOW TABLE WAS COMPUTED. 
 Clearly, in no class of buildings is a knowledge of the 
 
 amount of insurance carried more necessary for determin- 
 ing rates and lines than in the case of fireproof buildings. 
 A small percentage of their value, say 15%, would cover the 
 wooden trim, window and door frames, dados, floor boards, 
 paint and fresco work, plate glass, which is as destructi- 
 ble as a non-fireproof building; and it' a fireproof building 
 be insured for only 15% of its value, the rate should 
 approximate that of ordinary wood and brick construction. 
 This small percentage of 15%, therefore, was assumed to be 
 one extreme, and the full value, 100%, the other extreme. 
 
 A building, supposedly worth a million of dollars, was 
 taken with estimates of rate for each $100,000 insurance 
 carried. The assumed rate for the minimum of insurance 
 was 100 cents, or 1%, and, that being so, the premium for 
 $150,000, or 15% of value, would be $1,500. If $200,000 
 should be carried, the additional $50,000 could be taken 
 at much less than the rate for $150,000. Clearly, an un- 
 derwriter having already $200,000 on a fireproof building, 
 offered an additional $100,000, would have presented to 
 him, in fixing the rate, practically the same consideration 
 which determines the rate in the case of what is known as 
 "excess" insurance. He would be already liable for all 
 partial losses, and his extra $100,000 could not be called 
 upon until his $200,000 had been exhausted. In this view 
 he could afford to write the extra $100,000 at a materi- 
 ally lower rate than his $200,000. The schedule table 
 fixes the rate for this $100,000 at 40% of the rate for the 
 $200,000. In like manner each subsequent $100,000 would 
 be in the nature of excess insurance and be written at a 5# 
 less percentage of the rate than that of the preceding 
 $100,000. 
 
 For example, if $400,000 should be carried, the extra 
 $100,000 could be taken at 35% of the rate for $300,000; 
 if $500,000, the extra $100,000 would be at 30% of the 
 rate for $400,000; if $600,000, the extra $100,000 would 
 be taken at 25% of the rate for $500,000, and so the last 
 $100,000, making the $1,000,000, could be taken at 5% of 
 the rate for $900,000. The following table will illustrate 
 more clearly: 
 
713 
 
 
 Percentage of 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Preceding Rate 
 
 
 
 
 
 Percentage 
 
 Charged lor Next 
 
 Amount 
 
 
 
 
 I i - i , p ■ i ■ i 1 
 1 1 1 > 1 1 1 t At. 
 
 4t1ftn llfllt fit liKnrnnrn 
 
 1 ricll *•£*! \ 
 1 1 . U 1 1 1 I . 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Prpm i iiTn 
 
 £ 1 ' M 1 1 i 1 1 1 1 . 
 
 15% 
 
 100,1 
 
 $150,000 
 
 100 
 
 cents 
 
 $1,500 
 
 20% 
 
 45% 
 
 200,000 
 
 8G.3 
 
 1 1 
 
 1 725 
 
 30% 
 
 40% 
 
 35% 
 
 300,000 
 
 G9 
 
 M 
 
 2,070 
 
 40# 
 
 400,000 
 
 57.8 
 
 ft 
 
 £,,812 
 
 50% 
 
 30% 
 
 500,000 
 
 49.7 
 
 tc 
 
 2,485 
 
 60% 
 
 25% 
 
 600,000 
 
 43.5 
 
 (C 
 
 2,610 
 
 10% 
 
 20% 
 
 700,000 
 
 38.5 
 
 fl 
 
 2,695 
 
 75% 
 
 n.5% 
 
 750,000 
 
 36.4 
 
 ti 
 
 2,732 
 
 80% 
 
 15% 
 
 800,000 
 
 34.4 
 
 l< 
 
 2,710 
 
 90% 
 
 10% 
 
 900,000 
 
 30.9 
 
 
 2,785 
 
 100% 
 
 5% 
 
 1,000,000 
 
 28 
 
 it 
 
 2,800 
 
 The figures of the fourth column, hased as they are upon 
 100 cents per $100, upon a value of $1,000,000 and upon 
 successive ten per centuras of such value, will per- 
 centages to be taken of any rate for the corresponding 
 percentage of co-insurance. 
 
 For example, if the rate of a particular building worth 
 $1,000,000 should be 25 cents, and $300,000 should be in- 
 sured, G9% of 25 cents, or 174, cents, would be the rate with 
 a 30% co-insurance clause. If the rate should be 30 cents 
 and the amount of insurance $400,000, 57.8% of 30 cents, 
 or 17.31 cents, would be the rate with a 40% co-insurance 
 clause in the policy. 
 
 There has been computed a table (which see) which 
 gives the figure for any per cent, of co-insurance of any 
 rate. 
 
 As already stated, however, the rates are promulgated 
 at 80$ co-insurance. 
 
 It will be seen from an examination of the second column 
 of the table that the decreasing series is 45%, 40%, 35%, 
 30%, 25%, etc., to the minimum of 5% for the maximum of 
 full insurance. The rates were computed for each amount 
 of insurance in the following manner: $150,000 at 1% would 
 yield $1,500 premium; $200,000 would yield $1,725 (the 
 extra $50,000 at 45% of 100 cents, the rate for $150,000, 
 or 45 cents, would yield $225 premi-um, which added to 
 $1,500 for the first 150,000 would make $1,725.) Dividing 
 this by 200,000, the average rate is seen to be 86.3. The 
 rate for $300,000 would be computed by adding to the pre- 
 mium for the $200,000 ($1,725) 40% of the rate (86.3) for 
 $200,000, yielding 34.5 cents for the extra $100,000, or 
 $345, making $2,070 for the $300,000— an average rate of 
 
714 
 
 69 cents. Clearly, as already stated, therefore, the rates 
 thus obtained for each $100,000 or each 10 percent, of 
 insurance carried (the value; of the building being a mil- 
 lion dollars and the starting rate LOO cents) would be 
 figures which could be used as percentages of the actual 
 rate of any building. 
 
 Excluding Foundations. — The practice has been grow- 
 ing of late to exclude foundations of fireproof buildings 
 from the protection of the policy and from the operation 
 of the co-insurance clause, by some such clause as follows, 
 for example: 
 
 " This policy does not cover, attach or apply to the 
 foundations or any portion of the building below the 
 street grade line, and the value of such portion of the 
 structure is excluded, cdso, from the operation of the co- 
 insurance clause." 
 
 Where this practice obtains it must be borne in mind 
 that the table of rates for co-insurance in theschedule hav- 
 ing been calculated for the full co-insurance, including 
 the foundations, the same rate must be taken as would be 
 required for the amount of insurance actually carried as 
 compared tvith the full value of the building, including 
 foundations. 
 
 For example, if it is estimated, in the case of a building 
 worth ?500,000, that the foundations and the portion be- 
 low the street grade are worth $100,000, and that the value 
 of the building for purposes of insurance and the opera- 
 tion of the co-insurance clause is fixed at $400,000, an 
 owner, with a 75$ co-insurance clause in his policy, would 
 be required to carry only $300,000 ; the rate in such case, 
 however, should be that fixed in the table for 60$ co-insur- 
 ance— $300,000 being 60$ of $500,000, the actual value of 
 the building, including foundations. In the example 
 taken, therefore, if the rate of the building without the co- 
 insurance clause be 65 cents the rate with a 75$ co-insur- 
 ance clause should not be 23.66 but 28.27, the rate named 
 in the table for 60$ 
 
 It may be well to suggest in this connection that it is 
 not to the interest of a property owner to exclude foun- 
 dations or the more solid portions of the building below 
 the street grade. Under the operation of the universal 
 
schedule system of charging for co insurance the rate for 
 this portion of the building is exceedingly low, and it 
 costs but little more (as in the case above cited) to insure 
 these portions. The table is equitable, and the charge for 
 insuring these safer portions of the structure will be 
 found low enough to measure fairly and equitably their 
 average exemption from damage. It sometimes happens, 
 however, that the damage to the foundations of a build- 
 ing, owing to fires in stored combustible material, fuel, 
 old furniture, etc., etc., is serious, especially where gran- 
 ite blocks are employed instead of bricks ; and taking 
 everything into accoun f , it will be found that the prop- 
 erty owner would more wisely pay the small charge 
 exacted, than run the risk of a serious loss for so small 
 a premium. To carry his own foundations himself when 
 he can so cheaply have it done by an insurance company 
 is, in fact, gambling at heavy odds. 
 
 STOCKS AS COMPARED WITH BUILDINGS. 
 
 An important feature of the Universal Schedule is 
 the treatment of stocks as compared with buildings, and 
 this, in view of the astounding inconsistencies of rating 
 throughout the country, may well be considered the most 
 important of all. The Committee find there are, at present, 
 four ways of rating stocks throughout the United States. 
 One is to add to the final building rate, including the 
 charge for exposure, a fixed sum of thirty cents — no 
 matter what the character of the building and no matter 
 what the character of the fire department — to get the stock 
 rate. A second plan is to add 20 cents, a third to add 10 
 cents and a fourth to add nothing, the stock rate being, in 
 some cases, the same as the building rate, while in others 
 it is actually less, even in fire department towns. In two 
 instances coming to the attention of the Committee, stocks 
 of cutlery were rated lower than good, brick, metal-roofed 
 buildings containing them, and this in fire department 
 towns ! It is unnecessary to suggest that, with such rates, 
 companies held by membership in tariff organizations are 
 not likely to get the buildings while there are any com- 
 panies not in the Board who know the difference between 
 buildings and stocks. 
 
 Such unequal and inconsistent rating as this puts a 
 premium on remaining out of local boards and commission 
 
716 
 
 agreements, and accounts for the competition of companies 
 who decline to be tied where so much is to be made by 
 discrimination. If the Universal Schedule should never be 
 adopted as an entirety, it could not fail, in correcting 
 ratings of this character, to be worth to the insurance 
 fraternity all and more than it has cost in the labor and 
 time expended upon it. 
 
 Any underwriter who understands his business knows 
 that, as a rule, bricks and mortar are better for insurance 
 than cutlery, dry goods, millinery or groceries, especially 
 if there be a fire department. The degree of difference 
 depending upon the character of the building and the 
 efficiency of the fire department. Where these are of the 
 best, the building should be materially lower than the 
 stock, even to the extent of being in some cases possibly 
 one-third the stock rate. A damage of a few thousand 
 dollars to a strong building would involve three times the 
 amount of. damage to a stock of merchandise from water 
 alone. 
 
 In a fire department town, a building whose floor-joist 
 and story posts are 1 2 inches square, with 3-inch plank 
 flooring, &c, or constructed in accordance with the 
 Schedule standard, has the probabilities largely in its favor 
 of a fire being extinguished with a damage to the build- 
 ing of not one-fourth the amount which would be lost 
 on the stock. It should be remembered that the only 
 advantage afforded to a stock by a building of the best 
 construction is the advantage of protecting it from an out- 
 side fire, or of preventing a fire from spreading from one 
 floor to another. Even a fire-proof building is of no other 
 advantage than this to its stock, which may be effectually 
 consumed within its fire-proof walls like the contents of a 
 stove. A stove is fire-proof but its contents are not. In- 
 deed, fire-proof buildings, with airshafts, elevators, stair- 
 ways, etc., to insure drafts from cellar to roof, may act like 
 stoves, for the effectual cremation of their contents. The 
 advantages of construction to stocks are overestimated. 
 
 Clearly, therefore, the better the fire department and 
 building the greater should be the difference between the 
 building and stock rate and vice versa. 
 
METHOD OF RATING STOCKS. 
 
 The Universal Schedule obtains the unoccupied build- 
 .ng rate (item No. 127) by charging for each variation of 
 the city in fire department and water supply from standard 
 and for each fault of construction of the building so that 
 the deficiencies of the building, viz.: The excess of its rate 
 (item 127) over that of a Standard building in a Standard 
 city (25 cents) indicates clearly whether a smaller or larger 
 sum should lie added to the building rate to get the stock 
 rate. It will be found that the rule of the Schedule requir- 
 ing that 25 per cent, of the deficiencies of the building be 
 deducted before making the addition for the stock rate, will 
 adjust the rate properly to conditions of construction and 
 fire department. This rule will be uniform and auto- 
 matic. The adjustment of the matter should not be left 
 to the varying judgments of rating experts. 
 
 For example, the addition for retail dry goods to a 
 Standard building being 50 cents, 25 per cent, of the 
 deficiencies of a building not Standard deducted from 50 
 cents would give the amount to be added for the stock so 
 that while, if the building be Standard (25 cents) the rate on 
 dry goods should be 75 cents, but if the building rate should 
 be 41 cents (16 cents worse) 25$ of 16 cents, or 4 cents, 
 should be deducted from 50 cents, leaving 46 cents to be 
 added to the rate of the building (41 cents) making 87 
 cents for the stock rate. If the rate of the building be 185 
 (a poor building) 25 fo of its deficiencies (160) or 40 cents 
 should be deducted from the dry goods rate, leaving 10 
 cents to be added to 185 making the rate on stock 195. 
 
 All stocks are arranged in a table of two columns. 
 The first column contains the measure, in cents, of those 
 features of a stock which cause fires, and when once 
 started, bad or intense fires — liable to destroy both build- 
 ing and contents. The second column contains that 
 feature of the stock which may be termed its susceptibility 
 to damage by water, smoke, etc. 
 
 All stocks, for insurance purposes, should be regarded 
 from these three standpoints. Those, which like wholesale 
 drugs, stocks of furniture, oils, etc., are liable to cause fires 
 and to furnish fuel for intense combustion, should increase 
 the rate of any building into which they enter, and also the 
 rate of all other stocks under the same roof. The suscepti- 
 bility to damage feature, however, is not one which makes 
 
; is 
 
 the building worse. A stock of cutlery, for example, is 
 peculiarity liable to damage by water or smoke, and this 
 fact should be taken into account in fixing the rate upon it, 
 but it does not add anything to the hazard of the building 
 containing it. 
 
 In the second column of the table, is the sum to be added 
 to the rate of a Standard building in a Standard city (25 
 cents) to get the rate of a stock in such building. For 
 example, stock No. Si 1, retail dry goods, would be rated at 
 75 cents (25 -f- 50) in a Standard building in a Standard city. 
 A stock of wholesale drugs in the same building would rate 
 at 210 (25 plus 185). At this point both building and stock 
 would be entitled to the deductions for hydrant proximity, 
 water pails, &c, provided for Nos. 155, 190, etc. 
 
 The following example will more fully explain the plan 
 upon which the Schedule is framed : 
 
 Let us suppose a building contains an apothecary stock, 
 No. 423, which adds 10 cents to the building ; a cabinetware 
 stock, No. 604, which adds 50 cents to the building ; a 
 stock of artists' materials, No. 435, which adds 10 cents to 
 the building, and a wholesale drug stock, No. 806, which 
 adds 100 cents to the building ; the building and respective 
 stocks would be rated as follows : 
 
 Having ascertained the key-rate of the city in which the 
 building is located and having found that the unoccupied 
 rate of the building itself based upon it (No. 127, page 38) 
 is, let us say 85 cents, the occupied building rate would be 85 
 plus 100, equals 185 — the highest rate, or that of the most 
 hazardous stock in the building, wholesale drugs (100 cents) 
 being taken as the addition to the building. 
 
 To get the rate of the wholesale drug stock, there 
 should be added to the occupied bdg. rate, No. 128, its figure 
 in the second column of the table, 85, first deducting 25 per 
 cent, of the deficiencies of the building from Standard. 
 Inasmuch as the building rate is 85 cents, the excess of this 
 figure (60 cents) over that of a Standard building in a 
 Standard city, (25 cents), would be its deficiencies, 25 per 
 cent, of which, or 15 cents, should be deducted for each 
 stock in the building. The rate on wholesale drugs, there- 
 fore, would be 185, minus 15, plus 85, equals 255. 
 
 The rate on the Apothecary Stock would be as follows : 
 185, minus 15, plus 50, equals 220. 
 
 The rate on the stock of Artists' Materials would be as 
 
719 
 
 follows: 185, minus 15, plus 75 (the rate named in the 
 second column of the table), equals 245. 
 
 The rate on the stock of Cabinetware would be as fol- 
 lows : 185, minus 15, plus 75 (the amount named in the 
 second column of the table), equals 245. 
 
 The rate on a stock of Retail Dry Goods would be as 
 follows: 1S5, minus 15, plus 50, equals 220. 
 
 The summing up of the foregoing ratings would be as 
 
 follows 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 128. 
 
 Building rate occu 
 
 pied 
 
 85 + 
 
 100, -= 
 
 185 
 
 423- 
 
 Retail Drugs .... 
 
 185 — 
 
 *S + 
 
 5°, = 
 
 220 
 
 435- 
 
 Artists' Materials.. 
 
 185 - 
 
 15 + 
 
 75, = 
 
 245 
 
 604. 
 
 Cabinetware 
 
 185 - 
 
 *5 + 
 
 75, = 
 
 245 
 
 806. 
 
 Wholesale Drugs. . 
 
 185- 
 
 15 + 
 
 85,= 
 
 255 
 
 811. 
 
 Retail Dry Goods. 
 
 1S5- 
 
 15 + 
 
 5°, = 
 
 220 
 
 By adding the first column charge of the most hazardous 
 stock in the building (in this case, Wholesale Drugs), all the 
 first column charges of other less hazardous stocks are thus 
 included and provided for. 
 
 There could be no plainer illustration of the propriety of 
 this method of ascertaining the rates of various stocks in the 
 same building, than in the case of Retail Drugs and Whole- 
 sale Drugs. Clearly those features of a retail drug stock 
 which make the building worse to the extent of 10 cents, 
 are all to be found in wholesale drugs, and, therefore, con- 
 tained in the 100 cents which measure these two features 
 in the wholesale drug rate. The 10 cents being already con- 
 tained, therefore, in the 100 cents named in the first column 
 for wholesale drugs, does not need to be added to bring 
 the retail drugs up to the hazard of wholesale drugs. 
 
 Especially in the case of buildings containing a number 
 of tenants, and in order to save the deduction of one-fourth 
 of the deficiencies of building, for each stock at rate, No. 127, 
 and of adding the excess of any more hazardous stock in 
 the building, the rate No. 128 (that for the building occu- 
 pied) is taken, instead of No. 127. No. 128, as already 
 explained, includes not only the first column charge of the 
 stock to be rated, but also the excess of any more hazardous 
 stock, because it contains the first column charge of the 
 most hazardous stock. By deducting one-fourth of the 
 deficiencies of the building at ihis point, a base or key-rate 
 is obtained for all contents to which it is only necessary to 
 
7 -Hi 
 
 add the susceptibility to damage or second column charge 
 of any stock to get the rate of such stock, which will then 
 be subject, of course, to the Fire Department deductions, 
 Nos. 190, 191, &c.j and for co-insurance. 
 
 In the Table, it should be remembered, the second 
 column charge contains only the susceptibility to damage 
 feature. 
 
 To recapitulate, let us suppose a building whose rate at 
 No. 127 is 85 cents, under the U. M. S. The charges in the 
 Table would be for 
 
 Wholesale Drugs, 100 85 
 
 Retail Dry Goods, o 50 
 
 Millinery, o 75 
 
 Baskets, 15 60 
 
 The rate of the building occupied at No. 128 is taken, 
 viz., 185 ; from this would be deducted one-fourth of the 
 deficiencies (15 cts.), giving 170, which would be the base 
 or key-rate for all stocks in the building, to which it would 
 only be necessary to add the second column figure of the 
 table — 85 cents for wholesale drugs, 50 cts. for dry goods, 
 75 cts. for millinery, 60 cts. for baskets — thus saving a repe- 
 tition in each case of the deduction for deficiencies, and also 
 the excess hazard above the first column charge of the 
 most hazardous stock — an important saving of time in a 
 building of omnibus occupancy. 
 
 In some of the systems of rating now prevailing through- 
 out the country, all stocks under the same roof are made 
 to rate as high as the worst stock in the building and, 
 in the example above cited, all rates would be brought to 
 the wholesale drug rate (255). This clearly would not 
 be right. The mere susceptibility to damage feature of 
 wholesale drugs is one which ought not, in any way, to 
 increase the rate of any other stock in the building, and to 
 add any part of the 85 cents of the wholesale drug rate 
 which measures this feature, in addition to the 100 cents in 
 the first column of the table, which measures the liability to 
 cause fires and those of destructive character, would be 
 radically wrong. It is only these two latter features which 
 should be taken into account in rating any other stock in 
 the building. Ninety-five per cent, of the losses in a fire 
 department city are partial. In case of a fire in a standard 
 building, in a standard city, the various kinds of contents 
 would be found to show a salvage, it is believed, in the ratio 
 
721 
 
 of their respective second column figures in the table : and 
 the salvage on the building would be in the ratio of the 
 building rate to the respective stock rates. 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF RATING BY SCHEDULE. 
 
 It would be a mistake to assume that the only advantage 
 of rating by schedule is that of accurate measurement of 
 conditions, resulting in rates which would be adequate or 
 profitable to the Insurance company and, at the same time, 
 equitable or just to the property owner. 
 
 If a system of rating would tend to prevent fires from 
 starting and limit their dimensions by preventing their 
 spread, it would, by the reduction of loss, yield a not less 
 certain profit to the Company than would an increase of 
 premium, while it would, at the same time, reduce the ulti- 
 mate cost of insurance to the property owner and lessen 
 the fire waste of the country. In fact, a reduction of one 
 dollar in the loss account is of more importance than an 
 increase of two dollars in premium. The one is all of it 
 net profit; the other a gross income, which includes a cer- 
 tain expense and a possible loss. 
 
 PREVENTABLE FIRES. 
 
 A system of rating which places a penalty upon defects 
 of construction and faults of management such as the 
 accumulation of rubbish in cellars, garrets, rear yards and 
 alleys, swinging gas brackets, sawdust on floors, ashes in 
 wooden boxes and barrels, open lights in show windows, 
 etc., etc., would tend directly to reduce the fire loss. Such 
 faults will never be corrected by preaching sermons. 
 
 They should be charged for and followed up by inspec- 
 tion at whatever cost. It is setter to pay for man's 
 
 WORK THAN FOR FIRE'S WORK. 
 
 It was the accumulation of rubbish in a rear yard which 
 led to the destruction of the City of Fargo, Dakota, and 
 if the owner of the premises had been charged a higher 
 rate of insurance for such fault it may safely be assumed 
 that the destruction of that city would have been prevented. 
 
 In an ordinary city of twenty millions of mercantile 
 values (and this would be a large estimate for many cities 
 of the country) a single fire costing a hundred thousand 
 dollars means a 50 per cent, loss ratio on an average rate 
 of 1 per cent., which, even with full insurance, would yield 
 
722 
 
 an annual premium of only $200,000. One additional fire 
 of tliis size would mean a one hundred per cent, loss ratio, 
 leaving nothing for expenses or profit. 
 
 PREVENTING CONFLAGRATIONS. 
 
 A discriminating schedule which recognizes faults of 
 construction would improve the buildings of the country to 
 an extent which would materially reduce the number of 
 fires which, under present conditions, extend beyond the 
 buildings in which they start, despite the efforts of Fire 
 Departments to control them. If one-half the conflagration 
 losses of the past could have been saved — and proper con- 
 struction of an inexpensive character would have saved 
 this proportion of them — the Companies in this one direc- 
 tion alone would have realized a fair profit. There could 
 be no better illustration of this fact than in the difference 
 between the cost to a single Company of the great Boston 
 tire of November, 1872, as compared with that of November, 
 1889. In the latter fire the loss of the company was 
 $40,000, whereas in the former it was over $800,000. And 
 it may safely be said that the difference in destruction was 
 due to the one fact that in the pathway of the '89 fire was a 
 building of superior construction, which enabled the Fire 
 Department to control the conflagration. 
 
 Twenty per cent. (20 %) of the losses of Companies, year 
 by year, on mercantile risks are from exposures; one-half of 
 this saved would equal 5 per cent, profit on the premiums. 
 
 BUILDING LAWS. 
 
 A system of schedule rating which charges and collects 
 from both owner and tenant, a yearly penalty in the shape 
 of a rate-charge for faults of construction, occupancy and 
 management, would prove more efficient for the enforcement 
 ot building laws than the laws themselves, which often, 
 through the influence of builders and architects, are 
 deprived, before enactment, of all penalty provisions and, 
 even in the case of important cities, are simply man- 
 datory. To conduct the business of fire insurance on a 
 basis which docs not penalize bad construction is to con- 
 duct it on lines which make it dangerous to society. If 
 property owners, architects and builders are led to ignore 
 obviously correct systems of construction, because of the 
 fact that they can secure insurance as cheaply as if they 
 
723 
 
 build more correctly, the natural outcome will be that 
 entire cities will be subjected to the dangers of sweeping 
 conflagrations. Whatever may be the rights of an 
 individual as to the construction of a building owned by 
 him in the center of a ten-acre lot, there can be no question 
 that every man should be required, in the compact portions 
 of cities, where the burning of his own structure may 
 endanger that of his neighbor, to build in accordance with 
 well-known laws as to the prevention and control of fires 
 Indeed, no building should be permitted in the compact 
 portion of a city which would not effectually and safely 
 cremate its own contents without injury to its neighbor. 
 
 CONFINING FIRES TO FLOORS. 
 
 If buildings should be constructed in accordance with 
 the standard described in the Universal Mercantile Schedule, 
 or even on a plan approaching this standard, as to floors, 
 enclosed stairways and elevators, etc., fires, in the majority 
 of cases, would be confined to the floors on which they 
 start. It may safely be assumed that one-tenth of the 
 losses which would be saved in this way if fires could be 
 confined to single floors would yield a handsome profit to 
 the Companies. 
 
 These three lines of thought in the direction of securing 
 a reduced loss ratio throughout the country, reveal pos- 
 sibilities which dwarf considerations of improved premium 
 accounts ; for it may safely be claimed that if the Uni- 
 versal Schedule did not raise rates in any section it would 
 increase the profits of the Companies without imposing 
 additional burdens upon the assured. 
 
 IMPROVED FIRE RECORD. 
 
 REDUCED HATES FOR REDUCED LOSSES. 
 
 It may be asked, at this point, what action should be 
 taken in case this forecast of the future should prove the 
 true one and it should be found that losses would be 
 reduced. A far-seeing underwriter has suggested that it 
 would clearly be wise to recognize it by a percentage 
 reduction of the premiums of succeeding years so soon as 
 say two years of successive low loss ratio have warranted a 
 belief in an improvement in city conditions. This would 
 practically place the whole matter on a three-year basis, 
 because two years would have been assured without reduc- 
 tion and the first reduction would be on the third year. 
 
According to the methods of the past rates, following a 
 reduced loss ratio, have usually broken in demoralized 
 competition and have been cut in two below the middle. 
 Would it not be a more intelligent method of treating 
 such improved conditions to forestall demoralization, make 
 a virtue out of a necessity and voluntarily give a reduction 
 in rate of i per cent, for each i per cent, that the loss ratio 
 goes below 55 per cent., and so impress property owners 
 with our fairness and, at the same time, with the fact that 
 they are directly interested in preventing fires and in con- 
 trolling them ? 
 
 We should then have a new factor in the business of 
 insurance, altogether wanting under existing methods — 
 co-operation on the part of citizens to prevent fires, to 
 improve fire departments and water supply and to punish 
 fraud and incendiarism. Twelve intelligent citizens in a 
 jury box would not then ignore convincing proof of inten- 
 tional burning and fraud upon Insurance Companies. 
 
 That the companies could afford such a reduction will 
 be seen from the following computation: 
 
 Let us suppose an average rate of 1 per cent, and a 
 loss ratio reduced to 40 per cent, instead of 55 per cent. 
 A reduction in rate of 15 per cent, (or 1 per cent, for each 
 1 per cent, of reduction of loss ratio below 55 per cent.) 
 would mean an 85-cent rate, in place of 100 cents ; but 
 the 40 cents of loss would be 55 per cent, of a 72-cent 
 rate, so that the Company would still have a margin of 
 13 cents, with its policy-holders satisfied. This margin 
 would provide safely for the element of any simple good 
 luck in the experience of a city. 
 
 In case the record of the city should change for the 
 worse in a subsequent year, property owners could easily 
 be convinced that the Companies could no longer afford 
 to allow the deduction, and the majority of them would 
 address themselves to the task of improving the record of 
 the city in their own interest, instead of spending their 
 \ime, as they do now, in denouncing Insurance Companies 
 as " trusts" and in securing adverse legislation. 
 
 Under this system, moreover, how easy would it be to 
 answer the objections invariably raised to any increase in 
 rates on the ground that they are not needed. It would be 
 possible for the underwriter to say : " If you are right 
 and we are wrong, and results show that the loss ratio of 
 
725 
 
 this city is less than 55 per cent, of the premiums, you 
 will get 1 per cent, reduction for each 1 per cent, that it is 
 less, and will have a practical readjustment of rates on your 
 own proposition." 
 
 For the first time in the history of the business the per- 
 centage of loss to premium would become significant and 
 important. At present it is simply interesting. An average 
 loss ratio of 50 per cent., for example, may conceal the 
 fact that many of the classes are costing the Companies 100 
 per cent, of the premiums, while others, with low loss ratios, 
 are helping to pay for them and to reduce the average 
 percentage. Under a system of uniform schedule rating, 
 however, an improvement in the percentage of loss to 
 premium would indicate that all policy-holders — those hav- 
 ing poor risks as well as those having good ones — were 
 entitled to a pro-rata reduction in rate, since the owners 
 of bad risks could claim that they had contributed pro-rata 
 to the premium account in rates based upon merit and 
 demerit, and so had paid for the faults of their risks. 
 
 Inasmuch as the Schedule recognizes the previous fire 
 record in computing the key-rate of the city, it is eminently 
 proper and only fair, that if the record should improve — 
 and it is an observed fact in connection with schedules 
 which penalize faults of construction and management that 
 the loss record does improve — the entire system of rates of 
 the city ought, in justice to property-owners, to be adjusted 
 to the improved condition. Underwriters have heretofore 
 made this adjustment by abandoned tariffs and broken rates, 
 without securing anything whatever in return. The plan 
 outlined would secure in return for the reduction in rate, 
 the hearty and sympathetic co-operation of all property- 
 owners, who would take a proper civic pride in the record 
 of the city. 
 
 Does not this view of the matter present the ultimate 
 and successful solution of the difficult problem of rating 
 in the United States ? 
 
 Is it not true, as a simple abstract proposition, that any 
 rating system, the Universal or any other, must recognize 
 the existing fire record of the territory or city at the time 
 of applying it, and afterward, in case the fire record im- 
 proves, recognize the improvement ? If the regular line 
 tariff Companies do not recognize it, the non-tariff Companies 
 certainly will. Is it, indeed, possible to conceive of any 
 
72G 
 
 successful or permanent treatment of insurance rates which, 
 while it takes notice of an unfavorable existing fire record, 
 does not recognize a subsequent improved fire record, and 
 between these two maintain a uniform schedule or measure 
 for fixing rates. With such a scheme of rating it makes little 
 difference, indeed, whether or not the intermediate measure 
 or schedule produces rates which are too high, if only the 
 schedule be uniform and rate all risks alike, for the adjust- 
 ment can easily be made, year by year, according to the 
 ratio of loss to premium. 
 
 Any schedule which raises the rates of a city will be 
 regarded with disfavor by property-owners and, in the 
 majority of cases, by the local Agents as well. With the 
 certainty of reduction on a favorable fire record, however, 
 criticism is disarmed and competition of non-tariff Com- 
 panies will be less effectual for breaking prices. Not only 
 will such competitors hesitate to cut a rate which is kept 
 uniformly adjusted to a 5 per cent, profit, but intelligent 
 property-owners themselves can be made to see that as their 
 security — the thing they pay for — depends upon adequate 
 rates rather than upon capital, they will be unwise in entrust- 
 ing their premium money to concerns which claim to be 
 better judges of risks and rates than all other underwriters 
 put together. 
 
 UNIFORMITY IN RATING. 
 
 If a system of schedule rating had no other merit than 
 that of uniformity, this feature of it would alone be an 
 important argument in its favor. It must certainly be 
 conceded for the Universal Schedule what is claimed 
 for it — that it measures all risks, no matter where located, 
 alike. If, in the opinion of any, it produces rates which 
 are too high, all must be too high ; if any are too 
 low, all must be too low. Being a uniform measure of 
 conditions and of prices, it offers, in the line of thought 
 already presented, the easy and effectual solution of the 
 difficult problem of how to meet conditions of reduced loss 
 ratio. By such deduction as has been suggested it can be 
 adjusted to a high fire record, or to a low one. 
 
727 
 
 THE PREVIOUS FIRE RECORD 
 
 for a five year period should govern the fixing of the key- 
 rate of a city to cover any possible moral or unknown haz- 
 ard. To this end the committee provided for an increase 
 of the key-rate of a city by adding to it twenty per cent, 
 of its amount for each one dollar of loss in excess of $5 
 per $1,000 of insurance, as explained on pages 19 and 20. 
 
 The percentage of loss to premium is, of course, a 
 changeable and unreliable quantity, varying with the rate 
 obtained. The amount at risk and the amount of loss per 
 *ach $1,000 at risk, on the other hand, present reliable 
 bases for determining what the rate of premium should be. 
 For example, in the supposable case stated, of a town 
 with $20,000,000 of mercantile values at risk, and a fire 
 loss per annum of $100,000, it is clear that the annual 
 loss is $5 per $i,ooo, but while this would be 50 per cent, 
 of the premium at an average rate of 1 per cent, (which 
 would yield a premium of $200,000), it would be 100 per 
 cent, of the premium if the average rate should happen to 
 be 50 cents per $100. A loss of $140,000 per annum in 
 a town of $20,000,000 of values (a good sized town) would 
 be at a rate of $7 per $1,000 at risk, and therefore $2 in 
 excess of normal ($5 per $1,000), but it would be only 
 50 per cent, of the premium if the average rate should 
 happen to be 140 (which would yield $280,000 premium) 
 and fully 70 per cent, of the premium at a 1 per cent, 
 rate. If the latter should happen to be the average rate 
 prevailing, it is clear it should be raised 40 per cent, 'co 
 140 in order to maintain the ratio of loss to premium at 50 
 per cent. The scale of increase should thus be 20 per 
 cent, for each $1 of loss per $1,000 at risk in excess of $5. 
 See No. 30. If the percentage of loss to premium were 
 regarded as a reliable feature, a town whose insurable values 
 were $20,000,000 and fire losses $140,000 on a premium 
 of $280,000 would be considered normal, the loss being 
 only 50 per cent, of the premium, whereas the lowness of 
 percentage would be simply due to the fact that the average 
 rate obtained was unduly high (140), and not to the fact that 
 the rate of burning was low, the latter being, in fact, so 
 abnormally large ($7 per $1,000) as to make the loss 70 per 
 cent, on a premium rate of 1 per cent., which may be 
 regarded as a fairly full average rate. 
 
 The previous five years fire record can be easily deter* 
 
728 
 
 mined by the books of say five of the agents doing the 
 largest mercantile business, by picking out of their registers 
 the amount insured on mercantile buildings and stocks and 
 calculating the amount of loss per $1,000 of insurance. 
 Their business would be a safe sample of the whole. 
 
 The addition of 20 per cent, of the " key-rate " for each 
 $1 in excess of $5 per $1,000 is taken and not 20 per 
 cent, of the final rate obtained by the schedule because, 
 from the key-rate forward, the schedule makes proper 
 charges for such faults of construction and management 
 as may, in the past, have caused the abnormal loss record, 
 and to add, therefore, 20 per cent, of the final rate would 
 be to charge twice, which would be unjust. 
 
 IT WILL TEND TO PREVENT RATE CUTTING. 
 
 No company has a percentage of fire loss to earned 
 premium low enough to justify it in writing five per cent, 
 below the discriminating rate obtained by a proper 
 Schedule, and it could be clearly demonstrated to an intel- 
 ligent property owner from the Company's own sworn 
 statement to the Insurance Department, that an offer to 
 write 10 or 20 per cent, less was evidence that the Company 
 cutting was either ignorant as to the business or reckless as 
 to consequences. A merchant would soon realize that upon 
 adequate rates, not less than upon substantial capitals and 
 net surpluses, depends his security, and that to accept an 
 inadequate rate from a Companv pursuing a cut-throat policy 
 would be as foolish as to deposit money with an unreliable 
 custodian in order to draw interest dividends out of his own 
 principal. An intelligent and accurate Schedule, therefore, 
 based upon combined experience, is calculated to prevent 
 the loss of business by reckless rate-cutting. Unless a sys- 
 tem of rating goes thoroughly enough into detail to consider 
 every feature of a risk, however, the rate cutter is given a 
 decided advantage. If the system of rating in any locality 
 be that of short schedules which do not go carefully into 
 details of construction, &c, the best risks must necessarily be 
 brought up to the average rate of the average class, and 
 where such systems prevail there will always be rate cutting. 
 In the case of area, for example, if the Schedule did not 
 make a difference between areas cut off by curtain or cross 
 walls, as compared with open areas, any competing com- 
 pany could intelligently argue to a man having a building so 
 
729 
 
 sub-divided that the system of the Schedule was incorrect 
 to this extent and unjust to his risk. If it should overlook 
 proximity to hydrants or to fire engine houses or odier 
 features, the door would be left open for intelligent dis- 
 crimination in price, and the company getting the risk 
 would deserve it. Wherever a Local Board rates the choice 
 risks of exceptional construction according to an average 
 standard, the non-board companies will secure them. 
 
 RATING BY DISINTERESTED EXPERTS. 
 
 One of the most practical, experienced and successful 
 underwriters of this country, lately suggested the advisa- 
 bility of forming a Stock Company to rate the entire country 
 on the basis of the Universal Schedule, and sell the rates to 
 Insurance Companies, making charges, as do the Mercantile 
 Agencies, for specific rating slips and further detailed in- 
 formation. His argument was that no Company could afford 
 to be without such information, and that agreements to get 
 the rates would practically be a logical and inevitable 
 sequence of the plan : if, indeed, he argued, any agreements 
 would be necessary, in view of the fact that most of the 
 present rate cutting grows out of honest ignorance as to 
 what the faults of risks are and what their rates ought to be. 
 
 WILL THE UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE RAISE OR 
 LOWER RATES ? 
 The question has frequently been asked, will the Uni- 
 versal Schedule have the effect of raising or reducing rates. 
 The only answer that can obviously be made to this is, that 
 if the Schedule is correct and there are any rates which are 
 too low it will raise them ; if there are any which are too 
 high it will reduce them. It is like any other standard of 
 measure. A two-foot rule would increase or decrease off- 
 hand estimates of distances according to the accuracy or 
 inaccuracy of estimates. It is simply necessary, therefore, 
 by way of reply, to ask two questions — are there any rates 
 in the country too high or too low, and is the Schedule 
 correct ? 
 
 ADVANTAGES TO LOCAL AGENTS. 
 
 Under a schedule system of making rates the Agent can 
 explain to a dissatisfied assured the reason for his rate, 
 
in many cases Indicating to him how he can, at small 
 expense, reduce his rate by improving his risk. At present, 
 much of the dissatisfaction of property-owners grows out 
 of. the fact that no one can explain why they are required 
 to pay more than others in the same line of trade and under 
 conditions which seem to them identical with their own. It 
 is safe to assume that competition will always prevent 
 exorbitant rates, and that, therefore, equitable rates which 
 can be explained and defended are directly in the interest 
 of the local Agents, and will contribute to their comfort 
 as well as to their profit. 
 
 There is a further advantage to Agents in the fact that 
 where a town is rated under the Universal Schedule, long 
 titles of occupancy and whole paragraphs explaining reduc- 
 tions or changes in rates can be represented by the use of 
 numbers, saving time in letter writing to the Company. 
 It would be found in practice that Companies would 
 require less explanation of a rate, knowing the system by 
 which it is made, than under present systems, where the 
 Agent is subjected to much trouble and loss of time in 
 making explanations to his Company. 
 
 SPEED IN RATING. 
 
 The objection has been made to the Universal Schedule 
 that it requires more time and, therefore, money, to fix rates 
 under it than by prevailing methods; but those who framed 
 it claim for it, and those experts who have been applying 
 it will support the claim, that whatever extra time is 
 required in rating will be found to be necessary for obtain- 
 ing the facts of the risk in order to apply the schedule. 
 In other words, whatever excess time is consumed in the 
 process is that employed in investigating each risk from 
 cellar to garret. It surely is not necessary to defend this 
 feature of it. Any system of rating which does not 
 thoroughly investigate a building and its various details of 
 construction, occupancy and fire appliances is not a system 
 of rating, but a system of guessing. When once the facts 
 of a risk have been obtained the rate can be computed in 
 less time by the Schedule than by any memorized process 
 which affects to deal with the various features. It will be 
 found in practice, that an expert can rate a risk more quickly 
 
731 
 
 with the Schedule than without it. By rating a risk is, of 
 course, meant the fixing of a proper price or figure upon 
 each feature of it after a thorough inspection of the building 
 from roof to cellar floor. Any test of comparative speed in 
 rating should require, without argument, this "scratch line" 
 as a starting point; the expert is to make the tour of the 
 building, is to observe everything that ought to be seen and 
 to fix a price upon it — the uniform price for the same feat- 
 ure in all cases. 
 
 He will rate more quickly with the Schedule for the 
 reason that he will lose no time in considering or estimating 
 any detail. It will be found that, at any point where the one 
 rating by memory stops to recall his fixed charge for a par- 
 ticular feature — open staircase, wooden chute, elevator, well- 
 hole, etc., etc., (it being assumed that he has a fixed and 
 uniform charge) — he will be passed by an expert using 
 the Schedule, who does not need to scratch his head in 
 reflection, but has, already fixed for his convenience, prices 
 made in advance by hundreds of competent men. 
 
 The objections made to the Schedule that it will take 
 more time to apply it are generally found to emanate from 
 men who contemplate a quick method of fixing rates by 
 "jump " estimates. Men whose wives would not trust them 
 to go to market without a memorandum list of items to be 
 ordered, will yet complacently essay the task of rating, 
 off-hand, a risk having a hundred features, each of which 
 should be carefully considered in making the rate. 
 
 A competent expert will compute the rate of the most 
 complicated mercantile risk by the rating slip inside of two 
 minutes. 
 
 EMPLOYMENT OF MECHANICS. 
 
 Where a city is to be rated it will be found economical, 
 botli in time and money, to employ mechanics, intelligent 
 carpenters or masons, to ascertain those facts as to features 
 of construction, quality of bricks and mortar, thickness of 
 walls, floors, flues, etc., etc., which these men can attend 
 to as well as, if not better than, insurance experts. There 
 is the further advantage that they can be hired for the 
 time needed, by the day, at trade wages, and their services 
 dispensed with so soon as the information is obtained. 
 
IS THE SCHEDULE COMPLICATED AND HARD 
 TO UNDERSTAND? 
 
 That is not the question. Is it right ? Is it the correct 
 way to make rates? If so, no one should shirk the task of 
 studying it in a business where the margin of profit is so 
 close, and where not merely success but solvency depends 
 upon accuracy. 
 
 The business of insurance is no child's play. It involves 
 considerations of architecture, fire prevention and extinc- 
 tion, chemistry, physics, arts, manufactures, commerce, and 
 every enterprise of man, and the measure of these considera- 
 tions with mathematical certainty. The schedule is not 
 harder to understand than the school-boy task of long 
 division which, however, was difficult in its novelty. 
 
 The preparation of the schedule has developed the most 
 lamentable differences of opinion prevailing among experts, 
 on points where the ignorance of those making mistakes has 
 resulted in broken prices, which might have been main- 
 tained intact if the knowledge of all could have been col- 
 lated and promulgated for the benefit of each, as it has 
 been in the various provisions and rules of the Universal 
 Schedule. 
 
 There could be no better illustration of the necessity of 
 a Schedule of this character and of the importance of con- 
 ference for securing combined judgment than in the present 
 methods of rating stocks prevalent throughout the country, 
 by which the costly experience of the companies as to the 
 relative susceptibility to damage of various stocks is entirely 
 ignored. It is mortifying to confess, what we may as well, 
 however, frankly admit, that the major part of the knowl- 
 edge held by underwriters £o-day has been gained through 
 the simple process by which a child learns to dread the fire. 
 For want of a proper dissemination of this dearly bought 
 knowledge, which too often lies useless at the head offices, 
 the most damageable stocks are rated, in many cities, by 
 local underwriters, at figures as low as those fixed for whole- 
 sale boots and shoes, package dry goods, &c. Thus, facts 
 which have cost the Insurance Companies millions of dol- 
 lars, and which are well known at the home offices, are not 
 availed of for the conduct of their business through their 
 agencies, the rates being made in the various cities and 
 towns of the country by their local agents, who, while hon- 
 
733 
 
 estly desirous of fixing proper prices, have no experience to 
 guide them. Being the practical rate-makers of their com- 
 panies, they are more potential for determining the prices 
 of the business than the Companies they represent. 
 
 If a merchant should purchase a million dollars' worth 
 of goods, Silks, Velvets, Satins and Calicoes, turn them over 
 to the clerks in the different departments of his store with 
 instructions to sell them at such prices as they should 
 choose, withholding from them all information as to cost 
 and depriving them of yard-sticks and other measures of 
 quantity, his action would be regarded as sufficient evidence 
 of mental aberration to warrant his being forthwith placed 
 in an insane asylum ; and yet this is practically what is 
 being done to-da}., in the insurance business, in hundreds 
 of cities and towns throughout the country. The com- 
 panies furnish the capital while the local agents sell the 
 policies at such prices as they choose, without reference to 
 quantity or the percentage of insurance to value. The 
 most intelligent and conscientious among them, willing and 
 anxious to fix fair rates and make accurate guesses at the 
 facts, are deprived cf the necessary information as to cost 
 which lies useless in the head offices ! Surely the time has 
 arrived for a change in such business methods, and the 
 accumulated knowledge of a century ought to be combined 
 and utilized, by conference, for the good of all. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF SECURING COMBINED 
 JUDGMENT. 
 
 In view of the fact that no one Company, and certainly no 
 one underwriter, can claim to have sufficient experience or 
 knowledge for rating all classes of risks, it will not be denied 
 that, in a business where an adequate price is so absolutely 
 essential not merely to profit, but to solvency, rates should 
 be fixed after a wide canvass to secure combined judgment. 
 In no other way could any tariff be secured which would be 
 more than approximately correct. There was a period in 
 the business when wall-paper, for example, was regarded as 
 a non-hazardous stock ; in fact, only within a few years has 
 it been known that the claims for water and smoke damage 
 are exceptionally large and difficult to adjust, and to-day the 
 knowledge of this fact is limited to a few. A claim was 
 recently fixed by appraisal at a figure over $70,000, for 
 water and smoke damage on a stock of wall-paper, which the 
 
adjusters supposed was injured only to the extent of a few 
 hundreds. 
 
 The same remark is true of hops in bales, and many other 
 stocks, which are, to-day, in various towns and cities 
 throughout the country, regarded as choice risks, and rated 
 as low as wholesale boots and shoes and other non-hazardous 
 package goods. 
 
 There could be no better illustration of the importance of 
 conference than was to be found in an incident of the last 
 convention of the various committees on the Schedule, held 
 in the City of New York in November, 1892. On an im- 
 portant matter, involving the question of an allowance of 
 5 per cent., the convention was found to be nearly equally 
 divided. The majority, however, in the debate which ensued, 
 quickly convinced the minority of their error, and the final 
 vote taken was a unanimous one. No comment was made 
 upon the significance of the fact that, while 5 percent, meas- 
 ures the entire profit over incurred loss and expense on the 
 earned premium, nearly one-half of the underwriters in the 
 room would have accepted the hazard under debate at a rate 
 lower by the entire measure of profit than the other half. 
 They would have done this honestly, and the incident en- 
 forces the argument that inasmuch as it may safely be 
 claimed a majority of underwriters would not cut a rate be- 
 low a figure yielding a margin of 5 per cent., that large 
 amount of rate cutting v/hich proceeds from ignorance and 
 not from greed, would be prevented by a comparison of 
 judgment and experience, and an interchange of knowledge. 
 
 The necessity of a printed list of stock rates should 
 require no argument. There are more than twelve hundred 
 different hazards of occupancy enumerated in the table. 
 Even if an underwriter were capable of fixing correct 
 charges for all of them and were independent of the knowl- 
 edge and judgment of others, he would not be capable of 
 remembering them one week with another. If they are 
 right they are right, and ought not to be altered when once 
 decided upon. A difference of 5 per cent, would mean 
 profit or loss. The average rate of the entire list does not 
 exceed 50 cents ; a variation, therefore, of 5 cents (which 
 would be \o<fe of 50 cents), becomes a fatal matter in a busi- 
 ness where 5 per cent, of the earned premium measures 
 the entire profit realized above incurred losses and expenses. 
 In no other business are salesmen permitted to ignore 
 
735 
 
 carefully considered lists of prices — memory is not relied 
 upon. The salesman in a hardware store, for example, is 
 not permitted to sell even the single item of screws, ex- 
 cept by reference to a price list, and, lest he should make 
 a mistake, even with this in his hands, the bookkeeping 
 department is required to check off prices before bills are 
 forwarded. 
 
 The statement is frequently made that schedules or 
 lists of risks and various classes of merchandise, with 
 rates named, are not necessary in insurance, and that in- 
 surance experts can rate the various classes of merchan- 
 dise to be found in warehouses and the various classes 
 of hazards more intelligently by off-hand opinion than 
 by a schedule systematically made and lists of prices 
 carefully fixed : 
 
 I most emphatically do not believe in expert off-hand 
 opinions as to rates, and especially as to that feature of a 
 rate which measures the susceptibility to damage by 
 fire, water and smoke. It is true, as claimed, that an 
 expert in tobacco or in tea or in flour, or in any article 
 of merchandise, becomes by long practice able to de- 
 termine slight differences in value ; but it must be re- 
 membered that the insurance expert cannot devote a 
 lifetime to a particular class of merchandise, but must 
 know off-hand the value and susceptibility to damage 
 of hundreds of different articles. Of course, no one man 
 can know much ; it is only by canvassing for opinions 
 and fixing the majority view in a printed list that any- 
 thing approaching accuracy can be secured. 
 
OCCUPANCY 
 
 CHARGES, 
 
 LIST OF HAZARDS, UNIVERSAL SCHEDULE. 
 
 The following list of hazards has been compiled with the intention 
 of making it as comprehensive as possible. It is believed that none 
 worth considering has been omitted. Each class has been given 
 the National Board Analysis or Classification number, which can be 
 used for analyzing the fire-cost (z. e. fire loss per $100 of amount in- 
 sured ) so that the fire-cost not merely of such general classes as 
 crockery, clothing, &c, may be determined, but the figures of 
 loss on sub-divisions of these classes, some of which differ from 
 each other almost as vitally as the general classes themselves. For 
 example, class No. 807, Wholesale Drugs, without compounding, 
 etc., (Dry Drugs only), should not be charged with losses on 806, 
 Wholesale DniLTs, with compounding. 
 
 The old classification "Merchandise, extra hazardous," comprised 
 too many different hazards to make loss figures of the class of any 
 value whatever. 
 
 It has been claimed that risks of a cli.ss differ so much as to exposures 
 &c, that figures of fire cost would not indicate relative susceptibility 
 to damage, but, in answer to tin.-, it should lie remembered that 
 while risks of the various classes, Groceries, Dry-Goods, Apothecary 
 Stocks, etc., vary as to combinations with other risks in the same 
 buil.liug and also as to exposures, the average environment or ex- 
 posure combinations of a class vary but little as a total. So large 
 a number of risks of each class, 50,000, for example, might be 
 si c a :ed by co-operation of a dozen large Companies, that while a 
 particular grocery stock might be exposed by a dwelling house 
 during one year and by a planing-mill during the next year, there 
 would be, in so large a number of ri >ks, compensating changes, and 
 another grocery stock exposed by a planing-mill during the first year 
 would be exposed by a dwelling during the second. The average 
 fire cost per $100 of insurance on Grocery Stocks, therefore, while 
 including the average exposure or environment hazard would, based 
 upon a large experience, be an absolutely safe figure on which to 
 estimate the relative susceptibility to damage feature, which has so 
 much to do with rates. Moreover, the fire cost, including the 
 average exposure, would be a perfectly safe figure for accepting 
 or rejecting risks, especially as the underwriter has the opportunity 
 of scrutinizing the exposure hazard of each risk as it comes up 
 for insurance and of rejecting the more undesirable, it' he cannot 
 get a higher rate. 
 
I O I 
 
 THE FOLLOWING TABLE OF OCCUPANCY CHARGES CAN BE 
 USED WITH ANY SYSTEM OF RATING AS WELL 
 AS WITH THE UNIVERSAL MER- 
 CANTILE SCHEDULE. 
 
 Being intended to measure, by the figure in the first column, 
 the "ignitibility" and "combustibility" features of contents, and 
 in the second column the third, "susceptibility" to damage, they 
 can be added to a basis rate made by any other schedule for an 
 unoccupied building, as well as to a basis or key rate computed 
 by the U. M. S. 
 
 These three features of a risk may be treated as the super- 
 structure of a rate, the foundation of which would be a figure 
 which recognizes construction, faults of management, environ- 
 ment, fire department, etc., etc., the resulting rate being higher 
 or lower exactly according to the system of underlying unoccu- 
 pied building rate and according to the estimate made of peculiar 
 local facts or environment. Even if the system of computing 
 the unoccupied building rate, therefore, should differ from that 
 of the Universal Schedule, the charges in the two columns 
 measuring ignitibility, combustibility and susceptibility of con- 
 tents will be regarded as relatively correct, one with another, 
 and that the foundation rate to be added to these would be the 
 only factor which would differ from the U. M. S. no matter 
 what system should be followed. 
 
 A rough, off-hand estimate of what the final rate would be on 
 an average risk, computed according to the Universal Mercantile 
 Schedule, can be made by adding to the rates of the two columns, 
 for building and stock, 50 cents in the case of brick buildings of 
 average area, height and construction, and 125 cents for frame 
 buildings. Most risks would be entitled to deductions from the 
 resulting rate for water pails, force pumps and other fire appli- 
 ances, and, in the case of buildings coming under the protection 
 of good fire departments, a deduction of possibly 30^ from the 
 final rate would probably be secured under the U. M. S. 
 Buildings of large area, exceeding 5,000 square feet, and (or) 
 over five stories high — height and area being cumulative — 
 would, of course, have a larger rate under the Universal 
 Schedule. 
 
If it is desired to fix a round rate for an entire plant, it should 
 be intelligently made with reference to the porportion of the 
 policy covering on building and contents. Specific amounts on 
 each, however, should he insured in the case of special hazards, 
 as in other risks, unless with a l ull co-insurance clause. There 
 is no more reason for insuring the building and contents of a 
 manufactory under one item than for insuring the stock of a 
 dry-goods store and the building under one amount. The un- 
 derwriter, for example, who insures the building and product 
 of a silk mill at a round rate obtained by taking one-half of the 
 sum of the two rates, where the amount of insurance on the 
 stock is more than one-half of the amount of his policy, is either 
 indifferent to profit or does not know the difference between a 
 pink ribbon and a pink brickbat. 
 
 Whatever be the opinion formed, however, as to the correct- 
 ness of the rates named, this list of hazards will prove valuable 
 as the most comprehensive of any in print, and the feature of 
 alphabetical arrangement — the order being carried to the fourth 
 letter, for facilitating quick reference — will it is believed, be 
 appreciated f< >r other purposes beside the important one of rating. 
 In addition to this careful arrangement, each risk, as will be 
 seen, has been given a number, which facilitates quicker ref- 
 erence even than by the alphabetical arrangement. This num- 
 ber will save time in writing long titles, and serve for experience 
 analysis, as already explained. 
 
 F. C. M. 
 
HOW TO USE THE FOLLOWING TABLE. 
 
 Rule. From the rate of Building occupied, No, 128, deduct one fourth 
 of the deficiencies and then add the figure n..med in the second column of 
 the table for the stock to be rated, proceeding with deductions Nos. 190, 
 191, etc., as per rating slip. 
 
 a 
 
 3 6 
 c * 
 « 2 
 
 So 
 
 o < 
 
 No. 
 
 400 
 
 401 
 402 
 
 403 
 404 
 405 
 406 
 407 
 
 408 
 409 
 410 
 411 
 
 412 
 413 
 414 
 415 
 415 
 417 
 
 418 
 419 
 
 420 
 421 
 422 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY". 
 Note. — Where stocks are entered in two different places, alphabet- 
 ically, the reference in each to the other is intended to prevent over- 
 sight in case of subsequent revisions of the table, so as to insure that 
 if a rate be changed in one place it shall be in all. For example. 
 Chinese and Japanese goods are entered under both C and J, with 
 a reference in each place to the other. Only one number, however 
 isassigned ioboth titles for Fire Cost Analysis. 
 
 To the Rate at 
 Nos. 127 & 128 as 
 ascertained by 
 the Schedule. 
 
 & S 9 
 
 Z 3 3;- 
 
 GO O^ 3 
 
 o a a 
 
 < 
 
 Academies and Private Schools on upper floors of 
 
 mercantile buildings, in cities, 
 
 " and Seminaries in cities, 
 
 " " " " country, 
 
 Acids, (see Warehouse, Nos. 1800, 1825) 
 
 " Manuf'y* 
 
 Adze Manuf'y. (see Hardware Manuf'y) 
 
 Agricultural Implements, Stocks of* 
 
 " " Manuf'y* Steam Power, . . 
 
 " " " Water " 
 
 Add for tiny exposure! by 
 Boiler Room Hazard No. , 
 527, Painting, No. 1267, 
 Dry Room, No. 814. 
 Alarms, Fire, Burglar, Annunciators &c., Manuf'y,. 
 
 " " Stocks of 
 
 Album Manuf'y., 
 
 Alcohol and High Wines, in bbls., or casks 
 
 " If included in Drug Stock, covered by drug 
 
 stock rate 
 
 Ale Houses, (see Saloons) 
 
 Ale, Beer or Porter, in bottles, cased, 
 
 " " " " " bbls., or casks 
 
 b Almshouses, brick, (see also Poor Houses,) 
 
 f " frame 
 
 Aluminum Manuf'y 
 
 Ammunition, fixed, M'f'y. (see Cart. M'f'y No. 646). 
 
 Anchors, Anvils 
 
 Animal Black, Animal Charcoal, Bone Black &c. Mfy. 
 
 Animals, Live, domestic, (see Live Stock) 
 
 " " wild, tamed or untamed, 
 
 Apartment and Flat Houses.* 
 
 " " " " Co;d and Wood Shafts 
 
 and Stairway and Eleva- 
 tor Shafts of Brick or 
 
 Fireproof 
 
 If first floor Fireproof, deduct 10 %■ 
 
 ( cuts. 
 
 125 
 50 
 10 
 200 
 150 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 25 
 
 100 
 100 
 75 
 
 300 
 50 
 
 . S 
 
 = g 2 
 
 7t, 3 0. 
 © £ 3 
 
 «~ 5 
 
 < 
 Cents. 
 
 25 
 25 
 25 
 
 75 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 
 60 
 75 
 100 
 50 
 
 45 
 50 
 40 
 25 
 25 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 300 
 
 300 
 
 *See specific Schedule fur class, pending preparation of which these rates on 
 Manufacturing and Special Hazard Risks tentative only. 
 
 +By which is meant a charge according to the facts. If the Boiler Room, for ex- 
 ample, is I ire Proof or so thoroughly isolated that it could do no damage, no charge 
 should be made to other portions of a risk. 
 
740 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 
 423 Apothecaries, Retail 
 
 424 Architects, 
 
 425 Armories, 
 
 426 Art Galleries, (see Pictures, 1314) 
 
 427 Artificial Eyes Manuf'y. (see Eyes) 
 
 428 " " Stocks of 
 
 429 " Flowers, Feathers and Millinery Stocks... 
 
 430 " " " " Manuf'y. 
 
 431 " Hair, (see Hair) 
 
 432 " " If vegetable fibre used, 
 
 433 " Limbs Manuf'y 
 
 434 " " Stocks of, 
 
 435 Artists' Materials, Dry Plates excluded (See No. 1302) 
 
 436 " Studio, 
 
 437 Asbestos Goods M'f'y 
 
 438 Asphalt and Hoofing Material M'f'y. (see Roofing M.) 
 
 439 Assayers, Gold and Silver Refiners, (see 990) 
 
 440 Asylums, Deaf, Dumb, Blind, Aged, and Orphan... 
 
 441 " Insane, 
 
 (see also Almshouses) 
 
 442 Athletic Goods, Stocks of (see Sporting Goods) 
 
 443 " " Manuf'y 
 
 444 Auction Stocks, 
 
 445 Autographic Sales Register Manuf'y. 
 
 446 " " " Stocks of 
 
 447 Awning, Sail and Tent Makers 
 
 448 Axe Factories, no wood work 
 
 449 Axle Grease in casks, kegs or cases, (see Grease). . . 
 
 450 Bag Factories,* Cloth, Cotton, sewing & print'g only 
 
 451 " " Gunny Bag, 
 
 452 " " Traveling, Leather, (No Trunk mak 
 
 ing.) 
 
 453 " " Paper 
 
 454 Bagging Factories,* 
 
 455 Bakeries, Small retail, oven outside, 
 
 456 " " " " inside, safely set 
 
 457 " " " " with doughnut and crul- 
 
 ler stoves inside, add. . 
 
 458 " Large steam, Bread, Cake or Pie, 
 
 459 " Steam Cracker, 
 
 460 Baking Powders, Manuf'y 
 
 461 Bamboo Furniture, Manuf'y, 
 
 462 " " Stocks of 
 
 463 Bananas, Ripening with gas heat, 
 
 464 " " " other than gas heat, 
 
 465 Banks and Bank furniture 
 
 466 Banners and Flags Manuf'y , 
 
 467 " " " Stocks of 
 
 468 Barber Shops 
 
 469 " Supplies with Manuf'g , 
 
 470 Bark Extract, in cans, 
 
 471 " Mills, 
 
 " See Next Page 
 
 Cents. 
 10 
 
 25 
 40 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 20 
 300 
 20 
 25 
 3? 
 
 10 
 
 100 
 10 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 30 
 25 
 30 
 
 50 
 25 
 200 
 10 
 25 
 
 25 
 125 
 100 
 60 
 50 
 10 
 25 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 300 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
741 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 liark, continued. 
 
 " piled in woods 
 
 " " near railroad, 
 
 " " near a paying city or town Tannery, same 
 
 rate as the Tannery 
 
 Barns (see Farm Property No. 876, 882 ) 
 
 Barrel Manuf'y* (see Cooper shop 733 ) 
 
 Bar-rooms (see Saloons), 
 
 Base Ball Manuf'y (see Athletic Goods), 
 
 Basket Manuf'y 
 
 " and Willow Ware Stock, 
 
 Bath-houses, City, Turkish, Russian, &c 
 
 " Public, Lake, Seashore, 
 
 " Health Springs, 
 
 Batting and Wadding, Cotton Stock, (see Wadding). 
 
 " " " Manuf'y* 
 
 Bead Work, Passementerie and Trimming Stocks, 
 
 (See 602) 
 
 Bedstead Manuf'y Brass, (see 556) 
 
 " " Iron 
 
 Wood* 
 
 i Bedding Manuf'y 
 
 Add for 527, 1267, 814 
 
 Beef Dealers (wholesale), (see Butchers, 590) 
 
 Bellhanger Shops 
 
 Bell Manuf'y, no handle work 
 
 '.' " with " " 
 
 Bellows Manuf'y 
 
 Belting and Hose Manuf'y, less than 10 hands, 
 
 over 10 hands, add 1 ct. 
 for each 10 hands in ex 
 cess of 10 to both columns 
 
 Bicycles, Factories 
 
 " with wood rim m'fg., Japanning and Enam- 
 eling 
 
 " Stocks of, without repairing 
 
 " " " with repair shop, 
 
 Billiard Cue Manuf'y 
 
 " Saloons 
 
 Table Manuf'y 
 
 Bill Posters, 
 
 Bird Cage Manuf'y 
 
 " Stores 
 
 Blacking Manuf'y (shoe) 
 
 " " (stove), no Naphtha 
 
 " " " with Naphtha 
 
 Blacksmiths, hand power, no woodwork 
 
 " and Wheelwright, 
 
 " steam power, (see Machine Shop Sched 
 
 Blank Book Manuf'y (see Book Binderies, No. 534, ). 
 
 Blast Furnace, (see Iron Furnace No. 1081, ) 
 
 Bleacheries, Dye and Print Works, *( see 827) 
 
 Blind, Sash, and Door Manuf'y* (see Sash and B.) . . 
 
 " " stocks (no m'fg) 
 
 Add for any exposure by 
 Boiler Room No. 527, Painting 
 Hazard (No. 1267,) Drying 
 (No. 814,) 
 
 Cents. 
 
 50 
 50 
 15 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 20 
 300 
 
 50 
 50 
 250 
 
 5 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 10 
 
 50 
 75 
 
 15 
 75 
 10 
 150 
 25 
 50 
 10 
 100 
 100 
 200 
 25 
 75 
 30 
 25 
 
 125 
 200 
 50 
 
 Add for 
 
 cont'nts 
 Rates. 
 
 Cents. 
 1000 
 500 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for class, 
 
742 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Block and Pump Manuf'y (see Pump Manuf'y 136T) 
 
 Boarding Houses, private 
 
 Not over 15 Bed-rooms and 
 no liar, if bar add 25 cents 
 and add 2 cents for each 
 Room in excess of 15. 
 " Large city, add 1 ct. for each 
 
 bedroom in excess of 15, 
 
 " " for employees of contractors on 
 
 Railroad, Dam, Bridge work, &c, 
 
 generally bad flues, 
 
 " " for mill hands, permanent, good 
 Hues, no stove pipes through win- 
 dows 
 
 Boat Builders, Wood, (see Paper boat, No. 1209,). . . 
 
 Boats and Boat Houses, Public, Hotels, &c 
 
 • Clubs, 
 
 " " " Private 
 
 " Stocks of for sale, no Manuf'y 
 
 Bobbin and Shuttle Manuf'y, (See Shuttle,). 
 Boiler Makers 
 
 Boiler Room Hazard — Should be cut off abso- 
 lutely in all wood-working risks, and 
 in other kinds of risks if other than coal 
 fuel is used, especially if shavings or 
 slabs are used for fuel. The furnace 
 feed should not be in line with any com- 
 munication with the main structure, but 
 at right angles to it, so that in case of a 
 "back draft" the burning contentsof the 
 furnaces cannot be thrown into the other 
 rooms of the risk. Probably the most 
 dangerous form of boiler-room is where 
 the boilers are below a ground floor, es 
 pecially if the space above the boilers be 
 used for drying purposes, piling of lum- 
 ber, etc. The masonry arches over the 
 furnace, no matter how well set, yield in 
 time to the effect of heat and cold, by ex- 
 pansion and contraction, and, in the case 
 of wood -working risks, a combustible 
 stratum of dry material collects above 
 the arch, to be eventually ignited as a 
 certainty. If boiler rooms are safely ar- 
 ranged and entirely cut off add 
 
 " " If boiler-room inside below floor of 
 main structure, in other than woodwork 
 ing risks, (No Shavings burned) 
 
 " " If boiler-room inside, below floor of 
 main structure, in wood-working risks, 
 
 " " Petroleum Fuel, see regulations 
 
 (see 419) 
 
 Bolt and Nut Works ,*(see Nut & Bolt). 
 Bone-black, f Ivory-black and Animal-black Manuf'y 
 
 Bone Mills, (usually nuisances) 
 
 Bonnet Manuf'y (see Millinery) 
 
 and Hat Frame Manuf'y 
 
 " " " Bleaching 
 
 Bookbinderies, (see Blank Book, No. 511). . . . 
 
 Book lettering, 
 
 Books and Stationery, Stocks of (see Stat'y) 
 
 Add for 
 
 Build'g 
 Kate. 
 
 Cents. 
 75 
 5 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 100 
 50 
 00 
 25 
 25 
 150 
 
 25 
 
 600 
 
 125 
 300 
 300 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 15 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for class. 
 
 tLiable to Spontaneous Combustion. 
 
743 
 
 
 
 Add foi 
 
 Add for 
 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Ruild'g 
 
 cont'nts 
 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Kate. 
 
 No. 
 
 
 ( cllts. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 
 Boots and Shoes wholesale no manufacturing 
 
 
 40 
 
 53£ 
 
 
 
 35 
 
 " " " Mf'y (see Shoe Mfy, No. 1451 &c. ] 
 
 
 
 54C 
 
 
 
 A K 
 
 45 
 
 04 J 
 
 ** " " RiiViIut nfl pirn ffp ftnlv 1thH:i 1? 
 
 
 30 
 
 KAQ 
 04iC 
 
 Ti/iftlinn- T^ct >i 111 icli tn t >n tc flfdliirci ptf» 
 
 15 
 
 75 
 
 KA% 
 04t 
 
 R/\n T lJti ip A lli.XTc 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 04*d 
 
 RriVlno* filnv* 1 AT'ltlllPv 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 040 
 
 D/iv "R 1 . w>f i fSo"!?* iotm Oio'*is* l^MV IVT'i 11 11 f \M 
 
 t 
 
 75 
 
 04t) 
 
 l"-*.)!"!^!' 11 Q 11(1 T"W~11IT£11' 
 
 9, 5 
 
 100 
 
 04 / 
 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 04C 
 
 
 95 
 
 /GO 
 
 100 
 
 549 
 
 Wooden,* packing box, hand power, . 
 
 1 OK 
 1*0 
 
 Kt\ 
 
 ou 
 
 550 
 
 " " " " " steam* " 
 
 250 
 
 100 
 
 551 
 
 " " " " " water " 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 
 add for any exposure by B. R. No. 527, 
 
 
 
 
 Painting Jso. 1207 Dry Room No. 814, 
 
 
 
 552 
 
 Braid Manuf y (Not Straw) Knitting, &c. Not ex- 
 
 
 
 
 rppiUno 1 1 fi IimiiiIq wpii vlnn - 
 
 95 
 
 60 
 
 OOo 
 
 * * ' ' Sf ro w 
 
 Aft 
 4U 
 
 60 
 
 554 
 
 Brand, Stencil and Stamp Manuf y (see Stencil),. . . . 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 555 
 
 
 40 
 
 35 
 
 kku 
 000 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 00 1 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 558 
 
 
 
 50 
 ou 
 
 559 
 
 
 40 
 
 4U 
 
 560 
 
 " " " " with " Add for any ex- 
 
 
 
 
 r»mnrp hv TCiln (Nn 1100 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ool 
 
 Tiri* •-■") -l^r*i r» flnH C^iirino. Stork , of 
 
 ad 
 
 125 
 
 ooli 
 
 "Rvi/'l;" AT *i 7i ii r \7 
 
 
 25 
 
 000 
 
 T-^rid (_t(»q r'nvpi'pn T? T? 1 ?»0 f*tc 
 
 004 
 
 ll .< f ree 175 << 
 
 
 
 Ft fin 
 000 
 
 " " toll 100 " 
 
 
 
 000 
 
 " onen or deck BR 100 " 
 
 
 
 Ken" 
 
 5o7 
 
 ii tt tt it free 70 " 
 
 
 
 568 
 
 a it t€ tt to ll OA t< 
 
 
 
 0o9 
 
 "Rri i'i n nvi W:t r*» ATim 1 1 f ' V 
 
 A A 
 
 50 
 
 570 
 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 571 
 
 " AT;irmPv 
 
 1 lO 
 
 75 
 i o 
 
 o/a 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 573 
 
 T?rnul» WfrririiQ iiri ill !Hl 1 1 f :i i * 1 1 1 rl n o* 
 
 OK 
 <o0 
 
 95 
 •CO 
 
 574 
 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 576 
 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 577 
 
 " " If pitching inside add 25 cents to 
 
 
 
 first Column. 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 578 
 
 " with wood-work handles, add 50 
 
 
 
 cents to rates of first Column 
 
 
 
 580 
 
 'Riiflri't nnH Pnil M:miif'v Mptal 
 
 At) 
 4U 
 
 ou 
 
 581 
 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 582 
 
 " " " " Wood 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 583 
 
 Builders' Risks — Construction Hazard, cliarge short 
 
 
 
 rates of 50 cts. per $100 in addition 
 
 
 
 
 to rate of risk. If risk unoccupied 
 
 
 
 
 or not rated short rates of 125 for the 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tLiaule to Spontaneous Combustion. 
 
7U 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 ]{atc. 
 
 Building Materials, Lime, Hair, Cement, &c, 
 
 N. B. — If Lime not above tide 
 water or if improperly covered 
 decline, 
 
 Bunting Manuf'y* (see also Banners, &c„ No. 466,).. 
 
 Burlap, with hand sewing only, (See 451, ) 
 
 Burial Case and Coffin Manuf'y., Metal, 
 
 " " " " Wood, 
 
 " " " " Stocks of , 
 
 Butcher Shop, no rendering or smoking, (see 489). . . 
 " " .end'g and smoking, for own trade, . . 
 
 " Supplies, Manuf'y of 
 
 Butter, Cheese and Eggs, (See Cheese &c, ) 
 
 Butterine Stock. No Rendering 
 
 " " With Rendering 
 
 Button Coloring and Finishing with Varnishing, .... 
 
 " Hole Making 
 
 " Manuf'y* Bone, Ivory, or Pearl, 
 
 Bright Metal, 
 
 " " Cloth covered, 
 
 " " Vegetable Ivory 
 
 Wood, 
 
 Buttons and Trimmings, Stocks of No. 485, 
 
 Cabinetware, Furniture, etc., no finishing or uphol- 
 stering, 
 
 " " " with finishing and up- 
 
 holstering, not less than 
 Factory*(see Fur. Facty 954). 
 
 Candle Manuf'y* 
 
 Candy and Confectionery Manuf'y* 
 
 " '• " Stores, no manufacturing 
 
 " " " " small, manufactur 
 
 ing for own retail 
 trade only 
 
 Cane Manuf'y 
 
 Canes, Whips and Umbrellas, Stocks, 
 
 " " " " with Manuf'g. No 
 
 stick work, 
 « with 
 
 stick work, 
 
 Canned Foods exclusively, stocks of (Fish, Fruits, 
 
 Meats, Vegetables,) 
 
 Canning Fact'y (Fish, Fruit, Meat, Oyster, Vegetable) 
 
 " " with tin shop 
 
 Add for Gasolene, No. 969. 
 Cap and Hat Mfy. Cloth or Felt, less than 100 hands 
 " " " " more than 100 hands add 1 
 cent to each column for 
 every 5 additional men, but 
 total rate not to exceed. . . 
 " " " Straw Goods (see Straw Goods,) 
 
 Carbon Point Works, 
 
 Card-board Manuf'y* 
 
 Card Clothing Manuf'y* 
 
 " Playing, Manuf'y* 
 
 Cars Manuf'y* 
 
 ' ' See next page. 
 
 15 
 
 60 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 
 40 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 
 175 
 
 50 
 
 20 
 
 80 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 40 
 
 60 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
745 
 
 
 CHAKtjrJia r UK Utl LrAJNt I, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 1 .11 t III g 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 
 cont'nts 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 
 Cars coiitiinu'd. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 623 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 624 
 
 
 209 
 
 100 
 
 625 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 626 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 627 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 628 
 
 
 25 
 
 frA 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 7fT 
 
 75 
 
 frA 
 50 
 
 00U 
 
 
 
 1 AA 
 
 00 1 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 
 Add for any exposure by Boiler 
 
 
 
 
 Koom, JNo. 527, .rainting, JNo.I2o7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 00,4 
 
 
 1 AA 
 
 100 
 
 frA 
 00 
 
 boo 
 
 
 110 
 
 frA 
 00 
 
 004 
 
 Carpets, Rugs and Oilcloths, with sewing, stocks of, 
 
 
 Aft 
 4U 
 
 000 
 
 Carpet Cleaning Establishments (usually ' 'nuisances"^ 
 
 1 AA 
 100 
 
 1 FrA 
 100 
 
 .•■».. 
 000 
 
 using Naphtha to sprinkle carpets. 
 
 150 
 
 ■t FtA 
 
 loO 
 
 oo/ 
 
 
 200 
 
 1 fca 
 100 
 
 638 
 
 
 50 
 
 frA 
 
 50 
 
 ft9G 
 003 
 
 « < ' * \ \ ' . , t . 1 • ' ' 
 
 A A 
 40 
 
 fta 
 00 
 
 040 
 
 «< «< 1Xm*i/1 << 
 
 Oft 
 
 40 
 
 oft 
 
 041 
 
 
 frA 
 00 
 
 frA 
 00 
 
 642 
 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 643 
 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 644 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 040 
 
 
 00 
 
 frA 
 
 646 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 646| 
 
 
 200 
 
 200 
 
 04 i 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 648 
 
 1 1 "it r _ ,.i 
 
 25 
 
 125 
 
 
 #^i^*j.i-> T ; . . . . c j i, -t ^ ft fr r „ \ 
 
 
 
 CI A 
 
 o4y 
 
 
 300 
 
 200 
 
 
 If Manufacturing Gun Cotton for sale, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 650 
 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 652 
 
 i i ft it O * , . 1 - , , , f 
 
 
 40 
 
 653 
 
 
 150 
 
 •i AA 
 100 
 
 654 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 
 Add for Boiler Room, No. 527, Drying No. 814, 
 
 
 
 
 t>Qln+ln rr "\Tr» 1 0ft7 
 
 
 
 
 Chandelier Manuf'y (see Gas Fixture M'f'y No. 966.) 
 
 FrA 
 
 00 
 
 10 
 
 656 
 
 
 25 
 
 60 
 
 
 
 
 
 658 
 
 
 OAA 
 ,400 
 
 1 AA 
 100 
 
 659 
 
 
 Ci FT 
 25 
 
 frA 
 50 
 
 660 
 
 Cheese Fact'y, Co-operative (owned by patrons,) 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 661 
 
 
 1 ftA 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 Stocks of (see Butter and Eggs 592) 
 
 
 50 
 
 662 
 
 
 an 
 
 OO 
 
 00 
 
 663 
 
 
 125 
 
 75 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
746 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued 
 
 Add for . 
 Build'g i 
 [fat.- 
 
 Chemicals (see Drugs and Warehouse Tariff). 
 
 Suit cake, sulphate of soda, sulphate of potash, 
 muriate of soda, muriate of potash, NON- 
 HAZARDOUS. 
 
 Saltpetre, nitrate of potash, nitrate of soda, nitrate 
 of ammonia, chlorate of potash and other chlor- 
 ates, if separately stored, EXTRA HAZARDOUS 
 
 Fulminates of silver or mercury, ethers, sweet spirits 
 of nitre, nitro-ber.zol, methylic alcohol, bi-sul- 
 phide of carbon, metallic "potassium, metallic 
 sodium, quick-lime, phosphorus and bi-chloride 
 of tin. Also, saltpetre, nitrate of potash, nitrate 
 of soda, nitrate of ammonia, chlorate of potash 
 and other chlorates, when stored with oilier 
 merchandise, SPECIAL. 
 
 Chewing Gum Manuf'y, 
 
 China Decorating, no firing , 
 
 " " with firing, 
 
 Chinese and Japanese Goods, (see Japanese), 
 
 Chocolate and Cocoa Manuf'y 
 
 Churches,* Brick or Stone, Furnace heated, 
 
 " " " Steam " 
 
 " Stove " 
 
 " Frame, Furnace heated, 
 
 " " Steam " 
 
 Stove " 
 
 Church Goods, Books, Statuary &c, no Manuf'y. 
 
 Organ in Church, 
 
 Cider Mills, 
 
 Cigarette Manuf'y 
 
 Cigar Manuf'y. Other than Hand Power 
 
 " Box Manuf'y (see 545) 
 
 Cigars and Tobacco, Stocks of, "Wholesale, no m'f'g 
 " " Retail,* with manufacturing for 
 
 own retail trade, hand-power 
 
 no dry room 
 
 " " with dry room 
 
 Cleaning and Dyeing, (see Dyeing, &c.) 
 
 Cloaks and Mantillas, no manufacturing 
 
 " " with " 
 
 " " cutting only, 
 
 Clock Manuf y 
 
 Clocks, Watches and Jewelry, retail 
 
 " " " wholesale 
 
 For Jewelry in safes, specific in- 
 surance and full co-insurance clause 
 deduct £ of final stock rate for 
 value of jew r elry in safes. 
 
 " Case Manuf'y 
 
 Clothing Manuf'y. Less than 100 hands 
 
 " " if more than 100 hands, add one 
 
 cent to each column for every live 
 additional men, but total rate not 
 
 to exceed 
 
 Stock in hands of working tailors (' 'floaters' 
 
 Stocks of, Retail 
 
 " " Wholesale, no manufacturing. . 
 " " " with cutting, but no 
 
 manufacturing. . . . 
 
 See next Page. 
 
 See Specific Schedule for Ciass. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 No Clothing, continued. 
 698 Clothing, Stocks of, "Wholesale, with manufacturing 
 G99 " with cutting, pressing and husheling. 
 
 700 " repairing and cleaning, small quantity 
 
 naphtha 
 
 Oil, (see Oiled Clothing, No. 1251). . . . 
 
 " Second hand, stocks of (see 1436) 
 
 Cloths, Cassimeres, Beavers, Broadcloth, Worsteds etc 
 Cloth samples pasted on Cards, with Cutting. . . 
 
 Club Houses City 
 
 " " Boating 
 
 " " Hunting and Sporting 
 
 " Rooms, with bar and restaurant 
 
 " " without bar and restaurant 
 
 Coal Breakers* 
 
 " Cannel, not protected from weather 
 
 *' " protected " " 
 
 " Mine buildings 
 
 " Pockets 
 
 " Yard and Wood yard (see also Wood) 
 
 a Coke "Works 
 
 Cobblers (see also Shoemaker) 
 
 Cocoa and Chocolate Manufy, (see Chocolate, No. 668) 
 
 Coffee and Spice Mills, special* (see Spice 1488) 
 
 " Tea and Spice Retail Stores, no roasting 
 
 " " " wholesale " " 
 
 " roasting and grinding, Standard roasters &c. 
 " " If roasters on wooden floor or floor 
 
 supported by wooden beams . 
 
 " " If wooden troughs used for hot coffee 
 
 add 25 cts. each column 
 
 Coffin Manufy* (see Burial Case Manufy, 587, 588) 
 
 Cold Storage Ware Houses Bdgs. 
 
 " " " Contents ( see Warehouse Tariff ) 
 Collar, Cuff and Shirt M'f y ( see Shirt M'f y No. 1445 ) 
 
 Colleges and Academies, 
 
 College Dormitories 
 
 " Laboratories 
 
 Color Works (see Paint Nos. 1258, 1259) 
 
 " Aniline Manufy 
 
 Comb Manufy Horn (see Rubber, Celluloid &c, ). 
 
 Tortoise Shell 
 
 Confectionery. See Candy, no manufacturing. 607 
 " Small manufacturing for own trade 
 
 "only No. 608 
 
 " manufactory No. 606 
 
 Convents and Monasteries 
 
 Cooper Shops small, hand power 
 
 " " large, steam* " (see Barrel M'f y 475) 
 
 Copper Mine Buildings 
 
 Copper Smiths 
 
 Stamp, Mills 
 
 " Tube Manufacturing 
 
 Cordage and Rope Walks (see Rope Walks, No. 1412 
 
 Cord Wood piled in Woods 
 
 " " See next page. 
 
 701 
 702 
 703 
 704 
 705 
 706 
 707 
 708 
 709 
 710 
 711 
 712 
 713 
 714 
 714 
 715 
 
 716 
 717 
 718 
 719 
 720 
 
 721 
 721 1 
 
 724 
 725 
 726 
 
 728 
 729 
 730 
 
 731 
 732 
 733 
 734 
 735 
 736 
 737 
 
 739 
 
 747 
 
 Add for 
 
 Add for 
 
 Jiuikl'y 
 
 cont'nts 
 
 Rate 
 
 Rate. 
 
 (Lents. 
 
 
 20 
 
 80 
 
 Iff 
 
 85 
 
 25 
 
 85 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 
 40 
 
 20 
 
 80 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 30 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 
 30 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 40 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 150 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 200 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 25 
 150 
 150 
 40 
 10 
 
 15 
 100 
 
 25 
 250 
 100 
 
 40 
 100 
 
 30 
 150 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
COFFEE PREPARING ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 
 Contents 
 Rate. 
 
 CLASS A. COFFEE PREPARING ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 Coffee milling, polishing, separating, mixing, grind- 
 ing etc., with power 
 
 CLASS B. 
 
 Coffee roasting, using only gas fuel, standard equip- 
 ment, fire-proof floors, metal cooling pans, metal 
 troughs, metal conveyors, and metal hoods over 
 roasters 
 
 CLASS C. 
 
 Coffee roasting, Standard equipment using other 
 than gas fuel 
 
 CLASS D. 
 
 Coffee roasting, gas fuel, standard equipment except 
 floors built of wood well covered with brick or 
 cement 
 
 CVnts 
 
 CLASS E. 
 
 Coffee roasting other than gas fuel, non-standard 
 equipment, non-fire- proof floors, etc., not less 
 
749 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Cord wood, continued. 
 
 " " piled near Wagon Roads not exposed to 
 
 Forest or Prairie tires 
 
 " " " near R. R 
 
 Corks and Corkwood Stocks, no cutting or manuf'y 
 " " with cutting and manufactur- 
 ing, not less than 
 
 Cork Manuf'y, no Grinding 
 
 " " with Grinding 
 
 " Leather Manuf'y 
 
 Corn in Cribs near R. R 
 
 " " " on farms (see Farm Property, No. 883) 
 
 Cornice ( wood ) Manuf'y 
 
 " (metal) " 
 
 Corn Meal Mill 
 
 Corsets, Stocks of, no manufacturing 
 
 " " with " 
 
 Corticine Manuf'y (sec Floor Cloth, No. 917) 
 
 Costumers. See also Theatrical Goods 
 
 Cotton Brokers, Office, with Samples 
 
 add for each office in excess of 
 one, 5 cents to each column. 
 
 " Gins, Steam Power 
 
 " " Animal " 
 
 " in Transit, Rail Roads or Steamboats 
 
 " Mills. First Class. Modern mill construction, 
 open finish, no furring on 
 walls or concealed spaces 
 between floors; heavy 
 beams, double floors; stair- 
 cases, elevators, pickers and 
 drying process cut off — lat- 
 ter by cold air only. First- 
 class private Fire Applian- 
 ces 
 
 " " " " Weaving only, purchasing 
 warps and yarns; no pick- 
 ing or spinning 
 
 " " Second Class. Good construction, mill 
 floors single with ordinary 
 beams ; stair cases and ele- 
 vators not cut off, but 
 pickers and dry-rooms sep- 
 arated 
 
 it << Ti,j r( i Class. Plastered ceilings, furred 
 walls, poor fire appliances; 
 elevators and staircases not 
 cut off, but pickers sep- 
 arated 
 
 Platforms R. R. . 
 
 Presses. 
 
 Seed-Oil Mills*. . 
 Sheds ( no press ) . 
 
 Storage, 
 
 Warehouses* 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
750 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Counters, Shoe, Manuf'y (see also Shoe Counters). . 
 
 Country Stores (cross-roads) with dwelling 
 
 " " " without " 
 
 " " in villages (see 9:54, &c.) 
 
 Court Houses with Jail 
 
 " " without Jail 
 
 Cracker Bakers, ( see Bakery No. 459), 
 
 Creameries 
 
 Crematories 
 
 " for Garbage (usually "nuisances") 
 
 Creosote Works, Wood preserving etc 
 
 Crocker} - , China and Glassware, if packing and un 
 packing, packing material not kept in 
 
 boxes 
 
 " If packing material kept in bins or boxes. . 
 
 Crucible Manuf'y 
 
 Curios, (see Bric-a-brac, No. Ml), 
 
 Currier Shops* not over 10 hands 
 
 " if " " add 1 cent for every 
 
 5 hands to both columns 
 
 Supplies, no grease, See Oils, Heavy 
 
 Cutlery Manuf'y* 
 
 Grinding ( see also Grinding ) 
 
 " Stocks of, no paint or oils 
 
 Cycloramas, Panoramas &c, (see Panoramas).... 
 
 Dancing Halls, no stage (see Halls) 
 
 Decorators and Painters 
 
 Dental Depots, Supplies 
 
 " Goods Manuf'y 
 
 Dentists, with Laboratory 
 
 " without Laboratory 
 
 " Gas making (see Laughing Gas) 
 
 Department Stores (see Dry Goods, 810 arid p. 752) . 
 
 Depots, R. R. (see Railroad, No. 1378) 
 
 Derricks, Hoisting Works 
 
 Derricks, Floating 150 cts. 
 
 Die Sinker 
 
 Distilleries* 
 
 Distilling Apparatus, Manufacturer of, same as Cop. 
 
 per-smith 
 
 Doors, Sashes and Blinds, Stocks of, with Glazing 
 
 (see 514) 
 
 Drain and Sewer-pipe Manuf'y (see Pipe, also 651). 
 
 Dredges, Steam, policy to locate, 300 cts. 
 
 Dressmakers 
 
 Dress Patterns (see Patterns 1287) 
 
 Drug Mills 
 
 Drugs, Retailf (see Apothecaries 423) 
 
 " Wholesale,! with compounding 
 
 " " without compounding, dry drugsf only 
 Druggists' Sundries (see also Warehouse, No. 2206). . 
 Dry Docks 
 
 Add for 
 
 Bnild'g 
 Kate 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 200 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 5 
 
 70 
 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 85 
 
 40 
 
 85 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for class. 
 
 tFor warranty in policy to keep poisonous stock separate from rest, deduct 5 % 
 from Stock Kate. 
 
751 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 No. 
 810 
 
 811 
 
 812 
 818 
 
 814 
 
 815 
 
 Dry Goods, Department Stores, large general stocks, 
 etc., containing wood and willow- ware, 
 house-furnishing goods, millinery depart- 
 ment, dress and cloak making, crockery, 
 &c, &c, in addition to dry goods, all un- 
 der one roof, such as are to be found in 
 large cities, special rates not less than (sec 
 
 page 35)..' 
 
 *' " Retail, 
 
 Wholesale 
 
 " " original packages only, not ex- 
 
 ceeding 10 % of stock open. . . 
 
 Dry Plates, (see Photo. No. 1302) 
 
 Dry Boom Hazard — For Wood, Lumber, etc., The 
 si cam or hot water pipes should be 
 either above the material to be 
 dried or at the side of it, and not 
 below the material, where distilla- 
 tions of pitch, resin, etc., shavings- 
 sawdust or other ignitible sub- 
 stances can fall and collect upon 
 
 them. If safely arranged 
 
 If steam or water pipes arranged 
 below the material to be dried. . . 
 
 " " for Textiles, Wool, Cotton, etc., 
 
 If the steam or hot water pipes 
 are arranged so that the material 
 cannot touch them or fall upon 
 
 them 
 
 If arranged under the material, 
 or where the material or dust from 
 it can reach the heated surfaces. . 
 Cold Air Dryers, No heat \ised, add 
 to rate of build'gs and contents. . 
 N. B. Any system of drying wdiich admits of the 
 falling of material or dust, shavings, &c, upon heat- 
 ed surfaces is dangerous. 
 
 81(5 b Dwellings, city, town and village — Brick or Stone, 
 
 metal, slate or 
 gravel roof 
 
 8171) " " " " Brick or Stone, 
 
 shingle roof 
 
 -it; f " " " '* Frame, metal, 
 
 slate or gravel roof 
 
 817 f " " " " Frame, shingle 
 
 roof 
 
 Farm, ( see Farm Property ), 
 
 820 Large, including so called "palatial resi- 
 
 dences." These sometimes approach the 
 physical hazard of summer hotels, and fires 
 have been discovered burningbriskly in one 
 portion of the building while the inmates 
 in another portion were entirely ignorant 
 of the fact. Losses are generally total.* 
 Whe re a dwelling exceeds in value, by more 
 than 50 % the average of those in its vicini- 
 ty it would be difficult to find a purchaser 
 in case the owner should wish to sell, or in 
 
 Add for 
 
 Build'g 
 Rate 
 
 15 
 
 200 
 600 
 
 100 
 
 300 
 15 
 
 Add for 
 
 com. nts 
 Rate. 
 
 70 
 50 
 40 
 
 25 
 
 100 
 400 
 
 100 
 
 300 
 15 
 
 *A five year Are record of the class within a radius of 25 miles of the City of New 
 York, showed losses of $1,000,000, or $200,000, per annum. This would have requir- 
 ed a yearly premium of $300, 000 for a 55 % loss ratio. The class did not yield one- 
 half that sum at prevailing rates which proved inadequate. 
 
DEPARTMENT STORE OCCUPANCY CHARGES. 
 
 CLASS A. DEPARTMENT STORES. 
 
 All or any of the following: 
 
 Dry Goods, Carpets. Hugs, Boots and shoes, Dress- 
 making, Toilet Goods, Upholstery Stock (mate- 
 rials only), Millinery, Clothing, Livery, Cloaks, 
 and Mantillas, Hats and Caps, Photographic 
 Supplies, Fancy Goods, Books and Stationery, 
 Silverware, Jewelry, Bags and Pocketbooks, 
 Chinese and Japanese Goods, Restaurant (cooking 
 safely arranged) 
 
 CLASS B. 
 
 If, also, any or all of the following: 
 
 Bronzes, Glassware, Crockery, Lamps (all packing 
 material in bins; if not in bins charge under faults 
 of management No. 143, 15 cents), Upholstery, 
 (curtain making only), Bric-a-brac and Curios, 
 Trunks, (no repairing) Toys, Sporting Goods, 
 Fishing tackle, Guns, Bicycles, Sewing Machines, 
 Harness and Horse Supplies, Photographing, 
 "Wines, Liquors and Cigars, Canned Goods, House- 
 furnishing Goods, Kitchen Goods, Carriages, Pic- 
 tures and Frames (no work) 
 
 (This rate covers also Class A, the higher rate including 
 the less.) 
 
 CLASS C. 
 
 If, also, any or all of the following; 
 
 If repairing trunks, or picture framing 
 
 Furniture, Mattresses, Wood and Willow Ware. . . 
 
 If repairing, varnishing or upholstering furniture, 
 
 mattress making other than hair 
 
 If hand picker, not in fire-proof room add 25 cents 
 
 to first column. 
 
 (These rates cover also Classes A and B the higher rate 
 including the less.) 
 
 Packing and unpacking not cut off add 10 cents to 
 first column. 
 
 If packing room cut off and sprinklered deduct 
 lOjf from first column charge — unless deduction 
 has been allowed for Automatic Sprinklers. 
 
 Power — Steam or electric for running shafting, in- 
 crease first column charge of class 10 cents. 
 
 Organization of employees for extinction, fire drill, 
 etc., deduct .02 both columns. 
 
 Add for 
 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Cents 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 Add for 
 Contents 
 
 Rate. 
 
 Cents 
 
 55 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 70 
 
 70 
 
753 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Large Dwellings, continued. 
 
 case he should die and his estate should 
 have to be divided. The rate should ap- 
 proximate an increase over ordinary dwell- 
 ing rates by 1 % for each 1 <f excess of val- 
 ue over the average. Thus a dwelling 50 fo 
 more valuable than the average of its neigh- 
 borhood ought to pay 50 % more rate ; one 
 of double the average value should pay 
 double rate. In "boom" towns expensive 
 dwellings arc often erected for speculative 
 purposes to add to the value of sur- 
 rounding property for sale and are poor 
 risks. Refer all dwellings exceeding 
 $50,000 in value, in cities, to the Company, 
 and, also, country or suburban dwellings 
 exceeding $20,000 in value, before binding. 
 
 " Miners', owned by miners 75 cts 
 
 " " owned by Mining Co 65 " 
 
 " Mill, owned by company 60 " 
 
 " Season— Summer or Winter. A moral 
 hazard is frequently involved in these, 
 especially on a yielding sea-shore, where 
 the cost of bulkheads for protection 
 from storms is frequently an onerous 
 burden. Mutual exposure, also, is an im 
 portant factor, where they are near to 
 gether. The rate should be 50 % more than 
 for ordinary country dwellings, and should 
 be still higher where they are exception- 
 ally large and expensive 50 cts. 
 
 On Camp-Meeting Grounds 75 cts. 
 
 Dwelling Occupancy in Mercantile Bdgs. (see De- 
 ductions, Nos. 169, 203 U.M.S.) 
 Dyeing and Cleaning Establishments, (see No. 683). . 
 
 Dye and Print Works (see Bleacheries) 
 
 Dye-Stuff (Extracts in cans) 
 
 " " with Acids, Chemicals, &c 
 
 Dye-wood, grinding and manuf'g 
 
 Add for any exposure by Boiler R. No. 527. 
 
 Dynamo Electric, Manufy 
 
 Earthenware (see Crockery No. 778) 
 
 Eating Houses (see Restaurants 1401) 
 
 " " R. R. (see Restaurants 1403) 
 
 Edge Tools Manufy (see Tools Manufy, 1575) 
 
 Effervescing Salts Manufy, with Steam Dry Room. 
 
 Eggs, Stocks of 
 
 " with Candling 
 
 Elastic Fabrics Manufy 
 
 " " Stocks of 
 
 Electrical Supplies, Stocks of 
 
 Electric Car Stables or Barns (see Car Stables 624). . 
 " Light and Power Plants.* Large (also private 
 plant, supplying current outside its 
 
 own premises) 
 
 " Time Station 
 
 " Wire Manufacturers 
 
 " Goods, Manufacturers of (see Dynamo MT g) 
 Electrotypers, Electroplating, etc 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for Add for 
 
 Build'g cont'nta 
 Rate. 
 
 NO. 
 
 844 
 845 
 846 
 847 
 848 
 849 
 850 
 851 
 852 
 853 
 853 
 854 
 855 
 856 
 857 
 858 
 859 
 860 
 861 
 862 
 863 
 864 
 865 
 
 866 
 866 
 867 
 868 
 
 869 
 870 
 *871 
 872 
 
 873 
 874 
 
 875 
 *876 
 
 *8' 
 878 
 
 879 
 
 880 
 
 *881 
 882 
 
 ss:i 
 884 
 885 
 880 
 
 Elevator Car Manuf'y Metal 
 
 Wood 
 
 Elevators, Grain, Large Steam Power (Grain Ele.) 
 
 " Small " " 
 
 " " " Horse Power (Grain see 995) 
 
 " Floating (see Floating Elevators) 
 
 Embossing Note Paper (see Paper Enib.) 
 
 " on Ribbons 
 
 Embroidery work, with power 
 
 Emery Wheel Manuf'y, 
 
 a Emery Mills 
 
 Enameled Metal Goods MTy*Bath tubs, Kettles, &c. 
 
 Cloth " 
 
 " Jewelry " 
 
 Engine (Fire) Hose and Fire Patrol Houses 
 
 " Steam, Manuf'y 
 
 " Fire Manuf'y 
 
 Engravers, Wood 
 
 " Metal 
 
 Envelope? Manufacturers, with printing 
 
 " " no " 
 
 " Stocks 
 
 Essential Oils, Stocks of 
 
 Evaporators (see Fruit Evaporators, 942) 
 
 Excelsior Manuf'y , 
 
 a Extracts, Manuf'y of 
 
 Express Offices 
 
 Stables, (see Stables) 
 
 Eyes, Artificial Stocks of (see Artificial Eyes, No. 427) 
 
 Fair Ground Buildings 
 
 Fancy Goods, stocks of 
 
 Farm Property — Occupied by Owner 
 
 " " Dwellings — Brick or Stone — Metal, 
 
 Slate or Gravel roof 
 
 " " " Brick or Stone — Shin 
 
 gle roof 
 
 Frame— Metal, Slate or 
 
 Gravel Roof 
 
 " " " Frame — Shingle roof . . 
 
 " " Barns and contents, insured with 
 
 dwelling on same premises. 
 
 Occupied by tenant 
 
 Dwellings — Brick or Stone — Metal, 
 
 Slate or Gravel roof 
 
 " Brick or Stone — Shingle 
 
 roof 
 
 " " " Frame — Metal, Slate or 
 
 Gravel roof 
 
 " " " Frame — Shingle roof,. 
 
 " Barns and contents, insured with 
 dwelling on same premises, . . 
 
 " Out buildings 
 
 " " Corn in Cribs, 
 
 " " Grain, in stack in field, 
 
 " " " Growing,! 
 
 Hay in stack near Farm buildings, . 
 " " " " over 500 feet from bdgs 
 
 *' Live stock, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, 
 Hogs, (SeeLive Stock No. 1155).. 
 
 CentB. 
 100 
 150 
 125 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 15 
 15 
 25 
 150 
 
 100 
 200 
 75 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 200 
 300 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 200 
 20 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. tWith limit per acre form of policy. 
 
 * <U present we use only these numbers for Farm Dwellings and Barns and contents. 
 
755 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 ( cuts. 
 
 Feathers and Flowers, Stocks of (see Artificial 429) 
 
 " cleaning, renovating, etc 
 
 Feed Store Stocks, without Hay or Straw 
 
 " " " with Hay and Straw in bales. . . 
 
 Felt Mills* 
 
 Felting Goods, Stocks of 
 
 " Manuf'y, Shoes, Slippers, &c 
 
 Fences, Privies, Out-houses of dwellings, &c, 50 cts. 
 
 Ferry Boats, Steam Power 75 ' 
 
 " Houses , 
 
 Fertilizers Manuf'y* (see also Phosphate Mills) 
 
 " " from city garbage (see No., 776) 
 
 " Phosphates, Stocks of. 
 
 " Fish, blood or Animal matterf 
 
 File Manufacturers 
 
 Fire-arms, Ammunition Stocks, Cutlery, Fisliine: 
 
 Tackle, etc. . . . 
 
 " Manuf'y (see Guns and Pistols) 
 
 Add for any exposure, Wood-working 
 Hazard No. 1663, Boiler R. No. 527, Jap- 
 anning No. 1087, 
 
 Fire Engine Houses (see Engine Houses, No., 857). . 
 
 Fire -proof Safes Manuf'y (see Safe Manuf'y) 
 
 " Stocks of, (see Safes).. 
 
 Fireworks, fire-crackers and torpedoes only. Increase 
 rate on the building and stocks with which 
 they are kept 15 cents per $100 per month 
 being short rates of 75 cents per annum. . 
 " assorted stocks, other than fire-crackers 
 and torpedoes, 50 cents per $100 per month 
 
 " with Manuf g. Set Pieces 
 
 Fish Dealers, with Lobster Boiler 
 
 " " without Lobster Boiler 
 
 " dried, salted, &c. (see Warehouse, 2286) 
 
 Fishing Tackle Manuf'y (see Firearms, etc., stocks 
 
 (No. 903) 
 
 Fixtures and Furniture, Office and Store (see No. 957) 
 Flags and Banners, Stocks of, (See Banners No. 467) 
 
 Flat Houses (see Apartment Houses 421, 422) 
 
 Flaxseed and Linseed, in packages 
 
 Flax Mills* 
 
 Floating Elevators (see 849) 4 % 
 
 Derricks and Cranes(see 796) 3 % 
 
 Floor Cloth (Oil, Linoleum, Corticine) Manuf'y*. . . . 
 
 Florists' Stocks, in stores 
 
 " " " Green and Hot-houses 
 
 Flour, in barrels 
 
 " " bags 
 
 " and Produce (see Feed, 891) 
 
 " Mills, Brick or Stone, Steam Power, Roller 
 
 process 
 Stone 
 process 
 
 " " " " Water P. see next page. 
 
 25 
 10 
 25 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 200 
 
 10P 
 
 300 
 
 100 
 
 
 4* 
 
 300 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 6<- 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 5G 
 
 50 
 
 600 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 150 
 
 300 
 10 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
 + Liable to Spontaneous Combustion 
 
756 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 lAdd for 
 liuild^' 
 Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 
 cont'nts 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 925 
 
 926 
 
 923 
 924 
 925 
 926 
 930 a 
 
 932 
 933 
 934 
 935 
 936 
 937 
 
 938 
 
 942 
 943 
 944 
 945 
 
 946 
 
 94^ 
 
 948 
 
 949 
 950 
 951 
 951 
 952 b 
 
 925 
 953 
 954 
 
 955 
 »56 
 957 
 958 
 959 
 960 
 961 
 962 
 
 Flour Mills, continued, 
 h Flour Mills, Brick or Stone, Water Power Boiler 
 
 process 
 
 b " " " " " Stone 
 
 process 
 
 f " " Frame, Steam Power, Roller process. . . 
 f " " " " " Stone 
 f " " " Water " Roller process. . . 
 f " " " " " Stone " 
 
 Food, Patent, Manuf'y 
 
 Forts, (see Military Stations) 
 
 Foundry, Brass (see Brass Foundry).(see 555) 
 
 Iron (see also Stove Foundry, 1513) 
 
 Type 
 
 Frame Rows, not exceeding 4 buildings 
 
 Stocks in,.. 
 
 " " exceeding 4 buildings. 
 
 " " " Stocks in, 
 
 Frames (see Picture Frames) 
 
 Fringe and Trimming Manuf'y (see also 485), 
 
 Fringes, Cords, Gimps and Tassels, etc., Stocks of . 
 
 See Buttons and Trim. 602. 
 
 Fruit Canning (see Canning Factory, No. 614) 
 
 " Dealers. See 944 and 945 
 
 " Evaporators and Driers, 
 
 " by Fire Heat 
 
 Fruits, Retail, Stocks of 
 
 " Wholesale, Stocks of 
 
 If ripening Bananas, Gas-heat, 
 
 " " " other than Gas-heat, ... . 
 
 Fulling Mills 
 
 Furnaces, Iron, (See Iron Furnaces, Blast Fur. 1081) 
 
 Furnishing Goods, Men's 
 
 Furniture, Cabinetware. with finishing and upholster 
 ing (see Cabinet, No. 604). . , 
 " " without finishing or uphol 
 
 stering(see Cabinet, No. 603) 
 " Household and Pictures, Private Storage 
 
 (see also H. F.). 
 
 " " in mercantile or office building 
 
 " " Second Hand, for sale (see 1437) 
 
 " " in brick dw'g, slate or metal r'f 
 
 " frame " 
 
 " " " brick dwelling, shingle roof 
 
 f » " " frame " " " 
 
 " "Apartment Houses(421c). 
 " Manuf'y,* Steam Power (see Cabinet, 604) 
 Add for any exposure by Boiler R. No 
 527, Painting Hazard, No. 1267, Drying, 
 No. 814). 
 
 " Manuf'y, Water Power , 
 
 " Polish Manuf'y (see Varnish) 
 
 " and Fixtures, Office and Store (see Fixtures 
 
 Furs anil Peltries, in unbroken packages 
 
 " " cutting and sewing 
 
 " " without sewing 
 
 ' ' Hats and Caps, Stocks of (see Hats and Caps) 
 " Hatters', Manuf'y of 
 
 Cents. 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 25 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 200 
 250 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 
 50 
 25 
 40 
 100 
 
 300 
 
 200 
 200 
 
 i enta. 
 
 200 
 
 35 
 50 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 75 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 150 
 50 
 50 
 100 
 100 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 85 
 30 
 200 
 
 25 
 100 
 
 100 
 150 
 20 
 35 
 60 
 50 
 60 
 100 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Clasa. 
 
CHANGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued 
 
 Fuse Factories 
 
 Galvanizing 
 
 Garbage Crematories, (See Crematories, 776) 
 
 Fertilizer Manuf'y. (see Fert. M'f'g. No. 899) 
 Gas Fixtures, Lamps and Chandeliers, Stocks of . . . 
 " " Manuf'y. with Mach. Shop and F'dry. 
 
 " Meter Manuf'y 
 
 " Works 1% 
 
 Gasolene Soldering Pots — Not over 5 gallons of ma- 
 terial, in safety cans, inside 
 of building, remainder of sup. 
 ply outside entirely cut off, 
 add 25 cts. 
 
 General Merchandise (see Nos. 1195 and 810) 
 
 Gents' Furnishing Goods (see Furnishing Goods, 947) 
 
 Gilding (see Picture Frames) 
 
 " paper, books, etc 
 
 Gins, ( See Cotton Gins, 755, 756), 
 
 Glass and China Decorating, Kiln &c, (See 665,). . . . 
 
 " Blowers, Ornamental, with Furnace 
 
 " Etching, Sandblast, &c 
 
 " Factories* 
 
 " Glassware and Window Glass, in packages 
 
 wholesale. 
 
 " Ornamental, Stained, Leaded, &c 
 
 " Plate, Grinding and Polishing 
 
 " Silvered plates 
 
 Glazing and Painting 
 
 Gloves, Buckskin, Manuf'y , 
 
 " Boxing, Manuf'y (see Boxing G. No. 544) 
 
 " Kid " 
 
 Stocks of 
 
 " other than kid, stocks of 
 
 Glucose Manuf'y 
 
 Glue Manuf'y 
 
 Glycerine Manuf'y 
 
 Gold and Silver Platers 
 
 " Beaters 
 
 " Refiners (see Assayers439) 
 
 " Pen Stocks 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 Goods on storage (see AVarehouses and 1800, etc. ). 
 Gossamer, Cutting and Making Garments, no Cement 
 
 (Same as Clothing) 
 Grain in Elevator, large. Steam Power, 
 
 small, " " 
 
 " " " " Horse " 
 
 " " Field, Standing ( See 885 ) 
 
 " " Stack, (See 884), 
 
 " Stores or IV arehouses, Brick, no Elevator 
 « with 
 
 " " Frame, no " 
 
 " W ith " 
 " " Granary on Farm, 
 
 Add for . 
 Build'g 
 Kate. 
 
 ( cut.-. 
 
 150 
 25 
 300 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 30 
 25 
 
 75 
 50 
 100 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 
 150 
 200 
 125 
 25 
 15 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class, 
 
758 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for , 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 1033 
 
 Grand Stands on Race Tracks, Fair Grounds, 350 cts. 
 
 Granite Workers, Sawing, Polishing, Carving 
 
 Grape Juice Unfermented, Manuf'y 
 
 Graphite works, (See Lead Black, No. 1123), 
 
 Grease, Axle (see Axle Grease, No. 449 ), 
 
 Rend ering, (no nuisances) 
 
 Green Houses (see also Florists, 919), 
 
 Grinding, Cutlery (see Cutlery Grinding, No. 785 ). . . 
 
 Grist Mills 
 
 Groceries, Retail 
 
 " " Chinese 
 
 " Wholesale, without spice and coffee grind- 
 ing 
 
 " " with spice and coffee grinding 
 
 Guano (see Fertilizers) 
 
 Gun and Pistol Manuf'y, ( See Fire Arms, 904), . ... 
 Guns, Pistols, Fishing Tackle, Stocks (see F. No. 903), 
 
 Gunsmiths and Locksmiths 
 
 Guttapercha, ( See India Rubber, Crude, No. 1067). . 
 
 Gymnasiums 
 
 HairCloth Manuf'y 
 
 " Goods (Human) 
 
 " Curled, Manuf'y of 
 
 Halls, with scenery, (see Theatre Schedule) 
 
 " without scenery, ceiling uniform height over 
 stage and auditorium, Dancing, Lyceum, etc 
 
 City, Town or State, No. 1500 
 
 " Society, Lodges, Masonic, Odd Fellows, &c. . 
 Hammock Weaving, not over 10 hands (if over 10, add 
 1 ct. for every 5 additional hands) 
 
 Hardware Manuf'y 
 
 Stocks of, (not exceeding 5 bbls. oils). . 
 
 " without oils 
 
 " " " heavy, bar iron, etc. (see Iron 
 
 and Warehouse Schedule). . . 
 Harness and Saddlery Stores, no Collar Manuf'g. . . 
 " " " with Collar Stuffing. . 
 
 Manuf'y no Collar Stuffing. . . 
 with " 
 
 Hats and Caps Manuf'y less than 100 hands, No. 615 
 " " " if more than 100 hands 
 
 add 1 ct. to each col 
 umn for every 5 addit 
 ionalmen, but total rate 
 not to exceed (No. 616) 
 " Stocks, Wholesale (other than straw) 
 
 " " retail 
 
 " Bonnet Frame Manuf y (No. 532) 
 
 " " " Bleaching (see Bonnet B. No., 533) 
 
 " Block Manuf'y 
 
 " Silk, Manuf'y 
 
 " Straw (No. 617) 
 
 Hatters' Furs Manuf'y, (see Furs, No. 962) 
 
 Hay and Feed (see Feed Stores, No. 890) 
 
 " " Straw Presses, private, on farms 
 
 " " " See next Page. 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
WHOLESALE GROCERIES OCCUPANCY CHARGES* 
 
 CLASS A. GROCERIES.— WHOLESALE. 
 
 Without manufacturing or any of the additional 
 hazards specified below 
 
 CLASS B. 
 
 If bottling wines, liquors, olive oil, blueing, or 
 other preparations, with packing 
 
 CLASS C. 
 
 If mixing and packing flour, starch, baking powder, 
 
 cereals or similar substances; 
 Or if printing 
 
 CLASS D. 
 
 If manufacturing flavoring extracts, essences or 
 drugs; 
 
 Or if rectifying by cold process only; 
 
 Or if molasses reboiling or maple syrup mixing; 
 
 Or if coffee milling, polishing, separating, mixing, 
 
 and grinding, with power; 
 Or if fruit cleaning with power or dry room, or 
 
 bleaching with sulphur 
 
 CLASS E. 
 
 Or if coffee roasting, using only gas fuel standard 
 equipment, fire proof floors, metal cooling pans, 
 metal troughs, metal conveyors, and metal hoods 
 over roasters; 
 
 Or if spice grinding with modern iron frame mills 
 
 CLASS F. 
 
 If coffee roasting, standard equipment, using other 
 
 than gas fuel 
 
 CLASS G. 
 
 If spice grinding with wooden frame mills 
 
 CLASS H. 
 
 If coffee roasting, old style equipment, wooden 
 floors, wooden cooling troughs, or wooden con 
 veyors. 
 
 The higher rate in 
 
 *Charges are not cumulative, 
 each case includes the less. 
 
 Add for 
 Build';,' 
 Rate. 
 
 Cents 
 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 1.25 
 
 Add for 
 Contents 
 Rate. 
 
 Cents 
 
 40 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 70 
 75 
 
 1.10 
 
7G0 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for|. 
 Build'g i 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 1034 
 
 1035 
 
 1036 
 1037 
 1038 
 1039 
 1040 
 1041 
 1042 
 1043 
 1044 
 1045 
 1046 
 1047 
 1048 
 1049 
 
 1050 
 
 1051 
 
 1052 
 
 1053 
 
 1054 
 
 1055 
 
 1056 
 
 105 
 
 1058 
 
 1059 
 
 1059 
 
 1060 
 
 1061 
 1062 
 1063 
 1064 
 1065 
 
 1066 
 1067 
 
 1068 
 1069 
 1070 
 
 Hay and Straw, continued. 
 Hay and Straw Barns or Presses public, near R. R. &c. 
 
 Add for steam power, 150 to 
 both columns. 
 " " in Stacks, on Farms (see No. 886, 887) 
 
 near Mills (Mill rate) 
 
 Barns, insured with d'wg, (See Farm, No. 882), 
 
 Barges 200 cts 
 
 on Barges 300 " 
 
 Heliotype Printing — Gelatine 
 
 Hemp and Jute Mills* 
 
 " in bales 
 
 Henneries 
 
 Herbs, Stocks for Sale (see Warehouse, No., 2402). . 
 
 Hides and Skins 
 
 Hollow-ware, Metal, Manuf'y 
 
 " " Castings, Stoves, etc. Stocks of, 
 
 Hominy Mills 
 
 Hop Houses 
 
 Hops in bales 
 
 Horn Goods, Manuf'y (see Comb Manuf'y, 729) 
 
 Horse Cars in H. Car Stables, (see Cars, No. 626). . . . 
 
 Horse Car Stables (No. 623) 
 
 Hose and Belting Manuf'y, (See Belting No. 494). . . . 
 
 India Rubber (see India 
 RubberManuf'y, No. 1072 
 Hosiery and Knitting Mills, no Picking or Carding. . 
 
 " with Picking and Spin'ng 
 
 " " Knit Goods, Stocks of 
 
 Hospitals, for Non-contagious Diseases 
 
 " Contagious Diseases, P^-st Houses &c. 
 
 Hotels, City, (see Hotel Schedule) 
 
 " " Frame 
 
 " stocks on grade floors (see various stocks). . . . 
 
 " Country Cross-roads Taverns, 
 
 " Season,* Summer Resorts, etc., 
 
 House Boats, Pleasure Barges, etc 
 
 Hot houses (see Green-houses, 919, 1005) 
 
 House Furnishing Goods, Stocks of 
 
 Household Furniture. Private Storage (see No. 948). . 
 " " in Mercantile or Office Build'g 
 
 (see Furniture, No., 949). . . 
 
 Hub and Spoke Manuf'y (see Wheel 1641 ) 
 
 Ice, Artificial, Manuf'y 
 
 " Cream Manufactury 
 
 " Houses (Brewery) 
 
 " " Ice for sale or shipping 
 
 Imitation Leather Manuf'y (see Leather, No. 1134) 
 
 Incubators 
 
 India Rubber, Crude (see Guttapercha) 
 
 " " Boots and Shoes, in cases (see 541). . 
 
 " " Goods, retail stocks 
 
 *' " " wholesale, belting, etc 
 
 " " " If rubber cement is kept in 
 
 quantity exceeding one gallon 
 
 in tin cans 
 
 " " " See next page. 
 
 Cents. 
 200 
 
 •See Specific Schedule for clase. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate 
 
 India Rubber Goods, continued. 
 India Rubber Goods, If oil clothing kept (the cloth 
 ing hung with air spaces for 
 
 ventilation) 
 
 " Manufy*, Hard 
 
 Soft 
 
 Ink Manufy, Printers,' no oil boiling 
 
 " " with oil boiling 
 
 " " Writing 
 
 Insane Asylums (see Asylums, No. 441) 
 
 Instrument Makers, optical, mathematical, surgical, 
 
 etc., with manufacturing 
 
 " " Stock, no manufacturing 
 
 Iron and Steel, Tubing and Pipes, (see Heavy H. 1023) 
 
 " Architectural, Works 
 
 " Foundry (see Foundry, No. 932) 
 
 " Furnaces (see Furnaces and Blast F.) 
 
 " Pipe Manufy (see Pipe) 
 
 " Railing Manufy 
 
 " Workers, not elsewhere specified 
 
 Ivory, Stocksof, with turning, carving, etc., no wood- 
 working 
 
 " Vegetable, (see Vegetable Ivory, No. 1611). . . 
 
 Jails 
 
 Japanese and Chinese Goods, Stocks of (see No. 667) . 
 
 Japanning Works 
 
 N. B. Small oven, safely arranged, 
 used in manufacturing risks as a 
 mere incident of the process add 
 50 cents to both columns of the rate 
 of the risk. 
 
 Jewelers' Findings and Supplies, noManufg 
 
 Jewelry-Case Manufacturers 
 
 Jewelry Manufactory, less than 25 hands 
 
 25 to 50 hands 
 
 " " over 50 hands, add one cent 
 
 to each column for every five 
 additional men, but total rate 
 
 not to exceed 
 
 " in safes (see No. 690) 
 
 " Watches and Clocks, retail stocks, (see 688 ) 
 " " " wholesale (see 689)... 
 
 Joiners' Shops, Ship 
 
 Junk Stores 
 
 Jute, in bales 
 
 " Mats, Stocks of 
 
 " Mills (see 1039) 
 
 Kerosene Oil, 5 barrels, without charge in groceries 
 
 and lamp stocks 
 
 " " exceeding 5 barrels, special rates ac- 
 cording to quantity (see Oils) 
 
 " " Refinery (see Oils) 
 
 Kid Gloves (see Gloves, No., 981) 
 
 Kilns, Malt, Oatmeal, Grain, etc. Where any wood- 
 work is used in the framing of the kiln, wheth- 
 er claimed to be safely protected by brick or 
 terra cotta or not 
 
 15 
 150 
 200 
 
 75 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 15 
 
 110 
 
 
 75 
 
 
 40 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 35 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 80 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 30 
 25 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 If the kilns throughout are of incombustible 
 material 
 
 100 
 100 
 75 
 25 
 100 
 
 200 
 300 
 
 200 
 25 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Claes. 
 
t62 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for . 
 liuild'g i 
 Rate. 
 
 Kindling Wood Factory, no Pitching 
 
 " " " with " 
 
 Knit Goods Manufacturing (see Hosiery, No. 1050). . 
 
 " Stocks, (see Hosiery and K., No., 1052). 
 Laboratories, Chemical (see Chemical L. No., 662). . 
 
 Laces and Embroidery Stocks 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 Ladder Manuf'y (rung ladders) 
 
 Step, " 
 
 Ladies' Waists Manuf'y 
 
 Lager Beer Saloons (see also Saloons) 
 
 Lamp-black Manuf'y (see Animal Black, No., 419, 
 
 Bone-black, No., 529) 
 
 Lamp Manuf'y, Glass and Metal 
 
 Lamps, Chandeliers, etc., Stocks of, (see Gas Fix. 965) 
 
 Lantern, Metal and Glass, Manuf'y 
 
 " Paper, Manuf'y 
 
 Lapidaries 
 
 Lard Oil Refinery* 
 
 " " Stocks of 
 
 " Stocks of (see Provisions) 
 
 Last Manuf'y 
 
 Laughing Gas (see Dentists' Gas, No. 794) 
 
 Laundries, Small, Handpower, Chinese, etc 
 
 " Steam power 
 
 Lead Pencil Manuf'y 
 
 Add for exposure of Boiler Boom 
 Hazard, No., 527, Dry Boom 
 
 Hazard, No., 814 
 
 " Black or Graphite Works 
 
 Pipe and Sheet Lead Manuf'y 
 
 Leather, Stocks of, kinds not specified 
 
 " Bags (see Bags, No. 452 and Pocket Books). 
 
 " Belting, Stocks of 
 
 Manuf'y, (See Belting, No. 494) 
 
 Board, Stocks of 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 " Lace Manuf'y 
 
 " Fancy Leather, and Morocco, Shagreen, 
 Patent, General Shoe Finding Stock, Tanned 
 Kids, Tanned Sheep Skins, General Stock of 
 Untanned Calf, Goat and Sheep Skins, Fancy 
 
 Skins for Tanning, Alligator, Snake 
 
 for Belting, Leather in Hides or Side3, Kips, 
 
 Bough Leather and Sole Leather 
 
 " Glove, Finished 
 
 Goods (see Harness, Bags, &c.) 
 
 " Grain Leather, Harness Leather, Split 
 Leather, Tanned Calf Skins, and Upper 
 
 Leather, Lace Leather in rolls 
 
 " Imitation, Manuf'y 
 
 " Ornamental, Manuf'y 
 
 " Scraps, Shavings and Skivings 
 
 " Stays, Manuf'y 
 
 Sole, with cutting 
 
 " Upper and Findings 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
703 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 I Add for, Add for 
 \ Build'g cont'nta 
 Rate. Rate. 
 
 No. 
 1140 
 1141 
 1142 
 1143 
 1144 
 1145 
 
 1145 i 
 1146 
 
 1147 
 1148 
 1149 
 1150 
 1151 
 
 1152 
 1153 
 1154 
 1155 
 
 Libraries Circulating 
 
 Public 
 
 Lighters, Sail 100 cts 
 
 Steam 125 cts 
 
 Lightning Rod Manuf'y 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Lime, Cement, Plaster, Sand and Hair. Masons' and 
 Builders' Material ( See 584) . 
 
 Lime Kilns 
 
 Liniment Manuf'y, (see Patent Med. M'f'y, No. 1284) 
 
 Linoleum Manuf'y (See Floor Cloth, No. 917) 
 
 Linseed Oil Mills* 
 
 Liquors, retail, (see Saloons, No., 1419, 1420) 
 
 " Storage, (not sale) in Barrels and Cases. . 
 
 " wholesale, without rectifying 
 
 " " with rectifying, cold process. 
 
 " " " hot process (see 1393) 
 
 Lithographing 
 
 Livery Stables, Brick (see also No. 1493) 
 
 " " Frame 
 
 Live Stock, horses, cattle, sheep, hogs. 
 
 If the policy contains the following 
 clause, 25$ may be deducted from rate of 
 the amount covering live stock 
 
 "The amount payable on any one an 
 imal in case of loss shall be the sum 
 produced by dividing the total amount 
 insured upon the class to which the ani- 
 mal belongs by the total number of ani 
 mals in the class owned by the assured 
 and in no case exceeding the actual cash 
 value of the animal." 
 
 For example, $1,000 insured on horses 
 would mean that $100 could be collected 
 on any one if there were ten; $200 on any 
 one if there were live. 
 
 N. B. — Such phraseology as "$500 on 
 five horses" would not prevent a claim 
 of §500 on any one, even though there 
 were twenty. Nor would the additional 
 words "not exceeding $100 on any one 
 mend the matter, except to prevent claim 
 for more than that amount on any one. 
 The policy would still be faulty in that 
 it might be covering a much larger 
 number of animals than live and a larger 
 value than $500. In case any five animals 
 should be killed by lightning or burned, 
 the claim would be that the identical rive 
 were the ones insured. No rate on live 
 stock, especially on such animals as cat- 
 tle, sheep, &c, running at large in fields, 
 could be relied upon without some such 
 clause as the above ; nor would the num 
 ber of animals on the farm at the time of 
 writing the insurance be any guarantee 
 that the number at risk would not have 
 been largely increased at the time of 
 a fire. A small amount of insurance 
 on a large herd of cattle, would entail 
 severe loss to the underwriter in the 
 See next page. 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
764 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Mo. 
 
 1156 
 
 1 157 
 1158 
 1159 
 
 1161 
 1162 
 1163 
 1164 
 
 1165 
 1166 
 1167 
 1168 
 
 1169 
 1170 
 
 1171 
 1172 
 1173 
 
 Live Stock, continued. 
 
 course of a five-year term from lightning- 
 claims alone, especially in a wire fence 
 country. 
 
 " " HIGH riUCED ANIMALS, BLOODED STALL- 
 IONS, JACKS, RACE HORSES, BROOD 
 MARES, ETC 150 CtS. 
 
 The concentrated value "within the 
 space of a horse stall, of an exceptionally 
 valuable animal, subj ect to total loss by 
 the effect of fire or smoke on a single vi- 
 tal organ, the suffocation of a single pair 
 of lungs, for example, is a feature which 
 should not be lost sight of in the rate. Five 
 thousand dollars insurance on 50 animals 
 where the loss on any one could not ex 
 ceed $100 is a much better risk with re 
 spect to probabilities of salvage than 
 $5,000 insurance on a single horse. 
 
 W ith a certain class of owners, also, a 
 serious moral hazard may arise from a 
 slight injury to a valuable animal reduc- 
 ing its salable value possibly 90 %. 
 
 In the case of bleeding, racing and 
 training stables, the stable rules should 
 prohibit the use of matches, kerosene oil 
 lanterns, &c., &c. It would be a simple 
 matter, also, to protect each valuable ani- 
 mal by a cheap sprinkler plant, as a 
 single sprinkler head over a stall might 
 serve to extinguish match fires. Probably 
 the most fruitful causes of fires in stables 
 are dropped matches, the animals ignit 
 ing them with their feet. 
 
 Animals above or below the grade floor 
 should be charged for at the rate of 10 
 cents added for each floor above or below 7 
 the grade. 
 
 Lock Factory 
 
 Locksmiths and Gunsmiths (see Gunsmiths) 
 
 Locomotive Works 
 
 " Kound Houses (see Rail Road) 
 
 Lodge Rooms, Masonic, Odd Fellows, etc. (see Mason) 
 
 Lodging Houses, no Kitchen 
 
 " " with " 
 
 Looking-Glass and Mirror Manuf'y 
 
 " " " Picture Frames, Stocks, etc. (see 
 
 Frames) 
 
 Lumber, Storage, new material 
 
 " Yards, near Saw and Planing Mills 
 
 " not " " " " 
 
 " " small, detached 
 
 Lunatic Asylums (see Asylums, No. 441) 
 
 Macaroni Factory, Vermicelli, &c 
 
 Machinery, Stocks, delicate, with fine parts subject to 
 damage, ring travelers (used in mills) card 
 
 clothing, needles, &c 
 
 " Stocks of heavy 
 
 " Contractor, with power 
 
 Machine Shop,* with forge, no Pattern Making, under 
 10 hands 
 
 See next page. 
 
 Add for Add for 
 Iiuild'g cont'nts 
 Rate. Rate. 
 
 ( CIltB. 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
ro5 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for | Add for 
 Build'g cont'nts 
 Kate. liate. 
 
 Machine Shop .continued. 
 Machine Shop with Pattern Making, over 10 hands, 
 add 1 cent for every 5 hands in excess 
 
 of 10 
 
 " " fine woik subject to damage... 
 
 Mackintosh Manuf'y 
 
 Malt Houses, fire-proof kilns 
 
 " not " " but cut off 
 
 Mantels, Manuf'y, Metal or Stone 
 
 Wood 
 
 " Stocks of Metal or Stone , 
 
 "Wood 
 
 Map Mounting and Varnishing , 
 
 Marble, Onyx, &c, Stocks of 
 
 " Worker, Steam Sawing, Carving and Polishing 
 
 " " hand carving 
 
 Market, large public 
 
 " Retail, Green Grocers (see Butcher Shops) 
 
 Masonic Lodges (see Lodges, No. 1160) 
 
 Massage Establishments, with Baths 
 
 Match Manuf'y 
 
 Mathematical and Optical Instruments (see Instr'm'ts) 
 
 Matting (floor) Manuf'y 
 
 Mattress Making, Hair only, no Picker 
 
 " " other than hair, no Picker 
 
 " " " " " with " 
 
 Medicines, Patent, Stocks of (see Patent M. No. 1283) 
 
 Manuf'y (see 1284, 1285) 
 
 Merchandise (see Dry Goods & Remarks, U. M. S. p. 3oj 
 
 " in Warehouses (see Warehouses) 
 
 Merchant Tailors (see Tailor, No. 1528) 
 
 Merry-go-rounds (see Carousels, No., 630) 
 
 Metal Dealers 
 
 " Workers, not elsewhere specified (see Iron, 1084) 
 
 Metals, heavy exclusively, Pig, Bar, Ingot 
 
 Mica, with over 10 hands, sorting, &c 
 
 Military Goods, Stocks of 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 " Stations, Forts, Gov't Barracks 
 
 Milk Depots, Butter, &c 
 
 " Condensed, Manuf'y. . , 
 
 Millinery, Stocks of 
 
 " with manufacturing, (no power) 
 
 " " " with power 
 
 Mill Supplies, Stocks 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 Mineral Water Establishments, Bottling 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 Mince Meat Manuf'y 
 
 Molasses, Re boiling 
 
 Mixed Stocks (see No. 810 and p. 35, U. M. S.). . . . 
 
 Morocco Dressers 
 
 " Manuf'y 
 
 Moulding, Wood, M'f'y (same as Planing Mill, 1323) 
 " Picture Manuf'y " " " " . 
 
 " " Stocks of 
 
 Mucilage and Paste Manuf'y 
 
 Cents. 
 
 40 
 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 75 
 25 
 75 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 15 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 200 
 
 75 
 50 
 100 
 200 
 50 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 200 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 5 
 
 25 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 200 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class, 
 
766 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for . 
 
 Build'g i 
 Rate. 
 
 Museums, no Scenery 
 
 " with Scenery 
 
 Musical Instruments, Pianos, Organs, Melodeons. . . 
 
 " string and wind 
 
 Music Stores 
 
 Mustard Mills 
 
 Nail Manufy 
 
 Naphtha, less than 2 hbls., add 25 cents *o rate of 
 
 building and .stock 
 
 " more than 2 bbls., special rates and separate 
 
 storage 
 
 Natural Gas or Oil Wells Fixtures, &c, decline. . . . 
 
 Naval Stores, Tar, Rosin, &c 
 
 Navy Yard Buildings 
 
 Necktie Factory 
 
 Needle Manufy 
 
 Negatives, Photographic (see Photo. No. 1301) 
 
 News Dealers 
 
 Newspaper Printing Offices (see Printing, No. 1356). 
 
 " Advertising Agency 
 
 Nickel-Platiug Establishments (see Electro. No. 843). 
 Nitrate of Soda (see 1422 and Warehouse, No. 2619). 
 
 Notions, Stocks of 
 
 Nut and Bolt Works (see Bolt and N. W'ks, No. 528) 
 
 Oakum, Stocks of, in bales 
 
 " Manufy 
 
 Oat Meal Mills 
 
 Odd Fellows Lodges (see Lodges, No. 1160) 
 
 Offices (see also Cotton Brokers) 
 
 buildings exclusively for (see 173, 207 U.M.S.) 
 Office Furniture and Fixtures in office b'd'gs (see 957) 
 Oil and Paint Stores, retail (see Paint and Oil, 1262). 
 
 Wholesale (No. 1264) 
 
 " Currier's, with pressing 
 
 " Essential (see Essential, No., 865) 
 
 " Fish Manufy 
 
 " Heavy, Lubricating, with Grease 
 
 " " with Mixing 
 
 " Kerosene or Petroleum, in bbls. (see 1098) 
 
 " " " " in Iron Tanks 
 
 Refineries (see 1099) 
 
 " Mills (see Linseed, Cottonseed, Lard Oil, &c). . . 
 " Petroleum products, Benzine, Naphtha, &c. (see 
 
 No. 1226) 
 
 " Stove, Gas Stove and Gasoline Stove Manufy. 
 
 Oilcloths, Stocks of 
 
 Oilcloth Manufy (see Floor Cloth No. 917) 
 
 Oiled Clothing Manufy 
 
 " " Stocks, hung for ventilation 
 
 Oleomargarine Manufy 
 
 Opera Houses (see Theatres, No. 1547) 
 
 Optical and Mathematical Instruments (see Inst. 1078 ) 
 Organ and Piano Manufy 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
76? 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 1 Add for 
 Build'g cont'nta 
 Rate. Rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Organs in Churches (see also Churches, No. 676 ). . . . 
 
 " Stocks of (see Musical Instruments) 
 
 Overalls, Manuf'y 
 
 Oyster packing (see Canning, No. 614) 
 
 Packing Box Manuf'y (see Box Manuf'y, No., 549). . 
 Pail Manuf'y (see Bucket Manuf'y, No. 580, 581, 582) 
 
 Paint and Color Works, Water Colors 
 
 Oil " 
 
 " " " Benzine Paints 
 
 " Manuf'y, Mixing 
 
 " and Oil Stores, retail 
 
 " Dry Colors, Stocks of 
 
 " Wholesale, in cans. No Oils drawn 
 
 If Oils drawn add 75 cents. 
 
 Painter, House 
 
 Sign 
 
 Painting Hazard in Manufacturing Risks no benzine 
 
 or naphtha used, add to rate of risk 
 
 Benzine or Naphtha used, add to rate of risk . 
 
 Panoramas and Cycloramas (see Cyclo. No. 787) 
 
 Paper Bags Manuf'y (see Bag Factories, No. 453). . . . 
 
 Boat " 
 
 Box Manufactories (see Box, 546, 547) 
 
 Car Wheel " (see Car Wheel, No. 629). . . . 
 Embossing Note (see Embossing, No., 850). . . 
 Hanging Manuf'y (see Wall Paper, No. 1621). 
 
 Stocks (see Wall P., No. 1622) 
 
 Mills*, using mixed rags 
 
 " " White " exclusively* 
 
 " " Straw, Jute, Rope, &c 
 
 " " Wood Pulp 
 
 Pail Manuf'y (see Bucket, No. 581) 
 
 Patterns, Stocks of (see Patterns, No. 1287). . . 
 
 Rulers 
 
 Stocks of, wholesale (no rags or scraps) 
 
 " " with cutting and gilding 
 
 " "no cutting 
 
 " " with wrapping and twine 
 
 " " Rags and scraps in bales, no sorting 
 
 or baling (see Rags) 
 
 " " " with Rag sorting and baling 
 
 Parasols (see Umbrellas and Parasols 1599) 
 
 Passementerie, bead work (see Bead Work, No. 485). 
 
 Paste Manuf'y (see No. 1217) 
 
 Patent Leather Manuf'y 
 
 " Medicines, Stocks (see Medicine Pat.) 
 
 " Manuf'y, power and heat 
 
 " " " cold process, few hands. . 
 
 Patterns, Dress, Paper, Manuf'y 
 
 " " " Stocks of 
 
 " Shoe, Manuf'y (see Shoe P.) 
 
 Wood, " 
 
 Pawn Brokers 
 
 Peanut Factories 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 100 
 200 
 100 
 50 
 20 
 20 
 
 50 
 40 
 
 50 
 100 
 50 
 25 
 50 
 
 75 
 15 
 125 
 
 150 
 50 
 
 250 
 75 
 75 
 
 15 
 5 
 20 
 15 
 15 
 
 15 
 75 
 
 200 
 50 
 75 
 25 
 25 
 
 50 
 100 
 
 15 
 100 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
768 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for! Add for 
 Build'g cont'nts 
 Rate. Kate. 
 
 Pearl Goods Manufactury. No Vegetable Ivory.. 
 
 Peg, Shoe, Skewer, and Toothpick Manufy 
 
 Pencil, Lead, Manufy (see Lead Pencil, No. 1122). . 
 Penitentiaries and State Prisons (see Prisons, No. 1359) 
 " " Workshops, No. 1360 
 
 Pen Manufy, Gold (see Gold Pens, No. 992) 
 
 " " Steel 
 
 Perfumery Manufy, cold process 
 
 " Stores, 
 
 Periodical Dealers (see also News Dealers, 1233) 
 
 Phosphate Mills 
 
 Photo Engraving, Process Work 
 
 with wet plate, electrotyping, &c. 
 Photographers, Stock, Supplies and Fixtures, exclude 
 
 Dry Plates 
 
 " on Negatives (see No. 1232) 
 
 " " Dry plates 
 
 Supplies, Manufy of 
 
 Piano Manufy (see Organ and P. Manufy, 1255) 
 
 Pianos and Organs, Stocks of, with repairing 
 
 " " " no repairing, (see No. 1222) 
 
 Pickers, Cotton. Safely arranged, fire-resisting con 
 struction, dust conveyers, casks of 
 
 water and pails provided 
 
 If sprinkled, deduct 40 %. 
 
 " " Fire-proof construction 
 
 Deduct 25 per cent, from above 
 
 Wool, 
 rates. 
 
 *' Jute, Hemp, Flax, Upholstering material 
 
 etc 
 
 Pickle Manufy, with soldering 
 
 " Stocks of (see Warehouse, No. 2726) 
 
 Picture Frames, manufacturing, gilding, etc. (see also 
 
 Frames) 
 
 " Stores, no framing, except for own trade. . . . 
 
 Pictures on exhibition or Storage 
 
 Pie, Cake, and Bread Bakeries (see Bakeries, No. 458) 
 
 Piers, Wharves and Bulkheads, covered. 
 
 " " " " Mdse. thereon 
 
 ** " uncovered 
 
 " Mdse. thereon 
 
 Pin Manuf y 
 
 Pipe Cutting (Gas and Steam). 
 
 " Drain and Sewer M'f'y (see Drain Pips, No. 800). 
 
 *' Iron, Manufy (see No. 1082) 
 
 Pipes, Meerschaum, Smokers' Articles, etc. (see 1480) 
 Pitch (see Asphalt, No. 438). 
 Planing Mills, Steam Power 
 
 Charge for exposure of Drying Hazard 
 No. 814, Painting Hazard, 1267, Boiler 
 Room, 527. 
 " " Water Power 
 Plants (see Florist, No. 919). 
 
 Plaster Works 
 
 " Statuary and Casts. 
 
 •See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
769 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for Add for 
 
 Build'g cont'nts 
 Rate. Rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Plated Ware, Stocks of 
 
 " " Manuf'y 
 
 Plate (Name) Maker, with plating 
 
 " " Engraving only 
 
 " Printer 
 
 " Electro and Stereotype 
 
 " " " " in vaults 
 
 " Solid Silver (see No. 1468) 
 
 Playing Card M'f'g, (see Card No. 621, ) 
 
 Plow Manuf'y,* hand power 
 
 " " steam " 
 
 " " water " 
 
 Add for Painting, 1267, 
 Drying, 814, Boiler R. 527. 
 Plumbers' and Gasfitters' Stocks, with handwork. . . . 
 
 Plush Manuf'y 
 
 Pocket-books and Leather Bags, Stocks of 
 
 " " " ' Manuf'y 
 
 Police Stations 
 
 Policy Shops 
 
 Polishing Materials, Stocks 
 
 Poorhouses (see Almshouses, No. 415, 416) 
 
 Pork Houses 
 
 Rendering, Steam Kettle, add 25 cts. . 
 " Smoke Rooms, not cut off, add 50 cts. . 
 
 Post Offices 
 
 Potteries 
 
 Preserves Manuf'y 
 
 Print and Color Works (see also Bleacheries, No. 512) 
 Printers' Ink, in cans (see Print. Ink Manuf'y, 1074) 
 
 " Roller Manuf'y 
 
 " Supplies, with occasional printing 
 
 Printing, Composing only 
 
 " Foot-power, card and small job printers. . . 
 
 Gold, with heat 
 
 Heliotype (see Heliotype, No. 1038,) 
 
 " Newspaper 
 
 Solar 
 
 with power, ( steam or electric ) 1 large or 3 
 
 small presses 
 
 " add 5 cts., for each large press, up to. . . . 
 Prisons, State, Penitentiaries, &c, (see Penitentiaries) 
 
 " " " " Workshops... 
 
 Provisions, Lard, Produce, Stocks of, no smoking or 
 
 rendering. . . 
 " " " if smoking and 
 
 rendering for own trade 
 
 Public Park Buildings 
 
 Public Halls (see Halls) 
 
 Pulley, wood and Block Mfy (see Block & P. No. 515) 
 
 Pulp, Paper, Manuf'y of 
 
 " Wood " wet process 
 
 " " " chemical, sulphite process. 
 
 Pumping Stations, see Water Works, 1634 
 
 Pump Manuf'y, Metal 
 
 " *' Wood, (see also No. 515) 
 
 25 
 25 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 100 
 25 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 100 
 50 
 
 125 
 10 
 50 
 25 
 15 
 15 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 10 
 
 40 
 75 
 100 
 200 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 100 
 150 
 
 25 
 75 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
770 
 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 
 Huild'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Add for 
 cont'nta 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 1 litis 
 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 
 Queensware (see Crockery). . 
 
 
 
 1369 
 
 Quilt Manuf'y, Cotton, &c 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 1370 
 
 " Down and Feather only 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 1371 
 
 Ra^s in iron tied bales no assorting 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 1372 
 
 " " rope " " " " 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 
 " with assorting 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 
 " Carpet Weaving (see ( 'a rpet, hand p. No. 641; 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 
 Railroad Bridges (see Bridges, No. 563) 
 
 
 
 1373 
 
 " Cars Dinin< r 
 
 100 
 
 
 i:;?4 
 
 " " Freight box . 
 
 50 
 
 
 1375 
 
 " " " Platform 
 
 55 
 
 
 1376 
 
 " " Ordinary passenger . 
 
 75 
 
 
 1377 
 
 " " Sleepers Parlor &e 
 
 75 
 
 
 1378 
 
 " Depots Passenger Brick or Stone . 
 
 50 
 
 25 
 
 1379 
 
 " " " Frame 
 
 60 
 
 25 
 
 1380 
 
 Freight, Brick or Stone 
 
 60 
 
 25 
 
 1381 
 
 " " " Frame 
 
 70 
 
 25 
 
 1382 
 
 " Locomotives 
 
 
 25 
 
 1383 
 
 " Hi iiind J louses 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 1384 
 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 1385 
 
 " Signal Towers 
 
 50 
 
 
 1386 
 
 Snow Sheds 
 
 200) 
 
 
 
 Stables (see Car Stables, No. 623) 
 
 
 
 
 " Stations ( See Depots above) 
 
 
 
 1387 
 
 " Property generally — not classified . 
 
 
 
 1388 
 
 Rattan Goods Manuf'y of (see Bamboo, 461) 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 1389 
 
 Stocks of ( " " 462). . . 
 
 10 
 
 65 
 
 
 Razor Manuf'y (see Cutlery, No. 784) 
 
 25 
 
 100 
 
 1391 
 
 " Strop Manuf'y 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 1392 
 
 Rectifying Establishments, cold process (see 1151). . 
 
 15 
 
 45 
 
 1393 
 
 *' hot " ( " 798). . 
 
 200 
 
 50 
 
 1394 
 
 Reduction Works (see Quartz Mills No 1368). 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 1395 
 
 Refinery, Oil (see Kerosene, No. 1099, Lard, 1116 ) . . 
 
 300 
 
 200 
 
 
 " Sugar (see Sugar Refinery, No. 1523) 
 
 300 
 
 100 
 
 1397 
 
 Reform Schools, Houses of Refuge & Reformatories 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 
 " " " Work Shops, No. 1360 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 1398 
 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 
 1399 
 
 " Stocks of, no manuf'g or repairing. . . . 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 
 1400 
 
 Regalia Masonic Odd Fellows, etc 
 
 
 65 
 
 1401 
 
 
 15 
 
 70 
 
 1402 
 
 
 10 
 
 to 
 
 1403 
 
 ' ' Railroad 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 1404 
 
 Rice Mills* 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 1405 
 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 1406 
 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 1407 
 
 Rinks (see Skating Rinks) 
 
 300 
 
 100 
 
 1408 
 
 1? i tllin o* At ills 
 
 75 
 
 25 
 
 1409 
 
 Roofing Materials, Stocks of, no boiling of tar, &c. . 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 
 " Manui y, Asphalt, -ritch, etc., 438 
 
 300 
 
 
 1411 
 
 Rope and Cordage, Cables and Twine 
 
 5 
 
 35 
 
 1412 
 
 " Walks 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 Rosin, Tar, Naval Stores, &c. (see Naval Stores, 1228) 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
771 
 
 CIIARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 Build'g 
 Rate 
 
 Rubber Boot and Shoe Manuf'y (No 1073) 
 
 " Boot & Shoe Stocks, package only(see541) 
 
 " Goods (see India Rubber 1068) 
 
 " Manuf'y, Hard Goods (sec India Rubber 1072) 
 «« " Soft " ( " " 1073) 
 
 Stamp Manuf'y 
 
 Ruches, and Unfiles Manuf'y 
 
 Rule Manuf'y 
 
 Ruling (Paper) (see Paper Ruler, No. 1274) 
 
 Rugs, exclusively (see Carpets) 
 
 Saddlery and Harness, no Collar nianuf'g (see liar 
 
 ness, No. 1024) 
 
 Manuf'y (No. 1026) 
 
 Saddle-tree Manuf'y 
 
 Safes, Fireproof, Manuf'y, (see No. 905) 
 
 " Iron, "Fireproof", &c. Stocks of (See 906).. 
 Sail and Rigging Manuf'y, lofts, &c. (see Awning). . 
 
 Saloons, Bar-rooms, Alcoholic, "Gin Mills" 
 
 " High Class 
 
 " Lager Bier, German type, No. 1109) 
 
 Salt Blocks or Works 
 
 Saltpetre, in bbls. (see Warehouse, No. 2619) 
 
 " sacks (no empty sacks to be stored on 
 premises) (see Warehouse, No. 2621). . . 
 
 Sand-paper Manuf'y, with dry room 
 
 Sanitaria, Water Cures, &c. (see Water Cure, 1634) 
 Sash, Door, and Blind Manuf'y (see Blind No. 513) 
 
 Sausage Manuf'y 
 
 Saw-dust stuffed goods Manuf'y 
 
 Saw Factories 
 
 " Mills,* Steam power 
 
 Water " 
 
 Scales Manuf'y 
 
 " Stacks of 
 
 School- houses, Brick or Stone 
 
 " Frame 
 
 " Small Country 
 
 Second-hand Stores, Clothing (see Clothing, No. 701) 
 " Furniture, (see Furniture 950). 
 
 Seeds, Garden, Stocks of 
 
 Segar Stores, (see Cigars, No. 680, 681) 
 
 Seminaries (see Academies 401 ) 
 
 Sewing Machine Manuf'y 
 
 " Machines, Stocks of 
 
 Shade, Roller, Manuf'y (see Window Shade, No. 1655) 
 
 Shingle Mills 
 
 Ship Builders Yards, &c, wood 
 
 " " iron 
 
 " Chandlery (see Chandlery, No. 656) 
 
 " at wharf, (see No.. 1615) 100 cts 
 
 Shirt, Collar and Cuff Manuf'y, without laundry 723 
 " " " with 
 '* Stocks of (see Furnishing Goods) 
 
 Cents. 
 200 
 
 10 
 15 
 50 
 15 
 
 100 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 15 
 5 
 50 
 75 
 
 75 
 100 
 25 
 
 75 
 50 
 75 
 250 
 150 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 10 
 100 
 100 
 
 10 
 
 50 
 5 
 
 150 
 300 
 100 
 50 
 25 
 
 50 
 75 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
772 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for . 
 
 Build'f,' i 
 Rate. 
 
 No. 
 1448 
 1449 
 1450 
 1451 
 1452 
 1453 
 1454 
 1455 
 1456 
 145T 
 
 1458 
 
 1459 
 1460 
 1461 
 
 1 102 
 I 163 
 1464 
 14i',:, 
 
 1465 i 
 
 1466 
 " a 
 
 1468 
 1469 
 1470 
 
 1471 
 1472 
 1473 
 1474 
 1475 
 1476 
 1477 
 
 1478 
 1479 
 1480 
 " a 
 
 1481 
 
 1482 
 
 14s:{ 
 
 1483 j 
 
 1484 
 
 1485 
 
 Shoddy Mills* 
 
 " " with picking 
 
 " Storage 
 
 Shoe and Boot Manuf'y,* Brick, Steam power 
 
 " " " " Water " 
 
 Hand " 
 
 " " Frame, Steam " 
 
 " Water " 
 
 *' " " " Hand " 
 
 " Manuf'ry in mercantile lniildings, in cities, less 
 
 than 100 hands 
 
 " " If more than 100 hands, add one cent to 
 each column fur every five additional 
 men, but total rate not to exceed . . . 
 If rubbcrcement used by more than 10 
 hands or oil dressing add 10 cents. 
 
 " Counter Manuf'y (see No. 768) 
 
 " Dressing, in cans 
 
 " Findings Manuf'y 
 
 " Maker and Cobbler (see No. 715) 
 
 " Patterns Manuf'y (see Patterns, No. 1288) 
 
 " Peg Manuf'y (see Peg, No. 1293) 
 
 " Stock, with cutting 
 
 Shooting Galleries 
 
 Shot Tower 
 
 Show Case Manuf'ry, (see Wood-working Schedule) 
 Shuttle and Bobbin Manuf'y (see Bobbin, No. 525). . 
 Silos 
 
 1328) 
 
 Sign Painter (see Painter, No. 1266) 
 
 Silk Manuf'y* 
 
 " Stocks of, exclusively (see Dry Goods)... 
 Silver and Plated-ware Stocks (see Plated-ware 
 
 " Solid 
 
 Polish Manuf'rs 
 
 Skate Manuf'y 
 
 Skating Rinks (see Rinks, No. 1407) 
 
 Skewer and Peg Manuf'y (see Peg Manuf'y, No. 1293) 
 
 Skin Mills, (see No. 781) 
 
 Slate and Silicate Manuf'y 
 
 Slaughter Houses, large, Abattoirs, no nuisances. . . 
 
 " " small, butcher, 
 
 Sleigh Manuf'y, Driving 
 
 Toy 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Slipper Manuf'rs 
 
 Smelters (see Reduction Works, No. 1394) 
 
 Smoke Houses, Public, Pork House, &c 
 
 " " Private 
 
 Smokers' Articles, Stocks of 
 
 " " Manuf'y of 
 
 Snow Shovels, wooden, Manuf'y, (see No. 1576). . . 
 
 Snuff Manuf'y 
 
 Soap Manuf'y, Laundry 
 
 Toilet 
 
 " Powder Manuf'y 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Soapstone or Talc Manuf'y 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
773 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 
 Build'g 
 Rate 
 
 Add for 
 
 cont'nts 
 Rate. 
 
 Soda Fountain Manuf'y 
 
 " Water 
 
 Spice Mills 
 
 Spool Manuf'y 
 
 Sponges, Coral and Shells 
 
 Sponging (Steam) Works 
 
 Sporting Goods, Stocks of (see Firearms, etc., 903). 
 
 " " Manuf'ry (see No. 443) 
 
 Spring Bed Manuf'y 
 
 Stables, Boarding exclusively 
 
 Car, (see No. 623 etc.) 
 
 Express (see No. 868) 
 
 " Industrial, Brewery, Mills, &c 
 
 " Hotel, 
 
 Livery, (see No. 1153) 
 
 " Mercantile, Grocer's, Baker's, &c 
 
 " Private 
 
 " Training 
 
 Stair Builders 
 
 " Rod Manuf'y 
 
 Stallions (see Live Stock No. 1156) 
 
 Stamp and Quartz Mills (see Quartz Mills, 1368). . . . 
 
 " Rubber, Manuf'y (see No. 1413) 
 
 Starch Manuf'y, Corn, Cereal, &c 
 
 Potato 
 
 State Houses, City Halls 
 
 Stationers' Supplies, Manuf'y 
 
 Stationery and Book Stores (see Books No. 536) 
 
 Stave and Heading Manuf'y (for Cooper, see 733)... . 
 
 Steamboats, Excursion 2% 
 
 " Laid upf IX 
 
 " Regular trip boats, A 1 rating 1 % 
 
 " " AIJi" ....IX" 
 
 " " " " A 2 " 2 " 
 
 " " A 2y 2 " " 
 " River, carrying cotton or naval stores. . 
 
 " Tugs, A 1 rating 1 % 
 
 " " IX" 
 
 " " A 2 " 2 " 
 
 " '* A 2}4 " 2%" 
 
 " Dredges 3 
 
 " Derricks (see Derricks, No. 796) \y z 
 
 Steam Engines, Fire Engines Stocks of (see Engines) 
 
 " Gauge Manuf'y 
 
 i " Heating Plants 
 
 Steel Works, Bessemer, &c 
 
 Stencil and Rubber Stamp Manuf'y (see No. 1413). . 
 
 Stock-yards, Cattle Pens 200 cts. 
 
 Storage Risks (see Warehouse, Nos. 948, 1623, etc.). 
 
 high class for personal effects Fur. etc., 948 
 
 Stove Foundry (see Foundry, No. 932) 
 
 Manuf'y (see Oil Stove, Gas Stove, No. 1247) 
 
 i Stores, part dwellings 
 
 Stoves, Hollow- ware, Stocks of, no tinshop 
 
 " with tinshop, no gasolene 
 
 " with tin-shop and gasolene fire-pots 
 
 Cents. 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 150 
 150 
 
 50 
 10 
 100 
 50 
 75 
 
 50 
 30 
 125 
 125 
 30 
 25 
 75 
 150 
 25 
 
 100 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 400 
 25 
 
 100 
 
 150 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 10 
 
 40 
 50 
 50 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 40 
 
 Cents. 
 
 75 
 
 60 
 200 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 40 
 50 
 50 
 40 
 25 
 75 
 150 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 150 
 100 
 
 25 
 100 
 
 75 
 150 
 
 50 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 85 
 50 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 40 
 60 
 
 •See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
 tWith stipulations as to proximity 
 
774 
 
 CHARGES FOK OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 I Add for 
 Ruild'g i 
 Kate. 
 
 No. 
 
 1517 Straw Board Mill* (see Paper, No. 1272) 
 
 1518 " " Stocks of 
 
 " Goods Manufy* (see 617) 
 
 1519 " " Stocks of Retail 
 
 1520 " " Wholesale 
 
 Studios, Artists' (see Artists' Studios, No. 436 ). . 
 
 1521 Sugar Houses, on plantations 
 
 1522 " of Milk Manufy 
 
 1523 " Refinery 
 
 Surgical Instrument Manufy (see Inst. No. 1077 
 
 1524 Suspender Manufy 
 
 1525 Tack Factories 
 
 1526 Tag Manufy, Card Board 
 
 1527 " " Metal, with acid 
 
 1528 Tailor, Merchant (see Merchant Tailor) 
 
 1529 " Custom, with cutting and hushelling 
 
 1530 " Trimmings (see No. 602) 
 
 Talc Manufy (see Soapstone, No. 1485) 
 
 1531 Tanneries, "Back Country" , 
 
 1532 " Bark, in or near Towns 
 
 1533 " Extract, in or near Towns 
 
 Tape Weaving (No. 1637) 
 
 1534 Tapestry Weaving by hand 
 
 1535 Tar Manufy 
 
 Taverns (see Hotels) 
 
 1536 Taxidermist 
 
 1537 Teamsters' Office, with storage of supplies 
 
 Teas, Coffee, Spices, etc. (see Coffee, 717, 718 ). . 
 
 1538 Telegraph Offices 
 
 1539 " " Switchboards 
 
 1540 Telephone Offices 
 
 1541 " " Switchboards 
 
 1542 " Manufy 
 
 1543 " Supplies 
 
 1544 Tenement Houses, with brick shafts 
 
 " a " " without " " 
 
 154.") " " first floor fireproof 
 
 Tent Makers (see Awning Manufy No. 447 ). . . . 
 
 1546 Terra Cotta Works. 
 
 1547 Theatres,* Opera Houses, "Fire-proof" construe 
 
 1548 " " not 
 
 Theatrical Goods (see Costumers, No. 753) 
 
 Thermometer Manufy, No. 1077 
 
 1549 Thread, Cotton and Linen, Stocks 
 
 1550 " " " Manufy* 
 
 1551 " Silk, Manufy 
 
 1552 " " Stocks 
 
 1553 Tiles Manufy 
 
 1554 " Stocks of 
 
 1555 Tin Shop, 10 hands 
 
 1556 " " more than 10 hands 
 
 1557 " " with Japanning 
 
 " " See next page. 
 
 lion 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
775 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Add for 
 
 Build'g 
 Rate. 
 
 Tin Shops, Continued. 
 
 " " Gasolene Pots, (see 969). . . 
 
 " Cans, Stock — no work 
 
 " Plate Manuf'y 
 
 Tinware, Stoves, etc. (see Stoves) 
 
 Tobacco and Cigars, retail (see Cigars, No. 680). . . . . 
 
 Barns, Country 
 
 " Chewing, in foil and boxes 
 
 " Leaf, Foreign, inhhds., bbls. or cases 
 
 " " " in ceroons or bales 
 
 " " Domestic in hhds., bbls or cases 
 
 " " " " ceroons or bales 
 
 " Manufactory, Fine Cut 
 
 Plug 
 
 " Pipe Factories, Clay 
 
 " " " Meerschaum 
 
 Wood, Cob, &c 
 
 " Plug, (See Warehouse) 
 
 " Prize Houses 
 
 " Stemmeries 
 
 Toboggan Manuf'y 
 
 Slides 
 
 Tool Manuf'y Edge, (see No. 832) 
 
 " " Wood 
 
 Toothpick Wooden, M'f'y (see Peg and S. No. 1293). 
 
 Tortoise Shell Manuf'y, with heat 
 
 " " " without heat 
 
 Tow, in bales (see Hemp, No. 1040) 
 
 Town Halls (see No. 1500) 
 
 Toys, Fancy Goods, etc., open stock 
 
 " " " in p'k'gs, not exceeding 25# open 
 
 " one man touching up 
 
 " Manuf'y 
 
 Training Stable (see Stable No. 1495,) 
 
 Trimmings, Buttons, etc., Stocks of (see Buttons, 602) 
 
 Tripe Manuf'y 
 
 Trunks, Manufactory 
 
 " Stocks of, no manufacturing 
 
 " with repairing 
 
 Truss and Crutch Factory 
 
 Tub Manuf'y 
 
 Tug Boats (see No. 1507) 
 
 Turkish and Russian Bath Establishments (No. 480). 
 
 Turning, Ivory (see Ivory No. 1085) 
 
 Wood ( " Wood Turning) 
 
 Turpentine, in bbls. (see 1228) 
 
 " Distillery 
 
 Twines, Cord, Rope, etc., Stocks of (see Rope, 1411) 
 
 Type Foundries (see Foundry, No. 933) 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Type writer Factory 
 
 " Repairing 
 
 " Ribbon Manuf'y 
 
 Stock, Supplies 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Umbrellas and Parasols. Manuf'y, covering, no stick 
 
 work (seeC. &U. 611) 
 " with stick work. . . 
 
 Undertakers, no work oilier than finishing lor funeral 
 
 orders 
 
 with finishing, 
 work 
 
 varnishing, etc., hand 
 
 Upholsterers' Stocks, without manufacturing 
 
 with manufacturing, 10 hands or less 
 nmri than II) hands, add 1 ct. to first 
 column for every 3 hands in excess of 10 
 using jute, excelsior or grass, add 50 
 
 cents to first column , 
 
 " if picker, power, add 100 cents 
 
 hand " 25 " 
 
 " Hair only , 
 
 Varnish Manuf'y 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Vegetable Ivory Stocks 
 
 Veneers, Manuf'y 
 
 " Stocks of 
 
 Vessels (see also Steamboats) 
 
 " at Wharves or Piers 100 cts, 
 
 " in port, restrictions as to petroleum or as to 
 lying near oil refinery, oil yard, &c. . 100 cts. 
 
 " on the ways, repairing, &c 125 " 
 
 Vinegar, Cider Apple and Fruit, Manuf'y, (677) 
 
 " (Alcohol Process) " 
 
 Wadding and Batting M'f'y (see Batting and W. 484 ) 
 
 Wagon and Cart Manuf'y 
 
 Wall Paper Manuf'y (see Paper Hanging Factory). . 
 
 " Stocks of (see Paper Hanging) 
 
 Warehouses Storage (for cont'nts see Nos. 1800, etc) 
 
 " Country, Brick 
 
 " " Frame 
 
 " Cotton and Woolen Mill 
 
 Flour Mill 
 
 Washing and Wringing Machine Manuf'y 
 
 Waste, clean, Cotton 
 
 " " Woolen 
 
 Watch Case Maker 
 
 " Dial and Face Manuf'y 
 
 " Manuf'y 
 
 Watches, Clocks and Jewelry (see Clocks, No. 688). 
 
 Water Cures, Sanitaria (see Sanitaria, No. 1425) 
 
 " Works, Pumping Stations, &c 
 
 Wax Factories 
 
 " Figure Makers 
 
 Weaving Mills* (see Nos. 759, 1673) 
 
 Tape 
 
 Webbing Manuf'y (see Elastic Goods, No. 836) 
 
 Whalebone Worker 
 
 Wharf-boats 
 
 Wharves and Piers (see Piers and Wharves) 
 
 Add for Add for 
 
 Huild'g cont'nts 
 Hate. Rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 5 
 15 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 200 
 50 
 150 
 150 
 
 75 
 100 
 300 
 150 
 125 
 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 200 
 100 
 150 
 10 
 25 
 50 
 
 25 
 25 
 100 
 100 
 
 100 
 75 
 25 
 
 100 
 
 Cents. 
 
 75 
 75 
 
 45 
 
 50 
 50 
 60 
 
 65 
 200 
 
 75 
 150 
 150 
 100 
 
 75 
 100 
 200 
 100 
 125 
 100 
 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 50 
 100 
 200 
 200 
 65 
 75 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 100 
 100 
 150 
 
 100 
 100 
 50 
 50 
 
 *See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
i i I 
 
 
 
 Add for Add for 
 
 
 CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Build';,' 
 
 conl'nts 
 
 
 Rate 
 
 [{ate 
 
 No. 
 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 1640 
 
 
 OAA 
 ,400 
 
 1 p:a 
 IoO 
 
 1641 
 
 tit 1 1 1 r t?y / TT..1. 1 r~4 i TLX -4 r\ /~* -4 \ 
 
 150 
 
 150 
 
 
 Wheelwright & Blacksmith, (See Blacksmith No. 509) 
 
 75 
 
 C:A 
 50 
 
 1642 
 
 
 100 
 
 rrA 
 50 
 
 
 
 1U 
 
 ou 
 
 1643 
 
 Whiskey, in barrels, iu stores 
 
 25 
 
 KA 
 
 50 
 
 1644 
 
 
 40 
 
 on 
 
 1645 
 
 
 25 
 
 K A 
 50 
 
 1646 
 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 1647 
 
 " " stove heat for ageing process 
 
 50 
 
 
 1648 
 
 « •• it steam " " " " 
 
 40 
 
 
 1649 
 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 1650 
 
 
 
 QA 
 
 oil 
 
 1651 
 
 TTT " HiT _ 1 / XT _ • /"i 1 _ "XT" _ -i /\-4 f \ 
 
 
 75 
 
 Willow-ware and Basket Maker (see Basket No. 478) 
 
 50 
 
 1 AA 
 100 
 
 
 " Stocks (see No. 1661) 
 
 
 
 1652 
 
 Wind-mill Manuf'y, Metal 
 
 100 
 
 rrA 
 50 
 
 1653 
 
 " " Wood 
 
 250 
 
 (TA 
 00 
 
 
 TIT » 1 S~1 T / VT 1 TkT r\i*.m, » 
 
 5 
 
 00 
 
 1654 
 
 
 100 
 
 75 
 
 1655 
 
 Mm MM Tw IT 1 TT • T r ill 
 
 1 KA 
 
 150 
 
 1 AA 
 1UU 
 
 1656 
 
 
 25 
 
 to 
 
 1657 
 
 TTT' • TIT* TT 1 A (J_ 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 
 Wines and Liquors (see Liquors, Nos. 1148, 1150). . . 
 
 
 
 
 " " retail, No Bar (see No. 1148) 
 
 25 
 
 75 
 
 1658 
 
 
 50 
 
 100 
 
 1659 
 
 
 25 
 
 25 
 
 1660 
 
 
 5 
 
 45 
 
 1660 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1661 
 
 . . i -rir • li TIT" O i„ _ 1_ _ 
 
 25 
 
 1 AA 
 1UU 
 
 1662 
 
 
 OAA 
 4VV 
 
 1UU 
 
 
 " Carpet Manuf y (see Carpet No. 642 ). 
 
 1 £A 
 
 tow 
 
 1 no. 
 tut 1 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 125 
 
 
 " Pulp Manuf'y (see Pulp No. 1365, 1365a). .... 
 
 150 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 125 
 
 50 
 
 1663 
 
 " Workers,* not elsewhere specified, Steam pow- 
 
 
 
 
 er (Boiler and Dry Room outside). . 
 
 200 
 
 100 
 
 1664 
 
 " " not elsewhere specified, Steam pow- 
 
 
 
 
 er (Boiler and Dry Room inside). . . . 
 
 oUU 
 
 4V\J 
 
 1665 
 
 . - . . ,i t • /"» 1 TTT j_ 
 
 " " notelsewhere specified, Water power 
 
 1 7^1 
 
 i O 
 
 1666 
 
 " " " Hand " 
 
 1 f^n 
 
 ou 
 
 
 " Yard and Coal l ard (see Coal and W ., No. 714) 
 
 100 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 75 
 
 75 
 
 1667 
 
 
 9.00 
 
 WW 
 
 100 
 
 1668 
 
 
 
 4\) 
 
 1669 
 
 
 250 
 
 50 
 
 " a 
 
 
 
 
 1670 
 
 
 50 
 
 150 
 
 1671 
 
 
 
 40 
 
 1672 
 
 " Mills.* First Class.Modem mill construction, 
 
 
 
 Brick or Stone, open finish, no furring 
 
 
 
 
 on walls or concealed spaces between 
 
 
 
 
 floors ; heavy beams, double flooring ; 
 
 
 
 tThe difference between frame and brick will be measured in tbe building rate to be added 
 •See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
CHARGES FOR OCCUPANCY, continued. 
 
 Woolen Mills, continued. 
 
 staircases, elevators, pickers and dry- 
 ing process cut off — latter by cold air 
 only ; using pure wool stock, no shod- 
 dy, cotton or mixed stock 
 
 Woolen Mills* First Class. Weaving only, buying 
 warps and yarns ; no picking or spin 
 
 " " First Class. Using mixed clean cotton 
 
 stock, no shoddy 
 
 " " First Class. Using mixed stock with 
 
 shoddy 
 
 " Second Class. Good construction, 
 mill Moors not double or with heavy 
 beams ; staircases and elevators not 
 cut off, but pickers and dry-rooms 
 separated ; using pure wool stock. . 
 " Second Class. Using mixed stock or 
 
 shoddy 
 
 " Third Class. Ordinary construction 
 plastered ceiling, furred walls, poor 
 tire appliances, old machinery, eleva 
 tors and staircases not cut off, &c. 
 
 &c, Decline 
 
 " " Frame, Steam power 
 
 Water " 
 
 " Waste, (see Waste No, 1630 ) 
 
 Worsteds and Fancy Wools, Stocks of 
 
 AV rappers (Ladies') Manuf'y , 
 
 Wringing Machine Manuf'y, (see No. 1628) 
 
 Yachts, Sail 75 cents 
 
 " Steam or Electric 100 " 
 
 Yeast Manuf'y 
 
 Yankee Notions, (see Notions No. 1236) 
 
 Yarns, Cotton and Wool, excluding Jute , 
 
 Zinc Manuf'y 
 
 Zylonite Factor}-, same as Celluloid, No. 649 
 
 Cents. 
 
 ♦See Specific Schedule for Class. 
 
INSURANCE OF MERCHANDISE IN WAREHOUSES, 
 PUBLIC STORAGE STORES, ETC 
 (With Alphabetical List.) 
 
 In view of the fact that most of the losses (over 90$ in city 
 warehouses other than fibre, protected by fire departments,) are 
 partial, it follows that the relative susceptibility to damage of 
 the various kinds of contents is vitally important, as it would 
 indicate the relative salvage in case of fire, and that whatever 
 differences exist in the goods before a fire would, unless they 
 are totally destroyed, be found reflected in the differences in 
 salvage after a fire. This fact proves that the rates on the var- 
 ious contents of warehouses should be discriminating, and that 
 where they are not — all merchandise being rated at some aver- 
 age figure, (which must necessarily be a maximum high enough 
 for the most damageable class,) — injustice will be done to those 
 classes on which, by reason of the character of the goods them- 
 selves or of the packages which enclose and protect them, the 
 greatest salvage may be expected. 
 
 The necessity for a round or average rate for a stock of mer- 
 chandise in a private store for the sale of merchandise of general 
 character, such as Groceries or Dry Goods, for example, where 
 only small quantities of each class of goods are to be found, does 
 not obtain in a public warehouse, where the entire consignments 
 of a merchant, year in and year out, may be confined to a single 
 line of goods in a uniform kind of package, which he can, just 
 as well as not, specify in his policy. 
 
 There is no reason why a merchant having a valuable invoice 
 in a public warehouse, of Raw-Hides or of China Clay or Fullers' 
 Earths in barrels, willing to limit the application of his policy 
 by specific description of the goods and the package protecting 
 them, should pay the same rate as another having Leaf Tobacco 
 or Toys. 
 
;S() INSIRANCK OF M KKCHANDISE IN WAREHOUSES, ETC. 
 
 No system for rating the miscellaneous contents of ware- 
 houses by an average rate and an indefinite form of policy can 
 be either just to all merchants or safe for underwriters. On the 
 one hand, it charges the hazard of undesirable risks to the 
 owners of preferred classes and, on the other, it leaves an insur- 
 ance company in ignorance, until after a loss, as to whether it 
 has an unduly large line on an exceptionally damageable class 
 of merchandise, or an unduly small line on an exceptionally 
 good class of merchandise. In ignorance of what it may be in- 
 suring under some indefinite and general form of policy, it must 
 either unduly restrict its lines to be prudent, or inordinately in- 
 crease them at the risk of having a heavy loss on a subject of 
 insurance peculiarly susceptible to damage from smoke or water. 
 There may be just as much difference between two different 
 classes of merchandise in the same warehouse, under the pro- 
 tection of a fire department, as between two different manufac- 
 turing risks. 
 
 Where all kinds of merchandise in a warehouse are insured 
 at an average round rate, there will be temptation either to cut 
 the rates on the more desirable classes or to pay an extra broker- 
 age or commission to secure them at the tariff. Any other 
 system of rating than that which justly measures the hazard of 
 each risk is practically on a par with the scheme of a 99-cent 
 bargain counter, from which few intelligent person select 50-cent 
 articles. If rates are accurately equalized or adjusted there will 
 be no choice between hazards, and the temptation to cut rates 
 or to pay extra brokerages for selection will be almost entirely 
 removed. Even if any competitor should prefer a particular 
 class or stock, his associates, having faith in the adjustment of 
 prices, would not be disturbed by his preferences ; they would 
 be as willing to take one risk as another and, therefore, those 
 which he should leave. 
 
 The specific rating of the following schedule will relieve the 
 Companies of the trouble to which they are now subjected in 
 order to ascertain what their policies are covering under preva- 
 lent, general, blanket forms, such as "Merchandise, hazardous 
 and extra hazardous," &c. If, as in the following tariff, the 
 rates named for these general forms are higher than those for 
 preferred classes specifically insured, it will not be necessary to 
 
LINES. 
 
 781 
 
 investigate. The underwriter can rest assured that the mer- 
 chant will declare his goods if he has a low-rated stock, and if 
 he does not and asks for the general form of policy, the Company 
 will secure a proper rate and be able to determine its line. 
 
 LINES. 
 
 The argument has been made that some underwriters would 
 be tempted to take the highest rated risks because they would 
 yield the largest premiums ; but this overlooks the fact that a line 
 should be regulated by the rate if the latter is based upon accur- 
 ate methods of measure. The liability to total or excessive losses 
 on particular risks, and the frequency of fires, etc., which enter 
 into questions of line are measured in the rate, and the rate is, 
 therefore, the best evidence of what a line should be. 
 
 For example, if the line of an underwriter on a class of mer- 
 chandise rating at 25 cents be $20,000, his line on a class rating 
 at lfc should not be over $5,000, and on a class of merchandise 
 rating at 2$ should not exceed $2,500. In other words, having 
 fixed the maximum line which he would carry on a non-hazard- 
 ous risk, the amount of insurance which the premium on such a 
 risk would pay for on a higher rated risk would be the proper 
 line for the greater hazard. In the foregoing illustration, $50, 
 the premium of the maximum line for the minimum hazard, 
 would pay for $5,000 on a Ifo risk and only $2,500 on a 2$ risk. 
 
 An underwriter's line in a particular warehouse therefore, 
 may, be said to be "full" when he has secured the proper pre- 
 mium, graded according to the classes covered, no matter what 
 the amount of the insurance may be. If the rates are properly 
 graded the question of amount insured would not determine his 
 line, which could not be said to be full if he had $15,000 on a 
 25-cent class, but would be more than full if he had $7,500 on a 
 Ifo class. His loss on a $20,000 policy on crude rubber would 
 not be greater than on a $5,000 stock of toys. 
 
 Under such a system of rating as is here proposed an under- 
 writer can easily regulate his lines, which must always depend 
 upon the character of the goods covered. It is the probable 
 amount of loss, and not the actual a mo ant of insurance, 
 which determines what a line should be. 
 
 Thus not only lines, but rates and premiums, would be equal- 
 
782 INSURANCE OP MERCHANDISE IN WAREHOUSES, ETC. 
 
 ized, and the Company taking a non-hazardous risk at the lower 
 rate would have as much premium as a Company taking the 
 more hazardous risk at the higher rate. There would, there- 
 fore, be no inducement to an intelligent underwriter to take the 
 higher rated risk, as he would not secure a larger premium, and 
 a correct system of rating, which properly measured all risks, 
 would practically remove all differences and the temptation to 
 make selection, either by cutting rates or paying extra com- 
 missions. 
 
 Rules of Warehouse. A reduction in the rate of the warehouse, 
 not exceeding 10$, at No. 127, if the rules of the warehouse ex- 
 clude other parties than the warehouseman or his employees 
 (ensuring disinterested custody) and provide for the use of cov- 
 ered lights; prohibiting, also, smoking, fires, matches, etc.. (see 
 Warehouse Rules, N. Y. Board.) 
 
 Arrangement of Merchandise. Where the rules of the ware- 
 house agreed to by the warehouseman require clear alleys from 
 windows and doors so that not only may fires be quickly dis- 
 covered from the street, but (what is more important still) that 
 water thrown by the fire department may reach all portions of 
 a room, a clear space of three feet between the top of merchan- 
 dise piles and the ceilings being maintained, the basis or key 
 rate of the warehouse may be reduced ten per cent. 
 
 This matter of disposition or arrangement of merchandise on 
 the various floors of a building is a very important feature of 
 the fire hazard. On a well traveled thoroughfare, the discovery 
 of a fire by the passers-by, even in the daytime, may be delayed 
 if the merchandise is piled in front of window openings so as to 
 obstruct the view and prevent water from reaching interior fires. 
 
 Rates on Merchandise. To secure the rate named in the fol- 
 lowing table for stock, the particular merchandise and its 
 
 PACKAGE MUST BE DECLARED OR SPECIFIED, and the policy 
 
 must not contain any general term, such as "and other 
 merchandise, hazardous and extra hazardous," or "other 
 merchandise not more hazardous." Where such indefinite 
 phrases are used, the policy not being limited in its application 
 to the particular goods for which the rate is specified, the rate 
 for general merchandise must be charged; (see Merchandise," 
 No. 2693.) Thus, if the application of the policy is limited to 
 
POISONS AND SPECIFIC COUNTER TARIFFS. 
 
 783 
 
 Crude Rubber, specifically insured, the addition to the rate of 
 the building will be 10 cents — that named for Crude Rubber 
 No. 2203, but if the wording of the policy is "Crude Rubber and 
 other merchandise, hazardous and extra hazardous.'' or ''mer- 
 chandise principally Crude Rubber," the figure should be that 
 for "'Merchandise," No. 2693. 
 
 POISONS. 
 
 To secure the separation from other merchandise of such sub- 
 stances as Arsenic, Paris Green, Asafoetida, &c, &c, which 
 would poison or injure food stocks; and of acids, fibre and other 
 ignitible and combustible substances, it is only necessary to 
 charge higher rates, as has been done in the following table, 
 where they are stored with other goods, and a lower rate, suffi- 
 cient to measure their own probabilities of damage, where they 
 are separately stored with goods only of like kind. The ware- 
 houseman, even with a desire to keep his agreement, might not 
 succeed in excluding poisons; but if these were rated, as in the 
 following table, at double the rates of separate storage, they 
 would naturally seek such separate storage. 
 
 Specific Counter Tariffs. In a city having a system or large 
 number of warehouses, a specific "counter tariff" may easily be 
 arranged and printed, which will save computation upon each 
 risk. In this tariff a specific basis or "key" rate for each ware- 
 house can be determined and printed, showing the net figure, 
 to which the charge to obtain the stock rate is to be added. In 
 this basis or key rate the deduction of one-fourth of the deficien- 
 cies of the building, as explained at No. 128 of U. M. S., may 
 be made which will save deducting it from each stock in the list ; 
 it making no difference, of course, since the two have to be 
 added — the key rate of the building and the second column 
 charge of the stock to get the stock rate — whether the deduction 
 be made from the key rate of the warehouse, which would be 
 equivalent to deducting from every stock in the warehouse, or 
 from each stock charge before adding it to the key-rate. The 
 charges for the stocks in the second column of the table can be 
 added to the printed basis rate of the particular warehouse to 
 get the proper rate for any stock in it. 
 
 The "ignitibility" and "combustibility" features of hazardous 
 goods admitted to the warehouse can be provided for, as to their 
 
7S4 1NSIRANCE OF MERCHANDISE IN WAREHOUSES, ETC. 
 
 effect upon other stocks, by increasing the key-rate according to 
 a stipulation on the pari of the storekeeper as to what merchan- 
 dise he will exclude, notably such as fibre, chemicals, etho s, 
 etc. This will determine the grade of the warehouse, for fixing 
 the basis or key-rate for all contents and save adding the 
 excess hazard of all other stocks to the one to be rated. 
 
 The third feature of each stock — the susceptibility to damage 
 — is the only one included in the following table. 
 
 The following illustration will serve to further explain the 
 matter. Let us suppose that the unoccupied rate of a ware- 
 house, No. 127 of the Schedule is, say, 45 cents; this Avould be, 
 under the Universal Schedule, the basis for rating any stock. 
 To it would be added the excess in the first column of the most 
 hazardous stock over that of the stock to be rated and, in ad- 
 dition, the second column charge for the stock to be rated, first 
 deducting therefrom one-fourth of the deficiencies of the build- 
 ing, after which the sum total would be reduced by such per- 
 centage deductions as the risk would be entitled to for proximity 
 to hydrants, city fire department, extra steamers, water-towers, 
 etc., (see U. M. S. rating slip.) Instead of making all these 
 computations necessary for each stock in the warehouse, a 
 uniform key -rate can be fixed for all stocks in it, by taking the 
 rate No. 127 of the Schedule, increasing it for the occupancy 
 hazard (according to the agreement of the warehouseman as to 
 whether he will exclude fibre, chemicals, etc.,) then deducting 
 one-fourth of the deficiences of the building and, further, such 
 percentages for proximity to hydrants, extra steamers, water- 
 tower, etc. , as the building may be entitled to, the result being, 
 let us suppose, 24 cents. This will be the uniform key-rate of 
 the warehouse, to which is to be added the second column 
 charge of the following table to obtain the rate of any class of 
 merchandise contained in it. 
 
 For example, suppose the basis or key-rate of the warehouse 
 of John Doe to be 25 cents, the net rate for Boots and Shoes in 
 cases in the following tariff, No. 1995, being 25 cents, the rate 
 for Boots and Shoes in John Doe's warehouse would be 50 cents. 
 In Richard Roe's warehouse, the basis rate of which is 40 cents, 
 it would be 40+25 = 65 cents. 
 
A SHORTER METHOD, ETC. 
 
 785 
 
 A SHORTER METHOD. 
 
 How to use the following table and to determine the key-rate 
 of any warehouse. 
 
 Compute the rate of any staple stock by the Universal Mer- 
 cantile Schedule — hoots and shoes in cases, No. 359, for example 
 — in the warehouse to be rated, deducting, at No. 127 of the 
 Schedule, 10$ for warehouse occupancy, and adding the first 
 column charge of the most hazardous stock admitted to the 
 warehouse under the agreement with the warehouseman. From 
 the rate so obtained for the boot and shoe stock deduct the charge 
 for this same stock in the second column of the following table 
 (No. 1995.) The remainder or difference will be the key or basis 
 rate of the warehouse — a figure to which can be added the rate 
 named in the second column of the following table for any other 
 stock to ascertain the rate of such stock in the warehouse. 
 
 For example, if boots and shoes in warehouse "A," at Albany, 
 N. Y., would pay 45 cents under the U. M. S., deduct 25 cents, 
 (the rate for Boots and Shoes, No. 1995, in the following Ware- 
 house Schedule) and 20 cents will be the key-rate of the ware- 
 house, to which 30 cents added would give the rate for carpets 
 in the warehouse (20+30) 50 cents; 45 cents added would give 
 the rate for hardware in the warehouse (45+20) 65 cents; 10 
 cents added would give the rate for crude rubber (20+10) 30 
 cents. 
 
 As already stated, each of the warehouses of a city may thus 
 have its key-rate determined and printed in an alphabetical list, 
 when the following table for stocks, showing the relative sus- 
 ceptibility to damage feature will answer for such warehouse. 
 
 AVERAGE RATE OF THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE. 
 
 In order to determine what would be the average rate of pre- 
 mium obtained on the total merchandise contents of a warehouse 
 computed according to the specific rates of the following schedule 
 on the distribution of actual quantities of merchandise of the 
 various kinds, a computation was made upon the basis of mer- 
 chandise imports for the year 1892 at the port of New York. 
 The total values of merchandise imports for the year were 
 $530,538,112. Of this amount, $382,569,516 was for staples 
 
786 INSURANCE OF MERCHANDISE IN WAREHOUSES, ET( . 
 
 divided as per the following list. The remaining $153,968,596 
 represents the value of miscellaneous goods, which would rate 
 somewhat higher as an average by the schedule. The premium 
 computation on the actual values of each of the staple articles 
 named was made according to the rates fixed in the following 
 Warehouse Schedule for the class, taking 25 cents as the basis 
 or key-rate of a warehouse, which would be the average key- 
 rate of the majority of the New York warehouses under the 
 U. M. S.* 
 
 The table on the following page shows that on staples like 
 coffee, teas, tobacco, &c, taking the actual values of each, — a 
 total value of §382,569,516 — the premium resulting would be 
 S2.2:>2. ;t0. Calculating the rate according to the tariff rate of 
 the New York Board, 60 cents flat for all contents, the premium 
 resulting would be 82,295,417, showing that the premium ob- 
 tained in this largest warehouse system of the country according 
 to the following schedule would be almost identically the same 
 as that obtained at the round rate of 60 cents fixed by the New 
 York Board. Without claiming that this coincidence is either 
 significant or remarkable, it is certainly interesting. The round 
 rate of 60 cents is the result of the combined expert judgment 
 of the underwriters familiar with the largest warehouse system 
 of the country, and the specific rates of the various classes also 
 indicate their views as to the relative susceptibility to damage 
 of each class. 
 
 It may be claimed that if the round rate of 60 cents for mer- 
 chandise generally, without specification, would secure practical- 
 ly and more easily the same premium, little is to be gained by 
 entailing upon underwriters the extra work of specifiying mer- 
 chandise, package and rate. But this claim overlooks the fact, 
 first, that a round rate which may be twice or thrice the amount 
 needed for such classes as crude rubber, pig lead, metal goods, 
 boots and shoes in cases, etc. , and grossly inadequate for such 
 damageable stocks as leaf tobacco, millinery, feathers, chemicals, 
 toys, etc., tempts underwriters to cut rates for the preferable 
 classes, or to pay extravagant brokerage to secure selection; 
 second, that the underwriter cannot know what he is insuring 
 
 *In the case of a warehouse of inferior construction, or in a city with less 
 efficient fire department than that of New York, the key-rate of the warehouse 
 under the U. M. S. would of course he higher. 
 
AVERAGE RATE OF THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULE. 
 
 787 
 
 and, consequently, cannot regulate his line; and, third; and 
 most important, that it ignores the rights of those merchants 
 who own the less damageable property. There can be little 
 claim to fairness in a system of rating which charges to one set 
 of merchants the insurance burthen or tax which should be 
 borne by others. 
 
788 
 
 Imports of Leading Articles of Merchandise. 
 
 Port of New York, for a single year. 
 
 ARTICLE. 
 
 V ALUE. 
 
 Schedule rate 
 
 for class in- 
 cluding ;J5 cts. 
 
 key-rate 
 of building. 
 
 r REMIUM. 
 
 S u^ar 
 
 ft A1 RaR lf\n 
 
 $ 47,o45./09. 
 
 05 cts. 
 
 ft •? T T #~» T -T 
 
 Molasses 
 
 C O C C 1 7 
 
 5 cts 
 
 ? c ? c 
 ■SOO- 
 
 Tea 
 
 T Ci CiR 1 11 
 
 60 cts 
 
 6n /i 87 
 
 Coffee . 
 
 t t 2 66 inn 
 
 00 v-l». 
 
 6 1 n 6 A 1 
 
 Wool Goods, Mfd 
 
 2Q 7 O T 200 
 
 50 cts. 
 
 T A 8 o c 6 
 
 Silk " " 
 
 2 7 7 6l 206 
 
 85 cts. 
 
 2 2 C 07 T 
 
 ^oo> y / * • 
 
 Cotton " " 
 
 2 1 I "27 7 70 
 
 50 cts. 
 
 106,688. 
 
 Flax " " 
 
 18 oj.? 68a 
 
 50 cts. 
 
 90, 218. 
 
 Hides and Skins 
 
 18 7tc jm 
 
 a r pre 
 
 84, 219 
 
 Tin hlork" ptp 
 
 7,978,627. 
 
 40 cts. 
 
 3 I ,9 1 4- 
 
 u plate 
 
 j> uuu j 1 IS- 
 
 6 c c t c 
 
 3 J >5°°> 
 
 India Rubber and Gut- 
 
 
 
 
 IO >533>343- 
 
 35 cts - 
 
 6 1 866 
 
 Leather and Mfrs of L. 
 
 8,804,653. 
 
 55 cts. 
 
 48,425. 
 
 
 7,423, Hi- 
 
 85 cts. 
 
 63,096. 
 
 Mfd 
 
 1,509,808. 
 
 75 cts - 
 
 11,322. 
 
 
 11,288,275. 
 
 85 cts. 
 
 95-949- 
 
 Silks, Raw 
 
 8,925,93 8 - 
 
 55 cts. 
 
 49,092. 
 
 
 6,331,821. 
 
 40 cts. 
 
 25,327- 
 
 
 6,842,574. 
 
 85 cts. 
 
 58,161. 
 
 Furs and Mfrs. of Furs. 
 
 6,068,245. 
 
 80 cts. 
 
 48,548. 
 
 China, Stone & Earth- 
 
 
 
 4,745,825. 
 
 60 cts. 
 
 28,474. 
 
 Fursand FurSkinsUn- 
 
 
 
 
 
 2,369,476. 
 
 65 cts. 
 
 i5,40i- 
 
 All other articles ,ex- 
 clusive of coin and 
 bullion. 
 
 Total Imports, 
 
 $382,569,516. 
 $382,569,516. 
 
 $153,968,596. 
 $536,538,112. 
 
 60 cts. 
 
 $2,232,799. 
 $2,295,417. 
 
OPERATION OF THE WAREHOUSE SCHEDULE. 
 
 (LIST CORRECTED TO JANUARY 1903.) 
 
 The following list has been enlarged over former editions, as 
 the result of applications of New York merchants, from time 
 to time, for specific rates on classes of merchandise not before 
 enumerated in the schedule. They are the result of more than 
 a year of successful operation of the Warehouse Schedule in 
 that city, and the list with these additions may be regarded as 
 reasonably complete. 
 
 Under the operation of the Schedule the warehouse system of 
 New York has been materially improved. Buildings have been 
 altered by the correction of faults of construction and manage- 
 ment. Drugs and chemicals of a poisonous or nauseous char- 
 acter have been excluded from what are termed the Stipulated 
 Warehouses, and also those of an explosive character, some of 
 which are harmless when segregated and properly handled, but 
 dangerous in combination with organic substances like sugar, 
 sawdust, etc. — potassium chlorate, for example, as explained on 
 pages 395, 396 and 397. 
 
 Where the following stipulation "A" was signed by the ware- 
 houseman a low rate was made for the key or base rate of his 
 warehouse, nothing being added for ignitibility or combustibility ; 
 only the susceptibility charge being added to the key or base 
 rate of the warehouse to get the merchandise rate, and the 
 warehouses whose owners signed this stipulation are known as 
 "Stipulated Warehouses." 
 
 All other ("non-stipulated") warehouses pay 30 cents* higher 
 base rate, except in the case of chemical warehouses, whose 
 owners sign stipulation "B," agreeing to comply with its re- 
 quirements. On these warehouses the base rates are increased 
 15 cents.* (See Stipulation "B'\) 
 
 *20 cts. and 10 cts. net in N. Y., after deductions for its Fire Department, 
 extra steamers, water towers, &c. 
 
790 SEPARATION OF POISONS, EXPLOSIVES, ETC. 
 
 It will be observed tbat, under this scheme, there are two in- 
 fluences at work to keep objectionable merchandise out of food 
 stock warehouses, viz., first, a high rate for the goods themselves 
 when stored in such warehouses, as contrasted with a lower rate 
 when stored elsewhere and in warehouses of proper conditions; 
 and, second, a higher base rate for a ''Stipulated Warehouse" 
 whose owner permits the storage of poisonous or explosive sub- 
 stances. Thus, the owner of drugs and chemicals would natur- 
 ally seek a non-stipulated or chemical warehouse to get the 
 lower rate, as the warehouseman of the Stipulated Warehouse 
 would naturally decline to accept merchandise which would 
 immediately raise the rate of everything else in his warehouse. 
 
 The plan works admirably, and New York underwriters are 
 no longer apprehensive that a fire in a warehouse containing 
 sugar, flour, tea, coffee or other food stocks would result in a 
 total loss on these stocks because of the leakage from poisonous 
 substances, which would cause their condemnation by the Board 
 of Health. 
 
 It is, perhaps, well to call attention again to the necessity of 
 using the exact phraseology of the list when insuring any mer- 
 chandise, as a general form would otherwise be used to cover 
 higher rated merchandise. It is not allowable, therefore, for 
 instance, to insure "linens" where "linen" is intended. The 
 word ' 'linens" might be claimed to include tablecloths, doilies, 
 napkins, handkerchiefs, etc., for which higher rates are named 
 in the list. It is not uncommon to find tablecloths manufactured 
 expressly for individuals, with monograms, etc., of an expensive 
 character. One wealthy lady in New York, having a fad for 
 fancy linen, has two tablecloths which cost $2,000 apiece, made 
 by hand and elaborately decorated with lace, etc. In order that 
 linen merchants, therefore, might not have to pay so high a rate 
 on the general class of goods kept by them as would be needed 
 to cover such valuable articles a special form has been provided, 
 which excepts linen exceeding in value two dollars per square 
 yard, which will be found in the list of forms. 
 
 The word "goods," it may be unnecessary again to state, must 
 not be used. 
 
 ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 It will be observed that the first column charge, i. e., that 
 
STIPULATED, NON-STIP. AND CHEM. WAREHOUSES. 791 
 
 which measures ignitibility and combustibility, is omitted in 
 the following table. This charge being included in the base 
 rate. 
 
 Let us conceive of three separate warehouses, all of superior 
 construction and built exactly alike, and all rating, without any 
 occupancy charge for ignitibility and combustibility, at a "base 
 rate" of 20 cents. One warehouse is set aside for merchandise 
 of a character which does not add any charge for occupancy; 
 such, for example, as flour, tea, coffee, calicoes, silks, etc., 
 which we will call Warehouse "X," whose owner signs the 
 stipulation "A." 
 
 Warehouse "Y" accepts all kinds of merchandise and will 
 sign no stipulation whatever. The addition to the warehouse 
 rate to get the base rate for all merchandise in this warehouse 
 will be 30 cents, making the base rate 50 cents. 
 
 The third Warehouse "Z" will take all kinds of merchandise, 
 but the owner stipulates (Form B) to segregate according to 
 the pledge (B,) with separating fire walls, etc., and restrictions of 
 arrangement, and handling, all those chemicals which, in com- 
 bination with others, would result in explosive or self-igniting 
 compounds or which would poison food stocks or bleach colored 
 stocks. In view of such stipulations the addition for ignitibility 
 and combustibility is 15 cents, making the base rate 35 cents. 
 
 We would then have three warehouses with base rates as 
 follows : 
 
 "X" "Stipulated" 20 cents. 
 
 "Y" Non-Stipulated 50 " 
 
 "Z" Stipulated Chemical Warehouse 35 " 
 To these base rates it will only be necessary to add the ' 'sus- 
 ceptibility" charge in the accompanying tables to secure the rate 
 of any merchandise named therein. As objectionable merchan- 
 dise, poisons, etc., are rated high in a "Stipulated" warehouse 
 and at lower rates in a "Non-Stipulated" or in a "Stipulated 
 Chemical" Warehouse, the tendency would naturally be for 
 owners of such merchandise to seek the "Non-Stipulated" or 
 "Chemical" warehouses since the addition of the base rate to 
 the charge for the merchandise would result in a rate much 
 lower than in the "Stipulated" warehouse. For example, flour 
 in bbls. in "X" would be 20 cents +25, = 45 cents; in "Y" 
 
792 
 
 SEPARATION OF POISONS AND EXPLOSIVES. 
 
 50 + 25, = 75 cents; in "Z" 30 + 25, = 55 cents. Arsenic, 
 which is only slightly more susceptible to damage than flour for 
 insurance purposes, but would endanger other merchandise, 
 would be 145 in "X" (with the further effect if the warehouse- 
 man should accept it, of immediately raising the base rate of 
 "X," to 50 cents, making 175.) In ' Y" it would be 50 + 30, 
 = 80 cents, and in "Z" 35 + 30, = 65 cents. The owner of 
 arsenic would, therefore, naturally seek the cheaper warehouse 
 to get a lower rate, and if he did not, the warehouseman would 
 reject it, knowing that it would raise the base rate of his ware- 
 house and, therefore, the rate of all other merchandise stored 
 with him and prevent his getting the larger values of the more 
 insurable classes. 
 
 The following illustration will further explain the operation of 
 this plan and its beneficial effect in keeping out of food ware- 
 houses those poisonous substances which when stored with food 
 stocks render underwriters continually liable to total losses on 
 classes of merchandise which, but for such dangerous combin- 
 ations, would be desirable subjects for insurance at low rates. 
 
 W. H. "X" 
 "Stipulated.' - 
 Base Rate 20c* 
 
 W. H. "Y" 
 'Non-Stipulated." 
 Base Rate 50c* 
 
 W. H. "Z" 
 '■Chemical." 
 Base Rate 35c* 
 
 
 In "X' 
 
 > 
 
 I 
 
 n "Y 
 
 
 In "Z' 
 
 
 Tea, 
 
 20+ 35 = 
 
 55 
 
 50- 
 
 \-35 = 
 
 85 
 
 35+35 = 
 
 70 
 
 Coffee, 
 
 20+ 30 = 
 
 50 
 
 50+30= 
 
 80 
 
 35+30= 
 
 65 
 
 Flour, 
 
 20+ 25 = 
 
 45 
 
 50+25 = 
 
 75 
 
 35+25 = 
 
 60 
 
 Arsenic, 
 
 20+125 = 
 
 145 
 
 50- 
 
 H30= 
 
 80 
 
 35+30 = 
 
 65 
 
 Potassium Nitrate, 
 
 20+125 = 
 
 145 
 
 50- 
 
 |-50 = 
 
 10(1 
 
 35+50= 
 
 85 
 
 It will be observed that, while arsenic becomes cheaper in "Y" 
 and "Z" than in "X,"' flour becomes dearer, its danger in these 
 warehouses being measured, however, by their increased "base 
 rate." It is not likely underwriters would insure flour in "Y" 
 or ' 'Z" even at the higher rates. 
 
 The owner of warehouse "X" cannot afford to allow poisons 
 in his warehouse, as it would immediately raise his base rate, 
 
 *In the New York Exchange these base rates are shown on the cards in the 
 cabinets known as "card rates." 
 
SEPARATION OF POISONS AND EXPLOSIVES. 793 
 
 and he would lose the storage, in consequence, of ninety-nine per 
 cent in value of the goods in his custody, whose owners could 
 not afford to insure with him at the higher base rate. Tea, 
 coffee, and flour ought to seek (and naturally would, to get 
 a low rate) warehouse "X," but if they should go into "Y" 
 or "Z" they would pay enough higher rate to cover the hazard 
 of miscellaneous storage. Before this plan of insuring ware- 
 houses went into operation in New York, they were insured 
 at a low and inadequate rate no matter where or how stored. 
 
 When is taken into account that the value of those classes of 
 merchandise which are not objectionable because of any dele- 
 terious, poisonous, explosive or bleaching properties stored in 
 the warehouse system of New York in a single year (vide the 
 annual statistics of the Port) is over five hundred and twenty 
 millions of dollars, and that not over four millions of dollars in 
 value, or less than one per cent of this a mount, is of an ob- 
 jectionable character, it will be apparent how senseless, from an 
 economic viewpoint, is the utterly unnecessary, mixed storage of 
 such enormous values for purposes of insurance. It necessitates 
 a high (but inadequate) rate on the 516 millions of non-hazardous 
 merchandise because of such miscellaneous storage, in order to 
 consider the convenience of owners of say four millions whose 
 premiums distributed among all the insurance companier would 
 amount to a bagatelle for each. All of the warehouse systems 
 of the country, those of the larger cities especially, should be 
 treated by underwriters on this plan which has worked so satis- 
 factorily in New York. 
 
 State legislatures and municipalities should enact regulations 
 which would prevent these unnecessary and dangerous com- 
 binations. In default of a special law of this character the 
 King of Belgium issued in September last, a royal decree, com- 
 pelling dealers in poisonous drugs and substances to store such 
 articles apart and keep them separated from food supplies. He 
 requires that poisonous substances should be delivered in re- 
 ceptacles or wrappers of such nature that their contents cannot 
 escape, and strict provisions for registering each sale of poisons 
 are made. The decree went into effect in January, 1903. 
 
 It seems deplorable that a great nation should be behind a 
 petty kingdom in taking such obviously wise precautions in the 
 interest of citizens. 
 
STIPULATIONS FOR WAUKHorSEMEN. 
 
 As I write, February 9th, 1903, word comes of the death of 
 Chief Foley of Milwaukee and four of his men from inhaling the 
 fumes of nitric acid at a fire, enforcing the importance of safe 
 storage and handling of acids and other chemicals. The fact 
 that firemen are naturally deterred from entering buildings 
 containing such substances to fight a fire is alone a reason for 
 charging higher rates aside from the danger of ignition, com- 
 bustibility, poisonous and explosive properties, which increase 
 the fire loss. It is, perhaps, natural but unreasonable that 
 dealers in these substances should wish them stored in low rated 
 warehouses where non-hazardous merchandise is stored, but 
 underwriters should be firm in excluding from "Stipulated" 
 warehouses all dangerous or even doubtful goods. 
 
 "A" 
 
 FOR "STIPULATED WAREHOUSES." 
 
 STIPULATION FOR WAREHOUSEMAN. 
 
 I hereby agree, in consideration of a reduced rate for insurance 
 
 on merchandise in my Warehouse No 
 
 Street, that I will not knowingly accept 
 
 for storage, or permit to be stored in said warehouse, any of the 
 following classes of merchandise or chemicals, and I agree to 
 observe due diligence, by inquiry and investigation, to exclude 
 all such merchandise from my said warehouse, and to notify the 
 New York Fire Insurance Exchange of any attempt on the part 
 of owners to store such merchandise in my said warehouse : 
 
 Acids, Ammonia, Arsenic or other Poisons, Asafoetida, 
 Benzine or Benzole, Bleaching Powders, Bone Ash, Brimstone, 
 Broom Corn, Calcium Carbide, Carbon (Bi-Sulphide-of,) Cotton, 
 Creosote, Ethers, Explosives, Fibre (Vegetable, Esparto Grass, 
 Excelsior, Flax, Hemp, Jute, Manilla, Moss, Oakum, Sisal 
 Grass, Tampico, Tow, Hay or Straw, ) Formaldehyde, Fulmin- 
 ates of Silver or Mercury, Gasolene, Kerosene, Junk, Jute 
 Butts, Lamp-Black, Lime, Metallic Sodium and Potassium, 
 Methyllic Alcohol, Naphtha, Nitrate of Soda, Nitrate of Pot- 
 assium or other Nitrates, Nitro-Benzole, Paris Green, Petroleum 
 or Petroleum Products, Permanganate of Potash, Phosphorus, 
 Potassium Chlorate, Potassium Cyanide or Nitrate, Chlorate of 
 Soda or other Chlorates, Quicklime, Rags, Saltpetre, Shoddy, 
 
STIPULATION FOR CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE. 
 
 795 
 
 Spirits of Nitre, Sulphur, Turpentine, or Naval Stores, Var- 
 nishes or Lacquers, Waste, Zinc Dust. 
 
 "B" 
 
 STIPULATION FOR PREFERRED CHEMICAL WAREHOUSE. 
 
 I hereby agree, in consideration of a reduced rate for insurance 
 
 in my Warehouse No 
 
 Street, that I will store separately from all other merchandise 
 each of the following chemicals or merchandise, maintaining 
 such separation, each from the other, and from all other mer- 
 chandise, by a substantial brick wall not less than twelve inches 
 in thickness, without doors or other openings and extending 
 through and above the roof, viz : 
 
 Acids, Brimstone or Sulphur, Ethers or any Explosives, 
 Naval Stores, Turpentine, Nitre Cake, Nitrate of Soda, 
 Nitrate of Potassium or other Nitrates, Phosphorus, 
 Chlorate of Soda, Chlorate of Potassium or other Chlo- 
 rates, Saltpetre, Varnishes and Lacquers, Cotton or other 
 fibre. 
 
 I further agree that I will not permit any person in such 
 compartments for handling such chemicals or merchandise who 
 is not thoroughly qualified by knowledge of their dangerous 
 properties to carefully handle them. And I further agree that 
 I will not accept for storage any food stocks, merchandise or 
 substance used for food. 
 
 I also further agree to store all poisonous chemicals, such as 
 Arsenic and Paris Green, below the second story of the ware- 
 house, and to store any roots or herbs above such second floor, 
 where water thrown by the Fire Department cannot pass from 
 such poisons to such roots or herbs, in order to minimize as far 
 as possible the loss or damage consequent upon fire. 
 
MERCHANDISE IN PUBLIC WAREHOUSES. 
 
 N. B. The following table is intended exclusively for 
 merchandise in public warehouses or storage stores. 
 
 Rule. Add to the base kate of the warehouse the figure named 
 in the following table for the merchandise to be insured. In no 
 case shall more than five items as numbered in Alphabetical List be 
 insured under one amount, and in such case the rate of the highest 
 must be charged. 
 
 The policy must specify the merchandise by name and 
 describe the package it' the rate sought is that for a particular kind 
 of package; thus on "Liquoi in bottles" "Liquor in barrels" "Flour 
 in barrels" or "Opium in tin lined cases". 
 
 In case the assured docs not know the nature of his package, or 
 does not wish to specify it as, for example, where he may have 
 part in one kind of package and part in another, the merchandise may 
 be insured without specification of package if the rate for highest 
 rated package be taken. For example, in the case of Ale, Beer or 
 Porter (No. 1846) the package need not be specified if the highest 
 rate for any package be taken; in this case, that for bottled ale, 40 
 cents, as contrasted with barreled ale, 30 cents. 
 
 It will be observed that rates for general classes, such as Seeds, 
 Gums, Roots, Dried Fruits, etc., are higher than for some specific 
 kinds if specifically insured, such as Gum Copal, Gum Cutch, Flax 
 Seed, Anise Seed, Chicory, Dried Peaches, etc. 
 
 N. B. For Approved Ceneral Forms see end. 
 
 No 
 1800 
 1802 
 1803 
 1806 
 1807 
 1808 
 1809 
 1810 
 1811 
 1812 
 1813 
 1814 
 1815 
 1816 
 1817 
 1818 
 1819 
 1820 
 1821 
 1822 
 1823 
 
 MERCHANDISE IX WAREHOUSES. 
 
 Acids, Acetic 
 
 " Arsenious, 
 
 ' ' if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. f 
 
 " Benzoic 
 
 ' ' Boracic 
 
 " Carbolic, 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H, 
 
 " Citric, 
 
 " Muriatic, 
 
 " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H, 
 
 " Nitric, 
 
 " " if stored in Non Stip. or Chem. W. H, . . 
 
 " Oxalic,... 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H, . . 
 
 " Picric 
 
 if stored in Non Stip. or Chem. W. H, . . 
 
 " Sulphuric, (Oil of Vitriol) 
 
 " " if Non-Stip. or Chem. "VV. H, 
 
 ' ' Tartaric, 
 
 " (not specified), 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H, 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 50 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 
 50 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 
 50 
 100* 
 
 50* 
 
 ♦Also increases "base rate" of a stipulated W. H., if stored therein. 
 
 tSulphurie, Nitric and Muriatic Acids and ethers should not be stored with other 
 merchandise; and all acids, ethers, poisons, drugs, asafcetida &c, should be kept 
 away from Food Stocks, Flour, Tea, Coffee, Provisions, Cereals &c. 
 
79? 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 1830 Aconite, root or leaves 
 
 1831 Advertising Boards, 
 
 1832 Matter, Almanacs, Calendars, Letter 
 Heads. Circulars, Pamphlets, Cards, 
 framed and unframed, not salable by 
 reason of being printed with names for 
 specific parties 
 
 1833 " Matter, salable, without names 
 
 Show Cards, (see Show Cards, No. 3080, ) 
 
 Aerated Waters in bottles, (see Mineral Waters) 
 
 " " bbls. or hhds, " " 
 
 1834 Agate and enameled hollow ware, 
 
 1835 Agates, Marbles and Onyx (see Marbles,) 
 
 1836 Agricultural Implements or parts, (see Plows,) 
 
 1837 " " Hand Tools, only 
 
 is:;s " " If Steel or other metal ex- 
 clusively such as Scythes, Mower or Reaper 
 Knives, Planing Machine Knives, 
 
 1839 Aigrettes, if written as "Feathers and Bird Skins for 
 
 Millinery," (No. 2306) 
 
 1840 Alabaster 
 
 1841 " goods 
 
 1842 Albumen 
 
 1843 " Egg 
 
 1844 Albums 
 
 1845 Alcohol, 
 
 1846 Ale, Beer or Porter, (bottled) in cases 
 
 1847 " " " " in hhds. or barrels, 
 
 1848 Alizarine, 
 
 Allspice, ( See Pimento, No. 2912,) 
 
 1849 Almonds, in bags, frails, or bales, 
 
 1850 " in boxes, casks, or barrels, 
 
 1851 Aloes, 
 
 1852 ' ' in tin lined cases .' 
 
 1853 Alum 
 
 " Chrome, (see Chrome Alum) 
 
 1854 Aluminum, (metal,) 
 
 1855 Amazona Bark 
 
 1856 Amber 
 
 1857 Amid 
 
 1858 Ambergris, 
 
 1859 Ammonia, Aqua 
 
 1860 " " if stored Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II 
 
 1861 " Carbonate of 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
798 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 1867 
 1868 
 1869 
 1870 
 1871 
 1872 
 1873 
 1874 
 
 Ammonia, Molybdate of, 
 
 '* " "if stored in Non-Stip. 
 
 Chem. W. H 
 
 " Phosphate, 
 
 ' ' Sulphate of 
 
 " " " if stored in Non-Stip. or 
 
 Chem. W. H 
 
 Ammoniac, Sal, (See Sal. Am.,) 
 
 Ammunition, fixed, (see also Cartridges, No. 2081, ). 
 
 Anilines, 
 
 Anchors 
 
 Angelica Root, 
 
 Angora Worsted Yarn, 
 
 Anise Seed, 
 
 Aniline Salts, 
 
 1874, " Oil 
 
 " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. . 
 
 Annatto, 
 
 Antimonial Lead, 
 
 Antimony 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. . . . 
 
 Metal 
 
 Sulphate, (see Sulph. of A. No. 1865) 
 
 Antiquities, Antiques, Curios and Bric-a-Brac 
 
 Anvils, 
 
 Apples, 
 
 " Dried 
 
 Apricots, Dried, 
 
 " Kernels, (see Nut Kernels or Shelled Nuts) 
 Arabian Hair Sheep Skins, Kangaroo and Marsupial, 
 
 (see Kangaroo), 
 
 Argols, (crude Cream of Tartar,) 
 
 Arnica Flowers 
 
 Arrow' Root, 
 
 Arsenic 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 
 Artificial Eyes, 
 
 " Feathers, 
 
 ' ' Flowers 
 
 " Limbs, 
 
 Silk Yarn, (see Silk Yarn 3373) 
 
 Teeth, 
 
 Artists' or Photo materials, Dry plates excluded 
 
 Artistic Burnt Work on Wood and Leather, 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 *A1«) increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
799 
 
 MDSE. IN WAKKIIOI SKS, continued. 
 
 Art-works, (see Bronzes, Antiques, Statuary, etc.,). . 
 Asafoetida, (should not be stored with food stocks,). 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H.. . 
 
 Asbestos 
 
 Asphaltum 
 
 Astrachan Cloth, (see Dress Cloth) 
 
 Athletic Goods, (see Sporting Goods, No. 3146), 
 
 Atlas Preservatives, 
 
 Autographic Sales Registers, 
 
 Automobiles and Accessories 
 
 Awnings and Awning Frames, Tents 
 
 Axle Grease, 
 
 Babbitt Metal and Solder 
 
 Bacon 
 
 Bagging, made of flax, hemp or jute, 
 
 " cotton cloth for 
 
 Bags, Cotton cloth, 
 
 " Gunny, 
 
 " Leather, traveling, 
 
 " Paper, (see Paper Bags), 
 
 Baking Powders, 
 
 Bakers' and Confectioners' supplies, (see No. 2156). . 
 
 Balata, (see Gums), 
 
 Balloons, paper, 
 
 cloth, 
 
 Balsam, Peruvian 
 
 Balsams, not elsewhere specified — Copaiva, Upo bal- 
 sam (Balm of Gilead,) Tolu, Benzoin, Fir, . . 
 
 Bamboo, Calcutta, Poles, Japanese Sticks, 
 
 " Furniture, (see also Rattan, No. 2993),.... 
 
 Splits, 
 
 Bananas 
 
 Banjo Strings, (see Catgut Strings) 
 
 Barilla (see Carb. Soda, 2069) 
 
 Barium, (see Nos. 1961, 2108, 2894) 
 
 Bark, Amazona, (see No. 1855) 
 
 ' ' Calisaya 
 
 ' ' Cascarilla, 
 
 " Peruvian, 
 
 Barks, Roots and Herbs, (not specified see Roots and 
 
 Herbs, 3008) 
 
 Barley 
 
 Barytes, (Blanc fixe,) 
 
 Basket Materials 
 
 Baskets, Splint, 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 100 
 
 100* 
 
 40 
 
 10 
 100 
 
 28 
 
 50 
 160 
 
 50 
 
 72 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 37 
 
 25 
 
 40 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 35 
 
 96 
 
 58 
 
 75 
 
 60 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 25 
 50 
 48 
 60 
 
 40 
 40 
 40 
 
 40 
 35 
 25 
 75 
 60 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
800 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 1939 Baskets, Willow, 
 
 1940 Bathing Suits, if written as Knit Goods 
 otherwise take charge "Underwear, 
 men's, women's or childrens 
 
 1941 Bay Rum, in bbls., casks or puncheons 
 
 1942 bottles, 
 
 1943 " Leaves, (see Barks, Roots and Herbs, No. 1934), 
 
 1944 Beads 
 
 1945 Beans, Manilla, 
 
 1946 " Peas or Lentils, other than Castor, Tonca or 
 Vanilla 
 
 Beans (see Castor, Manilla, Tonca, Vanilla, ) 
 
 1947 Beef, salt or corned, 
 Beer, (see Ale, &c, Nos. 1846, 1847) 
 Beet Seeds, (see Seeds) 
 
 1949 Bellows, 
 
 1950 Bells, large, Church 
 
 1951 " small table, 
 
 1952 Belting, Leather and Rubber, 
 
 1953 Berries, (see Cranberries, etc.,) 
 
 1953^ Beta Naphthol 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 
 1954 Bicycles, 
 
 1955 Billiard Balls, \ 
 
 1956 " Cues 
 
 1957 " Tables 
 
 1958 " Table Slates, Marble Slabs, 
 
 Binders' Board, (see 1981) 
 
 1959 " Twine in cases, 
 
 1960 " " in bundles, 
 
 1961 Binoxide of Barium, 
 
 1962 " " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. 
 
 W. H 
 
 1963 Bird Cages 
 
 1964 Birds, Stuffed, 
 
 1965 Bird Skins, raw 
 
 1966 " Paradise Feathers 
 
 1967 Biscuit, (see Hard tack, No. 2461 ; Crackers, No. 2196,) 
 
 1968 Bismuth, Oxide, 
 
 Bi-Sulphide of Carbon (see Carbon, 2072) 
 
 1969 Bitters, bottled 
 
 1970 " in barrels or hhds., 
 
 1971 Bitumen, (see Asphaltum, No. 1904,) 
 
 1972 Blackboards Slate, Composition 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
801 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Black Hypo sulphate of Lead, 
 
 " Lead, (see also Lead, black, Plumbago,) 
 
 " "Wool Moreens 
 
 Blacking, Shoe 
 
 Stove, (see Stove Polish, No. 3177,) 
 
 Blankets, 
 
 Bleaching Powders, (Chloride of Lime,) 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. 
 
 W. H 
 
 Blue Vitriol, (see Sulphate of Copper, No. 2168) 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. . 
 
 Board, Binders, (see also Straw Board), 
 
 Boats, Ordinary, 
 
 " Rowing Shells, 
 
 Bolt Rope 
 
 Bolting Cloth 
 
 Bone Ash 
 
 Bone Black, Ivory -Black and Lamp-Black, 
 
 " " " " if stored in Non-Stip. or 
 Chem. W. H 
 
 " Dust 
 
 " goods, combs, 
 
 Bones, 
 
 Bonnets, 
 
 Books, Blank, 
 
 " Printed, and Periodicals, 
 
 Boots and Shoes, 
 
 Borate of Manganese, 
 
 " " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. 
 
 W. H 
 
 Borax, in bags 
 
 " " casks, 
 
 " "cases, 
 
 Bottles 
 
 Bottle stoppers, 
 
 " wrappers, 
 
 Boxes, fancy, paper, pencil, plush, jewelers' 
 
 Box -wood, (see Woods) 
 
 Braids and Tassels, (see No. 2357), 
 
 " Straw and Wood, plain, mixed or fancy,.... 
 Bran 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Brandy, in bbls., (see Liquors, Nos. 2641, 2642,). 
 
 " in bottles, 
 
 Brass and Copper, scrap, (see Junk) 
 
 ware, . 
 
 Cents. 
 120 
 
 35 
 
 24 
 
 30 
 
 25 
 100* 
 
 40 
 
 100* 
 
 28 
 
 28 
 
 45 
 
 6(1 
 
 45 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 100* 
 
 50 
 40 
 30 
 45 
 75 
 45 
 45 
 25 
 
 100* 
 
 48 
 40 
 30 
 35 
 40 
 30 
 45 
 75 
 
 60 
 50 
 48 
 70 
 80 
 
 20 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. II. if stored therein. 
 
802 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Brazil Nuts, (see Nuts, No. 2765,) 
 
 Brewers' Grains or Sprouts, (see No. 2666), 
 
 Brie-a-Brae, (see Antiquities, Antiques, Curios, etc.). 
 
 Bricks, Bath, 
 
 " Enameled, 
 
 Fire 
 
 Brilliantine, (see Dress Cloths), 
 
 Brimstone, or Sulphur, 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II. . 
 
 Bristles, in cases 
 
 " in casks 
 
 Britannia ware 
 
 British Gum, (see Dextrine, No. 2225,) 
 
 Bronzes, 
 
 Bronze Powders 
 
 Broom Corn, in bales, 
 
 " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. . 
 
 " Root 
 
 Brooms, (Corn,) 
 
 Splint 
 
 Brushes 
 
 Buckets and pails, wood and paper, 
 
 " " " metal, 
 
 Buckwheat, 
 
 Burgundy Pitch, (see Pitch,) 
 
 Burial Cases, metal, (see Coffins 2145) 
 
 " wood, ( '* " 2146) 
 
 Burlaps, 
 
 Burlap Sacks, in bales, 
 
 Burnt Work on Wood and Leather, (see Artistic 1899), 
 
 Burr Stones, 
 
 Butterine 
 
 Butter, 
 
 Butter of Cocoa, (see Cocoa B. 2138) 
 
 Buttons, wood, horn, bone, ivory, and pearl, manu- 
 factured or in part, 
 
 " cloth covered, or metal 
 
 Cabinets, Drug. Dye, Instrument, Filing, 
 
 Cabinetware, and Household Furniture, new, 
 
 Caffeine, in glass, in cases, 
 
 " " tins cased or tin cans, 
 
 Cages. Bird, (see Bird Cages, No. 1963) 
 
 Calcium, Chloride, in drums, 
 
 " bbls., 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if 6tored therein. 
 
803 
 
 
 
 Add to 
 
 
 MDSE. IX WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Base 
 
 
 1 rate. 
 
 No. 
 
 ( tents. 
 
 Calf Skins, (see Skins),. 
 
 " dry, in bales, " " 
 
 waxed 
 
 Calicoes. Prints and Chintz 
 
 Calomel, 
 
 Cambrics, (see No. 2738) 
 
 Camels Hair, (.see Hair), rrr: 
 
 Camomile Flowers 
 
 Camphor Balls, (see No. 2726), 
 
 " Gum, 
 
 " Wood, for ohcsts, closets Ac 
 
 Camwood, (also Barwood) 
 
 Candles 
 
 Candy, (see 2155) 
 Canes, Walking, rough 
 finished 
 
 Canned Foods, (Vegetables, Meats, Fish, Fruits,). 
 
 Note — Canned Goods must be written 
 as Canned Foods. 
 Cannel Coal, protected from weather, moisture &c 
 
 not protected from 
 Cantharides, "Spanish Flies," 
 Canvas 
 
 Caoutchouc, (see Crude Rubber, No., 2203) 
 Capers 
 
 Capsicum, (see Pepper,) 
 Capsules 
 
 Carbolic Acid, (see Acid, No. 1808,) 
 
 Carbolineum Avenarius, 
 
 Carbonate of Ammonia, (see Ammonia, Carbonate of) 
 
 " Potash, (see Pearl Ash,) 
 
 " "Soda, (see also Barilla,) 
 
 " Lime, (see Lime, No. 2628,) 
 
 "Lithia 
 
 " "if stored Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II. 
 
 Carbon, Bi-Sulphide of 
 
 " Silicate of v-see Silicate of Carbon), 
 
 Card board, straw, 
 
 " Bristol or enameled, 
 
 Cards, Panels, Hangers and Calendars, (see Advertis- 
 ing Matter No. 1832), 
 
 Playing, (see Playing Cards,) 
 
 Car Springs, (see Springs, No. 3148.) 
 
 Carboys, empty, 
 
 120 
 
 30 
 40 
 
 120* 
 60 
 150 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 *.\lso increases base jate of a Stipulated, \V. II. if stored therein, 
 
804 
 
 MDSE. IX WAREHOUSES, continued 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 I CentaT 
 
 Carpets, (see Oil Cloths, Kugs,) I 30 
 
 Warp 30 
 
 Carriages, Buggies, and Sulkies 50 
 
 Carriage and Wagon materials, ■ 45 
 
 " trimmings, i 45 
 
 Cartridges, see Ammunition j GO 
 
 Carts and Wagons, i 30 
 
 Cassia and Cassia Buds | 50 
 
 Castor Beans, i 40 
 
 " Oil, (see Oil, No. 2774, ) j 40 
 
 " Pommace, (see Fertilizers), 35 
 
 Casts, Plaster, 75 
 
 Catechu, (see also Gambier and Cutch, No. 2213)... i 
 
 Catgut Strings, (see Banjo and Violin Strings) j GO 
 
 Caviar, 40 
 
 Celluloid, and Zylonite Goods, 100 
 
 Cement 30 
 
 Cereal Foods, (same rate as Infant's and Invalid's 
 
 Prepared Foods) 
 
 Chains and Chain Cables, 
 
 Chalk, 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 Chamois Skins, 40 
 
 80 
 35 
 
 Champagne, 
 
 Cheese, 
 
 Chemicals and Drugs. If this phrase used in Stipu- 
 lated Warehouse, the follow- 
 ing words must be added: 
 "Acids, explosives and poi- 
 sons excepted. " See specific 
 kinds not otherwise specified, 
 (see 2240 and Acids, Drugs, 
 
 etc.,) 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II... 
 
 Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Flavoring Extracts, 
 (see Extracts), 
 
 Cherries, dried, (see Dried Cherries 2236 and Fruit),. 
 
 Chewing Gum 
 
 Chicle, (see Gums), 
 
 Chicory, I 25 
 
 Root, | 35 
 
 Children's Underwear, (see Underwear, Ladies' and 
 Children's) 
 
 Chillies, (peppers,) j 40 
 
 China Clay, Kaolin, (see Earths, 2253) ! 25 
 
 China-ware, Porcelain, Pottery, Parian, Bisque and 
 
 Majolica Ware and Faience Ware | 45 
 
 120 
 60 
 
 60 
 
805 
 
 MDSK. IX WAKKIIorsKS, continued. 
 
 No. 
 2106 
 2107 
 2108 
 
 2109 
 2110 
 2111 
 2112 
 
 2114 
 2115 
 2116 
 
 2117 
 
 2118 
 2119 
 
 2120 
 2121 
 2122 
 2123 
 2124 
 212.-> 
 
 2126 
 2127 
 
 2128 
 
 2129 
 2130 
 2131 
 
 2132 
 
 2133 
 2134 
 2135 
 2136 
 2137 
 2138 
 2139 
 
 Chinese and Japanese goods 
 
 Chloral, Hydrate, 
 
 Chloride of Barium, 
 
 " Calcium, (see Cal. Chi. 2046) 
 
 " " Lime, (see Bleaching Powders. No. 1978) 
 
 " Zinc, (see No. 3378), 
 
 Chocolate, 
 
 Chow Chow 
 
 Chrome Alum, 
 
 " Yellow 
 
 Church bells, (see Bells No. 1950) 
 
 " Furniture 
 
 " goods, books, ornaments, and images 
 
 Churns 
 
 Cigars and Cigarettes 
 
 " " " in tin lined boxes, 
 
 Cigarette Paper, 
 
 Cinchona and Cinchonidia, (see Quinine No. 2984.) 
 
 Cinnabar, (Vermilion,-) 
 
 Cinnamon 
 
 Citron, see Fruit, 
 
 Civet, 
 
 Clay, 
 
 " Cold Water Paints 
 
 Clean Woolen Clippings in bales, (see Rags in bales), 
 Cloaks, Mantillas, and womens' cloth outer garments 
 Cloakings, if written as "Woolen and Worsted 
 
 Cloths," (see No. 3363) 
 
 If not written as "Woolen and Worsted 
 Cloths" shall take charge for Cloaks, 
 
 Mantillas, etc., No. 2126, 
 
 Clocks, 
 
 Clock cases, wood 
 
 Clothing, Men's Women's or Children's 
 
 Oil, (see Oil Clothing) 
 
 Cloths, (see also Bolting Cloths,) woolen, cassimeres 
 beavers, broad cloth, corduroys, satinets, (see 
 
 Dress Cloths, No. 2232) 
 
 Cloves, 
 
 " Stems, 
 
 Cobalt, 
 
 Cochineal 
 
 Cocoa, Cocoa Beans and Cocoa Shells 
 
 " Butter, (see Butter of Cocoa,) 
 
 " Matting 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 ( 'ents 
 
 75 
 120 
 120 
 
 35 
 30 
 100 
 30 
 30 
 75 
 75 
 40 
 75 
 50 
 72 
 
 45 
 50 
 40 
 40 
 24 
 38 
 
 75 
 
 24 
 
 40 
 60 
 72 
 
 25 
 50 
 50 
 25 
 70 
 35 
 45 
 50 
 
mm; 
 
 MDsE. IN W AREHOUSES, continue<i. 
 
 Cocoa, Nuts 
 
 Nut Oil, (see No. 2775) 
 
 " Nut Shells 
 
 Cocoanut, Desiccated, 
 
 Cocoons, Silk, 
 
 Codfish, dry, (see Fish, Nos. 2328, ) 
 
 Coffee 
 
 Coffins, Burial Cases etc., metal 
 
 " " " " wood 
 
 Coir Fihre Fibre rates 
 
 " Yarn 
 
 Collars, Cuffs, and Shirts, 
 
 Cologne Spirits, in bottles, cased or barreled 
 
 " " in casks, 
 
 Coloring for Brandy 
 
 Colors, (see Dry Paints and Colors) 
 
 Combs, horn, bone, ivory, 
 
 Composition Turnings 
 
 Cones, Fir, or Pine, 
 
 Confectionery, (see Candy, No. 2056) 
 
 Confectioners' and Bakers' Supplies, (see No. 1921),.. 
 
 Cooperage, barrels, new, shooks, 
 
 " old, empty, 
 
 Copal Gum, (see Gum, No. 2436,) 
 
 Copperas 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 
 Copper, and Brass goods or ware, (see No. 2011) 
 
 " Carbonate 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 40 
 
 34 
 72 
 40 
 
 30 
 35 
 75 
 
 44 
 45 
 50 
 40 
 50 
 
 40 
 100 
 75 
 75 
 
 50 
 100 
 
 50 
 100* 
 
 28 
 20 
 
 120* 
 
 " if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II. -18 
 
 bolts, rivets, nails, rods, tubing 
 
 Ore, 
 
 " Oxide of, 
 
 " Pigs, or Ingots 
 
 " scale 
 
 " and Scrap Brass, (see Junk), 
 
 " sheets 
 
 " Sulphate of. (see Blue Vitriol) 
 
 " " " if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II 
 
 Cordage, Rope and Twine 45 
 
 Cordials, bottled, in baskets or cases 80 
 
 " in hhds. orbbls., 70 
 
 Cordounet, charged silks, 100 
 
 Corduroys, (see Cloths) 
 
 Cords, Tassels and Braids, (see Braids 2006) 60 
 
 15 
 10 
 96 
 10 
 30 
 
 15 
 100* 
 
 28 
 
 *A1bo increases l>ase rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
so: 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 'J 174 
 2175 
 2176 
 
 2177 
 2178 
 2179 
 2180 
 2181 
 2182 
 21*3 
 21S4 
 2185 
 
 2186 
 2187 
 2188 
 2189 
 2190 
 2191 
 2192 
 
 2193 
 
 2194 
 2195 
 2196 
 2197 
 2198 
 2199 
 
 2200 
 2201 
 2202 
 2203 
 2204 
 2205 
 2206 
 2207 
 2208 
 2209 
 2210 
 
 *Al80 
 
 Corks, 
 
 Cork Stone 
 
 Wood 
 
 Corn Oil, in bl)ls, (see Oil other than Kerosene) 
 
 Cornices, gilt, 
 
 wood 
 
 " metal 
 
 Cornwall Stone 
 
 Corsets, packed, and Corset Materials 
 
 Corticine, (see Floor Cloth, No. 2344) 
 
 Cosmetics, Perfumery, 
 
 Costumes, Theatrical. Bal-Masque 
 
 Cottolene, in bids., or kegs 
 
 Cotton,* in bales Fibre rates 
 
 " Batting 
 
 " Curtain Nets 
 
 " Goods, not colored or printed 
 
 " " dyed and printed 
 
 " " gray and colored not printed, (2426) 
 
 " piece goods, colored 
 
 " Sacks, in bales, 
 
 Seed Oil ( sec No. 2779 ) 
 
 " Ties, metal, 
 
 Velvet, (see Dress Cloths), 
 
 " Velveteens, (see Dress Cloths), 
 
 Warp Flannels, (see No. 2336) 
 
 " Warps, (see Warps) 
 
 " Yarn or "Warp, 
 
 Crackers, (see No. 1967), 
 
 Cranberries, (see 1953) 
 
 Crash, (Russia,) (see Linen No. 2635) 
 
 Cream of Tartar, (see Argols, 1887) 
 
 Creosote, (see Kreosote,) 
 
 Crockery, (see China Ware, 2105) 
 
 Crucibles, 
 
 Crude Gutta Percha, 
 
 " Rubber, (see India Rubber,) 
 
 " Witch Hazel, in bbls., 
 
 Crystal Ash 
 
 Cubebs, 
 
 Cudbear, 
 
 Curiosities, Curios, Antiques, (see No. 1880) 
 
 Curled Hair, (see Hair, No. 2450) 
 
 Currants, dried 
 
 Curtain Nets, cotton, (see Cotton C urtain Nets),.. . 
 
 increases Base rate of a Stipulated W, H. if stored therein. 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 70 
 
 38 
 
 80 
 
 60 
 50 
 25 
 24 
 60 
 35 
 75 
 80 
 45 
 
 100 
 48 
 20 
 28 
 24 
 28 
 38 
 
 20 
 
 40 
 35 
 25 
 35 
 
 45 
 25 
 10 
 Kl 
 38 
 30 
 45 
 3D 
 100 
 35 
 30 
 
808 
 
 No 
 2211 
 22 1 2 
 2213 
 2214 
 2215 
 221(5 
 •."21? 
 2218 
 2219 
 2220 
 2221 
 2222 
 2223 
 2224 
 2225 
 222(i 
 2227 
 
 2228 
 
 2229 
 
 2230 
 2231 
 2232 
 
 2234 
 2235 
 223(1 
 
 2238 
 2239 
 
 2240 
 
 Curtains, lace, and material tor same 
 
 and portieres, other than luce 
 Cutch, (( 'atechu, Gambier, | 
 Cutlery 
 
 Cuttle Fish Bone 
 
 Damask, linen, (see Linen, No. 2(>35 
 Dandelion Root 
 
 I »atcs 
 
 Deer and Elk Skins, undressed, (see No. 3103) 
 
 " " dressed, (see Chamois 2094), .. . 
 
 Degras, (Wool Grease) 
 
 Demijohns, (empty,) 
 
 Dentists' materials, tools 
 
 Desiccated Cocoanut, (see No. 2142) 
 
 Dextrine, ("British Gum.") 
 
 Dial Enamel 
 
 Disinfecting Fluid 
 
 if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 Doilies, Napkins and Handkerchiefs, (see Napkins). 
 
 Dolls, (see Toys) 
 
 Doors, Sash and Blinds, see also Sash and Blinds,. . 
 
 Double Manure Salt, (see Salts), 
 
 Down, 
 
 Dragon's Blood 
 
 Dress cloths, (Alpacas, Cashmeres, Serges, Camels 
 hair, Ladies' cloth,) Woolen, Cotton, or 
 Mixed, policy to except Silks, Satins 
 
 and Velvets and Velveteens, 
 
 " Goods, (must not be used) 
 
 (See No. 2232 and general forms end.) 
 Dresses, manufactured or in part, (see Tea Gowns),.. 
 
 Dried Apricots 
 
 " Cherries 
 
 " Flowers, (see No. 2349), 
 
 " Fruit, (see No. 2358) 
 
 Peaches, (see Peaches Dried) 
 
 Druggists' Sundries 
 
 (This broad term would include instruments and 
 cases, patent articles, brushes, combs, corks, 
 scales, shelf-bottles, perfumery, cosmetics,) 
 
 Drugs and Chemicals, see specific kinds. If this phrase 
 used in Stipulated Warehouse, 
 the following words must be 
 added: "Acids, explosives and 
 
 poisons excepted." 
 
 " if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 See next page 
 
 *Also increases rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
sou 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 2241 
 2242 
 
 2243 
 2244 
 2245 
 
 2246 
 
 224 
 2248 
 2249 
 2250 
 
 2251 
 
 2252 
 2253 
 2254 
 2255 
 2256 
 2257 
 2258 
 2259 
 2260 
 
 Drugs and Chemicals, continued. 
 See Acids, 
 " Barks. 
 " Chemicals. 
 " Druggis 
 " Ethers. 
 
 Drums, Musical. . 
 
 " Toy 
 
 See Extracts. 
 " Gums and Resins. 
 " Leaves or Herbs. 
 •' Patent Medicines and 
 Proprietary Articles. 
 " Hoots. 
 
 Dry Goods, j (see specific rates for particular kinds,) 
 
 and Mdse. class A. and B 
 
 Dry Lamb Skins, (see Skins), 
 
 Dry Paints and Colors, 
 
 Duck ; 
 
 Dutch Herring, (see Fish, No. 2328) 
 
 Dye Stuffs, see Alizarine, Annatto, ditch. Cud 
 bear, Gambir, Indigo, Madder, Orchill, 
 Sumac 
 
 Dye Woods, ground, in water tight bbls 
 " " " " bags or sacks, . . 
 " " in sticks 
 
 Bar Wood. 
 
 Barbary Root. 
 
 Peach Wood 
 Quercitron Bark. 
 Red Sanders. 
 Red Wood. 
 Sapan Wood. 
 Sumac. 
 Turmeric. 
 Woad. 
 Weld. 
 
 Brazil Wood. 
 Cam Wood. 
 Fustic. 
 
 Green Ebony. 
 Hypernic. 
 Lima Wood. 
 Log Wood. 
 Nic Wood. 
 
 Dyed and Printed Cotton Goods and Cotton Warp 
 
 Flannels, (see Nos. 2232, 2233) 
 
 Dynamos, 
 
 Earths, ground, Fullers', Painters', Kaolin, Infusorial 
 
 Earthenware and Stone Ware 
 
 East India Goods, 
 
 Ebony, (see Woods, No. 3359) 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 Egg Albumen 
 
 " Yelks 
 
 Elaine Oil, in barrels, (sec ( >ils>, . 
 
 Cents. 
 
 60 
 70 
 
 34 
 40 
 30 
 
 50 
 35 
 35 
 60 
 40 
 
 28 
 75 
 30 
 30 
 72 
 35 
 50 
 48 
 50 
 38 
 
 +The term "dry-goods" may be definite enough for policies covering stocks for 
 sate in stores, where the facts of the case are well known and where the usages of 
 trade and custom limit it> significance, but it is too indefinite for insuring goods 
 in warehouses of miscellaneous contents, as an unscrupulous assured might claim 
 that it covered any kind of "dry" merchandise, and have his claim sustained by 
 the average jury. 
 
SKI 
 
 No. 
 
 MDSE. I.N WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Elecampane root, (sec Roots &c., No. 3008) 
 
 Electric appliances and apparatus, Carbon points, 
 
 glass lamps, globes, bulbs, 
 
 Elecl ric Fans, Motors and Apparatus, (see Telephones,) 
 
 Electrical Batteries 
 
 Electroplates, Stereotype plates, blocked 
 
 " not blocked 
 
 Electro Silicon 
 
 Elephant's Tusks, sec Ivory, (No. 2543), 
 
 Elixirs, Extracts, Fluid, Tinctures, (see Extracts 
 
 No. 22%),.. . 
 
 Elk Skins, (see No. 2219) 
 
 Embroideries, 
 
 Emery, •. 
 
 " paper, (see Paper) 
 
 " wheels 
 
 Enamel, Dial, (see Dial No. 2226), 
 
 Enameled Leather, (see Leather) 
 
 Enameled ware, ( see Agate ware, No. 1834) 
 
 Encaustic Tiles, (see Tiles,) 
 
 Engines, Steam (or Steam Fire,) (see No. 2324) 
 
 Engravings and Etchings, framed 
 
 " un framed, 
 
 " on wood 
 
 " " stone, lithograph, (sec Lit h. Stones, y. 
 
 Envelopes 
 
 Epsom Salts, Sulphate of Magnesium 
 
 Erasers, (Rubber or Steel), 
 
 Ergot 
 
 Essential Oils, in cans, 
 
 " " " glass 
 
 " " " iron drums, 
 
 Ethers, Sulphuric 
 
 N. B. All Ethers must be separately stored 
 remote from tires and never on upper floors. 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 
 Evaporated Fruits, (see Fruit No. 2359) 
 
 Excelsior,*. . .Fibre rates 
 
 Explosives, high, for blasting &c, special rate, 
 
 Extracts, Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Flavoring, . 
 
 " dry, (see also Dye extracts 2247 ), 
 
 " Fluid, Tinctures, Elixers, (see Sarsaparilla)i 
 
 Extract Quebracho 34 
 
 Eyes, Artificial, (see Artificial Eyes 1892), 
 
 'Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Eyeglasses, (sec Spectacles and E. No. 3141) 
 
 Fancy goods 
 
 " Swisses, (see Dress Cloths) 
 
 Fans, Electric, Motors and Apparatus, (see No. 2262) 
 
 " fancy, paper, lace 
 
 " Japanese, 
 
 " palm leaf, 
 
 Farina and Potato Flour, 
 
 Feathers, for upholstery, pillows,. 
 
 " and bird skins for millinery 
 
 " Artificial, (see Artificial) 
 
 ' ' Dusters 
 
 " Ostrich, raw, 
 
 " Raw Paradise 
 
 Feldspar, (see Earths,) 
 
 Felt 
 
 Felts, for paper machines 
 
 Fence "wire, Iron, see Iron 
 
 Fennel Seed 
 
 Fertilizers, Ammoniacal, animal matter or blood, .. . 
 
 " Castor Pommace, (see No. 2086) 
 
 Guano, (see 2432,) 
 
 " Land plaster 
 
 " Phosphates 
 
 " Tobacco dust 
 
 Fibre,* Cotton, Esparto crass. Flax, Grass, Hemp, 
 Jute, Manilla, Oakum, Rice root, Sisal, Tampico, 
 
 Tow 
 
 Figs, 
 
 Filberts, (see Nuts, No. 2765) 
 
 Files, 
 
 Fire Apparatus, Engines, Hose Carriages, H. & L. 
 
 Trucks, Extinguishers, (see 2278), . . 
 Fire-arms, in cases, (see Guns and Pistols, 2923,). . . . 
 
 Fire Crackers, 
 
 ' ' Works, separate storage, 
 
 Fish, in bbls, kegs or kits 
 
 " dry 
 
 in oil. see Sardines, Shadines, Anchovies 
 
 " Salt, in brine and pickled, 
 
 " Sounds, 
 
 ' ' (see Sprats) 
 
 Fishing tackle, (see Sporting goods, Nos. 3146, 1906) 
 Flags and Banners, 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated \V. II. if stored therein. 
 
o 1 2 
 
 MDSE. I.N WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No 
 
 2335 Flannels, 
 
 2336 " Cotton War-, , v see No. 2194) 
 
 2338 Flavoring Extracts 
 
 Flax Fibre rates 
 
 2339 " Seed, (see Linseed No. 2638) 
 
 2340 " Velours 
 
 2341 Flint 
 
 2342 " Pebbles, 
 
 2343 Flocks, Woolen - , 
 
 2344 Floor Cloth, which includes Oil-cloth, Linoleum and 
 
 Corticine, 
 
 Flooring, (see Parquette Fl. Wood Fl. No. 2872) 
 
 2345 Flour 
 
 2346 ' ' in barrels, 
 
 Insect, (see Insect No. 2517) 
 
 2348 " Tapioca, (see Tapioca) 
 
 Sago, (see Sago Flour) 
 
 2349 Flowers, Dried, (see Dried Flowers) 
 
 2350 Fluorspar 
 
 2351 Foil, gold and silver 
 
 2352 " tin 
 
 2353 Food, Infants and Invalids, Prepared and Cereals 
 
 (see No. 2513), 
 
 2354 Fossils, 
 
 2355 Frames, gilded, mouldings for mirrors or pictures, .. 
 
 2356 Frankincense, (Gum Olibanum,) 
 
 2357 Fringes, tassels, Gimps, and trimmings see 2006, ... . 
 
 2358 Fruit, Dried, 
 
 2359 " Evaporated, 
 
 2360 " green and ripe, (see Apples, Bananas, Lemons. 
 
 Oranges, Limes, Pineapples.) 
 
 2361 " preserved, (see Tamarinds, Figs, Citron 2122. . 
 
 2362 Fullers' earth, (see Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 2363 Fungus 
 
 2364 Furnishing goods, mens' 
 
 2365 Furniture, (see also Cabinet ware, No. 2042) 
 
 2300 used, wearing apparel, 
 
 2367 Furriers Clippings, 
 
 Furs, Hatters, (see No. 2469) 
 
 2368 Furs, not specified, undressed. 
 
 which would include or cover the more ex- 
 pensive fancy kinds, Beaver, Bear (black, 
 brown, grizzly, white polar), Chinchilla (real, 
 bastard). Ermine, Fox (silver, black, white, red, 
 blue, cross), Fitch, Fisher, Lynx, Lamb 
 (Persian), Leopard, Lion, Marten, Mink, Musk 
 
 Add lo 
 
 II.IM- 
 
 rate. 
 Cents. 
 
 24 
 28 
 45 
 
 40 
 
 58 
 24 
 24 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 34 
 25 
 
 58 
 24 
 50 
 35 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 40 
 60 
 50 
 44 
 
 60 
 50 
 20 
 30 
 60 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 100 
 40 
 
MDSE. IN WAUEHi lUSES, continued. 
 
 Ox, Ounce or Snow Leopard, Ocelot. Otter 
 (land or sea), Sable (Russian, Kamschatka, 
 
 Hudson Bay), Seal (Alaska, Shetland. North 
 west Coast, Copper Island, LollOS, ( ape Horn, 
 Japanese, Cape of Good Hope), Skunk, Tiger, 
 Wolf, Wol\ erine. 
 
 2369 Furs, specified, undressed , any of the following 
 
 cheaper varieties 
 
 Astrakhan. Angora, Badger, Black J .-met. Cat, 
 Coney, Dog, Fox (grey, Kitt. Japan), Goat, 
 Guanaco, Hamster, Kangaroo, Krimmer, K<> 
 Husky. Lamb (Iceland), Moufflon, Muskrat, 
 Monkey, Nutria, Opossum. Raccoon, Rabbit, 
 Sheep (Iceland). Squirrel, Seal (hair, wool). 
 Thibet, Wombat, Wallaby. 
 
 2:570 Furs, Dressed, of the first class No. 2368, 
 
 2371 " 1 >ressed. " " second class No. 2369 
 
 813 
 
 Add to 
 Hase 
 rule. 
 
 2372 Gall nuts, (sec Nuts, No. 2765) 
 
 Gambier, (see Cutch No. 2213) 
 
 2373 Gamboge, see Gums, 
 
 2375 Games 
 
 2376 Garancine 
 
 2377 Garden Seeds, (see also Seeds) 
 
 2378 Garlic 
 
 2379 Gas Lamp fixtures and Chandeliers 
 
 Gas logs, (see Terra Cotta No. 3225.) 
 
 2380 Gas Machines and Meters (see also Meters,) 
 
 2381 Gauges, Steam, (see Steam Gauges) 
 
 2382 Gelatine 
 
 General Mdse., see Mdse. and specific rates for kinds 
 
 2384 Gentian Root, (see Roots, No. 3008) 
 
 2385 Gents Furnishing goods, (see Furu. goods, No. 2364) 
 
 2386 Gin, in bottles, (see Liquors, No. 2640,) 
 
 2387 " in bbls., or puncheons 
 
 2388 Ginger, 
 
 2389 " Ale, 
 
 2390 " preserved 
 
 2391 Ginseng Root, (see Roots, No. 3008) 
 
 2392 Glass, (Plate,) 
 
 2393 " Ornamental, colored, stained, figured, ground. 
 
 Leaded 
 
 2394 " Rough hammered for skylights, deck 
 
 2395 Glass House pots, (used in manufacturing glass),. . . 
 
 2396 " Silvered plates, for mirrors 
 
 2397 " Ware, tumblers and fruit jars 
 
 2398 " Window 
 
 2399 Glassware, Hollow, 
 
 :!(• 
 
 55 
 45 
 35 
 
 40 
 75 
 30 
 160 
 44 
 35 
 
 40 
 40 
 
 35 
 
 50 
 60 
 70 
 80 
 40 
 38 
 35 
 40 
 30 
 
 50 
 20 
 30 
 65 
 40 
 25 
 48 
 
SI I 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 24( to 
 2401 
 
 2402 
 2403 
 2404 
 2 105 
 2400 
 2407 
 2408 
 2409 
 
 241. -> 
 2416 
 2417 
 2418 
 2419 
 2420 
 2421 
 2422 
 2423 
 2 1 2 I 
 
 242. -) 
 
 2428 
 
 2480 
 2431 
 
 2482 
 2483 
 
 Glauber's Salts. Sprudel Sails, (sec Soda Sulphate).. 
 
 Gloves, ml her than Kid, which see No. 2564) 
 
 " Schmachen and Lamb Skins, (see No. 2581),. 
 
 Glucose, 
 
 Glue 
 
 " Slock 
 
 Glycerine 
 
 in iron drums, 
 
 Goat Skins, dry, see Hides, 
 
 pickled 
 
 Gold Pens, see also Pens, Gold, 
 
 Thread, (see Thread) 
 
 Goods on storage, (see Merchandise, No. 261)8) 
 
 Gowns, Tea, (see Dresses 2234, 2706) 
 
 Grain Bags, gunny or burlap, (see 1017) 
 
 " cotton, (see 1916) 
 
 " Identity Preserved, 
 
 " Malt Sprouts or Brewers' 
 
 " Wheat, Rye, Corn, Barley, Oats 
 
 Grape Juice, in hhds. butts or pipes, 
 
 " " " bottles 
 
 Grapes 
 
 Graphite, (see Black-lead, No. 1974) 
 
 Graphophones and Phonographs 
 
 " " Records, 
 
 Grass Bags 
 
 " Cloth 
 
 Gray and Colored Cotton Goods, not printed, see 2190, 
 
 Grease, Axle, (see No. 1911) 
 
 " other than Axle, 
 
 Wool (Degras) (see No. 2221), 
 
 Green Kern 
 
 Grind Stones, 
 
 Groceries,* see specific rate for particular kinds, and 
 
 and Merchandise class A and B 
 
 Guano, (see Fertilizers,) 
 
 Guava Jelly 
 
 Gummed and Coated Paper, (see No. 2855) 
 
 *The .same remark? as to the indefiniteness of the term "Dry Goods'" (which see) 
 will apply to "Groceries." which is too broad for insuring goods in public ware- 
 houses. High rated, damageable classes might be claimed to be "groceries" be- 
 cause incident to such stocks— matches, spices, oils, liquors, turpentine, etc. An 
 average rale which might be adequate for agrocery stock, where <-ach kind of goods 
 would be only a small percentage of the whole, would not do for a warehouse policy 
 which might cover fur its whole amount on a single damageable class. 
 
815 
 
 MDSE. IN WAKEIIOUSES. continued 
 
 Gums, Acacia, Arabic, Balata, Benzoin, Camphor, 
 Catechu, or ditch, Chicle. Copal, Damar, 
 Dragons blood. Gamboge, Kauri, LaBiche, 
 Mastic, Olibanum, (Frankincense), Senealg, 
 Shellac, Tragacmm, Zanzibar, (see specific 
 rates) 
 
 Gun and Musket Barrels 
 
 " Metal Turnings, in casks and barrels 
 
 Gunny Cloth and bags, ( sec No. 1917) 
 
 Guns and Pistols, (see Fire Arms, No. 2325) 
 
 Gun Stocks, 
 
 Guts, (salted.) sausage casings, 
 
 Gutta Gelatong 
 
 " Percha Cement, exceeding five gallons 
 
 Crude, (see Crude Gutta Percha 2202). 
 
 " " Hard Bubber and Penholders, (see Pen- 
 holders), . . 
 
 Gypsum, or Sulph. Lime, (Plaster of Paris,) 
 
 Bock 
 
 Hair, Animal, Cow, Goat, Hog 
 
 " Camels 
 
 " Cloth 
 
 '■ Curled, or rope 
 
 " Horse, (see No. 2492) 
 
 " Human, 
 
 " Scoured, 
 
 " Tonic, 
 
 " Work, 
 
 Hams, 
 
 Hammocks, 
 
 Handkerchiefs 
 
 Handles, Adze, Axe, Bake, Hoe, Scythe Snaths 
 
 Hand Stamps, (see Stamps, No. 3154) 
 
 Hard Rubber or Gutta Percha Penholders, (see Pen 
 
 holders and 2509),.. . 
 
 Hard Tack, (see 1967) 
 
 Hardware 
 
 " Cutlery and edge tools excluded in policy, 
 
 House, or "Builders hardware," 
 
 " Saddlery and Harness 
 
 Harness and Saddlery 
 
 Hats and Caps, other than straw, 
 
 " Palm Leaf, Leghorn and similar hats made up, 
 
 Hatters' Furs, 
 
 goods or materials, hat bands 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 ( 'cuts. 
 
 60 
 40 
 24 
 
 45 
 40 
 25 
 24 
 150* 
 
 25 
 20 
 25 
 24 
 28 
 24 
 35 
 55 
 24 
 48 
 75 
 40 
 35 
 40 
 35 
 35 
 
 40 
 50 
 40 
 35 
 30 
 35 
 35 
 48 
 28 
 45 
 
 ♦Also increases base rate of a stipulated W. II. if stored therein, 
 
si.; 
 
 MDSK. IN WAHKHOI SKS, continued. 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 No. 
 
 Hay and 81 raw Fibre rates 
 
 2471 Hayden Sugar, 
 
 2472 Heaters, Steam and Hot Water 
 
 Hemp Fibre rates 
 
 Herbs, (see also No. 1934) 
 Herrings, (see Fish No. 2329) 
 
 2474 Hide Cuttings 
 
 247o Hides, Buffalo, Horse and Colt, 
 
 2476 " Cow and Ox 
 
 " Deer and Elk, (see Nos. 2219, 2220), 
 
 2478 " Horse, (see No. 2493) 
 
 2479 " Salted, loose, green, "slaughter" 
 
 2481 High Wines, see Whiskey, 
 
 2482| " " if stored in Non Stip or Chem. W. H... 
 2483, Hollow ware, metal, (see agate, enameled &e., ). 
 
 " Glassware, (see No. 2399) 
 
 2485 Hominy 
 
 2486 Hones, and Whetstones 
 
 2487 Honey, 
 
 2488 Hoofs and Horns 
 
 2489 Hooks and Eyes 
 
 2490 Hops, 
 
 2491 Horn goods, combs, 
 
 2492 Horse Hair, (see No. 2450) 
 
 " Hides, (see No. 2478) 
 
 2494 '■ Shoes, 
 
 2495 Hose— leather, rubber, linen 
 
 2496 Hosiery and Knit Goods, (see No. 2568, and Under 
 
 wear) 
 
 Hot Water and Steam Heaters, (see No. 2472) 
 
 2498 House furnishing goods, (see specific rate for Wood- 
 
 enware and Tinware,) 
 
 2499 Household furniture, new, (see Cabinet, No. 2042). . 
 
 2500 " goods, second hand, see Furniture 2366. . 
 
 2501 Houses, Portable, (see Portable Houses) 
 
 2502 Hyposulphate of Lead, Black, (see No. 1973) 
 
 2503 Ice Cream Freezers 
 
 Identity Preserved Grain, (see No. 2415), 
 
 2504 Imitation Straw Braid, (see Straw Braid No. 2007). . 
 
 2505 Incubators and Brooders 
 
 2506 India or Malacca Joints, 
 
 2507 India Rubber, crude, (see Crude Rubber No. 2203 ) 
 
 2508 " " Boots and Shoes, 
 
 2509 " " Goods, hard 
 
 2510| " " " soft, (see Rubber Bands), 
 
817 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Indigo, in cases, (see Rubber Substitute, &c.) 
 
 " " ceroons 
 
 Infants and Invalids Prepared Foods aud Cereals, 
 
 (see No. 2353) 
 
 Infusorial earth, (see Earths), 
 
 Ink, in bottles 
 
 " " bbls., 
 
 " Printers' 
 
 Insect Flour 
 
 " Powder, 
 
 Insecticide, (London Purple) 
 
 Instruments, Optical, Surgical and Mathematical,.. 
 
 Iodine, 
 
 Ipecac •. 
 
 Iron, Bar and Rod 
 
 " Boiler plates, 
 
 Bolts, nuts, rivets, washers 
 
 " Chain, (see Chain, No. 2092) 
 
 ' ' Castings, 
 
 Filings, (used in sawing marble,) 
 
 hoop, 
 
 " Old, scrap, 
 
 " Oxide of 
 
 " Pigs 
 
 Pyrites, see Pyrites 
 
 Railroad, and Spikes, 
 
 " Railing, Fence work, 
 
 " Sulphate of, 
 
 Sulphide " (see Sulphide), 
 
 " Tubes and Pipes 
 
 " Ware, hollow, Kettles, (see No 2567) 
 
 " Work, Ornamental, Architectural 
 
 Isinglass, 
 
 Istle Cloth 
 
 Italian Cloths and Serges, (see Dress Cloths), 
 
 Ivory, Animal tusks, (see also Elephant tusks, ). . . . 
 
 " Goods, manufactured 
 
 " Vegetable, nuts, (see Vegetable Ivor}', 3299). 
 
 Jalap, 
 
 Japanese and Chinese goods, (see Chinese, No. 2106) 
 
 " Crepe 
 
 " Paper, 
 
 Jewelry 
 
 " cases and instrument cases, 
 
 ♦Also increase* liase rate of a Stipulated W. II. if stored therein. 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 48 
 
 40 
 30 
 30 
 48 
 48 
 120* 
 70 
 24 
 40 
 15 
 25 
 25 
 10 
 10 
 30 
 20 
 25 
 38 
 10 
 
 no 
 
 10 
 15 
 
 28 
 
 15 
 30 
 38 
 35 
 75 
 28 
 35 
 65 
 45 
 40 
 
 72 
 38 
 40 
 50 
 
818 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 ■k 
 
 Jewels for mfg. watches and cl 
 
 Juice, Grape, (see Grape Juice) 
 
 Lemon, (see No. 2618), 
 
 " Lime, (see No. 2629), 
 
 " Prune 
 
 Juniper Berries, 
 
 Junk, old 
 
 Jute Boards, Oak Grained, 
 
 " Butts,* Fibre rates 
 
 " Matting, Yarns and other Jute products 
 
 " Rejection,* Fibre rates 
 
 " Rugs, (see Rugs), 
 
 Kainite or Kainit, (Sulph. of Magnes. Potass.) 
 
 Kangaroo and Arabian Hair Sheep Skins, (see 1886).. 
 
 Kaolin, or China Clay, (see Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 Kauri Gum, (see Gums) 
 
 Kern, Green, (see No. 2430), 
 
 Kernals, (see Nut Kernals) 
 
 Kerosene* Oil, special rates and separate storage. . . . 
 
 Kid Gloves 
 
 " " in tin lined cases 
 
 Kirschwasser 
 
 Kitchen and Cookery utensils 
 
 Knit goods, (Underwear and Hosiery, (see 2496). . . . 
 
 Kreosote, (see Creosote,) 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or ('hem. W. II 
 
 Kryolith, 
 
 Labels 
 
 LaBiche Gum, (see Gums), 
 
 Lac Button, (see also Gums, No. 2436) in cases, ! 
 
 " Dye, 
 
 Laces and Lace goods, (see also Curtains, No. 2211). 
 
 " Shoe, (see Shoe No. 3075) 
 
 Ladies' and Childrens' Underwear, Skirts and Petti- 
 coats, (see Underwear) 
 
 Lamb Roams .' 
 
 " Skins, Dry, (see Skins) 
 
 " and Schmachen Skin Gloves, (see Schmachen 
 
 and Gloves), . . . 
 
 Lamps, glass or part glass 
 
 metal 
 
 L .mp Black, (see Bone Black, No. 1987) 
 
 " " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H.. 
 
 " Shades, Glass, 
 
 " " Paper or Textile Fibre 
 
 38 
 50 
 40 
 100* 
 50 
 48 
 72 
 
 *.\lso increases lw*C rate of a Stipulated W. II. if stored therein. 
 
819 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Lanolin, (see Oils), 
 
 Lanterns, paper, 
 
 " metal and glass 
 
 Lard 
 
 " Oil, (see also Oils,) 
 
 " Stearine, (see Stearine) 
 
 Lasts 
 
 Lathing, metallic 
 
 Laundry Blue, in boxes and cases, 
 
 Lead, Antimonial, (see No. 1876) 
 
 " Black, (see No. 1974 Black-lead) 
 
 Pencils, boxed, (see also Pencils, No. 2882). . . 
 
 Pigs 
 
 " Pipe, 
 
 Red 
 
 Sheet 
 
 Shot, (see also Shot) 
 
 Leather, Artistic Burnt Work on Wood and, (see 
 
 No. 1899) 
 
 Bags and Trunks, (see Bags, No. 1918) 
 
 " Board 
 
 for Belting, Leather in Hides or Sides, Kips, 
 
 Rough Leather and Sole Leather, 
 
 " Grain Leather, Harness Leather, Split 
 Leather, Tanned Calf Skins, and Upper 
 
 Leather, Lace Leather, 
 
 " Fancy Leather, and Morocco, Shagreen, 
 Patent, General Shoe Finding Stock, Tan- 
 ned Kids, Tanned Sheep Skins, General Stock 
 of Fancy Skins for Tanning, Untanned Calf, 
 Goat and Sheep Skins, Alligator, Enameled, 
 
 " Scraps, Shavings and Skivings 
 
 Leaves, (see Roots, Leaves, etc.,) 
 
 " Buchu 
 
 " Rose ." 
 
 Leggings and Overgaiters, 
 
 Leghorn, Palm Leaf and Similar Hats made up (see 
 
 Hats 2468), 
 
 Lemons, Limes, or Oranges, in boxes, (see Oranges, ). 
 
 Lemon Peel, Orange Peel 
 
 " Juice 
 
 Lentils, (see also Beans,) 
 
 Licorice, Extract, sticks, . . i 
 
 Paste 
 
 Root 
 
 Life Preservers, cork, 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 60 
 35 
 40 
 50 
 68 
 40 
 20 
 38 
 
 30 
 40 
 10 
 20 
 30 
 20 
 35 
 
 50 
 30 
 
 25 
 30 
 
 40 
 100 
 
 60 
 60 
 
 72 
 
 50 
 35 
 44 
 35 
 40 
 40 
 100 
 35 
 
820 
 
 2625 
 2626 
 2627 
 2628 
 2629 
 2630 
 2631 
 2632 
 2633 
 2634 
 2635 
 2636 
 
 2637 
 2638 
 
 2640 
 
 2641 
 
 2642 
 2643 
 2644 
 2645 
 2646 
 2647 
 2648 
 
 2649 
 
 2650 
 2651 
 2652 
 2653 
 2654 
 2655 
 2656 
 2657 
 2658 
 
 2659 
 
 Lightning Rods, and Fixtures, 
 Lignum vita% (see Woods, No. 3359) 
 Lime.f 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 
 " Bi-Sulphite of, in bbls., 
 
 " Carbonate of, 
 
 " Juice 
 
 " Phosphate of 
 
 Limestone, ground, 
 
 Linaloe Oil, in cans, (see Oils), 
 
 " " glass, " " 
 
 Linerusta Walton, 
 
 Linen, (see Linen Form) 
 
 Yarns 
 
 (See form for Linen). 
 
 Linoleum, (see Floor Cloth, No. 2344) 
 
 Linseed, (see Flax 2339) 
 
 ". Oil, (see Oil, No. 2787) 
 
 Liquors, in bbls., hhds. puncheons, casks, butts or 
 
 pipes 
 
 Wines, Spirits and Cordials; Brandy, Gin, 
 Hum, Whiskey and High Wines, in bottles, 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II 
 
 Litharge, Oxide of lead 
 
 Lithographic Stones, not engraved, see Stones 
 
 " " engraved 
 
 " Prints, other than for advertising, 
 
 Lithopoue 
 
 Locks 
 
 Logwood, (see Dye woods, No. 2248 &c.) 
 
 Extracts, (see Dye Stuffs 2246), 
 
 London Purple, (see Insecticide) 
 
 Looking glass frames, wood and gilt, (see 2355) 
 
 " plates, (see Glass^ No. 2396) 
 
 Lumber, undressed 
 
 " planed or dressed 
 
 Lycopodium 
 
 Lye, Concentrated 
 
 Macaroni or Vermicelli 
 
 Mace 
 
 Machinery, heavy, not easily damaged. Rollers, Iron 
 
 planers, presses, lathes, vises,. 
 
 delicate, easily damaged, type setting, 
 paging, dynamos 
 
 30 
 
 *.\lso increases bane rate of a Stipulated \\". H. if stored therein. 
 tDeduct if skidded, 10%. 
 
821 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 2060 
 2661 
 2662 
 2663 
 2664 
 3665 
 2666 
 266' 
 2668 
 
 2669 
 
 2670 
 2671 
 2672 
 2673 
 
 2674 
 267o 
 2676 
 2677 
 267* 
 
 2680 
 2681 
 
 26m:! 
 2684 
 2685 
 2686 
 
 2687 
 
 2689 
 2690 
 2691 
 2692 
 2693 
 
 Madder 
 
 Magnesia, Carbonate, Magnesite, 
 
 Mahogany, in logs, 
 
 in board or planks, . . . 
 
 " in veneers 
 
 Malt 
 
 " Sprouts or Brewers Grain 
 
 Manganese, Black Oxide of 
 
 " Chloride of, 
 
 " " if Non-Stip. or Cliem. W. H 
 
 Manikins, 
 
 Manilla Grass, Fibre rates 
 
 ' ' Beans 
 
 Mantels, metal, 
 
 stone, marble or slate 
 
 wood 
 
 Mantillas, (see No. 2126) 
 
 Manure Salt, Double, (see Salts) 
 
 Maps, 
 
 Marble, in blocks, rough, 
 
 " carved or chiseled, statuary 
 
 Dust, 
 
 Marbles and Agates, (see also Agates, 183")) 
 
 Martingale Rings or Poker Chips made of com- 
 position goods, (see No. 2939). . . 
 
 Matches, parlor, sulphur 
 
 Safety, requiring prepared friction surface 
 Mathematical Instruments, in cases (see Ins. 25.20), . 
 Mats or Matting, vegetable fibre or straw matting, . 
 
 " India Rubber 
 
 Matting Coir 
 
 Mattresses 
 
 Meats, preserved or pickled, in tin or glass, (see 2059,) 
 " Pickeled, in barrels and tierces, (see No, 1947) 
 
 Medicines, (see Drugs, No. 2240) 
 
 " Patent, (see pat. med.) 
 
 Meerschaum, uncut 
 
 pipes 
 
 Melado 
 
 Menthol 
 
 Merchandise 
 
 Policy must contain following clause: 
 
 This policy shall not attach, apply or cover any merchandise 
 insured specifically. 
 
 Note. -Merchandise covers packages containing same such as 
 boxes, barrels and labels. 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 65 
 
 40 
 
 38 
 
 30 
 120* 
 
 48 
 
 60 
 200* 
 
 72 
 
 30 
 
 45 
 
 60 
 
 35 
 20 
 75 
 25 
 30 
 
 56 
 75 
 40 
 
 25 
 75 
 40 
 35 
 24 
 100 
 50 
 30 
 75 
 25 
 120 
 150 
 
 ♦Also increases base rate of a Stipulated \V. H. if stored therein. 
 
822 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 2(i'.u Mer< handise, Form A 
 
 Add 60 cents to Base Rate of Warehouse. 
 
 On Merchandise, the property of the assured or 
 held by the assured in trust or on commission or 
 sold but not delivered, while contained in (insert 
 location and description of warehouse) This policy 
 docs not cover, attach or apply to any of the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 Acids, ammunition, artificial flowers or feathers, 
 celluloid goods, chemicals, cigars, cigarettes, drugs, 
 electrical goods, explosives, fibre, fireworks, naval 
 stores, oils, oiled clothing, photographers' supplier 
 patterns, petroleum or petroleum products, poisons, 
 rags, tobacco, toys and zylonite goods 
 
 This policy shall not attach, apply to or cover 
 any merchandise insured more specifically or more 
 generally than this policy covers. 
 
 2695 Merchandise, Form B. 
 
 Add 45 cents to Base Rate of Warehouse. 
 
 On Merchandise, the properly of the assured or 
 held by the assured in trust or on commission or 
 sold but not delivered, while contained in (insert 
 location and description of warehouse.) This policy 
 does not cover, attach or apply to any of the follow 
 in 
 
 Acids, ammunition, antiques, artificial flowers or 
 feathers, artists' materials, bags, bagging, burlaps, 
 celluloid goods, chemicals, cigars, cigarettes, Chi 
 neseand Japanese goods, cotton batting, curiosities, 
 curios, drugs, druggists' sundries, electrical goods 
 electro plates, explosives, fans, fibre, firecrackers 
 fireworks, Hags or banners, frames gilded or carved 
 fruits (green or preserved.) furnishing goods, grass 
 cloth, gums, herbs, hops, instruments, kid gloves 
 laces, leaves, liquors, matches, matting, meerschaum 
 goods, millinery, mirrors and mirror plates, models, 
 music boxes, musical instruments, naval stores 
 needles, negatives, oils, oiled clothing, optical 
 goods, patterns, petroleum or petroleum products 
 photographers' supplies, photographs, pictures 
 plants, plush goods, poisons, rags, ribbons, roots, 
 shoddy, seeds, spices, statuary, straw goods, thcat 
 rical properties and scenery, tobacco, tonqua or 
 vanilla beans, toys, toilet articles, trimmings, watch 
 springs, wood or willow ware, wines and zylonite 
 goods, 
 
 This policy shall not attach, apply to or cover 
 any merchandise insured more specifically or more 
 generally than this policy covers 
 
 Mercury, (see Quicksilver 298?) 
 
823 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued, 
 
 Metal Antimony, (see Antimony), 
 
 Goods, not elsewhere specified 
 
 " Paper, (see 2857) 
 
 " Sheathing 
 
 Metals, unfinished, pig, ingot, block, &c. 
 
 Meters, 
 
 Mica 
 
 " pulverized, 
 
 Military Goods, 
 
 Milk, Condensed, (see Canned Foods,) 
 
 " Sugar of, (see Sugar of Milk) 
 
 Millinery Goods, (see Artificial Flowers, Bonnets, &c.) 
 
 " Ornaments, 
 
 Millstones, (see Burrstones, No. 2036) 
 
 Mineral and Aerated Waters, in bottles 
 
 " •■' " " " bbls. or hhds 
 
 " Wax 
 
 Wool 
 
 Mirrors, (sec Glass, silvered, No. 2396) 
 
 Models and Patterns 
 
 Mohair, (refer to "Angora Wool" and not the dress 
 
 cloth known as Alpaca) 
 
 Yarn, 
 
 Molasses or Syrup, 
 
 Molybdate of Ammonia, (see No. 1862) 
 
 Monuments, Bronze and Metal 
 
 " Stone, Carved, (see Tombstones.) 
 
 Moreens, Black Wool, (see No. 1975), 
 
 Morocco, (see No. 2611) 
 
 Mosaic pattern and design work, 
 
 " tile, (see Tiles,) 
 
 Moss, for upholstery Fibre rates 
 
 " edible, Irish, Iceland, &c, 
 
 Moth, Naphtha and Camphor Balls, 
 
 Mother of Pearl, Shells, 
 
 Mouldings, Cornices, gilt, (see Cornices, 2177) 
 
 " metal, No. 2179 
 
 '* wood. No. 2178 
 
 Mucilage, in bottles 
 
 " bbls., 
 
 Mushrooms, 
 
 Music Boxes 
 
 " Sheet 
 
 Musical Instruments, ( see Pianos 2905, Organs 2830) 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 70 
 96 
 20 
 10 
 40 
 20 
 15 
 60 
 30 
 48 
 75 
 72 
 40 
 40 
 35 
 38 
 10 
 65 
 75 
 
 45 
 20 
 25 
 120* 
 40 
 75 
 24 
 
 70 
 
 40 
 
 75* 
 
 45 
 
 96 
 
 25 
 
 60 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 35 
 
 25 
 
 45 
 
 75 
 
 60 
 
 60 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H, if stored therein, 
 
824 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. I 
 
 2738 
 2739 
 274(1 
 2741 
 2742 
 2743 
 2744 
 2745 
 
 2746 
 
 2747 
 
 2749 
 2750 
 2751 
 2752 
 2753 
 2754 
 2755 
 275(1 
 2757 
 2758 
 2759 
 
 27(iii 
 2761 j 
 2762 
 2763 
 27(11 
 2765 
 
 2766 
 2767 
 2768 
 27(19 
 
 2770 
 2771 
 2772 
 
 Musical Instruments, piano actions, (sec No. 2906).. 
 
 Muslins and Cambrics, 
 
 Muslin Underwear, (see Underwear) 
 
 Mustard, dry 
 
 Seed 
 
 M vrhanc, Oil of, in drums 
 
 Myrrh, gum 
 
 " Tincture 
 
 Nails 
 
 Naphtha,* (special and separate storage,) 
 
 Naphthaline, Moth and Camphor Balls,... 
 -Napkins, Doilies and Handkerchiefs, (see 2228, also 
 
 linen form), . . 
 
 Naval Stores.* (see also Tar, Rosin and Turpentine,) 
 
 Neatsfoot Oil, (sec; Oils, No. 2790) 
 
 Needles, hand or sewing machine 
 
 Negatives, Photographic 
 
 Nets, Cotton Curtain, 
 
 " and Netting ■>. 
 
 Nickel 
 
 " Oxide 
 
 Nitrate of Soda, (Chile saltpetre,) 
 
 if stored Non-Stip. or Chem. W. II 
 
 Nitre Cake 
 
 " '" if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. . . 
 Nitro-Benzol, (a substitute for Bitter Almonds in 
 
 Confectionery,) 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 
 Noils, Silk, (see Silk Waste and Noils) 
 
 Noodles 
 
 Notions, Yankee, 
 
 Nursery Stocks, plants, bulbs, (see also Plants,) 
 
 Nuts, (Betel, Brazil, Cashew, Chestnuts, Gallnuts, 
 
 Hazel, Kola, Peanuts, Pistachio,) 
 
 Nut Galls, 
 
 " Kernals or Shelled Nuts 
 
 Nutmegs 
 
 Nux Vomica, 
 
 Oak grained Jute Board, (same as Straw Board) 
 
 Oakum,* Fibre rates 
 
 Oatmeal 
 
 Ochre, (see also Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 Oil Cake 
 
 Add in 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 100 
 
 24 
 
 34 
 
 45 
 
 45 
 
 150* 
 35 
 40 
 25 
 
 96 
 
 100 
 4b 
 75 
 
 175 
 48 
 40 
 15 
 28 
 
 125* 
 50 
 
 100 
 50 
 
 150* 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 
 75 
 100 
 
 45 
 45 
 60 
 50 
 45 
 
 40 
 30 
 40 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
825 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued 
 
 No. 
 2773 
 
 2774 
 27.0 
 2776 
 2777 
 2778 
 2779 
 2 7 si I 
 2781 
 2782 
 2783 
 
 2785 
 
 2787 
 2788 
 
 2790 
 2791 
 2792 
 2793 
 2794 
 2795 
 2796 
 2797 
 
 2799 
 
 '.'SI Ml 
 
 2801 
 2802 
 2803 
 2804 
 2805 
 2806 
 2807 
 2808 
 2809 
 2810 
 
 Oil, («>llicr than Kerosene, which sec) Amber, Berga- 
 mot, Caraway Seed, Cod, Corn, Cotton, Lanolin, 
 
 Olive, Palm, Rape Seed, 
 
 Oil, Aniline, (see No. 1874 >£), 
 
 Castor 
 
 Cocoa Nut, . . .* 
 
 Cod liver, in glass, 
 
 " " bhls 
 
 Corn, in barrels 
 
 Cotton seed, in bbls 
 
 Cotton seed in glass, table oil 
 
 Elaine, in bbls 
 
 Essential, (see No. 2287) 
 
 " in iron drums, (see 2289) 
 
 Foots, Olive, (see No. 2817) 
 
 Kerosene, (special rates and separate storage ). . . . 
 
 Lard, (see No. 2592) 
 
 Linaloe, (see 2632), 
 
 Linseed, (see No. 2638), 
 
 Lubricating 
 
 of Myrbane, in drums, (see No. 2742), 
 
 Neatsfoot 
 
 Oleo 
 
 Olive, in baskets, cans or Cases, 
 
 " " bbls. or casks 
 
 " " bottles or tins, 
 
 Palm, in bbls., 
 
 " " tin or glass, boxed, 
 
 " Kernal, 
 
 Peppermint, in cans, (see No. 2889) 
 
 " " glass, (see No. 2890), 
 
 Sesame, (same rates as 2792, 2793, 2794), 
 
 Sod 
 
 of Spearmint, in cans 
 
 " " " glass 
 
 Sweet, in bottles and cases, 
 
 Tallow, 
 
 Tanners', 
 
 Vegetable, 
 
 Wood, 
 
 Whale and Fish 
 
 Oil Cloth, (see Floor -Cloth, No. 2344) 
 
 Oiled Clothing, 
 
 Old Rubber Scraps, (see No. 3012) 
 
 ♦Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
836 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 281] 
 
 2814 
 2815 
 2816 
 2*17 
 2818 
 2*19 
 2820 
 2821 
 2822 
 2823 
 
 2824 
 2825 
 282G 
 282? 
 2828 
 2829 
 2830 
 2831 
 2832 
 2833 
 2834 
 2835 
 
 2*36 
 2837 
 2838 
 
 2839 
 
 2840 
 2841 
 2*42 
 
 2844 
 2*45 
 2*41 
 
 Old Steel Bails 
 
 Oleo Oil, (see No. 2791) 
 
 Oleomargarine 
 
 Olives, in bottles, 
 
 " " kegs, bbls., or hogsheads 
 
 Olive Oil Foots .' 
 
 " Wood, (see Woods, No. 3359) 
 
 Olive AVood goods, from Syria, in boxes, 
 
 Onyx 
 
 Opium, i:i ta. e.;, Li.i ll.ied or drums 
 
 ' not tin lined 
 
 Optical and Mathematical Instruments, (see In- 
 struments, No. 2520) 
 
 " Goods 
 
 Orange & Lemon Peel, (see Lemon, No. 2617) 
 
 Oranges, (sec Lemons, No. 2616) 
 
 Orchill Weed 
 
 Ore 
 
 " Chrome, 
 
 Organs, (see Musical Instruments, No. 2736) 
 
 Oriental and Turkish Goods, 
 
 Ornaments, Millinery, 
 
 Ostrich feathers, (see Feathers for millinery, No. 2306) 
 
 " " Raw, in tin lined cases, 
 
 Overgaiters and Leggings 
 
 Oxalate of Potash, (see Potash), 
 
 Oxide of Copper, (see No. 2164) 
 
 " Iron, (see No. 2531) 
 
 " " Nickel 
 
 " " Tin 
 
 Ozokerite, 
 
 Packages; It shall be permissible to make an endorse 
 
 ment as follows; "This policy also covers packages 
 
 containing the above described merchandise and 
 
 labels thereon. " 
 Paintings, Pictures, Panoramas, (may add and their 
 
 frames) 
 
 Paint, oil 
 
 " dry, (see Dry P. No. 2244) 
 
 Driers, liquid, (except petroleum products,). . 
 
 Paint Pots, 
 
 Paints, Clay Cold Water, (see No. 2125) 
 
 Palm Kernel Oil, (see Oil) 
 
 " Leaf, in cases, 
 
 " " " ceroons 
 
 " " " bundles, 
 
 AdJ to 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 10 
 48 
 40 
 50 
 40 
 36 
 40 
 75 
 28 
 40 
 60 
 
 70 
 70 
 40 
 50 
 45 
 15 
 14 
 60 
 72 
 72 
 70 
 50 
 72 
 96 
 96 
 38 
 28 
 28 
 38 
 
 75 
 50 
 40 
 100 
 35 
 38 
 48 
 30 
 35 
 40 
 
MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 Palm Leal', Hats made up, (see Hats No. 2468) 
 
 Pampas Plumes Fibre rates 
 
 Panama Hats, (see No. 2468), 
 
 Paper Hags, (see Bags, Paper, No. 1919) 
 
 " Balloons, No. 1923 
 
 " Blotting 
 
 Boxes and tubes, 
 
 " Building 
 
 " Cigarette, (see No. 2119) 
 
 Clippings or Pressed Paper, in bales 
 
 ' Emery, (see Emery Paper, No. 2272) 
 
 ' Glazed. Enameled, same as Paper Hangings, . 
 
 " Gummed or Coated, 
 
 Hangings, wall paper 
 
 Japanese, (see No. 2549) 
 
 ' ' Metal, 
 
 " Pails, (see No. 2028) 
 
 " Patterns, (see Patterns, No. 2874) 
 
 Printed Sheets and Bound Books 
 
 Printing, in rolls, (see No. 2966) 
 
 " Pulp, 
 
 Rice, 
 
 Sand, same as Emery 
 
 " Stock, (see Rags, No. 2989) 
 
 " Wax, (see Paper Glazed, Enameled, 
 
 Wrapping, Manilla 
 
 Writing, Flat, News, Book, Printing, Tissue 
 and Toilet, (see Printing in rolls). 
 
 Paraffine 
 
 Parasol and Umbrella Sticks 
 
 Paris Green 
 
 " If stored in Non Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 
 " White, (see Whiting) 
 
 Parquet Flooring, 
 
 Patent Medicines, (see Medicines, No. 2688) 
 
 Patterns, Paper 
 
 ' ' Wooden, 
 
 Metallic 
 
 Peaches, Dried, (see No. 2238) 
 
 Peanuts, (see Nuts, No. 2765) 
 
 Pearl Ash, (see Carbonate of Potas., 2068) 
 
 " Shells, 
 
 Peas, (see Beans, No. 1946) 
 
 ' ' Preserved, 
 
 ♦Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W, II. if stored therein, 
 
828 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. 
 
 Pebbles. Flint, (see N3. 2342) 
 
 Pencil Boxes, (see No. 2004) 
 
 2882 Pencils, ( Lead ) (see Lead Pencils, No. 2599) 
 
 2883 Penholders 
 
 Hard Rubber or Gutta Percha, (see 2509) 
 
 2884 Pens, Gold, (see Gold Pens, No. 2409) 
 
 2885 " Steel, (see Steel Pens,) 
 
 2886 Pepper, Berries, (see No. 1953) 
 
 2887 " Ground 
 
 2888 " Shells 
 
 2889 Peppermint Oil, in cans 
 
 2890: " " " glass 
 
 2891 Pepsin 
 
 2892: Percaline, (see Dress Cloths) 
 
 2893| Perfumery, and Cosmetics 
 
 2894j Peroxide of Barium, 
 
 2895 if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H.. 
 
 2896 Persian Berries, 
 
 Peruvian Bark, (see Bark, No. 1933) 
 
 289£ Petroleum barrels,* (empty,) 
 
 2899 " special rates and separate storage 
 
 Petticoats and Skirts, (see Underwear), 
 
 Pharmaceutical, Chemical and Flavoring Extracts, 
 
 (see Extract, No. 2294). . 
 Phonographs and Graphophones, (see No. 2422),. . . . 
 
 Records, (see 2423) 
 
 Phosphate of Ammonia, (see No. 1864) 
 
 " Soda, (see No. 3125) 
 
 2900 Photographs 
 
 2901 Photographers' materials, excluding Dry Plates,. . . . 
 
 2902 " Dry Plates, 
 
 2903 Phosphorus, in tins, hermetically sealed, 
 
 2904 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 
 2905 Pianos, (see Musical Instruments, No. 2736) 
 
 2906 " actions, (see No. 2737) 
 
 Pickled Fish, (see Fish 2331) 
 
 " Meats, in barrels, (see Meats), 
 
 " " tins or glass, (see Meats), 
 
 " " tierces, (see Meats), 
 
 Sheep Skins, (see Sheep Skins), 
 
 2908 Pickles, in barrels 
 
 2909 " in bottles, 
 
 2910 Picture Frames, (see Frames, No. 2355) 
 
 Piece Goods, Colored Cotton, (see Cotton) 
 
 •Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W, II. if 6tored therein. 
 
82!) 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Pig, metal, (see Copper, Iron, Lead, Tin, Zinc,). 
 
 Pimento, (allspice,) (see Spices, No. 3144) 
 
 Pins, 
 
 Pine apples 
 
 Pipe, Burnt Clay, 
 
 " Copper or Brass, 
 
 " Iron, (see Iron No. 2537 ) 
 
 Lead, ( see Lead Pipe, No. 2(51(1 
 
 Pipe clay, (not clay pipe or pipes,) 
 
 Pipes, Smoking, made of clay, 
 
 " " Brier Root, Cob or Wood, 
 
 Meerschaum, (see Meersc. 26*!», 2690) 
 
 Pistols, (see Fire arms No. 2325) 
 
 Pitch, (see also Asphaltum, No. 1!)04) 
 
 Plants, (see Nursery Stocks, No. 27ti4) 
 
 Platina 
 
 Plaster of Paris 
 
 " Wall 
 
 " Casts, (see Casts, No. 2087) 
 
 Plates, Electrotype, Stereotype, blocked, 2265 
 
 not " 2266 
 
 Plated Ware, Silver, 
 
 Playing Cards 
 
 Plows 
 
 Plumbago, ( sec Lead Black, 1974) 
 
 Plumbers' Supplies 
 
 Plush goods 
 
 Pocket Books 
 
 Poker Chips and Martingale Pings, made of Com- 
 position Goods, 
 
 Poppy Seed, 
 
 Pork, Salt, 
 
 Portable Houses, (see No. 2501) 
 
 Porto Rico Tobacco, (see Tobacco) 
 
 Postage Stamps, Cancelled 
 
 Potash, Acetate, 
 
 " Bi-Carbonate of, 
 
 " Bichromate 
 
 " Bi-Oxalate of, 
 
 Carbonate, (Pearl Ash, which see, No. 2068). 
 
 " Caustic (Hydrate,) 
 
 " Chlorate of 
 
 " " if stored NonStip. or Chem. W. II 
 
 " continued next page 
 
 ♦Also inaeuses base rate of a Stipulated W. U. If stored therein, 
 
MDSE. I N WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 No. Potash continued, 
 
 2950 " Chloride of, or muriate 
 
 2951 " " " if in Non-Stip. or Cbcm. W. H 
 
 2952 " Cyanide of 
 
 2953 " " " if in Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 
 2954 " Iodide, 
 
 2955 •' Nitrate 
 
 2956 " Oxalate of 
 
 2957 " Permanganate, 
 
 2958 '* Sulphate, (see Kainite, No. 2559) 
 
 2959 " Yellow Prussiate of 
 
 2960 Potassium Hydrate, 
 
 2961 Potatoes 
 
 2962 Potato Flour, Farina and 
 
 2963 Precious Stones, (see Jewels for Watches, No. 2552) 
 
 Preservatives, Atlas, (see No. 1907) 
 
 Preserved Fruits, (see No. 2361) 
 
 Prints, Chintz, and Calicoes, (see 2048, also general 
 
 form) 
 
 2964 " in Portfolios 
 
 Printed Cloths, (see forms end) 
 
 2965 Printers' Ink, (see Ink, No. 2516) 
 
 2966 Printing Paper, in rolls, 
 
 2967 Prunes, in bags or baskets 
 
 2968 " " barrels or casks 
 
 2969 " " boxes .' 
 
 2970 " " glass, in cases, 
 
 Juice, (see No. 2553), 
 
 2971 Prussia Blue 
 
 Prussiate of Soda, (see Soda) 
 
 " " " Yellow, (see Soda), 
 
 2972 Pulleys, wooden, 
 
 2973' Pulp Board : 
 
 2974 Pumice Stone 
 
 2975 Pumps, wood 
 
 2976 " metal,' 
 
 2977 Pump Castings, 
 
 2978' Punk, 
 
 2979 Putty 
 
 Pyrites, (see Iron Pyrites, No. 2533) 
 
 2980 Quaker Buttons, (Strychnine Seed), 
 
 2981 Quartz 
 
 Quebracho Extract, (see No. 2297), 
 
 2982 Quicksilver, in iron flasks, 
 
 2983 " in glass, boxed 
 
 •Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
831 
 
 MDSK. IN WARKIIOUSKS, continued. 
 
 No. 
 2984 
 298') 
 2986 
 2987 
 298S 
 
 2989 
 2990 
 
 2991 
 2991i 
 
 2992 
 2993 
 2994 
 2995 
 
 2996 
 2997 
 2998 
 2999 
 3000 
 3001 
 
 : 2 
 
 3003 
 3004 
 3005 
 
 3000 
 3007 
 
 ;{0(is 
 
 :ii 109 
 
 3010 
 
 301 1 
 
 Quinine, ( !inchona and Cinchonidia in glass,f in cases, 
 " " " " in tins cased, or tin cans, 
 
 Quilts of down or feathers 
 
 cotton 
 
 Quills and tootli picks 
 
 Rabbit Skins, (see Furs 2309), 
 
 Rags and Clean Woolen Clippings, in bales 
 
 loose 
 
 Kails, (see Steel Hails) 
 
 Hailing, Iron or Brass, (see No. 2535) 
 
 Railroad Iron and Spikes 
 
 Railway Supplies, (see specific kinds,) 
 
 Raisins, 
 
 Rattan, (see Bamboo, 1927), 
 
 Core 
 
 Goods and furniture, (see also Bamboo, 1927). 
 
 Raw Bird Skins, (see Bird Skins), 
 
 " Paradise Feathers, (see No. 2310) 
 
 Red Precipitate, 
 
 Refrigerators 
 
 Regalia, Masonic, Odd Fellows, and other society, . . 
 
 Rennet, 
 
 Resin or Rosin, Pine, • 
 
 " other than pine, (see Gums, No. 2436) 
 
 Rhubarb 
 
 Ribbons 
 
 Rice 
 
 " Meal, or Flour, 
 
 " Paper, (see Paper No. 2861), 
 
 ' 1 Root (fibre rates), 
 
 Rods, Wire 
 
 Root, Broom, (see No. 2024) 
 
 Roots, Leaves and Herbs, (not elsewhere specified,) 
 N. B. For lower specific rates, see Angelica, 
 Chicory, etc. 
 
 Add to 
 Hase 
 rate. 
 
 ( ents. 
 
 60 
 
 35 
 
 40 
 
 45 
 
 35 
 
 150* 
 200* 
 
 15 
 5 
 
 40 
 20 
 48 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 75 
 
 50 
 
 40 
 100* 
 
 60 
 
 35 
 
 60 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 72 
 100 
 
 14 
 200 
 
 50 
 
 Angelica, see 1871, Flag, 
 Ruchu, Jalap, 
 Canagre, < )rris, 
 
 Chicory, see 2101, Ramie, 
 Elecampane, see 2201, Rose, 
 
 Rotten Stone 
 
 Rubber Rands, (sec No. 2510),. . . . 
 Coloring 
 
 Sarsaparilla, 
 Sassafras, 
 Seneca, 
 Snake, 
 
 Valerian, &C. 
 
 25 
 28 
 38 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. II. if stored therein. 
 tBroken glass would render Quinine valueless. 
 
832 
 
 MIisi;. in WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 Rubber Erasers, (see No. 2285) 
 
 Scraps, Old 
 
 " Substitute 
 
 Ruches and Unfiles, 
 
 Rugs, Camels hair, woolen 
 
 Jute 
 
 Rules, Measuring 
 
 Rum. (see Liquors, Nos. 2G40, 2041) 
 
 " Bay, (see No. 1941) 
 
 Russia Sheetings, (see Sheetings, No. 3064) 
 
 Iron 
 
 Sacks, Burlap, (see Bags, 1917) 
 
 Cotton, (see No. 1916) 
 
 Saddlery and Harness, (see No. 2466) 
 
 Saddlery and Harness Hardware, (see H'dware, 2466) 
 
 Safes, Iron 
 
 Safflower 
 
 Saffron 
 
 Sago 
 
 Hour 
 
 Sal Ammoniac, (see Ammoniac, 1H67,) 
 
 Saleratus, 
 
 Salmon, (see Fish. No. 2328) 
 
 Salt Cake, (-Glaubers Salts, No. 2400) 
 
 Salt 
 
 Salts, Aniline, (see No. 1874) 
 
 Sprudel, 
 
 Double Manure, 
 
 Saltpetre, (see also Nitrate Soda, No. 2755) 
 
 if stored in Non-Stip. or ('hem. W. II . 
 
 Sal Soda 
 
 Sandal Wood, (see Woods,) 
 
 Sand Paper, (see Paper, No. 2862) 
 
 Sardines, Anchovies, Shadines, No. 2330 
 
 Sarsaparilla 
 
 Extract 
 
 Sash, Doors and Blinds, (see Doors & Blinds, No. 2229) 
 
 Sassafras, 
 
 Satin. White 
 
 Satinets, (see Cloths No. 2132), 
 
 Satins, (see Silks,) 
 
 Sauce, Catsup and table condiments 
 
 Sausage Casings, (see No. 2442) 
 
 Saws 
 
 *Alsn increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
833 
 
 musk. IX WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 3057 
 
 3058 
 
 3059 
 
 3060 
 
 30604 
 
 3061 
 
 Scale, Copper, (see No. 2166) 
 
 Scales, 
 
 Scenery, and Theatrical Properties 
 
 Schmachen and Lamb Skin Gloves, (see No. 2581), . . 
 
 Scientific Instruments, (see Instruments, No. 2520). . 
 
 Scoured Hair, (see Hair No. 2453) 
 
 Scrap, Brass and Copper, (see No. 2555), 
 
 " if in Non-Stip. or Chem. AY. H 
 
 Lead, in bbls 
 
 " if stored in Non-Stip. or Chem. AY. H. 
 
 Sealing AYax, 
 
 Seeds, (This includes any of following), 
 
 Anise, see 1873, Cotton, Millet, 
 
 Beet, Fennel, Mustard, 
 
 Canary, Field, Poppy, see 2940, 
 
 Caraway, Flax, see 2339, Rape, 
 
 Cardamom, Garden, Sunflower, 
 
 Clover, Grass, Timothy, 
 
 Coriander, Hemp, Wormseed, see 3366, 
 
 Linseed, see 2638, 
 
 Note. Germinating seeds, winch are claimed to be worthless 
 after passing through a lire because of the suspicion 
 of injury which would deter planters from buying 
 them, would he covered by the general term "Seeds." 
 Those seeds which like Flax feed. Anise, etc , are not 
 intended for planting, are provided for by specific 
 rates. 
 
 Seeds, Garden, Flower &c, (see Garden Seeds, 2377) 
 
 Seneca Root, (see Roots &c, No. 3008) 
 
 Senna 
 
 Sesame Oil, (see No. 2799), 
 
 Sewer Pipe, (see Pipe, No. 2915) 
 
 Sewing Machines and parts, except Needles, (No. 
 
 2749 which see,) 
 
 Shades, Lamp, glass, (see No. 2586) 
 
 " " paper or textile fibre, (see No. 25S7),. 
 
 Shawls, (lace) (see Lace No. 2576) 
 
 if written as "Cloth Shawls" 
 
 Shavings or chips, for Brewers or Yinegar Mfrs.,... 
 
 Sheep Skins, (see Skins) 
 
 " Pickled 
 
 Shellac, (see Gums,) 
 
 Shells, Cocoa, (see No. 2141) 
 
 " Pearl, (see No. 2879) 
 
 Shelled Nuts, (see Nuts Shelled and Nut Kernels),. . 
 Sheetings, (see Cotton Goods, No. 2188) 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated \V. II. if stored therein. 
 
834 
 
 MDSE. IN WAKKIIol si:s. contlnnofl 
 
 Shingles, Wood, . 
 
 Metallic, 
 
 Shirt Waists, Men's 
 
 \V omens' or Childrens', 
 
 " " and Shirt Waists Suits, Washable, . . 
 
 Shirtings, (see No. 2148), 
 
 Shirts, Collars and Cuffs, (see Collars and C. No. 2148) 
 
 Shoddy 
 
 Shoe Laces or Strings, 
 
 Pegs 
 
 Shoes (see Roots and Shoes, No. 1 !)!)."> ) 
 
 Horse, (sec No. 2494), 
 
 Shot, lead, (see also Lead No. 2604), 
 
 Shovels, Spades, Forks and Garden Tools, (see 1837), 
 
 Show Cards, glass, 
 
 " " other than glass, (see Advertising 1831), 
 
 Show Cases 
 
 Sicilians 
 
 Signs, glass, (see Advertising Matter, No. 1832),. . 
 
 " metal 
 
 Terra Cotta 
 
 Silex, 
 
 Silica, 
 
 Silicate of Carbon, 
 
 Silicon, Electro, (see No. 2267),' 
 
 Silk Artificial, (see No. 1896), 
 
 " Cocoons, incases, (see Cocoons, No. 2143) 
 
 " goods, Satins and Velvets (may add " Silk" before 
 
 Velvet if desired), . 
 
 " " and Velvets, if policy contains 
 
 following clause "value not to 
 exceed §2 per yard," (a water 
 damaged, cheap silk will usually 
 sell for as much as one costing 1 
 
 a yard,) 
 
 30931 " and Woolen, and Silk and Cotton, mixed Cloths. 
 
 not exceeding $2 per yard in value may be 
 insured under the .following form with a 
 charge of 40 cents viz; "'On Silk and Woolen 
 and Silk and Cotton, Mixed Cloths, value 
 
 not to exceed $2 per yard." 
 
 " Raw I 30 
 
 " Spun, | 58 
 
 " Thread (see Thread), 
 
 " Thrown, (see Thrown Silk) 
 
 '• Waste and Silk Noils, (see No. 2761) I 50 
 
835 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 3098 
 
 3099 
 3100 
 3101 
 3102 
 3103 
 3104 
 
 3105 
 3106 
 3107 
 3108 
 3109 
 3110 
 3111 
 3112 
 3113 
 3114 
 3115 
 3116 
 3117 
 3118 
 
 3119 
 3120 
 3121 
 3122 
 3123 
 3124 
 
 3125 
 3126 
 
 No. 
 
 3097 Silk Yarn 
 
 " Artificial, (see No. 1896)) 
 
 Silver plated ware, (see Plated Ware 2932) 
 
 " solid ware, 
 
 Sisal Grass,* Fibre rates 
 
 Skates, Ice, 
 
 Roller, 
 
 Skewers or toothpicks 
 
 Skins, Undressed, other than Bird, (which see) 
 
 Deer or Elk, (sec Goat Skins, Hides, &c.,). . . . 
 
 " Waxed Calf, '. 
 
 " see Sheep and 1886, 
 
 " Calf, 
 
 " Dry Lamb, (see 2243) 
 
 "- Kangaroo, (see 1886) 
 
 " Rabbit, (see 2369) 
 
 Skirts and Petticoats, (see 2578) 
 
 Slates, School, 
 
 " Roofing, 
 
 Sleighs, large, driving, 
 
 " small, toy sleds, (see Toys) 
 
 Slippers, 
 
 Snake Root, (see Roots, No. 3008) 
 
 Snuff, 
 
 Soap, 
 
 " Stock, 
 
 " Stone, (Talc,) 
 
 ' ' Weed, or root 
 
 Soda Ash 
 
 ' ' Bicarbonate 
 
 " Bichromate of , 
 
 " Carbonate of, (see 2069) 
 
 Caustic, (Hydrate of,) 
 
 " Chlorate of, 
 
 " " " if stored, Non-Stip. or Chern. W. H. 
 
 " Crude, 
 
 " Crystals, (Sal Soda,) 
 
 " Hypo sulphite, and Sulphate of, (Glauber's 
 
 Salts,) (No. 2400). 
 
 " Nitrate,* (see No. 2755) 
 
 Phosphate of , 
 
 " Prussiate of, . . . 
 
 31271 " " " if stored, Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H. 
 " see next page, 
 
 •Also increases base rate of a Stipulated \V. II. if stored therein. 
 
MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 
 No. Soda, continued. 
 
 " Sal, (see Sal Soda, No. 303(5) ; 
 
 3129 " Silicate of 
 
 3130 " Yellow Prussiate of, 
 
 3131 " " " " if stored, Non-Stipulated or 
 
 Chem. W. H. . 
 
 3132 " Fountains and fixtures, 
 
 3134 Sodium, Hydrate, in glass bottles, 
 
 3135 " if stored, Non-Stip. or Chem. W. H 
 phosphate, (see No. 3125) 
 
 Sod Oil, (see Oil 2800), 
 
 Solder 
 
 Sounds, Fish, (see Fish Sounds, No. 2332) 
 
 3139 Spades, Shovels, Manure and Hay Forks, (see 1837),. 
 
 3140 Sparklets 
 
 3141 Spectacles and Eyeglasses 
 
 3142 Spelter, (see Zinc,) 
 
 3143 Spermaceti, 
 
 3144 Spices, (not specified) 
 
 See Cinnamon, 
 " Cloves, 
 ' ' Ginger, 
 *' Mace, 
 " Nutmegs, 
 " Pepper, 
 
 " Pimento or Allspice, 
 Spirits and "Wines, in hhds, butts or pipes, (see Nos. 
 
 2640, 3345), 
 
 " bottles, (see No. 2641, 3346) 
 
 3145 Sponges 
 
 3146 Sporting Goods, (see Athletic Goods, Fishing Tackle 
 &c, Nos. 1906, 2333), 
 
 3147 Sprats, in cases, 
 
 3148 Springs, Car, India Rubber, (see Car Springs), 
 
 3149 " Carriage or Wagon, of Steel 
 
 Watch, (see No. 3326) 
 
 3151 " Spiral Steel, in barrels, 
 
 Sprouts, Malt or Brewers Grain, (see No. 2666) 
 
 Sprudel Salts, (see Salts), 
 
 Spun Silk, (see Silk), 
 
 3152 Squills 
 
 3153 Stamped Metal Ware, 
 
 3154 Stamps, metal, dating, 
 
 3155 " India Rubber, 
 
 " Postage, Cancelled, (see No. 2942) 
 
 3156 Starch 
 
 *Also increaser base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
MDSK. IN WAHEIKH'SKS, continued. 
 
 Stationery 
 
 Statuary, marble or stone, 
 
 Bronze, (see No. 2020) 
 
 " Parian, Bisque, (see No. 2105) 
 
 " plaster, 
 
 Steam Engines, (see Engines, No. 2278, 2324) 
 
 " Gauges, (see Gauges, No. 2381) 
 
 and Hot Water Heaters, (see No. 2472) 
 
 Stearine, (see Lard) 
 
 Steel, 
 
 " ingots and bars, 
 
 " pens, (see Pens, No. 2885) 
 
 " Rails 
 
 Sticklac, 
 
 Stone, Lithographic, not engraved, (see Lith. S. 2644) 
 " " engraved, ( see Eng., No. 2645) 
 
 " Marble, ( )nyx, Jasper, or Granite, rough 
 
 " " " " " " dressed bld'g 
 
 stone 
 
 " Marble, Onyx, Jasper, or Granite, cut or 
 carved in ornamental designs, (see Statuary,) 
 
 " Pumice, (see Pumice Stone, No. 2974) 
 
 " Ware, (see Crockery, Earthenware, &c.,) 
 
 Stove Polish or blacking, solid 
 
 " " " " liquid 
 
 Stoves, Stove castings, parts and pipe 
 
 " furniture, (sec Kitchen Utensils, No. 2567).. 
 
 Straw, (Fibre rates) 
 
 Straw Board, (see also Jute Board No. 2556) 
 
 " Braid, (see No. 2007) 
 
 " Imitation, (see No. 2007), 
 
 " Covers, in bales 
 
 " Goods, 
 
 " Hats, not made up, (see Nos. 2468, 2470) 
 
 " made up, (see No. 2468) 
 
 Straw and Wood Braid, plain, mixed or fancy, (see 
 
 No. 2007) 
 
 Strychnine Seed, (see No. 2980) 
 
 Stuffed Animals, Birds, (see Taxidermy, No. 3215). . 
 Sugar, 
 
 " Hayden, (see No. 2471) 
 
 " of Milk 
 
 " (or Acetate) of Lead 
 
 Sulphate of Alumina 
 
 " see next page, 
 
 Add t.. 
 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
838 
 
 3211 
 
 3212 
 
 3213 
 
 3214 
 
 3214^ 
 
 3215 
 
 3216 
 
 3217 
 
 3218 
 
 3219 
 
 3220 
 
 3221 
 
 3222 
 
 3223 
 
 3224 
 
 3225 
 
 3226 
 
 3227 
 
 3228 
 
 *Also 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued. 
 Sulphate of, continued. 
 
 " Ammonia, (see No. 1865), 
 
 " Antimony 
 
 •' if stored, Non-Stip. or Cliem. W. H. . . . 
 
 " Copper, (sec No. 2168), 
 
 Sulphide of Iron 
 
 Sulphur & Brimstone, (see Brimstone, 2016 ) 
 
 Sumac 
 
 Suspenders, 
 
 Sweet Oil, in bottles or cases, (see Olive Oil or Oil 
 
 No. 2794), 
 
 Swisses, Fancy, (see Fancy Swisses No. 2299), 
 
 Table Cloths, (see General Linen form), 
 
 Tacks, iron 
 
 " copper 
 
 Tags, Paper 
 
 Tin, 
 
 Tailors' Linings and Trimmings, 
 
 Talc, (Soapstone, which see No. 3114) 
 
 Tallow, 
 
 " Oil, (see No. 2804) 
 
 Tamarinds, preserved, 
 
 Tampico* fibre, Fibre store rates 
 
 Tanners' Oil, (see No. 2805) 
 
 Tapioca 
 
 Flour, (see No. 2348) 
 
 Tapestries, 
 
 Tar, (see Naval Stores, No. 2747) 
 
 Tarpaulins, 
 
 Tartaric Acid, 
 
 Tartar Emetic, 
 
 Taxidermy, Animal and Bird Specimens, Stuffed, . . . 
 
 Tea Gowns, (see Nos. 2234, 2706), 
 
 Teak Wood, (see Woods, No. 3359) 
 
 Teasels, 
 
 Teas, 
 
 Teeth, Artificial, (see Artificial Teeth, 1897) 
 
 Telephones, 
 
 Tents, (see Awnings and Tents, No. 1910) 
 
 Terra Alba, (see Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 Cotta, for Building purposes, 
 
 " " gas logs 
 
 " " ornaments, 
 
 " " signs, 
 
 " Sienna, (see Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
83U 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued, 
 
 Terra Umber, (see Earths, No. 2253) 
 
 Theatrical Scenery 6c Properties, (see Scenery, 3048) 
 
 Costumes, (see Costumes 2184.) 
 
 Thorium Nitrate 
 
 Thread, other than Tinsel and Gold 
 
 Gold, 
 
 Silk 
 
 Tinsel, (see Tinsel 3245), 
 
 Thrown Silk, 
 
 Tiff 
 
 Tiles, decorated art 
 
 " drainage, 
 
 " galvanized iron 
 
 Tin, block, 
 
 " Foil, (see Foil, No. 2352) 
 
 " Plate 
 
 " Ware, (see Kitchen Utensils 2567). 
 
 Tinsel and Tinsel Thread 
 
 Tobacco, Leaf, Foreign 
 
 " " Domestic 
 
 " " " in hhds., . . . 
 " Chewinji 
 
 " Porto Rico, 
 
 " Smoking, 
 
 " Stems 
 
 Tobacco and its Products, this item may be used if 
 written at the highest charge 
 named under 3246 to 3253, . . 
 Toilet Articles, (see Druggists' Sundries, No. 2239). . 
 
 Tombstones, (see Monuments, No. 2720) 
 
 Tonic, Hair, (see No. 2454), 
 
 Tonqua or Tonca Beans, 
 
 Tools, steel, edge, (see also Files, No. 2323, 1837),. . . 
 
 " iron or other metal than steel, (see 1837) 
 
 Tortoise Shell Goods, manufactured, 
 
 " " unmanufactured 
 
 Tow,* Russia, &c Fibre rates 
 
 Towels and Towelings, (see Linen and Linen form),. 
 
 Toys and Dolls 
 
 " if specifying Hobby horses, wagons, sleds, 
 
 velocipedes, (see Sleighs) 
 
 Traveling Bags, Satchels (see also Bags, 1918) 
 
 Trees 
 
 •All 
 
 iso Increases base rate of a Stipulated W. II If stored therein. 
 
840 
 
 Tricycles, (see Bicycles, No. 1954) 
 Trimmings, Braid, Gimp, (see Nos. 2006, 2357) 
 Tripoli 
 Trunks 
 
 filled with wearing apparel (see Household 
 Furniture, No. 2500) 
 
 3272 Tubs, wooden, 
 
 3273 " porcelain, wash, bath, 
 
 3274 " iron, enameled, . 
 
 3275 Turkish and Oriental Goods, 
 
 3276 Turmeric, (see Dye Woods, No. 2248), 
 
 Turnings, Composition, (see No. 2153), 
 
 Gun Metal, in casks and barrels, (see 3439) 
 
 3278 Turpentine 
 
 3279 Twine and Cord, (see Cordage, No. 2169) 
 
 3280 Type 
 
 3281 Typewriters 
 
 3282 " supplies, ribbons, carbon paper, 
 
 3283 " Cabinet stands, 
 
 3284 Ultramarine 
 
 Umber, (see Terra Umber No. 3229) 
 
 3285 Umbrellas, and Parasols, 
 
 3286 " sticks, ribs, 
 
 3287 " Stands, or holders, metal 
 
 3288 " " " " wood, 
 
 3289 Underwear, Mens', Womens' or Childrens' (see 2578) 
 
 Muslin, (see No. 2739) 
 
 3290 Utensils, Farm and Garden, hand only, (see No. 1837 
 
 and Tools, . . 
 
 3291 Upholstery Goods, (see Down, Feathers,) 
 
 3292 Urinals, crockery, 
 
 3293 Valerian, (see Roots, No. 3008) 
 
 3294 Valises, (see Trunks, No. 3270) 
 
 3295 Vanilla Beans, 
 
 3296 Vanilla Extract 
 
 3297 Varnish 
 
 3298 Vaseline, 
 
 3299 Vegetable Ivory, Nuts, (see Ivory Veg. 2545) 
 
 3300 " " goods,.... 
 
 3301 Vegetable roots, Onions, Potatoes, Turnips, in bbls., 
 
 or bags 
 
 " Oils, (see Oils) 
 
 3302 Vegetables, in brine, 
 
 3303 Veilings, 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
841 
 
 MDSE. IN WAREHOUSES, continued, 
 
 No 
 
 3304 Velocipedes, Childrens, (see Toys,) 
 
 Velours, Flax, (see No. 2340), 
 
 Velvets, (see Silks,) 
 
 3305 Velveteens, (see Dress Cloths) 
 
 33071 Veneers, (see No. 2664) 
 
 3308 ! Venetian Blinds 
 
 3309 " Red, 
 
 3310 Verdigris, 
 
 3311 Vermicelli and Macaroni, (see Macaroni, 2656). 
 
 3312 Vermilion, (see Cinnabar, No. 2120) 
 
 3313 Vinegar 
 
 Violin Strings, (see Catgut, No. 2088) 
 
 Vitriol, Blue, (see 2168), 
 
 3314 Vises 
 
 3315 Wagons and Carts, (see Carts and Wagons, No. 2082) 
 
 (see also Carriages, No. 2078) 
 
 3316 Walnuts, (see Nuts, No. 2765) 
 
 3316a Warehousemen on accrued charges shall take a rate 
 
 arrived at by adding 35 cents to the base rate of the 
 W. H. if written specific. If blanket form is used 
 rate for the entire policy must be that of the high- 
 est rated risk covered. 
 3316b Warehousemen's errors and omissions policies shall 
 take a rate based upon a charge of 50 cents being 
 added to base rate of each warehouse covered, ii 
 being understood that such policies need not have 
 the 80# Co-insurance Clause attached, provided thai 
 a specific amount attaches within each warehousi 
 or building covered. If a blanket form isused rate 
 for the entire policy must be that of the highest 
 rated risk covered. 
 3316c Warehousemen's furniture and fixtures and tools and 
 implements used in his business 
 
 3317 Washing Machines, 
 
 3318 Warps, Cotton 
 
 3319 Washboards, 
 
 3320 Waste, (Clean, Woolen, Cop), 
 
 3321 " Woolen or Cotton including Noil other than 
 
 Silk, 
 
 3322 " Wool Yarn, 
 
 3323 Watches and Watch Movements, 
 
 3324 Watch Cases 
 
 3325 " Crystals 
 
 3326 " Springs, see Springs 
 
 Waters, Aerated in bottles, (see 2709), 
 
 " bbls. or hhds., (see No. 2710),... . 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. 11. if stoicd therein. 
 
 Add to 
 Base 
 rate. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 70 
 
 58 
 
 28 
 65 
 60 
 45 
 40 
 35 
 45 
 30 
 
 20 
 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 50 
 40 
 25 
 72 
 100* 
 
 200 
 200* 
 
 50 
 
 35 
 
 45 
 100 
 
 38 
 
 34 
 
MUSE. IN W AREHOUSES, continued, 
 
 Wax, Bees, 
 
 " Figures 
 
 Mineral 
 
 Paper 
 
 Sealing, (see Sealing Wax 30ol) 
 
 " Vegetable 
 
 Waxed Calf Skins, (see Skins) 
 
 Weather Strips, 
 
 Whalebone, 
 
 Wheelbarrows, 
 
 Wheels, 
 
 Whetstones, (see Hones, No. 2486) 
 
 Whips 
 
 Whiskey and High Wines, in bottles 
 
 " " " Octaves and Quarters, 
 
 " " " " " puncheons or bbls., . . 
 " " " " if stored, Non-Stip or 
 
 Chem. W. H 
 
 White Lead 
 
 Whiting, ( see Paris White, No. 2871) 
 
 Willows and Reeds,. . 
 
 Willow ware, 
 
 Wine, in hhds., butts bbls, casks or pipes,. 
 
 " " bottles 
 
 Wines, Liquors, Spirits and Cordials, in bbls., hhds. 
 
 butts, casks or pipes 
 
 " " " and Cordials, in bottles, .. . 
 
 Wine-lees, in bags, 
 
 Window Shades and fixtures - 
 
 Wire, Iron 
 
 Brass, Copper, Aluminum, Platinum 
 
 Work 
 
 Fence, (see No. 2314), 
 
 Rope or Cable 
 
 Rods, (see Rods), 
 
 Witch Hazel, Crude in barrels 
 
 Womens' clothing, see 2126, 2131 
 
 Wood Carpeting, mats and flooring 
 
 Oil, (see No. 2807) 
 
 Pulp, 
 
 " " Plates, Dishes and Platters 
 
 Woods of value 
 
 See Woods next page 
 
 *Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
sr.; 
 
 MDSE. IN WAHKHOt'SKS, continued. 
 
 Box, sec No. 2005, Mahogany, see No. 2662 
 
 Camphor, see No. 2053, Olive, 
 
 Chestnut, Rosewood, 
 
 Ebony, see No. 2256, Sandal, 
 
 Lignum Vitae, Teak, 
 
 and other valuable woods. 
 
 Woods, Rough sticks of Wild Chestnut , 
 
 Wooden ware, see Tubs, Pails, Baskets 
 
 Wool 
 
 " Yarn Waste, (see Waste), 
 
 Woolen and Worsted Cloths, (see No. 2132), 
 
 " Clippings, Clean 
 
 Woolen Mixed Cloths not exceeding $2 per yard 
 
 Wormseed, (see Seeds, No. 3052) 
 
 Yankee Notions, (see Notions, No. 2763) 
 
 Yarn, Woolen, Linen or Cotton, 
 
 " Angora Worsted, (see No. 1872) 
 
 " Artificial Silk 
 
 made of Jute, Sisal, Manilla, Flax, China, 
 
 Esparto or Malta Grass, 
 
 " Mohair 
 
 " Silk, 
 
 Yeast Cakes 
 
 Yellow Berries, 
 
 " Prussiate of Potash, (see Potash), 
 
 " " " Soda, (see Soda), 
 
 Ylang Ylang, 
 
 Zanzibar Gum, 
 
 Zinc, Chloride, 
 
 " Dust, 
 
 Oxide, 
 
 " Pigs, or slabs 
 
 " Sheets, 
 
 " Spelter, 
 
 " Sulphate, 
 
 " White, in barrels 
 
 Zylonite Goods, (see Celluloid,) 
 
 ♦Also increases base rate of a Stipulated W. H. if stored therein. 
 
Ml 
 
 General Forms which may be used. 
 
 The following forms were prepared in the New York Fire Insurance Exchange to meet the 
 convenience of merchants dealing in certain lines of goods, and have been carefully worded so 
 that, at the rate named for them, they could not he construed to cover merchandise for which 
 higher rates are specified in the list. 
 
 "On Paper, Printed Sheets and Bound Books," may be written at 96 cents. 
 
 "On Printed Cotton Piece Goods; Calicoes" may be written at 28 cents. 
 
 "On Cotton Goods, dyed and printed and also in the gray and on Linen," 
 may be written at 28 cents. (See 2188, 2189, 2190). 
 
 "On Wool, Cotton Cloth and Cotton Velveteens," may be written at 28 cts. 
 
 "On "Woolens, Worsteds, Mixed Cloths and Satinets— This policy does not 
 include Silks, Satins or Velvets," may be written at 28 cents. 
 
 "On Wines and Liquors in bottles, barrels and casks and Olive Oil in bottles 
 and tins," may be written at 80 cents. 
 
 "It is understood and agreed that any floating policies held by the assured 
 are not to be considered as contributing insurance in case of loss under this 
 policy." 
 
 LINEN AND JUTE FORM. 
 
 Add 40 cents to Base Rate of Warehouse. 
 
 On Manufactures of Linen, of Linen and Jute, of Jute, of Cotton, of Cotton 
 and Linen, and of Cotton and Jute, the property of the assured or held by said 
 assured in trust or on commission, or sold but not delivered while contained in 
 
 This policy does not cover, attach or apply to any merchandise above 
 enumerated the value of which exceeds $2.00 per square yard; nor does this 
 policy cover Awnings, Banners, Braids, Burlaps coated or backed for wall 
 decorations, Carpets, Comforters, Cord, Cordage, Cotton batting, Curtains, 
 Flags, Fringes, Gimps, Labels, Gunny bags, Laces, Mattings, Nettings, Quilts, 
 Rove bagging made of jute, Rugs, Tassels, Tents, Twine, Velours, Window 
 shades, Yarns, or Articles of Wearing apparel. 
 
 This policy shall not attach, apply to or cover any merchandise insured 
 more specifically or more generally than this policy covers. 
 
 Other insurance permitted without notice until required. 
 
 Attached to and forming part of Policy No Insurance Co. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Abandonment, none in lire insurance, 
 5. 
 
 Abattoirs, see Slaughter Houses, 533, 
 539. 
 
 Abbreviations, avoid in policies, 305. 
 Academies, 423, 424. 
 Accessibility to fire department, 666. 
 Accounts, 304. 
 
 Acetylene Gas Machines, write for 
 National Board Rules, 424. 
 
 Acetylene Gas Plants, See National 
 Board Rules, 424. 
 
 Acid Works, 424. 
 
 Acre, 618. 
 
 Adequate Rates in interest of Public, 
 12. 
 
 Adirondack Guide removing boul- 
 ders, 403. 
 
 Adjusters' estimates of moral hazard 
 
 fires, 44. 
 Adjustment of losses, 334, 335. 
 Advantages of rating by Schedule, 
 
 629. 
 
 Adverse legislation, 338, 631. 
 
 Advertising material, 27. 
 
 Advertisements, 203, 204. 
 
 Adze Manufactories, 425. 
 
 Age of building, charge for, 655. 
 
 Agents' Commission, 25; compensa- 
 tion, 28; powers of. 30; cannot waive 
 conditions, 292. 
 
 Agent, insurance of instead of princi- 
 pal, 297. 
 
 Agent's own property, 297. 
 
 Agency supplies, 25; agency may be 
 withdrawn, 30. 
 
 Agreements, never make verbal, 291. 
 
 Agricultural implement manufactor- 
 ies, 425. 
 
 Air, keep air from fire, drug store 
 fire, 323. 
 
 Air space, under tin or other metal 
 
 sheathing, 404. 
 Albany, N. Y., Capitol, exposed 
 
 girder, 613. 
 Album manufactories, 425. 
 
 Alcohol manufactories, 425. 
 Ale and Beer measure, 618. 
 Almshouses, 426. 
 
 Alphabetical list of hazards and occu- 
 pancy, 739; of merchandise in ware- 
 houses, 796. 
 
 Ambiguous phraseology in policies, 
 304. 
 
 American Fine Arts Society Building 
 
 fire, 399. 
 Ampere, 416. 
 
 Anchors, wall for beams, 125. 
 "&c", avoid in policies, 305. 
 Angell on Insurance, 344. 
 Angle brace, 102. 
 
 Animals, (See Live Stock); wild, 519; 
 saving in case of fire, 324. 
 
 Animal-black manufactories, 426. 
 
 Annealing, 405. 
 
 Annual fire waste, 201. 
 
 "Another good man gone wrong," 55. 
 
 Anti Compact laws, 629. 
 
 Anxiety of owner for safety of his 
 property, 46. 
 
 Application blanks, 26, 307. 
 
 Application of U. M. Schedule, 679. 
 
 Appraisement, 331; selection of ap- 
 praisers, 332; Waiver of, 575; form 
 of award, 592. 
 
 Arch, trimmer for fireplace, 88; floor 
 arches, material for, 110, 115; rating, 
 686. 
 
 Architects, secure custom of, 37. 
 Arc lamps, 419. 
 
 Area, non-fireproof buildings, 647; 
 
 fireproof, 686. 
 Are, French measure, 619. 
 Armories, 426. 
 
 Armour pork house fire, 532. 
 Arrangement of this book, 23. 
 Arrangement of merchandise on floors, 
 
 89, 90, 781. 
 Arson, 43, 133. 
 Artificial flowers, 471. 
 Artificial flower manufactories, 427. 
 Articles, 304, 305. 
 Ashrstos manufactories, 427. 
 
846 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Asbes, carelessness as to, 55, 137. 
 
 Asphalt and roofing works, 427. 
 
 Assets, ratio to amount at risk, 203, 
 
 Assignment of policy, 591 ; of mort- 
 gage interest, 591. 
 
 Assignee in bankruptcy, 296. 
 
 Assist honest claimants, 337. 
 
 Asylums, 428. 
 
 Atkinson, Edward, 79, 145. 
 
 Auction stocks, 428. 
 
 Authority of agent, 25. 
 
 Automatic sprinklers, 174, 175, 176, 
 659, write l"i National Hoard Rules. 
 
 Automatic trap doors, 367; elevator 
 traps, 368; illustrated, 384. 
 
 Automatic alarms; write for National 
 Board Rules, see p. 45 U. M. S. 
 
 Automobiles, 428. 
 
 Auxiliary private fire extinguishing 
 
 plants, 694, 696. 
 Average Clauses, 570, 571, 574, 575; 
 
 New York Standard form of, 574; 
 
 French form, 574; German form, 
 
 574. 
 
 Avoirdupois weight, 617. 
 
 Award of appraisers, form for, 592. 
 
 Awnings, spreading fire, 68; charges 
 
 for U. M. S. 651, 652. 
 Axe factories, 428. 
 
 B 
 
 Back drafts, 406, 526. 
 Bag factories, 428; leather, 429; paper. 
 429. 
 
 Baggage-room, hotel, 503. 
 Bakeries, 429. 
 
 Baking pow r der manufactories, 429. 
 
 Balderson & Daggett fire, 90. 
 
 Balloon frame, 101. 
 
 Bamboo factories, 429. 
 
 Bank of New York fire, 398, 400. 
 
 Bankruptcy, assignee in, insurance 
 
 of, 296. 
 Bark, 430. 
 
 Bark mills, 429, 542. 
 
 Barns in outskirts of towns, 57. 
 
 Barrels, empty, 160. 
 
 Barrel manufactories, 450. 
 
 Baseball grounds, 430. 
 
 Base rate U. M. S. 632. 
 
 Basket manufactories, 430. 
 
 Bath houses, 430. 
 
 Bath rooms, hotel, 498. 
 
 Bath-tub manufactories, 430. 
 
 Batting and wadding mills, 430. 
 
 Beams, w T ood floor, 86; strength of, 
 
 88; safe loads, 603. 
 Bedstead manufactories, 431. 
 Bellows manufactories, 431. 
 Bell manufactories, 431. 
 
 Belt openings, 466, 414; illustrated, 
 
 383, 650. 
 Belts, electricity from, 447. 
 Benzine, 166. 
 
 Bicycle manufactories, 431. 
 Billiard table manufactories, 431. 
 Hinders for fire doors, 363. 
 Bit uminouscoal, spontaneous ignition 
 of, 147. 
 
 Black and brown yarns, spontaneous 
 
 combustion, 149. 
 Blacking manufactories, 431. 
 Blacksmith -shops, 4:il . 
 Blackstone, 558. 
 Blank policies, 25. 
 Blanket mills, 432. 
 Blast furnaces. 431. 
 Bleacheries, 432. 
 
 Blind, sash and door manufactories, 
 432. 
 
 Block and pump manufactories, 432. 
 Bloomingdale Bros., Building N. Y., 
 
 fire, U. M. S. 661. 
 Blow-off valves in water pipes, 259. 
 Boarding houses, 432. 
 Boarding schools, 423, 424. 
 Boat builders, 432. 
 Boats and boat houses, 433. 
 Boats, fire, 268. 
 
 Bobbin and shuttle manufactories, 
 433. 
 
 Boiler rooms, 405; underground, 406; 
 standard boiler-room, 407; chim- 
 neys, 406; space over, 406. 
 
 Boilers underground, 526. 
 
 Boiler makers, 433. 
 
 Bolt and nut works, 433. 
 
 Bond stones, 75. 
 
 Bone-black manufactories, 426, 433. 
 Bone boiling establishments; 434. 
 Bone mills, 434. 
 
 Bonnet and hat frame manufactories, 
 434. 
 
 Bonner, Chief Hugh, advice as to 
 
 fires, 325. 
 Book of instructions, 26. 
 Books of account in safes, 48. 
 Bookbinderies, 434. 
 Boot and shoe manufactories (See 
 
 Shoe Mfrs.) 
 Boston fire, the great, Nov. 9, 1872. 
 
 (the second fire Nov. 28, 1889.) 
 Box manufactories, 434. 
 Boyleston Manufacturing Co., 169. 
 Brace, angle, 102. 
 Braced frame, 101. 
 
 Braidwood, Sup't. London Fire Bri- 
 gade, 173, 229; 448, 545. 
 Branch stores, 56. 
 Brass works, 434. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 847 
 
 Brazing, 409. 
 
 Breweries, 435. 
 
 Brick manufactories, 435. 
 
 Brick for enclosing walls, best fire- 
 resisting, 75, 80; brick walls, how 
 laid, 81 ; face, 82; brick under stoves, 
 100. 
 
 Brick buildings in frame rows, 64. 
 Brick kilns, 435. 
 
 Brickwork, safe loads for, 596, 598. 
 Bridges, 436. 
 
 Bridging, between floors, 86. 
 Brood mares, 515. 
 
 Broom corn manufactories, 4:!ti; in 
 elevators, 462. 
 
 Broom manufactories. 436. 
 
 Brown Hoisting Machine Co. tire, 37. 
 
 Brush manufactories. 436. 
 
 Bucket and pail manufactories, 436. 
 
 Buffing. 408. 
 
 Builders', materials, 436. 
 
 Builders' risks, 129, 436. 
 
 Builders and architects, secure busi- 
 ness of, 37. 
 
 Building laws, 722. 
 
 Bullion, 304. 
 
 Bumper shoes for fireproof doors, 363. 
 Burglar alarm in rates, 665. 
 Burial case manufactories, 437. 
 Burnley, Eng. Mill, iron beams, 613. 
 Bushing for electric wires, 417. 
 Butler, William Allen, 564. 
 Butt, 618. 
 
 C 
 
 Cabinet Manufactories, 437. 
 Cabinets, collections, &c, 304. 
 Cable, measure of length, 617. 
 Cammeyer Building, New York, 75, 
 79. 
 
 Camp, 403. 
 
 Camp Meeting dwellings, 61, 
 Cancellation, 312; Standard Policy, 
 
 315, 316; Notice to mortgagee, 317; 
 
 Non-pavment, 318; Claim pending, 
 
 318, 319; Policy lost, 320; Void 
 
 policies, 321 ; Tender, 317. 
 Candy manufactories, 437. 
 Candle manufactories, 437. 
 Cane manufactories, 438. 
 Canning manufactories, 438. 
 Capacity or discharge of water pipes, 
 
 254, 255. 
 Capacity measure of, 618. 
 Cap and hat manufactories, (See Hi.t 
 
 Manufactories, 476.) 
 Card (playing) manufactories, 438. 
 Card clothing manufactories, 438. 
 Carelessness, 132, 404; as to ashes, 55; 
 
 causes of fires, 55, 56, 404. 
 
 Carpet manufactories, 439. 
 Carpel cleaning establishments, 439. 
 Carpet lining manufactories, 439. 
 ( arpenter shops, 439. 
 Carriage shops, 439. 
 Carrying capacity of materials, 600, 
 601. 
 
 Cars, insurance of, 438. 
 Car stables, 438; barns, 438; manufac- 
 tories, 439. 
 Cartridge manufactories, 439. 
 Casks and pails, 426, 665. 
 Cast-iron, 107. 
 
 Cast-iron water pipe, 266; columns 
 safe loads, 602; hollow cylindrical, 
 630, 612. 
 
 Causes of fires, 44, 131, 134; cigars, 
 135; in hotels, 507. 
 
 Ceiling, wooden, 128. 
 
 Cellar floor surfaces, 93; floors and 
 walls should be water-proof, 93; 
 drains to sewers, 93. 
 
 Celluloid works, 440. 
 
 Cement mills, 440; lined water pipes, 
 266; mortar, 81, 82. 
 
 Chafing strips for fireproof doors, 363. 
 
 Chain measure, 617. 
 
 Chair manufactories, 440. 
 
 Chance, eliminated in insurance, 6, 
 198, 199, 215. 
 
 Chandelier manufactories, 441. 
 
 Chandler, Prof. C. F.. 154. 155. 
 
 Change of location, form for, 590; of 
 ownership, 591. 
 
 Charcoal grinding, 441; spontaneous 
 ignition, 147, 166. 
 
 Charged silks, 149. 
 
 Charlotte, N. C, cotton fire, 454. 
 
 Chases in walls, 82, 91. 
 
 Chattel mortgages, 293. 
 
 Cheese factories, 441. 
 
 Chemical warehouses. 
 
 Chemical works, 441; fire extinguish- 
 ers, 421; combinations, 395; fire- 
 proofing solutions, 546. 
 
 Chemist indifferent to fire, 395. 
 
 Chicago fire, the great, Oct. 8 and 9, 
 1871. 
 
 Chimney, how to build, 89; of tile, 
 136; for boilers, 406; stone caps on, 
 493; unsafe, 560; charges for, 653. 
 
 Chloric acid. 396, 
 
 Chocolate and cocoa manufactories, 
 441. 
 
 Christmas tree festivities, dangers of, 
 587. 
 
 Churches, 441; insurance of, 584, 585; 
 
 organs, 442; stone columns, spires, 
 
 etc., 584, 585. 
 Chutes, 650. 
 
I XI ) B X . 
 
 Cigaret te manufactories, 442. 
 
 Cigar manufactories, 442. 
 
 ( inder concrete or tilling for fireproof 
 
 floors, 502. 
 Circuit breakers, 418. 
 Cisterns, 285; capacity of, 285. 
 clauses, Standard N. Y.. 562. 
 Cleaning and dye works, 442. 
 Cleanliness, 137. importance of, 404. 
 Clinch nailing, 376. 
 Cloak and mantilla manufactories, 443 
 Cloak manufactories, 443. 
 Clock manufactories, 443. 
 Closets, 127; in hotels, 500. 
 ( lutliiiiu manufactories, 4 13. 
 Club houses, 443. 
 
 Coal breakers, 443; mine property. 
 443; mines, spontaneous combus- 
 tion, 143; bituminous, spontaneous 
 ignition, 147, 407. 
 
 ( 'oellieient , 595 
 
 Coffee roasting establishments, 444; 
 roasted, 149. 
 
 Coffin manufactories, 437. 
 
 Coins must not be insured, 304. 
 
 Co-insurance, computation of allow- 
 ance for, 709, 7to, 711; in fireproof 
 bdgs. U. M. S. 690, 712; on stocks 
 in fireproof bdgs. 692, 304, 708, 709; 
 forms, etc., 560, 571, 574; in interest 
 of assured, 18, 49, 53; in Universal 
 Schedule, 627; graded rates for, 580, 
 U. M. S. p. 690, 692 also p. 708, 710, 
 etc., New Jersey form, 567. 
 
 Cold air boxes of furnaces, 97. 
 
 Cold storage, 444, 568, 569, forms A, 
 B, 571. 
 
 Collar beam, 102. 
 
 Colleges, 423, 424. 
 
 Columns, stone in Churches. 586. 
 
 Columns, strength of iron, steel, wood, 
 etc., 599, 600, etc; cast-iron, 602, 612. 
 
 Combinations of chemicals, 395; of in- 
 surance companies in interest of 
 property-owners, 17; to reduce ex- 
 pense, 18. 
 
 Commissions, 28. 
 
 Commission clause, 298, 590. 
 
 Commission of authority of agent, 25; 
 clause, 298. 
 
 Communications between buildings, 
 111, 112, 113, 114. 
 
 Comparative tests, defective, 614. 
 
 Comparison of experience of com- 
 panies. 8, 18, 197. 
 
 Compensation, 28; of errors in causes 
 of fires, 44. 
 
 Competition in fire insurance. 31, 33. 
 
 Compressive strain, 595 
 
 Computation of safe Loads for columns 
 
 600. 
 Concrete, 81. 
 
 Concurrent policies, 288, 289. 
 Conestoga mills, 167. 
 Confectionery manufactories, 437. 
 Confidential relation of agent and 
 
 company, 29. 
 Conflagration hazard, charge for, 638. 
 Conflagrations in zero weather, 71. 
 ( onstant, 595. 
 
 Construction of buildings, 75; interest 
 
 of Underwriters in, 616. 
 ( lonsumption of water, 267. 
 "Contents," use of word in policies, 
 
 304. 
 
 Contested claims, small percentage 
 of, 345. 
 
 Co-operation of companies, 18, 19. 
 Cooper shops, 445. 
 ( 'oped walls, N,->. 
 
 Copper stamp mills, 539, flashing, &c, 
 105. 
 
 Cork manufactories. 445. 
 Cornices, wooden, 65, 651. 
 Coronado Hotel, 397. 
 Corporations, public prejudice against 
 
 13; in interest of people of small 
 
 means, 13. 
 Correspondence, 311. 
 Cost, fire, per $100 at risk, 196, 201; 
 
 of iron pipe and hose. 262. 
 Cotton gins, 445; in transit, 445; on 
 
 railroad platforms. 454 ; and woolen 
 
 mills, 445, 446, 447, etc; pickeries, 
 
 454: presses, 454; seed oil mills, 454. 
 Coulomb, 416. 
 Country stores, 57, 454. 
 Couplings, uniform size, 278. 
 Court houses, 455. 
 Cracked walls, 663. 
 Cracker bakeries, 455. 
 Creameries, 455. 
 Crematories, 456. 
 Creosote works, 456. 
 Cross road stores, 57, 454. 
 Cross bridging between floor beams, 
 
 86, 103. 
 Crucible works, 456. 
 Crushing weight, 596. 
 Cubic measure, 618. 
 Curiosities, 304, 584. 
 Currier shops, 456. 
 Curtain walls, 615. 
 Cut-offs, fire, 91. 
 Cutlerj r manufactories, 456. 
 Cutting, 409; cutting rates, prevention, 
 
 of, 728. 
 Cycloramas, 456, 522. 
 
TNI) K X . 
 
 D 
 
 Daily reports, 26, 308. 
 
 Damage by removal, 336; explosion, 
 
 337; lightning, 337. 
 Dating back policies and renewals, 
 
 290. 
 
 Dawson, Miles M., 199. 
 Dead ends, 253. 
 
 Declined by other companies, risks, 
 60. 
 
 Defective flues, 459. 
 Definition of terms, 5. 
 Deflection of beams, 595. 
 Delivery— sold but not delivered— 298, 
 300. 
 
 Department stores, (see Alphabetical 
 
 list), 752. 
 Depots, 457. 
 
 Detroit fire -boats, 269, 270; small 
 
 mains, 277. 
 Deviling, 409. 
 
 Diagram, pipe, 281; of business por- 
 tion of town, 308. 
 
 Dining-room, hotel, 49T. 
 
 Dipping paint process, 440. 
 
 Direct pressure systems of water- 
 works, 249. 
 
 Discounting loss claims, 340. 
 
 Distilleries, 457. 
 
 Distribution of fire loss by insurance, 
 20; Fire Chief's views, 58; New 
 York Times, 58; form of average 
 clause, 577, 578, 579. 
 
 Division of risks, 397, 398. 
 
 Domestic consumption of water, 256. 
 
 Doors, fireproof, 361, 362, 363, &c. 
 plates, 369; sliding, 387, 388. 
 
 Double roof, 105. 
 
 Double or Spliced beams, 125, 604. 
 Drachms, 617. 
 
 Drain pipe manufactories, 457, 525. 
 Dredges, 457. 
 
 Driving park buildings, 457. 
 Dropped girt. 102. 
 
 Drug mills, 457; wholesale, 457, stores, 
 458. 
 
 Druggists' bottles, fountain. &c, 304. 
 Drums, store for heating, 56. 
 Drying clothes on screens, 139. 
 Drying, 409. 
 
 Dryers, grain, (see National Board 
 Rules). 
 
 Dry-goods district values, 271. 
 
 Dry houses, 409. 
 
 Dry pipe sprinklers, 679. 
 
 Dry plates, films, etc., 525. 
 
 Dry-rooms, no woodwork in, 410; gas 
 
 in, 450. 
 Dry rot, 82, 83, 125, 128. 
 
 Dumb-waiter shafts, 93; charges for, 
 
 U. M. S. 650. 
 Dusting, 409. 
 
 Dust explosions in woodworkers, 442; 
 
 in flour-mills, 465. 466, 467. 
 Dwellings, 458; unoccupied, 460; large 
 
 expensive, 60; season, 60; forms for 
 
 insurance of, 581 ; altered into stores. 
 
 606; occupancy in rates, 666. 
 Dye and paint works, 432. 
 Dyeing and cleaning, 442. 
 Dynamos, 461; room, floor, &c, 93. 
 
 E 
 
 Earnings of premium by months, 227. 
 Eccentric loading of columns, 600. 
 Educational Building Standard, 705. 
 "Effects," 304. 
 Elasticity, limit of, 595. 
 Electricity, hazards of, 414, 415, 416, 
 
 &c; from belts as a source of fires, 
 
 447. 
 
 Electric plants, private, 93; car stables, 
 461 ; light cut-offs at street, 116; light 
 and power stations, 461; lighting, 
 heating, power, etc., (write for 
 National Board Rules). 
 
 Electrical employees for installing 
 should be licensed, 416. 
 
 Electricity clause, 572. 
 
 Electrolysis, 274. 
 
 Electrotypers, 461. 
 
 Elevators, 92; in U. M. S. 649; in fire- 
 proof bdgs. 687; traps automatic, 
 368; grain, 461; shafts in hotels, 489; 
 charges for, 649, U. M. S. 
 
 Elevators, grain, 461. 
 
 Elevator car manufactories, 462. 
 
 Employees, charge for No. of, U. M. 
 S. 655. 
 
 Empty boxes, barrels, &c, 66, 603; 
 kerosene, naphtha and gasolene 
 barrels, 160; salt petre bags, 463. 
 
 Enameling, 410. 
 
 Enameled cloth manufactories, 521, 
 Enclosing walls, 114, 126. 
 Enclosures for stairways, 367, 385. 
 Endorsement blanks, 26. 
 Endorsements, do not make too many 
 
 on policies, 305; none on renewals, 
 
 306. 
 
 Engine manufactories, (see Machine- 
 
 Shops), 518. 
 Engine (fire) houses, 462; proximity 
 
 in rates, 668, U. M. S. 
 English Mills, fires, 611, 613. 
 Envelope manufactories, 462 
 Erasures, avoid, 290. 
 "Estate of," 297. 
 
Sol) 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Estimates, offhand, of fires, 44. 
 
 "Et al," avoid in policies, 30"). 
 
 "Etc.," "&c," avoid in policies, 305. 
 
 Evans, President, 577, 581. 
 
 Evaporators, fruit, 472. 
 
 Everybody knows more than any- 
 body, 479. 
 
 Excelsior manufactories, 403. 
 
 Exceptional property, do not insure, 
 53; features of construction, 057, 
 706, U. M. S; fire appliances, 604. 
 
 Exhaust box in flour mills, 467, 468. 
 
 Expansion of iron beams, 96, 107, 111 
 609; in English mills. 611; marble, 
 masonry, etc., 609, 612. 
 
 Expense of insurance business, 14; 
 
 should be s: • f< >r all companies. 
 
 33; percentage of, 243. 
 
 Expensive dwellings, 60, 460. 
 
 Experiments, 54. 
 
 Experience, comparison of companies, 
 8. 
 
 Expert judgment in rating, 188, 189; 
 management of fire department, 
 water-works, etc., 282. 
 
 Experts rating by, 729. 
 
 Expiration notices, 26. 
 
 Explosion, damage by, 337; in grease 
 rendering, 531; dust in cigar manu- 
 factories, 442. 
 
 Exposures, 62, 708; Jacksonville, Fla., 
 fire, 63; computing rate for, 62, 72; 
 safe distance, 70; diagrams, 71; to 
 fireproof buildings, 73; fireproof 
 buildings as exposures, 74; to brick 
 buildings, 346, 347, 348, etc. 
 
 Express charges, do not pay, 27. 
 
 Extensions, frame, 656. 
 
 Extinguishing, fire appliances for, 
 172; chimney fires, 325; steam jets, 
 324. 
 
 Extra hours, permit for, 592. 
 
 ' 'Eye-sore" bdgs, old, dilapidated, 58. 
 
 F 
 
 Face bricks, 82. 
 
 Factors of safety, 89, 90, 599. 
 
 Fair-ground buildings, 463. 
 
 Fargo, Dakota, 131. 
 
 Fanning, J. T., 267. 
 
 Farm insurance, moral hazard fires, 
 
 44; property, 463. 
 Fathoms, 617. 
 
 Faults of management, 662. 
 
 Felt mills, (see Cotton and Woolen 
 
 Mills), 446, 447, &c. 
 Fences, 304. 
 
 Fertilizer manufactories, 463. 
 Fibre storage, 90. 
 
 File manufactories. (See 1 laid ware 
 
 manufactories), 475. 
 Films, 525. 
 
 Fire appliances, exceptional, 664; 
 how to proceed in case of, 321; 
 windows, &c, 322; Chief Bonner's 
 advice, 325; keep near floor, 323; 
 saving animals, 324; cost, 6; per 
 SUM) at risk, 196, 202; doors, 361; 
 proof construction, interesl of Un- 
 derwriters in, 616; shutters, 69; not 
 neede d if no exposure, 69; National 
 Hoard Rules, 361; places, 663; stops, 
 91; cut-offs, 91, 447; engine, steam, 
 capacity, 173; engine-houses, 462; 
 departments, 172; paid, 173, 706; 
 subscription to, 179; should have 
 charge of locating hydrants, 276; 
 expert management of, 282; waste, 
 annual, 201; boats, 268; drill, im- 
 portance of, 454; extinguishers, 453; 
 proof safe clause, 589; temperatures, 
 606. 
 
 Fire alarm telegraph, 637. 
 Fire-arms manufactories, 464. 
 Fire boats, 268. 
 Fire drill, 454. 
 
 Fire Department organization, 639. 
 
 Fire extinguishing appliances, allow- 
 ance for in rate, see U. M. S. 667, 
 668, etc., fire 673. 
 
 Fire Marshal, 638. 
 
 Fires in fireproof buildings, 117, 118, 
 
 119, 120, 121. 
 Fireplaces, how trimmed, 87; trimmer 
 
 arch, 88, 89. 
 Fireproof buildings, contents, of, 38, 
 
 106; standard, 684; construction, 
 
 106; fires in, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121. 
 Fireproofing solutions, 646. 
 Fireproof pumping station, 634. 
 Fireproof safes, 673. 
 Fireproof schedule, 682. 
 Fire record, previous, U. M. S. 639; 
 
 improved, 639, 723, 724, 725. 
 Fire waste, annual, 201. 
 Fire-works manufactories, decline, 
 
 464; stocks of, 464; permit for, 591. 
 Firkin, 618. 
 Fish plates, 103. 
 
 Fitchburg, Mass., pipe diagram of, 
 281. 
 
 Five days' notice of cancellation, 315, 
 316. 
 
 Fixtures and furniture, 464. 
 Flags and banners, decline, 464. ■ 
 Flash test, 166. 
 Flax mills, 464. 
 Flexible cords, 420. 
 Flitch beams, 603. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 851 
 
 Floating insurance, 555. 
 
 Floating oil on water fires, 70. 
 
 Floors, confining fires to, 723, double, 
 88, 90; tin or iron between, 90; open 
 ings through, 92; waterproof, scup- 
 pers, &c, 111; arches, material for, 
 110, 115; in mill construction, 124; 
 in hotels, 500; safe loads, 597; con- 
 fining fires to, 723; in U. M. S. 646. 
 
 "Flour mills," 305, 404, 405, 466, etc. 
 dust explosions in, 405, 466. 
 
 Florists' stocks, 471. 
 
 Flowers, artificial, 471. 
 
 Flues, defective, 45(1, 491; lining, 493. 
 
 Foley, Chief, of Milwaukee, 269; 
 death of, 794. 
 
 Force pumps, importance of, 422, 453; 
 run by belts, 453. 
 
 Forest fires, 63. 
 
 Forging, 410. 
 
 Forms of policies, 554, 555, etc. 
 Forms of Policies, write to Company 
 
 for, 307, 554; clauses, 564, 565, 566, 
 
 567, 568, etc. 
 Forms, standard, filed with Insurance 
 
 Department, 562. 
 Foundries, 471. 
 
 For whom it may concern, 297. 
 Frame rows, 63; brick buildings in, 
 
 64; rears and extensions, charge for 
 
 656, U. M. 8. 
 Frame buildings, construction of , 100; 
 
 construction, 102. 
 Frames for fireproof doors, 369, 382; 
 
 illustrated, 386. 
 Framing, "balloon," "braced." 101. 
 Francis, James B., C. E., 447. 
 Freeman, John R., 262, 273, 275, 280, 
 
 286. 
 
 French co-insurance clause, 574. 
 
 French Metric System, 619. 
 
 Fresco work, 581. 
 
 Frictional head, 246, 247, 252. 
 
 Frost line, water pipes below, 274. 
 
 Fruit evaporators, 472. 
 
 Full insurance, 49, 51, 52; full co- 
 insurance 579, 586. 
 
 Fulling mills, (see woolen mills), 446, 
 etc. 
 
 Furlongs, 617. 
 
 Furnaces, 96. 431; blast, 431. 
 Furniture, household forms, 582. 
 Furniture in fireproof buildings, 38; 
 
 manufactories, 437. 
 Fur stocks, 472. 
 Fuse, safety, 416, 418. 
 Fusible links for doors, 363. 
 
 G 
 
 Galvanizing, 410. 
 
 Gambling, insurance not, 199. 
 
 Gas, cut off at street, 116; from wool 
 oils, 450; meter, 414, 449; works, 
 472; lights, danger distance, 448. 
 
 Gasolene, 115; gas machines, 160; 
 Write for National Board Rules; 
 422; stoves, 163; best method of 
 storing for automobiles, etc., 428. 
 
 Gates, water, 272. 
 
 German co-insurance clause, 574. 
 
 Gibson, Chief Justice, 344. 
 
 Gins, 445. 
 
 Girts, 101. 
 
 Glass fronts and sides, 351; Glass 
 factories, 472; Glass floor to dyna- 
 mo room, 94. 
 
 Glove factories, 472. 
 
 Glucose manufactories, 473. 
 
 Glue manufactories, 473. 
 
 Gluing, 410. 
 
 Good faith of insurance contracts, 
 342, 561. 
 
 "Goods," use of word in policies, 304. 
 Goods held in trust, 298. 
 Goodyear Rubber Manufactory, 511. 
 Gould, Geo. J., fire in house of, 585. 
 Graded rates for co-insurance, 580. 
 Grain elevators, 461; dryers. Write 
 
 for National Board Rules, 422. 
 Gramme, French measure of weight, 
 
 617, 620. 
 Grand-stands, 473. 
 
 Gravity water pressure in rates, 667, 
 670. 
 
 Green-houses, 473. 
 Grist-mills, 471. 
 Groceries, 198; wholesale, 473. 
 Grounded circuits, 419. 
 Grouting, 93. 
 
 Guano, spontaneous combustion, 149. 
 Gun manufactories, 475; powder per- 
 mit, 591. 
 
 H 
 
 Hall, Henry H., 422. 
 Halls, with scenery, 475; see Theatres, 
 542. 
 
 Halsey, Charles C. 335. 
 Hammer, water, 249. 
 Hangers for fire doors, 363. 
 Harbor water, use of for fires, 271. 
 Hard times, 46. 
 
 Hardware manufactories, 475; stocks, 
 475. 
 
 Hardwoods, oiling of, 146. 
 Hasty payments of losses, 339, 340. 
 Hatchways, charge for, 650. 
 Hat factories, 476. 
 
 Hay in stacks, 476; spontaneous com- 
 bustion, 149; presses or barns, 476. 
 
s.vj 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Head or pressure of water, 245, 250; 
 
 tables for con verting head in feet to 
 
 pounds, 251; test of, 252; loss of 
 
 head per 1,000 feet, 253. 
 Headers, brick, 82; beams, 87. 
 Heat of fire, in fireproof buildings, 
 
 100; heat convertible into force, 894, 
 "Hedge," insurance is a. 199. 
 Ileighth, charges for, 648, U. M. S. 
 
 fireproof buildings, 686. 
 Heirs of, insurance of, 297. 
 Hemlock, 602, 603. 
 Hem]) and jute mills, 476. 
 Henneries, 476. 
 
 High and low water service, 260. 
 High winds, 639. 
 High wines manufactories, 457. 
 Hinges for fire doors, 364; vault doors, 
 370. 
 
 History and analysis of U. M. S, 697, 
 785. 
 
 Hollow spaces, avoid. 92. 
 Holly water-works. 249. 
 Home Life Building, 67, 121, 122, 401. 
 Hominy mills. 476. 
 Honest claimants should be assisted, 
 337. 
 
 Honorable dealing of insurance com- 
 panies, 344. 
 
 Hop houses, 477. 
 
 Hops, stocks of, 477. 
 
 Home Building, well-hole. 92, 94; loss 
 on, 117, 118, 119, 120, 401, 402. 
 
 Horse car stables, 416, 438; power, 
 electric, 416. 
 
 Horses, saving in case of fire, 324. 
 
 Hose nozzle, 280; hose more expensive 
 than pipe, 275; sizes, etc., 278; write 
 for National Board Rules, as to hose. 
 
 Hosierj r mills, 478. 
 
 Hospitals, 478. 
 
 Hotels, 478; furniture, 479. 
 
 Hot air registers, 97; pipes of furnaces, 
 96, 97. 
 
 Hot houses, 511. 
 
 Houses of refuge. 511. 
 
 Household furniture insurance of, 
 581, 582. 
 
 How to proceed in case of fire, 321; 
 loss, 327; suspicious losses, 329. 
 
 How to inspect special hazards, 393. 
 
 Hub and spoke factories, 511. 
 
 Hunting and fishing clubs, 443. 
 
 Hydrants, pressure at, 245; sizes, 
 spacing, etc., 274, 275; write for 
 National Board Rules; post, 275; 
 should be 6-inch, 276; fire depart- 
 ment should have charge of locat- 
 ing, 276; should be flushed, 278; 
 should not be on small mains, 277 ; 
 
 should be painted red, 277; should 
 be staggered, 274; "two-way," 275; 
 proximitj to in rates, 665, 667. 
 Hydraulics, 246. 
 
 Hydraulic press, 246; H. grade line, 
 259. 
 
 Hydrod yiiamies, 240. 
 
 I 
 
 Ice, artificial, manufactories, 511; 
 
 houses, 511; in stand-pipes, 258; 
 
 lens, 147. 
 Ideal fireproof construction, 107. 
 Illustrations fire doors, 374, 375, &c. 
 Immunity from fire, 200. 
 Importance of insurance, 20. 
 Improvement of special hazards, 553. 
 Improved fire record, U. M. S. 723. 
 Incendiary fires, percentage of, 43, 44, 
 
 133. 
 
 Incubators, 511. 
 
 India rubber manufactories, 511. 
 
 Indifference of business men to 
 strength of companies, 32; as to 
 reading their policies, 345. 
 
 Ink manufactories, 512. 
 
 Insane asylums, 428. 
 
 Inspection, 43. 
 
 Instrument manufactories, 512. 
 
 Instructions, book of, 26. 
 
 Insurance, importance of, 20; policy 
 (see Policy.) 
 
 Insulation, 416, 419. 
 
 Interest of agent and company ident- 
 ical, 28; assured must be stated in 
 policy, 293. 
 
 Inventory and appraisal, waving, 575. 
 
 Iron safe clause, 589. 
 
 Iron caps for wooden columus, 597; 
 expansion of, 107; foundries, 471; 
 fronts, 94, see U. M. S. 644; beams, 
 strength of, 96; spacing, 115; mem- 
 bers, 114; columns, 114, 656; must 
 be protected, 107, 398, 399. 400, 401, 
 402, 403, 656; cast, 107; so as to be 
 examined as to rust, 114; scraps, 
 spontaneous ignition, 142; pyrites, 
 143; doors and shutters, 372, 374; 
 furnaces, 431; pipe manufactories, 
 525; pintles for wooden columns. 
 597. 
 
 Itinerant tradesmen, 53. 
 
 J 
 
 Jacks, insurance of, 515. 
 
 Jackson, Prof., 167. 
 
 Jacksonville, Fla , fire, May 3, 1901, 
 
 58, 63. 
 Jails. 455, 512. 
 Jambs for fire-doors, 364. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 853 
 
 Japanning, 410; works, 411. 
 Jewelry manufactories, 512. 
 Joists, floor, 86. 
 Joule's law, 394. 
 "Jump" adjustments, 337. 
 Junk stores, 151, 513. 
 Jute factories, 513. 
 
 K 
 
 Kane, Dr., ice lens, 147. 
 
 Keuyou, Lord, 556. 
 
 Kerosene oil, 153; explosive, 158; tests 
 
 of, 158; manufactories, 513; permit 
 
 to sell, 590. 
 Kennedy, E. R., 564. 
 Key rate of cities, U. M. S., 642, 705. 
 Kilns, 513, 409. 
 Kilowatt, 416. 
 
 Kindling-wood factories, 513. 
 
 King post, 102. 
 
 Knitting mills, 446. 
 
 Knot or geographical mile, 617. 
 
 Knowledge of underwriter, 22. 
 
 Knowles, Clarence, 554. 
 
 L 
 
 Laboratories, 441. 
 
 Lacquering, 411. 
 
 Ladder manufactories, 513. 
 
 Lamp black, 148; manufactories, 513. 
 
 Lamp manufactories, 514. 
 
 Lanterns for watchmen, 421, 449; oils 
 for, 449. 
 
 Lard oil refineries, 514. 
 
 Large dwellings, 60, 460. 
 
 Latches for fire doors, 364, 382. 
 
 Lath and shingle mills, 514. 
 
 Lathing, metallic, 91. 
 
 Laundries, 514; in hotels, 496. 
 
 Lead manufactories, 514. 
 
 Leases, 54; form for insuring, 587. 
 
 Leased ground, buildings, 59, 591. 
 
 Leasehold, insurance of, 294; form, 
 write company for, 587. 
 
 Legal tender, 314. 
 
 Leonard Building, 85. 
 
 Letters, correspondence, etc., answer- 
 ing, 311. 
 
 Lever bars for doors, 370. 
 
 Levied on, property, 54. 
 
 Licorice manufactories, 514. 
 
 Life estate, insurance of, 294. 
 
 Lights in show windows, 137. 
 
 Lightning, 133; danger to live stock 
 in fields, 517; and rods, 108; danger 
 to cement-lined wrought iron water 
 pipes, 266; clause, 572, 588. 
 
 Lime, care as to, 130, 139, 146, 147; 
 mortar, 80. 
 
 Limit of insurance to value, 46; 
 amount of insurance, 289. 
 
 Limit of elasticity, 595. 
 
 Line, rate indicates, 210, 781. 
 
 Lines, excessive, 6, 211, 214; how esti- 
 mated, 210; camp-meeting dwell- 
 ings, incendiary hazard involved, 
 61, 210; average line, 210. 
 
 Links, 617. 
 
 Linoleum manufactories, 514. 
 
 Linseed oil mills, 515. 
 
 Liquids, press equally in all direc- 
 tions, 246. 
 
 Lithographing establishments, 515. 
 
 Litigious men, do not insure, 53. 
 
 Litre, French measure, 620. 
 
 Live stock, insurance of, 302, 304, 516. 
 
 Livery stables, 67, 515. 
 
 Loading of floors, 88. 
 
 Location of risk, policy should accu- 
 rately describe, 291. 
 
 Local agents, advantage of schedule 
 rating to, 729. 
 
 Local boards in interest of public, 17. 
 
 Lock factories, 517. 
 
 Locomotive works, 517. 
 
 Locust posts, 599. 
 
 Lombard street, 556. 
 
 London Fire Brigade Superintendent, 
 448, 545. 
 
 Long measure, 617. 
 
 Looking-glass manufactories, 517. 
 
 Loss, how to proceed in case of, 327; 
 personal, movable property, 332; 
 payment of, 339; pa} r able clause, 590 
 
 Lost policies, 290, 592. 
 
 Lounge, spontaneous combustion in, 
 152. 
 
 Luck, none in fire insurance, 6, 199 
 Lumber yards, 517; clauses, 573. 
 Lunatic asylums, 428. 
 Lynn, Mass., fire, the great, Nov. 26, 
 1889. 
 
 M 
 
 Macaroni manufactories, 58. 
 Machine shops, 518. 
 Mains, water, sizes, etc., 261. 
 Malt houses, 519. 
 
 Management, faults of, in rates, U. 
 
 M. 8., 662. 
 Manhattan Savings Bank Building, 
 
 123, 401. 
 Mansfield, Lord, 344. 
 Manufactoring risks, how to inspect, 
 
 393; alphabetical list of, 423. 
 Manuscripts 304. 
 Maps, insurance, 26, 308, 309. 
 Marshals, property in custody of, 54. 
 Marshall, Chief Justice, 344. 
 
854 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Masonry, safe load for, 598. 
 Match factories, 51!). 
 Matches in stone jars, 135; safety, 138. 
 Material, best fire- resisting for walls, 
 75. 
 
 Materials, strength of, 594. 
 
 .Mat I ivss making, 519. 
 
 Measures, tables of, 017. 
 
 Mechanics, employment of, in rating 
 
 731, U. 31. S. 
 Melting, 411. 
 Menageries, 519. 
 
 Mercantile (Universal) Schedule, 621. 
 
 Meiehandise, arrangement of on floors, 
 88, 782; form for insuring, 587; with 
 aisles, 90; above grade floor, 07*; in 
 fireproof bdgs. 693; in warehouses, 
 779, 780; rules for rating, 675; de- 
 finition of, 304. 
 
 Mercantile building form, 587. 
 
 Metal-worker, fire, 37; sheathing, 97, 
 98, 404. 
 
 Metallic lathing, 91. 
 
 Meter, gas, 414, 449. 
 
 Metre, 617, 619. 
 
 Metric, system of measures, 619. 
 
 Metrical system, French, 619. 
 
 Mill construction, 124, 129; yard 
 
 Mills bdg, N. Y., fire in, U. M. S. 650. 
 
 Milwaukee fire-boats, 268. 
 
 Mining property, 519. 
 
 Mirror manufactories, 517. 
 
 Modulus, 595. 
 
 Monthly reports, 26. 
 
 Montreal Board of Trade fire, 611. 
 
 Moral hazard, percentage of, 43, 45; 
 in New York, 45; difficulty of de- 
 tecting, 49. 
 
 Morocco manufactories, 520. 
 
 Mortgagee, interest of, 293. 
 
 Mortgages, chattel, 294. 
 
 Mortgage interest, assignment of, 591. 
 
 Mortar, lime, 80; lime and cement, 81; 
 cement, 81. 
 
 Moss factories, 520. 
 
 Motor, Hydraulic water, 261. 
 
 Moulding mills, 520. 
 
 Mount Washington Hotel, the, 487. 
 
 Municipal ownership of water-works, 
 282, 283. 
 
 Mural decorations, 581. 
 
 Museums, 520. 
 
 Music room, hotel, 503. 
 
 N 
 
 Nailing fire-doors, 377. 
 Naphtha, 155. 
 Napping, 412. 
 
 Narrow streets and st reams of water, 
 65. 
 
 Nashua, N. II. (water consumption), 
 267. 
 
 National Board Rules and Require- 
 ments, 422; forms of policies, 555, 
 567, 568. 
 
 Natural gas, 639. 
 
 Neat or safe load, 596. 
 
 "Never had a fire," 200. 
 
 New Jersey co-insurance clause, 567. 
 
 Newspaper printing offices, 534. 
 
 New York Building Law walls, 83; 
 as to furnaces, ranges, &c, 96, 97, 
 98, etc; standard policy, 556, 557, 
 558. 
 
 New York Board of Fire Under- 
 writers' co-insurance clause, 299, 
 300. 
 
 New York consumption of water for 
 fires for an entire year, (98 million 
 gallons), as show n by record of Fire 
 Dept., is less than the number of 
 gallons consumed in half a day for 
 domestic purposes. 
 
 New York Times, 58. 
 
 New York Warehouse System, 786, 
 787, etc. 
 
 Night work in woodworkers, 530, 
 permit for, 592. 
 
 Nitric acid fumes, death of Chief 
 Foley, 794. 
 
 Nothing to burn, 37; fireproof build- 
 ings, 38. 
 
 Nozzle, hose, 280. 
 
 Nuisances, 57. 
 
 Numbering policies, 290. 
 
 Nut and bolt works, 433. 
 
 O 
 
 Oatmeal mills, 520. 
 
 Occupancy, limit in policy, 306; 
 
 charges in U. M. Schedule, 737. 
 Offhand estimates of losses, 44. 
 Office furniture, 304: and fixtures, 
 
 464. 
 Ohm, 416. 
 
 Oil yards, refineries, etc., as ex- 
 posures, 65, 70; mills, see Linseed, 
 Lard, Cottonseed, etc., refineries, 
 decline, 521; warehouses and tanks, 
 521; cloth manufactories, 521; cloth- 
 ing, spontaneous ignition of, 147; 
 barrels, empty, 160; rooms, 413; for 
 fuel, 408; for watchmen's lanterns, 
 449; on wools, 450; floating on water, 
 70; oil clothing manufactories, 521. 
 
 Oil fires, sand for, 665. 
 
 Old, dilapidated buildings, 58. 
 
 Omnibus blocks, 64. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 855 
 
 Openings in walls, limit to 25$ of 
 area, 82; through floors, 92. 
 
 Opera-houses. See Theatres, 542. 
 
 Order of arrangement of this book, 
 23. 
 
 Ordway, Prof., on coal, 407. 
 
 Organ manufactories, 521; organs in 
 churches, 442, 521. 
 
 Organization of employees, 453. of 
 fire department, 638. 
 
 Other insurance, 289; limit, 289; with- 
 out permission, 560, 561. 
 
 Outhouses, fences, etc., 304. 
 
 Outlying exposures of cities, 63. 
 
 Outside staircases, 114. 
 
 Over hours, working, 139; loading of 
 floors, 88; over valuation, 48; over 
 insurance, 46. 
 
 P 
 
 Packing box manufactories, 434. 
 Pails, water, 420; manufactories, 436. 
 Paint manufactories, 522. 
 Painting, 412. 
 
 Paintings, works of art, insurance of 
 by schedule, 584. 
 
 Palatial dwellings, 60, 460. 
 
 Panoramas, 456, 522. 
 
 Paper box manufactories, 434; hang- 
 ing, (see wall-paper), 550; mills, 522. 
 
 Parapet walls, 85; U. M. S. 658. 
 
 Park Avenue, New York, Hotel fire, 
 489. 
 
 Parsons on Commercial Law, 299. 
 Partition, should not foot on beams, 
 
 103; of tile and angle iron, 109. 
 Party walls, U. M. S. 643. 
 Pascal's law as to liquids, 247. 
 Patent leather manufactories, 523; 
 
 medicine manufactories, 523; floor 
 
 arches, 506. 
 Paterson, N. J., fire, February 9, 1902. 
 Patterns, 471, 523. 
 Pawnbrokers, 524. 
 Payments of losses, 339; hasty, 339. 
 Penitentiaries, 524. 
 Pensacola, Fla., fire, 68, 652. 
 Perch, measure, 617. 
 Percentage of expense, 243. 
 Permanent set, 596. 
 Petroleum risks as exposures, 65. 
 Phosphate mills, 468, 524. 
 Phosphorus, 148, 396. 
 Photographers' stocks, 524. 
 Physical hazard, 62. 
 Piano manufactories, 524. 
 Piazzas, hotel, 503. 
 Picking, 412. 
 
 Pickers and picker rooms, 451. 
 
 Pictures, ins. of by schedule with 
 
 cost prices, 583. 
 Piers, brick, 76. 77. 
 Pintles, 125, 597. 
 
 Pipe manufactories, 525; cast-iron 
 best, 265, 266; cement-lined, 266; 
 cheaper than hose, 275; distribution, 
 261; sizes of, 261, 262, 263, 264; 
 economy in large sizes, 262; dia- 
 gram, 281; (measure of wine), 619. 
 
 Plan or order of arrangement of this 
 book, 23. 
 
 Planing-mills, 525. 
 
 Plaster mills, 526. 
 
 Plaster of Paris will rot wood, 83. 
 
 Plate, 102, 104; glass in doors and 
 windows, 304. 
 
 Playing-card manufactories, 438. 
 
 Plow works, 530. 
 
 Pointing with plaster of Paris, 83. 
 
 Poisons separate from food, 783, 789. 
 
 Polarity, 418. 
 
 Pole, measure of length, 617. 
 
 Policies, should be specific, 303; am- 
 biguous phraseology in, 304; ab- 
 breviations in, avoid, 305; limit 
 occupancy in, 306; do not make 
 alterations in after a fire, 331; writ- 
 ing, 287; should be examined, 287; 
 should be concurrent, 288; number- 
 ing 290; erasures in, 209; lost, 290; 
 should accurately describe risk, 291 ; 
 location, 291; interest of assured 
 must be stated in, 293; blanks, 25; 
 reading, 345. 
 
 Policy register, 25. 
 
 Populat ion, fire streams based on, 273 
 
 Poor-houses, 426. 
 
 Pork houses, 531. 
 
 Post & McCord Building, 107, 108. 
 Post or pillars, slow-burning, 125. 
 Potassium chlorate, 395. 
 Potteries, 533. 
 Powers of agent, 30. 
 Prairie tires, 63. 
 Premium, small, (SI. 50), 306. 
 Pressure of Liquids in all directions, 
 
 pascal's law, 247. 
 Preventable fires, 721, U. M. S. 
 Preventing conflagrations, 722. 
 Previous fire record, U. M. S., 639, 727. 
 Printing offices, 534. 
 Printeries, 432. 
 Prisons, 524. 
 
 Private extinguishing devices, 420; 
 666. 
 
 vs. municipal ownership of water- 
 works, 282. 
 Profits of insurance companies, 11, 
 235. 
 
856 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Proflt and loss account, 235. 
 Property, use of word in policies, 304. 
 Public, adequate rates in interest of, 
 
 12; halls, 475. 
 Public halls, 475; see Theatres, 542. 
 Publication of business statistics by 
 
 insurance departmentsof States, 1 1. 
 I'ulp manufactories, 534. 
 Pumps, private, 422. 
 Pump-room, 116. 
 Pumping station, fireproof, 'jsl, 
 Puncheon, ale, 618, wine, 619. 
 Pyrites, iron, 1 13. 
 
 Q 
 
 Quarrelsome men, don't insure, .">:;. 
 
 Quartz, mills, 535, 539. 
 
 Quarter, mi asure, tils. 
 
 Queen post, 102. 
 
 Quilt manufactories, 535. 
 
 R 
 
 Race horses, 515. 
 Rafter, 102. 
 Rags, 535. 
 
 Rail road property, 535. 
 Ranges, 99. 
 
 Rates, 33, 181; based on average, 6; 
 should be uniform forall companies, 
 33; fixed for 55$ loss ratio, 197; re- 
 duced for reduced losses 24; for 
 term policies, 206; incorrect an in- 
 jury to the community, 210; on 
 stocks as compared with buildings, 
 U. M. S., 660; importance of com- 
 bined judgment in, U. M. S. 133; 
 adequate, in interest of public, 12. 
 
 Ratio of assets to amount at risk, 203, 
 204. 
 
 Rats and mice as causes of fires, 138. 
 Reading policies of insurance, 345. 
 Rear wall, frame building exposure 
 
 to, 68. 
 Rectifying 535. 
 
 Reduced rates for reduced losses, 204, 
 640, 723; average or co-insurance 
 form, 571. 
 
 Refineries, oil, 521; sugar, 541. 
 
 Reform schools, 511. 
 
 Register, policy, 25. 
 
 Registers, furnace, 97. 
 
 Reinsurance fund, 218; between com- 
 panies, 301; form of policy for, 588. 
 
 Relative cost of hose and iron water 
 pipes, 275; damage by fire to fire- 
 proof buildings and contents, 116. 
 
 Remote risks, 535. 
 
 Removal, damage by, 336. 
 
 Rendering, 531. 
 
 Renewals, 305. 
 
 Rents, insurance! of, 296; forms, 572. 
 Reports, daily, 26; monthly, 26, 308. 
 Reverbcratory furnace, 106. 
 Revolving wire glass doors, 485. 
 Ribbons, 103. 
 
 Richards, W alter H. (hydraulic water 
 
 motor), 261. 
 Richards, Mr. E. G., 92. 
 Rice mills, 536. 
 Ridge roll, 102. 
 Ridge board, 102. 
 
 Right-angles, buildings exposed at, 
 65. 
 
 Rivets, steel rust, 6118. 
 Road houses, 536. 
 Rolling mills, 536, 
 Rinks, decline, 539. 
 Rood, 618. 
 
 Roof of non-fireproof buildings, 104, 
 
 645; of fireproof buildings, 109; 
 
 double, 105; hydrants, 421, 666; 
 
 sprinklers, 422, 537, 666, U. M. S. 
 
 mansard, 645. 
 Roofing material manufactories, 536. 
 Roof spaces, blind attics, etc., 046, 
 
 663. 
 
 Rope walks, 536. 
 
 Rossiter & Skidmore Warehouse fire, 
 70. 
 
 Rot, dry, 83, 125, 128. 
 
 Rubber works, 511. 
 
 Rubbish, receptacles for, 67, 137. 
 
 Rust, 79, 115; in water pipes, 255, 256. 
 of steam-pipes, 142; danger of, in 
 iron members, 606, 607, etc; cast- 
 iron, 607; steel, 607; in plate girder 
 of Washington Bridge Boston, 608. 
 
 S 
 
 Safety fuses, 416, 418; matches, 138; 
 lamps, 160. 
 
 Safe loading of floors, 90, 596; wooden 
 beams, 604; cast-iron rectangular 
 columns, 602; round, 605; brick- 
 work, rubble stone, concrete, etc., 
 698. 
 
 Safes, hooks of account should be 
 kept in, 48; manufactories of, 563; 
 iron, clause, 589. 
 
 Salt for extinguishing fire, 325. 
 
 Salt blocks, 536. 
 
 Salt petre bags, empty, 464. 
 
 Salt-water pipe service, 271. 
 
 Sand, 80; for extinguishing fires, 665. 
 
 Sanitariums, 478, 536; how to build 
 (see Hotels), 479. 
 
 Sash and blind manufactories, 432. 
 
 Sawdust on floors, spittoons, etc., 56. 
 
 Saw manufactories, 537. 
 
 Sawmill, 305, 537. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 857 
 
 Schedule rating, 180, 181, 183, U. M. 
 
 S., 621, etc. 
 School house, 423, 537. 
 Schedules of paintings, works of art, 
 
 etc., for insurance, 584. 
 Scuppers, 111. 
 Season dwellings, 60, 460. 
 Seed warehouses, 605. 
 Segar manufactories, 442. 
 Sellers, 324. 
 Seminaries, 423. 
 
 Separation of buildings, 111, 112, 113, 
 114. 
 
 Set, permanent, of beam, 596. 
 
 Sewer pipe manufactories, 525. 
 
 Shaft openings, 366. 
 
 Shavings for fuel, 406; vault, 526. 
 
 Shearing strain, 595. 
 
 Sheathing, 102, 103, 128. 
 
 Shedd, J. Herbert, 273. 
 
 Sheet-iron doors, 372. 
 
 Sheriff, property in hands of, 54, 296 
 
 Shingle mills, 514. 
 
 Shirt manufactories, 538. 
 
 Shoddy mills, 538. 
 
 Shoe manufactories, 538. 
 
 Shot towers, 538. 
 
 Show-windows, wires in, 420; lights 
 in, 137. 
 
 Shuttle manufactories, 433. 
 
 Siamesing hose, 265. 
 
 Siegel, Cooper Co., iron columns, 613. 
 
 Silicate of soda, 546. 
 
 Sill, 102; National Board standard, 
 361, 369; illustrated, 374. 
 
 Silks, charged, 149. 
 
 Silk mills, 538. 
 
 Singeing in pork houses, 533. 
 
 Single stick beams and girders, 12 x 
 12 for beams, 125, 604. 
 
 Skating rinks, decline, 539. 
 
 Skeleton construction, 615, 684. 
 
 Skin friction of water pipes, 246. 
 
 Skylights, 96, 116, 128, 651. 
 
 Slaughtering, 533, 539. 
 
 Sliding fire doors, 364, 370, 371; illus- 
 trated, 387, 388. 
 
 Slop closets, hotel, 502. 
 
 Slow-burning construction, 124; im- 
 portant features of, 129. 
 
 Small premium ($1.50), 306. 
 
 Smelters, 535. 
 
 Smiley & Henderson's drug store, fire 
 in, 323. 
 
 Smoke pipe, 97; houses, 532. 
 
 Smooth throatage in pipes, impor- 
 tance of, 266. 
 
 Sneed process of ventilation, 537. 
 
 Snow, E. G., Vice-President of Home 
 Ins. Co., 151. 
 
 Soap manufactories, 437, 539. 
 
 Sold but not removed from store, 300; 
 
 but not delivered, 298, 300. 
 Soldering, 412. 
 Soliciting, 30. 
 Soluble glass, 546. 
 Spacing beams, 115. 
 Specific, policy should be, 303. 
 Special building call to Fire Dept. 665. 
 Special hazards, alphabetical list of, 
 
 423, 424, etc. 
 Speed, in rating, 780. 
 "Specially hazardous purposes," 
 
 avoid phrase in policies, 306. 
 Spice mills, 539. 
 
 Spliced or double timber for beams, 
 125, 604. (Since writing the para- 
 graph on page 125, a fire occurred 
 in the Oswego Falls Pulp and Paper 
 Mill, Fulton, X. Y., which caused 
 the complete destruction of 6" x 16 ' 
 timbers bolted together, showing 
 the importance of having solid single 
 stakes. Where timbers are spliced, 
 even when thoroughly bolted to- 
 gether, they are apt to separate in 
 seasoning and offer a vulnerable 
 point for fire.) 
 
 Spontaneous combustion, 140, 141, 
 142, etc; in mills, 144; of coal, 407. 
 
 Spongeing and refinishing, 539. 
 
 Spool manufactories, 539. 
 
 Sprinklers, automatic, 174, 666, 671. 
 Write for National Board Rules for 
 installing, 422; in stalls, 516; base 
 ments, roof, 422, 537; clause, 573. 
 
 Spruce, 603. 
 
 Square measure, 618. 
 
 Stables, 57; as exposures, 67, 539. 
 
 Staircases, treads, 91, 114; outside, 
 114; enclosures for. 367; illustrated, 
 385; charges for, U. M. S., 649; in 
 fireproof buildings, 687. 
 
 Stallions, 515. 
 
 Stamp mills, 539. 
 
 Standard fire doors and shutters, 361, 
 &c; building Universal Schedule, 
 95. N. B. erratum in the tilth line 
 "below the ground" should read 
 "below to the ground," 631; educ- 
 tional, 705; insurance policy, can 
 cellation of, 315; fireproof building, 
 108; policy, 556, 558; city, 631; 
 building, 631. 
 
 Stand-pipes, 94, 109, 116, 172, 257, 665; 
 capacitv of, 285; and hose, 421; ice 
 in, 258.' 
 
 Starch manufactories, 540. 
 
 State, insurance by, 10. 
 
 State houses, 455. ' 
 
858 
 
 I \ i- 1. \ . 
 
 Statuary, insurance of, 583. 
 
 Stave manufactories, 430. 
 
 Steam pipes, 128; rusting, 142, 164, 
 404, 422. 
 
 Steam boats, 540. 
 
 Steam boilers, charge for, 657. 
 
 Steam fire engines, 279, 637, 641; 
 capacity of, 173. 
 
 Steam jets for extinguishing fire, 324, 
 410, 470. 
 
 Steel rivets, rust, 609. 
 
 Steel, roll doors, 373. 
 
 Steeples, 586. 
 
 Stemmeries, 548. 
 
 Stere, French measure, 619. 
 
 Mi rreotypers, 401 . 
 
 Stipulated warehouses, 7*8, 789, etc. 
 
 Stirrup irons for supporting floor 
 beam, girders, etc., are dangerous, 
 yielding to heat and releasing the 
 beam, 125. 
 
 Stocks, exposures to, 351; of merchan- 
 dise, difficulty of estimating value 
 of, 48; removal of, 48; rating, 675; 
 rates as compared with buildings, 
 715; U. M. S., 676; mixed, 677. 
 
 Stock yards, 540. 
 
 Stone caps on chimneys, 493; stair- 
 case treads, 91, 107, 115, 501, 688; 
 as a building material, 75, 76, 78, 
 106; fire at Washington, D. C, 78; 
 pillars, 79, 85, 403; in church, s, 586; 
 fronts, 351; steeples, 586; piers, 
 bonds, etc. , charge for, 656. 
 
 Stop-valves, 272. 
 
 Story, Judge, 344. 
 
 Stoves and pipes, 135, 653, 662. 
 
 Stove foundries, 471. 
 
 Straw board mills, 522. 
 
 Straw goods manufactories, 541. 
 
 Streams of water, narrow, 65. 
 
 Streets, width of, 654. 
 
 Strength of companies, indifference 
 of merchants as to, 32; of beam, 88; 
 of materials, 594. 
 
 Stretchers, brick, 82. 
 
 Stresses, computing, 88, 594; arrange- 
 ment of merchandise, 88; iron beams 
 96. 
 
 Stud, 102. 
 
 Subscriptions to fire departments, 179. 
 Successful undertakings, 55. 
 Sugar houses and refineries, 541. 
 Saint, 450. 
 
 Sulphur for chimney fires, 325; burn- 
 ing, 413. 
 
 Sun's rays cause fires, 150. 
 
 Supply of water, 266; mains, water, 
 must not be within 12 feet of each 
 other, 245. 
 
 Supplies furnished to agents, 25. 
 Surveyors chain, expansion of, 610. 
 Surveyors measure, 617. 
 Sweepings, 56, 153. 
 Sweeping fires in zero weather, 71. 
 Swinging fire doors, 364, 371; gas 
 
 brackets, 663. 
 Switch-board, electric, 93. 
 Switches, electric, 417. 
 
 T 
 
 Tack manufactories, 541. 
 
 Tact vs. talent, 33, 34. 
 
 Tanks, water, 94, 111, 113, 127, 421. 
 
 Tanneries, 542. 
 
 Tapestries, insurance of, 584. 
 
 Tariffville, Conn., carpet-mill fire, 451 
 
 Tarrant KuiMin-, New York, explos- 
 ion in, 395. 
 
 Taxation in U. M. S., 662. 
 
 Taxes paid by insurance companies, 
 16. 
 
 Taylor, R. J., 335. 
 Telegraphing losses, 327, 328. 
 Telephone exchanges, 542; form of 
 
 policy, 570, 571. 
 Temperatures reached in burning 
 
 buildings, 84, 606; in fireproof 
 
 buildings, 106. 
 Temperatures, tire, COO. 
 Templates, 82. 
 
 Tenants, charge for extra, 654. 
 
 Tender, legal, 314. 
 
 Tensile strain, 595. 
 
 Terms, definition of, 5. 
 
 Term policies, 206; do not issue on 
 
 mercantile or manufacturing risks, 
 
 306. 
 
 Tests of materials, 615. 
 Test of water pressure. 252. 
 Testing kerosene, 156. 
 Theft at fires, 324. 
 Theatres, 542. 
 Theory of fire insurance, 5. 
 Thread, uniform, 278. 
 Thread manufactories, cotton mills. 
 446. 
 
 Three-quarter clause, 46, 50; form, 
 589 
 
 Thurston, Prof., 249. 
 Tierce, wine measure, 619. 
 Tie rods, 110, 115. 
 
 Tile walls, 85; and angle-iron par- 
 titions 109; chimneys, 136; manufac- 
 tories, 547. 
 
 Times, New York, as to Jacksonville 
 fire, 58. 
 
 Tin covered eases, U. M. S., 669. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Tin sheathing on wood, 97, 98, 99, 
 
 3(52, 404; covering for doors and 
 
 shutters, 362, 365,' 451. 
 Tinning, 413. 
 Tired materials, 596. 
 Tobacco factories, 549. 
 Tobacco storage, 548. 
 Tobacco barns, 547. 
 Tobacco stemmeries, prizeries and 
 
 rehandling houses, 548. 
 Toboggan slides, 549. 
 Torn down, buildings about to be. 59. 
 Torsional strain, 595. 
 Tool manufactories, see Hardware M., 
 
 475. 
 
 Town Halls, 455. 
 Toy manufactories, 549. 
 Track for fireproof doors, 362. 
 Fraction risks, 438, 549. 
 Trade profit, 235, 236, 238, 242. 
 Training stables, 516, 549. 
 Transformers, 417. 
 
 Transfer of pol. to new location, 590. 
 
 Transverse strain, 595. 
 
 Trap doors, automatic, 367; illus- 
 trated, 384. 
 
 Treads of staircases, 91. 
 
 Trezevant, J. T. , on co-insurance, 576. 
 
 Trimmer beams, 87; arch, 88. 
 
 Trolley currents, 419. 
 
 Troy weight, 617. 
 
 Trunk manufactories, 550. 
 
 Truss, 120; cheap truss roof for frame 
 buildings, 104. 
 
 Tryon, James E., report, 269, 277. 
 
 Tug boats, 550. 
 
 Tumbling, 413. 
 
 Tun (wine measure), 620. 
 
 Tungstates, 546. 
 
 Turpentine distilleries, 550. 
 
 Type foundries, 550. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ultimate stress, 594. 
 
 Underwriter, knowledge required. 22. 
 
 Unearned premium, 218; popular 
 
 errors as to, 218, 219, 228. 
 Uneven settling of buildings, 104. 
 Unhealthy locations, 59. 
 Uniform "threads and couplings, 179, 
 
 278. 
 
 Universal Schedule, 621, walls, 83; 
 standard building, 95, 182, 183, 184, 
 etc; adjustable to any town, 193; 
 rates can be raised or lowered by a 
 percentage, 193; its detail, 194; 
 needs an expert, 194; easily learned, 
 194; too long or too short, 194; 
 water- works in, 284. 
 
 Unknown causes of fires, 133. 
 Unoccupied buildings, 59, 460. 
 Unprotected iron, 656. 
 Unproductive property, 47. 
 Upholsterers, 550. 
 
 V 
 
 Vacant buildings, 59, 460. 
 Vacuum valves, 259. 
 Value, limit of insurance to, 46, 47, 
 50, 51. 
 
 Values of dry-goods, district, 271. 
 Valued policy, 584. 
 Valued policy, do not write, 302. 
 Valuable animals, 515, 519. 
 Valves, air and vacuum, 259; stop, 
 272. 
 
 Varnishing, 413. 
 Varnish manufactories, 550. 
 Vattel's Law of Nations, 343, 559. 
 Vault, pattern, fireproof doors, 368. 
 Ventilating shafts, 491. 
 Ventilation, Sneed process of, 537. 
 Verbal agreements, never make, 291. 
 Vertical pipes, 94. 
 Vessels, 550. 
 
 Vinegar manufactories, 550. 
 Void policies, 321. 
 Volt, 415. 
 
 W 
 
 Wadding manufactories, 430, 550. 
 
 Waiver, agents should not, 292, 341; 
 of standard policy conditions, 564. 
 
 Wagon manufactories, 550. 
 
 Wall paper manufactories, 550. 
 
 Walls, thickness of, 83, 126; see U. 
 M. S., 642, 643, 644; party, 83, 643; 
 New York Building Law require- 
 ments, 83; ignition of wood through, 
 84; stone, 85; parapet, 84, 85; plate, 
 103. 
 
 Wall frames for fireproof doors, 369, 
 382, 386; eyes for fire doors, 363; 
 illustrated, 382. 
 
 "Wares," use of word in policies, 304. 
 
 Warehouse rates, 188, 189; see U. M. 
 S., list, 796, etc. 
 
 Washburn & Moen, wire works, 552. 
 
 Washburn, President of Home Ins. 
 Company, 469. 
 
 Waste, receptacles for, 67, 405; pick- 
 ers, 397; "clean" 551. 
 
 Watch manufactories, 551. 
 
 Watchmen, 109, 666; lanterns, 421, 
 449. 
 
 Water cures, 478, 536. 
 Water supply, 173, 245, 266, 267; 
 mains, must not be ne ar each other, 
 
860 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 245; power, 414; soaked merchan- 
 dise, 88; fibre, 90; proof floors, 111, 
 127; tanks, 94, 111, 113, 127, 421; 
 towers, 667; works, 245; in U. M. 
 S., 284, 633, 63."); hammer, 249; 
 private vs. municipal ownership of, 
 282; weight of cubic foot of, 248; 
 motor, 261; consumption of, 267; 
 closets, .100; pressure in all direc- 
 tions, pascal's law, 247: works, U. 
 M. S., 633; water motor, 261. 
 
 Water thrown at fires — New York 
 consumption of water for tires for 
 an entire year, (98 million gallons) 
 as shown by record of Fire Dept., 
 is less than the number of gallons 
 consumed in half a day for domestic 
 purposes. 
 
 Watt, 416. 
 
 Weaving mills, 446, 551. 
 
 Weights of materials, 59*. 
 
 Weights and measures, 617. 
 
 Well-holes, 110, 117, 650. 
 
 "While occupied as," 306. 
 
 Whiskey, experience of one company 
 on, 8; distilleries, 457. 
 
 White lead works. 552, 
 
 Whiting, C. B., 71. 
 
 Willow ware manufactories, 552. 
 
 Whole hazard or risk, insure. 303. 
 
 Wholesale groceries, 198; drugs, 457. 
 
 Why cannot individual insure him- 
 self, 9, state insure citizens, 10. 
 
 Wife, title of property in name of, 
 296. 
 
 Wild animals, 519. 
 
 William Wicke Manufactory, explos- 
 ion in, 442. 
 
 Windows, aisles from through mer- 
 chandise piles, 90. 
 
 Windsor Hotel, New York, burning 
 of, 322, 489. 
 
 Wine measure. 619. 
 
 Wire lilass. 69, 1 10; write for National 
 Hoard Kules. 122; lathing, 91; net- 
 ting, 116; fence, danger lightning 
 to live stock, 517; works, 552. 
 
 Wolff & Co., wire works, 552. 
 
 Wood, columns, 599. 605; dry, liable 
 to ignite, 410; in dry-rooms, 151: 
 workers as exposures, 67, 552; alco- 
 hol, 426: cord 445; pulp, 534; beams. 
 
 safe loads for, 604, 605, 606. 
 
 Wooden sheat hint; on walls, 128, 
 
 U. M. S.. 26; journals. 465, 470; 
 
 beams, safe loads for, 603. 
 Wooden ware manufactories, 552. 
 Woolen mills, 446. 
 Wool scouring, 553. 
 Working over hours, 139. 
 Working stresses of materials, 600, 
 
 601. 
 
 Worth Street, New York, fire, 93, 
 
 645; iron fronts, 94, 645. 
 Writing policies, 287. 
 Wrought iron bonds, 79; water pipe. 
 
 266. 
 
 Y 
 
 Yachts, 553. 
 
 Yellow pine beams, 603; columns, 605. 
 Z 
 
 Zero weather, tires in, 71. 
 Zylonite, 440.