FIRE PREVENTION AND PROTECTION.
而奇怪的是,邮件给我们一次two pamphlets which, if properly read and inwardly digested by the general public, would do very much indeed toward reducing the outrageously large fire waste and long list of deaths by burning, in which America notoriously leads the world. In “ The Prevention of Fire,” William Paul Gerhard professes to write mainly with reference to hospitals, asylums and other public institutions, but most of his remarks, which are stamped with the approval of Edward Atkinson of Boston, the eminent underwriter and authority in matters of fire protection, are equally applicable to the construction, furnishing and care of dwellings, business structures or any other buildings. In fact, were all of his recommendations to be heeded, the number of fires of other than incendiary origin would be lowered to a most surprising extent The author devotes considerable space to the discussion of building construction, incontinently damns the usual cheap and nasty methods of fitting up the inside of otherwise substantially built brick and stone houses, and recommends that all hollow, vertical flues and o[>en spaces in walls or partitions should be completely filled, either with brick and cement or some non-conducting, non-burning material, such as mineral wool; also, that stout wire lathing or netting should be used instead of the ordinary lathing. He advises the use of hard burned bricks and terra cotta rather than iron or stone for house fronts, and the protection of wooden or iron beams, girders or columns by a coating of brickwork, plaster, fire clay or other non-conducting and fire-resisting substance. Absolutely fireproof construction is not an impossibility, but is, naturally, costly; but under the head of slow-burning construction we are told how a building may be erected which, while costing but little more than ordinary, will be almost entirely safe from the danger of buming from within. For roofs copper, tin, tar and gravel, asphalt and slate laid over mortar are recommended; even shingles laid over mortar rather than slate laid in the usual manner. The defective chimney flue comes in for a strong blast of warning, and we are told how they can be built so as to be safe. Elevators and staircases should be inclosed by fireproof walls, and the former provided with tin-covered tightly closing doors, and the underside of wooden staircases should be made fireproof by means of wire lathing and plaster or terra cotta tiling. The staircases should never under any circumstances be built, as is the case in some of the modem apartment houses, inclosing and surrounding the main elevator in the same shaft. Entrance doors should, without exception, open outward. This is a fact which everyone knows, and yet it would be easy to pick out dozens of public buildings, the doors of which open inward, and the loss of thousands of lives in burning churches and theatres has resulted indirectly from this cause. As to fire escapes, Mr. Gerhard remarks upon the difficulty with which the ordinary kinds can be used by women and children, and recommends for hospitals and asylums broad external staircases, made of gas pipe and angle iron, with wooden treads and strong railings.
在加热设备的情况下，我们得到了微小的方向，以保护地板和隔板，通过这些方向，可以通过这些方向和热气烟道通行证，以及任何与蒸汽加热管的近距离的木制品。在医院或庇护中，应为洗衣店提供自动洒水装置。Gerhard先生占据了人工照明的主题，建议在电灯线和发电机的运行中非常小心。
