Lumber Yard Architecture.

Lumber Yard Architecture.

We hear the question frequently asked, “How is it that, in European cities, there are no great conflagrations like those we have in this country?” If those who ask this question would stop to think for a moment, the answer would readily suggest itself. The difference in methods of constructing buildings makes the difference in fire losses. In European cities buildings are put up to last; they are built of the most substantial material, by workmen who have some conscience in the matter, the exterior walls are thick and massive, while the interior divisions are of incombustible material. It often happens that a fire "will rage in oue of these buildings for hours, destroying its contents entirely, yet not injuring the walls or communicating to the adjoining building, which are similarly constructed. It is, consequently, but seldom ; that a fire in a European city spreads beyond the building in which it originates ; more Irequently it is confined to one floor.

In this country, on the contrary, a style of architecture prevails which may be I designated the lumber-yard style. Thin.j brick walls are thrown up to great heights— I walls which are mere shams, and would not ; sustain their own weight but for the bracings j of wood let into them—then the interior i formed by these flimsy walls is filled with j the most inflammable wood that can be found, from cellar to garret. Floor beams, flooring, ceilings, partitions, everything, even to the mansard roof on too, is of wood, j The interior is a lumber-yard, consisting of j highly seasoned, light and inflammable wood, which needs only the application of a match i to send it off in a flash, like so much tinder. As most buildings are constructed upon this plan, when one gets going the wonder is, not that so many others are destroyed with but, rather, that the conflagration is checked at all while any buildings are left. Europeans build for all time, while Americans build for a day. Our buildings are thrown up hurriedly, a liberal insurance policy is spread over it, and the owner feels no further responsibility regarding it. That the fire-trap he has thus erected endangers the property of his neighbors, and possibly jeopardizes whole city, gives him no cause for uneasiness, nor is he troubled with compunctions of conscience. Why should he be ? His neighbors have done the same thing, and is their privilege to get as much insurance as they can.