THE FIRETRAP OF THE PERIOD.

THE FIRETRAP OF THE PERIOD.

The recent catastrophe at Cedar Rapids, Ia., when through the burning of an hotel ten persons or more were burned to death without the possibility of being rescued, shows that small cities are as liable to such holocausts as their larger sisters, and that firetraps are not confined to New York, Chicago, or other big towns. The result should be that in small towns and villages, just as in larger, adequate protection should he provided for the safety of guests in hotels as well as in private or tenement houses, and that a strict system of inspection by competent and honest inspectors should he instituted everywhere, and ordinances enforcing the installation of fire escapes, facilities for exit, and safe and proper construction of buildings passed and lived up to. Small cities—nor any village for that matter—can no more afford to neglect the safety of large buildings, public or private, especially hotels, taverns, and lodginghouses. than can the large cities. The interests of the public demand that buildings that are nothing more than firetraps be condemned, and that all buildings be fully equipped with appliances for fighting fire and facilitating the escape of inmates.

The recent catastrophe at Cedar Rapids, Ia., when through the burning of an hotel ten persons or more were burned to death without the possibility of being rescued, shows that small cities are as liable to such holocausts as their larger sisters, and that firetraps are not confined to New York, Chicago, or other big towns. The result should be that in small towns and villages, just as in larger, adequate protection should he provided for the safety of guests in hotels as well as in private or tenement houses, and that a strict system of inspection by competent and honest inspectors should he instituted everywhere, and ordinances enforcing the installation of fire escapes, facilities for exit, and safe and proper construction of buildings passed and lived up to. Small cities—nor any village for that matter—can no more afford to neglect the safety of large buildings, public or private, especially hotels, taverns, and lodginghouses. than can the large cities. The interests of the public demand that buildings that are nothing more than firetraps be condemned, and that all buildings be fully equipped with appliances for fighting fire and facilitating the escape of inmates.