Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 August 1893 — FIRE AT THE FAIR. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FIRE AT THE FAIR.

NOT LIKELY TO BE ANOTHER DISASTER THERE. Precautions that Have Been Taken to Prevent Such Calamities as the Cold-Storage Horror—Provision Made for Putting Out a Blaze. No Danger Now. World's Fair correspondence:

IRE at the World’s I cS Fair, at least a dieI astrous blaze, is not at all probable. The . k reo on t burning of K the Cold Storage SI building, with all its attendant horror, " rj »has made nearly i / l~' every person who "0, contemplates vislting the show inquire what are the precautions taken against fire, and whether it is likoly

that such a calamity will occur again. Tho answer can be made at once In tho negative. There Is no probability that any other building will be burned, and if one wore burned it would be impossible that there should be such a loss of life. In the first place, It must be remembered that the smoke stack that caused that fire had been objected to by the architect of the building and by others, but the owner thought it was easier to take a risk than to pay a little money. The building did not belong to the Exposition, and the Inspection and guardianship over It wero not such as prevail ovor the other buildings in the grounds. There are, it is true, other buildings which do not belong to the Exposition, but they do not includo any of the great builalngs, and they have all been examined and pronounoeu safe. Precaution Against Fire. The principal precaution taken against fire is the fact that the greatest oare is taken not to admit anything in a building that can sot fire to it. Any man may smoke in the grounds, but as soon as he puts footlnsido a building he must stop. Ho can smoke

in a restaurant, but ho is carefully watched and his smoking is harmless. There is a groat doal of lunch eating foing on in the grounds and in tho uilulngs, and the papers left by the people are very inflammable material, but these are all gathered up soon after they are thrown down and carried away. In every building there Is a large force of janitors, nnd their solo duty is to constantly sweep out the aisles and sections, and to lay the dust they always sprinkle the floor before they use tno broom. No stoves are now usod In any building except the cooking stoves where thero is a restaurant. In this latter caso every precaution is taken, and thus far there has been no cause for apprehension on thU Eoore. Two months ago, when the weather was cold, stoves were used in the various offices, but before a stove was put in it was necessary to obtain a special permit, and this was not granted unless there was reason to believe that the stove would be carefully used. It may also be added that during the construction period, when there was a groat deal of building material In the grounds nobody was allowed to smoke at all ex-

cept in his private office. It will be Seen on reflection that many buildings are safe simply because there is nothing inside of them that could set them on Are. There is not a spark of fire kindled under the roof of the Government Building from one week’s end to another, nor is there any in the Fisheries Building, or the Agricultural Building, or a number of others. All of the State buildings are absolutely safe in this way. Regular Fire Engine*. But it does not require fire in a building to burn it down, sinoe it may be brought in by a careless or malicious person, and every possible provision has been made at the World's Fair for putting it out. All over the grounds there are regular fire engines, such as one sees in every big city. The corps is composed of the Dost and most experienced men, the engines have the best and most modern appliances, the horses are fully up to the high average of fire horses. There are electric firealarm boxes at every corner, and the

Columbian guards have all been instructed how to turn in an alarm. Besides this, hand grenades, portable fire extinguishers and fire buckets may be found everywhere. It has happened l on several occasions that the dropping of a match or crossing of two electric wires has caused a small fire to start, and each time there was found to be no difficulty in extinguishing the flame without calling out the fire department. Another thing must be noted. The buildings are not as inflammable as

such temporary structure usually are. It is not pretended that they are not inflammable, for they are, but it would not be an easy th ing to set them on fire from the outside, for the reason that nearly all of them are covered on tho outside with staff, and staff is fireproof. When the cold storage warehouse was on fire the other day it waa noticed that the outside walls stood almpst as If they were built of brick, not falling in until their supports hqd all been burned away, Such a building as that of Fine Arts is absolutely fireproof, but then it is the most elaborately constructed of all tno buildings, and will undoubtedly be usod after the Fair is over as a permanent gallery of art. No Loss of Life to Visitors. But even if there should be another fire there is Bmall probability of its resulting in loss of life to visitors. The main exhibits are all on the ground floor, and no building is more than two

stories high. Whore there are balconies with exhibits in them there are large staircases, and if an alarm were given a crowded building would be emptied in less than a minute. It would be almost impossible to out off tho avenues of escape, because they arc so numerous. The very recent precautions in regard to the roofs of tho Manufactures and Transportation Buildings make these entirely safe. In the oold storage fire, the place where It caught was precisely the most dangerous of all, and after the firemen had gono up into the tower where the (lame was the building caught beneath them, thus outtlng off th 1b mode of retreat. It is utterly Impossible for suon a thing to happen again, for tho reason that there is not another smoke staok In a tower in tho whole park. It was demonstrated clearly that a flro at tho World’s Fair cannot spread. It may burn down one building, but it will not burn two together. There waa a brisk wind blowing and the flames , wore of a prodigious magnitude, but they wero not able to jump ovor the space that intervened between the buildings. All the buildings are Isolated, and thoy take their ohanoos Individually and independent of each okhor. Another element In tho safety from fire is found in tho lagoons and basins that intersect tho park. Thoy and the lake itself furnish an Inexhaustible supply of water for the engines, and that terrible dread which is ofton present at fires of an insufficient supply of water is whblly eliminated. There are, it may safely be presumed, somo timid people who will taka fright because of the cold storago calamity, but they will make a grave mlstako If thoy stay away from the Fair on that account. The cold-storage warehouse was the one woak point In tho park and the flro seized upon It. If the rest of tho buildings were safe before thoy are doubly so now, as the minutost care will be obeerved. From an orsthotlo point of view the coldstorage building was one that could be as well sparod as any other. It stood over In a oorner of the grounds near the fence. Fow people ever visited it. and It is probable that not one-third of the visitors now at the Fair notloe where its ruins are unloss they especially seek Information.

A WORLD'S FAIR ENGINE HOUSE.

A WORLD'S FAIR CHEMICAL ENGINE

HERE THEY COME.

A BLIGHT BLAZE.