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Show I IE PROTECTION A TOPIC JMNTEREST leal Eslate Men, Builders and Contractors Discussing Report Re-port on Sail Lake. JBBK TO PROFIT BY VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS llayor Promises Support to General Gen-eral Movement for Better Building Regulations. Build ins? regulations and flro protection .avc been topics of general discussion mong real cstato men, builders and con-rnctors con-rnctors the last week, many of whom javo recelvel copies of the report of the rational Board of Flro Underwriters com-nltteo. com-nltteo. on lire prevention In Salt Lake, n a few Instances, this report has been nlsiinderstood by citizens of Salt Lako Hid wherever this lias been the case, he report, linn lost its value so far as heso Individuals were concerned. Gen-rally Gen-rally speaking, however, the report has socn received in rho spirit In which It las been complied and issued, and wlde-ipread wlde-ipread benefit In expected to result. Speaking of this report Saturday, Mayor f. S. Bransford said It had apparently ieen made In a spirit of fairness and ull credit had been given Salt Lako for ts many excellent features of fire prc-'cntlon. prc-'cntlon. "Many of tho rccommendatloiTS iro most excellent, and 1 will gladly support sup-port them as far as possible or prac-Icable," prac-Icable," snld the mayor. Karl A. Schold, until recently secretary if the Utah district of the Pacific Board :f Fire. Underwriters, says tho apparent ulsundcrstandlng on the part of some Itlzons regarding the report comes from he belief In tho minds of these citizens hat tho committee on flro prevention of he National -Board of Fire Underwriters s in somn sense a rate-making body. Mr. jcheid said that somo business men had TOno bo far as to express the opinion that ho report of the engineers was "only in excuse for raising flro Insurance rates." Extent of Koport. ' Tho report in question Is one of thirty printed pages, which covers practically ?very point In tho flro hazard of Salt 1L IJL'ftiin Willi L U(JI iJkJUll UL dty. Its population, proportion of streets laved and unpaved. direction nnd aver-lge aver-lge velocity of wind, temperature and a ccord of flro losses for the last nvo ,'cars. Under tho head of flre-flghtlng 'aclllties there 13 an exhaustive report n the water system of Salt Lake, and :hc management of tho water dopart-nent. dopart-nent. Another chapter Is devoted to .he flro department, Its equipment, or-janlzatlon or-janlzatlon and management, and the flro ilarm system. Structural conditions and hazards arc ho subjects of another chapter, In which tho building department and building aws of tho city are reviewed. This chapter Includes tho results of a thorough nspcctlon of the business district, with 'ccommcndatlons for Improvements. Under the head of electricity, the report 'evJows conditions as presented In both nsido and outsido wiring in the city. Hie conflagration hazard is outlined and , Jangers from fires In tho rosldcnco dls-frlct dls-frlct are also outlined. No Eato Proposition. "If there Is any Hl-wlll expressed regarding re-garding this report, which has been dis-ributcd dis-ributcd among tho city ofllcials and business men o Salt Lake, It must come hrough misunderstanding," said Mr. jchcld. "In the first place, tho engineers 3f tho National Board of Fire Underwriters Under-writers are In no senso a rate-making jody. and, in tho second place, there is, ;o far as I know, no plan on foot or de-?iro de-?iro at tho present on tho part of the nsurance companies to raise rates In Salt 'akc. The report simply represents tho 'osults of an Inspection covering several nonths, in which somo of tho highest salaried experts in the country were engaged. en-gaged. It Is a report for which the city svould have been obliged to pay several ".housand dollars, and Salt Lake Is given :ho benefit of this expert inspection and Advice absolutely without charge. "Accompanying this report la- a series 3t recommendations for future improvements improve-ments which are merely given by these axperts as friendly suggestions, with the nope that for the betterment of the city, as well as for the benefit of the fire Insurance In-surance business, they will at Home time bo carried out. In making these recommendations, recom-mendations, the engineers of tho fire jnderwrlters simply outline Ideal conditions, condi-tions, and In so doing the board simply hopes that many of them will be carried nut as soon as practicable, while realizing that It would bo preposterous to expect that all the changes bo made immcdl- ;nciy. Mr. Schcld says that, In his opinion, trie greatest need for Salt Lako In the building line is proper Inspection of inside Electric wiring, and this need is set forth by tho report of the underwriters, who ay that the condition of Inside electric wiring in many of tho buildings of Salt Lako shows a lack of supervision to a most marked degree. On Electric Wiring. Regarding the Inside electric work, the report of the underwriters says: "The materials used In new work are mostly such as could be approved, hut are not put to their Intended uses, and the methods meth-ods of installing lighting circuits is often dttle better than for ordinary annunciator work- A fow of the newer equipments were found to be In fair condition, but Jn many Installations, presumably made while lathers were at work, wires of concealed con-cealed work were noted to be In contact with woodwork, Iron pipes, and with each pther, bushings were missing, and a large proportion of the Joints were neither Soldered nor taped. Flexible tubing is ils0'L, Promiscuously for bushings, and flexible cord is exposed to rootsturo and iJsed as line wire, being tapped at random. ran-dom. Old work Is In from poor to hazardous haz-ardous condition, many of the materials In use being those which, through experience, ex-perience, have been found to constitute Ire hazards and have long since been abandoned In other cities. The hazard of poor electric wiring is recognized by jnany merchants whose premises were In- spected by the engineers of the national hoard." Mayor Bransford referred to this report re-port at" the last meeting of tho Salt Lake Association of Fire Underwriters, promising promis-ing hearty co-operation with the underwriters under-writers in Improving conditions in Salt Lake. Electrical Men Busy. The local electrical contractors have also given tho matter considerable thought and two meetings have been hold within the Inst few days with a view to perfecting perfect-ing an organisation of the electrical contractors. con-tractors. Tho electricians say tho principal prin-cipal object of their organization will be to Improve tho standard of work In Salt Lake. "Wo realize more than any set of men the necessity for better regulations for electrical wiring In Salt Lake," snld a prominent local electrical contractor Saturday. Sat-urday. "So far as the work now being done by reputable electricians Is concerned. con-cerned. It will pas3 Inspection of the moBt rigid nature. As to some of tho work done a year ago woll. that Is another an-other matter. Only last week I went out to a house to attach some chandeliers, and, of course, I Inspected the wiring which had boen Installed when the house was built several years ago. Imagine my surprise when I found that Instead of the. house being properly wired there was only a socket with about six Inches of wiring at the middle or tho colling. Of courso. I wondered who got" $25 or more for 'wiring that house |