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Show 11 SAYS G1TY WILL GEUOW RATE Executive Objects to Reputed Re-puted Statement of Insurance In-surance Commissioner. FULFILL CONDITIONS John James Denies Assertions Asser-tions Attributed to Him by Two Newspapers. Strenuous objection is made by Mayor Samuel C. Park to a statement which appeared in the Herald-Kepubli-can yesterday morning and in the Des-eret Des-eret News last evening attributed to State Insurance Commissioner John James, in which the latter is quoted as declaring gait Lake will not get a reduction in its insurance rates until 'additional water extensions aro completed com-pleted and more lire apparatus is purchased. pur-chased. Commissioner James was as emphatic last night in declaring that he had made no such statement. He said, however, that in a talk with an insurance in-surance man some ten weeks ago he had gained the impression that there would be delay in granting the rates . to Salt Lake. 'Mr. James said that he had referred his interviewers to this man and that apparently they had paid no attention to his reference, but nad quoted him instead. Mayor Makes Statement. Discussing the matter last night, Mayor Park said: Salt Lake is to get the decrease in its insurance rates. The reduction reduc-tion is on a sliding scale, but will aggregate a saving of about $100,-(K)S $100,-(K)S a year to property owners of this city in premiums for firo in-surane. in-surane. When I was in Sau Francisco Fran-cisco a few weeks ago I made a special visit to the offices of the Pacific Board of Fire Underwriters Underwrit-ers and inquired about the rates. I was told that the new schedule had been formally adopted and that the rates were in the hands of a printer and would become effective as soon as published. The survey of the work done here had been completed by the representatives of the underwriters, I was told, and it was found that we had done everything that was asked of us in 1912", when the reduction was first agitated bv me. As a matter of fact, the city commission has in many instances done even more than was required in the report which the underwriters underwrit-ers made when we first asked the reduction. We have installed more equipment than was asked, we have arranged for more water than was outlined as being necessary, we have purchased more apparatus , than the underwriters suggested. No Water Shortage. So far as fire protection is concerned, con-cerned, there is absolutely no shortage short-age of water. Salt Lake is having poured into its mains from 10,000,-000 10,000,-000 to 20,000,000 gallons of water a day now. There may be some fault with our distributing system, but this is being remedied just as fast as the work can be done and along the lines required by the underwriters. un-derwriters. Under the plan we now have we can shut off. the water from one or more sections of the town and put it all at the disposal of the fire department if it were necessary. There is, in fact, more water available than could possibly possi-bly be put through all the hose the department has or could use in putting put-ting out any sort of fire. And we have added three times the amount of hose that was asked by the underwriters un-derwriters in 1912. Of Most Vital Importance. The reduction of the insurance rates is of vital importance to this city. The citizens having been paying pay-ing far more then they should have been paying, and there is no need or excuse for us paying for losses from fires in other cities. We pay about a half million a year for premiums, pre-miums, and our losses are in the neighborhood of $76,000. The compares com-pares are entitled to a fair profit, of course, after paying their necessary neces-sary erpenses, but nothing like the amount which is Indicated by the difference between the premiums and the amount paid back. The efficiency of the department may be indicated by the report of the chief for last month. We had a record number of fires, 144 in all, and this in tho time when the war ' tor shortage, if it existed at all, was the worst. And the loss was but $T0OO while the property involved was worth more than $2,000,000. The average loss in this city is considerably con-siderably below the general average aver-age of the United States for cities anything like the size of Salt Lake. Denied by Merrill. Speaking of the report given out by the Btate Insurance commissioner that Salt Lake could not expect a reduction in rates in the near future because of the present water shortage, R. H. Merrill, Mer-rill, a member of the Pacific board of tire underwriters, said last night: The new rates are now in the hand of the printer and will probably be published within a month or two. They will be retroactive for at least mixly days, so that It is likely that all insurance written In the city from now on will reoelve the benefit of the new rate. I have no iflea where Mr. James TOt his Information. Bo for as I know there will be n delay in the publication of the new mtee becauRe of any present wat'jr shortaice. In maklnfi: the reductions, which vary from 10 to 3fi per cent, according to Individual cases, the board of fire underwriter has taken Into consideration consid-eration the improvements now under way In the water system fin' has an-Mrtpated an-Mrtpated the completion of these improvements. im-provements. The present water shortage is about over and it will be the last, according to our Information. Informa-tion. All the improvements recommended recom-mended by the board before the new rates were decided upon are belriK carried out, and we expect that they ' will be completed wltliln a year or two. Work of Mayor Park. Preliminary to inn l;i"t. trip to Pnn Francinco, wlier. he c:illi-d upon 1 Ik? 1'a-rdfic 1'a-rdfic Hoard of I'iro Underwriters, M.'ivor Park obtained from Chief W. II. Ilv water a statement of the fnults which bad been found wilh tho local depart- ment and of the work which had been done. The first examination of the fire de-pjirtment de-pjirtment looking toward a reduction iu the rates was made at the solicitation of Mayor Park in 1912, soon after he took office. Since the completion of that examination every elfort has been made to do everything; atked by the underwriters, and In many instances improvements im-provements in excess of the requirements require-ments were made in order that the reduction re-duction might be insured. In 1912 the underwriters recommended recommend-ed that during 1913 an additional 300U ieet of hose be purchased. During 1913 the city commission purchased and installed in-stalled 3000 feet of three-inch hoe and early this year an additional 3000 feet were purchased- Report of Underwriters. In reference to the distribution of apparatus ap-paratus the underwriters made the following fol-lowing report in 1912: Headquarters contains one auto-driven auto-driven chemical, engine and hose; one auto-driven chemical and hose wagon; one ladder company and two engines in service. Engine No. 1 is extra first size metropolitan, provided with three-horse hitch; Ko. 2 is first-size metropolitan with two-horse hitch; one-foarth siz-e Silsby in reserve. The report of Chief Bywater on the work done in this section is as follows: fol-lows: The apparatus at headquarters is now entirely motor-driven and consists con-sists of one combination pump and hose, one combination nose and chemical, one eighty-five-foot aerial extension ladder truck, one extra first-size metropolitan steamer drawn by a ninety-horse power Beagrave tractor, one first-size metropolitan met-ropolitan steamer fitted with Sea-grave Sea-grave draw bar and drawn H and C car. one-fourth size Silsby steamer, steam-er, also fitted with a draw bar (this steamer has been very recently recent-ly thoroughly overhauled and put in f"irst-clas8 condition and is now kept in reserve) ; there is also a beagrave eighty-five-foot aerial ladder truck fitted with three-horse hitch kept in reserve. Fire Alarm Telejrraph. On the subject of the fire alarm telo- f'raph tho underwriters made the f ol-owing ol-owing criticism: The system responded to teats, but the installation is far from standard and is little used; a standard stan-dard system should be installed. To which criticism Chief Bywater made the following report to Mayor Park: The fir alarm system is now en-tirolv en-tirolv renewed with strictly modern apjjliance located in fire -proof headquarters in the f-outheaHt corner of the top floor of the public safety safe-ty building: all circuits arc conducted con-ducted to alarm room through underground un-derground conduits; each outside station ia provided with a punch register and tapper circuit; the alarm equipment at headquarters consists of ono standard, ten-circuit automatic board; one ten-circuit automatic repeater; one six-teen-circuit manna repeater. There are fifty-three miles of nrial lines in operation, all of whi-h has been rebuilt within tho last two yearn. Subject of Batteries. On the subject of batteries the underwriters un-derwriters made recommendations for various changes as follows: The current for the box and alarm circuits is furnished by twouty cells of type E storage batteries in duplicate ; those are mounted on glass insulators on wood frames; tho batteries are chnrgnd by ono independent inde-pendent motor generator set, the generator of 115 volts 13 ampcn'H. and nn induction motor of 200 volts h. p. The changes which havo boen mndo in this syntem are outlined by Chief By-water By-water as follows: Each circuit box hn an individual individ-ual si't of batteries, charging current cur-rent 2'0 volt.H direct; all brill cries are mounted mi standard melts with glrifH insulation, kpvimj firrijit )n-ing )n-ing in operation: batteries fur three additional circuits in rcs'Tve. On the subject of alarm boxus in the underwriters also found fault and made suggestions as follows: Tho total number of boxes is 79: no boxes have lccrlnna doom, bill part of those located in the congested con-gested value district havo keys attached at-tached under glass guards, and elsewhere else-where keys are kept iu adjoining buildings; boxes an fairlv well distributed dis-tributed in contested value district, but elsewhere tho distribution is very poor, largo districts being without firo alarm protection. Report of Fire Chief. Discusning this foaturo, Chief Bywater Bywa-ter reported; Thn number of fire alnrm bnxm now installed h 110 anil all boxes In the congested value diitriet are of tho keyless type nnd nil boxe-H throughout tho city other than those with keyless doors have iron key guards with glnes front; there are aixty-thren boxes in the strictly residential resi-dential districts. Discussing the efficiency of the pros-ent. pros-ent. apparatus to combat ffron, Chief lir-Water lir-Water called attention to the report of his department for the mouth of July. During July tho department responded to a total of Ml calls, the fires involving involv-ing property valued at approximately ili,-000,000. ili,-000,000. Tho actual Iosh in all o'f the fires totaled only $7000. At nn time in the hintory of the fire department hnvo there been so mnny alarms in miv ono month and so small a Ions, with so greut nrj amount of property at linwird, says Chief Pywnter. . |
