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Show am A FIRE PREVENTION DAY Saturday, October 9, has been sot apart as n Firo Prevention Dny. It Is tho anniversary of tho Chicago tiro. C'canlng up of rubbish, llro drills, lectures by flro fighters In schools and elsewhere and examination of apparatus, aro urged. A fruitful observanco for this pur-poso pur-poso would emphasize tho idea that security from flro Is a niattor of Individual In-dividual temperament. Somo peoplo nro born cnutlous. if a mutual insurance in-surance company could bo constituted constitut-ed of such persons only, It could glvo u very low rato of premium. Hut tho most cnutlous person may have negligent neg-ligent helpers. To tho newspaper man who trots around reporting (Ires, It Is notice-ablo notice-ablo that In most cases no ono has tho least idea how a flro started. It the owner can't think of anything clco, ho charges It up to spontaneous combustion, matches gnnwed by mlco, or defectlvo wiring. Theso ancient and hoary stock, causes should bo given n rest. They nro badly overworked. over-worked. They havo been tho goat for many offenses thoy novor committed. com-mitted. Thero are moro people who can guoss how Arcs started than aro will-Ing will-Ing to admit it. This docs not mean that thoy burned tholr own buildings for tho Insurance. It Is simply that thoy are ashamed of their stupid acts of thoughtlessness. Nino tenths of tho Arcs como from somo llttlo act of personal recklessness. reckless-ness. Tho custom of throwing lighted light-ed mntchea Into wasto baskets and other rubbish wipes out regularly Us millions of property. Failure to clean out chimneys and smoko pipes Is a fruitful cause. Many people allow stove pipes to rust out. A flro of light rcfuso Is started In tho fall, and tho sparks emorgo freely from tho rotton pipe. People will open all tho drafts of a furnaco or stovo and go off and lock up a houso. Soon tho overheated pipe sets unprotected woodwork aflro,. Another wretched habit Is allowing a mass of flimsy packing cases and packing material to collect In basements. base-ments. If Flro Prevention Dny could nrouso peoplo to tho stupidity and costliness of such careless ways, It would be well worth making a legal holiday of It |