Show THE FIRE Perhaps few were so anxious about last nights fire as the proprietors of the DEMOCRAT DEM-OCRAT It was a very close call for this paper and for all the buildings around To those who are at all familiar with the condition of the buildings around here it i has been a wonder there has been no fire heretofore Few stoves are so well prepared pre-pared for lighting in the morning as this block Near this office there is an old livery liv-ery stable the back yard of which seems to be specially prepared for taking fire The shanties and small building at the back of the places which were burned are old wooden affairs that are as I dry as tinder boxes They are within the fire limits too Now whose fault is it that b such a condition of things exists The fault of the city officials The inspection I of buildings which are erected within the fire limits by the city inspector of buildings build-ings is a mere farce and any thing can be put up if the fee for L inspecting is paid The building in which 1 the DEMOCRAT is published is a claptra affair and should never have bee 1 allowed to be erected and yet this is a firstclass building when compared to some But the danger to the town arises chiefly from the amount of rubbish of an inflammable character which is allowed to accumulate at the back of business blocks Such accumulations are against the ordinances and the Marsha knows of them or should but still they continue to exist and probably will continue in the future as in the past I I To have these things done away with would not be one cents expense to the city as the owners and occupants of such premises can be compelled to remove the danger The trouble is laxity and indifference indif-ference on the part of the officers whose duty it is to see to snch matters It maybe may-be that if the officers were to rigidly enforce en-force the laws some would complain very loudly and say they were hard and that times were so dull that they could not afford to go to the expense it would involve Let them complain com-plain and if times are so dull that they cannot stand the expense let them close their places and devote the proceeds to cleaning up their premises Not merely are one or two threatened every time a fire occurs but the entire business portion of the city is in danger Such regulations are necessary for the common safety and have no element of treason or persecution in them and such being the case should be rigidly enforced against all no matter who they are or what their business may be Tonight the City Council meets and they should give the matter immediate and serious attention |