CAUSES OF FIRES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 9876, 17 October 1899, Page 2

CAUSES OF FIRES.

The Christchurch Press has been seeking ' tho opinion of experts a* to the chief causes of fires, and quoits tho opinion of two or three Authorities on the subject. According to Mr S. G. Maddison, fire inspector to the Insurance Companies, window curtains and incendiarism ttto the most formidable causes of fil'o. Iv reply to a question on the (subject, he at once snid he considered incendiarism the chief of theso two. He considered that nearly 75 per cent of fires are the work of an incendiary. Tho general manager of one of the insurance companies on beinf interviewed, said: "I do not think 75* per cent of firea are caused by incendiarism. I havo taken 150 cases promiscuously from tho books, t fiud tliey are ns follows.—Unknown, 96; lrom adjoining premises, 22 ; sparks on r'r>oF, 6 ; careless nso of.candles, 7; defective chimneys, 6; explosion of lamps, 4 ; drying clothes, 3 ; tramps, 2. lam not prepared to express an opinion about the iircs from unknown causes, but if they were all tho result of incendiarism it would only mean about 66 per cent. It is seldom that wo Kan put a clainl down ils tlio result, oi incendiarism, wMlevor w6 may think about it." Mr Smith, superintendent of tho File Brigade, did not think anything like 75 per cent was duo j,o incendiarism. Ho thought. 10 per cent would be about tho mark. "I should think," he added, "'th.it nearly ono half of the firc9 in the city •and suburbs aro tho result of defective chimneys and fireplaces. Candles catching curtains are prolific causes of lire, and so are smouldering ashes placed outsiilo on a windy day. Inspector Broham, while apparently believing that incendiarism was not unknown, said that over insuranco often led to carelessness, which caused fires without criminal intent. Ho mentioned the curious fact that in tho early days of Ilokitika there lvero a hundred public houses in Revell Street; but thero was not n penny of insurance, and in six years not a single fire occurred.