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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 1918)
The Omaha Sunday Bee . - . ........ WAP ATDF.S ... - I - OMAHA, ' SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 25, 1918. " y 1 : ; : : : " L ; . - : - OowrrUht. m. by PgUlaMnrOk - t r - Buildings Sufficient to 'House Over ' ' Thousand Persons Condemned .(.By JOHN H. KEARNES. Using the power of hli office, one Omaha man, in a period of six years, has condemned to' complete destruc tion enough building.! to makd'up , thriving county seat town the size of Papillion. As a result of his work he has seen these "buildings replaced by modern brick structures which would house and provide tenant space for a city the size of fremont. Daring the term he has been deputy state fire warden and fire warden of the city of Omaha,' John, C. Trouton ba-jcondemned 118 buildings. Many of these were in downtown districts, in the center of the congested sec tion and many more were irithe resi dence districts. 1 ' They ranged from tumbledown shacks and shanties to; apparently rnmfortible cottages or, substantial business buildings, but, after expert inspection by him, proved to be fire traps or structures so faultily built that they wera menaces to; human life. - - - Changes in Scenes. Wholesale condemnation 6f these buildings has made a startling change in the architectural " appearance of "many districts; of the city for ' the mucin that the unsightly edifices ordered destroyed for the safety of life and property have been replaced by great skyscrapers, modern fac tory buildings, hotels, by one-story DilLK uuiiumgs luiunu i j""' and by handsome homes. . ck 1 In tha six rears he has been act ing as fire warden Mr. Trouton has had man v .illuminating experiences with the greatest enemy of humanity. carelessness. yt:.:i :- '?"' It is his duty to Inspect every struc ' ture within thetity limits that offers hazard to life and property.' Where he finds a frame structure wheTe the process of decay has set in to such an extent that it is no longer subject to reasonable upkeep, and where its location is such that its proximity to neighboring property ' of value tr avenues of traffic cause it to be danger to public . safety, he starts condemnation proceedings which eventually result in its being torn v down. The clearing of lots otherwise desirable leads to replacement with modern buildings. ,, To provide, as nearly as is humanly possible, against danger to public safety as a result of carelessness, criminal negligence or intent, Om ha's fire marshal must keep his eyes ,open all the time. His working hours are devoted to a continual search for mantraps, firetraps, firebugs, and the vast army of fortuitous cir cumstances which combine' to make up the army engaged in eternal war fare against human life and property, i ' In Path of Eiuty. . His duty takes him from" the utter most recesses of dank. , gloomy eel lars to the roofs of the highest sky scrapers, from; junk heaps to bank vaults, and in bis searcn ot an me nnnka nt rranniea-of the structures typical of the city he sees' more of the insides and utsides ot vmana than most any other man. On school building or hotel he may find fire escape that is so badly worn or rusted, so loosely attached to the su perstructure of the building .aat the weisrht of three or four persons, in an emergency might break it down and leave the rest of the occupants of the edifice to the mercy of the rz r . -if ."-----ulj No! 1 "Taxpayer," a type of tem-'S porary building replacing structures suchasNos. 2 and 3, condemned. These buildings are located on strate gic corners, awaiting development ana such time as will justify the erection of permanent structures. The Tax- payer" is a suostanuai ousincss ouua tng designed to pay expenses of taxa tion and nominal interest rate on in vestment. . .. ' ' f v . No. Type of permanent building, replacing structures such : as No. 2, condemned. Representing the final phase of investment and building im provement of a developed strategic corner maae possioie oy growtn 01 the city, ,-;,. ; ; . . flames in case of a fire, he notifies the careless owner to replace it, In another densely inhabited build ing he will find. hallways leading to exits and fire escapes so cluttered up and Obstructed with furniture that they could not be used in a crisis, ne notifies the careless, owner to cure this condition. ,' - It has been his experience to in spect buildings where he found the windows providing approach to fire escapes nailed down so as to pre- .vent use m the event of hre and panic. ,v ...,-; Investigation of factories and mer cantile establishments are in many instances revelations of carelessness. In stores and garages he has found as many as 100 gallons of gasoline at a time in open tanks, gases rising irom them and filling the room. Only a spark-or a snatch would be needed .to provide' holocaust. V; t p, . , Inflammable Waste. ' In the basements' of some of the most populous buildings he has found bunches tf inflammable waste close to elevator shafts and areaways. Spontaneous combustion and a draft to fan the flames were all that would be needed to provide the combination of circumstances which would caus one of those mysterious, destructive tvou bblong, 1'lv.tell you ; VOUR SOCIAL TAMO IMG, L ...... , jt.' Ww' I .It -V conflagrations, described by report ers as being of "unknown" origin. Trouton is only one of an army of sentries who are constantly on the watch to prevent loss of life and prop erty by the "fire fiend." - The insur ance companies which annually bet millions of dollars on the hazard that Omaha will not be destroyed or se verely ' scorched by a gigantic fire have their men watching continu ously for the weak spots of" attack. In all the home offices in New York, Hattford, London, Liverpool, wher ever risks are written, are huge maps showing the nature of the buildings of Omaha, the character of their oc cupants, the classes of business or industries conducted in them, faults of , construction which " make them susceptible to fire" loss, the extent of fireproofing or lack of it, and the number and character of watchmen employed. These men work, as does Trouton, from the center of the city out to the suburbs and they report to their chiefs every defect their jprac ticed eyes take in, : . - They know that a woodworking plant is in constant danger from spon '. . s . j ' Ten in Omaha iflfiliAsfiSS Jf JmX r taneous combustion due from scrap, lumber, shavings and sawust accumu lations. They also realize that flour mills and malting plants are suscep tible to destruction by explosion of flour - and "nrher dusts. "Arson Trust" . i They know that paint and oil fac tories, warehouses and stores make the most dangerous fires and the ones hardest to combat with' water. Then in every big city there is al ways the "arson trust" and the fire bug to contend with. Omaha's fire warden has , a veritable museum of relics of firebugs which he has c6l lected in the last few years. . J He has found fires started with in cendiary purposes in which two gas jets figured. They were located in a storeroom where the stock f goods was low and the insurance high. - Ons jet was left open, the other well lighted. It only took a few hours for the room to fill with gas, which was soon ignited with exolosive force bv the flame from the companion jet. There was a fire and the stock of goods was- sold to the Is Parrot a Member of the Family and is It Entitled to Sugar Ration? Ask Victor Officials of the Omaha food ad ministration are all wrought up on just how to classify a parrot on the sugar-consuming proposition- The proposition is a knotty one, as there is nothing in the books, or Hoover rulings relative to the matter. The upshot of the whole matter is that officials of the food department of the government have put their heads to gether and eventually they hope to insurance companies as the result of a "gas leak." A fire occurred in a house on South Thirteenth street. The fire depart ment defeated the "fire fiend" and the flames were quenched before the house was completely gutted, Trou ton made an examination and found a rope of oil-soaked rags, partially charred, leading to an open bucket of gasoline. The owners made no claim for insurance. Firebugs have been known to lay an ordinary powder fuse from a point outside the building to a pan of gaso line or kerosene. They would light the fuse, which would burn slowly, and several hours after the firebug had departed there would be sudden ignition, an explosion that would nearly blow the building off its sills and then a fire. Combustibles have been known to have been piled in rooms and, then set afire by a heated brick thrown through the window. PasteJ of in cendiary chemicals are frequently used and in some rare cases "Old Sol" has been used in the capacity of a firebug by the placing of glass at such an angle from a frame bulid- ing that the concentration of ' theS sun s rays has caused combustion. Trust Broken Up. In 1912 and 1913 there was an arson trust operating in the city which de stroyed, for pay, thousands of dol lars worth of property, but which was finally broken up by the effi cient work of the fire warden's de partment. Mr. Trouton has been compelled to play detective for the purpose" of getting arson evidence on several oc casions. ' Recently-1 he suspected a couple of men of starting a fire and, to get the goods on them, he ob tained board at the same house where they' were staying, got. into the good graces of their landlady and after a time got sufficient circumstan tial evidence to make it embarrassing for, the suspects. He put - in five hours of cross-questioning the men and obtain'ed a confession. ' The greatest menace to the safety of life and property, Mr. Trouton declares, is carelessness in the home. Children playing with ' matches, handling kerosene lampSor fanning burning rags or paper into flames cause many fires. Their mothers, too, endanger lives and property Jy washing garments or their hair in open pans of, gasoline. . Father , does his share by lettingpaper, waste, kindling and other refuse accumulate in the cellars or in the attics to Ig nite by spontaneous combustion. As a result of the inspections that are now being made and the' ordi nances . compellingv moving picture films, explosives, oils and paints and dangerous chemicals in fire-proofed rooms, big fires in Omaha are not as frequent, population and congestion considered, as they were during the period preceding a decade ago. ' DATING hand down a decision that will settle the parrot problem for all future generations and food administrations. The cause-of all the commotion in the food administration department came out this way. Mrs. Mary G. Grandon, Bemis park, is the owner of a green parrot that, according to her statement to County Food Adt ministrator Allen, "is almost human." The other day Mrs. Grandon vis ited the office of Vic Parrish, chief factotem under Federal Food Ad ministrator Wattles and confided to him that she wanted to take out a sugar card for her parrot, insisting that in order to live, the aforesaid parrot must have. .its regular sugar ration. Not finding" anything in the books authorizing the issuance of sugar cards to parrots, Mr. Parrish in formed the woman that he was power less to grant relief unless Mrs- Gran don would make an affidavit that the parrot was a member of the family. Not being willing to thus swear, Mrs. Grandon was referred to County Mussed Up "One of the most exciting experi ences I, ever had," said Ensign Walter Grantham of the Salvation Army, "didn't happen to me at alj." (The ensign came from Ireland, as one can readily see.) "We went W a picnic out to the fisheries at SoutlTBend one Sunday several weeks ago. Those who have been there will remember the road runs, down a steep hill and makes a turn at the edge of , the fish pond. While we were enjoying our lunch a flivver with two men and four wo men stopped at the top of the hill and one man and. two of the women got out The rest proceeded down the hil, one of the women driving. She seemed to lose control of :ht car, or the brakes would not work, for the car , suddenly j shot forward and plunged down the hill and straight into the pond. There was a big splash and then the water was churning with the frantic struggles of the occupants of the car, who were fortunately all thrown clear of the machine. "I rushed down and . reached in from the bank and got. hold of the hand of one 6f the . girls. 'Pull me on) I Pall me out!' She screamed. I surely wasn't trying to push her in. Finally I got her onto the bank and others assisted the other woman and the man; -- None of them was at all hurt; by some' miracle. , "It 'sbaooened there was a big picnic near, made up of the compose ing" room employes ot one ot - tne Omaha newspapers, I understood. - A woman among , them had a camera and immediately asked the rescued trio to allow her to photograph them, which they consented to do. . It was the first time I ever knew a woman to submit to photographing when her hair-wasnnussed up., .. "When the car ran away the other three, who had got out came tearing down the bill. Just as the camera snapped, the two girls passed me, and I heard one of them say to the other, 'Just because we got out, they don't want to-take-us. -1 wish we had stayed in so we could have our pic ture in the paper.' Can tyou beat that? She was willing to risk her life for the sake of having her photo pub lished." v-: ? ' ' i i 1 -i. ' ' Food Administrator Allen, He listen ed to the appeal of the woman, shook his head and remarked: ' i "No sugar here for parrot. I'd suggest you pull the bird's sugar tooth." , - The woman started to leave the office, feeling that she was not being treated with the proper, respect As she reached thedior, Mr. Allen called her back, saying: "We have a man in the next room who is an? thority on the construction of the law relative to the distribution of sugar." Mrs. Grandon's face was wreathed in smiles, for she fancied that her parrot was going to be placed on the sugar-drawing ration list-- She was escorted to the room of E. M. Fair field, government director of enforce ment. To him she stated the case, insisting that the parrot must have a little sugar for its crackers, adding, "I can't afford to give it sugar from my allowance." - Mr. Fairfield thought and then' thought some more, after which he tried to solve the problem, informing Mrs. Grandon that the "only thing I see for you to do is to install your parrot as family butler. There is a provision made for drawing a sugar ration for the butlef and if you do not- have one," you can get around the law in this way and at the same time draw a sugar ration for your family." Some Heat "It's me for the Klondike," ex claimed George Horton, who lives out on the Prettiest Mile road in the vicinity of Miller Park. It was one of those hot days when Horton boiled, fried and sizzled as he hunted for a cool place that did not exist George Horton had not always lived in Omaha and consequently he had not become entirely acclimated. Prior to coming here a couple of years ago he had spent several sum mers up around the Arctic circle," hence his longing for 'the Klondike. And as to the Klondike aid its sum mer weather, he had this to say: "When it comes to the real thing in connection with summer weather, give me the Klondike in preference to Omaha. There is no 100 degrees in the shade weather in that northern country and I just want to say a few words telling what August weathe? up there is like. Three years ago this August I was prospecting for gold at a point about 200 miles north of Nome. One day that I remember, the morning started in with a tempera ture of 56 degrees below zero, slightly cool for, that time in the year. By noon the temperature had risen to 10 above zero and an hour later the snow was melting. At 4 o'clock the mercury had risen to 60 above and the snow that had been six feet deep on the level fjad about all disappeared. It kept growing warmer until 6 o'clock, when th thermometer recorded 80 degrees above. That was real sum mer and the kind of weather that in vigorates and makes your .blood tin gle. That night the temperature dropped back to TO degrees below zero and while the mercury flitted up and down the tube, the weather was much more enjoyable than the Ne braska brand that drops in on you, climbs to-100 degrees and remains there for several days and sights without a break. 1 4 '". ""TF"