THE FIREPROOFING OF CITY BUILDINGS. 587 



within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the fire brigades, was as 

 completely destroyed as though the city had been without any machinery 

 for the extinction of fire. Natually enough, astonishment was expressed at 

 the fact, and it was supposed tluit either tlic water supply or the manage- 

 ment of the brigades was at fault, liut we have since been assured by the 

 Superintendent that tiiere was an an) pie supply of wat(;r, that the firemen 

 did their best, and that the pul)lic, so far from having grounds for dissatis- 

 faction, should be thankful that the Hre was continetl to the premises in 

 which it broke out. Whether Mr. Bear's staten^ent is a complete answer to 

 the complaints which have been made is a matter upon which there may be 

 some ditt'erence of opinion, but tliere can be no question as to the gravity of 

 the issues which he lias raised. He tells us that '• scores of buildings in 

 the city have been constructed in a dangerous manner, and that if some of 

 these places were once to catch lire, losses to the amount of millions, 

 instead of thousands, would probably he caused. His views are shared by 

 a correspondent, one of the architects of the city, who calls attention, in a 

 letter which we published yesterday, to the perils which exist in 

 consequence of the methods of building which have been adopted. These 

 gentlemen do not write as alarmists, but as men having knowledge, and 

 their statements demand attentive consideratiou. Sydney has never yet 

 been devasted by a great fire, and it is to be hoped never will ; but, 

 remembering what has happened in Chicago and Boston, and looking at the 

 facts testified to by our correspondents, it would be folly to shut our eyes 

 to the danger which menaces the city. 



According to our correspondents, a large number of the buildings wliich 

 have been erected in the business parts of Sydney have been constructed 

 without the least regard to safety so far as fire is concerned ; economy and 

 convenience have been considered, but scarcely a thought has been given to 

 the risks which are so apparent to the prof' ssional eye. Mr. Sulman 

 graphically describes the style of building which seems to be in vogue : — 

 "Our present mode of building is to run up brick or stone walls as thin 

 as tiie Building Act will permit, fill the openings with wooden frames ; form 

 the floors of inflammable Oregon joists, cover them with boards, and ceil 

 with wooden linings ; cut them through from top to bottom for lifts, cased 

 in wood (if cased at all) ; divide the rooms with wooden partitions, erect a 

 wooden staircase, and finally cover all with a wooden roof." Our corres- 

 pondent goes on to say that unprotected floors of Oregon pine are about 

 the most inflammable that can be devised, and the " lifts cut through these 

 floors from top to bottom act as a vertical flue for the rapid extension of 

 the fire, and would doom any building, notwithstanding the most vigorous 

 attempts of the most perfect fire brigade.'' Buildings constructed in this 

 fashion are likened by our correspondent to " magnified matchboxes," and 

 he is right. When a structure of this sort takes fire tlie whole place is in 

 flame in a few minutes, and unless assistance is at hand almost immediately, 

 there is little hope of .saving anything. The external walls, together with 

 the efforts of the firemen, may prevent the flames extending to other 

 buildings, but we are told that if these methods of building are allowed, 

 we cannot expect that fires will always be kept within bounds. We are 

 warned that some day we may have to deplore the loss of property worth 

 millions of pounds. 



How' many buildings there are in Sydney which may be classed as dan- 

 gerous we are not aware ; and, even if they could be all discovered and 

 pointed out, it is difficult to see how their defects could be amended 

 without pulling down and rebuilding them. But the erection of any more 

 dangerous structures ought at least to be prevented. Mr. Sulman points 

 out a number of w^ays in which buildings might be made more secure. 

 Lifts and staircases, he says, should be placetl outside the walls of a 

 building where practicable, but at any rate they should be enclosed within 

 walls through which there are only small openings shut by self-closing 



