Prevent Farm Fires 



/? N SPEAKING of fires, somebody 

 l)i once remarked that an "ounce 

 \^^ of prevention is worth a ton of 

 ashes." For several years past now, agri- 

 culture has suffered a direct fire loss of 

 $100,000,000 annually. It has been esti- 

 mated by competent investigators that 

 the indirect loss would amount to another 

 $50,000,000. That agriculture can but 

 poorly afford to continue this waste is 

 something which few people will deny. 

 Certain, no one will deny that the sacri- 

 fice of between 2000 and 4000 lives, 

 most of whom are women and children 

 of rural families, completes a picture that 

 is at once both an indictment of our 

 laxity in fire prevention education in the 



past, and a challenge to our intelligence 

 ill the future. 



If our own property hasn't burned, 

 many of us are prone to minimize the 

 personal part we play in the annual farm 

 bonfire. But, just a few minutes serious 

 thought on the question will satisfy the 

 average person that this huge loss, which 

 is sustained wholly by agriculture, reflects 

 directly on the net earnings of each indi- 

 vidual farmer. It is an unseen tax on each 

 bushel of grain marketed, on all livestock 

 sold, and in fact on each day's work. No 

 farmer escapes this toll. The discourag- 

 ing feature of it all is that this waste 

 is largely unnecessary, and individual 

 fires that collectively create this tremend- 



tor of the News September 14 sent a cor- 

 rection which incidentally the News 

 failed to print. He said, 



September l4th, 1936. 

 Editor, 



Chicago Daily News, 

 Chicago, 111. 

 Dear Sir: 



"On reading 'Bull Meets Bear' on the fi- 

 nancial page of the News for September 10, 

 1936, I am amazed at the errors and inac- 

 curacies therein. The importance of this 

 article lies in the fact that it is read largely 

 by Chicago and city consumers of farm prod- 

 ucts. The distortion in the statements of fact 

 and the implications in Mr. Mirt's article need- 

 lessly arouse consumers and injure producers 

 of pork and other meats and meat animals. 

 "The article referred to is correct in saying 

 that most live hogs imported into this country 

 come from Canada, but is wrotig in fact or in 

 implication in nearly everything else. Ap- 

 proximately 6,436,000 pounds, not head, of 

 hogs were brought into this country in the 

 first six months of 1936, which makes just 

 plain buir of about 6,500,000 of Mr. Mirfs 

 imaginary hogs. According to the United 

 States statistics, Canada has never had 5,000,- 

 000 hogs at one time. In recent years the 

 number has never reached even 4,000,000. 



"Mr. Mirt is wrong again in his direct im- 

 plication that present imports of hogs and 

 other animals are something new and un- 

 precedented in this country. There is nothing 

 new in them. Back in each of the years 1925 

 and 1926, when farm prices of live hogs ex- 

 ceeded $10.00 per hundred weight, imports 

 ran up to more than 17,500,000 pounds; in 

 1927 they reached nearly 36,000,000 pounds. 

 "In 1928 and 1929 imports of live cattle 

 and calves exceeded 500,000 head, so there 

 is nothing new in recent imports. Further- 

 more, Mr. Mirt ignored the quota of imports 

 at lower rates permitted by the Canadian trade 

 agreement. 



"Similar comiiients can be made upon Mr. 

 Mirt's references to imports of meats and other 

 animal products. 



"Imports of any farm commodity tend to 

 rise sharply in periods of high domestic prices 

 and to fall just as sharply in periods of low 

 domestic prices. Imports of hogs and of many 

 other farm products nearly disappeared during 

 the low price years of the great depression. 

 They will undoubtedly fall again if nothing is 

 done to prevent the production of considerable 

 surpluses. 



"If farmers must choose between good prices 

 and some imports and low prices with few 

 or no imports, there is no doubt which they 

 will choose. If imports will not permit them 

 to exchange any of their products on a fair 

 basis, it is a sure sign either that the tariff 

 duty thereon is too low or that the tariff duties 

 or other costs on industrial products which 

 they must purchase are too high. 



"In view of your constant attitude of con- 

 demning the "scarcity program," which term 

 is unfair and misrepresents the attitude of the 

 agricultural organizations which devised the 

 fundamental principles of the AAA, it would 

 be only fair if the Daily News would care- 

 fully consider and state its attitude on the fol- 

 lowing questions: 



"Is it fair to ask farmers to produce any 

 commodity substantially in excess of the pur- 

 chasing power of the American people so long 

 as they must sell not only the exportable sur- 

 pluses, but also the necessary domestic supply 

 at ruinously low prices? 



"Is it fair to ask farmers to maintain produce 

 tion and lose most of their purchasing power 

 when the industries close down, throw their 

 labor on the public for relief, cut their produc- 

 tion sometimes as much as 80 per cent, but 

 substantially maintain their schedule of prices.^ 

 'Can industry be prosperous and labor well 

 employed if farmers do not have sufficient pur- 

 chasing power to buy their products?" 



Before receiving the above letter Mr. 

 Mirt corrected his hog import figures. 



With few exceptions you will find sub- 

 stantially that imports were greater in the 

 middle '20s than they are today; that the 

 recent advance in farm prices due in 

 part to the droughts of 1934 and 1936 

 have stimulated imports, particularly feed 

 grains which recently reached new highs. 



Discount what you read in the news- 

 papers about imports of farm products 

 from 50 to 100 per cent and you'll be 

 safe. The American farmer is not in 

 danger of losing his domestic market. 

 He would be in danger of losing his 

 farm if he followed the advice of the 

 commission men, speculators and big 

 volume boys who apparently wouldn't 

 object if the surpluses and ruinous prices 

 of 1932 returned. 



ous expense are nearly all easily prevent- 

 able. 



Autumn is officially here. Coal and 

 wood are being stored for the winter's 

 fuel supply ; soon stoves will be glowing. 

 Last season was particularly severe on 

 heating plants. Every farm owner or 

 tenant is urged to go carefully over his 

 entire heating system from chimney top 

 to foundation. Defective chimneys and 

 flues account for most of the farm fires. 

 To clean them out is a simple job, the 

 only equipment necessary being a brick 

 around which is wrapped some old gunny 

 sacks. With a substantial cord tied to 

 this, a person can free the sides of the 

 chimney of most of its accumulated soot. 

 Some bundles of branches or a large 

 handful of twisted hay will answer the 

 same purpose. To point up the chimney, 

 and replace broken bricks, takes but little 

 time. Stoves and furnaces should be so 

 placed, or insulated, that they do not heat 

 walls or other exposed woodwork. In 

 case of a wooden floor, it is particularly 

 desirable to have a metal pad under the 

 stove or furnace, one which extends some 

 little distance beyond the stove. The 

 heating plant should be of such size that 

 over-firing to keep the home warm will 

 be unnecessary. 



Stove pipes, fire places, lamps, lan- 

 terns, lightning, kerosene (this last is 

 particularly dangerous and through its 

 unwise use to hasten fires claims a num- 

 ber of lives each year), storage of gaso- 

 line, matches, careless smokers, Christmas 

 trees, and on and on — the list of rural 

 fire dangers could be almost endlessly 

 extended. 



But despite the number and variety of 

 hazarck, a little care, thoughtfulness, and 

 preparation renders them harmless. All 

 any of us have to do is look around our 

 homes, the adjoining buildings and 

 barns, pick out things that might cause 

 fires and correct them. We should have 

 ladders and pails available for instant use 

 and, if possible, fire extinguishers, in the 

 kitchen and barn. Lightning rods are 

 valuable protection. It is well to re- 

 member that in the beginning all fires 

 are small and to have handy at the time 

 of detection some fire fighting equipment 

 is often the difference between the fire 

 that is extinguished and complete loss of 

 buildings. Folks who are particularly 

 safety conscious place in their barns a 

 couple of barrels of water which can be 

 protected from freezing by the addition 

 of one teaspoonful of copper sulphate to 

 each 50 gallons of water. This water, of 

 course, must never be used for any other 

 purpose than to fight fires. Farmers who 

 are contemplating installation of water 

 systems might very well consider protec- 

 tion achieved through the additional ex- 

 pense of extending this water system to 

 the barn. — CMS. 



OCTOBER. 1936 



