274 



SELLING LUMBER 



The "Dead" 

 Load in a 

 Building 



Concrete 

 or Mill 

 Construction? 



Low Rates 

 of Insurance 

 on Mill- 

 Construction 

 Buildings 



Breaks 



Caused by the 

 Elements 



being strong enough to carry its own weight, it must withstand a 

 moving load or shock caused when the railroad train runs over the 

 bridge. This we call the live load. 



The weight of the railroad bridge without the locomotive or 

 train running over same, in itself is called the dead load, as that 

 load is always there. Likewise, in a building the columns, girders, 

 joists, floors and walls combine to make what is commonly termed 

 architecturally the dead load. 



So that when you are furnishing a bill of lumber that has a 

 greater live load to contend with than used in common practice, it 

 sometimes becomes necessary for the architect to specify the strong- 

 est material obtainable, which naturally costs a great deal more 

 than the lumber used in the ordinary type of a mill-constructed 

 building. 



There is a great question among the architects, among the 

 speculative builders and among the men who furnish the money, 

 as to whether it is safer to build mill-constructed buildings or rein- 

 forced concrete buildings. Personally, I am in favor of mill-con- 

 structed, strictly. Throughout the United States, in the insurance 

 world, there is but one instance where a properly constructed mill- 

 construction has burned down. There are many instances of a con- 

 crete building crumbling down by a small blaze caused, for in- 

 stance, by a billboard I use that for illustration. The rate of insur- 

 ance on mill construction, properly sprinklered, is 10 cents, as 

 against $1.70, unsprinklered. In the mill-constructed buildings in- 

 sured in the mutual companies of Boston we not only get protec- 

 tion of the building from fire, we get protection from sprinkler 

 leakage, earthquake and breaks caused by the elements. What I 

 mean by breaks caused by the elements is, we may have a terrific 

 wind, and a crack might open on the side of the building. You 

 are insured against all of that. But, sprinkler leakage, alone ! Just 

 as an illustration : I had two buildings, two years ago, and there 

 was somewhat of a miniature cyclone; the roofs were taken off 

 entirely. One of the owners called me up at my residence Sunday 

 night and told me to get a contractor on the job immediately, the 

 next morning, to repair the damage. I said, "What do you want 

 of a contractor? You are carrying mutual insurance. Don't you 

 know you are insured?" That man collected $62,000 on a $130,000 

 loss, on the sprinkler leakage alone. That, gentlemen, to the sales- 

 man, is a talking point for mill construction. (Applause). 



