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380 BULLETIN 277, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
the bale in such a condition that a spark will sometimes start a blaze 
which will flash over a loose lot of cotton in a very short time. When 
hundreds of bales are stored in one compartment this fire will flash 
from one bale to the other and frequently will extend over a lot of 
a thousand bales in a very few minutes. It can be seen readily that 
cotton stored in large quantities in a single compartment would be 
subject to a very costly fire, but a large warehouse might be divided 
into several smaller compartments and so avoid an extensive. fire. 
This is the principle on which the insurance companies base their 
specifications. 
Automatic sprinklers —The automatic sprinkler also has proved to 
be of very decided advantage in protecting cotton warehouses from 
fire damage. By means of automatic sprmklers a fire automatically 
releases the water which is to isolate it. A detailed investigation of 
90 fires in cotton warehouses under sprinklers shows that the average 
number of heads opening was 13.5 per cent, while in 52 per cent of 
the cases less than 10 heads opened. Later in this bulletin a brief 
description of a modern sprinkler system is given, which will show 
just how this desirable end is accomplished. 
A study of fires in cotton warehouses which are protected by auto- 
matic sprinklers shows that out of a total of 159 fires, 69, or 43.4 per 
cent, were entirely extinguished by the sprinklers, and 74, or 46.5 
per cent, were successfully held in check, making a total satisfactory 
sprinkler record of 143 fires, or 89.9 per cent. Of the 16 fires which 
were classed as unsatisfactory, in 8 cases the water was shut off from 
the sprinklers; in 2 cases the water supply was defective; 1 fire was 
due to faulty building construction; and 3 to obstruction to distri- 
bution. Of all of these cases, 13 were really not attributable to the 
standard sprinkler equipment in the standard warehouses, and in 
only 1 case was it found that the hazard of occupancy was too severe 
for the average sprinkler system. 
LOCATION OF A WAREHOUSE. 
It is very important to have a cotton warehouse conveniently 
located on a sidetrack. This saves drayage, which is a considerable 
item when the business is large. However, the warehouse should 
not be within 100 feet of the main line of a railroad or a sidetrack 
which extends beyond the building, for if it is so located the insurance 
rate will be increased. This is avoided by having the warehouse at 
or near the end of the sidetrack. 
Many companies have made the mistake of deliberately locating 
the warehouse away from the business section. This is a serious 
mistake, for several reasons: First; there is the cost of drayage. In 
the second place, persons who are not directly interested in such a 
warehouse will patronize an establishment nearer the business center. 
