HOUSE AND GARDEN CORRESPONDENCE 
Mrs. G. asks: 
Will you kindly give me suggestions for some special piece 
of furniture to be used in a family sitting-room. I need a desk 
and two chairs or more unless you would advise a long sofa. 
The room at present has a mixture of furniture so it will not 
make much difference what style is selected. 
I am showing on this page some cuts of a desk and settle or 
sofa, which may appeal to you. I feel, however, that I cannot 
conscientiously recommend these as being just what you want, 
unless you supply me with some further description of your room. 
The fact that you have already a mixture of furniture should rather 
incline you to be more careful in your selection of the new pieces. 
If you will look your room over carefully and advise me what 
style predominates: oak or mahogany, Sheritan, Chippendale, 
Arts and Crafts, or Mission, I will be pleased to send you sugges¬ 
tions which I am sure will be more practically helpful.— Margaret 
Greenleaf. 
“ FIRE-PROOF ” 
Your reply to M. A. W. in the July issue of House and Garden 
leads me to ask, in view of repeated losses, whether in “so called 
fire-proof structures” that term can be strictly applied to any build¬ 
ing and, if so, under what conditions 
R. R. S. 
Let us begin with a definition. “ Fire-proof” means able to with¬ 
stand exposure to fire without material injury. Some blackening 
by smoke, or other discoloration there may be, but that is unavoid¬ 
able. What is meant is, safe from material injury. If the term 
fire-proof is not intended to mean that, it should not be employed 
and some other term, indicating lesser degrees of immunity, should 
be substituted, thus eliminating the pet phrase of the daily press— 
“so called fire-proof.” 
In the next place it may be confidently asserted that modern 
constructive methods (and some ancient ones, for that matter) 
are fully equal to the production of fire-proof buildings which 
shall conform to our definition. Before describing such a building, 
however, let us have a clear idea of the danger to be guarded 
against. First, there is the danger of fire from within the building 
itself. This is the most easily prevented so far as the initial risk 
is concerned, or so far also as restricting such a fire to the smallest 
proportions should it once start. If the shell of the building is 
incombustible, we have the contents to consider. The building 
itself, in all of its parts may be made absolutely incombustible. 
This is easily accomplished in the hands of a competent constructor, 
without the sacrifice of any fundamentally artistic qualities of the 
design, provided the design is initially sound. We have then only 
the contents to consider. In domestic structures these will always 
remain more or less inflammable, since mankind is never likely to 
put up with the austerity of fire-proof furniture, and fittings, and 
decorations. What can be done here is not to take any unnecessary 
risk and to make it easy to confine the fire to the room in which it 
originates. There is no difficulty about this, though space will not 
now permit an extended discussion of this point. In commercial 
buildings of all classes, the source of danger from fittings may be 
very materially reduced except in the case of the large department 
stores, and even here the special risks may be materially reduced by 
means of compartment fire walls and automatic sprinklers. 
The other source of danger is from a fire originating outside of 
the building under consideration. This is the more serious risk, 
especially when the fire-proof building is surrounded by inflamma¬ 
ble structures extending to some distance away. In this latter case 
a general conflagration will necessarily result if the fire gets out of 
control and a sufficiently high degree of heat will be developed to 
disintegrate many otherwise suitable building materials. This 
is the severest test to which a building can be exposed. 
Taking it in its most difficult form then we have the problem of 
constructing a building which shall present on its exterior an 
imperishable barrier to the fierce heat of a general conflagration 
and which shall be so built, as to its interior, that it shall be safe 
from any serious damage from a fire originating within its walls. 
To meet these conditions taxes the constructors skill to the 
utmost. 
These being the conditions to be met I have not the slightest 
hesitation in asserting most positively that they can be met. 
House and Garden has published from time to time papers deal¬ 
ing with this subject, and in a subsequent issue we may present our 
own views as to the proper methods of construction to be employed. 
In a general way, however, it may be said here that either the clay 
products or concrete will form the basis of the walls (or of the 
enveloping material, if a steel framed structure) with metal window 
frames and wired glass, together with certain imperative details of 
arrangement which make for success or failure in the final product. 
C. E. 
MCHUGH-MISSION SPLAY-BACK SETTLE 
