RECOMMENDATIONS OF INSURANCE BOARDS. 49 
ASPECTS OF THE FIRE DISASTER. 
The San Francisco fire, which lasted three days, was one of the 
greatest conflagrations of recent times. The loss by fire was greater 
than it should have been, by reason of the failure of the cast-iron 
water mains in the city ; although the loss must necessarily have been 
great because of the character of the buildings, 90 per cent of which 
were frame. This disaster demonstrated that the lessons from the 
Chicago and Baltimore fires are still unlearned. The same faults in 
construction continue to be repeated. The only sure way to remedy 
grave defects of this character is to enact strict building laws which 
will compel an observance of the essentials for fireproof structures. 
The conditions at San Francisco were unusual, and even had not 
the water supply failed it is doubtful whether they could have been 
controlled, for the reason that it would have been impossible for the 
fire department to handle efficiently so many fires at a time, especially 
as there were so many nonfireproof structures. Large conflagrations 
demonstrate that there is no such thing as a fireproof building. To 
label one as such is bad practice, since it gives a false sense of 
security and induces a relaxing of necessary precautions. 
FIRE HISTORY AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF INSURANCE BOARDS. 
It is claimed that the recorded destruction by fires in San Fran- 
cisco up to 1899 was excessive, showing an average loss between two 
and three times that expected in cities having ordinary fire protec- 
tion. In every year since 1899, except 1903, although the number of 
fires increased materially, the average loss per fire remained moder- 
ate. In any of these years the number of fires involving losses of 
$40,000 or more did not exceed two. In 1903 there were ten large 
fires, each involving a loss of more than $40,000, thus bringing the 
total up to a high figure ; and at each of these fires the greater por- 
tion of the loss was to the contents rather than to the buildings. 
In October, 1905, a board of fire-insurance experts presented the 
report of an examination made under the direction of the National 
Board of Fire Underwriters on the fire-hazard conditions of San 
Francisco. This report is extremely interesting and shows clearly 
how a body of trained experts can accurately locate defects and pre- 
dict the consequences likely to result from them. The criticisms and 
recommendations embodied in the report are particularly pertinent 
to San Francisco ; and when the conditions prior to the great fire are 
considered, the conclusion must be inevitable that no other result of 
these conditions — a general conflagration which swept the city — 
could reasonably have been expected. Attention was called to the 
following principal features of construction affecting the fire hazard 
