CAUSES OF FIRES.

Dunstan Times, Issue 693, 30 July 1875, Page 4

CAUSES OF FIRES.

The London Globe says:—Capt. Shaw’s annual report for 1874 contains some very valuable information, showing the principal causes of me tropolitan fires. At the head of the list lighted candles aro debited with 218 accidents, while open fires contributed 147. Gas also seems a great culprit. To escapes of this illuminator 44 fires are attributed ; to seeking for such escapes with naked lights, 21 ; to gaslight, 11 ; to swinging gas brackets, 21 ; and to goods coming in contact with lighted gas the same number. But it must not be too hastily inferred that people who use oil and spirit lamps instaad of gas avoid these dangers. Explosion of spirit lamps caused eight fires, and upsetting of ditto, 57, only one accident being attributed to oil lamps. Among miscellaneous causes, Captain Shaw gives hot ashes as ' the origin of 42 fires, lucifers of 40, defects in flues of 60, foul flues of 27, children playing with lucifers and fire of 62, and boiling over resinous articles of 30. Smokers will be glad to bear that they rank lower in the list than might have been assumed from the peculiar belief in the perils of their favorite enjoyment, only 30 fires being attributed to this cause. It is also comforting to hear, on the authority of Captain Shaw, that only seven conflagrations could he directly traced to incendiarism, although no doubt, many crimes of this sort remained undetected. Probably the 296 conflagrations whose origin has not been discovered may be partially attributed to this cause. The most astonishing fact, however in the whole list is that only four fires are laid to the charge of people who drink “ not wisely, but too well.” As this altogether differs from the general delusion that intoxicated men are perpetually in the habit of setting their houses on fire, the fact deserves to be generally known. The most irritating, because the inexcusable cause of all is perhaps the habit of thvowiug down lights, to which no less than 97 fires are attributed. This, and the pernicious custom of permitting children to make playthings of lucifers and fire, being clear proofs of idiotcy, their perpetrators might be consigned to Hanwell with singular benefit to the general community.