Music Trade Review
Issue: 1906 Vol. 43 N. 25 - Page 10
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
10
HOW PIANO FACTORIES ARE VIEWED BY INSURANCE EXPERTS.
What an Insurance Paper Says of the Factory of Jacob Bros. Which Was Destroyed by Fire
Last November—Should Pay Attention to Every Inspector Who Visits the Factory—Some
Timely Remarks on a Timely Topic That Will be Read With Interest.
The fire which destroyed Jacob Bros, piano fac-
tory on November 3 proved conclusively, accord-
ing to Insurance Engineering, that factory build-
ings are not safeguarded to any extent by many
of the appliances now in use, and owing to lack
The insurance premiums have been advanced
materially during the past year, and piano manu-
facturers may be interested to see the manner in
which insurance authorities regard piano fac-
tories as risks.
SKYKVl II I-'UioK
IHHKCTI.Y
OYKIS
YKNTII.A T I M i
S I X T H
KT.nOli.
OKII.IXii
UYKIt
YKNTII.ATlNi;
l'l.IK
l.tlOKIXIi INTO STAIUS1IAFT.
si:\i:vni
l-'I.l"
It will be recalled that the fire which destroyed
Jacob Bros.' piano factory occurred in the fall
and that it was generally conceded that this
modern and well appointed factory was a good
fire risk. The facts referred to in the subjoined
article, together with the illustrations, appeared
in Insurance Engineering, a paper representing
the insurance business:
a certain temperature was reached that indi-
cated fire.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Jacob inspected
the factory personally each week and saw that
no rubbish was thrown around and other precau-
tions taken, after the fire it was discovered that
many of the window shutters were missing, and
various shaft doors either gone or left open,
which allowed for drafts and consequently the
rapid spread of flames that doomed the building.
Attention is also called to the necessity of an
of expert knowledge of building construction the
owners are not aware where the weakness is.
The Jacob Bros, factory was built in 1892, and
at that time was considered a model of fireproof
construction. Iron or iron covered doors and
iron shutters were provided for all openings,
some to be closed by hand at night and in times
of necessity, others closing automatically when
K l I t N C D
TJ1UI IlIClI.
S I X T H
I'l.imi!.
automatic fire alarm service to supplement the
watchman's vigilance. At the Jacob Bros, fire
the watchman had to find a policeman to turn in
an alarm, whose delay in the matter allowed the
blaze to gain headway. An automatic system
would have done away with all that, and saved
several vital minutes in the arrival of the fire
apparatus.
In speaking of his confidence in his building,
Mr. Jacob said: "I relied implicitly on my build-
ing, which I supposed was as good as it could be
for the purpose; so good, in fact, that I carried
no insurance whatever on my stock. Had I done
so I can see now that it would have been regu-
larly inspected by a company man, who no doubt
would have called my attention to such defects
as were to be found, and which I would have
been only too glad to have corrected. As it was
I had no intimation personally of any defects,
T:I-TI:<"I*
o r
T i n : III:AT
POOH.
A
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
10
HOW PIANO FACTORIES ARE VIEWED BY INSURANCE EXPERTS.
What an Insurance Paper Says of the Factory of Jacob Bros. Which Was Destroyed by Fire
Last November—Should Pay Attention to Every Inspector Who Visits the Factory—Some
Timely Remarks on a Timely Topic That Will be Read With Interest.
The fire which destroyed Jacob Bros, piano fac-
tory on November 3 proved conclusively, accord-
ing to Insurance Engineering, that factory build-
ings are not safeguarded to any extent by many
of the appliances now in use, and owing to lack
The insurance premiums have been advanced
materially during the past year, and piano manu-
facturers may be interested to see the manner in
which insurance authorities regard piano fac-
tories as risks.
SKYKVl II I-'UioK
IHHKCTI.Y
OYKIS
YKNTII.A T I M i
S I X T H
KT.nOli.
OKII.IXii
UYKIt
YKNTII.ATlNi;
l'l.IK
l.tlOKIXIi INTO STAIUS1IAFT.
si:\i:vni
l-'I.l"
It will be recalled that the fire which destroyed
Jacob Bros.' piano factory occurred in the fall
and that it was generally conceded that this
modern and well appointed factory was a good
fire risk. The facts referred to in the subjoined
article, together with the illustrations, appeared
in Insurance Engineering, a paper representing
the insurance business:
a certain temperature was reached that indi-
cated fire.
In spite of the fact that Mr. Jacob inspected
the factory personally each week and saw that
no rubbish was thrown around and other precau-
tions taken, after the fire it was discovered that
many of the window shutters were missing, and
various shaft doors either gone or left open,
which allowed for drafts and consequently the
rapid spread of flames that doomed the building.
Attention is also called to the necessity of an
of expert knowledge of building construction the
owners are not aware where the weakness is.
The Jacob Bros, factory was built in 1892, and
at that time was considered a model of fireproof
construction. Iron or iron covered doors and
iron shutters were provided for all openings,
some to be closed by hand at night and in times
of necessity, others closing automatically when
K l I t N C D
TJ1UI IlIClI.
S I X T H
I'l.imi!.
automatic fire alarm service to supplement the
watchman's vigilance. At the Jacob Bros, fire
the watchman had to find a policeman to turn in
an alarm, whose delay in the matter allowed the
blaze to gain headway. An automatic system
would have done away with all that, and saved
several vital minutes in the arrival of the fire
apparatus.
In speaking of his confidence in his building,
Mr. Jacob said: "I relied implicitly on my build-
ing, which I supposed was as good as it could be
for the purpose; so good, in fact, that I carried
no insurance whatever on my stock. Had I done
so I can see now that it would have been regu-
larly inspected by a company man, who no doubt
would have called my attention to such defects
as were to be found, and which I would have
been only too glad to have corrected. As it was
I had no intimation personally of any defects,
T:I-TI:<"I*
o r
T i n : III:AT
POOH.
A
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