Document G6rbRZE6ZQbMoXVOa8x4KRb6V

THURSDAY ICORNINjG SESSION October 19,1939 Joint Session Child Education Section and Home Safety Committee f. Presiding, Wiujam C. Knoelk, chairman, Milwaukee Safety Commission; assistant, snperintendent of schools, Milwaukee^ Wis~; Report of the National Safety Council's Special Committee , on Home Safety ^By LEW R. PALMER Conservation Engineer, Equitable Life Awurance Society of the United States, New York City; Chairman, Special Committee on Home Safety, National Safety Council. When our committee was authorized by Safely. Council was authorized to distribute the Executive. Committee of the National accident report forms among cities of the Safety'Council andour manbers were se United States laving a population of 25,000 lected Iqr President Fennell, the.action'was. or more, so tbit a standard method of re * \mpohse to a growing realization that porting accidents might., be put into effect Je fatalities were' becoming. the major not later than January 1, 1921, in all these cause of accidental deaths m this country. cities. v* v The recent sustained success .m our Na As a result of this action we have avail tional Traffic Safety Contest, respiting in 19 able the annual reports by the National consecutive months' reduction in- motor''ve Safety Council's Committee on Public Acci hicle deaths as compared with the same dent Statistics,, a. committee of the Public months of the previous year, seems to indi- Safety Section. The 1921 edition of these cate to our committee a possible saviiq; of "reports covered eight pages; the 1926 edi lives .through the establishment of analional tion, 32 pages. The first issue of "Accident ' home safely contest Facts" came out'as the 1927 edition oLthe The committeerealized that if such a con annual reports. of this committee. The test Was. to be recommended to the Na- 1939 edition of "Accident Facts," the most tional Safety Council, we .must have assur elaborate to date, covered 104 pages. ance that accurate records would be made. ' The 1,200 per cent increase in volume is available, and that, one of the first steps . more than outweighed by the increased value to be taken was a study of this phase of the of. these records, due to more aecurate re problem. We. turned to tire reootds of tile porting, and: there is still room for improve Cmndl fco leam how the problem of obtain ment ing accident records necessary for the es tablishment of .our National Traffic Safety Contest had been handled. la the December, 1931, issue of PUBLIC SAFETY was announced the national inter city- traffic safety contest, which was en At the Ninth Annual. Safety Congress thusiastically received, and it is generally at Milwaukee, WUl, in 1920, toe National. conceded` that tins contest has played a 133 134 28th National Safety Congress major part in the reduction in fatalities that has been attained by practically all compet ing cities. As has been recorded,, the Public Safety Section of the National Safety Council was organized in 1915, and during the years that followed, the records indicate that the de velopment of accident statistics has been one of the principal factors in bringing, about increased interest in this field of safety. ' Home Safety While we all admit that home safety is our most difficult .problem, and that the home is coming to be recognized as our principal source of accidental deaths^ there should be no mistaken idea that nothing has been done to date--the records of the National Safety Council prove quite the contrary. ' In the original proceedings of the Mil waukee Congress, on the very day that die National Council for Industrial Safety was established, at the Iron and Steel Session, October 4, 1912, home safety was recorded as a matter of vital importance. The annual proceedings of the Congress, since that time, covering reports. of the Home safetysessions, contain further evidence that home safety has been given serious consideration in the past and that die National Safety Council has done much to stimulate a greater general interest in this, important phase of our life conservation program. On the other hand, the criticism has been made that, although home hazards have been recorded by the thousands, and disMis sions have covered hours of construttiBe suggestions, nobody does anything about it, and that even today, hpme safety is still the step-child of the safety movement Fur thermore, we have been asked, "Is there a Home Safety- Section in the National SafetyCouncil?" There is not! Even though.72 per cent of our home fatalities occur to persons 25 years of age or. over, we are still "tied to teacher's apron strings," for today's Con gress program states that.-we are meeting in "a -joint session with the- Child Education Section." This is the 28th Congress of the National Safety Council, and it is time we were stepping out a bit in the field of hpme safety. Page 56, 1939 edition of "Accident Facts," shows 344,000 home fatalities from 1928 to 1938, inclusive. These home fatalities and their attendant injuries represent an esti mated economic waste of more than $6,500000,000. With 33.5 per cent of all accidental deaths occurring- within the home during 1938, and 522 per cent of the non-fatal injuries, we find that less than 4 per cent of our space in "Accident Facts" was de voted to this vital subject In a study of accident costs our commit tee found from the records of some '35 major' life insurance companies that, the 1938 accidental death claims in these, life companies amounted to $50,631,590, a ratio of 62 per cent to the total death chums paid. Certainly it is to the interest of the policyholders of all insurance companies that these organizations cooperate in our life conservation program. Having studied the methods employed in developing our National Traffic Safety Con test, our committee seems agreed that the most, important step in establishing home safety- bn an equally effective basis would be the development of a national home safety contest And then the question arises: Who will pay the bill? If somewhere, somehow, somebody can be found and sold the idea that tinman.lives are at least on a par with those of our domestic friends, otir4 dogs and cats, we would have ample funds to finance the job,., for: we are told that the Society* for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is endowed for more than a million dollars. Conclusion We judge the future by the past In other words, what has been done can be done; Although we realize that accomplishments, are not all that is -to be desired, there sue some encouraging signs which would seem to indicate that we are in a better position to cope with our home safety problem today; than we were in the earlier days, when we were endeavoring to check the alarming increase in motor ; vehicle deaths. We have developed a chart to contrast the number of pioneer states that were reporting motor vehicle deaths to the Na tional Safety Council in 1928 as compared to the number of states reporting their home fatalities today. The count stands 24 for home -in 1938 compared with only 5 for motor vehicle in 1928. v This official! Our in hozc nnderst local a; tionai1 Som . bia, to reporti Safety . tained It is i source juries, thisdii Horn eral de dl hea resting cording recent! rector, is ham Library safety Divide directif Home Miss 1 - chains the Hi tune t< the so appear TIONj EDUC theNa The fatality sent in work with s< in vrhi the sta safetyi The the R Associa tions : heeded all coo Home Safety ' 135 This vfotild seem to indicate -that public' definitely interested and disseminate material. ; jficials are becoming-more safety;'minded. The National Safety Council should take Local Safety Councils . the lead in ^providing good material, edi torial; and otherwise. Opinion should be Our local councils have done their share mobilized so that manufacturers of home in home accident prevention, and it is wdl ' equipment, would be persuaded to make it understood that only the direct contact of ' safer. Also, we should' endeavor to bring local agencies can insure success ihany na- to- the insurance companies the realization . tiohal home safety program. that they stand to benefit. from home acd- v'dent prevention and therefore should sup Some 25 states and the District of Colum- port home safety activities. . bia, together with^50 cities, are regularly reporting home fatalities to the National Safety Services Safety Council. Information is also ob- . tamed from the U. S.vBureau of Census. It is felt that hospitals would be a good source of information on all types oijrin juries, but to date, little has been done'in this direction. ( Supplementing Mr. Cameron's outline, we have a report of. the National Safety Coun cil's home safety activities, prepared for our committee by Raymond G. Ross, of the National. Safety Council headquarters staff. This report summarizesvarious home safety Activities at Headquarters services available, a few of which are men Home safety'work is divided among sev eral departments at National' Safety'Coun cil headquarters, the principal responsibilityresting in the Public Safety Division; ac cording to a report made to our committee recently by W. -H. Cameron, managing di tioned here: 1. The Council maintains a speakers' bu reau in. which .the names of thousands of speakers on home safety and other safety subjects are filed. The names of suggested speakers are. gladly furnished upon request rector. The statistical'work on home safety 2. The Council's Bureau-of Information is handled by the Statistical Bureau; the is always willing to supply home safety data. Library collects and files information; home safety posters are developed mcthe Poster /"^vision- The"work:is under the general , < Jection of the National Safety Council Home Safety Advisory Committee, of which Miss Rosamond Lash, of Kansas City, is chairman. The Council publishes each month'" the Home Safety News Letter and from .time to time other pamphlets bearing, on the subject Home safety material alk> appears in PUBLIC SAFETY, NA TIONAL SAFETY NEWS and SAFETY EDUCATION, ;all magazines published by the National Safety CoundL 3. -There are various other services--pub lications supplying authoritative home safety information, news and suggestions. One of these, tiie Home Safety News Letter, a ;monthly publication, is sent regularly to the representatives of practically every type of organization. "Safe at Home," the Coun cil's booklet on home safety, is a complete text on borne accidents and their preven tion, in which each unit of the home and its surroundings is analyzed separately. "Radio grams," brief but powerful safety talks for daily use, .which include a specific home safety ..message at least once a week, are The local' safety councils submit home mailed weekly tor all important radio stations fatality records or.are'active in having them in tiie country. The Council's Safety Calen sent in by dty offidals. The local councils dar also must be given a respected place in work along similar lines in cooperation the home safety picture. Reaching into al with schools, dubs and other organizations most a million homes each year, the Calen in which' women are. interested. Some of dar serves as a year-arotmd safety reminder, the shite safety councils alsb include home containing many useful hints on safe .man . safety in their programs. agement of the home and first aid. The Council has had cooperation from the Red Cross, the National Education Association, ..the Parent-Teacher Associa tions and other organizations. More is heeded. If home -safdy is to be developed, all cooperating organizations:.-must become i 4. There are `many miscellaneous home safety materials available at headquarters, among them a selected list of references on tiie subject; an outline of the organization and' activities of the Home Safety Com mittee, sample check lists for making a sur- 136 28th National Safety Congress vey of home hazards, sample talks, radio interviews, plays, instruction cards contain ing succinct home safety information and other publications. Many of the GoutteU's posters, too, of which about 5,000,000 are published annually, are devoted to safety in the home. The efforts of the Council, coupled with the cooperation of various iota! and na tional groups, have brought a more wide spread recognition of the seriousness of the home accident problem ..with a consequent increase in interest Hie trend is quite defi nite. Home safety is receiving more atten tion in industrial programs and in com munity and state safety activities. Farm groups, such as the 4-H Clubs, home econ omists, nurses and other home visitors are becoming more safety minded. Utility.com panies, manufacturers of household equip ment, apartment building managers and ar? chitects are coming to realize more, and more that safe homes are decidedly to their interest Magazines are devoting more at tention to the subject And, of coarse, men tion should be made of the continuously expanding work of the schools, women's or ganizations, the Red Cross, Scouts, the National Fire Protection Association and some of- the insurance companies. Home; safety institutes, Mr. Ross' report says in conclusion, have been held success fully, and more are being planned. Mr. Arthur Rohweder, of Diuluth, presi dent of the Minnesota Safety Council, has been elected as the National Safety Coun cil's first vice-president for home safety. This is a memorable milestone, in the his tory of the Council. Our survey committee has not outlined aqy formal plan for an intensified home safety program, believing that any definite' suggestions we may have in mind should naturally be submitted to the newly elected vice-president for home safety. The vice-president for public relations should cooperate with the vice-president for home Safety. There are many agendas, all interested and more or less active in the field of home safety, and. it is of .dial im portance that all such organizations should receive fall credit .for the fine work they are doing; With a cooperative, coordinated pro gram, properly sponsored and financed, we .. should see the, home accident carve brought down. . Home Safety and Educationior Homemaking By MARY L. MATHEWS >' Purdne University, Lafayette, Ind. Almost as many persons sustained fatal injuries in the home in 1938 as died in automobile accidents. Home accidents de creased only 2 per cent :while traffic accidents decreased 19 per cent. There are probably two reasons why home accidents cannot be controlled.- First, it would be very difficult if not impossible to survey all the homes in America to deter mine what.rules and regulations need to be made to insure safety to all' the individuals living in those homes; and, second, even though, laws for home safety were passed it would be impossible to enforce them with out a safety policeman in every house. It would be possible to make laws requiring that every home be built., with handrails on stairways, or without highly polished floors or that the house-be fireproof, bat no laws could ever regulate disorder, .reck lessness or the improper use of equipment unless each home were individually pa trolled. In i survey made of hospitalized cases in Cook County hospital in Chicago it was found that disorder and poor judgment caused the greatest number of accidents. We are told that "medical and - hospital bills-for the care of home accident victims last year were almost $2,000,000 a day," a large sum to pay for carelessness, poor judgment, disorder or .unsafe (conditions in the borne. Since it would be practically impossible to enforce laws or regulations for home safety the approach to the problem must be thro is pro! safety most o safety, attitude part of velop t can me and (3) through How ness Ik ing, tal panel d , ence te Paraitsafety interior resehtal .. patties. school i ing peo; safety, 'ganized. Then abbot t ' on safe) ... tionAs and fill safety i ; posters ' which people, would 1 subject Until m the sub; . deseryir Thes ards fo cducatio schools, practice) * Assodal . economi respoosi . schools, effective teachers statemer subjects sidered . studies, physical les shot "Home Safety V / . 137 through another channel. That channel home safety is to be included in the school J probably- education. Many courses in curriculum. safety education have been developed and . Safety discussion directly related to the most of these devote some time to home safety. Thegreat peed is (l) to develop an . attitude of nfety consciousness on the part of individualsvin the home,' (2) .to de velop standards by which each individual can measure safety practices for the home . ' and (3)tocarry out bomesafety measures ..through "self-enforcement-" /' use of equipment .and materials in home economics laboratories should be an im portant part of any course. For example, the student is taught how to fill and care for a coal oil stove to avoid explosions, how to handle cutlery to avoid injury, or how to operate the sewing machine with out 'naming the needle into a finger. How can-an attitude of safety conscious In the practice apartment or home man- ness he developed? Largely through writ agement house there are many opportuni ing; talking and ^discussing the subject A ties to teach home safety through discussion panel discussion, arranged by a socjalsd- of. equipment; for example, how to operate . ence teacher, in Atlanta, Georgiy, ior the a washing machine without getting hands Patat-Teacher Association, at which home- caught in the wringer, how to use a step safety was discussed by .an architect, an .ladder to avoid falling. In the house plan interior decorator) a student, a-parent, rep ning and furnishing classes there Is oppor resentatives from the electric and gas com: tunity to discuss safe and unsafe floor ;. panles and the fire-department, and the finishes and coverings, the means of making school nurse, is an excellent means of mak a house fireproof, and the individual's re ing people conscious of tbe need for home '- sponsibility' in-.keeping,the house safe from safety. We need more such meetings or fire hazards. In the foods- laboratory classes ganized. >, the students are taught how to light a Then there needs to be more written gas oven safely, how to place kettles or about home safety. The best\ bibliography .saucepans of hot liquids on the stove so - on safety comes from the National Educa* - that there will be little' danger of upsetting .. tionAssodatiom In this list of publications them: . , ' A film strips little material on hoine My 1* found. There is need for more In the home nursing classes a discussion of the/ safe methods for storing poisons poitcrs on home safctyr-altrftctive posters and medicines away from the reach of " Which will appeal to children and young children and so that adults looking for people. More radio, talks on home safety bottles in the dark will hot' select the would help to make, people feel that the wrong' ones. One of the safety slogans subject of home safety Is' an.important one. -. used is "Let there be light," and if this Until more publicity,.is given to home safety, exhortation were followed fewer people the subject, will not be looked: upon as one /would -fall /or select the wrong medicine . deserving much attention. . ,;- inthe dark. . The second need, that of developing stand- Eva little children can be taught order ards for. home safety, can be a part of liness by encouraging them to put away education for-homemudng taught in-the -toys''and not leave "them in-the center of schools, In the survey of current safety the floor for-''someone to stumble over. practices `'made by the National Education Children in the nursery school like to put * Association ho mention is made of home' ' their things away because low shelves, boxes . economics.teachers in. the list of individuals and books are provided for them, while in responsible for safety programs in the the" home the' child is expected to learn these . schools, although home ..safety can be more things but to use grown-up equipment. effectively presented by home... economics Through home economics teaching it is teachers than by-.:: any .other group. The. hoped that students learn good standards statement is made that "especially suitable \ for housekeeping; orderliness, and the proper subjects witb 'which safety may 'be con and safe use of equipment in toe home. Too sidered naturally correlative are the social often .the student hasno opportunity to . studies, the sciences,/ and the health , and , practice at home, the' things learned at physical education studies." Home Econom school because the parents maintain poor ics should have been added.to this list if standards and perhaps scoff at the ones 138 28th National Safety Congress taught at. school. The home economics offered: to them during .their college or teacher has probably not stressed the need university careers. The subject has not for following good practices, but perhaps been emphasized as it have been. . if she were given more responsibility for Some institutions traiiungi'tehchers rhave teaching home safety she could stress the offered courses on safety^n^which a unit importance from this angle. More posters on safety in the home has been presentedii or film strips showing safe practices in A better method of teaching the subject is housekeeping operations need to be made, through integration with other courses, es and perhaps the home economics teacher pecially with the home economics courses. is die one to do this. We need to make home economics teachers, Home safety measures must be carried out through "self enforcement." We all know that certain practices, such. as using a small rug on a highly polished floor safety conscious and interested, in doing effective .teaching in this field, not teaching that is looked upon as a burden and done only because the law requires it 1 without fastening it to the floor, is danger ous, yet we continue to do this in many homes. We know that the treads on .some of the basement steps are loose, yet we do not fix them. The slogan suggested in one of the U. S. Government publications, "Find it. Fix it," is a timely one, yet . we often let repair jobs go until an accident occurs. If Home Economics teachers are to do effective work, there must be more materials developed for them to use. There are few text books that deal with home safety; there are very few bulletins or leaflets avail able,- and there are not many magazine articles that are of assistance! There should, be more posters designed, more. plays on We know that houses should be as nearly the subject of home safety written, more fireproof as possible especially in towns safety exhibits set up, and more films and where they are placed close together, yet slides that adequately depict home safety we go on building wood houses. We know problems. Many publications and motion it is dangerous to flick cigarette ashes into pictures have been developed for use with a waste paper basket or to put hot ashes . adults and are entirely unsuited for school from the furnace into wooden tubs or children. Other materials obviously have baskets, j'et we continue this practice. We been prepared for advertising or selfish know that gasoline should not be used for propaganda purposes. Furthermore the ar dry cleaning, yet we go on doing it rangements. are often inadequate for bring The publicity given to traffic safety has impressed the general public and made them conscious that something should be. done to ing the best of these materials to the at tention of school people and for distributing them where they are needed. protect the -lives of people driving cars and the lives of those walking, or riding bicydes on the streets and highways. We need to give the same publicity to home safety and we need to spend more time on the teaching of' home safety; not in separate courses but in any course where home safety practices can appropriately be' presented. What then, are the best methods- for teaching home safety in the schools? \ It. would be a fine thing if some of the state libraries could develop lending li braries so that teachers who have no money to spend on such things could borrow the materials they need. Such a lending library would be very helpful to at'teacher in a small town or rural community. There need to be more courses of stuffy developed in which adequate emphasis , is given to home, safety and its correlation - ' with other subjects,, especially borne eco First, we need teachers who are fully nomics. The-research committee of the Na;/v > ' informed on the subject Our colleges and tional Education Association says "Unless- universities need to emphasize home safety educators develop instructional guides W/ in their training programs. Separate courses classroom work safety education will tend! need not be organized,- but more emphasis to crystallize into the patterns now being , needs to be placed on home 'safety topics . advocated by non-school groups. There will wherever there is an opportunity. Young - -be courses in' `traffic safety* or `home . women going into home economics teach safety* instead .of an integrated program. ing need to have the subject of home safety Safety education consists of constructive- presented in every Home Economics .course reactions to life situations." If in h labo to v for mad food gas stow broil be e haps ings as sj Tl horn that "It wifi peoj the dent unti cum T spin It i thin The is d taug opei hot he of safe C wer thos E A fire was of intr labc am ,& " .. ' Home Safety i; 139 , If home safety is to be effectively taught causes beingcfalls and burns. In succeeding v I in home economics .laboratories then these age groups home accidents decrease, prob- laboratories need to be safe places in which ably '"due- in .part to differences in the to work.' Just as a factory is made safe amount of exposure to home accidents and for workers so should the school building be in part to increasing knowledge of home made safe for children. For example'0 the hazards." 1 The child from the well-ordered foods laboratories should not have leaking home, develops better habits for home safety gas pipes, broken faucets at, the sinks or than does the child, from the home where stoves out of order, nor shbuld there be disorder, recklessness' and poor judgment broken ..utensils used if home safety is to ./ prevail be effectively demonstrated. Some day per- Organizations such as the General Fed. haps we shall require tirni oil school build- erat2Tof Clubs and the National Congress mgs bp fireproof and that all. equipment be o parents and Teachers have been active as safe as it is possible to buiidi in the cause of home safety. Recently in There need to be more- studies made of home accidents, thereby giving information' that will help in reducing their number, "It seems fairly, certain ..that home safety Indiana the club women held a forum on safety! with part of the time devoted to home. safety. Women in these orgamzations are "safety conscious" and while traf- \vi]l not make much progress anti! the lie safety" has.-been the major concern up people of each community are aware of' to the present .time, other phases of the the number and ' seriousness of home acd- subject have received some attention. The . dents that are occurring in their midst and National Safety Council suggests that at until they become familiar with the dr-least one meeting a year be devoted to the cumstances and causes." subject , of safety, and perhaps the discus- The home as well as the school is re- sion of home safety should receive the sponsible for education for homemaking. major- part, of the time in this program. 1^ is estimated that most people .spend a - The women's organizations in a corn- third or more of their time, in the home.- mUnity dm do very effective work in proTherefore the first teaching of honiesafety moting interest in home safety through is done by the home: When the child is taught why he should stay away from an jopen fire, and why he should not touch hot pans on top of the stove, and why talks, broadcasting or newspaper writing, Members of the oigariizations should be encouraged to check their own homes for hazards, using some of the check lists that he must not leave his toys in . the middle have been developed for this purpose. If of the floor, he is being taught home - home safety is to be effectively promoted sa`e*y- . there must be cooperation between the lay Children from five to .'nine years old and school groups since the teaching done were victims of more home accidents than in the school cannot be successful without those in any other age group, the' major the cooperation of the home. ifi o, . Fire Safety, iri the Home . By T.'ALFRED FLEMING Director of Conservation, National Board of Fire Underwriters, New York City A century ago a very small percentage of fire casualties and loss of life-by accidents was registered in homes. lit the evolution of the home to its present status'and the introduction of modern. improvements' and/ labor-saving devices, the' home> ha& become one of the most dangerous places, as shown by statistics of the National Safety Council which .indicate more than thirty thousand home accident fatalities in the United States annually. Many of these are the result of fire, as evidenced by the fact that some i 140 28th National Safety Congress (te. three hundred thousand American homes in - effort to' protect against the quick spread one year have fires serious enough to war of fire. rant calling the fire department Commotr'-sense in the construction of Statistics released recently by the Casualty homes would^dictate that the basement area Committee of the National Fire Waste be built as a complete unit, not only with Council show that home fires account for firestoppmg in walls but with a good metal nearly two-thirds of the annual loss of life lath aid cement plaster ceiling; with tight through fire, which totals more than ten fitting doors on all clothes chutes, ventilat thousand persons. Half of these victims are ing and air conditioning systems; and with children under ten years of age. proper protection for the-stairway leading There seems to be a lack of fire con sciousness on the part of those responsible for the safety of the family. This results in carelessness, which usually causes tragedy. This applies particularly to those respon sible for the construction of the home it self, as the greater number of tragedies result in death before the fire department Js ever called. We haye built our homes to the main section of the home. A fire de tector should be placed there so that any increase of temperature would sound an alarm loud enough to arouse the occupants and give the fire department a chance not only to save life but also property. Many attic and partition fires start from faulty chimneys, poorly built, without flue lining, or with disintegrating mortar. - without proper consideration for the rapid If tiie features of.- proper construction spread of fire and the, dangers which result were heeded by the adult members of the therefrom. family, - three-fourths of our home fire Few of us realize that more than one-half casualties'would be eliminated.. of the people who burn to death are never Of course, a good householder will ai touched by flame on the outride. They breathe rways seejhat the ordinary .causes of fine are superheated air, which passes through the . obviated; rubbish conditions removed, heat house within a few minutes of the origin ing plant carefully inspected, chimney kept- of the fire, and although the house may be dean andingood condition. saved by the fire department, the tragedy of A discussion of home hazards, would not loss of life has occurred. be complete without reference to the danger More than one-half of the fires in dwell in the use of flammable liquids. Thousands ings originate in the basement. Most homes of families are still using kerosene either are constructed without the benefit of fire- for starting or for quickening fires, ever) stopping of the walls and partitions, and when they know of the explosive hazard in-' no care has been taken for the 'escape of votved. The same is true of gasoline. You dangerous gases from the basement to the would not think of keeping a few sticks of upper section of the house through stair dynamite around thehome, and gasoline: is ways, dumbwaiters, clothes chutes, and even more treacherous than dynamite or other openings which lead to the main sec TNT. It vaporizes so easily. Its vapors arc tion of the dwelling. ' . - heavier than air and therefore are frequently Within five minutes of the origin of any fire, superheated air can reach temperatures of 400 and 500 degrees. This air imme undetected. Even though, a fire,may not be present, there is always the hazard from a static spark or from friction. diately passes upward through air these For instance; an Iowa woman poured avenues, and no one can breathe it and live. gasoline into her dectric washing machine. Within a period of seven to ten minutes, When she turned on the switch, it caused a superheated air up to 800 and 1,000 degrees spark. Timexplosion killed her-and wrecked is easily produced, and when it rises and thehome. concentrates in the upper sections of the Two teachers in Philadelphia were plan home, it causes curtains, draperies, bedding, ning a vacation in Europe. They were lath and partitions and all woodwork to anxious to protect their home furnishings break into flame spontaneously. Thus the from, moths during their absence, and so entire home is involved, frequently before they sprayed gasoline over the carpets and the fire department arrives, and all because uptiolsteiy and in closets. After they had we have not constructed the building in an started for the street car it-was found that Wli in. a In savini often the it of elt Home Safety 141 1le bad forgotten her purse. On re-entering lights and are not considered' sufficiently e boose they turned on the. light; and well constructed to carry a load of 500 to the spark frora:: the switch exploded the 800 watts-required by appliances. Appliances fumes from the gasoline, killing both teach-, - should' be'connected to wall sockets installed ers and entirely demolishing their residence. forthat purpose. . A woman was washing her gloves in Next in importance comes the maltreat gasoline outside of the .house. Having them ment of the average extension cord. Cords on her hands and wishing to dry them more are sometimes trampled under rugs; hung rapidly, she put her hands .into a lighted over-nails; disconnected by jerking on the oven, and if she were alive; she would ad wire, instead of gripping the ping; bent, vise. all women never to duplicate that act twisted and tangled in knots. It is a real While gasoline is perfectly safe when used in. a car, it is wise .to leave it there and use an Underwriters! Laboratories .tested cleaner for! household purposes. In the use of electricity and the laborsaving machines which come with it we often fail tb realize the hazards involved or the importance of understanding the theory of electrical construction'qr`the; usage of the current Electricity is 99 per emit safe in a home ifi we know how to use it,' but tampering jwith the system hy the ...unin formed may make it 99 per cent dangerous. tribute to the' manufacturers that these wires stand up as well as they do. Under such treatment insulation is bound to wear. Small wires making up the current car riers break, pierce the insulation and shortcircuit, and the tragedy follows. The wide increase in smoking in recent years has .resulted in thousands of fires from the careless handling of matches or dis carded cigarettes and cigars. Flammable, clothing and numerous accessories, some of which bum with a flash, constitute an ever present hazard; The usual circuit is supposed to carry an A few months ago a woman was attend- electric load of 132Q watts. When it is in . ing a .New York theater with her husband. stalled, .the wiring, expert plans less than They retired to the lobby during the inter- that for every drcuiUand fuses each one . mission. A spark from'a lighted cigarette with a 15 ampere fuse, which'is the safety ; or a match set her dress on fire, and it valve of flat circuit.... was with the greatest difficulty that the fire jThe addition of a vacuum cleaner, toaster or percolator when the. regular lights are bring used will frequently overload the was extinguished and a panic prevented. The woman and several who assisted in ex tinguishing the fire were burned severely. circuit''and burn out the'fuse. This is the A woman in the Middle West struck a danger signal-wfitch indicates, .that an elec match on her shoe to light a cigarette, and trical expert ought to investigate the cause. in an instant her dress was on fire. In spite But instead, someone may become unusually of the heroic efforts of those present, she "wise" and either place a penny hack of was so badly burned that she died two the fuse, or install wires around It to obtain, - hours afterward. . immediate light.,- It is triie that the light Since., most new homes and apartments are will come, but'a fire is likely to'fdllow.- provided with incinerators, it may be wise When the extra electrical overload is carried . for us to review some hazards which are after the fuse has been removed,..the!wires common in their use. A woman in New in the. partitions become red hot and :oon York, after emptying her vacuum cleaner, white hot, spattering and throwing fire in carelessly threw the contents of the bag into every direction. Lath, in partitions and the incinerator. A serious explosion took studding bums slowly because of lack of place, and she was badly, burned. In another oxygen and generally bums through to the ' instance a cook threw a small quantity of iqatn part of the. house between two and refuse flour into the incinerator and wrecked four o'clock in the morning, , when occu five apartments. pants are least able to take care of them ' We have always associated dust explo selves. ' sions with flour mills and grain elevators It is always a poor practice to connect . and have failed to realize that practically appliances such as electric irons, sweepers, : any dust when thrown into suspension will toasters, and so forth to .,ordinary lamp explode if a spark, is present Therefore, sockets. These . sockets are, intended for it is a wise plan to wrap any. such material P 142 28th National Safety Congress into a solid mass before committing it to clothing is ignited; how ,to extinguish fires the flames to be burned. that frequently, occur around the kitchen Another common cause of home fires that stove; and, above-all, how to act so that, is attributable to the housekeeper is the not a moment will be lost when an emer mysterious phenomenon called spontaneous gency comes. A dipper of water or .the- ignition. This process -is nothing more or ever present garden hose, 'and a ladder long less than the oxidation of certain oils which enough to reach the second story, have saved happen to be on combustible materials ex-: many a life. Every house should have two posed to the air.. The oil consumes oxygen means of egress so. that if ohe is cut off the from the air, and this activity raises the other will be available, In case of fire, be temperature of the oil until it is hot enough fore opening the door into any hallway one to ignite combustible substances. : should feel the panels carefully for heat We have known of cases of spontaneous If they are hot the door should not be combustion from oily rags and mops, cloths, opened, but exit should be made through used by painters, old discarded mattresses, the window. and from a general accumulation of ma Two small boys were found dead in a terial frequently stored in attics and cellars. one-and-a-half-story house. They had opened Everyone should use common sense in stor the door to the hallway, had breathed super ing polishing cloths, oily mops and, in fact, heated air and were found just two feet all substances in any way saturated with oil. from the window which led out over the Such articles are bet kept in standard metal front porch, and was a perfect avenue of containers. Another thing to watch for is safety. If a fire drill had been planned by a dust-laying preparation commonly used in the family, that feature would have been sweeping. Marty of these compounds are ` emphasized by the parents and the two boys nothing but oil and sawdust A dustpanful probably would have been able to save their dumped into a trash basket or a bag has lives. burned down many a home. These are only a few of' the hazards A wise housekeeper will organize a fire found in homes. New ernes are developing drill in her home. Parents, after making a constantly as new appliances are introduced careful survey of apparent hazards, should in home operation. discuss with each other hpw best to elim What is needed most is the application of inate those hazards and then, in case of thought and. good ordinary common sense. fire, how they would be able to get out of A panic and: the loss of life may be easily the building safely. They should know how averted by a frank discussion . of thus im to turn in a fire alarm; how to save life if portant subject by the family. (ADJOURNMENT v. Am Am Bei Bet Ea| Eai Hai Ho Iod Int Jin Kai Lot Me Me Tht Tht Pri