There should be at least 4 inches of brick between the ends of all wooden beams, rafters and joists entering the same brick or stone wall from opposite sides.

Ends of wooden beams, rafters, and joists should not be within 11⁄2 inches of any fire flues or chimneys; where such space (11⁄2 inches between beams, etc., and flues, etc.) is to be closed, concrete, cement, or asbestos should be used as a filler.

Floors should be always be kept in good repair and all unnecessary openings closed over.

All floor boards should be planed and finished on both sides and tongued and grooved.

All wooden posts, beams, rafters, and joists should be smooth planed and finished.

CHIMNEYS.-Should be of brick.

In dwellings no woodwork should be closer than 4 inches to the chimney.

All chimneys should be smoothly plastered on the inside with cement, or have all joints struck smooth on the inside, or be lined with burnt-clay, terra cotta or vitrified pipe.

No chimney should have a thickness of brick of less than 8 inches, and chimneys of furnaces, boilers, bakers' ovens, large cooking ranges, laundry stoves, and other heating appliances generating much heat should be of greater thickness.

All chimneys or smoke flues should extend at least 3 feet above a flat roof and 2 feet above the ridge of a peaked roof. No chimney should be started or built on any floor, woodsupported shelf, or wooden beam of the building.

Brick flues not starting from the foundation in a brick or stone building should be securely built in to the walls into which they are hung. In no case shall a chimney rest on any flooring with out a footing of masonry or iron supported by iron beams having a secure bearing on masonry or iron at each end.

Chimneys of iron cupolas of foundries should extend at least 10 feet above the highest point of any roof within a radius of 50 feet.

Chimneys in frame buildings, when not built up from the ground, should rest on masonry supported on separate wooden or iron supports running from the ground up.

All smoke flues of smelting furnaces or of steam boilers, or

other apparatus which heats the flues to a high temperature, should have double walls, with an air space between them, the inside 4 inches of fire-brick or fire-clay slabs or blocks laid in fire-mortar to the height of 25 feet from the bottom.

STOVE and SMOKE PIPES.—Where passing through roofs, floors, wooden partitions, studding partitions, or any inflammable materials should be surrounded by a double metal collar (with at least 3 inches of air space between the two parts, and with holes for ventilation), or by a soapstone or burnt-clay ring not less than 2 inches in thickness and extending through the partition.

No stovepipe should enter a chimney within 12 inches of wooden floors, ceilings, or partitions unless there is a metal shield, ventilated on both sides, between the pipe and wood, when the distance may be reduced to not less than 9 inches. or, unless where the wood is covered with asbestos and jointed tin (standard clad), following all lines and angles of the wood, where the distance may be 2 inches.

No floor beams or joists should come within 4 inches of any heat flues.

CEILINGS.-Ceilings should be left open whenever possible. Wooden lath ceilings are particularly objectionable. Where plaster is desired for a ceiling, wire netting or expanded metal laths should be used instead of wooden laths.

Where a finished ceiling is wanted, a good ceiling is made of stamped steel plates.

Wooden ceilings present large feeding surfaces for flame, and when they are finished with oils or varnishes are very inflammable; hence they should be installed as seldom as possible.

No ceiling should be closed over any heating apparatus where it is close to the ceiling, or where a high degree of heat is used. All closed ceilings should be removed wherever possible. Broken ceilings must be removed or thoroughly repaired. ELEVATORS, DUMMY, and HOISTWAYS.-Should be in brick shafts (preferably outside of the building), the walls of which should rise at least three feet above the roof; standard fire doors should be on each opening of the shaft.

In a building with a tower, the elevator should be in the tower. Hatchways inside of buildings, and not enclosed, should be

provided with automatic traps which open and close as the elevator is passing through the floor, or have tight-fitting traps at each floor held open by cords having fusible links in them exposed to the open hatchway; these latter traps should be so arranged as to be closed from any one floor independent of the fusing of the links.

Wooden enclosure elevator shafts are not desirable, although they are better than having an open hatchway without traps; the doors and partitions of such shafts are very apt to become broken or in some state of disrepair and the shaft then becomes merely a large draft chimney in effect.

No openings other than the doorways should be in any elevator shaft, and the doors on each opening should be always closed when the doorway is not in actual use.

Windows in elevator shafts should be of thick glass, set in permanently closed frames.

Trap doors must fit tight and be of not less than 1/4-inch sound, well-seasoned matched boards with battens.

AUTOMATIC ELEVATOR TRAPS.-(Rules of the National Board of Fire Underwriters): Open elevator shafts and hatchways shall be provided at each floor opening with a trap door which opens and closes as the elevator passes. If the floor is of ordinary construction, or not more than 14 inches thick, the trap door shall be made of 14-inch sound, well-seasoned, narrow matched boards with battens screwed on, but if the floor is of mill construction, or more than 14 inches thick, the trap door shall be as just described and shall have standard lock-jointed tin covering, as required for fire doors, on the under side, the tin extended over all edges including hole, if any, for cable, and nailed on the upper side of door. The hole for cable, if any, shall be as small as possible. When the trap door is closed it shall extend beyond the opening on all sides. Elevator left at a landing shall not be accepted in lieu of a trap door.

A trap opened and closed by the moving elevator is regarded as distinctly superior to other devices and should be generally used. However, if not employed, owing to high speed of elevator or other cause, automatic traps should be placed at each floor. They should be constructed as above, secured by stou wrought-iron hardware attached by bolts; be held open by a

fusible link located on shaft side of door; be actuated from behind by heavy spring which upon fusing of the link will push trap beyond a vertical position so it will close by gravity; and be kept closed except during working hours.

Dumb-waiters, barrel chutes, box chutes, small hoistways for goods or papers and all similar floor openings should be trapped or have tight-fitting wooden enclosures reaching from floor to floor between them.

WELL-HOLES.-These constitute a very weak point and should be boarded over tightly whenever possible.

Where the well-hole is necessary, it should be covered with a heavy glass skylight in an iron frame on each floor, and where this is not desirable, close-fitting automatic-working wooden traps or asbestos curtains should be provided; these can be made to be automatic in closing by arranging them in such a manner that their own weight will close them and then having them held open by cords having fusible links incorporated in their lengths, which shall stretch across the entire length of the well-hole, with the fusible links directly in the well-hole opening; by the melting of a link the cord will separate and thus allow the trap or curtain to close; traps or curtains should be kept closed as much as possible.

Enclosed well-holes constitute bad draft chimneys, especially where the well-holes on only one or two floors are enclosed, and on other floors open; these should be closed or trapped whenever possible.

STAIRWAYS.-Should, wherever possible, be in brick shafts or towers, the walls of which rise 3 feet above contiguous roofs and have standard fire doors on their openings.

The stairway frames, treads, etc., should preferably be of some incombustible material.

Stairways inside of buildings should not, if possible, be one directly over the other, but should be in different sections of the floor for each flight; they should be enclosed in brick, cement, or terra cotta partitions, or where this is not possible in partitions of matched boards or splined planks of a minimum thickness of 2 inches. Fireproof partitions to have standard fire doors on each stairway, and wooden partitions to have wooden doors of not less than two thicknesses of matched boards of a minimum

thickness of 3/4 inch each. Doors should preferably be at the bottom of each flight.

Where stairway partitions are used, the stairways themselves must be made tight so as to have no draughtways through them. Automatic trap doors for stairways.-(Rules of National Board of Fire Underwriters): If the floor is not more than 14 inches thick, the door shall be made of 14-inch sound, well-seasoned, narrow, matched boards with battens screwed on. If the floor is more than 14 inches thick, the door shall be as just described, and shall have a standard lock-jointed tin covering, as required for fire doors, on the under side, the tin extended over the edges and nailed on the upper side of the door. Hinges to be of heavy wrought metal with straps extending well onto the door. To be balanced with a weight on a cord running over double pulley on wall, a fusible link being inserted at point where cord is fastened to the door, so that door will close automatically in the event of fire. To be provided with a wrought-metal bow high enough to form a stop which will prevent the door being raised to a vertical line, thus keeping it in such position that it is sure to drop when link melts. Bow to be securely fastened to the upper side of the door so that it will serve as a handle.

Stairway Enclosures—Buildings of Ordinary Construction.— (Rules of National Board of Fire Underwriters): Stairways to have separate enclosure for each flight, not less than 11⁄2 inches thick, made tight and kept in repair. If approved fireproof material is not used, enclosure to be made of two thicknesses of matched boards, or of tongued and grooved or splined planks. (Double boarding is preferable to single planking, as it is not so liable to warp and open up at the seams.) A door must be provided at each flight, preferably at the bottom; the doors to be not less than 11⁄2 inches thick and unless standard iron or tin-clad, to be constructed of two thicknesses of matched boards or of tongued and grooved splined planks. Heavy wroughtiron hinges, latches, and catches to be attached by bolts. Doors to be kept closed and latched when not in use. It is preferable to attatch a spiral spring to all doors to keep same closed automatically, the doors which are kept open during working hours to be held so by a hook attached to a fusible link located as high on the door as convenient.