Connected with the subject of chimney sweeping is one which attracts
far less of the attention of the legislature and the public than its
importance would seem to demand: I mean the fires in the metropolis,
with their long train of calamities, such as the loss of life and
of property. These calamities, too, especially as regards the loss
of property, are almost all endured by the poor, the destruction of
whose furniture is often the destruction of their whole property, as
insurances are rarely effected by them; while the wealthier classes, in
the case of fires, are not exposed to the evils of houselessness, and
may be actually gainers by the conflagration, through the sum for which
the property was insured.
“The daily occurrence of fires in the metropolis,” say the Board
of Health, “their extent, the number of persons who perish by
them, the enormous loss of property they occasion, the prevalence
of incendiarism, the apparent apathy with which such calamities
are regarded, and the rapidity with which they are forgotten, will
hereafter be referred to as evidence of a very low social condition
and defective administrative organization. These fires, it was shown
nearly a century ago, when the subject of insurance was debated in
Parliament, were frequently caused from not having chimneys swept
in proper time.” I am informed that a chimney may be on fire for many
days, unknown to the inmates of the house, and finally break out in
the body of the building by its getting into contact with some beam or
wood-work. The recent burning of Limehouse Church was occasioned by the
soot collected in the flue taking fire, and becoming red hot, when it
ignited the wood-work in the roof. The flue, or pipe, was of iron.
From a return made by Mr. Braidwood of the houses and properties
destroyed in the metropolis in the three years ending in 1849
inclusive, it appears that the total number was 1111: of contents
destroyed (which, being generally insured separately, should be kept
distinct) there were 1013. The subjoined table gives the particulars as
to the proportion insured and uninsured:--
-------------+---------+----------+------
-- | Insured.|Uninsured.|Total.
-------------+---------+----------+------
Houses | 914 | 197 | 1111
Contents | 609 | 404 | 1013
-------------+---------+----------+------
| 1523 | 601 | 2124
-------------+---------+----------+------
“The proportion per cent. of the uninsured to the insured, would be--
--------+----+---------+----------+------
-- | | Insured.|Uninsured.|Total.
--------+----+---------+----------+------
| |Per Cent.| Per Cent.|
Houses |1111| 82·3 | 17·7 | 100
Contents|1013| 60·1 | 39·9 | 100
--------+----+---------+----------+------
|2124| 71·7 | 28·3 | 100
--------+----+---------+----------+------
The following table gives the total number of fires in the metropolis
during a series of years:
ABSTRACT OF CAUSES OF FIRE IN THE METROPOLIS, FROM 1833 to 1849,
INCLUSIVE.