Q

QUARRIES (slate)-Hazards of large frame areas and dry kilns. Moral hazard is most important. The natural supply of slate may be exhausted and render the plant useless, or slate may be of poor quality which would cause a great depreciation in the value of the quarry. Cost of transportation to markets may be so high that the plant cannot operate at a profit.

QUEBRACHO-An extract from wood bark, used in tanWill melt, but will not burn.

ning.

QUEEN POST OR QUEEN ROD-See King Post. QUEENS METAL-An alloy of tin, antimony, bismuth and lead. ALMIPA QUEENSWARE-Glazed earthenware of a cream color. QUERCITANNIC ACID-Tannic acid of oak. QUERCITRON—Bark of oak tree, used in tanning. QUICKLIME-Same as caustic lime or calcium oxide.

See Lime.

QUICKSILVER-Commercial name for mercury.

QUILL TOOTH PICKS-Work consists of sterilizing and repacking natural and artificial quills or straws and covers for same. Use motor-driven machines for making covers, and gas or steam for heating water. Fair insurance risks. QUINIC ACID-Obtained from cinchona bark. QUINOLENE-An oily inflammable liquid.

QUOIN STONES-Stones placed along the vertical an gles of a building.

R

RABBET OR RABBITT-A groove along the edge of a board or a door frame, as for instance, fire doors of swinging type must be rabbetted.

RACING STABLES have a poor fire record. Belmont Park, Long Island, burned twice in one month in 1917. See Stables.

RACKING OFF (in breweries)—This means drawing the beer into kegs. A filling machine and liquid gas tank are used for pressure. See Breweries.

RADIANT METAL POLISH-Flash point 200 deg. F. Classed non-volatile.

RAFFIA-A grass fibre.

RAFTERS-Those timbers which form the inclined sides of a roof and carry a roof covering. Joists to which roof boards are nailed.

RAGOSINE OIL-A mineral oil. Flash, 380 deg. F.

RAG STOCKS-This business has a very poor fire record, especially where sorting or baling is done. Open gas jets over sorting tables, smoking and coal stove heat are poor features. Clean woolen rags in bales are good insurance and better than clean cotton rags. Clean rags are those received from mills (called clips) and are sorted and sold for various purposes. Cleaned rags are those from discarded clothing which have been cleaned and are sometimes called "street rags." Generally employ poor class of help. Serious exposure to surrounding properties. See Clippings. See Skirted Woolen Rags.

RAILROAD CAR HOUSES-A standard Railway Car Storage House should be so constructed and protected that it may not contribute in any manner toward the spread of fire therein, and contribute only, in case of fire, not to exceed

RAILROAD CAR HOUSES

541

sectional losses of the structure. One single division should not exceed dimensions to expose to any one fire a greater number of cars therein than would represent a valuation of $200,000 of combustible rolling stock, or a total interior trackage of not more than 1,800 feet.

Floors-To be of brick, concrete, stone, cinders or earth. Hazards-All electrical, heating, power and occupancy hazards to be installed and maintained, and where necessary to be cut off, to be in accordance with the rules and requirements of the National Board of Fire Underwriters.

Pits-To have brick, stone or concrete retaining walls or piers; brick or concrete floors; steps of stone, concrete or iron; the rails to be supported on brick, concrete, stone or wood stringers exposed on one side only, and to have not more than four-track sections communicating.

Electricity

Stable Hazards are now practically nil. for power and heat is the main hazard. Large areas, construction features, untidy condition in pits between tracks, repair and paint shops, sand heaters, employees lounging and toilet rooms and clothing closets are also matters of importance for inspection. The fire record is fair.

Tracks To run clear from building, without break or transfer table. To be terminated by suitable bumpers, so that there will be a clear space of not less than three feet between bumpers and wall of building. Special track work in front of building to be provided with guard rails, where necessary.

Track Doors-Track doors to be in pairs, to be arranged so that whether open or closed any door of one pair will not interfere with the operation of any other pair. When within 10 feet of cut-off walls, to be constructed and hung as for a standard swinging fire door. Approved metal roller doors may also be used.

RAILROADS-Protection along railroads to prevent brush or forest fires. Along railroads, fire safety strips are employed. A strip about 25 feet on each side of the track is cleared of all material. Back of this there is a strip of woods from 50 to 60 feet wide, on which the timber is left but from which all the underbrush on the ground is removed.

Beyond this wooded strip is a ditch from 5 to 6 feet wide and a foot or more deep. The dirt from the ditch is thrown back toward the railroad and forms a small embankment. Cross ditches are dug through the wooded strip about 100 yards apart. After the material on the ground is cleared each year there is nothing else to be done and it is seldom that a fire escapes. By this device, and by strict enforcement of laws governing the use of spark arresters, etc., the number of fires started by railroads is kept down to a surprisingly small total. See Forest Fires.

RAILROAD TERMINALS-Usually large area of frame construction. Should have plenty of fire pails and extinguishers and a good standpipe system. In unheated portions, the water in standpipes is apt to freeze. Oftentimes the standpipes are drained at the beginning of winter and supply must then be turned on in engine-room or pumpingstation, in case there is a fire. In transporting perishable freight, such as potatoes, in box cars during cold weather, there is grave danger of freezing. Instances are known where the burlap and straw covering was deemed insufficient and a coal fire built in the car, with the result that the car and the freight were destroyed. A poor fire record class.

RAINES LAW HOTELS—Hotels only in the eye of the law as the furnished rooms above the saloon are seldom, if ever, used.

RAIN-LOOP-A loop made in electric wiring just before it enters the wall of a building, to prevent rain from flowing in.

RAISING PLATE-See Wall Plate.

RAMIE-A fibre from an oriental plant of the nettle family, used instead of cotton for braids, trimmings, napery, etc. Similar in appearance to thrown silk and woven the same as straw braid in a straw hat factory, on a "ramie" machine, then sized with glue or starch; dried over steam coils and smoothed in steam or gas-heated calender.

RANDANITE-An absorbent for dynamite; is a silicon

material.

RANDOM STONES-Stones thrown into the water to form a foundation or retainer wall.

RANGES (large) should have a hood to confine, and ventilating duct to carry off grease-laden vapors or smoke. A fan draws the vapors to a stack or flue. These hoods and vents become coated on the inside with grease, which takes fire from the stove. Steam jets are sometimes installed under hood so that if grease is ignited steam can be turned on to smother the fire. See Gas Ranges.

Ranges (small)—Should be set on one course of brick on sheet-iron. Large ranges should be set on fireproof floors. If the floors are combustible, ranges must be set on a foundation consisting of two courses of four-inch terra cotta or three courses of brick, top course pigeon-holed, on metal. Foundation to extend 12 inches in front (except if solid fuel is used, in which case 24 inches are required), also 12 inches sides and rear. If ranges have four-inch legs, only one course of terra cotta needed. If 18-inch clear space from combustible material only a metal shield is required. See Gas Ranges. See Illustration, page 544.

RAPE OIL-An oil resembling olive oil, but pressed from rape seed. Flash, 440 to 580 deg. F. Used at altars in churches.

RATE OF TEMPERATURE RISE DEVICE-See Automatic Door Release.

RATES-The object sought in fixing fire insurance rates in New York City.-By W. O. Robb.

1. To provide such a premium income from the aggregate of fire underwriting operations in the metropolitan district as will in average years be sufficient to pay the losses incurred in that district plus the specific expense and a pro rata share of the general expense of doing business, and yet leave margin enough both to pay a fair profit on the capital and surplus invested and to provide for the accumulation of a reserve against extraordinary or conflagration losses not occurring in average years and not to be treated as exclusively a metropolitan district contingency.

2. To so apportion this levy, or insurance tax, among the various classes of risks as to make each class come as near as possible to the payment of its own losses and the contri