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4.';4 RECO.RD AND GUIDE September 30, 1922 Building Managers Show How to Avoid Soft Coal Hazards Dangers of Spontaneous Combustion and Flue Fires Can Be Lessened by Proper Storage and Removal of Soot in Chimneys I\' view of the shortage of anthracite and the necessity for the substitution of bituminous coal by many consumers who are unaccustomed to its use the Fire Prevention Com¬ mittee of the Building Managers' Association has issued a state¬ ment calling attention to the fire hazards in the use and storage of soft coal, as follows:— "Large quantities of soft coal are being stored by mercantile establishments and industries because of the fear of a fuel shortage* during the winter. The danger of spontaneous com¬ bustion in this causes a serious fire hazard, and unusual care should be exercised by the owners of such properties. The hazard can be reduced by proper selection of the grades and sizes of soft coal, and the exercise of proper precautions in its handling and storage. Where large quantities of soft coal are stored in the open it should be in separate piles, so that a fire starting will not spread through the entire supply, and the affected pile can be extinguished or moved. Where the coal is stored in basements the Fuel Administration suggests the following precautions: Coal the size of a walnut or larger is well adapted for storing. Mine run, slack or screenings, on account of fine coal and dust, are not suited for storage in a basement. Never place coal near a hot pipe, against a hot furnace or any other hot-surface. Do not mix ashes with the coal, as there may be live co.-ils in the ashes. If coal must be wet down, wet only the portion that is to be used immediately. It is very important that pieces of waste, oily rags, sticks, paper and other rubbish should not be mixed, or allowed to come in contact with the coal. Special attention should be paid to the proper cleaning of flues and chimneys regularly. "Large numbers of shingle roof and defective flue fires are being reported, due to the increasing use of soft coal. The accumulation of soot on heating surfaces reduces the value of the fuel and starts fires. The Federal Fuel .\dministration Board suggests the following plan for removal of soot: "The fire is put into good condition with a substantial body of hot fuel. Common salt, thoroughly dried, is then thrown or sprinkled on to the incandescent fuel bed in a quantity depend¬ ing entirely on the size of the furnace. In the case of a house heating furnace, one pound at a time is ample, in the case of a large power plant boiler four or five scoops fully may be required. The dampers are kept open so as to maintain the furnace temperature and the salt is allowed to remain until the fumes have entirely disappeared. "Immediately upon charging the salt, the furnace becomes filled with dense white fumes which may require as much as half an hour to entirely disappear. If results are not secured on the first application, it should be repeated as many times Monthly Meeting of the New THE regular monthly business meetings of the Xew York Society of .Architects have been resumed after the usual summer recess. The first meeting, which inaugurates the new season's work for this organization, was held at the United Engineering Societies' Building, 29 West Thirty-ninth street, Tuesday evening, September 19. There was a large attendance especially in view of the fact that many members of the Society are still out of town. One of the most gratifying features of the meeting was the large attendance of new members and their interest in the proceedings. After the usual routine business of the evening was dis- as necessary. Once the heating surface is thoroughly cleaned a small application every few days is usually sufficient to keep it so. "Everyone using soft coal is urged by the administration to use this remarkably simple and cheap process for getting rid of the soot, cleaning and heating surfaces of boilers, thus saving large amounts of coal, preventing fires from chimneys and generally conserving all along the line of heating and the pro¬ duction of power." William H. Woodin, State Fuel .Administrator, has issued a warning to dealers in and consumers of coal that ignorance of General Order Xo. 1 will not prevent their vigorous prosecu¬ tion for infractions of the order prohibiting the sale of more than two weeks' supply to one customer. ^Ir. Woodin declared this order is still in force and that the penalty for the first offence, which constitutes a misdemeanor, is a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year or both. -\ second offence constitutes a felony and the penalty is more severe. Mr. Woodin believes prices for coal can be kept at a small advance over last year's figures. Hard coal continues to arrive in Xew York in large quantities. .-V new high mark for coal car loadings last week was re¬ ported b}- the -Association of Railway Executives in the follow¬ ing statement: "The total for the week was 212,110 cars. This exceeded the preceding week by 10,968 cars. On the basis of this loading coal production during the past week approximated 11,500,000 tons, of which about 9,750,000 was bituminous and 1,750,000 tons was anthracite coal. Totol production for the week before was approximately 10,633,000 tons for both kinds of coal. "Bituminous coal loading last week, according to complete reports, totaled 177,207 cars, 1,881 cars over the week before. The remaining 34,903 cars were loaded with anthracite, an increase of 15,087 cars over the preceding week. "Loading of anthracite coal on Saturday amounted to 5,588 cars, 142 under the day before, but 137 cars above the daily average for September one year ago." President Harding has appointed C. E. Spens as Federal Fuel Distributor. He has named two committees to assist the Government in efforts to speed up transportation of coal and to conserve available supplies. One committee is composed of railroad men, headed by President Willard of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, to han¬ dle the transportation problem. The other committee com¬ prises business men headed by S. M. Vauclain, president of the Baldwin Locomotive Works. The United Real Estate Owners' Association, through its president, Stewart Browne, announces that it is prepared to furnish its members with five tons of coke at $15 per ton delivered and with ten tons .American smokeless semi-an¬ thracite coal at $12.75 per ton delivered. York Society of Architects posed of George Meisner, Louis R. Uffner and Eugene Schoen were elected to membership in the Society. Following an extended discussion a resolution was unanimous¬ ly adopted that the Xew A'ork Society of Architects make application to the Board of Appeals to adopt a uniform method of procedure for all Superintendents of Buildings in approving the plans which are submitted to their bureaus by architects and others, independently of any action in the granting of building permits. This resolution was passed as expressing the Society's sense of the confusion existing in the various branches of the Building Department, arising in part from the newly adopted requirements of the Compensation Law.