To the Editor of the.
"Norrn-Cursa Day News."
Sm,—A good deal has been seen in print since yesterday blaming some one for the insufficiency of the present plant to handle the fire in Szechuen Road, when the blame ought really ¢o lie with whoever made the building too high, knowing that the fire plant is only intended to handle fires in two-storied houses, the prevailing type in these settlements.' There are only comparatively few three-storied buildings here; about half-a-dozen four-storied, one or two five storied and only one six-storied. And what right have the few owners of these higher buildings to expect that the thousands of owners of lower buildings should contribute to their safety by procuring a more expensive plant to reach the top of their higher buildings Supposing, for the purpose of illustrating what I mean, we take the last mentioned six-storied building, not only the highest, but the largest in these settlements: I mean Sheng Taotai's, and imagine a fire breaking out in its top story orna windy night. Phon to handle such a fire with any degree of efficiency would require a plant amounting to nothing less than 100,000 taels first cost, and 20,000 taels annual upkeep, allowing for depreciation and_ housing service, ete. Now what I mean is that an ordinary poor ratepayer, like myself, does not think it fair that he should be asked to contribute to these sums in order that Sheng Taotai, reputed the wealthiest man in China, should become still wealthier. If his Excellency, feeling dissatisfied with the income of his two-storied houses, razed them to the ground in order to build the present ones, three times as high, and to increase three times the yield of his land, then it seems only fair that he should be allowed to spend some of this extra wealth on means to extinguish his own fires or—go without tenants. It seem almost ridiculous that we poor people should be asked to encourage the building of these high houses which deprive us of air and light and in whose favour nothing can be said unless it be that they are likely to save their tenants lingering death and burial expenses.
Tam, ete., Sim—Can you tell me why it is necessary now-a-days to stop the carriage traffic on the Bund simply because there is a fire hose laid across it? Thirty years ago, when there were no hydrants in Shanghai, whenever there was a fire near the Bund we had to run'the engine on to the pontoon and pump from there, but we had small wooden bridges to put over the hose, and the carriage traffic went on as usual, We managed things better in those days Tam, ete., 22nd November.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.