insurance companies themselves furnishes the most valuable data obtainable for calculating Average losses. It is extremely desirable that the movement already under way to combine the experience of many companies, and thus calculate combined experience tables for fire insurance, as they have already been calculated for life insurance, should be carried out.

But even with the help of experience, the probfem of calculating the risk incurred by insuring a particular building is by no means simple. In the first place, the probable destructiveness of the fire must be determined from experience as well as the probability of the occurrence of the fire. In the second place, the problem is made more complex from the fact that no two pieces of property present precisely the same fire features, if the term may be used. To group them in classes at all it is necessary to overlook many minor points which may still have some influence on the degree of risk. Even when this is done, the necessary number of classes is very great. The Home Insurance Company, which has kept a careful record of its fire experience during an existence of nearly 50 years, has found it necessary to make more than 150 classes of risks. The process of arranging risks in groups according to the chance of loss to which they are exposed is known as the classification of risks. It is a matter of great importance that this classification should be as accurate as possible. It is of importance to the companies, because a general underestimating of risks must result in loss to them; it is of importance to the insured, because imperfect classification means an unjust distribution of the burden of insurance. If any kind of property is put in a more hazardous class than it properly belongs in, the owners of that property contribute more than their share to the cost of insurance. Farmers, as a class, e.g., believe that farm property is thus unjustly classified by the large insurance companies, and that rates on such property are higher than they should be. It is that belief which is partly responsible for the spread of small mutual companies among them. The fire experience of these mutual companies lends some support to this claim.

The Policy. The terms of the insurance contract are set forth in the policy. In the early days of fire underwriting there was great diver sity in the forms of policies, and considerable uncertainty in consequence as to their provisions. Underwriters' associations began early to urge the adoption of a common form of policy for fire insurance, and more recently the legislatures of the various States have taken the matter under consideration. Fifteen States now have laws describing the form of policy to be used in writing fire insurance within their borders. Massachusetts adopted a standard form in 1873, New Hampshire in 1885, New York in 1886. The other 12 States have since adopted the New York form, sometimes with minor variations. Moreover, the large companies have introduced the New York standard policy into many States where its use is not compulsory, so that a uniform policy is now written by them in nearly all parts of the United States. This policy contains, among other things, very clear and precise statements as to the limitation of the liability of the insurer, as to acts of the insured which will cause the policy to become void, and as to the necessary procedure by the insured in proving a claim to indemnity in case of loss. To give

some degree of flexibility to the policy, a series of riders has been prepared, which the companies are in many States authorized to attach to the policy, and which thus become a part of the contract.

Termination of the Policy. A fire-insurance contract may be terminated in any one of four ways. It may be made void by the failure of the insured to live up to the conditions contained in the policy; the time for which the insurance is granted may expire, when all liability of the insurer ceases; the policy may be canceled at the request of either insurer or insured; or. finally, the insured property may be destroyed by fire and the payment of the indemnity by the insurer to the insured terminate the contractual relations between them. The first three methods are simple, and need no comment. Trouble arises only in the settlement of claims for indemnity. Not to speak of the somewhat elaborate formalities to be observed by the insured in proving the amount of loss he has suffered, disputes often arise as to the amount of the liability of the company. In States where there is no legal regulation prohibiting such an arrangement, the policy usually provides that the liability of the company shall be limited to the actual value of the property destroyed. Even in case of total loss the insurer cannot recover the total amount named in the face of his policy unless he can prove that his property at the time of the fire was worth that amount.

Valued-Policy Laws. Partly on account of the injustice involved in collecting premiums on a larger amount of insurance than the company is ready to pay even for a total loss, and partly because of the tendency to laxness in appraising property for insurance under this system, several States have passed so-called “valued-policy” laws. These laws do not apply to movable property, for reasons easily discerned. In the case of fixed or immovable property, valued-policy laws provide that, in the absence of fraud on the part of the insured, the company must pay the full amount of the face of the policy in case of total loss. In some States, however, allowance may be made for depreciation in the value of the property between the time of insurance and the time of loss; while in others allowance is made for any change in the property during that time of such a character as to increase the risk. Wisconsin was the first State to pass a valued-policy law, which it did in 1874. Nineteen other States and Territories have since passed similar laws. Several other legislatures have also passed them, only to have them vetoed by the governors. Of the eight bills passed during the years 1899-1901, no less than five were vetoed. Insurance companies have opposed the passage of such laws, and resisted them when passed, so far as possible. In the case of the Missouri law they went to the United States Supreme Court on the question of its constitutionality. The court declared it constitutional. In the absence of legislation, when the same property is insured in several companies, the insured can recover only the actual value of the property destroyed. The various companies pay such a part of the indemnity as the insurance they are carrying constitutes of the total amount of insurance on the property. In most States having valued-policy laws, however, the amount of insurance stated in the face of each policy must be paid in the case of total loss of immovable property.

Surplus Insurance. A special form of insurance known as surplus insurance is sometimes written. This is sold under the condition that the company granting it does not become liable for indemnity in case of fire, unless the loss of property is so great that the entire amount of regular insurance fails to cover it. Such surplus insurance is furnished at rates below those charged for regular insurance, since in most cases of partial loss the regular insurance is enough to cover the loss, and the company furnishing surplus insurance escapes liability.

Coinsurance. A large proportion of fires result in only partial losses to insured property. In the absence of any stipulation to the contrary, a partial loss must be paid in full, provided it does not exceed the amount of the insurance. There are two unfortunate results of this arrangement. One is that it increases the complexity of the calculation which an insurance company must make in estimating the risks it assumes. The other is that in the long run persons insuring their property for a small part of its value gain at the expense of those carrying insurance more nearly equal to the value of their property. If, e.g., of two similar pieces of property, each worth $10,000, one is insured for $4000 and the other for $8000, the premium paid by the owner of the former property is only one-half of that paid by the owner of the latter. If now each piece is damaged by fire to the extent of $3000, each owner recovers the full amount of the loss. The ratio of premium to indemnity is therefore twice as great in the one case as in the other. There are two possible remedies: The premium rate might be lowered as the ratio of insurance to value was increased, since the actual risk for $1000 insurance diminishes pari passu. A very different remedy is usually adopted, however, known as coinsurance. A coinsurance clause attached to a fire policy stipulates that the owner of insured property must insure for a certain percentage usually 80 per cent of its value; or, if he carries less insurance, must be held to be his own insurer for the difference between the amount carried and the 80 per cent. This provision has no effect upon the amount of the indemnity received in the case of total loss. In the case of partial loss, however, it does away with the discrimination in rates in favor of small insurance. recur to the example already used, the two pieces of property, each worth $10,000, must, in accordance with the coinsurance clause, be insured for $8000. The owner who has only $4000 of insurance is considered to carry his own insurance for the other $4000. If the two pieces of property were totally destroyed, each owner would receive as indemnity the amount stated in the face of the policy, and the ratio of premium to indemnity would be the same in the two cases. If, on the other hand, each piece of property was damaged to the extent of $3000, the owner carrying only $4000 of insurance would receive but $1500 of indemnity, since, as self-insurer for one-half of the required 80 per cent, he must bear one-half the loss. The other owner, having insured his property for the full 80 per cent, would receive the full $3000 from the insurance company. In this way the ratio of premium to indemnity is made uniform in the two cases. The principle of coinsurance is that the entire property at risk should bear the burden of the loss of any part of it. It is a principle long familiar in marine insurance under the name of

Το

"average." It is applied to all fire-insurance policies issued in France, Germany, Belgium, and Russia. It is clearly in the interests of justice, since it brings about a more equitable distribution of the cost of insurance.

Anticoinsurance Legislation. In spite of all these facts, the attempt to introduce such a clause into fire-insurance policies in the United States has met with great opposition. It was first used to any extent in 1892, and as early as 1893 three States passed laws prohibiting its use. These States were Missouri, Tennessee, and Maine. (Maine repealed the law in 1895.) Similar laws have since been enacted by nine other States, in the following order: Louisiana, Iowa, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, and New Jersey. The Ohio law, which was passed in 1896, was repealed in 1902, leaving 10 States with such laws still in force. To break down the opposition to the coinsurance clause, the companies have adopted a plan of offering insurance at a lower rate when the coinsurance clause is in the policy than when it is not. This they can afford to do, since the effect of the clause is to reduce the risk. Several States which prohibit coinsurance clauses under other circumstances authorize them when they are accompanied by a reduction of rates.

Governmental Regulations. The discussion of the advisability of government ownership and management of the insurance business belongs in the general article on INSURANCE. So far as fire insurance is concerned, there have been but few experiments in that direction. Such government fire-insurance offices as have been established, chiefly in Prussia and Switzerland, have operated over so small a territory that their experience is of little value. They have lacked one of the chief supports of an insurance office -the increased regularity in the proportion of losses to risks which results from bringing many risks together in one company. In all parts of the civilized world governmental supervision and regulation of private companies is the general rule in the insurance business. In the United States each individual State exercises supreme authority over the business within its own territory, as the national government has as yet made no attempt to regulate it. The result is a great deal of diversity in the laws to which companies operating in a large number of States are subjected. Nearly all these laws have been passed in the real or supposed interests of the insured. A few relating to taxation have been passed for the purpose of raising revenue. Reference has already been made to certain special laws in force in a comparatively small number of States, viz., anticompact laws, valued-policy laws, and anticoinsurance laws. It remains to notice a few of the more common provisions of the different States. In nearly all States it is necessary for a company desiring to do business within its borders to secure a license from the proper State official. In some States it is necessary for a company from without the State to make a deposit for the security of policy holders within the State. It is sometimes necessary for agents to secure licenses to solicit business within the State. In nearly all States companies are required to make annual reports and to submit to examination by the proper State official whenever he deems it necessary. In most States they are required to maintain a reserve suflicient to reinsure all outstanding risks. All States tax fire-insurance companies (certain

mutual companies are exempted in some States), and sometimes a discrimination in taxation is made in favor of domestic companies against those from outside the State. In many States a "reciprocal" law is in force with regard to taxation and the conditions of entering the State-i.e.. the law of the State provides that a company from any other State, desiring to enter its borders, must meet the same requirements as the State in which the company is chartered imposes upon other State companies. The great diversity of the regulations adopted by the different States points conclusively to the desirability of national control of the insurance business through congressional legislation.

Bibliography. Atkinson, The Prevention of Loss by Fire (Boston, 1900); Lewis, State Fire Insurance versus Stock Company Insurance (Cumberland, 1900); Moore, Fire Insurance and how to Build (New York, 1903); Kitchin, The Principles and Finance of Fire Insurance (London, 1904); Mathews, Manual of Inspections (Louisville, 1908); Young, Insurance Office Organization (London, 1908); Sweetland, Insurance and Real Estate Accounts (Chicago, 1910); Wolfe, The Examination of Insurance Companics (New York, 1910); Huebner, Property Insurance (ib., 1911); Gephant, Insurance and the State (ib., 1913).

FIRE ISLAND BEACH, or GREAT SOUTH BEACH. A low spit of land, about 30 miles long, and from 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 of a mile broad, which, with the shorter Oak Island Beach, to the west, incloses Great South Bay, on the southern coast of Long Island, N. Y. (Map: New York, G 5). Near its west extremity is a lighthouse of the first order, which has a flashing white light, 167 feet above mean high water and visible for 19 (nautical) miles; also a station from which transatlantic steamers bound for New York are first sighted. The beach is a popular summer resort. Margaret Fuller Ossoli, with her husband and child, perished by shipwreck on Fire Island in 1850.

FIRELESS COOKER. A device by means of which foods which have been thoroughly heated or partially cooked on the stove are kept hot a sufliciently long time to complete the cooking process. This is accomplished by providing a suitable covering of insulating material into which the cooking pot with its hot contents can be placed. Many types of fireless cooker are on the market, which, though like in principle, differ in the details of construction, the sort of insulating material used, and in similar ways. The common insulating materials are mineral wool and asbestos.

Fireless cookers which will give satisfactory results can be easily made at home, by using a box or chest of such size that the cooking pot can be surrounded with a layer about 6 inches thick of nonconducting material, such as hay, excelsior, or crumpled paper. A cushion of suitable size is placed over the top of the cooking pot, which should have straight sides and a tight-fitting cover, and the box closed with a tight-fitting lid. In such fireless cookers there is no source of heat excepting that derived from the preliminary cooking on the stove and retained in the hot material in the cooking pail.

Some of the commercial cookers have an extra source of heat, i.e., soapstone or iron plates which can be heated on the stove during the preliminary cooking and placed in the cooker under or over the cooking pot or both. This pre

supposes an insulating material and construction which cannot be set on fire by the hot plates. Advantages claimed for the fireless cooker are economy of fuel, convenience, and economy of time. For instance, a housewife while getting breakfast can start the cookery of many of the dishes (meats, vegetables, etc.) needed for dinner or supper, place them hot in the fireless cooker, close it, and leave them without further attention. At dinner or supper time the foods can be warmed again if they have cooled below a temperature at which it is desired to serve them. See COOKERY.

Bibliography. M. J. Mitchell, The Fireless Cook Book (New York, 1909); Lovewell, Whittemore, and Lyon, The Fireless Cooker (Topeka, 1908); E. H. Huntington, "Fireless Cooker," University of Wisconsin, Bulletin 217 (Madison, 1908); Cornell Reading Course for Farmers' Wires, No. 23 (Ithaca, 1907); Davis and Wood, "Illustrated Lecture on the Homemade Fireless Cooker," United States Department of Agricul ture, Syllabus 15 (Washington, 1914).

FIRELESS ENGINE. A form of steam or vapor engine which is detached from the heating apparatus, and which carries no fuel in process of combustion to generate heat. Dr. Emile Lamm, of New Orleans, invented, July 19, 1870, an engine in which the motive power was derived from the vapor of ammonia. The ammonia, as it escaped from the engine, was passed into a reservoir of water, in which it was absorbed; the water when heated to a temperature of about 135° F. gave up the ammonia as gas, which was returned to the engine to be used over again, and then again absorbed and returned as before. This engine was found efficient and economical for the movement of street cars. The use of ammonia was soon abandoned, steam taking its place. Water heated to 212° F. becomes vapor if the pressure upon it be no more than the usual atmospheric 15 pounds per square inch. If the pressure be greater, the water remains liquid until a higher temperature is reached, the temperature varying with the pressure according to well-known laws. If steam at a high pressure be admitted to water of low temperature and pressure in a closed vessel, the steam will be condensed in the water, but the pressure in the vessel will be increased, while the volume of the water will be enlarged by the volume of that derived from the condensed steam. The water thus becomes charged with steam condensed under high pressure, and when the pressure is re lieved, a portion of the steam reverts to its condition of vapor and may be conducted in the usual way to a cylinder and piston, where it will do its customary work. The opening of the valves gives vent to the vapor, gradually reduces the pressure, and relieves the condensed steam. so that a tank, filled with water and stored with many times its volume of uncondensed steam, will furnish motive power sufficient to move the engine and a considerable train of cars for a trip of several miles. On its return the tank is connected with a stationary boiler from which it receives a fresh supply of steam. It will not be forgotten that the real force of the steam is due to the heat which it contains, and that if the heat be lost, by radiation or otherwise, from the tank containing the condensed steam, its potential energy is so much reduced. In the en gine used at New Orleans the mechanism was that of an ordinary locomotive minus its fire bot having a water tank instead of a boiler, the

appliances for stopping, starting, and backing were as usual. The tank was about 6 feet long and 3 feet in diameter, covered thickly with felt and wood to retain its heat. Steam was taken until the gauge indicated 135 to 150 pounds, the temperature for 135 pounds being 353°. With this accumulation of power the machine ran 5 to 7 miles before the pressure was reduced to 60 pounds. The labor and care of firing are avoided on one of these engines, and they offer no danger from sparks from a chimney stack or hot ashes and coal from an ash pit of a furnace. They have been made unnecessary by the coming in of the compressed-air locomotive and the various systems of electric traction. They were never economical.

FIRELOCK. A firearm introduced about 1690, the charge of which was ignited by the concussion of flint and steel. The matchlock previously in use required a lighted match at the powder pan. See SMALL ARMS.

FIRENʼZE. See FLORENCE.

FIRENZE, ANDREA DA. See CICCIONE. FIRENZUOLA, fè'rěn-zwô'là, AGNOLO, or ANGIOLO, GIOVANNINI (1493-c.1546). An Italian writer, remembered chiefly for the idiomatic elegance of his language and for his spirited translation of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. He was born at Florence, studied law at Siena and Perugia, and in spite of a gay life, to which he was ever faithful, he finally joined the Brotherhood of Vallombrosa. He rose to considerable influence in Rome, where he had gone to practice law, and Clement VII, who freed him from his monastic vows, assured him sufficient income to admit his exclusive devotion to literature in Florence. Firenzuola's works include two comedies, a dialogue, Delle bellezze delle donne, a eulogy upon the charms of women; Discorsi degli animali, the basis of which was probably a Spanish descendant of the Sanskrit book of fables known as the Pančatantra (q.v.); and the Ragionamenti, a collection of novelle written in imitation of the Decameron. For biography, consult: Bianchi's edition of Firenzuola's works (Florence, 1848); that of Guerrini, Novelle di Firenzuola (ib., 1886); M. Rosai, L'Asino d'oro di Agnolo Firenzuola (Città di Castello, 1901). FIRE OPAL. See OPAL. FIREPLACE.

TION.

See HEATING AND VENTILA

FIREPROOF BUILDING. See FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION.

FIREPROOF CONSTRUCTION. Fireproof buildings have been defined as those constructed with walls of brick, stone, terra cotta, concrete, iron, or steel, in which wood beams or lintels are not placed, and in which the floors and roofs are constructed as below outlined. According to the most approved codes the stairs and staircase landings must be built entirely of brick, stone, Portland cement, concrete, iron, or steel. No woodwork or other inflammable material shall be used in any of the partitions, furrings, or ceilings in any fireproof buildings, excepting, however, that when the height of the building does not exceed 12 stories, or more than 150 feet, the doors and windows and their frames, the trims, the casings, the interior finish when filled solid at the back with fireproof material, and the floor boards and sleepers directly thereunder may be of wood, but the space between the sleepers shall be solidly filled with fireproof materials and extend up to the underside of the floor boards. When the YOL. VIII.-39

height of a fireproof building exceeds 12 stories, or is more than 150 feet, the floor surfaces shall be of stone, cement, rock, asphalt, tiling, or similar incombustible material, or the sleepers and floors may be of wood treated by some approved process to render the same fireproof. All outside window frames and sash shall be of metal or of wood covered with metal. The inside window frames and sash, doors, trim, and other interior finish may be of wood covered with metal, or of wood treated by some approved process to render the same fireproof. All hall partitions or permanent partitions between rooms in fireproof buildings shall be built of fireproof material and shall not be started on wooden sills or on wooden floor boards, but be built on the fireproof construction of the floor and extend to the fireproof beam filling above. The tops of all doors and window openings in such partitions shall be at least 12 inches below the ceiling line.

Fireproof floors shall be constructed with steel floor beams so arranged as to spacing and length of beams that the load to be supported by them, together with the weights of the materials used in the construction of the said floors, shall not cause a greater deflection of the said beams than

of an inch per foot of span under the total load, and they shall be tied together at intervals of not more than eight times the depth of the beam. Between the beams shall be placed brick arches springing from the lower flange; or hollow tile arches of hard-burnt clay or porous terra cotta of uniform density and hardness of burn; or arches of Portland cement concrete, segmental in form, which shall have a rise of not less than 14 inches for each foot of span between the beams; or between the said beams may be placed solid or hollow burnt-clay, stone, brick, or concrete slabs in flat or curved shapes, concrete, or other fireproof composition, and any of said materials may be used in combination with wire cloth, expanded metal, wire strands, or wroughtiron or steel bars; but in any such construction, and as a precedent condition to the same being used, tests shall be made.

No filling of any kind which may be injured by frost shall be placed between the floor beams during freezing weather; and if the filling is so placed during any winter month, it shall be temporarily covered with suitable material for protection from being frozen. On top of any arch, lintel, or other device which does not extend to and from a horizontal line with the top of the floor beams, cinder concrete or other suitable fireproof material shall be placed to fill up solidly the space to a level with the top of the floor beams and shall be carried to the underside of the wood floor boards in case such be used. All fireproof floor systems shall be of sufficient strength to safely carry the load to be imposed thereon without straining the material in any case beyond its safe working strength. The bottom flanges of all floor beams and flat roof beams, and all exposed portions of such beams below the abutments of the floor arches, shall be entirely incased with hard-burnt clay, porous terra cotta, or other fireproof material allowed to be used for the filling between the beams, to which such incasing material shall be properly secured. The exposed sides and bottom plates or flanges of girders supporting floor beams, or supporting floor arches or floors, shall be entirely incased in the same manner. After the floors are constructed no opening greater than 8 inches square