FIRE DEPARTMENT AND APPARATUS the water driven through, the five-inch nozzle is such that it carries all woodwork before it, tears off roofs, and even bursts through brick walls, thus obviating the use of axes. On these floating engines there are always screens for protecting the men who would otherwise be exposed to the fury of the flames. The screens are made of steel plate, and are double, having an air-space between. Each section is six feet long, and four and a half feet above the rail arching over the deck. Peep-holes to look through, and other holes large enough to direct a small stream through, are also provided. If the decks or any other part of the water-engine become too hot for safety or comfort, the captain, instead of backing the boat out to cool off, turns the water on from skillfully arranged sprinklers, thus protecting the workers while they attend to the greater fire. The imperial German government has introduced a fire-proof suit of such efficiency that a fireman may approach a conflagration, either in a building or on board ship, with comparative free 1275 abled to send a spray of water over himself, as an additional protection against fire or heat. By a special tube he can convey water into the helmet like a douche. Thus protected, he can approach a fire with impunity, is enabled to make his investigations, and more successfully combat the danger, whether in dense smoke or fierce flame. The new costume has been adopted by all the fire brigades in Berlin, and by those of other Continental cities, and has also been provided for all the vessels of the German navy. In no other field of human activity is the value of time more clearly recognized than in the modern fire department. The fraction of a minute saved in the first attack upon a fire often means the saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars; while not infrequently a human lifè may depend upon the celerity with which the brave firemen reach the scene of a conflagration with their ladders, life-lines, nets and other life-saving appliances. Every agency known to science for economizing time is utilized. The alarm is sounded by electricity. (See FIRE-ALARMS, in these Supple dom from danger. It consists of a helmet, jacket, trousers, boots and mittens. The helmet is constructed of light wicker-work, covered with a composition making it perfectly air and water tight. In the front part of the helmet is a glass window, which closes hermetically, but which may be opened and closed by the wearer as may be required. Connected with the helmet are the jacket and hose or trousers, made of water-proof double material. The trousers are supported by leather suspenders. The jacket falls over the trousers at the waist, and is fastened by a belt. The sleeves of the jacket are connected with waterproof gloves. Passing through the back of the helmet is a tube for the conveyance of air, which is distributed by means of smaller tubes throughout the interior around the head of the wearer, thereby keeping the head constantly surrounded with fresh air, and also preventing the accumulations of moisture-cloudiness on the glass, thereby enabling the wearer to see and breathe freely. The fireman thus encased is further provided with a water-tube, by means of which he is en ments.) The same current of electricity which sounds the note of warning in the engine-house releases the fastening of the horses in their stalls. These sagacious animals, thoroughly trained in the performance of their duties, instantly spring to their places in front of the engine. The harness, suspended from hooks overhead, drops upon their backs, where it is quickly fastened with clasps, the doors of the engine-house fly open, and barely eight seconds have elapsed between the sounding of the alarm and the exit of the engine from the engine-house. The sleeping-room of the firemen is on the second floor, directly over the engine. Stairs, which are provided as a means of reaching this room from below, require too much time to descend; hence, large holes are made in the floor, in the center of each of which is a brass rod, reaching to the main floor, down which the firemen slide, in order to save an extra second or two of time. The fireman who should use the stairway, descending it as quickly as he might, would find, when he reached the ground-floor, that the horses were harnessed, the fires lighted and the 1276 FIREFLY-FIRE INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES The most brilliant fireflies are species of Pyro engine half a block away. In order to make steam quickly, the water in the boiler of the en-phorus, most at home in tropical America. One gine is kept hot at all times, a stationary boiler in the engine-house keeping the water at a proper temperature when the engine is "at rest. One of the important adjuncts of the fire department of a great city is a school for horses, where they undergo a thorough and systematic course of education. After months of patient training, only the more intelligent and sagacious horses are assigned to active duty, it being impossible to educate a large percentage of the animals to the requirements of a well-ordered fire department. Fire-Extinguishers. Of these there is a large variety, each with its advocates. The fire-extinguisher, commonly so termed, is a metal cylinder, with a capacity of about a quarter of a barrel. (See FIRE, Vol. IX, p. 235.) In some varieties, there are two vessels, one containing a bicarbonate, the other a strong acid, sometimes oil of vitriol. These are contained within a larger cylinder, containing water. When wanted for use, the contents of the two smaller · vessels are thrown into the water, carbonic-acid gas is set free, and is absorbed by or dissolved in the water, and the whole is immediately ready for use. In some machines other agencies are used. By opening a suitable valve in the hose or outlet, the confined gas forces out the liquid in a strong jet, while yet heavily charged with carbonic-acid gas, which, being non-combustible, materially assists the action of the water as an extinguisher. Another, the Babcock, has its cylinder filled with a solution of bicarbonate of soda, with a vessel of acid suspended in its upper part. This smaller vessel has a stopper, which, being withdrawn, causes the vessel to tilt over, and the escaping acid, mingling with the solution, discharges the carbonic acid under heavy pressure. The transition from the small extinguisher to one large enough to necessitate carriage by wheels and drawn by horses was easy and natural. In order to provide against the contingency of exhaustion of a cylinder, and the apparatus becoming thereby temporarily worthless, as at large fires, an additional cylinder was added, so that while one is in use, the other may be resupplied with the necessary chemicals. Grenades, or bombs, are small glass spheres readily fitted to convenient places in halls, rooms, offices, etc., and are intended to be thrown by hand against the portions of the structure.on fire, thus breaking the glass and liberating the contents for extinguishing the flames. FIREFLY, a name applied to many "phosphorescent" insects, which are all included within the order Coleoptera, or beetles. Some of them (among the elaters) give forth a steady light, and these may be distinguished as fireflies proper from the glow-worms and "lightning-bugs" (among the lampyrids), which flash light intermittently. In the phosphorescent Elaterida, furthermore, the production of light has its seat more anteriorily than in the Lampyrida, where it is abdominal. form (Pyrophorus noctilucus) common in the West Indies and Brazil, attains a length of about an inch and a half, and has a dark rusty brown color. On the upper surface of the first ring of the thorax are two yellowish oval spots, which are brilliantly luminous during the nocturnal activity of the beetle; while on the first ring of the abdomen a still brighter organ is situated. The luminous organs are special modifications of the epidermic cells, which are disposed in two layers, of which the outer alone is luminous. The luminosity depends on a process of oxidation; the oxygen is supplied by the trachea, and the brilliancy varies with the respiratory activity. What the substance oxidized really is remains undiscovered. The light of these living lamps, or cucujos, as the Mexicans call them, has frequently saved a traveler's life; the Indians "travel in the night with fireflies fastened to their hands and feet, and spin, weave, paint and dance by their light." See COLEOPTERA, Vol. VI, p. 132. FIREHOLE RIVER, or main fork of Madison River. It flows from Madison Lake northwest through Firehole Basin, one of the most remarkable regions of the National Park, in the state of Wyoming. *FIRE INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1879. The changes in the methods of conducting fire insurance in the United States during the past 15 years have been many, some of them undoubtedly for the better, and on the whole tending toward a more scientific basis for the fitting of the rate charged to the risk assumed. Experience has enabled underwriters to make a better classification of risks, and during the past three years, at least, better results, from the standpoint of the stockholder, have been secured. Better building-construction in the large cities, better care of premises, increased efficiency of fire departments and watersupply, the installation of automatic sprinklers in large mercantile and manufacturing establishments, and vastly improved installation of electric wires used for power or lighting have been brought about by the fire-underwriters. With the introduction and now almost universal use of electricity in its application to light manufacturing, street-car propulsion by the trolley system, and for lighting purposes, general and domestic, a distinct fire-hazard has been developed, formerly unknown. This has, however, been pretty effec tually met by the prompt measures taken by the underwriters. In the latter part of 1892 the Underwriters' National Electrical Association was organized, and a system of thorough inspection of risks by experts was inaugurated, and rules applied for the installation of electric wires, and the government of the use of electricity in its various forms, extra charges of premium being made for neglect to observe the prescribed regulations. More recently an electrical bureau, under the direction of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, has been established, with head*Copyright, 1897, by The Werner Company. FIRE INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1879 1277 quarters in Chicago, to which regular descriptive reports are made, by the local boards of underwriters throughout the country, of all fires caused by electric wires, and a classified bulletin issued to all companies and agencies, containing a summary of the information received. Through the efforts of the Electrical Association and the National Board of Fire Underwriters, municipal ordinances governing the use of electricity and providing for systematic inspection have been adopted in very many of the larger towns and in the principal cities. Classification of Risks, Supervision and Rating. Persistent attempts have been made, with more unanimity than formerly, by the fire insurance managers, for a more accurate classification of hazards, and to devise schedules of rating adequate to meet the distinct hazards of various kinds in different localities. To this end, underwriters' associations, made up of representatives of the leading companies, have been formed since 1880, having general supervision of the business in the various sections of the United States. These associations regulate rates and agents' commissions, in their respective territories, for the companies comprising them, excepting in the principal cities. There are many companies outside the general associations which make rates for themselves, but the great majority of the important companies are "tariff' companies, and adhere to agreed rates. The New England Insurance Exchange, with headquarters in Boston, was organized in January, 1883, and controls rates and commissions for the New England states, with the exception of New Hampshire (which is rated by a state board) and the city of Boston, which is under the supervision of the Boston Board of Underwriters. In 1881 the Underwriters' Association of the Middle Department was organized, its territory now being Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. The Southeastern Tariff Association was formed in 1882, and has jurisdiction over most of the Southern states. The Western Union, as it is generally called, has for many years supervised the business of the West and Northwest for the companies composing it, and includes about all the states and territories, excepting the Pacific Coast states, west of the Alleghanies. Until 1895 the Pacific states were supervised, first by the Pacific Insurance Union, and later by the Pacific Board of Underwriters, but since 1895 that territory has been in a disorganized condition. maintaining adequate rates and regulating commissions. Several states maintain state boards for purposes of general co-operation, but not as rating bodies, as a rule. The Fire Underwriters' Association of the Northwest, having a continuous existence since 1871, is an influential organization, composed of the managers and fieldmen of the West and Northwest, who meet annually in convention at Chicago as a free parliament for the discussion of insurance topics, and has been of great service as an educator, but studiously refrains from attempting the exercise of supervisory functions. Of a similar character is the Underwriters' Association of the Pacific, meeting in San Francisco. The National Board of Fire Underwriters, with headquarters in New York, for a time attempted the exercise of general supervisory and rating functions, but for several years past has confined its work to the gathering and dissemination of statistical information, the inspection and improvement of fire departments, improved building construction, the detection of incendiaries, and a better system of electrical installation. Its work is broadly educational and suggestive. The work of the various supervising and rating associations above named has, it is claimed, resulted in a better classification of risks and a more scientific system of schedule rating. In the hazard on manufacturing risks, great improvements have been brought about during the past few years, through the methods adopted by the "mill mutuals" of New England. These companies were formed almost exclusively for the insurance, on the mutual plan, of cotton and woolen mills and kindred establishments, and have adopted a system of exceedingly stringent regulations for the mill-owners, involving the most approved construction of buildings and machinery, extra watchfulness of premises, internal fire-extinguishing devices and domestic fire brigades, with ample water-supply, and numerous other safeguards unnecessary to mention. large stock companies, also, have factory insurance associations, operating under similar conditions; and as the result of this system of inspection and extra protection, the fire loss, and consequently the rate, has materially decreased on the class of risks named. The Insurance Supervision and Legislation. One of the peculiar experiences to which American insurance companies are subjected, to a great extent unknown in other countries, is a system of supervision, under a more or less intricate code of laws, administered by an insurance commissioner In New York City and vicinity, rates and com- in each of forty-five states, in which there is great missions are regulated by the New York Tariff diversity of requirements. In several of the older Association, while the balance of the state is su- and more important states there is uniformity in pervised by the New York State Board. In all some of the regulations adopted to govern insurthe cities and towns of importance, local boards ance companies, such as amount of capital reof underwriters exist, subject to the control, quired, license fees and standard form of policy through committees and commissions, of the to be used; but in a score of features the laws are above-named general associations. Diversity of widely different and constantly changing. At interests and sharp competition have subjected each session of the state legislatures numerous these associations, at times, to a severe strain, but new bills or amendments to old laws are introso far they have remained intact and efficient induced pertaining to the supervision of insurance, 1278 | FIRE INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1879 claimed, in violation of a law formed expressly to apply to this class of insurers. The immediate result is the cessation of business by the class. affected, though a small number of Lloyds financially strong and obedient to legal requirements continue successfully in the field. There has always been a large number of mutual fire insurance companies in this country, ranging in importance from the "township mutual," as a local affair, to the company seeking business in an entire state, or in several states. The number has widely varied at different periods, hundreds having disappeared during the past decade, and many new companies. coming into existence. The most stable and the strongest of the mutuals are the mill mutuals of New England, above referred to. In 1895 the number of mutuals, not including any of the township mutuals, or others purely local, was about two hundred, altogether writing probably about one twentieth in amount of the risks written throughout the country by all companies. many of which the companies regard as hostile to their interests. In a few states, somewhat recently, "anti-combination" laws have been passed applying to insurance, prohibiting the existence of tariff associations, state boards and compacts of any kind designed to fix rates. In other states, special taxation of premiums for the benefit of fire departments has been prescribed; while in fourteen of the states "valued-policy laws are now in force, providing that the full amount named in the policy, whatever the actual value of the property insured, must be paid in cases of total loss. In some cases the clause in policies, extensively used for some time past, called the 'eighty per cent co-insurance clause," has been prohibited by statute. The clause provides that The clause provides that unless the owner carries insurance equal to eighty per cent of the value of the property, he shall become a co-insurer for the deficiency. Spasmodic efforts have been made during the past dozen years by the state insurance commissioners, who meet annually, to secure greater uniformity in the laws of the several states governing insurance, but without much success. As a Statistics of the Business. The growth of property values, and he consequent increase of the insurance area in the United States, has been rapid, but insurance facilities have increased in about the same proportion. Comparing 1880 with 1895, the num ber of companies in existence shows a decrease, but the assets reported show a large increase. In 1880 the total assets of all classes of companies, home and foreign (the assets of the latter being only those held in the United States), amounted to $216,000,000, in round numbers, and in 1895 to $350,000,000. The capital of the stock companies has been exceedingly variable: reported at a little over $73,000,000 in 1880, at $93,000,000 in 1885, decreasing to $85,000,000 in 1890, and to $70,000,000 in 1895. The number of American stock companies was about 295 in 1880; in 1885, about 270, rising to 325 in 1890, and decreasing to 260 in 1895. Concentration has of late years been the order of the day, fewer companies transacting the business, many of the smaller companies being crowded out. It is estimated that since 1875 about 265 companies have retired, most of them reinsuring with other companies, causing the withdrawal of about $50,000,000 of capital. A considerable number has failed outright, while a good many new companies have come in to supply the vacancies made. The number of foreign companies has not varied materially, those doing business ranging from 23 to 27 each year since 1880, but their operations have steadily grown in importance, as indicated by the fact that their assets in the United States have increased from $27,392,000 in 1880 to $61,260,973 in 1895, and that the volume of risks written has increased in proportion. Classes of Companies. The great bulk of the fireinsurance business in the United States has always been transacted by joint-stock companies, of which, at the close of 1895, there were about 260 American and 26 foreign companies, 20 of these being British, two Canadian and the other four German companies. The American companies are of varying degrees of financial strength, the cash capital ranging from $100,000 to $4,000,ooo each, and the assets from $150,000 to $10,000,The foreign companies are required to deposit $200,000 with the insurance department of some state and to place $500,000 in the hands of American trustees as a condition precedent to commencing business in this country. When a company complies with these requirements by entering one of the principal states, the commissioners of the other states (with two or three exceptions, where a special deposit is required) admit it to do business on the same terms as are applied to a domestic company of another state. matter of fact, most of the foreign companies are first admitted to New York state, though several have first been authorized elsewhere. Since 1892 a class of combinations have sprung up, mostly in New York, offering fire insurance protection under the name of the "Lloyds." These are simply associations of individuals, each of whom becomes responsible for a definite amount, and who jointly appoint an "attorney," who acts as the insurance manager of the concern. These combinations have, as a rule, refused to report or become amenable to the state insurance departments, claiming immunity from supervision on the plea of "individual rights." A large number of these "Lloyds" have appeared during the past two years, and they have transacted a very con-" siderable business. At this writing (June, 1896), the authorities of the state of New York have 1885 pending vigorous legal proceedings against a large number which have been doing business, it is 1895 STOCK COMPANIES (INCLUDING FOREIGN). Year. 1880 FIRE ISLAND-FISH 1885 200 1890 192 1895 $630,600, 500 450,560,000 535,300,250 203 660,400,000 PREMIUMS REC'D. LOSSES PAID. $5,760,000 4,665,000 15,870,325 $3,508,550 2,530,220 8,256,500 17,230,425 9,390,386 The above tables indicates the trend of the business since 1879 in the entire country, as transacted, respectively, by the joint-stock and mutual companies. The grand total for 1895 for all stock companies and mutuals combined was: Risks written, $15,728,250,000; premiums received, $156,580,425; losses paid, $83,546,786. The average ratio of losses to premiums from 1880 to 1895, inclusive, has been about 58 per cent. The rate of premium charged has varied from 86 cents on each $100 of risks in 1880 to $1.02 in 1885, standing at $1.00 in 1890, and increasing to $1.08 in 1895. The rate question is the ever-present one in fire insurance, and will continue to be, as it has been, subject to marked variations from a variety of causes. A. H. HULING. FIRE ISLAND, a small island in eastern Great South Bay, Long Island, belonging to Suffolk County, New York. It is a favorite summer resort. Fire Island Beach, 30 miles long, with a fine lighthouse, separates Great South Bay from the Atlantic. Fire Island has served as a special quarantine station to prevent the invasion of cholera. FIRE-PROOF BUILDING. See ARCHITECTURE, in these Supplements. FIRESHIP, in maritime warfare, a vessel filled with combustibles, which was sailed into the midst of an opposing fleet, set on fire, and abandoned with destructive intent. FIRE-WORSHIPERS. See PARSIS, Vol. XVIII, p. 327; HESTIA, Vol. XI, p. 782. FIRKOWITSCH, ABRAHAM, a Jewish archæologist; born at Lutzk, in the Crimea, Sept. 27, 1786. He was a Karaite, and devoted himself to collecting manuscripts and works in support of the teachings of the Karaites. He published acHe published accounts of his work in Massa-u-Meriba (1838) and in Abne-Likkaron (1872). His collection of manuscripts went to the imperial library at St. Petersburgh. He died at Tshufut-Kale, in the Crimea, June 7, 1874. See KARAITES, Vol. XIV, p. 2. FIRMAN, a word of Persian origin, signifying an order, used by the Oriental nations for any permit to travel or do business, and by the Turks to denote any official decree emanating from the Ottoman Porte. The right of signing any firman relating to affairs connected with his special department is exercised by every minister and member of the divan; but the office of placing at the head of the firman the thograï, a cipher which contains the name of the sultan in interlaced letters, 1279 and which alone gives effect to the decree, is committed to the hands of a special minister, called nichandji-effendi. FIRST-BORN (Heb., bekor; Gr., prototokos; Lat., primogenitus), in Scriptural use, the first male offspring, whether of man or of other animals, due to the Creator, by the Mosaic law, as a recognition of his supreme dominion. The firstborn male child, being devoted from the time of birth to God, was to be redeemed within one month after birth by an offering not exceeding in value five shekels of silver (Exod. xiii, 13). The headship of the family was vested in the first-born son by the Mosaic law, and he had a double portion of the inheritance. See, for other laws and usages not Scriptural, PRIMOGENITURE, Vol. XIX, pp. 733 et seq. FIRST-FRUITS, that portion of the fruits of the earth which, by the usage of the Jews and other ancient nations, was offered to God as an acknowledgment of his supreme dominion, and as a thanksgiving for his bounty. See TITHES, Vol. XXIII, p. 411. FIR-WOOL, a fibrous substance prepared to some extent from the leaves of various species of the genera Pinus and Abies, and made into cloth, which is believed to be useful in the treatment of skin diseases. Fir-wool extract and fir-wool oil are prepared from leaves of the same species. FISCHER, ERNST KUNO BERTHOLD, a German philosopher; born in the Silesian village of Sandewalde, July 23, 1824; and educated at Posen, Leipsic and Halle, taking his degree of Ph.D. at the latter place in 1847. In 1850 he became a privat-docent of philosophy at Heidelberg. Suddenly, however, in 1853, presumably because of private charges of pantheism made against the first volume of his History of Modern Philosophy, the Baden government, without explanation, deprived him of his position. In 1856 he received a call to the chair of philosophy at Jena, where he remained until 1872, in which year, Zeller having succeeded Trendelenburg at Berlin, he obtained Zeller's post at Heidelberg. Fischer's chief work is his History of Modern Philosophy (1852-77). His other great philosophical achievement is his System of Logic and Metaphysics (1852; new ed. 1865). Of his smaller works, the most noteworthy is a Critique of Kant, which, like Descartes and His School, has been translated into English. FISH. See ICHTHYOLOGY, Vol. XII, pp. 630695. he FISH, HAMILTON, an American statesman; born in New York City, Aug. 3, 1808. In 1827 was graduated at Columbia, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1830. In 1842 he was elected to Congress as a Whig, serving until 1845. In 1847-48 Mr. HAMILTON FISH, |