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by a nice black Chesterfield overcoat.

He came up to my office very much wrought up. He said, “The Consumers' League is the only organization that has said anything but you haven't said much.” I assured him that the reason we hadn't said much was that we didn't know much. We had said that there were hundreds of buildings that were in just as bad condition. He said, “Indeed there are. There are thousands. You said a little. I'm grateful you did. But you didn't say enough. If you say you don't know anything, I will teach you.”

He proceeded to air all of his views not only on that morning, but on many other days. He laid the basis of my education in fire prevention. He, of course, based his whole system of life protection in case of fire, as well as prevention of property loss, upon two principles. One was the principle of the horizontal exit and the fire wall, and the other was the proposition of a measured occupancy and the provision of units of exit in exact proportion to the occupancy which you had to empty. He used to say, “Every floor and every part of every floor must be emptied in less than three minutes or you cannot save life.” That was a doctrine for people who had money invested in old buildings. You would be sure to have heavy