Breaks in Water Mains. Fire underwriters have recently been interested in noting the frequency of many bad breaks in water mains. The following instances were noted casually within a year, and are not the result of searching investigation, nor do they include the numerous minor breaks occurring daily: A 20in. main broke at Akron, Ohio, and shut off all water for twenty-four hours. A 42-in. main broke at Detroit, Mich., making the fifth large break in that city within a year. Two large mains broke at Indianapolis, causing considerable property loss. A large main broke at Pittsburg and was the direct cause of a $200,000 fire-loss. Several large mains broke at Cincinnati during the flood and coincident with the Lawson fire. A 24-in. main broke in that city at another time. The streets in Boston were flooded to a depth of 4 ft. by a break in a 20-in. main…
