Annual Meeting of The National Board of Fire Underwriters

The fifty-second annual meeting of the National Board of Fire Underwriters was held at the Hotel Astor, Forty-fourth street and Broadway, New York, on May 23, the members being called to order at 11 a. m. After the roll call, the minutes of last meeting were read, as were also communications from absent members. The remainder of the program was as follows: President’s Address, R. M. Bissell. Report, Treasurer, C. J. Holman. Report, Executive Committee, Charles L. Case, Chairman. Appointment of Nominating Committee. Reports, Standing Committees: Actuarial Bureau. chairman. James Wyper; Adjustments, chairman, C. D. Dunlop; Clauses and Forms, chairman, William Hare; Construction of Buildings, chairman. H. A. Smith; Finance, chairman, F. W. Sargeant; Fire Prevention, chairman, R. D. Harvey; Incendiarism and Arson, chairman. N. S. Bartow; Laws, chairman, C. A. Ludlum; Lighting, Heating and Engineering Standards, chairman, Sheldon Catlin. Membership, chairman, George R. Branson; Statistics and Origin of Fires, chairman, Otho E. Lane. Special Committees: Public Relations, chairman, F. C. Buswell; Uniform Accounting and Kindred Subjects, chairman, E. G. Richards. Report, Committee on Nominations. Election of Officers— President, Vice-President, Treasurer and Secretary. Also four members of Executive Committee for three years in place of A. G. Mcllwaine, Jr., D. H. Dunham, P. Beresford and F. R. Bigelow, and one member to serve the unexpired term of one year of Charles H. Barry, deceased.

President R. W. Bissell in his report showed the great work the National Board has done in the past year to aid the Government in the war. It has supplied data concerning 13,000 separate plants available for production of war munitions; has made a great number of industrial inspections; worked out fire protection features for cantonments, and carried on educational work for several Federal bureaus. President Bissell told of the work done by the national board of engineers in the administrative departments at Washington and elsewhere, the protection of shipyards, docks, warehouses, cotton compresses and other vital elements of war industry. He said that fire losses for 1917 were approximately $250,000,000, a large increase over 1916, being due to war conditions. Losses for 1916 were $214,530,995. Mr. Bissell said, however, that the fire danger from alien enemy incendiarism had been over-estimated. He urged that the leading insurance companies enter into the spirit of the pressing need of adequate insurance protection for grain in elevators, in anticipation of the record crops.