[We invite all men in the University to submit communications on subjects of timely interest. The CRIMSON is not, however responsible for the sentiments expressed in such communications as may be printed]

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

The facts in regard to the origin of the fire in Thayer Hall, Wednesday afternoon, are given below. One of the painters was applying black varnish to the fire place in room 50, when the surface he was covering was ignited from a very low fire in the grate. From this blaze the pot, containing about a pint of varnish, was ignited. The painter put the pot into a coal scuttle and attempted to carry it out of the building through the corridor. The heat from the pot became so intense that the scuttle was dropped near the corridor door. The fire was drawn up the stair well and soon the whole entry was in flames. An alarm was at once given by shouting "fire," and an attempt made to ring in an alarm from the box in the rear of University Hall. That the signal was not sounded was due to the burning out of the fire-alarm box connection, or else to the fact that the wires had been tampered with. That the Cambridge fire-alarm wires were tampered with last Tuesday was known at the fire-alarm office, but the location of a place of injury, in the basement of Thayer Hall, was not found till Thursday. An alarm was finally given by telephone, and box number 54 at Memorial Hall was rung. The great fire damage would have been prevented if the varnish pot had been set into the fire-place, or if it had been thrown out of a window. I may add that if anyone had promptly used the fire extinguisher, located on the second floor of this entry the fire could have been immediately brought under control.

In this connection, it seems best to call attention to the desirablity of occupants of buildings familiarizing themselves with the fire apparatus at hand, the means of giving fire alarms, and the location of the permanent fire escapes. New maps, showing the locations of the fire alarm boxes, and the College fire apparatus, have just been posted in all dormitory entrances and in many other conspicuous places. W. S. BURKE.

February 17, 1905.