e consequence was, that the
mercantile rates of insurance gradually rose from about 8_s._ per
cent. to 30_s._, 40_s._, and, it is said, in some cases, to 45_s._ per
cent. Such premiums could not be paid on wholesale transactions,
therefore the Liverpool people themselves obtained an Act of
Parliament, 6 and 7 Vic., cap. 109, by which the size and height of
warehouses were restricted, party walls were made imperative, and
warehouses were not allowed to be erected within thirty-six feet of
any other warehouse, unless the whole of the doors and window-shutters
were made of _wrought iron_, with many similar restrictions. This Act
applied to warehouses already built as well as to those to be built,
and any tenant was at liberty, after notice to his landlord, to alter
his warehouse according to the Act, and to stop his rent till the
expense was paid. Another Act, 6 and 7 Vic., cap. 75, was also
obtained, for bringing water into Liverpool for the purpose of
extinguishing fires and watering the streets _only_. It is supposed
that the works directed, or permitted, by these two Acts, cost the
people of Liverpool from 200,000_l._ to 300,000_l._ Shortly after
these alterations had been made, the mercantile premiums again fell to
about 8_s._ per cent.

There is another very common cause of fire, which seems to come under
the head of construction--viz., covering up a fireplace when not in
use with wood or paper and canvas, &c. The soot falls into the
fireplace, either from the flue itself, or from an adjoining one which
communicates with it. A neighbouring chimney takes fire; a spark falls
down the blocked-up flue, sets fire to the soot in the fireplace,
which smoulders till the covering is burned through, and thus sets
fire to the premises.

In theatres, that part of the house which includes the stage and
scenery should be carefully divided from that where the spectators
assemble by a solid wall carried up to, and through the roof. The
opening in this wall for the stage should be arched over, and the
other communications secured with iron doors, which would be kept shut
while the audience was in the house. By this plan, there would be
abundance of time for the spectators to retire, before fire could
reach that part of the theatre which they occupy.

_The danger from furnaces_ or close fires, whether for heating,
cooking, or manufacturing purposes, is very great, and no flue should
be permitted to be so used, unless it is prepare