The Inspector Checks the Sheets and the Fire Escapes
A new state lodging-house law brought an inspector to Newport, where rope escapes and alarm gongs were ordered—and innkeepers grumbled about fees and red tape.
Newport hotel and lodging house owners received their first visit last week from the state inspector under the law passed by the last legislature. The inspector thoroughly investigated the condition of the houses as to length of bed sheets, sanitary conditions and methods of escape in case of fire. He ordered rope escapes in all rooms that are more than twelve feet from the ground, and the placing of electric alarm gongs on all floors. In addition he collects a fee of $5 to $10 for making the inspection, and will be followed in about a month by another inspector, who will report on the manner in which the recommendations of the first have been carried out. It is perhaps needless to say that the hotelkeepers do not highly appreciate these visits, as there is a general opinion that there is a great deal of unnecessary red tape about the law.
“there is a general opinion that there is a great deal of unnecessary red tape about the law”
Fire escapes, alarm systems and rental inspections are now standard, but the tension between safety mandates and landlords' complaints about cost and red tape is familiar. Newport's lodging houses were early sites of the same argument over how much government should inspect the places people sleep.
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