TESTIMONIALS.

133

allowed to express my dissatisfaction with the cha-racter of those generally circulated in connectionwith fire-proof safes. A testimonial, to convey acorrect impression to the minds of its readers,should state not only the result to a safe after itsexposure to fire, hut all the attendant circumstances—such as the position of the safe in the building inwhich the fire occurred; how long the fire exertedits influence on the spot where the safe was situate ;whether it was built in a wall, or otherwise surrounded with masonry, or whether it was in a fire-proof closet ; the room containing the combustiblematerials on which the fire fed; in an uppercounting-house, or a ground-floor office; how longthe fire had been about the safe before the fire-engine deluged its locality with water. If thecontents are singed it should say so, and should notattribute such stains to essential oil or pyrolignousacid. If the fire was so slight that the contentswere only “ slightly warmed,” it should not statethat the external heat was intense. It should alsostate the exact appearance of the whole of the con-tents of such safe, when opened. It should not,like some witnesses, whose integrity is questionable,at a trial in a court of justice, state but part of thetruth, withholding the most essential points of theevidence, but should state “ the truth, the wholetruth, and nothing but the truth.”

There is no necessity for collusiveness, misrepre-sentations, or the keeping back of facts, as all that