Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

1 lb. of 20d. cut nails equals 1·40 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 10d. cut nails equals 2·01 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 8d. cut nails equals 1·87 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 6d. cut nails equals 1·49 lb. of wire nails.
1 lb. of 4d. cut nails equals 2·06 lb. of wire nails.

In obtaining the above results, two tests were made of the 8d. cut nail and four of the 8d. wire nail; three tests each were made of the 6d. and 4d. cut nails and 6d. and 4d. wire nails, and the average is shown.

The committee report as a result of their experiments that $1 worth of cut nails will give the same service as $1.78 in wire nails, if at the same price per pound.—_Building._

=Rabbit Remedy.=

A correspondent of the _Revue Horticole_ states that he has been completely successful in saving both his vines and haricot beans from being totally destroyed by the rabbits which swarm in this district by using a remedy which he terms the “Bouillie bordelaise.” This consists of a mixture of sulphate of copper (bluestone or blue vitriol) and fresh slaked lime, in the proportion of 3¼ lb. of the former to 4½ lb. of quicklime in twenty‐one gallons of water. The bluestone is first dissolved in a bucket of water, the quicklime is then slaked, and when cool it is thrown along with the dissolved bluestone into a barrel or other vessel of sufficient size; water is then added to make up twenty‐one gallons, and the whole is well stirred up. The mixture is conveniently applied with a whitewash brush, and in fine, dry weather only should it be used. The object of the lime in the mixture is to counteract any ill effects that the sulphate of copper or bluestone might have on the vegetable tissues, and also to indicate that no part of the stem or plant which it is intended to protect has been passed over without receiving its proper share of the application.

How to Build an Ice House.

Under this head the _American Architect_ advises a correspondent as follows:

1. The ice house floor should be above the level of the ground, or, at least, should be sufficiently above some neighboring area to give an outfall for a drain, put in in such a way as to keep the floor clear of standing water.

2. The walls should be hollow. A four inch lining wall, tied to the outer wall with hoop iron, and with a three inch air space, would answer, but it would be better, if the air space is thoroughly drained, to fill it with mineral wool, or some similar substance, to prevent the movement of the air entangled in the fibers, and thus check the transference by convection of heat from the outside to the lining wall.

3. A roof of thick plank will keep out heat far better than one of thin boards with an air space under it.

4. Shingles will be much better for roofing than slate.

5. It is best to ventilate the upper portion of the building. If no ventilation is provided, the confined air under the roof becomes intensely heated in summer, and outlets should be provided at the highest part, with inlets at convenient points, to keep the temperature of the air over the ice at least down to that of the exterior atmosphere.

In reply to inquiries from various correspondents we would say that Messrs. Munn & Co., 361 Broadway, proprietors of this periodical, have an extensive architectural bureau connected with their establishments, and here, with the assistance of an able corps of architects, they prepare, in the best and most prompt manner, designs, plans, specifications, and details for all kinds of buildings, churches, schools, stores, dwellings, etc. Hundreds of buildings in all parts of the country have been erected from their plans. Messrs. Munn & Co. will be pleased to furnish any information desired by readers relative to any buildings illustrated in these pages.

Look to Your Drain Pipes and Wells.

The Rhode Island State board of health has completed its investigation of the epidemic of typhoid fever at Conanicut park hotel, made last summer.

At the opening of the season of 1887 trouble was experienced, but no action was taken. Soon the people in the house began to be ill, and at a time when all the rooms were taken and many more guests were to come and occupy the cottage apartments. From the first symptoms, which were not considered serious, the disease, which proved to be typhoid fever, assumed a violent form, and Dr. Jernigan, on whose advice several patients had come to the island, directed a practical plumber to make a thorough examination of the premises.

The plumber discovered that the pipes leading from the water closets had leaked into the cellar, and that from all appearances the leak had existed from the first of the season. The sewage had run into the well from which the water was drawn for general uses about the hotel. Prior to the discovery of the contamination of the water, its sparkling qualities had been praised by all the guests. The plumber also reported that the ground near the well was saturated with the sewage, and that when disturbed the earth emitted an overpowering and sickening stench. From the cellar the investigation was continued to the well at the north end of the house. It was dug quite recently, and the shaft had been sunk through an old drain leading to a cesspool, and a portion of the drain constituted a section of the well shaft.

The State board of health proposes to ask for an appropriation this winter sufficient to pay for a careful examination of all the hotels in the State, and the inspection and analysis of all waters used for drinking purposes where there is liability of contamination.—_Sanitary News_.

=Messrs. Munn & Co.=, in connection with the publication of the =Scientific American=, continue to examine improvements, and to act as Solicitors of Patents for Inventors.

In this line of business they have had _forty years’ experience_, and have now _unequaled facilities_ for the preparation of Patent Drawings, Specifications, and the prosecution of Applications for Patents in the United States, Canada, and Foreign Countries. =Messrs. Munn & Co.= also attend to the preparation of Caveats, Copyrights for Books, Labels, Reissues, Assignments, and Reports on Infringement of Patents. All business intrusted to them is done with special care and promptness, on very reasonable terms.

A pamphlet sent free of charge, on application, containing full information about Patents and how to procure them; directions concerning Labels, Copyrights, Designs, Patents, Appeals, Reissues, Infringements, Assignments, Rejected Cases, Hints on the Sale of Patents, etc.

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=Arch Construction.=

Iron construction has so completely superseded masonry for bridge building that it would appear almost unnecessary to discuss the question of the equilibrated arch for any large span. But the mathematical principles of the arch have always been an interesting subject with geometricians and theorists, and the theory, at any rate, ought to form one of the subjects of the architect’s and engineer’s education. As a problem of the equilibrium of forces, the theory of arch construction is instructive, inasmuch as it presents us with a concrete example of three forces balanced in a structure. The other day, at the opening of the engineering section of the Bristol Naturalists’ Society, at University College, Bristol, the president, Mr. Charles Richardson, C.E., read a paper on arch building, in which he advocated the employment of arches of equilibrium for bridges. The author referred to the well known and elegant property of the balanced arch, which is derived from the principle of the catenary or suspended chain or inverted polygon of bars, each bar or link assuming the position (inverted) that the arch stones of an equilibrated arch would have. In Dr. Hutton’s valuable “Tracts on Bridges,” this principle is followed in his elucidation of the arch, and readers of that work will remember the diagrams given of various kinds of balanced arches, and the curves of extrados necessary to insure equilibrium. The theory, indeed, is older than Hutton. Belidor and Dr. Hooke both investigated the form of the extrados from the nature of the curve, and this theory has been made the foundation of a very interesting system of designing arches. According to this theory of the question, the stones are considered free from all friction—a condition which does not hold in practice. Mr. Richardson follows, as far as we can see, this theory. He enunciated the theorem that the weight on any point of the arch is proportional to the vertical line from the road line to the intrados at that point; that the horizontal thrust is the same throughout the arch, and is equal to the weight on the crown per unit of area multiplied by the radius of curvature there; and also that the bed pressure at any point is equal to the horizontal thrust multiplied by the secant of the angle the curve makes with the horizon at that point. This rule is thoroughly mathematical and true for arches of equilibrium; and the author exhibited an instructive model of an arch equilibrated, and showed by inverting it, and suspending a chain weighted by steel rods representing the loads at each point, that the latter coincided with the road line. But the engineer‐architect has to do with arches in which the element of friction enters; the stones are cemented, and therefore the theory, however beautiful, does not hold good in every case. Instead of the separate arch stones or voussoirs, he has to deal with segments of the arch which turn upon certain edges. Thus an arch which fails breaks into four parts, the crown sinks, and the haunches rise, the joints at those points opening. One of the questions to decide is the points at which rupture occurs, that being found to find out what horizontal pressure each of those lower segments have to sustain. From knowing the thrust and its point of action, the stability of the arch will depend on the mass and weight of the pier. The experiments of Rondelet and others have proved that the voussoirs unite into segments of the arch, and tend to overturn the abutment, acting rather as levers than wedges. He found, also, that the greatest thrust was in arches with an even number of voussoirs or a point at the vertex; that a keystone lessened the thrust. Nevertheless, the theory of equilibration should be known by all architects and bridge builders.

In alluding to the materials, the author showed the impossibility of dressing and bedding stones accurately. Practically, the stone built arch is difficult to execute with precision. The facing stones only are cut to the true curve, the backing being filled in with rubble and roughly executed. With brickwork the bricks can be all bedded in cement, being more convenient for handling, and a vitrified brick is equal at least to the best stone in resistance. The brick arch should be built in vertical bond, not in rings. Mr. Richardson finds that, taking the safe load in cement at 5 cwt. upon the square inch, an arch 15 in. thick at the springing and 12⅚ at the crown is sufficient for a span of 85 feet with a rise of ⅛ of the span. He says: “As all loads and thrusts on such an arch are in direct proportion, if each dimension were multiplied by four, we should have a span of 340 feet with a rise of 42 feet and an arch thickness of 5 feet. This 5 feet thickness would give a sufficient margin of safety for the moving load, because 5 feet is only the necessary thickness at the springing, while that at the crown would be 9 in. less. The total weight of this bridge would be 100,000 tons.” Ring‐built arches are advisedly objected to, as the rings tend to separate when any settlement takes place. Mr. Richardson does not rely too much on friction, and he is right. There can be no scientific arch construction that is not based on the principle of equilibrium, the line of thrust being kept within the middle third of the arch thickness; and in designing arches of brick or stone the engineer should always be able by diagram to satisfy himself of this condition. Whenever the line of thrust passes close to the lower edge of the arch ring at the haunches, there must be undue pressure and a tendency to open at the other edge. In other words, the arch is inclined to drop at the crown. When it passes out of the arch, failure must take place sooner or later. Instead of first deciding upon the curve and road line, as is frequently done, the right course is to find the line of thrust for the given span and loading, and then make the arch conform as nearly as possible to this line. We agree with the opinion that brickwork, if correctly applied, would be found to excel iron construction in strength, durability, and economy—certainly in appearance. In the construction of masonry arches, sufficient care is not always bestowed upon the drainage of the arches—a cause, we imagine, of many failures.—_Building News._

GILBERT SHEFFIELD, a Warren County, N. Y., lumberman, is one of the men who believes in using his men well, and in doing something to relieve the tedium of life in the woods. He has 35 men employed at Tahawus, in Essex County, and says that for the past two years it has been his practice to furnish them with copies of the prominent newspapers, so that when they left camp they were as well informed regarding current events as when they went in.

=NEW FORM OF CHIMES FOR CHURCHES.=

A new form of chimes for churches is being introduced in England, which are said to give much satisfaction. They consist of a series of metallic tubes suspended from a beam, as shown in our engraving. They are struck by hammers, are very resonant, loud, and pleasing. A correspondent of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, speaking of their effect, says: “The music of many tuneful bells, harmonious, ever changing, lending themselves to any simple air, easy of management, and mellowed as the sound of cathedral bells.... Such music I have heard at Coventry.”

=Tube Chimes.=

The new invention which goes under the name of tube chimes is a musical chime in which metal tubes instead of bells are employed. The tube chimes can be used for any purpose that bells are used for, and besides are an economical substitute for bells. They are remarkable also for a depth and richness of tone which one does not expect to find except in high class cathedral bells. A tube chime for a church belfry is especially suitable. The carrying power is not quite equal to that of bells. A chime was lately set up in the tower of one of the Dorsetshire churches which has pleased all concerned. Rung for the first time on occasion of the harvest festival, it caused both delight and surprise by the sweet and melodious tones it gave out. The invention has not long been brought under public notice, but the demand for household octaves in place of the inharmonious gong is already very large. Mr. Harrington has a taste for music, and the idea of adapting tubes of metal for the musical purposes of bells is no new one. It has taken, though, many years of experiment and study to perfect the principle. One difficulty, which was a great obstacle in the way, may be alluded to. The large chimes are rung by bell ropes, but, contrary to the plan of bells, there is an external hammer instead of the internal clapper. If the hammers were made of sufficient hardness to prevent wear and tear, the chime lost its sweet tones and became harsh. If the hammers were less hard, they would constantly require to be replaced. Fortunately, that difficulty, like many others, has been satisfactorily got over. The chimes can be, it should be noted, tuned to any desired pitch, and Messrs. Harrington & Co. are probably warranted when they say: “The introduction of this invention will, we are assured, mark the commencement of a new era in connection with church bells and carillons, chimes for clocks of all sizes, dinner calls and gongs, and all mechanisms in which musical bells are used or required, and in some of these departments bids fair to work a complete revolution.”—_The Architect._

MISS FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE’S HOME.

At the residence of Sir Harry Verney, Claydon House, Buckinghamshire, a deputation from the Working Men’s Club of Whatstandwell, Derbyshire, recently waited on Miss Florence Nightingale, for the purpose of presenting to her an oil painting, by Mr. E. Crosland, of her late home, Lea Hurst, as a token of their esteem, and in recognition of the great interest taken by her in that institution. The deputation, consisting of Mr. F. C. Iveson, Mr. Crosland, the artist, and Mr. W. Peacock, assured Miss Nightingale of the love felt for her by all classes of people at Whatstandwell and in that district, and of their gratitude for her kindness and help in every good work. Miss Nightingale, in thanking them for the present, which she admired very much, expressed her continued great interest in the institution and its members, and assured them of her hopes for its welfare. The deputation were entertained at Claydon House by Sir Harry and Lady Verney. We are permitted to copy the picture of Lea Hurst in our engraving, using a photograph taken by Mr. J. Schmidt, of Belper.

Miss Florence Nightingale is a lady whose name has been deservedly honored in England since the Crimean war and has become the symbol of a particular type of personal efforts in the service of afflicted humanity. She was born at Florence, in May, 1820, youngest daughter and coheiress of W. E. Nightingale, Esq., of Lea Hurst, Derbyshire, and Embley Park, Hampshire. She devoted her attention to the working of schools for the poor, juvenile reformatories, and hospitals, inspecting many such institutions on the Continent, and residing, in 1851, with the Protestant Sisters of Mercy at Kaiserswerth, on the Rhine. She next bestowed her care and gifts of her money on the London Governesses’ Sanatorium in Harley street. During the Crimean war, in 1854, when the inefficient state of our military hospitals in the East demanded instant reform, the hospital at Scutari, opposite Constantinople, was established for the relief of sick and wounded British soldiers and prisoners. It was resolved to form a select band of volunteer lady superintendents and female nurses for this and other army hospitals. At the request of the Secretary of State for the War Department, Mr. Sidney Herbert, afterward Lord Herbert of Lea, Miss Nightingale undertook the task of organizing and directing this service, which she performed in a manner universally admired, and which earned her the personal friendship of the Queen, with many public and private expressions of gratitude and esteem. A testimonial fund amounting to $250,000 was subscribed in recognition of her patriotic and benevolent work, and was, at her special desire, applied to create and maintain an institution for the training of nurses. Miss Nightingale’s impaired health, for many years past, has debarred her from active public exertions but she has continued to study the plans and operations of those charitable agencies on which she is a high authority, and has written brief treatises on subjects of much practical importance. Her “Notes on Hospitals,” printed in 1859; “Notes on Nursing,” in 1860; and “Notes on Lying‐in Institutions,” and on the training of midwives and midwifery nurses, in 1871, were of considerable utility. She also wrote, in 1863, valuable observations on the sanitary condition of the army in India, and has furnished to the War Office useful reports and suggestions concerning the army medical department.—_Illustrated London News._

Painting.

In order to use paints and oils economically, a clear understanding of their purpose and action is absolutely necessary. Linseed oil is said to “dry” after being applied. That is only partially true. It rather oxidizes and changes to a tough, gummy substance not unlike hard glue. This action is accelerated by the use of “driers,” as they are called. But in no case does it give the same results as when left to dry of its own free will. The carbonate of lead or mineral which is added to the oil gives the color and assists in making up the body. The life of the paint is the oil, and when it is oxidized, it alone is the binding element. Upon it depends the durability of the paint. A piece of wood dipped in linseed oil and hung up to dry, or oxidize, in the air, will soon become covered with a beautiful translucent film of oxidized oil, which grows harder daily. It will take a high polish and preserve the wood. Another piece dipped in carbonate of lead, or mineral, mixed in turpentine, or any fluid to allow it to spread evenly over the surface, will when dry have a dead or flat color without polish or body to bind it together, and the slightest abrasion will remove portions of it. All painting is done either with pure oils or with the admixture of a fluid like turpentine, which assists in the distribution of the mineral, but does not add to the body. When the surface of wood has been covered with a thick coating of oxidized oil, it can be washed and rubbed to look clean and polished. Boats, when of a light color, are often painted with a mixture containing much turpentine, in order that all marks may be removed with a little beach sand, by rubbing off the mineral, which is not bound together securely by oil, but only loosely by turpentine. Car builders now often paint their cars or varnish them a second time soon after the first, say after about six months’ run. This gives them a good coat of oxidized oil to withstand the weather and preserve the wood. A few coats applied within short intervals produce a fine covering which is very durable and will take a polish after washing.—_Master Mechanic._

Removal of Chimneys.

An interesting scene was caused recently by the blowing up of the two immense chimneys on Borsig’s machine works in Berlin. A large number of spectators were present to witness the ceremony, including several officers of the army, the trustees of the Borsig estates, and the employes of the works. Punctually at five minutes past six P. M., the signal to “Look out!” was given; then came the word of command, “Fire!” and at this moment the vast chimney, towering to a height of say 120 feet 9 inches, quietly collapsed. The noise occasioned by the fall was not very great, ditches two meters in breadth having been dug all round the chimney and filled with straw. For blowing up this colossus, which consisted of 98,000 bricks and was topped with a heavy iron cap weighing twenty‐five centners, only 24 kilos of dynamite were employed. Photographs were taken of the chimney before it fell, and also as it was in the act of falling, by an officer of the Commission for Experimenting with Explosives. The second chimney standing about 80 feet high, was blasted with gun cotton, of which 35 kilos were required.

HOMES OF FACTORY OPERATIVES.

The institution of the factory system changed the workshop home of the domestic system to the home proper by transferring work to the factory. As a result, the homes of the operatives under the factory system have undergone a great change, and are still undergoing changes, which are making the English significance of the word “home” a reality to the poorest. It is perfectly true that in every large factory town one can find loathsome dwellings occupied by groups of persons called families. In most factory towns, both in America and Europe, it is easy to find dwellings occupied by factory operatives which are a disgrace to the owners and the municipality. Yet, taking the operative population of such towns as a class, they are very comfortably housed, and about as well housed in one country as another. The personal inspection of more than 1,000 homes of factory operatives leads Mr. Carroll D. Wright to this conclusion, he having written a special report on the “Factory System of the United States” for the Census Bureau.

British factory houses being floored with stone, as a rule, present a cold and cheerless look. The dimensions of the British house are much smaller than factory houses in America. The tenements of three rooms have much less space than tenements of three rooms here. This is generally true of all European factory towns. But the houses of the operatives are, as a rule, separate ones, the tenement house being quite unknown except where what is termed the “model workingmen’s houses” are being tried. The boarding house is not an institution for factory operatives.

At Saltaire, near Bradford, the homes of the work‐people are excellent; rents vary from $30 to $100 per year for three to five room houses. The houses are neat, tidy, and prettily furnished. At Queensbury, where John Foster & Son have works, the weavers earn 15 to 18 shillings per week full run, and the rents are 84 cents per week for three rooms. Some of the best houses in England are at Copley village, in Halifax, built by James Akroyd & Sons. They rent three rooms for £10 per year, and the operatives are helped to acquire a freehold. The Crowleys at Halifax employ 5,000 people, who have good houses. The houses at Salford and Manchester are not so good. The factories at Paisley are excellent evidences of the good influence which arises from proper interest in employes. The works of the Messrs. Clark and Messrs. Coates are model establishments and the influence of model works extends to the houses of the people employed, which are here very comfortable. Rents vary from 72 cents to $2 per week, according to number of rooms.

In Glasgow no cellarages can now be found. The operatives have gone to the suburbs, where they have changed their cramped city abodes for clean and light houses. Belfast, Ireland, is improving the dwellings of the linen factory operatives. The houses are tidy, and rents are from 48 to 60 cents per week for four rooms. There are houses with flats in Belfast. In the west and east of Scotland the operatives live very largely in flats; rents in Dundee and Dunfermline being for two rooms from $15 to $30 per year, and for three or four rooms from $30 to $50 per year.

Among the most substantial houses for workingmen will be found those of Herr Krupp, in Essen, Rhenish Prussia. By his system of employment he has the selection of the best mechanics in Europe. This system comprehends all the advantages to be found in model industrial establishments, including excellent tenements and gardens at low rents. A foreman, a gun‐maker, earning $45 per month, receives four rooms, a drying place on the roof, a cellar, and a garden for $45 per year. A workman with wages at 75 cents per day pays $37 per year for three large rooms, drying place, cellar, and garden. There are fair tenements, in two or three story blocks, situated in colonies just outside the towns. For $100 per year, one can obtain a most excellent tenement of seven large rooms, cellar, garden, etc. The houses in the colonies are owned by Herr Krupp. In fact, he believes that he receives better results by owning everything, and by being able thereby to control the sanitary surroundings of the dwellings of his people. These colonies, each having its name, are laid out with park, schools, churches, supply stores, etc. The housing of the single men is on the barrack plan.

It may be stated that the houses in Great Britain and on the Continent are of stone or brick, as the locality may afford, and the neat wood cottage of America cannot be found. It is quite impossible to compare the houses of European factory operatives with those of the same class in America. The great mass of the former are, generally speaking, quite as well housed as the latter, so far as the quality of the house is concerned; but so far as quantity of room and excellence of living are concerned, the advantage is with the operatives of America. When the operative of this country steps out of the boarding or the tenement house, he steps into an individual home the equal of which cannot be found in the factory towns of the Old World.

The cottage of the American factory operative, when he sees fit to occupy one, is superior to the cottage of the workingman of any other country. It is most gratifying to know that the individual homes are not only increasing in number in this country, but they are increasing in influence. In all the leading factory towns this is the course of progress.

The plates we give on this page represent one of the styles of modern cottages built by the Willimantic Linen Co., of Willimantic, Conn. With each cottage is quite a garden of several thousand feet of land. The rent is from $60 to $125 per year. These houses are located in such a way as to exhibit variety of styles; that is, two of like architecture are never placed side by side. The company has a large number of these houses occupied by operators and overseers. The cuts show the front and side elevations, and the plans of the two floors. These are given as a type of the detached workingmen’s homes used in this country.—_Min. and Sci. Press_.

Gangways v. Staircases.

Mr. A. Lindsay Miller, in the _Building News_, recommends for theaters and other public buildings the use of gangways instead of stairs.

In public works, especially dye works, they will not use the stairs, but gain access to the several floors by gangways, with a rise of about 5 ft. in 12 ft. or 13 ft. of length, and any one watching the speed and ease with which the workers run from floor to floor would at once understand why staircases are not used. Of course, architecturally, they have not the dignity of the staircase; but, in theaters and music halls, dignity is secondary to security. The advantage of the gangway is easily explained.

In going down a stair, each step, or, in a hurry, each second step, must be taken, and the slightest mistake throws the person down. In a stair 12 ft. long, at least six different steps require to be taken. In the gangway of the same length, a person in a hurry, or in the excitement of a panic, would take it in two bounds, and with perfect safety.

ROBURITE—A NEW EXPLOSIVE.

A number of experiments were conducted lately at the works of Messrs. Heenan & Froude, Manchester, with a new explosive, called “roburite,” which is manufactured in Germany, and is about to be introduced into this country for use in blasting operations. The composition and process of manufacture of this explosive are kept secret, but we understand that it consists of two non‐explosive and perfectly harmless substances, of such a nature that they may be stored or transported without special precautions or restrictions. These two substances may be mixed together when required, and, in combination, become roburite, a yellowish compound, which will bear rough handling with safety. We understand that an intense heat is necessary to explode it. In order to prove this, the explosive was placed, in the experiments in question, between two plates, which were freely rubbed together and hammered; and a small quantity thrown upon a fire was merely consumed, without exploding.

In order to obtain an idea of the explosive effectiveness of roburite, eight ounces of the explosive were placed on a plate of the very best steel, at the point marked A in Fig. 1, which shows the state of the plate after the explosion. This plate was 3 ft. square by ½ in. thick, and a bulge of about 1 ft. diam. and 3½ in. deep was caused by the explosion. Twelve ounces of the explosive were then placed at A (Fig. 2) on a cast iron plate, 6 in. thick, and weighing nearly three tons. After the explosion the plate was found to be broken transversely, in the manner shown in the engraving. Unlike dynamite, roburite is said to be in no way affected by varying temperatures, and if duly protected against damp, it may be kept for years in any climate, without its efficiency becoming in any way impaired. It is also claimed by the manufacturers that roburite has an explosive force greater than dynamite by at least 25 per cent.

In exploding, roburite does not produce noxious gases, and, therefore, may be used without intermission, while the poisonous gases given off by dynamite often necessitate the stoppage of work, in some cases for a considerable time. This new explosive is applicable for use in mines and quarries, and for torpedoes and blasting operations generally.—_Industries_.

Iron Beams In Place of Wood.

Speaking of the large apartment house in New York lately condemned for dry rot (see illustration last November number of this paper), the _American Architect_ says: A few of the floors were of spruce, and these, as might be expected, had resisted the rot much better than the hemlock, and were still sound, but the construction ought certainly to be changed. In view of the dangers from this source which attend efforts to provide fire‐resisting floors of wood, it would seem that something might be done with light shapes of rolled iron beams. We have seen rolled floor beams used in Paris nearly as light as wooden ones of the same depth, and a tier of these, deafened with mortar on wire in the French manner, and wire‐lathed underneath, with a wooden floor over, would cost little more than a solid mass of wooden beams, and would be proof against rot as well as fire.

BATHING ESTABLISHMENT AND CASINO IN VITTEL (VOSGES). BUILT BY CHARLES GARNIER, ARCHITECT, OF PARIS.

The casino is built of plastered quarry stone, with the exception of the socle, the balustrades, and the pillars, which consist of gray Vosges sandstone. The facade is ornamented with mosaics, and the roof is covered with slate of two colors.

The bathing establishment is colored in Moorish style. Red brick bands in the socle, as well as the faience and mosaics in the main cornice, stand out artistically from the gray plaster of the walls. The roof is covered with red tiles.—_Architektonische Rundschau_.

The Back Yard.

Our immediate ancestors had their farm house, with its necessary accompaniment of granaries, barn, etc. We move to town and build our shingle palace or brick mansion, with its large front show window, in which the well preserved, gilt edged family Bible and the Rogers group have it which and t’other for supremacy—and set up in our back yard, to represent the outbuildings of our ancestry, a privy, a pile of slabwood, generally as dumped, a few barrels, perhaps a cheap stable. Not then satisfied with the amount of decaying wood about the premises, we lay a lot of wood walk.

Walking along the avenue, we see a pretentious residence. It must be occupied by people of great refinement, for is not the most prominent room in the house the library, the whole street side taken up with an immense bay window, the glass reaching nearly to the floor? How splendidly it was lighted as we passed last night! What elegant sets of books on the shelves! Plenty of pictures, too. Let us to‐day take a look at the back yard. Why do not these people board up the windows at the back of the house? Here is a well with a dirty puddle by it, the pump standing on a rotting platform; hard by some kitchen garbage, farther on ashes, and so it goes, the whole rear of the lot so bad as to discourage vegetable life even. It is mercifully screened in part from the general view by a high, unpainted board fence, against which, now and then, a weed or tuft of grass grows. Where is there better field for the crusade?

The rear of the house and the outbuildings, though not so expensively finished, have a right to be carefully and artistically done. A woodshed is not a nuisance if inclosed, well boarded and painted, and the wood kept inside. A privy has no right to exist. If there be no proper system of drainage in the house for a water closet, partition off an earth closet from the woodshed or stable. Tasteful, well cared for outbuildings and fences are not only not an offense to the artistic sense, but are rather pleasing, indicating thrift, tidiness, and comfort. But when we consider the opportunities they offer for the support of the vine morning glories, sweet peas, nasturtiums, climbing roses, and like forms of plant life, what a joyous recompense for so little labor and care. Then all the available back yard space that is not used for walks, drives, etc., should give either vegetables or flowers—minister to the comfort or culture of the family.

Listen to people who lament the bad influences of street associations upon the children. Yet they say, very reasonably, the children must have outdoor air, etc., and they have never considered but that the only alternative from the housing of the children is the freedom of the streets. They do not know what moral education is contained in a few feet of ground, congenial work for the hands, and the prettiest of life development studies for the mind. Give each of these street‐loving children a flower bed, a small set of garden tools, some flower seeds, and what help and advice they need, and note if there be not germs of nobler thoughts and desires taking root at the same time in their fertile natures. But—to moralize a little—there is a kinship between the ornamented front and disgraceful rear of a residence and the fine clothes and the false heart of the wearer, and we fear that the majority of people who inhabit that sort of residence would rather risk some contamination of their children’s characters than to see their faces, hands, and clothes besmeared with Mother Earth.

The back yard of the future will be a bower of flowers and greenery and the leisure hour resort of the family.—_N. W. Architect_.

Thomas Ustick Walter.

Thomas Ustick Walter died at his home, in Philadelphia, on October 30, aged eighty‐four years. He had been for some years president of the American Institute of Architects.

His first principal work was the new county prison, in 1831, now generally known as “Moyamensing Jail.” In 1833 he made the original designs for Girard College, and was sent to Europe by the building committee of the institution. His tour through the principal countries was made for the specific purpose of the study of the principal buildings of the old world. Upon his return he took charge of the college buildings, which were finished in 1847, in accordance with his suggestions, when he was also made one of the directors of the college.

Mr. Walter’s next great public work was the break‐water at Laguayra for the Venezuelan government. In 1851 his design for the extension of the national capitol was adopted, and he was appointed government architect. He removed to Washington, where he designed several prominent public buildings, among them being the wing added to the Patent Office in 1851, the reconstruction of the Congressional Library building, which was destroyed by fire in 1851, the extensions of the United States Treasury building in 1855, and the Post Office in the same year, the dome of the national capitol, and the government hospital for the insane.

Pine Woods.

The sights and sounds of pine woods, the comfort and delight of walking in them, cannot be half told in a short paragraph. They are also as sanitary as they are pleasing and beautiful. It is said that the air of the Black Forest does more to revive and cure weakly patients than gallons of medicine; and from experience of the odors of pines at night, or in the early morning and dewy eve, I should say they were not only antiseptic, but strengthening as a dose of quinine. The living leaves, as well as the dead and slowly decomposing needles, redolent of healing and strengthening odors, bring back the color to pale cheeks and strength to semi‐exhausted constitutions.

The shelter of pine forests is also perfect. No matter how the wind thunders and roars among the tops, calm prevails on the surface of the ground. Just as the waves of the ocean are, after all, limited to its surface while a perpetual calm rests on its deeper depths, so the turmoil of the storm exhausts its force on the tops of the trees, while the base of the boles are hardly moved by it. Hence the superlative value of pines in masses for shelter. The shelter of a large pine wood is unique in character, providing a local atmosphere as genial as it is pleasant. The elasticity of the dead needles seems to get into one’s spirits, and enables one for the nonce to bid adieu to the cares and the ills of life. One saunters along under the shadow of tall pines without fatigue, and can rest on the clean, sweet carpet of dead needles and leaves with little fear of noxious weeds, insects, or malaria; and the whole air is deodorized and charged to the full with health‐giving properties by the odor‐distributing pines, that not only provide warmth and shelter, but health, to all who walk under or linger among them. Pine woods in England are mostly too small to furnish to the full all these advantages; but the black forests of Scotland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia are massive enough to furnish shelter, shadow, rest, and health to those wise enough to seek for either amid their grand trunks or under their dense, dark masses of branches and leaves.—_The Garden_.

SKETCH FOR A COTTAGE.

We give from the _Architectural Era_ the floor plans and perspective sketch for a cottage which presents a number of attractive features. This house might be well built for $5,500, and perhaps less, depending on the locality and style of interior finish.

How We Have Grown.

When the history of the past seven years comes to be written, they will stand as years of the most marvelous expansion ever known in our history. Two of them, 1884 and 1885, were held as they passed to be dull years, but even these included great growth, and were a period of industrial readjustment rather than liquidation. The population of this country has not increased more than a fourth since the census of 1880, but house building, as an industry, has more than doubled, the number of common brick made in this country having increased from 3,800,000,000 to 7,000,000,000, worth $49,000,000. As the lumber trade has increased in less but large proportion, and iron production has risen over one‐half from 4,300,000 tons in 1880 to 6,300,000 in 1886, it is certain that the past seven years have seen the most active building ever known in this country. Chicago uses one‐seventeenth of the brick made in the country, and if its building represents the same share of the cost of house erection of all sorts in the United States, fully $2,000,000,000 have been spent on buildings in this country in the last seven years. As about the same sum will be reached by adding the building in the leading cities and estimating for the rest of the country, the truth is probably not far from these figures, which are under rather than over the mark. The railroad building since 1880 has cost, at $50,000 a mile, $2,700,000,000. This makes $4,700,000,000, or about one‐tenth of the national wealth in 1880, turned into railroads and buildings in this country. As the residence and business real estate of the country, including water power, was valued in the census of 1880 at $9,881,000,000, and the railroads at $5,500,000,000, we have added one‐half to the cost of the latter and one‐fifth to the former in seven years, although the railroads represent the accumulated construction of fifty years, and the buildings are spread over an even longer period in their erection. This enormous increase has taken place without adding a bale to the cotton to be carried or a bushel to the grain raised. No more pork is produced now than in 1880, and the number of sheep is no greater now than then. Great increase has been made in cattle raised for food, in fruits, and, on the average, in canned goods. Coal, taking bituminous and anthracite together, has increased one‐half from 70,000,000 to 106,000,000 tons. Copper has advanced in output from 27,009 tons in 1880 to 69,800 in 1886, and about the same this year. A great advance is true of nearly all mineral products, but in agriculture the United States has made little or no progress in product in the last seven years, but a great advance in acreage or the cost of cultivation.—_Philadelphia Press._

A Good Suggestion.

Charles Hardy, in the _National Builder_, says: Underestimating means working for nothing and forcing others to do the same; it means impoverishment and poor work. The contractor has himself and his family to maintain, and the temptation is great to get out by doing poor work. I would suggest that every contractor purchase an account book large enough to enter, line by line, upon a single page, every item of his estimate—giving quantity, price, and labor for each item. Let him leave opposite to this page a blank page, on which he may enter, on the corresponding line opposite, the actual amount of labor expended upon the item, and he will thus be able to see the result of his contract.

A TOWER of VICTORY has been erected on the grounds of Washington’s Headquarters, at Newburg, N. Y., at a cost of $35,000. It affords beautiful views of the Hudson, the Highlands, and the surrounding country.

[For description see page 140.]]

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[For description see page 140.]]

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A $4,200 DWELLING.

We give a perspective view and plans of a neat dwelling, the general dimensions of which are as follows:

Front, 29 ft. 6 in., exclusive of bay window; side, 48 ft. 9 in., not including piazza.

Cellar, 7 ft.; first story, 9 ft. 6 in.; second story, 9 ft.; attic, 8 ft. See floor plans for dimensions of rooms.

_Materials._—Foundation, brick; first and second stories, clapboards; gables, cut shingles; roof, slate.

_Cost._—Four thousand two hundred dollars, including furnace and mantels.

Fireplaces are provided in the dining room, parlor, and one bed room. The attic has two bed rooms, front room, and hall. Cellar under the whole house.

PROF. THOMAS, of Little Rock, has a curious library. The covers of the books are of wood, each a different specimen. They are made from white oak, red oak, black oak, chestnut, American beech, birch, red cedar, yellow pine, pitch pine, willow, poplar, cypress, “old field” or long‐leaved pine, bois d’arc, black walnut, hickory (several varieties), white and red maple, box elder, black locust, black sumac, water locust, coffee bean, wild plum, holly, basswood, papaw, bay, umbrella, wild cherry, sweet gum, elm (several varieties), sycamore, witch hazel, butternut, pecan, hickory, and twenty or more other woods.

THE JOHN CROUSE MEMORIAL COLLEGE FOR WOMEN.

We take pleasure in presenting to our readers an illustration of the John Crouse Memorial College for Women, which it is proposed to erect on the hill west of the Hall of Languages, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y. This edifice is to be the gift of one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Syracuse, Mr. John Crouse. The donor of this magnificent gift well deserves to be held in grateful remembrance by every friend and well wisher of the Syracuse University, as well as by the students and faculty. It is proposed to make this building a model one in every respect, and neither pains nor money are to be spared to render it the most perfectly equipped college to be found in the country. The structure is to be five stories in height, to be built of East Long Meadow brownstone, and to cover an area of nearly two hundred feet square.

In this connection a brief historical sketch of Syracuse University may interest our readers.

The college now known as Syracuse University had its origin in Lima, a pretty little village in Western New York, but quite out of the way, and not easy of access. It was then called Genesee College, and the first gathering of faculty and students occurred on Monday, June 9, 1851. The faculty consisted of Benjamin F. Tefft, D.D. LL.D. and Professors Houghton, Douglass, Whitlock, and Alverson. On June 12 of same year, the Rev. B. F. Tefft was inaugurated president of Genesee College, and on July 10 the names of thirty‐eight students were enrolled on the college register. November 5 saw the faculty increased by the addition of Professors Hoyt and Fowler. The college thus organized continued with varying fortunes until July 7, 1871, when it disbanded. In 1866 the subject of removing the college from Lima began to be agitated, and the idea of a central university for the Methodism of New York was first publicly announced in the _Northern Christian Advocate_, during the year 1873. From this time forth the new enterprise met with great favor on all sides, except with the citizens of Lima, who were reluctant to see the withdrawal from their midst of their principal attraction, to which we may well believe they had become greatly attached, and who procured an injunction against its removal. Prominent members of the Methodist Central Conference were nevertheless commissioned to carry forward the good work, and substantial aid was soon forthcoming. Syracuse, being the most central city in the State, was finally settled upon as the most appropriate home for the new college.

The site now known as University Hill was secured, plans made by the well known architect, H. N. White, were adopted, and July 19, 1871, the contract for building the Hall of Languages was let for the sum of $136,000, and Syracuse University became an assured fact. The corner stone of the Hall of Languages was laid on August 31, with impressive ceremonies, and the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts was inaugurated. On September 1 the college opened in the Myers block, which had been secured for the use of the university, and here the sessions were held until May 1, 1873, when the Hall of Languages being completed, it was on that date occupied for the first time. During the year 1871 the plan for a medical college in connection with the university was adopted, and its first commencement exercises were held February 12, 1873. When the Hall of Languages was erected, other buildings were contemplated at such time as the finances of the university should admit of their realization. The institution has struggled along, sometimes meeting with reverses, but now and then being fortified and strengthened by the reception of substantial encouragement from some of its many and devoted friends. Now at last the wheel of fortune has suddenly turned in its favor, and it finds itself at the flood tide of prosperity, with the prospect before it of a long and honorable course of usefulness and well deserved success. University Hill commands a magnificent view of the belt of hills which girdle the city, with Onondaga Lake set like a sparkling gem in the distance. Upon the west hill an observatory has just been erected, and near the Hall of Languages a suitable building is in process of erection, for the accommodation of the fine and valuable library which has been generously bestowed upon it by one of its friends. Syracusans are proud of the University, and they, in common with its hosts of warm friends throughout all parts of the country, rejoice in the evidence of its well merited prosperity.

The alumni of Syracuse University have members not only in almost every State in the Union, but count among their number graduates from Canada, England, Mexico, San Domingo, Brazil, China, India, and Japan.—_Architectural Era_.

How a Marble Statue is Made.