Part 7

In the erection of fire-proof buildings, we are forced to do the best we can with iron while using it in the most varied capacities; but when its use can be spared, let me entreat you to rid yourselves of it; where it must be employed, use it rationally and constructively; but better not decorate it at all, than imitate styles not in harmony with its constructive properties. As all iron must be painted, I am inclined to believe that the best method of decorating it is in colors; for this treatment the iron must be plain and simple, and the colors may be proportionately brilliant. With regard to other materials, I would suggest nothing more than is said above—in all things build rationally. First, let your work be strong and well balanced—no part too heavy—no part too light. Then decorate it in harmony with its constructive features, never concealing materials, except where necessary to protect them, and emphasizing the main lines of the construction by ornamentation. Thus only can the great problem of the day be solved, and the fire-proof architecture of the nineteenth century be made worthy of a rational and progressive age.

NOTE.—An inspection of HARPER & BROTHERS’ building, since writing this paper, has convinced me that the principle of division into horizontal compartments has been carried out more thoroughly in it than in any other building of the kind. There are no openings through the floors. It contains neither interior stairs nor hoistway; both are on the exterior. The stairs are in an isolated tower approached by bridges, and the hoistway is without enclosure. This arrangement is however extremely inconvenient.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] But by combustible material, I do not by any means intend what the insurance companies call hazardous, but dry goods, books, and similar things, which will burn independently of the building in which they are contained.

[B] (That disaster was owing also to the fact that the beams, other than girders, were made only of No. 12 sheet iron with flanges of 2 inch angle iron).

THE NEW MERCANTILE LIBRARY, PHILADELPHIA.

The history of the origin of public libraries is simple. Very few persons who possessed a desire to own books of great value could, in early times, afford to gratify their wish, owing either to want of the necessary means, or the very great scarcity of many works of intrinsic value. Before the invention of the great art of printing it is well known that all communicated learning was, of necessity, confined to manuscript on vellum. And that the only mode of repeating books was by transcription. The number of copies being extremely limited, it became necessary to have public places at each of which a copy might be placed for the use of those who desired to read, and as that number was in those days limited also, it was customary for some man of learning to read aloud to an audience.

These folios of manuscript, in time, accumulated to thousands, and the places of their deposit became institutions, and received the name of _librarium_. The term “librarian,” however, was applied in those days to the transcriber of books (_librarius_), rather than to the custodian, the latter officer being entitled _custos librariarum_, and who was nothing more than a janitor.

The enormous impetus given to education by the invention of printing, although it multiplied copies of books to such an extent as to render them cheap enough to become the property of individuals, still public libraries suffered no diminution, and the very increase of the draught seemed to promote the thirst for information, especially in that class in whom a taste for reading was controlled by a limit of means to become possessed of the necessary books. And although in our day the newspaper, the journal, and the serial, do much to disseminate knowledge among the millions, yet are libraries as much an institution of positive necessity as ever; for, in fact they whet the appetite for reading, and the brief paragraphs and condensed essays editorial are but so many stimulants to more extensive acquisitions of information. The taste grows, and the patronage of libraries increases, and such a progress must continue and enlarge whilst the mind of man lives to accomplish the task set by Him in whose likeness the favored being is made.

The history of libraries is one of great interest to the lover of mental progress and the active civilization of our race, and might well call out the most industrious efforts of learned writers to do it justice. However, our business just now is with a local event—the inauguration of a new building by a most popular institution, the MERCANTILE LIBRARY of this city, which took place on the 15th of the past month, in the presence of a large and intellectual number of visitors of both sexes.

The rise and progress of this admirable institution is interesting. Started in 1822 in a small second-story room, with few books and fewer members, pinched to pay the rent of $150 per annum, by degrees it gained vigor and steadily advanced to its present position, occupying now a building admirable in all the arrangements of room, light, heat, and ventilation.

This spacious building, occupying a prominent position on Tenth street, north of Chestnut, in this city, was purchased and fitted up at a cost of a quarter of a million dollars, and possesses a choice collection of books amounting to fifty-two thousand volumes, besides a well supplied news room, where will be found a great variety of journals from all parts of the civilized world, together with magazines, reviews, quarterlies, and annuals in abundance. The ladies having a separate department to themselves, unapproachable by the masculines.

The arrangement by which the reading rooms have been studiously kept in the rear of the building out of the reach of street disturbances, is one which gives it a great advantage over the public libraries of most other cities.

There is a well furnished chess room for the lovers of that mental game, and conversation, waiting and other rooms requisite to perfectly complete a truly desirable city institution.

We understand that the membership exceeds fifty thousand, and judging from what has been done, there is no reason to doubt its ultimately doubling that number in so large a city as this.

* * * * *

ARTIFICIAL STONE.—At the recent meeting of the Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, Mr. Thomas Hodgson exhibited and explained two methods of manufacturing and moulding artificial stone ornaments, blocks, etc., for buildings. One of these is prepared by treating lime with a solution of four ounces of oxalic acid in a gallon of water, thus producing an oxalate of lime, which is mixed with from two to four times its weight of sand. In this condition the material is a moist, friable powder. It is then moulded to the required form in Plaster-of-Paris moulds, removed from the latter, and suffered to dry. It is then preferably placed in a bath of dilute oxalic acid, which causes it to harden throughout, after which it is ready for use. In making the other variety, the inventor treats the oxalate of lime with a solution of silicate of potash, thus bringing it to a semi-fluid condition, whereupon it is poured into moulds and suffered to indurate.

Dr. Van der Weyde said that the oxalate of lime, being one of the most insoluble substances known in chemistry, its employment in the fabrication of artificial stone was a lucky thought. The use of potash and soda compounds for such purposes had been extensively attempted with very poor results, but the oxalate of lime was free from objections which hold good against such compounds.—_Railroad and Mining Register._

* * * * *

THE NEW TREASURY BUILDING, at Washington, D. C., is now completed. This addition or north wing of the Treasury building is 65 by 195 feet, and occupies the site of the old State Department. The entire Treasury building covers an area of 520 by 278 feet, that is 144,550 square feet, or three acres and a half, including two large courts. On the eastern side of the building is a colonnade of thirty pillars, extending 336 feet north and south. On each of the other sides is a portico, each shaft of the columns of which is a monolith or single block of stone, 32 feet in height, and 4 feet 6 inches in diameter, that is 14 feet in circumference. The buttress caps, which partially inclose the steps of the porticoes, are single slabs of granite, 20 feet square by 2 feet thick. The granite was quarried on Dix’s island, off the coast of Maine, and the larger slabs were taken to Washington in the rough, and there dressed. Fronting the north entrance is a fountain, the base of which is 12 feet in diameter, and the height 5 feet. It was cut from a single block of granite.

CORRESPONDENCE.

_It must be distinctly understood that we do not hold ourselves accountable for the opinions of correspondents._

WASHINGTON, July 20th, 1869.

“DEAR SIR:—Give your readers in your notes on Drawing and Drawing Materials, information that if a little powdered borax (borate of soda) is put into the water with which India Ink is rubbed up, and the mixture is kept in a tight bottle when not in use, it will keep sweet for months.

“The ink with which this is written was rubbed one year ago, and has sufficed for all my drawing during the past twelve months. A hard rubber ink bottle and screwed top has preserved, and it flows well, and the fragrance of the musk is as pleasant as when it was first rubbed.

“I have used the drawing pen for nearly forty years, and only a year ago was, by this receipt given me by a friend, relieved from the trouble of rubbing ink for every day’s work. “Yours respectfully, “M. C. MEIGS.”

We have assumed the liberty of giving the name of the writer of the foregoing excellent suggestions, in order to inspire learners with additional enthusiasm by showing them what an interest is taken in their progress by one who has attained to such a high position as the Quarter Master General of the United States Army, and we trust that Major General MEIGS’ solicitude for art education may be emulated by many others, capable (if willing) of doing the cause an occasional service.

* * * * *

OMISSION.—In the preceding number of the REVIEW we overlooked the name of the architect who designed and super-intended the _Atlantic_ Hotel, of which we gave an illustrated description in the article on our “Sea Bathing Resorts.” Unrequested by that gentleman, we think it but proper to give the credit to Mr. JOHN STEWART, Architect, of this city.

WEST PHILADELPHIA, June 21st, 1869.

SIR:—It is to be hoped that at some time or other, before the appearance of cholera shall compel attention to the matter, we may see a move made in the direction of public baths. Is it not a little singular that our people of means who acknowledge the healthful necessity of bathing, and are lavish of expenditure to secure it in its utmost salt-water purity, do not seem to be aware of the advantage that blessing would be to hundreds of thousands of their fellow-beings, too poor to provide it for themselves. In winter we have Soup Associations, and other charitable societies. In summer can we not have Public Bathing Societies, just as necessary to the health of our community?

There are surely thousands who would subscribe their mite towards it; will not the millionaires lead off and set the ball in motion? A CITIZEN.

Yes, we certainly think they ought, and we have not the slightest doubt but that they will, as soon as the coming man, who is to lead in this matter, shall make his appearance. Let us hope that person will soon be on hand.

_Queries and Responses._

NEW YORK, July 8th, 1869.

MR. EDITOR:—Is it not a most unaccountable fact that the New York Post Office structure, which was to have been commenced some two years since, is as seemingly a myth as one of those “castles in Spain,” of which we all have had at some time of our lives an idea. The site was duly purchased by the United States Government, designs were called for and provided in most eccentric profusion, and the select, if not elect, among the eighth-inch sealed suggestions were liberally paid for in awarded premiums. In fact all that is necessary to trumpet forth an advance was done. Where, then, is the new POST OFFICE? Out of sight—for, even the purchased site itself is not a certainty, then how should we expect to find the Post Office over ground when the ground is not yet decided on.

That Treasury Building at Washington is just now finished, after a lapse of time which makes gray hairs come on in unbidden numbers. Will the infant born this year, behold the promised New York Post Office before his growth of manhood is doubled into

“Lean and slipper’d Pantaloons?”

Alas, the “temporary” addition to that old Dutch church on Nassau street has but too truly proved a prediction, and we of the Empire city will either have to put up with the present arrangement, or build a postal structure of our own. It is evident now that the act of Congress, in this case made and provided, is but A DEAD LETTER.

SARAH B.—In the case you mention, the lightning rod was secured to the wall of the house by iron staples. There was nothing to hinder the electric fluid from turning off on one of these, as it actually did. Accidents of a like nature are constantly happening, and where sufficient precaution is not taken it would be far safer to have no conductor.

S. T., asks, is there any bank lock, of how many, and whatever combinations, that is absolutely secure against thoroughly posted and prepared burglars? We doubt that there is. For years the Bank of England trusted its vaults, filled with treasures, to the celebrated _Chubb_ lock. Yet that ingenious Yankee, Hobbs, opened it in a surprising short time. The fact is—what man’s ingenuity can make, man’s ingenuity can also unmake.

C. G., Cincinnati.—We perfectly agree with you; the dwellings of this day are really combustible, and highly dangerous; much more so in fact than before burning fluids came so much into use. We also agree with you that the roofs of houses should not be of a material so liable to take fire on the occasion of a pyrotechnical display, or the passing of a spark-emitting locomotive.

Shingles could be easily rendered fire-proof by steeping them, before use, in a strong solution of alum. But most people would willingly “lose the sheep, to save the pennyworth of tar.”

R. D., Baltimore.—The silica coating of any building material renders it very durable. It is the combination of carbonate of lime, or chalk, with silicate of soda, or what is more commonly known as “soluble glass,” and by the old chemists called “oil of flint,” which, under heavy pressure, produces extraordinary hardness, and causes the great adherence of this cement to iron, brick, stone, or wood. And it is but one more proof of the practical property of the silicate, when applied to purposes such as those in which building most requires its valuable aid.

W. A., Ellsworth, Maine, asks for information as to the best manner of polishing instruments. We would recommend his getting a piece of buckskin and straining it on a square stick, covering one surface with pulverized rotten-stone, or whiting, perfectly free from “grit.” For the instruments in which ink is used, having unscrewed and opened the hinged joints, clean off the ink first with a wet, then with a dry rag. Next rub the blades on the coated side of the buckskin, and lastly on the plain buckskin, until the appearance is satisfactory. We repeat that the pens should not be put away wet, but be carefully dried and rubbed on the buckskin after use. A drop of watchmakers’ oil on the screws and springs occasionally, will tend to insure the long and good service of instruments. Velvet is the best bed for them in the box; and the mould of their tray would be better cut out of cork than of wood. Any one can fit up his own instrument-case to suit his wants. Our advice is to buy only the instruments you have use for, _and get the best_, keeping them in constant order.

L., New York.—We agree with you, the names of streets should be painted on the lamps, and when a light of glass is broken and replaced the name should also be replaced.

S. R., Reading, Pa.—The idea is not new. Nay, it is as old as the hills. The ancients used hot air flues under their tiled floors. As long as we use boarded flooring we cannot do likewise, for reasons which any insurance office will freely give you.

PUBLICATIONS.

We have pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of the first number of THE ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, a weekly publication which was most desirable to our civil engineers in this country, who have hitherto had to depend for professional information on European sources. The American Journal of Mining was a popular periodical, and this prefixed addition to and modification of its title will go far to increase its well earned fame; for, judging by the specimen number, (and we know that cannot do its future full justice,) this new effort of Messrs. Western & Company is already a success as a most welcome co-laborer in the great constructive art. We tender it our best wishes, and place it on our exchange list.

MOORE’S RURAL NEW YORKER is an old and well tried friend of everything pertaining to agriculture and domestic economy. No country can boast of better serials of this class than ours, and foremost amongst the best we conscientiously place the Rural New Yorker. In its issue of July 10th, we find an illustrated suggestion for “a roomy house,” in which we detect some defects which render its execution inadvisable. There is no provision for chimnies, and the stairs are impracticable. Such a house would be far more expensive than comfortable. However, it is pleasing to see men ready to contribute their mite to the general fund of information on a subject so intimately connected with home life and happiness.

THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN comes to us with its full share of the practical and the useful, amongst which we would particularly note an improved brick kiln. It has often surprised us to see the clumsy way in which bricks are usually burned and the serious waste of fuel arising from the loss of such a large percentage of heat, not to speak of want of uniformity in baking or burning. The kiln to which we allude is decidedly good and greatly superior to all its foreign predecessors, even Hoffman’s, which it more nearly resembles.

HEARTH AND HOME, with all its attractiveness, is regularly on our table. This periodical is most creditable to the illustrated serial literature of our country, and we are satisfied of its being a fixed fact, from the evidence before us of the liberality of its publishers and zeal of its gifted editors and staff of contributors. The prize song is a gem well worthy of a fitting setting in music equal to its own.

THE PRINTER’S CIRCULAR for July is filled with the interesting proceedings and intense enjoyment of the recent meeting of the National Union at Albany.

THE AMERICAN BUILDER for July has its usual amount of racy readings, its smart comments, and general information. It speaks well for the spirit of the western architects that our Chicago contemporary has laid in its foundation, and goes on with the work.

DESIGNS FOR STREET FRONTS, SUBURBAN HOUSES AND COTTAGES. By Cummings and Miller. This is a quarto volume containing fifty-two plates, with letter-press description of details for interior and exterior ornaments required in domestic architecture and the designs for the same. The former to a scale of a quarter inch, and the latter three-quarters of an inch to the foot. Besides this several designs are given for villas, country houses, and cottages. But the main advantage this work has over most of its predecessors, is in the very full and exhaustive hints, suggestions and instructions it gives to those in need of such; by which any practical man can readily apply any required embellishment to the house he proposes to construct. In fact the book before us supplies a very great want, by presenting to the builder remote from the professional aid of city architects an array of useful practical information which is inestimable to him, and is most desirable to the progress of tasteful construction throughout this wide country. The plates are unexceptionably executed, and the evident care with which this excellent guide to practical building has been put through the press renders it a most fitting work for those to whose wants it is so well adapted.

We highly recommend it as a faithful monitor and admirable assistant of the carpenter and builder. A. J. Bicknell, Troy, N. Y., is the publisher.