Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1855-03-28
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH %, 1885,

| WEDNESDAY, MARCH Is, 1855.
| A NEW BUILDING MATBRIAL.-For MANY
| years past the inhabitants of Wisconsin have
been in the habit of building their houses,
whenever lime and sand are plentiful, of a
substance known as Grout, which is a mix
ture oflime and sand. In all parts of that State
houses of this description are to be met with,
many ofwhich, though they have been erected
from sixteen to twenty years, do not show the
least signs of decay. This fact, we under
stand, suggested to Mr.. Ambrose Foster, of
Portland, Dodge county, Wisconsin, the idea
that it might be possible SO to compound and
manipulate these two articles lime and sand,
as to form building material which should
not only be as durable as the best stone it.
self, but should also be adapted to the many
requirements of builders throughout the Uni
ted States, After devoting considerable time
and ingenuity, he has at length succeeded in
producing an article that bids fair eventually
to drive clay made bricks entirely out of the
market, and to supercede in many instances
the use of stone. Taking for the basis of his
operations the established fact that hydrated
lime, when exposed to the action of the atmo-
sphere again, takes up the carbonic acid which
it lost i'll the process ofburning and Stacking,
and so becomes indurated, he set himself to
work, to find out the proper proportions of
q
These he found were one part lime to twelve.
of sand. In Wisconsin, little attention has
been paid to these proportions in the making
OF Circuit, which is there used in wet state,
like mortar, the walls being built up by the
layers of this mixture being laid on between
two parallel boards. Hitherto, then, Mr..
Foster had but very slightly varied his process
from that adopted in his native State. Even
tually, however, he found out that, in order
to effect q more perfect comblnsEian, the lime
and sand should be mixed together in nearly
dry state-in fact, the sand, as it was dug our
of the earth and the lime in the owdery staff
it acquires after being Stacked. The mixture
is then run into moulds, passed into ma
chine constructed for the purpose, and sub
jected to great pressure-as much, indeed, as
one hundred and twenty tuns upon a single
brick OF the ordinary size. On being remov-
ed from the machine, the brick presents a white
appearance showing on its surface that it
is simply yet mixture of lime and sand
compressed into shape. These bricks are now
piled up in regular heaps. so that the air may
circulate freely around them. At this point
commences chemical change. The moisture
ofthe atmosphere enables the lime to again take
up the carbonic acid, and the wholeis trans
formed in the course of a few days into bricks of
remarkable hardness, ready at once for all or
binary building purposes. The surfare now
presents the appearance of whitish sand stone
while month after month and year after year
the same chemical changeis going on and the
bricks become harder and harder, until at
length they are as indestructible as granite it
self In their manufacture they neither shrink
nor warp, hence they can be laid so evenly
that very little mortar is needed in putting
them together. Indeed, the amount of lime
required to make the bricks and put them to-
gether in building does not exceed the guam
tity necessary In ordinary brick building OPP
erations. The internal surface, too, of the
walls, presents much smoother result
that in many instances no plastering will be
required. The bricks are also, from their ma
ture, impervious to damp. Owing to their
great strength and hardness, these bricks can
be manufactured with perforations, SO that
every wall may be built with dead. air cham
Der i'll it. This will be found Of considerable
use in all large buildings; while in making
fences for farms, &C., the perforations of the
bricks may be so arranged as to present many
pleasing devices For buildings requiring the
application Of architectural design, orna-
mental brisks can be made as readily as those
OF the ordinary shape. Lime and sand are
far more plenufully scattered than in the CLAW
from which the common brick is formeI, con-
sequently Mr.. Fosters invention will materi-
ally decrease the cost of building, since they
can DE indde IN almost all localities more
cheaply than the most common brick The
farmer, indeed, may draw his own sand and
lime, prepare and mix them as directed, and
then, with one of the machines, manufacture,
IN the course Of day or two, as many of the
building blocks as he requires for Lis fences,
barns, stables, sc. Although the beauty of
these bricks depends in some measure upon
the purity of the sand, that is, of its being
free from any admixture with clay or other
earths, STILL very little deviation from the or
binary process produces good, substantial
block. Metallic oxides may, where necessa-
ry, be incorporated with the materials, so as
to give any shade or color required, or produce
an almost indestructible imitation of any kind
Of marble or stone. We have seen specimens
of this new building material which have been
subjected to every possible test in order to
prove the strength aud durability of material
capability of withstanding the effects of al
ternating frost and heat, and we were not a ble
to discover that the experiments in question
had in any way affected the blocks operated
upon. Tribune.
nA1yfs A