New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-03-21
NEW INVENTIONS.

p..t The Inhabitants of Wisconsin, have been in tho
b.bi. Of building their houses, wherever lime and
,spd arc plentiful, Of substance known a. GRocr,
vhieb !, a mixture Of lime and sand. In all parts OF
that State houses Of this description are to be met
With. mspy Of which, though they have been erected
from sixteen to twenty years, do not show the le.st
s;eps of decay This fact, we pnders and, suggested
40 Mr.. Ambrose Foster, Of Portlsnd Dodge County,
Wisconsin the idea that it might be possible so to
eomncupd and manipulate these t~o articles, lime
and sapd. az TO form baildDg material which shoald
No, only be az durable the beat stone itsel, but
should alfo lie adapted to the many requirements OF
bu;lder, throughout the United S.s'es. After de-
voting consid, rabIe time and ingenuity he has at
length succeeded in producing an article that bids
fair eventually to drive clay made bricks entirely
ont of the market and TO supersede in many in
stances the u,e of stone. Taking for the basis Of his
optrstions the established feet that hydrated ine
when exposed TO the action of the atmosphere sgsio
tsk ND the carbonic acid which il lost IN the pro.
cess Of burning and Stacking, and so becomes inda-
rated he &c. himself to work to find out the proper
proportions Of sand and lime to form q species OF
sandstone. Tnete he found were one psrt lime to
twelve Of sand. In Wisconsin little attention had
been paid to these proportions in the making OF
Grout, which is there always used in a vet state,
Ike mortar the walls being built up by layers of this
mixture being laid ON between two parallel boards.
Hitherto, then, Mr.. Foster had bu. very slightly
red bis process from that adopted in bis native
State. Eventually, however, be found out that, in
order to effect more perfect combination the lime
spd sand should be mixed together 10 q nearly dry
sote-in fact, the sand dug out Of the earth,
and the lime in TIE powdery state it acquires after
-. olaj bn ia t1en runin nj ia
Iasst into machine constructed for the purpose,
AID subjected to great pressufe-as much, indeed, az
oneLundred and twenty tuns upon single brick OF
the ordinary size. On being removed from the ms
cbiIe, the brick presents white appearance, show
ing on iis surface that it is simply, as YET mstare
Of lime and sand compressed into shape These
bricks piled up in regular heaps so that the
air mey circulate freely around them. At this point
conn ences chemical change. The moisture of the
at nospbere enables the lime to sgain take up the
csrbobic acid and the whole is transformed in the
coure of few days into bricks of remarkable hard
ness, ready at once for all ordinary baildug pur-
poses. The surfaces present the appearance Of
whitlsh sand stone, while month after month and
year after year the same chemical change is going
on and The bricks become harder and harder, until
at length they ipdestructble granite itself
In their manufacture they neither shrink nor warp
hence they can be laid evenly that very little
mortar II needed in putting them together Indeed,
the amount Of line required to make the bricks and
put them together in a building does not exceed the
quantity necessary in ordinary brick buildng opera
tions. The internal surface too of the walls pre-
sents 70 much smoother result that in many in.
stance no psstering will be required The bricks
are also, from their nature, impervous to damp.
Osipg TO their great strength and hardness, these
bricks can be mar ufactared with perforations.
80 that every wall may be built with dead air
ohsmber in it. This will be found Of consdera-
bic use in ell large buildings; while in masking
ferces for FERNS &c, the perforaticns of the
bricks may be so arranged az to present many
pleasing devices. For buildings requiring the appli
cation Of architectural design ornamental bricks
he msde as readily as those Of the ordinary shave.
Lime ard sand far more pentifuy scattered than
ia the clay from which tina brick lie fo-msS
consequently Mr.. Fosters invention will materially
decrease the cost of building sLce they may be made
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 Ii en- with one Of the machines manufacture, in
the course Of day or two, many Of the building
blocks as be requires for bis fences barns, stables,
&c. Although the beauty Of these bricks depends in
some messure upon the purity of the sand that 10 Of
lie being free from any adu,ixure with clay other
earibs, still very little devia from the ordinary
procestes produces good substantial block. Metal
lie oxides may, where necessary, be incorporated
with the materials to give any shade Of color
requirtd or produce almost indestructibe im'ta.
ton of any kind Of marble stone. We have
specimens of this new building material which have
been subjected to every possible test in order to prove
the strength and durability Of material capability Of
wbstandiDg the effects Of alternating frost aud heat,
and we were not able to discover that the expert
ments in question had in any way affected the blocks
operated upon.
RAILROAD CAR VESTIL ALTON. Several quite
promising attempts are now in progress to sccom-
pliih the great desderatum Of economical warming
and ventilatipg of cars in winter, well a. cooling
and dustlaypg in GUNNER. Alleviatny the dust
nuisance must be considered az of the frs. import
ance on account both of its evident utility and the
greater pleasure-travel during the summer season.
Winter ventilation is, however, equally important
as regards health and is receiving the attention Of
several active minds The most prominent among
the plans which seem ct all promising Of utmsts
success is that Of DR.. Geo. F. Foots, Of Buffalo.
One car on the Eew-York Central, and some twenty.
four on the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana
Railroads, are fitted with this sppSratus-desgned,
With little alteration, to serve both for winter and
The Ia nau,lt tho IN bv tha o., alton