, 1865-09-18
Public Bnlid1nss In CbfcaSoeKad
FDurdaftnrt

Foundations.
Editors Tnbunc: .... |
of offoundatsons ior buildings IN chlcaso, which wss
the subject Of aho editorial in yo1r paper Of ycs
te13ay, wherein you take The ground that good
a' sss bs1 Be- ns IT, 5
your article referred 10. S0w shall not, a. you
might presume G9m a g!anco at my signature, a.
Temple were laid, but, If permitted 70 do So, wiz
inIosm you that there ID little more difficulty ID lay
ing foundation that siIl te1r church stcaple two
mn n en ot for eomou 'n2 on hs ss l.
tower Of The Unitarian Church, which had to be
taken doE1 as,cs 1t had snnk some two ieet. and
ihat It VAS matter that could not have been aro d
ed; That 1t was simply . pieee ol "bAd luck" Let
me s,a.e simple iact IN relation to 1t. 1t Was
soil, md had an area Of base equal to asoat e0o
sqnntc feet Now, str, aver that thers Is NOT In
the cty Of Chicago IN aere Of ground Except be
would think q building dDch tower On 10 o smail
base. Instead Of C00 II should have been I,O feet
at least, and mo,e probably 2ooo. An attempt was
made 70 seense The sajseent walls BY driving piles,
You also reler to the :ew Baptist Church tower,
which y also settling badly, and {ou remark that
q asss ~ ea oS' III % sy o62 Ss1 70
may be pardoned for spppogng that The driving Of
il il be Admitted that he a1eHtects of he civ Of
Chicago do not know better than this, do not see
that they have any claim to superiority of knowl-
edge in the sSienee Of construction beyond that Of
THAT de settling OF these towers, IS well as that
OF 1he FfIet Fteeby te1an Church, and several 9th.
force Of g1avitajon, i fact that nseds no demon.
et1atfou; and had the n.ual and necessary precaN-
tions been taken to resist these forcesueh pseeau
ns little demonstration to show that they might,
orc and all, notr be standing upright and Eound,
mud credItahlc monuments Of the skill Of those who
designed and executed them.
Piles are not proper matuial foundation in tho
quicksaud soils 81 Chicago, nor IN similar soils
elsewherc; nor do know architect IN Chsistcn-
respectable reputation bis profession, W5o woad
jeopardtze that reputation By attempting 10 build
such heavy structures on such phsnto.nlke foun-
anc On n M sae1 81 ns a5s
done elsewhere. very noted one is that u the
new Houses Of Parliament, In London, commonly
aseiy On lhe banks of The JIser Thames, and on a
Bpbso1 Of qn}ckaand, In state Of liquefaction al
most equal that Of Tbs river Itself The Victoria
% ihe buissesses ID 4 = wits n RON % %reeolleetion,, With
naseve walls OF stone and iron, mainly the former
and sca 10 height of3s5 feet abore the pavement
Ii Is hunt on Foundation OF eoerets 10 feet sna
inches thick. IL area do mol now recollect, bnt
long remain monument TO tho genius mud still Of
naabe ,hs IS a OF church
lately bnt In Hamburg ifom tho designs Of The ac-
lno,sedgcd leading church architect Of the present
fcct high butt Of alonc, md stands upon base Of
100 feet diameter md Ii mol likely soon 10 be taken
! down foE want OF proper foundations: :, .,nu..
! examples all lending to show. What nave before
stated, that cumpcicnt men elsewhere have no
trouble n making foandations Tor Shisch tower;
assert the similar means applied discrcctly.
viii accomplish the same result here
rlles als good II .hsl5 PLACES, ana unas7 l,
ea' q .1g s' othsf s aftiaes @ fonsdsion; IA IL
possession ofthat knoNlelge whlch indicates nhcD,
produce desired results, u ono OF the most neces,
saIy requirements Of competent architect; iol
wtthout;t, though be may design never SO n,ssnia
more magnificent failures.
Therefore enter ny protest nssinst The oplnlo5
speaking, cannot b eon.tracitd In ill., city. II;
ptcsulence ufsuch IN opinion would soon deter any
and every church society. which nay desire Z
veneraicd aud desirable appeudast to Chslsttai
church, the stately tower and Sp!ee y ean b
h6s = vc siss1 %i 1 saon4 1S
huit il might not have TO be taken down again, bu
should, and may be as much matter Of mathemat
iea1 certainty as sny ordinary wosks
might add, cheap naieEio1 for foundation. o.
coils like this. Its almost iuvarsahly rsea b
government architects and engineers as for instae
| under our Custom 1touse, and under all or neaFl
all the public buildings At Washington. and Is use
BY we'll educated architects and engineers every
where. In The hands OF incompetent men 1t las > n y
moro Ensrantyof succcss than have piles In sim
liar tands. 1t 10 }nAt a. invaluable 1or tha found
atlons Of stores and other heavy buildings as In III
construction ofchu5shes and = much cheaper .a taa
used It uimop1 exclusively for foundations ofpuhl
buildince, business blocks md other imPortar