Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1871-02-16

in its psuise, 1oe notorisusay this
stone has proved . failure.
So too, the "Jolietn stone, has
stood 1t the head Of The list 81 build-
ing stones in the whole Northwest,
for the past twenty years; yet. unlesa
l am altogethef nisinlorined o well
as mistaken In my own observations,
it's repatati0n IL already on the wu'.e.
and II will ere hong paa~ ont Of usei
where permanency In exposed sftua'
ti0ns - required.
In st. Louis, the magnetism lime
stone has, entered largely Into the
construction Of public buildings foa
the last fifty, years, or more; but
latteriy, am told, even that popular
stone has fallea under condemnation,
BY reason Of its inability to withstand
the weathering influences to which
it is constantly exposed. We know
that in the building Of the celebrated
bridge across the Mississippi, the
stone selected for its massive sub
structures were Of granite, brought
ut great expense from the State Of
Maine; while the new City Hail,
soon to be commenced Is, ! am also
informed, 70 be built Of sandstone;
while In the city Of New York, the
red sandstone, which for many years
has entered so largely into the con.
struction Of both public and private
edifices, ID being discarded as wholly
worthless. Nay, mOre-even the
"Westchester MARBLE" socalled from
its locality In Westchester County,
which, from the days OF the old
Dutch Governors has been In con.
slant demand for use in all public
buildings in that and the adjoining
cities, and out Of which the new City
Hall Is now being built, is, according
to the recent statements Of an intelli.
gent contributor to the New York
Tribune, liable to be also discarded,
by reason not only Of the disintegra-
tion constantly going on, but also
''by Its becoming disfigured by dis
coioration," and consequently unfit
ted for use In ! structure Of such
architectural elegance.
Compare, then, our short measure
Of experience in Iowa, with the
periods of time which many Of the
building stones alluded to have been
in use before their insufficiency was
discovered, and what does It amount
to? Not very much; and yet, it has
a certain amount of value. Add to
it their relative strength, to be oh.
tanned by mechanical tests, and their
character or composition, to be Ob
tanned by chemical experiments, and
we have very much more to 60 upon;
for true 1t il, that certain elements,
entering into the composition OF all
stones, Ak their character for resist.
ing the deleterious Influences OF heat,
frost, moisture, the atmospheric
acids, ETC., ETC., thus rendering them
more or less imperishable when used
in exposed situations.
Originally Impressed with these
views, l moved, at our first meeting,
for a committee upon which ] was
placed) to collect just this kind Of
information, In relation TO our Iowa
building stone, and subsequently
called In Professor Hinrichs, as an
expert and skillful chemist, to deter
mine the composition and weather
ing properties Of the different build
ing stones brought to our notice. 1t
is much to be regretted tlhat owing
to an overanxions desire, both In and
outsiieof tho Board. that s.something
should be done, = that mose tinse was
not afforded for pursuing this fnves-
tigation. Possibly IT. results might
have been summed up differently,
and you would not have felt called
upon to write, or publish the article
to. sss"
BE this - IL may, however, /
strongly incline to the belief that the
information sought to be obtained
with the assistance Of the Professor,
Is to be found In the direction marked
out by him; and II there has been .
failure anywhere In his conclusions,
It has grown out Of q want Of time
for q more thorough and complete
investigation OF the work In hand,
for which he II In no way responsi.
Bile, since BY . resolution Of the
Board, the contracting Of the stone
was to be determined upOn . given
day. and his labOrs, consequently,