Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-01-19
Flre-ProOf Building-Views Of the
Sculptor, Powers.


THE Providence JovrnM publishes q
letter from Mr. Hiram Powers, the sculp-
tor, TO citizen of Rhode Island, in which,
after alluding to the burning Of Chicago,
he says
But it may be asked "Is 1t possible to
make u city fire-proof ~ / answer yes,
and without any great extra expense, To
prove this, have only to say that al
though there have been frequent fires in
the city of Florence during the thirty
four years of my residence in it, not one
house has been consumed, except thea
ter, and that was not entirely destroyed.
Rooms, full of goods, have been heated
like ovens by ignitcd caicoes straw hats,
etc, but as the floors above and below
were all covered by thin brick tiles, the
goods burned without ventilation. And
as there was no flame, n smell like that of
coal pit soon gave the alarm, and the
fire was soon extinguished by no other
engine than squirt holding gallon,
which discharged well-directed stream
through some aperture. / once beheld
some fremen marching to fire in Flor
ence. Foremost were three men with
picks, next four men with buckets, then
| three men with highlypolished brass
suuirts on their shoulders all marching
with an air of pomp and Importance
| The fire was at the residence of Mr..
| Clevenger, the American sculptor, and
had been burning twenty-four hours on
/ the end of a-ioist just under his fireplace.
! He had smelt something like coal-pit
/ for some time, and at length perceived
smoke rising from the brick floor. On
going below he found the room full of
smoke, and rush-bottomed chair just
under the ioist was partially consumed.
But the ioist was not yet burned off, and
why? d? Because the fire was bricked
down. 1t could not rise and burst into
flames.
The secret of fire-proof building, then,
is this 1t must be made impossible tor
the flames to pass through the floors or up
the stairway. If you will have wood floors
and stairs, lay flooring of the thinnest
sheet-ron over the ioists, and your wood
upon that and sheathe the stairs with the
same material A floor will not burn
without a supply of air under it. Throw
a dry board upon n perfectly fiat pave
ment, and kindle it as ii lies, if you can.
You may make fire upon it, and in time
consume it, but it will require long
time Prevent drafts, and though there
will still be fires, no house will be con
sumed. The combustion will go on SO
slowly that discovery is certain in time to
prevent any great calamity. But the roofs,
how about them? Slate or tiles? Zinc
melts too easily | believe that hard
burned tiles, if flat, would stand the frost
at home and if so, they constitute the
best roofing. My house has no ioists. All
! the floors are of tiles resting on arches.
One of these arches was made over a room
twenty-five feet square, by four men, i'll
, four days The bricks are about one
and one-half inches thick, and laid
. edgewise, with plaster of Paris. There
was no framework prepared to- lay them
on, unless you would so term four bits of
, wood which man could carry under his
arm. And yet this arch is so strong as to
be perfectly safe with large dancing
party on it. | never have heard of one
4 of those floors falling, and they are abso-
Iutely fire-proof. OF course, light arches
l like these would not do for warehouses.
+ 1t would pay, think, to send out here
e for an Italian brick-mason who knows
e. how to build those thin but strong arches
for dwelling houses. know that there
8 is a prejudice at home against brick OF
{ composition floors. "Too cold in win
4 teri it is said And so they are if bare,
| but cover them with several thicknesses
G of paper and then carpet them, and no
{ one can distinguish the slightest difference
+ between their temperature and that OF
- wood floors. Who doubts this let him
e trv the experiment with the feet of the
thermometer. The truth is that the brick
4 or composition floor is no colder in itself
S than Wood-the thermometer attests this
but il is better conductor i do not
4 insure my house, as | know that it is not
=, combustible.