The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-10-24
BUILDINGS AND BUILDERS.


r,,,, From a Practical Man Upon a
current and Interesting Topic.
,..Ie BY builder In the Louisville Courier.
Iq!FBill ,
Tho recent disastrous failures Of several
,rljiprs in our city have called forth q
r ., Of opinions upon the principles OF
,'r;tf,c,ion in vogue among us, OF their
,Erecpess or iallaCy, ETC., as well as sew.
al propositions designed to prevent the
.rarepce Of such accidents, The zeal
ri readiness with which these opinions
n M, before tue public are doubtless, for
ne ne mast part, Commendablc, as showing
n interest In the public welfare, but
There the professional man-the archi.
NJ, engineer, the master Northumberland
,acully in detecting the true cause, sure
we NAV be pardOnGd il we say that
,5c;e very prompt decisions Of irresponsi.
bepsrties are apt to Undue tho public
mind in error and injure the reputation Of
or,cs least to blame. For these reasons
popee to offer u few suggestions on the
,lnls involved, leaving the public TO
inv It's own conclusions.
MORTARS.
Fint-Relativc 10 mortar; it is a mig
asen but quite popular idea that its
strength increases with the amount Of
lime /, contains. In demonstration, we
..Te but to carry the idea to an extreme,
sd suppose a mortar all lime; this is evi.
!taty inadmi.ssble, as such d cement
would lack the necessary powers Of resist.
,a:etO crushing, which is impaired to it
ws proper admixture OF sand. The true
.ieory is, that so much lime should be
1~l 10 the form Of paste (slaCked) that
rchparlIcIe OF sand should ee envGloped
bysCOlting Off This IS necessary, and
sufficient. In accordance with this theory,
hc best authorities state that the lime
lHslsCked) should be in the proportion oil
stout part to s or 10 of sand. This lat.
tei should be clean and sharp; loan sand,
ofthat containing earthly impurities and
qlicksand, being equally uusuited. An
important point, and one too often over.
BOXED, IS, that the mortar should not be
Used too soon after being made, or, rather,
should not be made at all until the lime is
thoroughly Stacked and has gotten cold.
As lime increases in volume from two TO
three times in the process Of Stacking, it
sevident thati it Stakes alter being put
10 The wall tue swelling will disturb the
4!hesOn Of the mortar, if nothing else.
Since mortar acquires its hardness
sld teDacity by reason of lime changing
tOa carbonate, and this is a slow process,
its not TO be expected that green or
lFesh mortar should possess much nd.
Aesivc power. A certain amount OF
moisture is necessary 10 the change. II
swell, therefore, thStin hot, dry weather
The bricks be sufficiently wet TO prevent
their absorbing moisture from the NOR
hr This is not so necessary in the TALL
anil in the winter isnot desirable.
Bricks, rs ordinarily made are not per-
ieclly square and true in their shape, and
consequently il piled up without any in
tetvening substance will touch only in q
few irregular points, anu such u wal
would v be extremely shaky and unstable
The first object Of mortar, therefore, is
@aCIas a bedding for each successive
Ayet Of bricks, that each may have
Gearing its whole surface, and then al
i gradually hardCns, to bind the whole
together and form, so to speak, specie'
Of mOnOlth; 10 this end, more especially
care should be taken that the vertical O.
UPRIGHT joints between the bricks art
llel.
From tue foregoing, it is evident that II
anew'made wall mortar has no more Il
DO with its stability and perpendicular!
@an would have any other substance Il
which the bricks might be imbeded. l
can not make wall straight or crooked
only, by the action Of water and air, tn
mortar finally becomes sort ofsandstOnC
md binds the whole together, and Will
Cher substances that might be used il
Pace OF it-clay, for instance-wOulI
perish through the same agencies. TIL
FfpendiCularity Of a wall, exlraneou
causes being LETT aside, is due and dc
len9s on two things-the foundations ant
workmanship. A wall that is not put u
puub and straight certainly poSsesse
aopower within itself 10 become so. l
must must be put up straight in the first place
degrading foundations Sand is as goo(
S@steriaI to found on as anything else
OaIy ii must not be expected TO bear to-
much. 1t is not a very difficult problem
70 calculate tho weight OF a section Of
SSalI, including proper allowance To-
aoots, root, etc, and to divide that weigh
W The number Of square feet GOV
sh by the base of that sec
HOn, The result Of this division woult
W ", Tue pressure Of the base upon the earth
Where the weight imposed exceeds this
"a pFOpOrtionalG amount for different
anus Of soils, the charge TO be borne by
%sn Is too great, and ii is but natu:a
saal they should sink under it. But few
~ any buildings arc put up in which
'aTe IS not some settling, as the sol
E X, and hsrdGns under the weight
~ lae main point is that the foundation!
SuOuLa be so proportional that the sGttl
~ sA9II be equa! at all points, and tina
,ue walls, therefore, shall not be dislOcat
, ,E strained. In large buildings, Will
S W. proportions Of the foundations MAJ
theoretically correct, the soil may b
TIa'uFSlIy more compact at one poin
SAa another, and thus some ineQualitie
~ settlement manifest themselves; it /
SNGIy possible to lorsCC and prevent this
S SuG besides, il seldom gives rise to IN,
serious trouble.
AGAIN, objection is made to the plan G
iSv,;s1TtelIluS, or running out q little shelf q
Il S';Sk work on which to lay the joists, an
" %S urged that to put the weight thus O
Cae slde Of the wall has u tendency I
NJ c'a'e II 10 bend or buckle in the middl
SirS,ksIoryI,hat the joists should DO bull
"ro me wall. a little reflection will a
CJ'e satisfy any one that this latter metl
"a, lar worse than CotbellinG. TAX,
!, Example, u thirteen.inCh wall, or wha
Io S'aown as a brick and halt wall
SnS ,s St T generally about twelve inChC
PN" They are laid on the wall whe