Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1872-01-18
fire-Proof Building-Views Of the
sculptor, Powers.

The Providence JourRM publishes a
letter from Mr.. Hiram Powers. the sculp-
tor, to a citizen of Rhode Island. in which
after alluding to the burning of Chicaro,
he says:
But Il may be asked "Is it possible to
make a 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 il, not one
house has been consumed, except thea
ter, and that was not entirely destroyed.
Rooms, full OF goods, have been heated
ike ovens by ignited calicoes, straw hats,
etc, but rs the floors above and below
were all covered by thin brick tiles, the
goods burned without ventilation. And
rs there was no flame, a smell like that of
a coal pit soon gave the alarm, and the
fire was soon extinguished by no other
engine than squirt holding a gallon,
which discharged well-directed stream
through some aperture. i once beheld
some firemen marching to fire in Flor
ence Foremost were three men with
picks, next four men with buckets, then
( three men with highly polished brass
/ squirts 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 ioist just under his fireplace.
! He had smelt something like coal-plt
/ for some time, and at length perceived
/ smoke rising from the brick floor. On
going below he found the room full of
smoke, and "A shbottomed chair just
under the joist was partially consumed.
! But the joist was not yet burned off, and
WHIT : Because the fire was bricked
down. Ii could not rise and burst into
flames.
The secret of fire-proOf building, then,
is this 1t must be made impossible for
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-iron over the ioists, and your wood
upoii .ha. and sheathe the stairs with the
same material. A floor will not burn
without supply of air under it. Throw
dry board upon perfectly flat pave
ment, and kindle it as it lies, il you can
You may make fire upon it, and in time
, consume it, but 1t 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? Lne
meltS too easily. DellcNc thdt hhN
burned tiles, il flat, would stand the frost
at home and If so, they constitute the
best roofing. My house has no joists- AL
S the floors are of tiles resting on arches
= One of these arches was made over room
: twenty-five feet square, by four men, IL
e four DAYS. The bricks are about ont
I and Une-half inches thick, and laic
: edgewise, with plaster of Paris. There
was no framework prepared TO lay them
+ on, unless you would so term four bits OF
G wood which man could carry under his
arm. And vet this arch is so strong as to
: be perfectly safe with large dancing
/ party on it. never have heard OF one
Il of those floors falling, and they are abso
. lutely fire-proof. of course, light arches
n like these would not do for warehouses.
: 1t would pay, think, to send out here
g for an Italian brick-mason who know:
: how to build those thin but strong archie:
for dwelling-houses. / know that there
/. is a prejudice at home against brick ol
f composition floors. Too cold In win
b ter" it is said. And so they are If bare
but cover them with several thicknesse'
e of paper and then carpet them, and M
1t one can distinguish the slightest difference
i between their temperature and that o
: wood floors Who doubts this let hin
e try the experiment with the feet OF tn,
:. thermometer The truth is that the brlcl
N or composition floor is no colder IN ltsel
s than wood-the thermometer attests I'M
|, but il is better conductor l do no
Ii insure nv house, as know that it is nc
2 omhustible