, 1872-12-26
ITALIAN FIRE-PR0OF BUILDINGS.

I The destructive fire in Boston, following q
closely upon that in Chicago, and tho destructio
OF the Brooklyn Tabernacle and Barnum's Mu
scum in New York, both iron buildings, give ad
ditional interest to the question of the best man
ner OF constructing buildings Of fre-proof ma
terial. Just at this time, therefore, letter pub
ished in q recent issue OF the Providence R.I.,
journal, from Professor George /. Chase, tn
Professor Of Natural Philosophy in Brown Uni
veraity, and one Of the clearest and n,os
practically scientific men in the United
States, will be regarded as o.
special importance for some val
uabla hints it conveys relative to the manner Of
constructing fre-proof buildings in Florence,
Italy, where he ls nov stopping The hints
therein conveyed are partly from his own obser-
vations, and partly from those Of Powers, the
we1-nown American sculptor, who has for
many years been a resident Of Florence Pro-
fessor Chase considers that the Italians are far
in advance Of us in the art OF construction. Ho
claims not only that they have better
materials, but also that they uae them
more skilfu1ly than ne. The Italian
principle Of construction is to make every room
in building an air-tight apartment, formed of
| incombustible materials, so that, wherever the
| fire may originate, it shall be confined to that
part Of the house, and, having no egress, shall
| shoulder there for hours, and even days. To
secure this end, the Italians make all their walls
and dividing partitions OF brick and stone, and
also make the ceilings and roof equally tight,
and Of materials equally incombustible.
Their theory ia that the fire
must be bricked down as we'll
as bricked in, es the tendency of fire, where it
can find vent, is always upward rather than
lateral. Every room is, therefore, given vault
cd ceiling Of brick, apringing directly from the
four walls With regard to the manner OF con-
structon, Professor Chase says:
The lower stories in au the best houses here are
built in .'s way, the upper story being sometimes
finished VII fat ceilings. The bricka used in con-
sructng the auel ceilings from twelve to fifteen
inches In len. ~ about si1 inches in breadth, md
only one and haf inches In thickness they suf-
ccatly baked to give them power to resist pressure
and free from Virihcation Of surface, which would
prevent the firm adhesion OF tho cement by which
their edges are united In room twenty By twenty
four feet the centre highest part Of the dome need
not be moro than three feet above the base line or
springing Of the same. On first stepping upon such q
dome, confess to feeling Of insecurity but its ring
under the tramping Of feet quickly assured me Of its
strength.
These bricks are laid in mortar and, to form
good floor, second layer is laid over the first,
the bricks Of the former crossing those of tho
1Attar Mt rfrht png1aa 1ha Of ffa
per layer is then levelled by grinding it down
with q slab OF sandstone. a solution Of glue,
thickened with plaster Of Paris, is then spread
upon this surface, which is absorbed by thu
bricks. and, when dry, this is polished. Lastly,
coat of boiled inseed oil is applied, and, after
drying, this is rubbed down, when the floor be-
comes as hard nnd durable as marble. The roof
is treated in tbs same way as the ceilings
Of rooms, the rafters being bricked
across, from centre to centre, and the tiles or
States laid Immediately upon the brick work. A
roof thus built stands in little danger Of fire
from the outside, and will smother for q long
time from q fire within.
The chief point, therefore, in the Italian con-
etruction, is not only to make each room Of in
combustible material, but also to make it
closed chamber, without communication with |
any other room, and thus to keep the fire in the
room where it originates, and delay it's progress
from room to room. Prof. Chase also urges |
the necessity OF open squares at no
apart, to give the fremen Increased facilities in
subduing the fire. Professor Chase says in this |
connection I" I am told that fires are OF as fre-
quent occurrence here az with us, but they very |
rarely extend beyond the apartment in which |
they originate. II you pass along the street |
where one Of these fires has occurred, al that |
you see is room with blackened walls, and fur |
uiture more or less charred.''
The points OF construction urged by Professor
Chase are worthy Of consideration by our archi-
tects. To make them available, however, it
would be necessary that the mode Of cons.~;,,-
tion should be general. No buildings
can Withstand the heat of general conaagra-
ton, as was sufficiently shown in tie Chicago
fire, and hence few buildings made after the
italian fashion, here and there in city, would
not furnish q fair test. The principal object
must be to prevent general confagration, and
it seems to us this point would be gained in the
Italian construction. Any mode Of building
which will contine fire in the building where it
originates wil be fruitful in good results to our
cities. Tho italian method Of making each
apartment air-tight, and isolated from all the
other apartments, would seem to- be the very
foundation principle upon which to erect q fire.
proof building.
The untrustworthy character of the evidence
If medical experts in murder trials has been
even more forcibly attested in n recent trial in
Belgium than it was in the Wharton and
schoeppe cases in this country. man-servant,
named Agne1, was arrested and placed on trial,
n Bruges, for the murder Of his master, II.