The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-07-15
NEW BUILDING MATERIALS.
Experiments with FIrcprOOf Cement

Fxperimeuts with FIrcprOOf Cement.
From the n y. PoS)
> The rss Tor building purposes OF ce-
ment made from the hydraulic lime OF
0 Tell. France, has lately attracted much al.
2 ieption from architects, and the material
has been employed In many OF the finest
structures which hayebeen newly erected
10 this city. For the purpose Of demon
slraling is strength and tireprool qualities
u series Of experiments were made yeser
day afternoon by the FlreprOof Building
Company, In their yard and factory al
Corlears and Cherry etreets. The eXbibi.
ton was witnessed by number OF archi-
tects, builders and prominent business
men. ,....s
The cement formed Of the Tell lime is
cast into blocks ofvarious size and shape,
according to the purpose for which they
are to be used. For partitions and out
side walls the blocks are about fifteen
inches In length by tWelvein breadth, and
from four to seven and q half inches In
thickness, with crossWise pefforAti0Ds
! Those designed for floors and ceilings are
made with similar holloWB, and are from
one and ahRll to two inches thick. The
cement Il also made In numerous other
forms for roofing, filling between beams,
deafeuing material shutters, and hreproOf
c&Slngs for iron columns, II Is further de-
signed TO employ solid blocks for paving,
Is the material Is thought to be sufficient
IL hard for that purpose, and has the sd-
vantage Of q perfectly even surface.
When the blocks are placed edge 10
edge they fit exactly together, and the
peftoratIons form continuous air tubes,
thus greatly increasing their freproof
qualities. The material b 90 light as to
float in water.
In the yard oil the factory the model Of
q house had been erected, about eight
feet BY ten. The 0utside walls were con.
structed Of hollow cement blocks, u
inches thick AninCh and q half Of o.
ment was laid over the wooden floor
beams, while two inch blocks Of the same
material protected the spruce timberS In
the ceiling. On one side OF the interior
was partition about eight inches from
the outer wall, composed OF hollow CO.
ment blocks four inches thick. A small
opening was made on another side to al.
low the escape OF smoke through q tall
chimney.
The walls and ceiling Of the interior
were hard.6nished. The door was form
ed Of cement blocks three inches thick &C.
cured In an iron frame, and with an
opening near the bottom for an air pas.
sage.
Att quarter Of 4 o'clock, two barrels
oil shavings and quantity Of light wood
were placed In the house and set on fire.
A pile Of dry logs was soon added, and
the FIRE was quickly blazing with the heat
Of furnace. At intervals the door was
opened and more fuel added, the flames
rushing flercel7 against every part Of the
interior. Twenty minutes after the fire
was kindled, neither the door nor the sur.
face of the walls was warm TO the touch,
and long after this the hand could BIO ap |
piled without Inconvenience. On reach.
ing the roof by q ladder, and touching the
ceiling through an opening lett for the
purpose, this was also found to be cold.
A block OF the cement four lnchea thick
was then taken, and two round sticks oil
dry pine wood inserted In the perforations,
The openings were closed with wet plas'
ter, and the block cast into the fire, where
It was exposed TO intense heat for about
a quarter Of an hour When taken out
and broken, the sticks oil wood were found
TO be intact, and scarcely warm.
Two tour,inch cubes Of solid cement
were also placed IN the fire, and when
taken out, kissing hot, were dropped In
water. Cooled and broken, the interior
was found to be as hard as ever.
After burning for sn hour and ten min
utes, the fire was extlnguished by buckets
a water, and its ruins raked out OF the
room. An examination showed that the
hard plaster on the ceiling and interior
walls had cracked, and In some places
fallen away, but the cement behind 1t was
wholly uninjured. The floor was cut
and the beams laid bare, when the wood.
work was found 10 be white and unheated.
To show the strength Of the material
an experiment was made with 9 hat arch
oil nine-inch blocks, laid between iron
beams measuring four feet four inches
from centre 10 centre. A weight Of ce-
ment and iron, amounting TO four hun
bred and eighty-iour pounds, was drop
pee, upon tho centre from a height OF six
inches without producing the slightest per
ccptible effect 1t was then dropped from
the height of q loot, producing crack,
and again from q height Of eighteen
inches, when 1t smashed through the part
on which 1t struck. The blocks were
fresh, and had been laid for but three
days and a half, so that this exhibition Of
their strength was but an indication Of
that possessed by the hard blocks finish
for building.
A hollow block Jour inches thick was
shown supporting dead weight Of 0,l97
pounds.
A piece of the cement, which had been
kept in water for two months and ten
days, was broken and found 10 be as hard
as the rest. .....- ....
In the drying room Of the factory, where
q hot furnace fire Is continually maintaln.
cd, the ceiling, which was oVerlaid with
cement about six months ago, docs not
exhibit a crack. @
The spectators expressed much satls-
fiction. with the result OF the expert
ments. .th. So
Sitting for a Photograph.
Having a photograph taken Is one Of
the greatest events Of q mans lie. The
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