New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-10
THE NEW TRIBUNE.
ce,,,,ved from Ninth Page.

street level and diminish by degrees to feet 8
inches at the caves. The rear and north walls
are from to 8 feet thick. and the main parti-
ton wall which runs back from the south side Of the
tower parallel with Spruce street Ia from feet
inches to feet thick In solidty and thorough work
manship there aro few edifces in America that COM
pare with it, and it offers . strong contrast
to the prevailing style Of cheap. hasty and de-
ceptive building which has brought so much
discredit upon New-York architecture. The great
stone arches. though fitted with such precision and
undoubtedly capable Of resisting unaided any strain
which can be laid upon them are nevertheless fur
nished with hugo iron bands on the inner side md
across the top, as an additional precaution against
spreading The brick walls are strengthened with
frequent courses Of bond-stones, and every window
or door opening in the 'front.' rear interior is COW
cred by an arch Of masonry Even the granite intes
of the facade are reinforced by brick arches behind
No continuance which could be suggested to increase
the stability of the building and preserve it from any
conceivable accident has been omitted. Above all, it
isabsolutely reproo In the construction Of build
ing there is not single wooden beam or lath parti
ton There is nothing that will burn except win
dow frames and doors. Even the plank flooring of
the rooms though it might be charred, could hardly
be consumed, for it is laid upon a cement founda-
ton. If by any mischance fire should break out in
of the rooms, it would probably be confined to
that apartment, and it would be morally impossible
for it to spread to another floor. 1t could not get
Though the ceiing. and it could not get up the
stairs every part of the stairways and halls being
entirely incombustible. As safeguard against fires
outside, the windows of the first story and base
rnent and all hewndows on Spruce street are fur
nshed with shutters of corrugated STEEL which roll up
out of sight The roof of slate and ron of course is
unassailabe, there any wood about the CUTTERS
the caves, OF the tower. Moreover, there is such
thing in the building an iron column. Expert
ence has shown that iron columns are liable to
warp with heat, and bring down whatever rests
upon them. In tho new Tribune Building
they have accordingly been discarded. and all
the iron floor beams are firmly imbedded ard
anchored in solid masonry. In the vault, indeed,
there few iron columns under the sidewalk,
but they form part of the building proper and if
they to fall serious consequences would fol-
low the accident. In the vault, however confagra-
tiOn is, of course. wild impOssibility.
A NEW KIND OF FLOOR.
The floors rest upon heavy iron beams, feet apart
filed in by an invention which regard as Of
the most novel and valuable of all the many improve
ments that tho building exhibits. The old mode of
constructing ire-proof floors Ia specimen of which
may be seen in the Spruce street building we have
just left is to arch the space between
the beams with brick. This plan has many draw
backs the most obvious of which are that it
leaves unsghty vaulted ceiling, and lays
very heavy weight upon the building, which, in
edfce of nine stories, might be serious trouble.
recent invention enables us to substitute for
the curved arch of brick fiat arch Of hollow con-
crete blocks, which light, cheap easily laid and
unaffected by fire or water. The principle Of the fat
arch can be readily understood from the following
diagram: