, 1875-09-26
The Upper Stories to Be Made Lighter
than Was Originally Intended.
Rebuilding Will Commence in Earnest On
the Opening Of Spring.


one in all respects. Secretary Bristow
port, as WAS to be expected. Inasmuch
as he has not bad any personal feeling to bias him
in the matter it was perfectly easy and consistent
for him to indcrse the last sincerely as he did
the first report. In this as in all other matters
the Secretary has allowed no sentimental conaid-
erations to influence his course as An ot1icisl.
Tho nature Of the inatru ctions gwen to
the Supervising Architect are such that
compliance with them will necessltate n
resumption Of work upon the edi0ce, go far as
the foundations are concerned, st once, and will
postpone work looking to final completion till
spring.
The Secretary left for New York At noon to-
day.
f7o the Assoeiat<d Ferx*.l
THE EEroRr.
WARRINGTON, .. G., Sept. 25.-The report Of
the Board appointed to investigate tho Chicago
Custom House, after reciting The circumstances
Of their appointment and acknowledging the
good Offices and courtesy OF all NTH whom their
duties brought them in contact, arrives ut the
following conclusions:
The ground upon which the Foundation Of the
building rests Wis, BY direction, thoroughly test
ed By digging, boring, and applying known weights
egse Of it's nature. stc. Toar commisson 1nds that
the building Ii underuid throughout its whole extent
With esslbla stratum composed OF mixture Of
cay sand and water, rarEng in thickness from 20 to
Is feet, below which Is hard blue clay. They Of
opinion, after much careful deliheIaton, that the
foundation Of the building should in the nrst instance
have been carried to this blue clay either by pihng
by masonry, and that, had this cou1so been adopted
there would have been any question concerning
the safety Of the building As It ia, tie building
continuous Of concrete warning in thickness
from 335 to feet covering the whole aEea Of the
building, except the central and spaces. The
An area materially greater than that Of the footing
stones Of the piers, that the Per square
foot the ground below will probably not Be greater
than 1000 pounds.
The result Of the tests spplea by the Board shows
that this ground will bear pressure OF 1000 pounds
Commission is Of opinion that tho weight Of the
building can be much reduced, and commend that
such reduction Be insisted upon most stEenuonsly;
opinion, the foundation Of the building is not on trm
ground, but that, with tho notifications already
inaiter mentioned, the defects In the foundation
may bo renedied. The absence Of reliable bench
1arks and consequen: confusion in levels prevented
the Board from determining whether the foundations
vary from the original level hut comparisons Of Ill
the levels taken by the three Boards convinced them
tfe se to Pc IN ha IN
ue1s being less than onohalf Inch. whis at three
corners the levels only differ by huudredths Of
Al inch The greater height Of the west sids
compared with that Of the other three sides is due
to IN upheaval by FROST but on account Of The ab-
sence Of benehmaEk already n1anIoued the Board Is
unable to state positively whether there has been
settlement not They ure. however, Of opinion,
from the general appearance Of the building, well as
has been far material eett1a1nent although some
settlement nay be app-ehended In the future progress
Of the bg bdn m The e ID
that such settlement will be nearly uniform, .nd will
not materially interfere with the stability Of the
building.
Ne therefore recommend that wherever there are
vos in the concrete foundations INSIDE the area was
they be filed in with uniform depth Of four feet Of
concrete: that the concrete under the building ba left
undsturhed tnd that the entire aurtace be covered
with sufficient concrete to bring it to evel necessary
to receive the flooring, and that all necessary drain
additional concrete Ia laid.
Seeond-The nature aud qualities Of the stone Of
has the durability strength and other qualities de-
srahls. The Board are OF opinion after careful
sminson that the stone s not hat which they would
to make selection, for cheaper and better stone
could have been obtained. But on account Of tho
expended In the purchase, cutting, and setting Of
stone. threefourths Of the whole quality necessary
having been delivered and wrought that 1t has Ia
this building and in such structures tho Board have
seen the apparent durability Of ordinary sandstone,
and that ITS strength is sufficient for the purposes Of
the building they do not think that my change should
Tf,d-As to the other mnter1als The brick is good
md Fe laid the concrete is well made and faithfully
plsced and the iron work Ia coed and well fitted, |
though excessive in quantty.
fonyth-Whethsr r a9y changes in The plans or M
m esunaate Of the probable cost Of such.
,Lange7 The Board are Of opinion that the pier on
le corner Of Clark aud Adana streets, and the two
the si~course of the first story, their sides being
ut Of plumb that the STONE coverings or the roof
= hs ees sho1a b sa iron 1ssms
N the under side with iron. That the sono work
5ark street should be carred up the Level Of tbs
Is Of e work as aa a, Should
10 kept as nearly level rs practical. That !
he Supervising Architect Ct the Treasury
lbore the second storT, and to omit all stone-worE
bore the line Of horizontal corniees, which they be-
iere can BE- a ~ do any to the er 5
purposes Of Its erection. In reducing weights, the
Principle Of equaHzing the pressure per square foot
~ great stress upon this Recommendation, and be-
ieve that the money eayed by the proposed reduction
# weight and cost Of finish will much more than COM
lie additions recommended to be made to the founda
ions.
IS VIII giye practical effect to the conclusions which
hey may arrive they add to the recommendations
nade undsr he flrsf bead as follows: That all the
ho contractors shall be rigidly inspected. and
'laced in the building which do nqt come up to the r
guirenaena Of the contract. and such stone now In
manner or which may seriously disintegrated or
'roken, shall BE- replaced by stone which
onfor to the requirements Of tho contract and the
dscolored etone now in the walls shall remain in
he building until Its completion, when such as have |
lot beaohsd sufficiently shall be replaced OF Eefaeed
y recutting substitution that the concrete founds
shall be thoroughly securea against FROST snd that
nasonIJ-wurk be done after the frost sets In Or
Ehi1e it remains in the soil; that permanent bench
narks be Immediately made By driving one or moro
,ies 1ry into the blue clay In the proper nlaces and
hat the supertendens BE- required to refer the Levels
4 building to these benchmars 1t regular interyals
4 timo, and keep record Of the results; ]
lrs. story be protcctsd by covering with
so1ne other appliance- The Board
re also Of the opinion that the enormous cost Of |
tone-cuttug due in great degree to tho mistaken
rinciple on which this contract Was mzde, that II,
he larger the outlay for labor the greater the profit
o the contract.
Finally our Board Of the opinion that the sus-
,epsion Of work account Of apparently dangerous
facl1 in the wall and the general appearance Of the
uildtn9 after it's winter exposure without dne pro-
ection and care necessary r1recaution for the
zptecep o1 tae interest o& thu GaEsz1mant, hut no