, 1876-06-23

10 the Editor qf The Tribune.
CHICAGO, June a2.-Pertnit mo To aay few
words Oh the question Of whit kind OF stonu
Emil bo used in the cut-stone work Of our new
Court-Huuse, o question Of no small importance
to the taxpayers aud general public Of Cook
County. Ami right here lat rnu state that the
motive Which prompts u'o to write this comnu-
n'cation Is the prejudice which seems to oxlst
among tue County Doartl In fnvor Of limestone,
Or so-eAileh Lenlont nnrhle.
Onu Of tho strongest arguments that could be
tnadc In favor of sandstone Is tho difference IN
by the Boari Of County Commissioners for rut-
bid ia say, zoo, while tho lowest Limestone bid
ia Sj35,0D land tile former bitlsler is fully ns
responsible a. tho latter) dltIcEn,lre Ut $780,
0oo, Or about IS per cent, and this, mark you,
on the county portion, alone, making, On tha
wh0lc,-ol1nty, city ,nl,l lome,-a.,out Fj00, 600.
The writer does not hold t!at that which
costs the least money is the cheapest, not by
aty means; It Cock County can Eet'a better,
more; hut Il It cun bo atown that sandstone is
the equal, and In some pasttculars, tue superior
Of limestone, then tho argument that 1t Is chcaE-
er IN price has double weight.
Let us compare tho Maln qualities essential to
good building stoIc, Us possessed by the two
varieties In question; durability. strength, suit
able texture, apl color or beauty.
First, Ut to durability, sand stonG !s unQucs-
t'onably tho superior. Not only docs cxperience
tslc rayages of time where limestone decays.
but when VIC consider tho chemical compost
ttnn Of tho two YaHeties VIZ have almost concltl-
s!ve proof; imcstone being chiefly casbunate Of
lime lcilaik), while sandstone ID mostly cum
puscd OF silica puro asnt). Then take tie pow
cr tO resist Iir0; We admit thht In Immense
heat, llku tint Of thu "grcat ilre," all stones
must cTuI9b'e, but, suppOsc building, facing
the CouFt-llousc, WIS IL be nlre, tho heat gen
Grated would be sufficient to calcnc aud forever
disfguro tic best limestone facade, whic 1t
would have no effect on sandstone, and this Ia
Hu Item VI paramount Importance
As to strength, actual experience shows that
sandstone IL strong enough for ull practicable
pnr!HIscs, wlsi!e experiments or tc6ts matlc With
different samples ot stone demonstrate thAt thu
average strength nnd crushing furce Ut saud-
stone Ii fully equal to TINT Ut limestone.
Next, Us to texture, IL is sufficient to say that
though oil tho nyrrage the texture Ut sandstone
IL coarser than that ot limestone, 1t IL fins
enough to oU carved and cut Into my desired
form, especially III all sandstone possesses the
eualisy Ut tctng soft when first quarried and
hardening hy exposure to tue mir in . very high
degree, and this last-namcl quality Ia whit
fnAkcB 1t 50 much cheaper to cut.
Lastly, ~ to color, which really constitutes
what beauty stone naturally possesses, would
say, that tho question which is tue more bcautl-
but onc purely Of tastc. Gu the average, sand
stone fs lu1kcr than lllnestnlet ind us buildings
IN largu titirs betltInc rapidly Smtrchcu with
coal, dust, etc. this surely caaliot TO III, obIec-
ton,
And now, in view Of all these facts II INV
the Item OF price. Whca we see Inca On the
County Nonfd and connected Herewith favor
llmestone, wo would be almosk tempted to
doubt ths dialntesestedness ol their motlyes