, 1876-08-06
BUILDING,

CONCRETE AND ARTIFICIAL STONE IN CHICAGO
A correspondent in Chicago OF the An,ericnn
Architect and building A1sles has very intelli
gent and interesting article on the use and
abuse in this city Of concrete stone for building
purposes. He SAYS:
The principal material here used IL the English
Portland cement; and it is regular article Of COM
mcrce. It sprincipalyueed nowin laying sidewalks
but four years ago It entered LARGELY into the man
ufacturc Of artificial etone Before the great fire,
the extensively advertised Frear stone had been
manufactured for some years, and d portland &C.
ment stone factory had inst been started. The
company making the former article evidently had
great confidence in its virtnes for il set carriage
steps in numerous places. with advertisements Of
the company stamped on them. Bu1 they dehed
the elements without avail, and in few years be-
vide asd oi eSSa Sah eepsnes Gpeand and
they we're soon competing, with the
Frear stone. and account Of The extensive ad-
vertisemcnt Of it, confousded all other artificial
stones with It; consequently it was uphill work
really stood well, and had resisted FIRE in manner
to nstonish every one. The Frear stone people
soon changed the composition. and introduced
sisted of have never bceri able to ascertain def
itcly; but it strongly rcecmb1ed the crust OF rye
breatl.) The Portland cement gave the true stone
color, aud with this the Frear Company erected
several large buildings; most notably the .'uale
Building. erected hr the enterprsing inventor OF
water.halanec elevators, structure on the cor
ncr of WASHINGTON and State streets about 100
feet square and five stories high. This front has
looked qntc well since the time IT WIS built; but
for SOME reason it has recently been entirely paint
cd over. The Portland Cement Company, under
the absurd title OF the decomposition Granite
Works." obtain:d By far the largest number Of
bnildng- contracts Whenever they came in COM
petition with sandstone cuterr they hid abont one
third under them: and to those who had faith there
was certain economy in using the concrete stone
Other companies soon came into existence; and he
f1r9
artificial stone ! cannot speak with c1actness
bat should say that there are fully 100 fronts Of
buildings Of artificial stone in this city. while lin
tells and other trimmings may have entered into the
construction OF Thousand more. These were all
built between 1871 and 1S74.
1t can Be fairly said that concrete Of Portland
mcnt used in the form Of artificial stone Ia. been
well tested here In tue majority Of CAGES it is
good TO all appearances as when ilrrt put up.
There a,e examples Of the Ransomc artificial
stone in Chicago. In 1872 gentleman came from
san Francisco. where he had been Masking artificial
stone under Ransomes patents, Having, az he
thought, mastered all the practical difficulties in
the manufacture OF it, he Thought to form COM
pany here: Tohis surprise he found that COM
pany had been formed many years before and was
in possession OF the patents, but had never done
anything. The simple reason was, that it did not
know how to make the stone 1t was but short
matter to buy up the stock: and one gentleman
was SO delighted With the protpeet Of being able to
manufacture IT, that he Invested SG0. 900 in setting
up works for the purpose. Notwithstanding
the beautiful samples produced, the first build-
lnE tFtC!eQ Was Il 1atlurc. Ii soon began to
decay, and now il in very delapidatcd condition.
Another small front was successful and
still looks remarkably well. But the company
found il necessary TO incorporate Portland cement
in the material. and was about to produce new
stone, combining. as was thought, the advantages
Of Portland cement with the chemical process Of
Rans3nae. What would have been the result can
not be told; for the demand for buildings fell OF,
and the Price Of stone cntting declined 50 that nat
ural stone could be procured for much cheaper
price than that for which any artifcal material
could be procured. The Ransome Company also
manufactured fioor-tiles: Int these were failure
and where they were employed have since been re-
placed By others. The evident defect in all the
Ransome stone was its porosity; and the d1sin-
teyrato1l was due mainly to the action Of frost
The tiles. though hard, did not seem to hare wear
ing properties Probably, for want OF cloee text
ure, individual grains Of sand were gradually dis
placed until the surfaces were deeply fndentedi
The manufacture Of artificial stones has now al
most entirely ceased. The H1Ein rea*on Is. that
natural stones arc cheaper. Notwithstanding all
the claims set forth Ct the superiority Of the fctilc
material, people will have natural stone if they
can get it for their money. The fact that there is
minimum: limit to the cost of all artificial mate
rails OF this kind, while very low rates Of labor
Will cau-c greater fluctuations in the price Of the
natural article. will always make the manufacture
OF stone hazardous undertaking. Thus far, not
wlfnstan4iog the strIctura}ly of the Port
lana cement stone there II no prospect that it will
become regular article Of trade. Still there are
SO a1;:ny uses Tor the cement in legitimate con-
etrnctlun. taat the demand for 1t will doubtless iu-
crease 1t makes the best sidewalk that we can get
for the MONEY. aud for this purpose ia now c1teu-