New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-10-19
norris and rafters, and on and under that film

| hard to find collected outside OF tOy-SJOTe vi
a wood-worker's factory. There is not fire
underwater in the country who would have
classified such risk as less than extra haz-
a" ardous" Putting aside for the moment all
defects of the building, was there not some
| thing worse than imprudence in piilng up
| 10000 wooden models together, In cases, on
pine tables and shelves, as sticks are piled IN
CRATE, with ar-spaces between, ready Tor inc
| flames? But if imprudence is too mild term
| for the management before the fire. what word
shall be applied to that which followed IL i!
| Among business men there are many stories
extant of contracts being made for new bald
ings while fire was yet burning, and OF the
new structures beginning to rise while the sur
rounding ruins were scarcely cool Haste ln
those instances was necessary as matter OF
dollars and cents to the owners But our pub
lie servants feel no such pressure. tempo
rary roof was needed Immediately for the pro-
lection of the records Of the Interior Depart
ment, and could have been built Gas it subse-
ouently was) in two or three days just
such faulty as overlooked the chances
of fire. discarded the probabilities of rain dur
ing a dozen fine days; though really storm
in Autumn is not an unusual feature Of our
weather. The feeble excuses that are offered
for that neglect make 1t rather worse.
But the rain pouring into the rooiiess build
ing. did some good along with an immense
amount of damage. 1t displayed further the
deceptiye architecture of the interior. Inc
ceilings fell and revealed wooden beams and
wooden iOists under the tiled flooring. In
stead of fre-proof floor, there was sham OF
lath and plaster, with lid of tiles and air
spaces between; the best possible arrangement
for carrying flames along; the worst possible
for arrcstng them. These pretentious struc-
lures in Washington are no better, then, IMAM
the contlact-built blocks of New-York resi-
dences veneered with brownstone, where
sometimes the ends of the floor beams extend
into the chimney flues, and sometimes the
hot-air tubes from the furnaces nestle against
the laths and jOists of the walls and ceilings.
Nothing seems to have been learned IN Wash
ingtOn during the last ten or fifteen years
as to the meaning of the word :" fire
"prOofr while the rest of the country has
been acquiring experience from an occasional
baptism of fire. When iron first became fire.
ouent in architectural use, there was general
belief in its security. But San Francisco had
its great fire. and men saw iron burn like
torchwoOd. But even in a less furious flame,
iron has been found a treacherOus material.
"Cast-irOn" says Captain Shaw, of the Lon
don Fire Brigade, "at 2l2' Fab. loses about
g. ; per cent of its strength; ut 612 the heat
&" of molten lead-it has probably no strength at
"ailn Another authority says under the head
ing " Inspection of Risks" "so-caed freprOof
buildings are sometimes by reason Of defect
eyi,, nd
ling, of oil the most dangerous Under
writers have had tp recognize the weakness OF
iron, to their great cost, when, as recently id
II. Louis, the iron floor beams of a building
were warped in a fire. drew the walls in, and
prccpitated the whole III IA mass OF ruin.
This truth has been recognized by trustworthy
architects in constructing edlhces that are
really lreproOf, as for instance in The IrlD-
une building, where there are no iron col
umns where the flOOr-beams are surrounded
with ooncretc--no lath being used at all-and
are firmly imbedded and anchored III masonry.
The fires in Chicago and Boston taught many
valuable lessons. Among the rest 1t was de
termined that stone is not the safe building
material il was formerly accounted. The lime
stone Of the West and the granite Of New
England failed under the test of fire. 1t Is,
indeed, the belief Of both underwriters and
fremen that stone is dangerous in great fires
since it flakes oil IN sheets with heat, and
cracks when water is poured upon it. Brick,
il is decided, is the only tire-proof material
for walls; and hence those of The Tribune
building. except in the lowest stories. where
flame is not likely to strike them, are of sub
stantal brick. The breaking and fall of one
o. the stones of the Patent Office, after the
fire. is spoken of as strange and lneXpiicable.
IL is not IN the least surprising TO those who
are familiar with the subject of fires IN modern
buildings The insecurity of tiimsy roofs was
strongly illustrated in the Boston fire, and the
whole country cried out against the wooden
Mansard yet the Patent Office had a copper
veneered wooden shell supported Oh iron
trusses which when duly heated came tumb-
ling down. An iron frame for ROOF Is
cny secure when, az in The Tribune build
ing, it is encased in concrete; and the fact Is
beyond question that slate, firmly fastened
with copper wires to the iron framework,
makes a roOf-cOvcriDg more unquestlonably
safe against fire than is possible with any
thin-spread metal.
Permanence and safety are what are most
needed in Government buildings; cost should
be secondary element. Yet with modern APP
planes the cost of real lire-pIo0f cOnstruc-
ton has been so much reduced that it no longer
needs to stand in the way of private enter
prise The Tribune building already rents
foe seven per cent upon its cost. besides pro-
yiding abundant room for the various depart
ments of the newspaper. There is also the
advantage of doing your own insurance.