The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-04-06
Imnrorement in BuIIdiugs.

Improvement in Buildings.
There are to-day thousands of brick,
stone and iron buildings in the country,
with iron columns and floor beams, and
brick filling. These are generally sup
posed to be fire-proof, but when sub
jected to the fire test they sink in shape
less piles of debris. The trouble arises
from mistaking incombustibility for in
destructibility Even an incOnsideTable
flame about an iron post, or under an
iron floor beam, is sufficient to heat
it to redness and render it little
better than wax to resist the strains
upon it. A building may be constructed
wholly of incombustible materials, but
if its integrity depends upon the stabll-
itv of unprotected iron members, the
heat of its burning contents suthces to
bring it down like lead in a ladle. 1t Is
for this reason that so few of the build
ings in our cities which belong to the so
called fire-proof class, are able to with
stand the burning out of a single room
well filed with eombustible matter.
There is no objection, theoretical or prac-
tical, to the use of iren in fire proof con-
structions, but in all cases it should be
protected from both heat and water by
non-conducting covering. Plaster of
Paris is a cheap and excellent material for
this purpose, and its more liberal employ
ment should be encouraged. The slight
expansion ii undergoes in setting, causes
il to adhere to it's position very strongly,
and when old it is much harder than the
mortars and finishing coats commonly
employed. The idea of filling the spaces
between floors and in walls with an in
combustible and non-conducting ma
terial was, if we remember rightly,
first applied to the fire-proofing of wood
en- houses by Earl Stanhope, and no bet
ter way of building has since been de
vised. The efficiency of this method of
protecting iron has been repeatedly
shown in practical and experimental
tests, and it has the additional advan-
tage of making wood almost, if not quite
rs safe as iron. Floor timbers laid in
plaster or cement is practically incom-
bustible, and so long as we have such
material available Tor general employ
menJ we have only ourselves to blame
for the enormous aggregate of or annual
losses by fire.
The problem presented is the fire
PROBING of an average brick dwelling or
warehouse, the cost of which can not
much exceed, If ut all, the average for
buildings of the slime class. The floors,
being the Weakest points, will first re-
ceive attention These he can make
tire-proof, even though he use wooden
beams. In itself wood Is capable of re
sisting very considerable degrees of heat
without material loss of strength, If pro-
tected from the air. InCased in plaster
Of Paris cement, or any substance equally
non conductive and incombustible, its
strength remains unimpaired even when
exposed for long time to fierce flames.
This is even more true of wood than of
iron. for reasons well understood. The
encasement of the floor timbers may be
accomplished by several methods, but the
principle is the same in each case-the com
plete surrounding CT the timbers OF
beams with continuous protecting
coating, cored to secured hshtness,
strength, and economy of material.
This coating must cover sides, edges and
ends, leaving no unprotected spot. The
flooring can be bedded in the top coating
Of the timbers or beams, and the ceilings
can be spread directly on the under side
Of the cored filling. The flooring should
be closely scribed up TO the front and
: side walls, and beams should be sup
ported on lodges and not rest in sockets
in party-walls. Floors thus made are
/ light, stiff, strong, and indestructible
provided, of course, the strains have been
properly calculated This, however, will
not make a structure fire-proOf AS now
built, our houses consist of two she'll.
between which is an intricate system o.
. wood-Hned lues and air passages. These
must be closed. Flooring and lath must
be discarded, or else we must coat the
wooden members of the frame in such s
way as to protect them. The same /:
true of wood partitions, but it will be-
found better in most cases TO use The
cheap partition blocks to be had in the
market. With fireproof floors, walls anC
partitions, the stairs of a dwelling are
not commonly dangerous; in warehouse:
they should be provided with traps OF
doors. In theaters and public building
they should, of course, be freprnot II
every part. The iues may be made n,
provided in any well devised code o
building laws or with soft burnt-clay
pipes set in brick. The roof must be
protected with plaster or cement from
below. and from above with metal, slate
or other approved tireprO0f covering
The service, waste and gas pipes should
be carried up in recesses OF the side wall
and not through the floors. This princi
. PIE Di CONSTRUCTION VIII ltbL give uS dAHAf
lutte indestructibility, but if generally
followed it would render great conhagra
tious impossible. and would protect the
e individual building from fire within, and
from everything but furnace heat
without
In the tireproofng of theaters the in.
telligent architect encounters no practi
cal difficulties The audience room may
be freproOfsd by any OF the method:
followed in good practice, and the builder
does not need TO employ an ounce of in.
hammable material in any part of it
For further security, the stage may be
cut off from the auditorium by brick
wall with firperoof doors, and an iron
curtain, which can be kept wet when de
sired. There is, however, no necessity
for such curtain, and the objection that
to lower Il might precipitate a panic in
the audience is not without weight. The
light woodwork of the stage machinery
the scenery and the draperies, can be
prepared ut a small cost to be incapable
of transmitting flame. The method o.
treating them with solution of ting
state of soda is only one of a number Of
processes which have been known fOl
years. Such materials can be so easily
and cheaply rendered incapable of burst
ing into flame, that there is really nc
reason why the danger from fire should
be any greater on the stage than in the
Hobbies; and when this absolute security
against quick-spreading fire among the
stage properties is attained, drop eur
tain of any suitable abric, rendered in
combustible by proper treatment, viii
answer as well as one of iron, and better
than one of iron which can not be kept
wet in every part. a very small fire OF
or under the stage, would warp anc
twist a screen made of thin strips O
sheet metal, and quickly heat it to red
ness.
4 NEW GAME.