, 1881-12-18
HOUSES MADE OF GLASS.

! The Brittle Substance Better for Build
lag Purposes than Stone
Pitisbur9 Dts.4steh
Perhaps not one builder ur contractor in ten,
If told that the common grades Ut glass made at
the glass factories in this city have II crushing
strength nearly four times us great as that cred-
tied by experienced engineers 10 the strongest
quality Ut. Krnuis, would accept the @ement
as true. Yet it is TACT, and, belnE 50,
the query as to why e1ass has nut received n,ure
atteuttou from architects as structural mate
raal naturally suxges1s ITSELF 4 reporter had u
talk with several prominent observation-disclosures
ers On the subject. amt, In answer to IN 1n&crros-
atory us to whether blocks Of gass could be
mude IN suitable lengths aud sizes and SO an-
nrued as tU be- Utilized III the construction
OF u building in place Of stone, they SAID
thai it could be dUpe. Said one Of these gentle
Hen: This question. has been considered by
myself u number Ut times, und, although | do
mot wunt to advocate the absolute ubul.uon Ut
brick aud sttne. yet in the erection Of ur1 gal-
leries, memorial buildings, etc: structure
composed pf blocks Ut glass IN pr1sEnatlc Gonr5
would be unique. beautiful. aild iastlnk struct-
ure. With the numerous inventions " hiGh have
come into use of late yenrs ln connection win
the production Ut gluss the east has been grud-
ually gutDK duwn, while the quality OF the faprc
is steadily becuullng uetter.
''One objecrion which would be rnised TO the
lura Dllitv Of gluss house. the literal sense
Ut the words might be that thu blt,cks would
not tuke bind. or adhcre together with con-
Llt)u Lnf1FlAt- 1O@a QO{EEelOA EAA UE SSt
aside BY the use oE K,"1d cetneut- and when
completed the structure VIII stand for ages,
barring extraordinary uccdents- As IL the Gust
Of glass house, II c.u be kept down tO but a
small percentage above the price nf cut Ernn't.
In building with stoile you have TO phy the
stot1u- u,usuns and when it comes to tfhb0rnte
examples uf carving iu Cor1urniun pillars. cu-
Iurs, and c pltulS. ETC., why, the work is rHther
ct,stly US compared with gi,.ss, when the latter
can be uoldtd .nto any Shape or form. and the
work accomplished III uucn less tftle- am
convinced thu1 the time Will come when VIC will
see such Il building erected. Scarcely day
pusses hut what the sphere Of glass ns an article
of use becomes widened- In parts ot Germany
and one line In England glass lies arc benz"
used On railroads. ana thus far hnve given satis-
fattiou, combining. aI vi the REQUESTS OF wood
Ell ties with the v'itue oi being susceptible 70
Usage ut least Is per cent tun1er thun wood.
Then by the Bastiu process glass articles are
now Deiu9 mauc for com1non use which can be-
tbrt,wu On thu door and will rebound like
rubbes-balt. Progress is alsu being made tts-
wAr6 renutrinr g..ss. which hus ever been char
bcteri2ed us tht brittle fabric, durtile and to-
day threads Of KlAss can be made 1hAt Gun b6
led in knots ana woven into CLOTH We're
0 nc disposed TO give play to fancy and fuse
it into tnct, house entirely eonposed ot
z lass could, be bum wi,d walls ana
roof aud floors fasbtuned from melted Sand.
Carpets Of Piass could cover The foos:> The
most uitra-estdere sitting oti Kus5 chairs or
,iiniug un glass cOuehts. Hrrayed IN glass gar
ncnts, eating and drinking frt1m glass di5a eS
such IL ono cuuld reul1ze that the age OF ga :,
1ad come. Te1 nearly ai@ ut this hfty years az
2ie telephone anu eler,ric light aud thisstate-
neut would have likely found It's place IL the
:Atalog expurgutoros.