Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-06-14
IMPROVED ARCHITECTURE OF
WASHINGTON.
The Use and HIanufacture OF Brick in
the City.
From the Brick, Tile and Metal Review.

mas improved so rapidly IN It's Architectural ap-
pcaraEce as the city of Washington. Its private
and public buildings erected during this time
are marves of elegance and the effect produced
by the artistic employment of bricks and terra
Gotta. renders the architecture highly attractive.
1t is not often the case where cities are conve-
niently located near inexhaustble quantit les o
stone that brick is the material generally EN-
ployed for constructive purposes; this is
however. the case in the capital city,
The banks of the Potomac river and Rock
creek above the western section of the city,
present unbroken walls Of good building stone
but while this supplied the primitive structures
with material. it does not seem to suit the
modern ideas. Stone will disnteorate iron
will OXidiZe. and wood will decay under the
action of the clements. but bricks we'll made
ana thoroughly burned are indestructible.
being the only product OF man which surpasses
nature. Except the Washington monument
there is no structure in course of erection by
the United States government. in the city OF
which we are speaking. that is bTllt entirely of
stone. The Immense new War, State and Navy
department building is faced with granite but
is backed with brick, and all the interior walls
are of this material The building erected by
the United States government for the Depart
ment of Agriculture is built OF bricks as is also
the structure adjoining it, a portion of which is
used 10y the civil service commission. The
building of
TIE NATIONAL MUSEUM,
which is situated in the same large park as the
buildings just mentioned, is also built of bricks
those used for both the interior and exterior
walls being profusey decorated with various
enameled colOrs. which form strong courses
panels. and diverse pleasing designs Could the
teh0lGer but lose sight of the Smithsonian In
stitutc building. which Immediately adjoins
the museum. and concentrate his view upOn the
COlOred portions of that building he could easily
lmaUinP himself in the apripfit ctv Of Rah lon
gazing upon one of her structures. The rrOfuse
employment of colOred enamelctl brick was the
distinctive feature of BabylCr; =! architecture
The BabylOnish bricks were usraiiy of one of the
three primary cclOrs, red. pale yellow. or blue
green being the only secondary color used. to
which were added black and white. These are
also the col0rs which form the polychromatic
brick work of the National Museum.
THE UNITED STATES PENSION OFFICE.
now in course Of construction, is built OF brick
the exterior being faced with pressed bricks
and the Ornamentation is composed of nodded
and intaglio bricks and terra Gotta. The build
ing Is large one, the ornamental frieZe placed
above the windows of the first story girts more
than One-fOurth of O mile. This freze is of terra
Gotta. and is enriched with designs representing
incidents of the late war. Some of the figures
depict infantry marching, cavalry. artillery and
wagon trains in motion; while other terra Gotta
concentrations of this building represent can
non, shot and exploding shells. The build
ing contains about twelve million bricks and
the competing bidders for this material
were required to submit samples, which were
tested at the United States arsenal, Watertown.
Mass, by compression between cast iron plat
forms. after the faces of the samples had been
ground fiat. The weakest bricks crushed under
total pressure OF 10000 pounds, being 6, $50
pounds to the square inch. and the strongest
which was hard burned arch brick. crushed at
total pressure Of 324 500 pounds being 10. 300
pounds to the square inch. The average OF
these two eXtremities is $3.50 pounds to the
square inch. which exceeds pressure of $40
tons to the square foot and this is nearly four
times as much as good building stone and more
than twice as much as for granite.
THE GREAT SEWER AND THE NEW RESERVOIR.
An immense sewer has been in course of con-
structiOn for several years along the northern
boundary Of the city of Washington, which is
intended to intercept the water from the hills
and thus prevent the flooding of the low pOr-
tiOns OF the city. This sewer is being con-
structed of bricks, several millions of which are
consumed each season in the prosecution of the
work. The new reservoir now being eXcavated
just north of the city limits, covers siXty-three
acres of ground and will require very large
number of bricks. The aqueduct which leads to
this reservoir is being drilled for about five miles
through the solid rock, the principal employ
ment of bricks in this part being for walling the
shafts.
OVER ONE HUNDRED MILLION BRICKS MADE AN
NUALLY.
All the sidewalks of the city of Washington,
with few exceptions, are paved with bricks,
about three million of which are required annu-
ally for extending and repairing these pave
ments. There are six yards producing bricks
by the machine process, and fourteen by the
hand method. The total product exceeds
1OO,O eco bricks annually, a portion of which
are shipped to other points in the surrounding
country and along the Potomac river and the
Atlantic coast. NOrfOrk. Va, not possessing
clay suitable for the manufacture of bricks,
buying quite largely.
SIZE OF BRICKS
There is a diversity in the size of American
building bricks in different sections of the coun-
try, and often there is variation in the size in
the same locality. the measurements for COM
mon bricks ranging from II to 81 inches in
length, 80 to a in width and from to "a in
thickness which difference is due principally to
the nature OF the clay used Fat or strong cays,
on account OF the large amount of alumina
which they contain, absorb great quantity of
water in tempering, and as the bricks made
from this class OF clay dry. they become much
smaller, and when placed in the kiln and
burned their size is further reduced by the
action of heat. and bricks made from this
variety of clay that were of large
size when mOlde3 are usually small and under
sized when they come from the kiln. This is
however, no impeachment to their strength, the
principal objection being that the cost is mate
rally increased on account of a larger number
being required. Meager or weak clays absorb
but little water during the process of tempering
and consequently the bricks made from this
class OF clay do not shrink much in either dry
ing or burning. and thus are of larger size
than those made from fat clays. Both hand
made and machine-made bricks are similarly
affected i'm size from these causes.
The bricks made for the Washington market
are made from that valuable belt of CLAW which
extends along the eastern portion of Pennsyl-
vania. down through Delaware. Maryland. the
District of Columbia and the northern portion
OF Virginia. which belt contains the finest
grade of lOamy clay that is to be found on
this continent. The bricks produced from this
Clay are OF superior quality and are noted for
their great hardness and cherry-red color
The pressed bricks manufactured in Baltimore
and Philadelphia, from the belt of clay, which
has just been described are especially famous.
The brickmakers of the District of Columbia
have for number of years past been using
mods OF various sizes, but recently the au-
thOrities have been enforcing the ordinance of
October 30, 1920, which requires that all mOlds
used for making plain bricks within the city of
Washington shall be stamped as correct by
the sealer of weights and measures, and be ok
AZ and q inches In the clear"
CHARLES T. DAVIS.
DO Apartment Houses Pay!
New York Correspondence St Louis Spectator
had occasion one evening last week to call
on gentleman who lives in that expensive