Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1886-04-03

Two gentlemen from Butte are here
looking over the ground, and expect to
open a dry goods store.
THE REs0URCEsOF GREATFALLs.
NO. 1.-sTRgcTURAL MATERIALS.
wHI-TEs FOB THE TRIBUNE.
"Such was the care of the ancients
ito provide strong and durable mate
trials for their public edifces, that
"but for the ~desolating hands of mod
''ern barbarians, in peace and war,
most of the temples and other pub
'lic monuments of Greece and Rome
would have remained perfect at the
present day, uninjured by the ele-
''ments during 1000 years. The con-
''trasts in this respect of the works of
modern architects is very humilia-
''ting to those who boast SO loudly of
SOCIAL advancement, for there is
scarcely a public building Of recent
date which will be in existence a
Thousand years hence."-(URE.)
The foregoing remarks by Such a
competent authority are pertinent to
q new state like Montana, which has
now to select what building materials
she must use in her sites of the flu
ture. True, she has not a damp climate
climate to contend with, which is a
great cause of disintegration in many
localities; but she has on the other
hand to make selection of materials
for her buildings; which will resist
the action of severe frosts, the least
liable to pulverization in case of fire,
and be the most generally durable,
not only for the massive portion of
the buildings, but also for the orna-
mental work, which increased wealth
and luxury will naturally include in
the architecture of the future.
To enable this to be accomplished,
careful selection of materials must be
made; the clay for brick ought to be
free from alkali and lime, the cements
to have the requisite components, and
the sandstones be free from pyrites
or iron sand, firm in texture, and liza
BILE to peel with exposure, and above
all not a weak absorbent stone.
It is hardly probable that future
research will discover a locality in
Montana, that contains SO many natu-
raj building resources of this decrip-
ton as Great Falls. They are not
contained IN Il small circumscribed
area which in building a large city
would be easy exhausted, but around
the whole locality, they are found in
endless profusion-clays Of the finest
description in abnormal thick beds,
sandstones of the tho best building
qualities in endless variety, easy Of
access, and which can be quarried in
the la gest cyclopaen masses if re-
q1ired; sand Of unlimited amount in
close vicinity, cements within two
miles, and limestone in abundance
within nine miles. Seldom Is a site
to be found within easy reach of SO
many advantages. Sometimes we
hear it stated that brick is suppressed
ing stone as a building material in
very many cities. This is purely an
economic measure; it depends on the
distance the materials have to be
transported. Architects and builders
still give decided preference to stone,
especially for house-fronts where it
can be used within the proposed ex-
penditure. A few years ago in Mon
tana, before the advent of railroads,
this was the case; but on their com
pletlon, and consequently the erection
of larger and finer edifces, other ma
terials than brick were required. An
incident may be cited in the new
Court House at Helena, where sand
stone was brought even from Wiscon-
sin at a costly outlay, because the ex-
istence OF equally good, and possibly
better material in Montana was not
known, which could be laid down at
an equally reasonable figure. Several
instances have occurred in California
where valuable buildings Eel to be
erected; investigation proved that
choice building materials were album
dant at a reasonable distance, but the
cost of freight etc, and the lack of de-
velopment of the quarries resulted in
the material being brought by rail
from the east, and laid down on the
spot at a cheaper rate than it could
be furnished IN the vicinity.
The completion of the Montana
Central railroad, together with the
natural development of the resources
of the Great Falls, will obviously rec
tify these disadvantages, and will in
the Immediate future open out for
general use in Montana vast and UNI
limited supplies of the finest building
sandstone hitherto little known, but
destined in the future by the excell-
ent quality and durability OF material
produced, to be as we'll known as the
best quarries of the western states.
Some specimens of the stone fur
nished from Wisconsin for the Court
House at Helena, are now before the
writer, who has made a critical COM
parison between them and various
samples from the Great Falls. I con
slider the result greatly in favor of the
latter, as various kinds found here
can be used for purposes for which
the former would not be available, on
account of its friability.
The sandstones OF Great Falls, ge-
E:no+ ka4ionai QanL