The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-09-14
Architectural Suggestions.

ArCnlLGCC ma OullQeF from NEW 10TH,
who was passing through the city, and
during o ramble around the street the
architect took occasion to examine some
of the heaps of mortar and bricks.
SIT seems to me-" he said THAT a good
deal of the destruction in Charleston is
due to careless and imperfect work. I
have noticed in very many Instances
that the mortar used in the construction
of dwellings here is Of IL very inferior
kind. In some instances there nre hard
ly any trace Of lime and cement at all.
Bricks which are laid in that kind Of
mortar will not remain together in any
violent shock. The city ought TO have
an official to inspect building material
just as they have one 10 inspect wood
and other things. There are builders
not only in Charleston but all over the
world who will take advantage Of people
and use cheap material. The mount Of
lime and cement to be used in the mix
ing of mortar enters considerably into
the cost Of the material, and some build
Iers will use it very sparingly SO as to
save money and get q wider margin On
their contracts. l have noticed several
brick buildings standing, the walls OF
which are put up with that inferior kind
of mortar. You can tell them at a glan ce.
gu will notice that4he morris ar betw cen
the bricks is worn out 1t has the ap-
pesrance Of having been gouged out OF
washed out. That is the kind Of morta,
which will not hold bricks together, and
that is the kind I suspect has been used
in mapy of the buildings that were shat
tered.
81 notice a good deal of this peculiar
kind Of mortar all over the city in these
heaps Of debris. / dent mean to say
that houses built with proper mortar
would have stood the shock Of the earth
quake you had in Charleston, but l am
certain that the destruction would not
have been SO great.
"Let me call your attention, too, to
another thing. As most Of your city
will have to be rebuilt. the matter of
chimney-tops becomes All important one.
suppose about one half OF the people
killed here owed their death to bricks
from the chimney tops. At least, I
judge so, from what l have seen of the
destruction of chimney tops and the way
in which they were thrown down. Now,
don't suppose you will have another
earthquake here, at least, in the next
thousand years or so, but you do have
September gales and cyclones, and a
chimney top made as yours are here in
} Charleston is u very inconvenient thing
to have around the house in a cyclone
or an earthquake. When Your houses
are rebuilt, for heavens sake abolish
the old ponderons chimney top. Build
your chimncys flush with the roof, and
then top them off with light terra Gotta
pipes OF pots, as they are called. These
are perfectly safe. If they are blown
down they don't crush in your roofs,
nor the heads Of passers.by, and then
the cost of replacing them is trifing.
do | think Charleston will he rebuilt ? |
OF course | do. think the hearts of
the American people are too big to allow
Charleston to die ont. Well all put our
hands in our pockets and help you to
build up this old town. Well do more.
We'll force that good-for-nothing Con-
gress OF ours to pass that appropriation
to complete the Jetties. Public opinion
will force them to do it. No matter
what it costs, the Jetties must be COM
plcted and at once. The North will in
SYST on this will insist that all other
pnbNs improvements elsewhere shall
stand aside for the present and let the
Charleston Jetties be built. And when
these arc done and you have thirty feet
OF water on the Bar, and the fleets of
the world come here, you will see a new
Charleston rise out of this wreck, the
heir to all the historic past of old
Charleston, and an enduring monument
TO the pluck and brotherly love Of the
great American people."-News and
Fourier.