Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-10-01
FLEXIBLE BUILDINGS

From the New York sun.
One of the most interesting trains Of
thought suggested by the earthquake Is
in regard to the possible notifications il
architecture and construction that may
result from the apprehension of Other
heavy shocks in the future.
Suppose there was an absolute Ger.
taintv that Charleston would be shaker
at least once year by an earthquake
quite as severe as the last. Would thi:
mean the abandonment of an otherwise
advantageous site, and the utter eXtinc-
ton of a city that was making such rapid
progress toward a foremost place among
commercial portsP Or would the skill
and ingenuity of the builder accept the
situation aud make the best of it? The
average American, North and South, is a
self-adapting creature, with uncommon
genius for terrifying himself against
adverse conditions in his environment.
The Sanitary Engineer reprints the
essential parts of a paper written by
Prof. John Milne of the imperial college
of engineering in Toxic. Prof. Milne
has made study of earthquake motion
in Japan. with reference to its effect up
on buildings. His conclusions are bold
and original. In earthquake regions he
would support all buildings upon two
horizontal cast-irOn plates, between
bi al, el,o 4 IL
quarter of an inch in diameter. He would
build the foundations deep and free from
surrounding earth. There are minor
suggestions, such as the avoidance of all
arches that form angles at the abutments
and the substitution of arches curving
elliptically into the abutments: care not
to place windows and doors vertically
over each other, since such an arrange
ment forms line of weakness in the
wall; the abolition of high buildings and
steeplv pitched roofs, and general sys-
TEN of construction which shall make
the upper part of the walls and the roof
as light as possible, The main feature
of Prof. Mines plan, however. is the in
sulaton of the structure by means of a
shock may be expended in rolling the
whole house about harmlessly. instead
of rending its walls and wrenching its
joints.
a city built on this plan. of course.
would be very different thing from the
cities that we have now. 1t would
consist of light, low buildings, and it
would therefore cover greater extent
of territory. Nevertheless, it is con-
ceivable that population living on the
ground floor over round shot. and rolled
around several inches or several feet
every day in the year. might be as happy
and as prosperous in the cultivation of
the domestic virtues and pursuit of
wealth as the inhabitants of any ten
story town.
After the great earthquake in Granada,
in 1854, the recommendation of the
Spanish engineers, as officially promul-
gated, were these:
right angles, and lie diagonaly to the direc-
ton OF the geological faults.
81. The widths OF streets should never be
less than double the maximum height allowed
by law for the buildings on them.
"3. No house should have more than one
story.
81. All materials and building should be OF
uneNccptiOnaDle quality"
The Italian commissioners who inves-
tigated matters at Ischia after the earth
quake were of the opinion that no wall
should be over thirty-one feet high; that
houses should be square, and placed with
one diagonal in the direction of the last
shock; and that they should be built
with wood or iron frames thoroughly
united by diagonal ties. both horizontally
and vertically.
There is no doubt that as Charleston is
rebuilt the prevailing style of architec-
ture and construction will be modified to
meet the danger of whose constant pre-
sence the people have had so terrible IA
human ingenuity can, if need be, devise
flexible structures which shall be abso-
lutely or nearly earthquake-proof. The
old idea that an earthquake was a gaping
open of the earth's crust, and swallow
ing up of houses and people, is no lon
ger entertained even by the least intel
ligent. In earthquake regions the prob
lem is to build houses that shall receive
and diffuse harmlessly the force of the
shock; and this is simply a question of
the adaptation of materials and methods
to natural circumstances.