Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-04
GENUINE FIRE PROOF.
Hollow Bricks Said TO be Much Better
Than Iron or Granite.
PECULIAR CLAIM FOB TIE ODDITY.
Burnt Clay Over IrOnwOrk the Only Safe
Protection for II.
NOVEL IDEAS ON FUTURE BUILDINGS

t'The great fires in New England furnish
evidence of the absurdity of the term fire
proof buildings as generally applied" said
veteran contractor Yesterday. EVERY one
Of those burned structures. which the flames
licked up 50 ravenously, were, at the time
of their erection, pronounced thoroughly
fre-proof. The term is really without sig
nifcance. A haystack or a tinder-box
might as we'll be proclaimed frs-proof as
many of the great buildings that tower sky
ward along our business streets. Iron, be-
cause of its malleable qualities, and granite,
from its liability to crack when overheated,
are just as dangerous and destructible in
the event of big confagration as the light
est wood Yet a real fre-proof building is
not, on that account, an impossibility. The
invention of so-called hollow bricks has pro-
duced q means BY which houses may with
proper precaution, be rendered improbable
to the devouring element
COATED WITH BRICKwoRK.
"Of course, If building is to be quite
freproof it must be constructed of materials
that are not only incombustible, but also
perfect in respect of tenaclty and durability
when subjected to excessive heat. For this
purpose we must suppose the outer wall of
our model house to be of brick, and, while
iron will, of course, remain essential for
girders, columns and beams, this must be in
cased in from two 10 three inches of burnt
clay material, SO that every particle of iron
work shall be covered. This brickwork is
thoroughly fre-proof, but to insure still
greater security the bricks must contain
cavities in their eenters, which will not only
increase their lightness, but, by furnishing
air ducts, act as insulators that will stay the
progress of heat.
IN WALLS AND FLOORS.
'The partitions of this ideal building must
rest on fre-proof floors and be made of
burnt clay blocks. Furring blocks of tine
same material must be substituted for the
usual wooden Turing along the inside of the
exterior walls, and the roof must be of thick,
porous terra-cotta blocks. The floors are,
of course, very important feature of the
structure; but If they are made of rolled
iron beams, properly spaced and thoroughly
protected by hollow burnt clay arches, l
warrant they will be absolutely invulner-
able. The woodwork, of course, may catch
fire; so may the curtains, carpets, chairs,
tables and what not that fill the room. But
it will be impossible tor the fame to spread.
Floor, ceiling and walls-all will present
surfaces that are really and truly ire-proof,
and your building will stand complete and
secure. If you don't believe that such a
pile would endure even q century of frey
rain, build one yourself and see.
NO COLD, MOISTURE Or NOISE.
"But there's still another and equally
valuable virtue in hollow bricks. It is the
immunity from cold and dampness which a
building thus constructed enjoys. The air
cells in the center Of every brick absolutely
prevents rain or moisture from permeating
the walls. The roof, too, is rain-proof, and
In the good time coming, when every we'll
regulated household will embody this excel
lent feature, there will be no such thing as
water-soaked ceilings and rain-stained walls
Just as these bricks cannot carry heat, SO
they are protector against cold. The air
that is within them cannot by any means
conduct the frigidity of the outside world
into the home circle. Boress will
roar in vain around the Chin
ney.pots of the family housed in hollow
bricked snuggery. One thing more, these
bricks are impervious to sound. Your
neighbor may sing all day about the unfor-
tunate man who was dressed in his best suit
of clothes, and you will never know it. Or
the baby may squall in 60 different sharps
and fats from midnight till the dawning,
and you, soundly sleeping in the nezt room,
will suppose the infant, too, in Sunderland.
The tones of tintinabulatIng pianos and
medieval hsnd-organs can never penetrate
through hollow bricks. Can you, in view
of all this, doubt that the millenial age is
knocking at our hollow-brieked gate?"-
PHILADELPHIA Record