St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-12-30
Even the Dwelling House OF
the Future May Be Con-
structed Of Metal.
Innovations Being Made Upon
the Ancient Ideas or
HouSebuilders.
Iron Becoming an All-Impop-
tant Factor in Many
Structures.
Houses That Can Be Put To-
gether Like a Child's
Puzzle.

The construction of iron houses has
| just been commenced in England, and
| the probabilities are that before long
| they will be used extensively in the
| United States, says the Pittsburg Dis
| patch. Iron is becoming an all-impor-
tant factor in buildings Of every des-
| cription, and the innovations which are
being made cause the old-timerS and
| the people who have been on earth
since 1925 to gaze upon the works of the
present age with the most profound as
| constituent.
The queen of England has recently
| had pavilion erected which formed al
| ornamental feature of the Windsor
show. 1t is placed upon basis of hard
| concrete, so that her majesty may be
able to enjoy her meal almost in the
| open air without risk of dampness.
| The success of this pavilion has given
an impetus to iron houses.
In this connection a recent issue OF
| the London Standard says:
''Mr. Gladstone, we are informed, is
having an iron library erected at Ha-
warden. It is to contain Is, 600 volumes.
| The house contains five rooms. the
largest one measuring fOrty-one feet by
| twenty-one. Cases are being made to
| hold twenty tons of books. Mr.. Glad
stone intends the library for quiet
| study, and therefore proposes to admit
| only few persons at time. These
| houses are put together like a child'S
| puzzle, and can be taken apart, COM
| pactly packed and removed elsewhere.
! large number of iron villas have
been sent from the works at Albert
gate to the Riviera, and there
erected upon plots of land pur-
| chased or rented for term of years.
When the lease expires the houses can
be packed up and removed. There is
5eginning to be demand for iron bun
galowS as marine residences in Eng
land. The rapidity with which they
can be built and their small cost as COM
pared with the ordinary dwelling of
brick and stone. are recommendations
which tell in their favor.
''The possibility of having house
built in month to the buyers own plan
and ready for occupation as soon as fin
ished, seems almost incredible. The
pretty Welcome club at the Italian and
American exhibitions was made of iron,
and its cOSt-G300-will give some idea
of the comparative prices of brick and
iron. 1t was covered with trelliS work,
which impaired a pictureSqe and rural
aspect to the outside. In Its uncovered
state the corrugated iron cannot be
said to be ornamental, but the trelliS
work embellishes it at small cost.
1t is suggested by the manufacture
ers that matching the roofs with
heather would add to the pictorial effect,
and also give additional protection to
the roof Heather from BournemOuth
thus applied would last for fifteen years
or more. The matching would aid in
keeping the house cool in summer and
warm in winter. though this double de-
sideratum has already been secured by
the air spaces between the outer iron
walls and the inner ones Of felt and pine
wood.
sit is now feasible to add an addi-
tional room to the ordinary brick dwell
ing house, where such accommodation
is needed. Being removable, it is the
property of the tenant, so that the OBJ
lection felt by most people against
building for the ultimate benefit of
ones landlord does not hold good in
such case. Stabling and coach houses
can in the same way be temporarily
erected. AS play room or school room
for children a detached iron building,
communicating with the house by COW
cred way, would frequently prove a
boon to the brain-working father of the
family, and in times of illness it would
be possible. by this means, to isolate
patient completely from the other men,
berS of the family.
''There is no damp to be apprehended
in an iron house. A useful present to a
village would be an iron playrOom.
which could be built in week. A
building costing e200 can be erected in
fortnight. The price of room meas
uring twenty feet by thirteen feet
would be about ESQ. The cost of re-
mOval is from G5 upward. With this
novel architecture it would be possible
to reside in ones own house at a differ
ent seaside resort in England every year
by having an iron house removed in
this way. The brickwOrk chimney is
preferred to any other by the builders
of iron houses, no mode of heating being
so wholesome as the opeu CRATE with di-
rect ventilation. There are other meth
DDS OF warming rooms, and some Ofthem
are sufficiently satisfactory when the
ventilation has been properly secured.
The drainage can be worked on the
usual plan, it this be preferred to the
simpler mode recommended by the orig
inator of the iron houses"
President S. s. Marvin, OF the EXPOSE
ton society, has been an enthusiast
upon iron buildings ever since Machin-
cry hall was rushed to completion as an
exhibit of energy of PittSburg builders
and a showing of the local resources in
such lines. 1t will be remembered that
a great discussion was engendered by
L i~AS mt nf n
during the incipiency of the worlds
fair boom, in which Mr.. Marvin sug-
gested that buildings modelled after the
style of Machinery hall, and combining
its many and marked advantages, would
be Just what New York wanted. Mr..
Marvin still advances and emphasizes
that opinion. His remarks have spice
of prophecy about them which makes
them still more interesting to public
whose whole future may be said to
hinge upon the possible ramifieationS of
the iron and steel trade. MIR. Marvin
was shown the item published in the
London Standard, and, after reading it
closely, he said:
1--WE are only entering upon the Iron
Age although very few people appre-
realized, and in all probability none of
us will, but within the next hundred
wears iron houses will no doubt be in
universal use. | have always been in
favor of using iron buildings whenever
feasible, and some time ago | sent let
ter to the mayor of New York, in which
advocated the use of iron buildings
for the worlds fair. They are portable,
durable, and in every way answer the
purpose of buildings of brick and NOR
tar.
'sThey will be used by tenants on
land which cannot be purchased from
landlords. and will also be used ex-
tensively in suburbs of large cities.