St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-02-26

claim that this has kept business men
from abroad from investing in land and
putting up buildings. To remove this
restriction it was necessary to revise
the laws, and as the architects and
builders are supposed to know just
what changes are necessary. they were
added to the committee. After being
called to order by Aid. Hunter, who acts
as chairman, the ordinance was taken
up one section at a time. The follow
ing amendment was made to the first
section:
All buildings or parts of buildings
hereafter erected in Minneapolis and
not herein specifically described, shall
be of sound materials. of good work
manship and abundautly strong for the
purpose intended; and the size of ma
terialS used therein shall be such as
have been determined by the best au-
thOrity and demonstrated by experts
to be proper materials subjected to
transverse strains, shall not be loaded
to more than one-fourth their breaking
strength; if subjected to shearing or
tensile strains to more than one-fifth
their ultimate strength, and piers or
columns of less than five diameterS to
more than One-sixth their crushing
strength. Columns of more than five
diameterS are to be increased in strength
according to the formula of the best
authority, and the building inspector is
hereby authorized to require the above
conditions.
Sections two and three were I'M
changed. Section four was changed SO
that the walls of building should be
made fire-pr0of, and it should not he re-
quired that the whole building should
be made fire-prOOf as now provided.
that the roof should also be made fire.
proof, and it was decided that the ordi-
nance should include the roofs ana
walls. Inspector Hazen offered further
amendment to allow the erection of
iron-r0ofed sheds for the use of bust
ness men inside the fire limits. which
was adopted. In the fifth section the
standard depth of foundation walls,
twelve feet, was abolished. otherwise it
was allowed to remain unchanged. No
change was made in the required thick
ness of the walls of buildings. In the
sixth section the provision which pro-
hlblts dOOrways between two adjoining
buildings from being more than ten feet
in height by eight feet in width was
stricken out, and this matter left en-
tirely with the building inspector. The
paragraph which prohibits rooms more
than twenty-five feet in width was also
stricken out.
The regulation about fire-proof and
slow-burning buildings was stricken out
and the following substituted:
All hotels, boarding or lodging houses
six stories or over in height must be
built strictly fire-proof.
All store buildings, factories or mills
six stores or over in height, if not built
strictly fire-proof, must be slow-burn-
ing, equal to the following:
Floor and roof, joists or rafters to be
thoroughly protected on the lower sur
face with II inches thick Ia tile of less
thickness NAV be used, provided there
is an air space between the joists and
the tile of at least a half-inch), or the
10ists OF rafters may be heavy timbers
of size not less than SxS inches, with
the top surface tloored over with
matched plank not less than three inches
thick. Partitions to he either brick tile
or plank; if plankS are used they must
be matched and of thickness not less
than three inches.
That part of section 9 prohibiting the
erection of bay window ''in any alley"
was striker out. Section 10 was
changed so as to allow stairways or open
areas To extend five feet into sidewalks
eighteen feet wide. and four and half
feet on streets having walks fifteen feet
wide. This Is an increase of six inches.
That part of section IL relating to
weights on floors was changed so that
dwellings. tenementS and lodging house
floors must be able to sustain a weight
of 50 pounds per foot, instead of 100
pounds, as formerly, and for public
buildings and for those used for light
mechanical purposes the floor must he
capable of sustaining a weight of LOO
ID ffnf af =,
part of section IL relating to the manner
of calculating the strength of material
was stricken out. All that part of the
same section relating to the protection
of stalrways, ETC., in factories, mills and
lodging houses was cut out, but the
StairWayS must be constructed of incom-
bustible material. The paragraph in
section Is. requiring the slope of COM
position roofs not to exceed two inches
to the foot was stricken out, otherwise
the section was allowed to stand. Sec
ton IA, requiring fire-proof shutters On
all st0rehOuses, mills and manufactures,
was stricken oat. Sections Is and IL
were not changed. In section Is the
word ''only" was cut out of
the paragraph relating to the
use of brackets, so that chimneys in
future cannot rest on them at all. Sec
ton 10 was amended SO as to require
suitable number of red lights at night,
where any portion of the street or side
walk is used for the purpose of erecting
or repairing building. No changes
were thought necessary in sections 20.
81, % and %. The last paragraph Of
section "a was amended so as to allow
the building inspector to grant permits
sion to parties to move frame buildings
from one part OF a lot to another part of
thQ lnf inside tho fro lin1ifc
tons 26 and 81, relating to fire escapes
on buildings, was stricken out and the
state law on fire escapes was substituted
with the additional provlSo that the city
council may order such additional cS-
capes as are necessary for protection in
special cases. No fault was found with
sections IS, 29. 80 or 81. Section 80, al
lowing the building inspector to esti-
mate the cost of buildings, had been
found unnecessary since no charge
was made for permits, and it was
stricken out. No changes were made in
sections SO. "a and IS. Section 81, which
provided for the inspection of all
passenger and freight elevators by the
building inspector, was stricken out.
That part of section 81 relating to
the qualifications of the building in
spector was changed so as to admit OF
practical architect or builder or civil
engineer, who has been engaged in the
active duties of his profession for at
least ten years, becoming the inspector.
All that part relating TO an examine
ton before board composed of archi-
tects and builders and the city engineer
was striken out, as the committee
thought that ten years. practical expe-
rience was sufficient qualification. No
other changes were made in this sec
ton. The committee adjourned to meet
81 r,io L. !, L,