The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-06-21

artistic instinct shrinks from the tedium of
practicability; its devotion to the flower not
to the slow and patient work of the gardener
who nurses the plant. Hence it is that your
architect who delights you by the refinement
of his ideas, by the tastefulness of HIS pre-
liminary sketches of side-boards, mantels,
settles, and china-closets, proves an Indifferent
superintendent when the building is actually
begun, and yields too easily to the bluster of
the contractor, letting errors and deficiencies
pass unrectified, simply because his sensitive
nature cannot endure the friction of contest.
The architect who, on the contrary, has the
power of stubbon command, and is equal to
the least civil contractor; who will give oath
for oath, and stand with the plans and specif-
cations in his hands compelling fulfllment
seldom originates beautiful houses, capable as
he may be in carrying out the plans of others.
The combination is so rare, in fact, that the
owner who chooses the plans of the former
class of architect, as he certainly ought to do,
must make up his mind to superintend the
construction HIMSELF not dispensing with the
architect altogether, but, standing at his
elbow, give him courage and support.
Asto contractors, l pray that the reader
may be fortunate in his choice, for if he is not
unspeakable and prolonged misery await him.
There is alarge class of contractors who are
always ready to bid on specifications, and
whose estimates are generally very low. They
have no seizable property, and are always in
want of money. Frequently they fail, or dis
appear, before the house is complete, leaving
mechanics liens on the building, for which
the owner, no matter how much he may have
paid is liable.
The best way to checkmate them is to insist
on keeping in reserve a certain portion of the
money due; as, for instance, by making a first
payment of one thousand dollars when work
to the value of two thousand has been done,
and always, up to the completion of the
house, having arrears for an equal amount to
cover the contingency of mechanics liens and
the possibility of the abandonment of the
work of the man who has undertaken it.
Wooden JoistS Better Than Iron
The Builder.
In his recent lecture ON fire prevention
Professor Goodman states that, generally
speaking, wooden joists are better for build
ings than steel or iron joists The two latter
materials, he explained, lose their strength at
not very high temperature, whereas wood
WouAu susIdlH d heavy SIraln IOr q mucn longer
period when exposed to great heat Besides,
when wood has once been charred it does not
burn SO readily again. Iron and steel soon ex-
pand under the influence of heat. Brick and
stone are Objectionable, the former become
fused under great heat, and the latter is liable
to crack or fly when suddenly cooled after
heating. The drawback to tiles is that when
fire plays upon the joists of floors fitted with
them, the joists expand and allow the fire to
play upon the joists through the tiles. Port
land cement is Objectionable, as it flakes off
when heated, butt if wire-n netting or bars are
embedded in concrete this defect is remeded.
joist padded with slicate of cotton and en-
cased in Salamander plaster "a mixture of
silicate, cotton, and paster-of Paris the pro-
fessorholds, is splendid fireproofng material
Such material is not only a non-conductor
but it is elastic, and would yield with the joist
In an experiment undertaken by Professor
Goodman it was found that joist of this kind
withstood very fierce heat for eight to nine
hours without sustaining any serious damage