The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-01-18
REVOLUTION IN BUILDING.
steel Frames Make Wider Range of
Stone Available.

stone Available.
The modern system of construction,
by which weights of the tall buildings
now SO great a feature of most Amer
lean cities are transferred from the
walls to the steel or iron truss framing,
has brought about curious change as
to the qualities demanded in building
stone Formerly it was essential that
the stone of the walls of high build
ing should be capable of bearing enor-
nous weights without crushing. Now
1t Is only necessary that the stone shall
be handsome in appearance and of
moderate strength, as it is used only as
facing" in the tall buildings.
1t is the application of the truss prin-
ciple to the framing of buildings, in
deed, that renders the fifteen ard
twentEstory commercial and indus
tr AT tt(yers of to-day practica bic, for
to make the walls thick enough in the
lower courses to stand the weight of
some of the high structures nowadays
put on narrow lots in many cases would
be to use up half the area devoted to
the building with foundation walls.
The strongest stone known to Amer
lean builders will bear a pressure of
"a, 900 pounds to the cubic inch. The
trap rocks of New Jersey and the dol
erite of Staten island will both take
this weight, which is somewhat in ex-
cess of the capabilities of the GRANTEES.
Thus the granite of Rhode Island
brushes when the pressure reaches more
than II. $50 pounds to the cubic inch,
that of Virginia will bear 81, $50 pounds
and that of Maryland 1880 pounds
The strength of the GRANTEES of Maine,
New Hampshire and Vermont varies
somewhat, but not greatly, from these
figures, and the strength of granite has
been the quality that has most recon-
mended it in the past.
The strongest marbles in the world
are from American quarries and come
from Lee Mass. They will bear the
weight of $40 pounds to the cubic
inch. The marble of Tuckahoe, n Y,
will bear IL, $50 pounds to the inch and
this is in excess of the strength OF
some of the Fundy red GRANTEES, which
are capable of bearing only LISP
pounds The statuary marbles of Car
rara will bear only 9,723. The strong
est limestone will support 10, 900 pounds
to the cubic inch, and it is quarried in
the vicinity of Kingston, n. Y. The
Empire state is especially rich in lime
stone quarries, the products of which
are greatly valued for their great va
riety of color. That of Glens Falls is
jet-black and will take on high
polish; the stone of Medina, Albion
and Lockport is of various gray shades,
and there are cream and dove-tinted
stones found in other portions of the
state. Some of the handsomest light
shaded limestone is found in Florida
and the Bermudas.
The Ohio limestones are quite the
equal of any in America and are favor
ties in Cincinnati, Cleveland and CO.
lumbus. A most valuable property of
the Ohio limestones is their power of
resisting fire, quality shared by the
limestones of northern Indiana and
Illinois. These stones are quarried in
slabs and at one time in the geological
history OF Jne edrun formed part OF
the beach or bottom of the seas of the
Niagara period.
Americans are much more lavish in
the use of bright-colored building
stones than the English or any other
northern people, a fact that was noted
forty years ago by titled English
visitor to this country, who, in a letter
to a British periodical, drew parallel
between the cheerful aspect presented
by American facades and the somber
appearance of the English fronts, to
the decided disadvantage of the latter.
Philadelphia North American.