The record-union., 1897-08-15
hEW-FANGLED PLUMBING.
LATEST ADVANCES IN HOUSE.
HOLD ENGINEERING.
Exposed Pipes the Rule-Forms of
Hot Water Supply, Bowls
and Bathtubs.

With the exception of architectural
ironWork there have been few greater
advances in any department of building
and construction in the last ten years
than in sanitary plumbing. Every
tWelvemonth since the middle of the
eighties has seen some notable improve
ment and invention, until to-day the
science has become completely revolu-
tlonZed. What is more, there are no
indications of any pause in the devising
of new appliances and new systems.
fortunately for the people of this coun-
try-and America altogether surpasses
Europe in her plumbing methods, easily
leading the world-many of the ablest
men of brains and capital here are at
the work. What has already been ac-
complished in the short space of ten
years, or perhaps trifle over, has not
only beautified houses and large build
/ 1ngs in a surprising way, but reduced
almost to minimum the chances of
communicating disease through pipes
and fixtures.
In the plumbing of the old style, when
the laying Of pipes through building
was merely a, trade, not the science it
thas since become, the traps and wastes
4 We're always likely to be the resting
place of disease germs, while in the
cupboards, with which every particle
| of plumbing that was not hidden by
| floors and walls was surrounded, bac-
| terra We're certain TO lurk. Now pipes
/ and other appliances are exposed to
! light and air, not screened from sight by
| boards and planks. They are so ar
ranged that not only can they be seen,
but easily cleaned and polished each
day, and readily taken apart in case Of
| leak or stoppage.
So far has this modern tendency of
| exposing the plumbing gone that the
| plan, quite popular three or four years
ago, of running up the pipes from floor
| to ceiling in a recess or chase" and
setting boards over it in the form of
panel to match the woodwork of the
room, has been discarded, and in the
| finest mansions built these last two
| years every vestige of the plumbing
shows in shining nickel, gilded or
bronzed pipes.
While exposed plumbing is one of
the features of the new science, it is
by no means all that is new. The en-
tire system of general house drainage
has, in fact, been turned literally inside
out by the recent innovations. The main
line of pipe supports itself, independ-
ent of the beams, walls and ceilings
of the house, and thus cannot be af-
fected by any settling of the floors or
the various displacements to which ev-
cry building is liable. In the time of
the old methods pipes were frequently
bent in this way, and the entire plumb
ing of a dwelling disturbed. This new
construction is as little concerned with
the rest of the building as, to use a
wellknown example, the walls of
modern office building are with its steel
frame. Other Improvements in general
drainage are the perfection of the vent
system and the substitution of wrought
iron for the old cast iron pipes.
These new pipes of wrought iron are
screw threaded and form a solid, con-
tinuous piece of tubing, doing away
with the ancient cock joints. The yul-
nerable part Of the plumbing of a
house fifteen year ago was where its
pipes joined. the junctures being made