Evening star., 1898-11-02

speaker called attention to the transluceucy
| of onyx and suggested the possibility of its
use in place of highly-colored glass in win
dows.
Specimens Of oxydized marble antique
porphyry, old lava flows from eastern Mas
sachusetts, a perphyritic aiorfte from south
erN Greece, indurated volcanic mud two
samples of marble from Burnet and Aus
tin, Texas: granitic rock from Madison
county, Virginia, and pegmatite, a graphic
granite. rose quartz from Maine and Con-
nectcut- and other rocks were described
and their usefulness and beauty in archi-
lecture pointed out.
Peculiarities of Wood.
A paper entitled Some Pecuiiari.les of
Weo6,' by Prof. B. E. Ferrow dean of the
New York State College of Forestry for
mer chief of the division of forestry in the
Department OF Agriculture, was read, in
| the absence OF the author, by Mr. Horn
blower 1t wss, in part as follows:
'Ihe most noteworthy popularity of wood
Is that this material which has been so
universally employed since the dawn of
civilization, is still little understood, so i'm.
perfectly known as to it's nature character
1sticS and properties. While the specifica-
tlcnS for iron and steel materials have been
developed to such fneSSe that even the
chemical cen. position is prescribed deter
minative OF the quality desired, it is ques-
tionable whether the majority of engineers
and architects know what points to make
in the specifications for wood materials,
anu are uOt prepared inspect the mate
rial which they have specified.
Ihe reasons for this absence of knowl-
edge and finesse in the of wood are
probably two: Wood has been apparently
plentiful and cheap, hence not calling for a
more economical and effective use; and,
furthermore, being a non Homogeneous and
variable material, or rather structure, the
precise study of its properties and charac-
terlSt1cS has been too difficult and cumber-
some. Yet it is possible to study wood in i
scientific manner with the assurance of
practical results
Reasons Advanced.
There are these who inclined to
think that there is no need of greater
fnesse in this direction either because we
have such al. abundance of wood materials
that their wasteful use will work no harm
and need not be considered, or else that
wood is destined to grow out of use and
bound to be sGppIsnted by other m Itcrials
The hrst position has been true enough for
the past; but we are entering on an era
when. through the wasteful exploitation of
cur forest resources. without attention 20
their reproduction, the abundance of good
wood materials is bound sooner or later to
cease, and the decrease in supplies will
lorce upon Us the necessity of greater econ
omy. The second position, namely that
wood will be displaced by substitutes is
also true only in part. Since We are using
frcm three to ten times as much wood now
as other civilized nations. undoubtedly the
.SSeSsitJ VI eCOnOiHy VIII force re-
dGce our wood consumption and to substi-
tute stone and iron, which in many cases
will prove an advantage
But he who thinks that wood at any
time will be entirely or practically sup
planted by other materials shows ignorance
as TO the true merits and characteristics of
that material, which is much an indis-
penSabe requirement of our civilization as
our food materials"
In conclusion. Mr. Fernow suggested tina,
the society APPOINT committee to study
and report on specifca tions for wood ma
terlais' SO as to at least reduce as far as
possible the dangers from rot and fire.
Pilgrimage to Cabin john
The reading of these papers consumed the
morning hours, and at 1870 the convention
adjourned to permit the delegates to visit
Cabin John and Glen Echo. ACCOMPANIED
by their wives, the fellows of the institute
directed by the local committee. with Mr..
Hornblower and Mr.. Glenn Brown in active
cnarge, boarded the electric cars and were
hurried to their destination by the route
along the river
All Cabin John Bridge Hotel they dined,
and after tour around the place and a
look at the famous bridge the party went
to Glen Echo and scrutinized the archi-
tectural features there. About 4:3O they
We're due to return to town.
AT the session tonight the following pro-
gram of papers and business will be car
ried out: "The Place to Be Assigned to the
Jewish People in Architectural History"
illustrated by lantern slides, DR.. Cyrus Ad-
Ter of the Smithsonian Institution: Gen
eral Practice in Regard to the Employment
OF Electric, Heating and Sanitary Engi-
neers,' H. G. Bradlee, Boston.
To be followed by discussion which will
be opened by Cass Gilbert of St Paul
Mimi, and Frank Miles Day of Philadel-
phia.
The consideration of amendments to the
constitution and bylaws reported by the
special committee will be taken up.