Evening star., 1898-11-02

in it. Particularly those from floors, side
ralls and ceilings form echoes. when the
surrounding circumstances favor it.
Numerous conditions enter into the prob
lem of favorable acoustics in architecture,
among which there are prominent
Il. Size height and form of halls and po-
sition of the rejecting surfaces.
so The intensity of the impulse of
sound.
"3. The nature of the material and the
&C Instruction of the rejecting walls or
bodies.
-. The condition of the reflected sur
faces, whether polished, smooth, rough or
iuted
Besides these though of minor import
ance there are refractions of sound. due to
currents by lily arranged heating, ventilat-
ing and lighting of the rooms. Professor
Henry and Buche perceived no difference
in distinct hearing for sound, passing over
a huge chandelier with the gas jets in full
&C ombustion. Still the quality of the sound
was no doubt affected.
Collection of Sounds.
"Generally the efforts in the design of
halls should be to collect and reinforce the
waves of sound near their origin by the
use of strongly resonant materials and ar
rangement of strong rejecting surfaces,
and then to transmit them. unmingled with
other impulses and with as little loss as
possible to the ears Of the audience. On
the other hand. to Silence the echoes and
disturbing concentrations of sound by ap-
proprate treatment of the walls and sur
faces in those parts, of halls which are
opposite or distant from the origin Of
sound"
Ornamental Stones.
Prof. G. P. Merrill Of the National Mu-
scum followed with his paper, Remarks
on Some Little-known American Orna-
mental Stones A table in front of the
secretary's desk was covered with speci-
mens of different stones. which illustrated
the points he made
His paper was in part as follows:
TT Is now, / think, very generally con-
ccded that the great development of art
among certain ancient peoples was due to
the ready availability of such materials as
lent themselves most readily to art. and
architectural expression. The kind of art
which developed most favorably in any re-
gion was controlled by the character of
available meterial. 1t is impossible, for in
stance, to conceive of the wonderful de-
velopment of sculpture characteristics of the
early Greeks and Romans as having de-
veloped among d people situated in a region
Ike that of the Mississippi valley in our
own country. This is especially true among
those forms of art which find their best ex-
preston in stone, since the great weight of
the material rendered it's transportation in
the early days a matter OF practical i'm
possibility, excepting in regions favorable
| to transshipment by water. Since the in
vention of the steam car. this last-named
difficulty has been largely overcome, and
| it is scarcely too much to say that today
the earth is ransacked throughout almost
| it's entire length and breadth for material,
! rot merely for the smaller works of art,
but as well for the larger and grander
| forms of architecture.
In ages past, difficulties in the way of
| transportation and hardness of material
were in part overcome by the chea pness of
skilled labor. Tie high prices now put
upon skilled labor and enforced by labor
unions have in our own country very large
ly counteracted the cheapening of methods
| of transportation through the introduction
| of steam power. Indeed, owing to the
| cheapness of ocean freights and the cheap
ness of foreign labor compared with that
| in the United States, the Italian materials
will today compete on equal terms in
eastern markets with those of the United
| States; and were it not that modern inge-
nuity has called into play a score of me-
chanical devices whereby the labor of one
man is multiplied many fold 1t would be
| impossible for any but the very wealthiest
of our people to indulge their taste in any
but The most commonplace of art objects
made from domestic materials SO obdurate
as stone.
The Use of Stone.
Among nations of the world is stone
! today SO universally used for general struc-
| tural purposes as in America. No one can
| but be surprised in comparing the struc-
| lures - private residences and business
| blocks municipal and government build
| ings-of this country with those Of foreign
nations There is a richness and appear
| ance of solidity and variety among the
| buildings OF our American cities which
stands in strong and pleasing contrast with
the weather-marked and otherwise shabby
stucco structures of the eastern continent.
| Gifted with "a variety Of materials, such as
has fallen to the lot of no other nation on
earth. with a multiplicity of railroads and
| waterways we are enabled to transport
| materials throughout the entire length and
| breadth of our continent at rates which
would have seemed incredible even half
century ago.
| The rapid development of art and archi-
| tectural instinct which has taken place dur
| ing the last quarter Of a century In this
country has been gratified very largely
through an importation of materials from
| the old world. For many years this condi-
ton of affairs ihust, continue to exist; in
| fact, so far as itfrelates to certain forms Of
art. must always eHist: We have. how
| (and you will remember am speaking now
wholly with reference to stone) many vari-
| eties Of materials which are fully equal II
| not superior, to- those which are brought
! from abroad and which are in many cases
| so entirely different las to merit attention
| for this reason alone Many of these ma
| terials have been known for years. but the
great cost of working, together with the
limited demand N has prevented their being
seriously considered
| Specimens Not in Demand
The speaker then proceeded to call atten-
| ton to many of the specimens before him,
| saying at the outset that scarcely one of
| the stones is to be found at present upon
the market, this for the reason that there
has as yet been no demand such as would
| make their working profitable. That there
| is no such deme nd he declared, is due to
| the fact that the public does not realize
! their possibilities.
| Among the stones of greatest historical
| interest was specimen of oriental alabas-
| ter, used by the ancient Egyptians car
| Donate of lime found in the Nile valley.
Materials of this nature are abundant
! throughout the limestone caverns of the
| United States. OF the same nature as this
| stone, except that. it is the product of hot
| spring action. and; further, that it is inn
pregnated with a considerable percentage
! of metallic oxides, which give it more in