The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-27
ERA OF CONCRETE HOUSES
EDISON PREDICTS 4 CHANGE IN
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION.
He Declares Our Dwellings and Of
fees VIII All BE poured"
I'm n Few Years.
New York Letter.

Quarries may. within a Few years, ne
idle and stone cutting be forgotten. The
arts OF brickmaking and b~ricklaying may
be lost. These are no exaggerated state
ments. but well considered. practical posi-
bilities. They are opinions that are shared
BY Thomas A. Edison.
In some OF the Western States. lately in
the East and TO a small extent on the con-
tinent Of Europe. a new idea in building is
under way. Brick and stone are dispensed
with and cement takes their place-cement
poured into wooden molds or forms which
when the mass within them has hardened
10 rocklike hrmness and solidity. are taken
down. Thus. sometimes OF cement alone,
sometimes Of cement with a small quantity
of twisted iron rods or metal laths 10
strengthen Il. walls. columns, floors. roofs
are b~uilt-entire great edidces, indeed or
nothing but the hardened concrete The
molds or forms are merely wooden boxes,
or. when long walls are TO be erected,
lengths OF wooden panels and standards
that are bolted together 10 receive the con-
crete. The cement is made a little more
liquid. and walls Of fanciful ornament are
poured as readily as IL the surface were
plain.
IL seems, all Of this, like some sort OF
fairy tale construction-bizarre. remarkable,
a page out Of the Arabian Nights'-but it
b being done daily. a poured church in
Brooklyn has just received its finishing
touches. Close TO New York. In the coun-
try town of Mineola. l. L.. the seat of
government Of the new Nassau county, a
poured" county courthouse and Jail that
will be very handsome INTELLECTUALLY are
now being built.
In Bayonne. y. J., a very tall chimney
Is being put up, against all traditions, or
cement in molds instead of brick. In Wash
ington, D. c., a poured cement business
structure is rising, and the same plan OF
building has been tried In Buffalo. applied
TO a grain elevator, where the cement moor
holds sixty-eight steel tanks, 50 feet hlgn,
151z feet I'm diameter, an actual load OF .4,4'O
AS finished these walls. columns and roofs
are as of stone. The mass hardening In
the molds shapes itself precisely. Here,
following the mold lines, this wall, though
solid, artificial stone, seems to be Of indi-
vidual blocks. The illusion is ~startlngly
perfect. the more so as a little toollns VIII
give a stone surface TO the cement. and
color and tint have been Initiated in the
mass that was poured In.
EDISON'S PREDICTION.
Under ordinary circumstances this new
Idea, although now IN successful operation
and proved very feasible structurally, might
not have attracted especial attention.
But In the last few weeks 1t has had a
champion in the person OF no one else than
Thomas A. Edison. For once that veteran
inventor has assumed a new role-that of
prophet. Cement and steel, he declares. are
to be 'the building materials OF the future"
Skyscraper will be built of frameworks of
steel, with walls OF cement. the steelwork
tncased I'm cement as well. HI the small
dwel.ing-houses that are to Come will be of
poured cement. 'They VIII pour a house
then" says Mr.. Edison.
MIR. Edison is a coDcrete expert. Plans
ar Are now being mace ~ a company in which
Portland cement Works in one of the Jersey
towns ana pay of this plant will be a
of cement. .gonTedS in moids. and put up
80 eneapiy sIat they can be rented for very
nth. Thesz statements of Mr.. Edison are print
ca ~ INSURANCE Engineering: My impress
tlo/ is that the time Will come when every
%htractor will have standard forms OF
Mouses. twenty or thirty varieties. The
forms will be made of wood, and a contract
or using one of the standard shapes will
simply go out and pour a house. There
will probably be hundreds of designs. The
contractors will put up their concrete mix
er. and have their beams and forms ready.
complete that. then pour the second story;
and so on. To do that all they will require
boss. That is what I think will be done
eventually. And such a house can be made
very cheaply- 1t seems TO me there will
not be much use for carpenters then. There
will be cabinetmakers, to DE sure. Why.
even the floors and stairs will be made of
Mr.. Edison was asked if Portland cement
would be cheap enough for general use.
Yes. L think So he answered. when
and people know they can get IL for that.
there will be quantities of II
used"
Have you seen any account of the
church I'm Brooklyn, built up section by sec
ton. precisely as you have described?'
mo" said he. but that is the way to do
IL. Houses built I'm that manner can be
rented prOfitably for. say, 81 or 81 a month.
They will be as cheap as that And a
house can be put up and completed in a
few days. The architects will have a fine
time, for they can pour statuary and all
sorts of ornamentation while they are COM
plotting the walls. Thus we will have small
palaces renting for about $40 q month. If
the contractors have the proper molds there
will not be any difficulty in making the
most beautiful houses wonderfully cheap"
Twill the use of cement modify the con-
struction of high buildings? If SO. In what
4 those buildings will be of steel con-
struction. with Portland cement" said Mr..
u you mean that the outside OF the
buildings will be of cement instead of brick
tural steelwOrk incased in cement?'
Eyes. that Is the idea exactly"
what. in your opinion, will be the effect
cities?"
some of the fire insurance people will go
out OF business. so far as building risks are
concerned, or write risks on the balance Of
what Will be then obsolete houses. That. Of
course. is something that will come way
along i'm the future. II Is the element Of
~cheapness I'm the houses TO be constructed
by this method that will prove very attrac-
tive 10 the masses OF the people,
will the roofs be made OF cement also p
Eyes, the whole thing-all poured-cement
construction
BROOKLYN'S POURED" CHURCH.
Except for the circumstance that no high
buildings have yet been erected with con-
crete walls and cheap houses
are yet 10 be built Of this material. the
veteran inventors words have already
proved themselves true. Not only that, but
some big jobs OF this sort are being done
with much expedition and expertly. The
church I'm Brooklyn has been instanced.
This is st. James's Protestant Episcopal
Church.
The passer-by VIII find It difficult to real
lie that this structure is not a stone one.
As IL stands IL has cost only from a third
10 a half what stone would. and vet there
II Is. a pile or nicely fooled light gray
blocks that looks as much like stone as
stone itself.
The church is an excellent example OF
cement building in its complicated form. Ii
lacked only a cement roof. the final
triumph OF the concrete builders art. The
design called. however, for such an irregu-
lar roof that one OF timber became neces-
sary.
The Nassau county jail and courthouse.
at Mineola. L. l., have both cement roofs
as well as walls. The roof OF the latter is
a somewhat extraordinary piece Of concrete