The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-07-23
BRICKS ARE
EXCELLENT
Stand All the Tests
Demanded of
Them.
ENGINEER WHITE
MADE EXPERIMENTS
Under Somewhat Adverse Circum-
stances, Local Product Proves
to Be Satisfactory.

The experiments conducted for the
/ Honolulu Clay Company by Engineer
White, U.S.N., in which the bricks that
have just been made at the Nuuanu kiln
of that company were put to several Sc
we're tests, have turned out most graft
fyingly toy the company. While the
bricks are not yet in as perfect con-
dition as they will be, and the mechan-
ism used by the engineer was unsatis-
factory in some of it's details, the ap-
proximate results were all that could
be desired, and will remain unchanged,
so far as the general public is concern
ed The experiments that will be con-
Quoted later will be for scientific pur-
poses only, and the data So derived will
be of service to builders and engineers
alone.
The experiments to find the crushing
power of the brick proved that the prod
uct of the local company will be able to
sustain a pressure of $500 pounds to the
square inch. The bricks are capable
of sustaining a pressure of about 1870
tons to the square foot In building,
the pressure seldom exceeds fifteen tons
to the square foot The crushing pow
er of the brick was tested by placing
them between two pieces of heavy tim
Der Engineer White says the results
would have been more exact had iron
plates, instead of wooden blocks, been
used The grain of the wood, the fact
that the pressure of the wood upon the
brick causes the latter to become en-
bedded in the timber, all tended TO
make the strain uneven, which of course
causessthe brick TO crush at a lower fig
lure than it would We're these things
eliminated.
The output of the Honolulu Clay Conn
pany is not yet as satisfactory as they
intend to have it, The machinery now
employed allows small particles of rock
to pass into the brick thus decreasing
its resistance, making the surface rough
and uneven, and causing the edges to
lose their sharpness. This is only a
temporary shortcoming, if it need be
designated in words as strong as that,
and is being remedied as fast as pos
sible.
In speaking of the new enterprise.
Captain White said yesterday:
Il have no hesitaney in saying that
the bricks of the Honolulu Clay Com
pany are a superior article and one
which can be used with safety in any
sort of building. The beginning of this
enterprise will do much to encourage
building along certain lines
Some people are pouring cold water
on the new concern, but in it's behalf
let me say that the bricks are very good
indeed. They are of good color, weight
and consistency. The experiments
ported article"
Mr.. H. L. Kerr. one of the most act
i've stockholders of the company. said:
I'VE feel very much encouraged at
the way our plans are beginning to ma
terialize. People said we could not
make bricks here, and time and time
again we were told that our money was
being wasted For year past we have
been carrying on experiments in the
valley, and now that we have been sue
cessful we intend to increase our kilns
from one of 300 900 per month to several
burning that number. We have had
considerable trouble drying out the
bricks, but this has been overcome by
running steam pipes through our dry
ing shed. The humidity of the atmos-
phere and the daily rains have caused
US considerable trouble in finding means
that would satisfactorily dispel the
moisture, but the problem has been
solved most successfully.
1--WE have several large contracts al
ready in view. These are the best tes-
timonials as to whether or not we have
met with success"