Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-10
TILE VS.. CONCRETE
An Issue as to Construction
Material.
TRUE FIREPROOFING
GOOD WORKMANSHIP NECESSARY
IN ANY CASE.
Constant Inspection Required by Both
Authorities and Con-
tractors.
TRUE FIREPROOFING

To the Editor of The Evening STAR
Dear Sir: AS engineer deeply interest
ed in fireproOf construction. the writer
would like to say few words with refer
ence to the article published over the name
of Mr.. F. w. Fitzpa trick in your issue of
Saturday. December 3
Mr. Fitzpatrick practically states that the
only type of really fireproof building is
steel skeleton. with brick walls and hollow
terra Gotta floor arches. beam and column
coverings. He condemns concrete in a very
dcgmatic way and leaves the non-technical
reader to infer that no building with con-
crete floor construction column and beam
coverings is either freproof or structurally
safe. He inferentially condemns the build
Ing department for allowing such types of
work to be used
Now these are points on which there is
wide and honest difference of opinion among
those having more or less expert knowledge
of the subject. The general public is at
least entitled to hear both sides
There is printed In Chicago, a magazine
called "Freproof," which is published, not
with a view to disseminating accurate in
formation about tireproOf construction in
general, but for the purpose Of promoting
the use of hollow terra Gotta and combat
Ing the use of any other for of f1reproof-
ing. Mr.. Fitzpatrick is a prominent con-
written in such strain as to expose him
to the suspicion OF being a partisan, rather
than an earnest seeker after the truth
Reference is made to ''Fireproof' for No
vember. 1903 and an article entitled
'Whittlings,' by f. w. Fitzpatrick.
No Real Fireproof Construction.
AS matter of fact. in the writer's opn-
ion, none of the types of fireproof construc-
ton commonly used in commercial build
| % .rn
more or less fire-resisting. Some of them
are very good and some are very poor;
both hollow terra Gotta and concrete sys-
TENS are to be found in both of these
grades, as we'll as in all intermediate ones.
Even plaster of Paris is not to be entirely
excluded from the CHER grades.
AS for the fireprOof qualities of hollow
tile, it is quite true that in the kilns the
titles have been subjec ed to a heat in ex-
cess of that usually found in conflagra-
tons, but the tiles are loosely pied, free
to contract and expand, and the heat is
gradually applied and as gradually with
drawn. No maker of such tiles would dream
of cooling kiln by suddenly opening it-let
alone applying a fire stream to it's con-
tents. The result would be a lot of broken
tiles, and that is just what happens in an
actual contiagration, if it Is at all severe.
Hollow tiles, rigidly built in, VIII not stand
sustained high temperature without crack
ing from unequal expansion: if they would,
kilns would be lined with them, instead of
with solid fire bricks. STILL burned clay
is one of the best of fire-resisting materials;
1t could be used so as to produce really
freproof structure, but not in the form OF
commercial hollow tles-and no CONNER
cial owner would pay the cost.
Cinder Concrete.
AS for cinder concrete. Il 1t contains much
partly burned coal, 1t is not only not fire.
proof, it lie actually combustible. But If it
is made of clinkers and ashes and good
Portland cement and properly applied, 1t
will not only develop reasonable mechanic Al
strength, but it will outlast under fire and
water tests the best type Of commerce al
hollow tile work Some manufacturers or
Portland cement line their kllnS with a
concrete made of Portland cement and
cement cl:nker, because it stands the In
tense heat 5000 to 1900 degrees Fahren-
heiO better than fire brick or any other
form of burned clay. Concrete made OF
Portland cement and good clean ashes and
clnker from a steam plant is very simil ar
to that made from cement cl1nker, though
not quite as refractory.
When come to ordinary commercial
types of fireproOfing. as actually executed
and average tie good with the bad, the con-
crete and hollow tile systems are about on
terms of equality far efficiency goes
When the design of reinforced concrete has
become settled on as definite basis as that
of steelwork at the present time, the con-
crete systems will probably result in more
hollow tiles, for a given cost. In the mean
time, there is every reason to believe that
the building department Is doing all that
can be done with the means placed at it's
disposal, to prevent the use of any system
of fireproofing not susceptible of reasona-
BILE degree of efficiency.
Bad Workmanship.
AS for defective and careless workman
ship. the building department cannot pos
ell al her 10 writ
one of the advantages of the concrete sys-
TENS is that unless reasonable care is taken
with them. they go back on the contractor
before he gets his money-instead Of de-
teriorating on the hands of the owner after
ward. Cement acquires at least IS per cent
of its total ultimate strength in thirty days,
so it is quite unnecessary to give 1T q year
to harden as one would infer from Mr.. FitZ-
patricks article. If it were. the hollow
tiles would show up more of the careless
work that is done upon them than they do.
Men are pretty much alike in all trades;
the writer knows from personal experience
that hollow tile freproofing needs just as
careful inspection and more skilled labor;
for its proper execution, than any system of
reinforced concrete.
The mission that the non technical press
might well take upon itself would be the
education of the owners of buildings to
realize the necessity Of maintaining efficient
inspection over their work on their own
account in addition to that rendered by the
architects and the building department. and
also to realize that they generally place a
wholly fictitious value on time, with the
| result that they pay more for poor work
than they ought to pay for good. to the ulti-
+ mate detriment, not only of workmanship
in general. but of their own particular in
vestments If this could be done. we might
safely leave the hollow tile and concrete In
terests to fight 1t out, with the full assur-
ance that, whichever won, we would have
buildings as nearly freproof as necessity
demands. JOHN STEPHEN SEWELL.
Captain, Corps of Engineers
MOST SUICIDES AMONG MARRIED