The Washington times., 1905-11-19
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necessary lateral bracing for the
steel frame. Bollow tile in fiat
arches. the architects have found.
provides the necessary bracing, and
is besides proof against destruction
by fire. The tile in the course OF
manufacture has spent a month IN
kilns where the temperature is high
er than anything it viii have to
withstand in a confagration. The
Baltimore fire proved beyond aues-
tion that this was the only building
material that could protect itself and
the steel frame when menaeed by
heat The very first skyscrapers were
of hollow tile construction. Concrete
for building purposes was a later
development, and It is never likely
to displace tile where freproof quail
tiles are the first consideration. and
strength the second.
For a while. people thought that a
stone and steel fraDse building could
not burn up. Taey know better now.
There is enough infammabie ma
terial in almost any building to de-
stroy the steel frame unless that is
protected by some non-eonductor.
like the burnt-cIay tiling which is
now placed around ali the steel OF
the fireDroof skyscraper.
"A city in itself" is not 4 mere
phrase, as applied to one of these
colossal structures. IN any one of
scores of great Office buildings in onr
big cities, man could live for wears
without ever leaving the walls to
satisfy any material want. Not only
is every facility for business provid-
ed, but baths, BARRIERS. restaurants
shops of every conceivable kind. doc
tors and dentists all find a place in
the up-to-date office building"
And the men who build these won
ders in less time than it used to
take to put up an eight-room frame
house, An epic ought to be written
in their honor. For sublimated skill
on the part of those who have de-
signed the skyscraper, and for dar-
ing bravery and ingenuity on the
part of those who actually put them
up, there is nothing that quite equals
the demands of modern building
marvels.
We have the freproof hotel and
the fireproof Office building: the next
thing is the freproof dwelling.
Every day. by reason of the in
crease in the cost of lumber. the
margin between the cost of a fire.
proof house and a combusuble house
is narrowing. The difference is now
only about 10 per cent, and this is
not enough TO deter the home build
er from using = form of construction
that is indestructible by fire and
deteriorates about one-tenth as fast
as the burnable house.
When a skyscraper is running I'D.
it looks to be one of the most fragile
and short-lived structures imagina-
ble AS a matter of fact, architects
and engineers declare they will out
last any form of construction ever
devised by man Men like Prof. Ira
Woolson. of Columbia. who have no
other interest than the establish
ment OF the truth. say that if the
steel is properly protected from rust.
the skyscraper is more enduring
than any structure on top of the
earth"
Practically the same statement can
be made with truth in regard TO the
freproof dwelling. and men who
build their houses to last are CON-
ing to the conclusion that they
might as well do it right to start
with. To the builder of suburban
homes, the argument for fireproof
houses appeals with especial force.
for In places where firefghting
equipment is lacking there is all the
more necessity for the houses that
will not burn.