The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-01-18
BEARDSL.EE
TO STAT Terry
Building Material for
the Hawaiian
Climate.
CONTINUED from yesterday

Lieut.. J. r. Slattery, L. S. Eng, Corps:
Sir: Referring to your conversation
| relative to the best methods and ma
| terials for the construction of build
ings suited to the tropical climate of
the Hawaiian Islands, 1 make the fol-
| lowing resume as requested by you.
GENERAL REMARKS.
| The maximum temperature at or
within several hundred feet of sea level
is "a degrees and the minimum, sell
dom reached, however, 81 degrees. The
average annual temperature is IA de-
| grees. There is at times considerable
humidity, but no fogs. The rainfall
varies in a marked degree according to
location. Trade winds are quite steady.
| outdoor life is possible, desirable and
common the entire year. All habita-
tons are or should be provided with
very wide verandas locally called
lanais), arranged to be protected at
will on the windward side. The Ha-
waiian Islands are entirely free from
storms or earthquakes common in
many other tropical countries.
| LOCAL BUILDING MATERIALS.
| Lumber-This material is not pro-
duced on the islands, as there are no
forests that can be utilized, save a linn
| tied supply of hard and fancy woods.
Brick-There are practically no suit
able clays for the manufacture OF
good quality of brick, and all attempts
have produced only an inferior quality
/ not acceptable to builders.
| Rock-AH Hawaiian rock is volcanic.
! II is very porous and must in every in
stance be backed by brick and cement
to prevent penetration of moisture.
! When heated and subjected to a stream
OF water it Immediately crumbles,
hence has no fireQroof or fire-resisting
qualities. 1t is too costly for general
use.
SANDAL natural Hawaiian sand is
of coTaI origin, contains large per
cent of lime and the grains are round
and smooth. Hence it is very inferior
for mortar or cement owing to the alb
sence of sharp angles and faces, as
well as to the presence of the lime.
IMPORTED BUILDING MATERIALS.
Lumber-Is mostly imported from
Puget Sound and is quite expensive.
Brick-Are imported from the Pacific
coast. Handling and rehandling pro-
duces a very large per cent of bats"
and chipping, SO but a small per cent
OF perfect bricks are delivered to
builders. Bricks are very expensive.
Other Materials-Stone, terra Gotta,
structural iron and other high-grade
materials are necessarily very expen-
sive from the heavy cost of packing,
transportation and breakage.
urabiIity-Lumber, particularly red
wood and Northwest pine, is attacked
by a beetle RESEMBLING in form a humble
bee, whose habit is to bore init lumber,
however erected, and then excavate
the interior of the parts attacked until
a mere outside shell remains.
This insect. having an antipathy to
paint leaves boards and timbers with
the appearance of soIidity, but ruined
for strength or utility. Likewise GER
tain ants have similar habits, and are
destructive. Exposed nails and iron
are surprisingly attacked by the salt
air Frequently beginning with the
head, rust viii in a few years eat and
destroy the whole length of a nail, the
head being the only exposure.
IT is the custom in Hawaii to face
brick buildings With cement for the
reason brick walls during a wet season
become permea ted with moisture if un-
faced. hence damp on the interior. In
the entire absence of artificial heat
such interior walls are not easily dried
out.
In all buildings in Hawaii it is desir-
able to avoid spaces in which rats
mice or other vermin may secrete
and particularly where in
accessible
Double wall construction is therefore
and the climate does not
require it for warmth.
PROPER CONSTRUCTION.
A material less penetrable by heat :
than wood. material that can be cool
ed by continual currents of air moving
air spaces within the walls,
!, material ffreproof and impervious to
moisture, a material that can not be
by vermin or insects, a ma
terial whose air spaces are entirely
protected from vermin, a material
whose air spaces are continuous and
such as can be used as ventilators
the building where desir-
ed and in which may be contained all
wires. water pipes and plumbing con-
nections. where advisable, material
that is practically indestructible, ca
pable of large range of shapes ana
and Wlthal inexpensive
would seem particularly desirable for
general use and emphatically so for
United States government purposes in
permanent residences, barracks, shops,
etc. etc.
CONCRETE BLOCKS.
The materials I have adopted for the $
above last described and |
If which the extensive new Territor- !
al Insane Asylum will be built under a
nv directions is concrete formed into
hollow blocks of suitable size ana +
hapes. and in appearance similar to q