Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-08-09
SEVENTY
FIVE
STORIES
Engineers PredicHSteel Build
dingS will be Erected of
that Height

Aroused by President Eliot's pre-
dictiou that American structures would
crumble in ruins long before the ma
tion itself had attained antiquity, a
number of the leading mechanical en-
gineers of the country have come to
the defense of the steel building. The
New York Herald recently gave the
following summary Of the views Of
some Of the engineers;
What is to be the life Of the steel
skeleton skyscrapers now standing on
Manhattan Islandi win they endure
through the centuries like the stone
and mortar structures Of the ancients,
or will some destroying agency, now
unknown, cause them TO erumble to
earth7
From the best authorities known the
New York Herald has sought to answer
this question. Uniformly they say,
"We don't know. Time is the only
test" Then follows the qualifying
answer with the potential "if."
"If," says the engineers and sci
e%ntists, "the steel frames shall remain
untouched by any destructive process
Of which we are now ignorant, they
will stand FIVE thousand years. But
steel, unlike granite, brick and wood,
fis essentially an untried element in
building construction, and we must
wait for the years to demonstrate how
well it is going to serve u.s."
This, however, all authorities agree
upon: Builders have learned much
about safe guarding steel frame struc.
lures since the first were put mp In
Chicago and New York twenty years
ago. The dangers from corrosion, vi
bration and electrolysis have been TO
duced 10 a minimum so far as present
conditions affect the structure, bu'
what unlocked for conditions may come
to shorten the life Of the metal they
do not know. Constant tests are beinl
made, but thus far they have not shet
sufficient light upon the problem q
inspire the honest engineer TO say o.
the Fatiron Building what the king o.
old Egypt said Of the first pyramid
$50 long as the sun shines on the des
ert II will find this monument here"
Rooted Like an Oak Tree.
George w. Cope, editor Of Iron Age
who has given much study to the ques
ton Of modern buildings, gave this de
scription Of the effects a tornado would
have on a skyscraper;
ga properly constructed aud sound
skyscraper is like a sound oak tree in
the matter Of w%ithstanding the wind
stress. II might be turned up at the
roots, but il would not break. One OF
the most exposed tall structures in the
city is the Times building. That struc.
ture is like a gigantic tree. It's foun.
dations, one might say It's roots, are 50
deeply embedded in the rock beneath
the surface and the main structure is
so firmly anchored in this foundation
that IL a wind were to sweep over the
island sufficiently strong to carry the
building down il would turn up at the
roots and fall its whole length like an
oak. The steel frame would not buskle
or break, although, Of course, 1t might
become bent in parts"
seventy-Five Stories.
"If the skyserapers Of New YORK
can be kept dry and COOL said Pro
! fessor Henry NJ. Howe, Of the Depart
ment Of Metallurgy Of Columbia Uni
versity, "there is no reason, 50 FAR a.
we know, why they should not last for.
ever. Sufficient heat, we know VIII
destroy them, and moisture and ACIDS
we know, win corrOde metal. Other.
wise steel is as enduring as stone, and
l don't know why a skyseraPer should
not stand for four thousand years
"There is no cause for apPrehendine