New-York tribune., 1906-04-08

thousands OF stones which are constantly I'M
PEELED TO the surface OF the choicest meadows
one use has been found for concrete which
Will cause neurasthenic Americans to feel CRATE
ful toward the discOverer: 1t Is the concrete
girdeP which Is used IN the place Of the steel
beam. In one respect the building In which
these are used Is like SolomOn's temple. There
Is neither hammer nor axe nor any tool Of iron
Is waiting for steel girders to come from
rolling mills crowded with orders when con-
crete beams are used. The wooden forms are
put up where the girder is to be placed A few
small steel rods inserted and the concrete
packed 3 around them. a large hotel In Atlantic
discomfort to the guests In the big hotel next
door. All the columns, floors. balconies and
dones OF this twelve story building are being
constructed CT concrete and much Of the work
Is being done by means OF unsEilled labor.
The growth In the use OF concrete Is Illus
tFated by a comparison Of the amount Of ce-
ment made In this country in 1896 and 1904. In
the former year the output was 1.o43 O23 bar
rels; in the latter it was 26,5O0,SS1 barrels. It
has been estimated that the amount used last
year, for the totals have not been brought to-
gether yet. was more than 10000 900 barrels.
and that this year the figures will be in the
neighborhood OF 4OOO0OOO barrels.
POURING A BIG HOUSE
Havana winter visitors have had a new
mecca this winter especially those visitors who
took their automobiles from the States. Il Is
the curious concrete palace which HoratiO Ru-
bens, is building at Buena Vista. overlooking
Mariel Bay. thirty-fve miles from Havana.
When completed in a month or two from now
it will be the finest residence on the island, and
even in an uncOmpleted state it holds many
points of peculiar interest
Horatio Rubens is well known IN the financial
district IN New York through his connection
with speyer & Co. and other banking firms.
For some reason, when the Cubans heard Of the
costly home which Mr.. Rubens purpOsed to build
On the blufr above Mariel they straightway de-
cIared that it was TO be a gambling house.
rrbev evpected a Cuban Monte Carlo. and there
,,,oro MANY who believed that 1t would become
the centre for wealthy Americans who like to
stake fortunes on the turn OF card or the
roll OF a ball IN the roulette wheel The Cubans
could not understand why man would spend
100000 private residence az Suen a us
tance from Havana
The house rises four stories. TO total height
Of 80 feet. and exclusive OF It's poreheS. u
Is So feet square These porcheS relleVs
Heve the severity OF the lines Of the building as
do the towers and battlements the top. Every
bif ~ the material Of which the palace is con-
structed was made at a temporary cement works
a few rods away. The structure was literally
poured As A. p. Berry. the architect. said:
There is not enough lumber in the entire house
10 load two carts"
In the centre OF the house there Is court ~
which a fountain splaShes. There are = de
marble stairways and the floors are tiled The
heavier pIeces OF furniture will be stationary.
and AL Of the tables will be wired for electrical
fixtures.
The terrace in front commands fine view.
MarieI Bay twists and turns into the green cane
country at ones feet At the mouth Of the bay,
hanging on a jagged reef. Is the wreck Of the
Spanish mail steamer Alfonso XIII She went
ashore there while trying 70 escape from an
American gunboat early in the Spanish -Ameri-
can War On the other shore Of the bay are
the squatty buildings OF the Havana quaran-
tine station. with a ship or two anchored close
70 them