The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-02-23
COSTLY TOLL HOUSE
ALMOST FlNIsHEp
New York Custom House Said to 5s
"Finest Carved Granite
Building II the
World.

NEW YORK, Feb. SS.-Uncle Sans
$5OOO.000 Custom House. oyerlookirg
New York Harbor, will soon be com,
pleted. In this granite palace Of the
italian renaissance, lavishly cavcl
and embellished by sculptor, artist and
architect, national tolls Of something
Hike $2Oo,0OO,OOo a year will be collect
ed on American commerce. ''rhe
finest carved granite building in the
world, was the verdict of an eminent
French architect after he had sgtti
cally inspected the imposing facades
stretching nearly two hundred feet
along Bowling Green, and running 80
fleet in depth.
The exterior walls are built Of mas
siye granite block backed by several
feet Of brick work and two inches Of
freproof terra Gotta, making a wall
mime feet thick, In the center Of thP
building is a covered court with It's
highly ornamental dome surroundeS
by co!onnades rising to the height Of
-four stories.
Inside the building two rows d
heavy steel columns run around the
entire structure, thirty feet back from
the outer walls. One end of the grid
Iers carrying the floors rests upon these
columns and the other end is embed
ded In the masonry wall. In this day
Of "Areproof' buildings which are not
fireproof at all, the architects gave
special attention to the form Of con
Istruction. 1t was felt that a butlIing
of such Importance should be absolute
! " unburnable. The result Of this spe'
cial,study was a decision to fireproot
Ithe entire building with hollow tile
blocks which in their manufacture had
lbeen subjected to a temperature Of
$500 degrees for several weeks. The
average building fire develops about
1900 degrees OF heat, so 1t can l.e
seen that there is considerable mar
gin Of safety here. Over windows anil
cornlces, where the architectural et.
feet required it, especially designed
terra Gotta blocks are placed. All tho
partitions, inner wall Innings, AMI tae
tnansard roof are constructed Of hol,
low blocks, and every inch Of the steel
frame work is completely incased in
porous terra Gotta, The partitions arc
of the same material,
From the sub-cellar, 30 feet below
the street, to the top floor run two
tireproof staircases, constructed on
the Gustavfuo arch system Of marble
supported by heavy slabs Of tile.
In the colonnades running around.
the building there are "A Corintl,lan
columns Of Fox Island granite. fifty
feet high and over five feet in iiame'
ter. Special machinery had to be de.
signed to quarry these huge masses
Of stone. Marbles Of various hues,
iron grill work, and bronze are used.
in dRorent rooms, stalrcases and cor,
rldOrs,
sculptured groups Of heroic pro,
portions are placed at the several en-,
frances. on the Battery side stand
America and EUROPE "Asia" and
Africa" guard the State and White.
hall entrances. These groups are the
work Of Daniel Chester French. and
represent an outlay by the Govern.
mentof $4,000 for the scuIptor's ser.
vices alone. Twelve figures carved
from Maine granite rest upon the cor.
nlcent the sixth story These repre,
semitic great maritime nations Of the
past and are the work Of st. Gaudena,