The Taney County republican., 1906-08-23
The Age of Concrete.

concrete construction, comes the story
that entire houses nodded in o single
casting out OF solid concrete, which
will provide homes FOR wOrkingmen at
cost of from $500 to 5000 is the goal
which Thomas A. Edison is striving to
reach. He is confident Of success. Com
bincd with economy Of construction and
maintenance the inventor aims to en-
body architectural bcautyand practical
indcs,ructhility.
Mr. Edison intends TO make his first
practical experiments next year in his
new village in Warren county, n. j.
One Of the big Edison industrial cs-
tablishments is situated ihclc and he
purposes TO erect the homes by the
new process for the families Of the
hundreds Of employees Of the plant, II
he succeeds in demonstrating the
praclibilily Of the scheme nc will in'
troducc it generally.
He already has conceived every de-
tail Of the project. Four days at the
outside is the period Edison estimates
will be necessary to cast and turn out
| whole houses with from eight to ten
rooms each, complete in almost every
detail and ready to be furnished and
carpctcd. The actual time for pump
ing the concrete into the metallic
mOds will be only II few hours, and
the rest Of the time will be consumed
in drying out and hardening. Whole
cities Of concrete may be reared in the
brief period of four days if only enough
molds and men are provided.
Mr.. Edison thinks that the time is
near when the world must find some
substitute fol brick and lumber. Tn,
yellow pine forests Of the United
States will be destroyed within fifty
years il the present drain upon then
is maintained
Describing the plan in detail Ediaor
said:
"Thc first step will he to employ al
architect to design, say, Il dozen dwell
ling houses Of different patterns,
purpose to have metallic mOlds mad,
to correspond. The mold for cacl
house will be made in detachable
parts. There will be separate plate
and small mOIds that can he screwed
together easily to form one mold 70
an entire house. Thdta line finish ma,
be obtained the inside surface Of th,
parts will be nickel plated.
"Aftcr the mold for the whole houS,
il set up it will he II simple matter I,
pump the concrete into every noOl
and Granny. After four days the part
of the mold will be unsCrcwcd ant
taken of and the solid concrete hous,
will remain.
Edison says the plan will he carric'
out in such detail that dormcr win
dOws, cbimncys, spouts, and ornamcn
tai designs will be nodded with III,
whole and that inside cupboards, fire
places, etairways with ornamental ban
listers, mantcl pieces, and even bntl
tObs will be formed in the cast il
which the house proper will be made
The house will be so complete tha
when the mold is removed the install
ation Of electric wires, window sashc.
etc, will be all that will be- ncccs.nr,
before the furnishcrs and carpet lay
Grs may 90 TO work. Even the plumb
ing and gas piping will be OF concrete
and nodded in the original cast.
As practical demonstration o
what may be accomplished by the pro
cess Edison has builta complete chick
en- house in his back yard, nodded il
one solid piece out Of concrete 1t ha
many com partmcnls and d0orways ant
decorated cOrnics OF intricate design
The original cost Of each mold, will
all its component parts the inventor
estimates at S2j, 0Oo. FrCm each mold
however, he says an Unlimited number
OF houses may be produced. Because
the parts of the mold are TO be de
tachable il will bc portable and on,
mold may be sent with little difficult!
from town TO town. About ninety
houses could be built in one year b!
the use OF n single mold, at a cost o
from $500 to 5000 apiece.
In 1ipiIn, In ,ubl l., b1 r,,