The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-10-27

nounced First Glass and Abso-
lutely Safe.
The work of repairing the dam
~ age caused by the collapse of q
section of the second floor of the court
house last week, carrying down with
it the false work of the roof over that
section, which was then being con-
creted, is nearly completed and .
close observer could not tell from an
examina tion of either the exterior or
the interior that any mishap had oc-
Cured. Mr.. ]. J. Franklin, head Of
the Franklin Fireproofng Company,
of Seattle, VIII ch has the contract
for the fireproofing, which includes
the concrete work, arrived the day
following the accident and promptly
assumed for his company all the re-
sponsibility for it. He made it clear
Immediately that it was not due. to
any defect in the material used or to
the manner in which it was done, but
to the carelessness of employees III
removing the supports from under a
concrete girder in the auditors Office
before it had become hardened suf-
fciently to. stand the strain of the
immense weight upon it, which was
many times greater than it was de-
signed to support.
Mr.. Franklin says that while salt
water was used in mixing the con-
crete which was put on the roof at
the time of the mishap, none was
used in the floor underneath, which
gave way. He furthermore says
that salt water is just as good as
fresh water for concrete work and
that where fresh water is used it is
sometimes necessary, with some quail
tiles of cement, to add salt. The
Franklin company has done the fire.
proofng in over two hundred build
ings, including the great Alaska
building in Seattle, and Mr.. Franklin
says that it is being done here in pre-.
cisely the same manner and that it is
absolutely solid and safe.
"The history of concrete dates back
to the Roman period, and its growth
seems to have followed and is pro-
portional to the growth OF the Port
land cement industry, says the Scien-
tific American. Concrete is sub
stance composed of broken stone,
sand and cement, or sand gravel and
cement mixed together with water
in certain we'll defined proportions
determined by experience. The re-
sulting mixture is a pasty, lelly-lke
substance, which can be placed in ex-
cavations or box-like forms and al
lowed to harden or 'sset, as it is cal
led. In the course of twenty minutes
or half hour it will have undergone
what is called the initial SET" In
other words, it changes its physical
condition from that Of semi-fuid to
that of solid, and while it is not then
hard it is a solid. The hardness OF
the permanent set" will depend on
many things. With good cement this
hardness will grow with age, and
there are some cements which show
from tests q continual growth in
strength and hardness for many
years. There are many cements cal
led ssquick-setting cements, which
take on permanent set in 2 short
time and show high strength; but u
has been determined by experience
and tests, however, that quick-sef-
ting cements are not 50 good or sta
ble in the end as the slow setting ar
ticle, which grows in strength indeh
nitely.
Mr. M. A. Klassell, Of Port Town
send. an old friend Of D. B. Shull and
family. spent Monday night at their
hor,a He Is admins traitor Of the