Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1906-10-25

tall, one of the greatest problems Of
the age has been solved-that is,
what will be the building material
of the future. The answer is cement.
But for cement, many large build
ing operations would be at stand
still, for wood has become too ex-
pensive to be used in house construc-
ton, and the enforced wait for all
kinds Of structural steel virtually
eliminates that material where quick
work is desired.
Almost everything can be done with
cement, and with incredible swift
mes and cheapness of price. The
new process, the mixing of cement,
sand and gravel with cinders or
broken stone, flooded with water
from hose, is being used to build
houses, raise giant hotels, build the
piers and bridges for railroads. erect
barns, lay sidewalks, fix a girder or
fashion a chimney cap.
Almost anything is possible to the
new material.
Probably the best instance of work
ing against time with cement as a
medium is shown in the experience
of an Atlantic City hotel company.
They wanted a structure 400 feet
long, 1875 feet wide and 164 feet high.
1t was to be elaborate and to have
capacity for 1900 guests. Bids were
asked for a steel. building, and not
only were the prices lofty, but delay
in getting the Orders and other struc-
tural parts made it a certainty that
a couple of years must pass before
the new hotel could be ready for
guests.
Big Hotel Finished in Eight Months.
In this predicament the proprie-
tors had recourse to the new process
of reinforced cement The work went
with gratifying celebrity. In eight
months and three days, without the
loss of life, the new hotel was COM
pleted 1t is work of genuine
architectural beauty, the pride Of the
City1by-the-Sea, and as great an ex-
pert as Thomas Alva Edison, after
going over the structure from cellar
20 the Moorish dome, said that it was
the first perfect building he had ever
seen, and that it was built of a ma
terial destined to be the great staple
of tho future.
The concrete building solves the
question of fire insurance. The un-
derwriters who examined Atlantic
City's new model hotel were so well
pleased that they made price OF 3
per cent lower than for other hotels
of the same class.
The farmer or suburbanite who
contemplates building a home, al
ways looks at the fire question
thoughtfully, for in outlying districts
there is little facility for fighting
flames, and once they get hold, an
inflammable building is likely to be
destroyed. But home built OF ce'
ment cannot burn for the reason that
there is nothing to be consumed, ex-
cept interior furnishings, and enough
insurance to cover the cost OF these
decorations and furnishings Is really
about all that is needed In such
cases.
A Staten island man who recently
put up a cement house at a cost OF
$3.875 most elaborate and pretenu-
GUS country home, estimated that the
outlay would have been $4,000 greater
for a frame house, and with that KIND
of building would have been the ever
present danger of total destruction
by fire.
No plaster and Lathing. =.
A cement house does away with
all need of plaster and lathing. Pa
per can be put right over the walls,
or IL preferred they can be frescoed
or otherwise decorated.
Building such a house does not re-
quire much expert labor. The army
of metal workers, bricklayers, car
penters and other artisans required N
wood or steel construction, Is almost
completely done away with on ce-
ment building. All that Is needed
is an expert to superintend the mix
ing Of the cement, and carpenter
and staff to construct the molds or
frame work into which the soft
cement is to be poured.
While the building OF low priced
concrete houses is still in its In
fancy the farmer has been so I'M
pressed with the idea that he Is ex-
tending it TO his barns and outbuild-
ings. and finding it works admirably.
II more than one concrete Duiio'
ing is put up by the farmer ne can
use his same wooden forms over ana
over again, and If there is a stone
crusher in the neighborhood be can
utilize in making his concrete tne
old stone walls OF the neighbodnooo'
or the thousands Of stones that are
constantly being impelled to the sur