The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-01-09
4 skY-scnArER SURE ENOUGH.

and that time was not so very long ago. either. Now such buildings are looked on as "squatty" in the large cities, and have been doubled and more that doubled in some cases. Now, also, 1t is proposed to build house of nearly or quite fifty stories in New York. As we remember, the highest point of its steeple or tower will be about seven hundred feet from the street pave ments below.
 This is going up through the atmos- phere with vengeance, but it will doubtless be accomplished. There are already some tall buildings in that city and the spirit of emulation is not Him. ited. One might think that there would be no profit in very tall buildings, but we are assured that there is. Ground space is scarce and dear in New York, and as the old Dutchman said when asked why he was building another story on his house. Der ground is sheap up here" So 1t is in New York. The ground is cheap after the builder BtIS dWdy IEOm edItu anu tiC hhehSA he goes the cheaper it is. He may have paid an enormous price for the ground space in the first place, but after he builds his first story all the subsequent foundations are his own, and as there is no charge for air space, he can so as high as he wishes to risk build- ing.
 It Is quite true that extremely tall structures at different points in city have a tendency to destroy what the worshippers of the beautiful call sky line symmetry" but that objection will no longer hold good. Aestheticism has given place to realism, and when 1t comes to building business houses and offices, the question is not How will it 1ookg' but will it pay?" and we are told that these tall buildings not only advertise themselves, but that they insure to the builders quick and profit able returns in well-paying tenants" and while that Is true. the man who has an eye and a desire for skyline symmetry, may as well hold his peace. If an office building in the shape of cork-screw would be profitable, 1t would be built and occupied. The Brooklyn Eagle, in discussing this mat ter, says:
 In many European cities. where ar- chftecture Is more conservative than it is here, the height of buildings Is prescribed by law American cities do mot 1tT1ffc nScnnh as far as capital and architectural in- genuity can push them, provided cer- tain provisions as to safety are prop erly complied with. There is nothing story building in which modern meth ods Of trusting and bracing are en- ployed. The experience of San Fran cisco during the moments of earth quake proved ths the .allest buildings of steel ahd stone withstood shocks that at once demolished smaller brick and wooden structures. And it is by no means agreed that the sky-scraper Is a disagreement to the city that to1- crates 1t The great stone canyons of lower New York have depth and color ing and perspective that the Nassau and Broad Streets of a former age nev- CT possessed, while from the water front the piled masses of lofty build ings make the harbor approach to New York one of the most impressive im- aginable The man who walks across
  the early fall of a winter night looks upon a spectacle of illumination such as all ether cities in the world might envy, and such as no other city in the world could present. Still, 1t is time to won der whether the limit in height isn't being nearly reached with fifty stories.
 What The Eagle says of the expe- rience of San Francisco is important. A building twenty, thirty or fifty sto- ries in height, constructed of bricks in the old way. would not withstand an earthquake shock, but now that steel is used so extensively, building of any height can be so constructed and braced that 1t is practically proof against all convulsions of every kind. It might fall over bodily, as a tree falls. but will not be shaken to pieces. The only danger to be apprehended that we see is that the foundation may not be sufficiently firm to hold the. great weight. A building weighing hupdreds or thousands of tons, standing on a relatively small foundation, might sink into the earth entirely. Then it would all be basement, but the New York people seem to bs sure that :heir city IS founded upon a rock" and conse- quently there is no danger of one of lkeir buildings going on voyage of discovery towards the Nadir.
 But building fifty stories high will be something worth seeing. Those who occupy the topmost story will almost feel as if they had lost their citizen ship. and had been transported to some other country. And in some re- spects it will be another country. The smoke and din below will not reach them or will be only as the dis tant hum of the bees. A trip to the top on the elevator will be like taking a voyage to a foreign land Getting to and from their places will take tfm9. but when they are up they will be practically isolated from the rest of the world. Such building is a bold conception, at all events.