The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-03-19
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THE SCIENCE OF CONCRETE
Fluid Stone" Being Investi
gated at ST. Louis in Be
half of the Government

In its effort 10 conserve the natural
resources Of the country. the Techno-
logic branch of the United States Geo
logical Survey is doing an Important
work I'M it's structural materials lab
cratories at ST. Louis, Mo There the
science Of coaerete and reinforced
concrete. the socalled "hpid-stone' is
being investigated in behalf Of the
government in big engineering works
throughout the country These inves-
tigaticus are having double value. for
the government not only learns the
exact valne of this new material in
construction work but the public also
gets the benefit Of the data.
Il is the belief Of experts that con
crete will avert the threatened timber
famine and give the country a chance
to restore its depleted forests. Al
really concrete has supplanied lumber
in a thousand different ways AMI more
avenues are being developed every day
for It's use Its Importance as a fire
proof material also adds to the signi-
fl ance of the Investigations Accord
ing to the National Board Of Fire Tn
derwriters, the per capita fire loss in
the United States in 1906 was $2.47,
while in six of the leading European
countries for the same period 1t was
but s.33. This means that with a
population OF eighty million people,
the fire loss in the United States is
S197 .GcN. .N000 every year If this
country could do as well as Europe in
preventing fres. the yearly loss would
be but S2G. 400 .G00o0 From these iig-
ures. It is seen that American care
lessness and lack Of freproof build
mgs results ia a yearly annual waste
of more than one hundred and seventy
million dollars. A large percentage
OF this waste is lumber used In build
ing construction.
In its study Of the science Of con
crete. the government has completed
25,00O tests OF Portland cements ann
cement mortars, the results Of which
have just been published in a bulletin
issued by the Geological Survey at
the direction OF Director George Otis
Smith and Joseph A. Holmes. chief
Of the Technologis branch. The bulle-
tir was written by Richard l.. Humph-
rey. engineer in charge Of the struc-
tufal materials investigations and
viii prove of immense value TO build
ers and architects and engineers gen
orally. In preparation for these tests.
broken stone gravel and sand were
collected from all over the coantry
The purpose Of this was to ascertain
as far as possible the properties OF the
different materials. It Is believed
that the results of these tests made
upon materials obtained near the
large commercial centers Of the coun-
try will Indicate clearly to users Of
cement and of concrete where they
can most conveniently ana cheaply
procure the requisite sand, gravel and
broken stone and how these should
be mixed with the cements 70 attain
the best results on strength for each
group of materials II Is declored that
a stUdy of the date in the bulletin
should afford a means of determining
the probable strength of mortar made
rom materials hcving similar proper
ties, though gathered I'm different
parts OF the country. and should aid
the construction TO decide which of the
three materials. sand, gravel or broken
stone screenings will best serve his
purpose.
Interesting tests in the strength of
cement are given in the bulletin.