Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-28
Figures That Give an Idea of the Magnitude of a Modern Skyscrape1

beams are enveloped in a two-inch coating
Of sand and cement. The Singer towcr
steel beams are protected In practically
the same way. With the danger NJ rust
ing and destruction from lire removal
engineers can see no reason Why tho
Metropolitan should not last for ages.
The massive conner columns Of this i'm
mcnsc structure are two feet square and
weigh over one ton to the lincal foot.
When the tower shall have been COM
plcted there will be more than Si25 tins
Of steel in It, enough to build s,scn or
eight twclve-story skyscrapcrs with the
same ground area as tho tower. Tho ce.'-
mated cost OF this marble tower IS rlrccd
at about 100000. the ground representing
an Investment Of about 10000.
The new City Investing building. ucNt
to the Singer building, is another y tho
city's most modern skyscrarors. ,ho third
highest. II possesses no tower hut has
ornate gables running up over the walr
structure to a height Of 4Sn feet an.vs
the curb. Some idea ~ Tho hnjEn' or
building may be obtained from the pic ure,
showing its roof ALONGSIDE he Si'ger l'w 3.
The City Investing Lu i'". ,uir ".
three stories high and is said q be 49,,
largest single office building ia tho world,
providing twelve acres " rcutab'e sr0cc.
If this building were slarpe' down ca the
prairie there would be a city OF 1C.O)O in
habitants.
There Is IS 200 tons Of steel IN this hrnd-
ing. which would make a rod ono uoh In
diameter 1900 miles long In pItirg
up the building i.4lO,vOs holes were rurrGrd
in metal. and the weight ~ the To- tai
punched out and thrown away was alone
1856 tons. or 37o,o'O pounds.
The blue prints required for the u'0ns
of the building If laid out on a flat sur
face would cover two acres. The Nrieks
used I'm the building. II laid crd ~ md,
would stretch 1151 miles, or fuy,hor than
from New York to chicago. Tn, plaster
in the building if spread out would cover
an area bounded by Fif'y-niHth s-,t on
the south, Central PARK West on the east,
Scventy-eight street on the north and
Columbus avenue on the west. or on"
might plaster Broadway with 1t from tho
Battery to One Hundred and rwea.y-rifth
street.
There are 100 miles # electric wire In
the building, twenty-five miles OF conduit,
eighty tons of copper, seventeen miles OF
pipirg. The three pumps which supply
the water for the building have n com
bined capacity of i,32)oo gallons n day,
which is enough to supply a city Of 10000
Inhabitants.
There are $4,000 tons Of the fireprooting
in the building. This would mako 5,CpD
truckloads. reaching from Liberty street
to Haverstraw, n. Y, twenty-nlnc niles.
If loaded on barges it would take 10 ar
ges, or a continuous tow two miles long.
1t took 22,COO yards Of clay 20 mnnutnc-
ture this material. Each bloc'i was nan
died about twenty-six times from ,a' lay
bank to the building. This is equivalent
to one man handling one bl1CN v2,Dtl'rD
times. The marble in the build ng would
cover Broadway from curb 10 curb ION
the Hotel Astor to Twen.y-third street. 1t
would take one man 419 years of contin Gus
work to prepare the marble alone.
There are q, 1885 cubes of mosaic in
the building. The $4,000 pounds of mar
BILE in the building would make a column
one foot square ninety-eight times as high
as Washington monument.
Next to the City Investing building for
height come the Park Row building, which
runs up $50 feet, and then the Times build
ing which is 1862 feet high.
The old sketch of New York in 1879 pre-
sents a study in contrasts. 1t shows Man
haitian from what is now Fulton street to
the Battery. The original drawing is in
the possession of the Long Island Historical
society.
The cross marks the present site of the
forty-seven story Singer building at Broad
way and Liberty street. The wagon n the
left is going down the original Maiden lane.
The house and lot on the corner, which
belonged to John Haberdipg, were sold in
1922 for 5000. The rural acres of 1879 are
practically covered now with buildings.
ranging from sixteen to forty-seven stories,
may Of which count their acres of floor
space on plots that John Haberdlng
wouldn't have thought big enough for his
house.