Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-08-08
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A quaint story is told Of an old
architect of the Middle Ages who pre-
pared his plans for a great cathedral
by sitting silently before it's site for
several years, smoking and meditat-
ing upon his work, before he drew
single line upon paper. The construc-
ton of a modern sky-scraper/ goes
ahead astonishingly faster. The
great steel structures, which are so
characteristic of American ingenuity
and energy, are built more after the
manner of Aladdin's palace.
When the builders receive a definite
order for such a structure 1t is a
question only of hours before it will
be actually under way. Before the
architect has touched pen to paper,
or perhaps before he has found time
to give a though to the design of the
building, gangs of workmen have prob
ably been rushed to the site to begin
the preliminary work.
Should it be necessary to tear down
a building it is quickly attacked, so
that few days after the order has
been received the site will be marked
by cloud of dust. Even when great
steel structure is to be built upon
vacant lot the workmen are hurried
to the place, the ground will be clear
ed and the preliminary work will soon
be we'll in hand. 1t is not a question
of deciding upon a date a week or a
month in advance to make a begin
ming. In most cases the work is
actually under way before the sun is
set.
Meanwhile a great staff of assist
ants lined before long rows of desks
are busily at work figuring on the
general form of the building, the
weight the floors will support, the
size and form of thousands Of pieces
of steel used in the construction, the
quantity Of stone, wood, plaster and
the various materials employed. AS
soon as the builders know the height
of the building, the number of stories
and the general form they are able to
order a great deal of the material
needed, so that valuable time may De
saved. It is not so much a question
Of saving material. or the cost of la
Dor, expensive as these may be, but
of saving time, which in busy streets
and when so much capital is involved
is very costly.
Each department is, of course, car
ried on by men skilled in their line,
and these men must be gathered and
EMPLOYED. Orders must be sent TO
the quarries, perhaps hundreds OF
miles away, for the necessary stone.
The lumber mills must also be told
iust what the orders will be so that
they may get to work. In addition
there are plumbers, electricians, plas-
terers. carpenters, decorators and num-
dreds of workmen to be engaged, all
as far as possible in advance.
1t is only a few years since the
first work in erecting building was
to dig a deep hole for the founda-
lions. If the building was to be
large one the excavation had to be
very deep and wide. Large gangs OF
workmen with carts and horses were
employed 1t would frequently had
pen that great masses Of stone must
be blasted and, with the sand and dirt,
carted away. Until this great hole
was completed everything was at
standstill. Today all this is changed.
AS soon as the site for a sky-scraper
has been cleared for modern steel
structure the ground is quickly filled
with powerful machinery which would
not have been dreamed of by the build
ers of a few years ago. In many
cases the site is actually f1oored over
with heavy timbers before the work
commences. The machinery, which is
quickly assembled, consists of power
full derric1s, great drills, chntes, tall
engines. odd-looking machines for mix
ing cement and many curious steel
frames to be used for building the
odd chimney-like 'caissons,'' as we
shall explain later on. Such groups
of machinery may be seen today in
the most crowded streets of all large
American citles.-F'rom Frances Ar
mold Collins's 'aThe Building OF
'Sky-Scraper,' " in st. Nicholas.