The Detroit times., 1909-07-10

home builder whose work VIII aHec'
yitally the inner life OF the next gen
eIation--this is Thomas A. Edison.
The wizard of East Orange has pre-
pared his paraphernalia. ms olach
cloth, his magic table. Soon he VIII
wave his wand. and presto
A house, springing out OF notning'
A house complete, upstairs. down
stairs, basement. attic, finished even
to decorated landings, portals, closets
bath tubs. chandeliers-all ready for
Mr.. Groom and his bride TO step into.
Edison will pour this house from
molten cement-just pour II out WIN
no more effect than the iron master
pours red fluid iron and produces bars
and plates, or the statue maker casts
his plaster figures.
The poured cement nouse-atter
eight years of experimenting, and two
years OF uninterrupted hard work, Is
ready. He will pour his first build
ing AZ East Orange early In August
When Wizard Edison's plan became
public two years ago, a howl or ais-
belief and ridicule went up.
''Impracticable." the contractors
said.
"A village OF houses all exactly alike
what nonsense" exclaimed the arch
fleets.
But Edison Made good.
And while the world accepted the
verdict of these experts, Edison put
on HIS overalls and went to work. He
closed the doors OF his factory to the
world, and kept them closed till ne
was ready 10 oYerwhelm the Criticisms
by a practical demonstration.
Here is a thumb nail description OF
the house as IL will come from tho
mold: rG
Sixe--25 by 80 feet ground plan.
Rooms-Big living room and Kitchen
on first floor. two big bedrooms, wide
hallway, closets ana bath upstaEs'
front and back porch
Cost-About 81 200.
Material-Light gray re-enforced
Time to mold-l4 days.
observation-disclosures and ornamen-
tai work along porch, carved stone PHI,
lars in Railways. window seats and
uring, gabled roofs.
Special advantages-Firepro and
veImin proof; no repairs
The people II will beneht particular
ly-The poor, who now often live in
wrctched quarters.
Inventor-Thomas A Edison.
NE hui5Oh hOuoCs IA ~ aSNNhAkaA'Ns
ed half what its Greater expects viii
revolutionize house building.
One big important thing he had IN
mind was to make 1t possible for the
people of the slums to live in houses
that would be clean. have plenty OF
light and air, and which coulo be had
ut a moderate cost.
The inventor will not build houses
L.. Inv nrta ny xunrlf
to 90. He has shown the world the
way 10 do II, and will leave II at that
Objections Overcome.
Several great objections which arose
two years ago had to be overcome by
Edison In his later plans.
One-a practical builders objection
was that the cement could not be
forced through an intricate set OF
moids and be OF the same consistency
and, strength throughout Also that
the surface would not be smooth.
But Edison has produced a cement
OF q consistency almost like water.
which holds the stone and aggregates
equally throughout. II will also Sc
cure a surface so smooth that 1t can
be painted or frescoed or tinted.
Another objection was that It would
be impossible TO build molds which
would make inner rooms and closets.
This, too. has been overcome.
Still another-this time from archi-
tects-was that all the houses would be
alike, necessarily; that people would
not i've In them on that account.
But the Edison molds are adopted
to number OF variations. With six
sets OF molds, which the inventor
reckons as the right number for a
good working arrangement. an i'm
mensely wide variety Of houses can be
constructed
Description Of House.
Now fer description of an Edison
house. The one-tamily. twostory
house, 20 by 80 feet outside. go In a
lot 40 by 90. gives lawn and small
garden room.
The front or living room Is large
IA by 23 feet, while the kitchen Is but
three feet narrower. The ceilings are
8 l-2 feet high.
The stairway extends both ways--to
the living room and the kitchen. The
second floor contains the two big bed.
rooms-one 10 by il, the other three
feet narrower. The upper hallway IS
nearly 20 feet long, leading from the
back OF the house to the bath room,
which Is IL feet square.
The attic Is q by %. which with a
dividing partition, would make two
rooms.
There are many windows-thc
downstairs rooms have four each.
The material throughout is rein
forced concrete. The only woodwork
Is the window frames. which makes Il
impossible for fires to break out.
The decorations are cast with the
rest OF the house. SO are all appli.
ances, such as bath and laundry tubs
steps, coal bunkers.
Method Of Pouring.
The Mods are not set I'D until the
cellar foundations are dug and gas
and electric and plumbing pipina
ready. These are then set up with the
molds, and all locked together. II
takes four days to set up the molds.
Then The pouring. The cement. al.
ready prepared in large mixers, is con.
veyed TO a tank placed on top OF the
forms. This tank connects with sew.
eral openings IN the roof. so that the
cement rises In all parts OF the house
~ once The pouring process itself
takes six hours
Four days are then allowed for the
cement 10 dry, then the dismantllng
can be done. Then six days more are
Allowed TO give every part OF the com.
-. A.