Evening star., 1909-07-10
From the Literary Digest.

From the Literary Digest.
Advocates of concrete as building ma
terial are pushing their way in all direc-
tions and have driven the friends of stone
to the defensive. The former are point
ing to stone structures whose walls are
rotting or splitting away: while the latter
tell tales of concrete arches that collapse
into piles of debris. In spite of both it
is indubitable that both stone and con-
crete are good building materials, and
competition will result in our getting the
best of each. In Stone the writer of a
leading article on "The Durability of
Stone accounts for some of the failures
of ashlar work in the past and describes
some of the precautions now taken by
quarrymen and and masons. He says:
I'm many of the countries Of the old
world, and In some sections OF the new
are TO be found monOlithic shafts, or vast
structures of stone of prehistoric origin
that have withstood the assaults of time
for untold centuries. Many OF
these retain to this day delicate ornamen-
tations, elaborate sculpture and inscrp-
tions that can still be deciphered. Gath
cred into our museums are Sarcophagi en-
riched with carvings bearing the chisel
marks almost rs sharp as when they
We're wrought by the artisan two thou
sand and more years before the Christian
era. 1dn one ask more evident proofs
of dura bility than this?
'On the other hand it is pointed out
that stone structures of only a score of
years show signs OF disintegration. and
much is made of this by those who would
substitute other material for stone It is
needless for the advocate of stone to at
tempt to ignore these charges The ey-
planation for the defects is simple enough
In no form of human activity have there
been more stupendous changes during the
Sf ft1ly, ~, l,,sI
tfon. Almost in q decade we passed from
the simple, unpretentious structure of our
forefathers to buildings of elaborate de-
sign and ornamentation. and substituted
FOR wood and brick, stone of every va
rlety. often brought from distant lands
Quarries themselves were developed far
faster than scientific knowledge of quar-
rying methods. Mistakes were bound to
be made not only In the adaptation OF
materials for specific purposes but also
in the preparation and use of these mate
rials. But the lessons Of these mistakes
have been learned and il is well nigh
Impossible that they can occur again.
The causes OF the disintegration and de-
cay OF stone in the past are perfectly de-
terminate. the writer tells us, and he as
serts that these have been thoroughly
eliminated. In the first place certain
classes of imported stone have rarely
given satisfaction in American cities.
While durable in the country of their pro-
duction they are unSuited to the severity
and extreme changes of the American eli
mate. We no longer attempt to bring
stone for structural use from foreign
lands unless its ability to withstand ex-
treme climatic changes has been thor
oughly demonstrated. More important
still. however. has been the recognition
OF scientific methods in quarrying. We
read:
A few years ago the main requirement
of the uuarryman was the cheap aud ex
peditious removal of the stone from its
natural bed. Immense blocks were bro
ken loose by tremendous charges of cx-
plosives and then these masses of rock
were split into sizes convenient for hand
ling If the stone showed visible
cracks or starts, and held together under