El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-08

particularly how they managed TO re-
sist the tremendous pressure to which
they were subjected. a remarkable ex-
pertinent of this kind was made recently
at a brick machine plant at Bucyrus, o.
At the instance of a society of physical
research toad was encased in piece
of clay which was placed in brick
making machine, and subjected to the
remarkable pressure of 1900 pounds
to the square inch. When the brick was
taken out and opened 1t was found that
his toadship was still very much alive
and none the worse for the tremendous
squeezing He was able immediately
thereafter to pose for his photograph,
sitting contentedly on top of the brick
in which ne had been incased- What
was it that enabled him to resist such
q pressure?
Big Brick Chimney.
The largest chimney in the world is
made of brick. 1t stands at Great Falls,
Mont. and was built for big smelling
company 1t is sc feet high-as
high as the windows of the Washington
monument. For the first % feet the
chimney is octag onal in shape and there
after circular. Its inside diameter Is
10 feet at the base, tapering to so feet
at the top. II is connected with the fur
naces by a tunnel 1900 feet long.
The bricks were made especially for
it If they had been common bricks
nearly 10000 would have been re-
quired The weight OF the chimney is
equivalent to that of a battleshlp ike
the Virginia.
Freight Rates
One Of the most Interesting cases that
has come before the interstate commerce
commission in recent years was brought
there by the brick manufacturers or
Cleveland, o. The railroads made one
I'll fnoT
rate for another kind. The brick manu-
faeturers claimed that brick is a brick
when 1t goes to rate making, and that 1t
costs no more to haul vitrified or a
pressed brick than it does to transport
one of the common everyday variety. The
railroads answered that their rates were
made in accordance with the value OF
the thing hauled. and that the tariff on
high priced brick was really lower IN
proportion than the rate on common
kind.
The interstate commerce commission
could not see how il costs more to haul
one kind than another, so it decided In
favor of the brick manufacturers The
result will be the saving of cents
hundred pounds on the shipment OF
brick from Cleveland to New York.
Annual Output.
The annual output of common brick
in the United States amounts to approx
imately 10, OOO. 600, 900. In addition to these
there are made 500. O00, 600 front brick,
900. 0OO. 600 vitrified paving brick. and
others in proportion. The total clay
products made in the United States each
year are worth about $160,0O0, 900, OF
which sS0,0OO.O00 represents pottery
values.
The first bricks ever made in the Unit
ed States were burned in Virginia kiln
in 1912 and some of these are still in
use. Before this time all such building
material was imported from England,
and there are dozens of old houses still
standing that have imported brick in
them.
Fire Resistance.
The geological survey has made
ca reful test of all the building materials
now in use in the United States, and has
decided that no other material has the
fire resisting qualities of brick. In Eu-
rope a vastly larger proportion Of build
ings are of brick than in the
United States and all building
laws there are extremely stringent
The result is while in the United States
the annual fire tax amounts TO about
$3.50 per capita, in Europe it is held
down 10 SO cents per capita
Emperor William owns a pottery which
nets him $50 600 a year, and many of
the German buildings are decorated with
terra Gotta pieces from his plant. He
himself has some 40 homes, hunting
lodges and estates. and is a great be-
lever in brick as a building material
Brick Publicity.
Statistics show that brick publicity is
beginning TO pay. In New York there
were approximately one-rourth more
brick houses built last year than the
year before, and the VALVE represented
by them increased in like ratio. This
applies to flat buildings as well as to
residences The same is true Of other
cities Of course a part of this came
about by reason of the let-up of the
financial striRgency. but not all Of it
can be explained this way, as the ratio
of increase was larger in the case Of
brick houses than of those built of 9TH
er material.
The contractors say the fashion in
brick construction is changing. Hereto
fore it has been the custom for walls to
be made OF brick of uniform size and
color with the smallest possible mortar
joints. Now the tendency in the finer
types of buildings is to have the bricks
of irregular size and shapes.
A western house was built recently so
that by the difference in the color of
the brick a beautiful tree was portrayed
in one Of the walls, while in another an
old time court scene was represented.
If this becomes a universal fashion the
houses of the future may have as much
art on the outside as on the inside.
Observation-Disclosures Pictures