Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-09


toads encased in solid stone. II is a mys-
terry how they got there, and more partic-
ularly how they managed to resist the tire
mendous pressure to which they were sub
jected. A remarkable experiment Of this
kind was made recently at a brick ma
chine plant at Bucyrus, o.. Al the In
stance OF a society OF physical research a
toad was encased IN a piece OF clay which
was placed IN a brick making mach!ne,
and subjected to the remarkable pressure
OF II. 200 pounds to the square inch. When
the brick was taken out and opened II was
found that his toadship was still very
much alive and none the worte for tie
tremendous squeezing. lie was able Nim-
mediately thereafter to pose for b $ photo
graph, sitting contentediy on top Of the
brick in which he had been inca sed. What
was u that nabled him to resist such a
preshure7
The largest chimney In the world Is made
OF brick. II stands at Great Fails, Mont,
and was built for a big smelling company.
II Is b06 feet high-as high as the windows
OF the Washington monument. For the
first twenty-five feet the CHI .mney is oc-
tagonal in shape and thereafter circular.
Its inside diameter Is seventy-five feet at
the base, tapering to nifty feet at the top.
1t is connected with the furnaces by q
tunnel 1900 feet long. The bricks were
made especially for It. II they had bsen
common bricks nearly 6,OO.O00 would have
been required. The weight Of the chimney
IL equivalent to that OF a battlsship like
the virginia.
One OF the most interesting cases that
has come before the 1ntefksate Commerce
commission in recent years was brought
there by the brick manufactu. els Of Gle g.
laDd. o. The railroads made one rate for
one kind Of brick and another rate for
another kind. The brick manufacturer
claimed that a brick is a brick when 1t
goes to rate making, and that It costs no
more to haul a vltrifIed or a pressed brick
than II does to transport one Of the COM
mon everyday variety. The railroads an
swered that their rates were made in ac-
cordance with the value Of th( thing
hauled, and that the tariff on high4priced
brick was really lower in proportion than
the rate on common kind. The interstate
Commerce commission could not see how
1t costs more TO haul one kind than an
other, so it decided in favor Of the brick
manufacturers The result will be the saw
ing Of 4 cents a hundred pounds on the
shipment Of brick from Cleveland to New
York.
The annual output OK common brick In
the United States amounts to approximately
10000 0,o 900. In addition to these there are
made coo, 900. 900 front brick, 900, 10000 vitri-
fled paving brick, and others In proportion.
The total clay products made in the United
States each year are worth about S160,
100000, Of which $50, 0O0,O0 represents pottery
values. The first bricks ever made in the
United States were burned in a 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 stil stand
ing that have imported brick in them.
: The gcologicafeurvey has made O. careful
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 Europe a vastly
larger proportion OF buildings are of brick
/, than In the United States, and all buildIns
avs there are extremely stringent. TIL
result is that while in the United States
the annual fire tax amounts to about $2.5C
per capita. in Europe IT. Is held down tC
IS cents per capita Emperor William owns
/, q pottery which nets him $4,000 a year
and many OF the German buildings arr
decorated with terra Gotta pieces from hi.
:, plant. He himself has some forty homes
hunting lodges and estates, and is a greaI
believer in brick as a building material.
Statistics show that brick publicity Il
: beginning to pay. In New York there wer,
approximately one-fourth more bricl
. houses built last year than the year before
' and the value represented by them in
, creased In like ratio. This applies to fla
buildings as well as to residences. TIL,
: same is true Of other cities. OF course
: part Of this came about by reason OF tn,
. let-up of the financial ~stringency, but no
: all Of It can be explained this way, as tn
: ratio OF increase was larger In the cas-
y OF brick houses han OF those built O
u other material.
The contractors say the fashion In brio
construction is changing. Heretofore 1t ha
II been the custom for walls to be made O
- brick Of uniform size and color, with tn
, smallest possible mortar joints. Now tn
- tendency in the finer types of building
Is to lave the bricks of Irregular sizes an
u shapes. A western house was built recent
81 so that by the difference in the color 9
- the brick a beautiful tree was portraye
ie in one of the walls, while in another a
10 old time court scene was. represented.
n this becomes q universal fashion tn
"a houses of the future may have as niue
Is art on the outside as on the inside.
BY TznDER1C J. EAsKIH.
Of Tomorrow, Moving Ptoturss.