The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1912-08-17
CENTRAL
BUILDING
IS SAFE
lifnntLnnnn trnm rare enel

.ftnH of inautnE Tor lia iNM"E. lf .lN
.0nly fair To say however. that the
.tsll ia so mounted ihat It's swinging
shocks are absorbed BY springs "a
greai ,Aement at safety and fhat she
timber frame work supporting the
.teil carries The hell's weight into the
wall a; q point siNicen feet below the
hon or the wall Moreover. while the
t0wer walls are OF very considerable
thickness az The top. fhey are made
@0mewhat thicker al She point OF re-
'teiying the bell-load. Since. therefore
The bell is centrally placed in the
tower and is carried on well de-
signed system OF timbers. and since
the tower shows no ap9reciable evil
dence OF harm through the past use
OF the bell, there seems no reason 10
suppose harm viii come in its furth-
e. use for an indefinite period
Foundations
Our general inspection OF the BALD
ins seemed TO focus attention ON he
southwest corner oi the old part We
are convinced that the conditions
found AZ this corner are typical OF
all the other corners. and shall dis
cGss this corner in considerable de
tail The discussion and remedies
will apply 10 all corners alike. In
brief we are satisfied that all the
cracks In the walls 81 the building
are primarily due 10 the settlement oE
the foundation al the principal cor
rers OF the building. We shall try
10 show why this settlement has oc-
cured. how il may he checked. the
corners restored 10 their original 10.
sitions, and how maintained in place
thereafter
OF foremost importance is the prop
or disposition OF the roofwater by
Gown-spouts discharging at adequate
distances. say at least ten feet away
from the corners of the building Al
present" tsa. ceaductors discharge
their water within few inches of
the wall Plainly large quantities OF
water are thus poured on the eur-
face Of the ground close 10 the foAn-
dation in heavy rains. and plainly
I 100 considerable quantities OF il
finds its way down between The wall
and generates the soil directly be-
realh the walls. rendering Ii soft
Elastic. and incapable OF sustaining
concentrated loads Thai his is fact
and not supposition was shown by
soft. moist, thoroughly plastic sam
Pies OF clay from beneath the wall in
the cellar at the southwest corner.
Coupled with the disturbing effect
OF this water. is the nature of he
foundation beneath the walls. 4 test
role showed 1t to have been made ~
dumping stones. fist size or smaller
iatO a shallow trench pouring on Is
small quantity oi some SORT of ce.
hcnt or plaster eront and then start.
ing the wall upon this relatively
loose rock Il may he seen hat thr
presence OF large arched OPENINGS IN
the walls Of the building bring about
q condition Of unequal io.tdin4 npon
The foundations This means thar ~
secure the building against unequal
settlement there must Dc something
ln the bottom OF the foundation 20
act as beam and so distribute the
concentrated loads over the ground
getting less loads. II Is evident that
the weak, loose stone filling OF ihe
foundation trench could not so act.
hence the corners settled. This set
t.ement was undoubtedly made much
NOlSt y. Lit UttJuh Oi the NON II
sponts AT the corners as already sug,
eested II should be noted in PASS
irs that il is generally necessary 10
make the footing OF the wall consid
crabie wider than inc thickness OF
the wall 10 distribute The loads and
prevent settlement. ana that ihe mod.
ern use of reinforced concrete Tor
this purpose is TO be most highly
recommended In the present case the
tootings appear not to have been
slread and We're on an extremely
weak material
Concentrated Loading of Foundation
Common observation shows that a
Brick wall solid from top to bottom
~ far heavier than the same wall
when cut full Of window openings.
fere the windows are all placed at
some distance from the corners of
The building, hence any stretch OF
wall most Of the openings will come
near it's center while at the corners
a solid wall in TWO directions goes
from basement to caves. and the
ground beneath the corner has a
great excess OF loading over the
ground beneath the openings Hence
the corner settles while the central
art OF the wall remains relatively
Stationary
But there is another factor intensi-