Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-07-13
Brick and Clay Record)


Thomas A Edison is something of
a specialist in concrete. He Is on
record as recommending II as a sort
of universal building material-goo
for walls, floors, roofs, tables, nantels
and bathtubs. He built Of it all Of
the newer part Of his huge West
Orange factory. Then. on the after
noon of December 9, 1914, came the
big fire. and in the supreme test Mr..
Edison'S concreJe-well. what did il
do? To the intelligent reader, who
relies on what he sees in the public
press. this is something OF a problem.
, He may take his choice. The con-
crete buildings were a total loss"
hey had come throug,, the fire ''prac-
tically unscathcd." They had be
; haved badly" they had stood thu
: test we'll" Il was doubtless TO the
advantage OF the builders that the
material they had chosen should be
demonslratiy resistant to fire. 1t was
also natural that those who prefer
brick should look somewhat critically
over the ruins for evidence that con-
crete is not. after all. such a uni
versal success as building material.
Hence the interest that attaches to
an article entitled "Brick-the Scape-
goat OF the Great Concrete Fire a.
West Orange" This. We are as
sured. is the result OF two investiga-
tons conducted n representatives OF
the paper. accompanied b. exper-
pnotogra pliers II gives, we are told
''indisputa bic facts with no at
,
other material" and asserts thai
while the brick in the Edison struc-
ture behaved in most brickly man
ner. tie cowardly concrete shrunk
from the ordeal. Says the writer:
Mr. Edison no, only designed and
constructed the buildings. but manu-
featured the cement that went into
them. The formulas were his. They
were secret, and had been heralded as
the formulas Of the most perfect ce-
ment in existence.
1t is but natural that. since the
fountain head OF information was
colored by so intense a personal in
terest, reports that reached the
There has been a great frethe
buildings were in truth, constructed
Of concrete There they stood-the
snoring of the walls was but Incl
dental Repairing would be slight
the buildings were almost as good as
new. The salvage was close to s7Is
per cent.
Other Investigations followed, and
further newspaper and magazine arti-
cles have appeared. Each bears the
mark Of a more sincere and careful
inquiry into the real effect Of the fire
upon building materials that were
employed. Each has shown a grow
ing dissemination to accept the state
ments made by the Edison engineers
as to the amount of damage sus-
tanned by the buildings. and an ever
increasing inclination to accept the
physical evidence of split columns.
disintegrated concrete, and other
signs of the action Of ire-evidences
that bear out all of the theories that
we're, seemingly, set at naught by the
earlier reports.
1.-The fire-resisting qualities of the brick
wall have caused it to be taken as
standard by fire underwriters. Brick
work-or rather, the brick itself. will en-
dure-that is. stand. and be uninjured by
a temperature of from 1SO0 degrees to
$500 degrees F.. depending upon the fiuxes
in the original clay from which the brick
was made. A temperature Of 1900 degrees
F. can be maintained on one side of a T.
inch brick wall for four hours and the
other side OF the wall still be cool enough
to hold the hand upon While we figure
that brick wall is best made when laid
Portland cement, the fact is that AS far
as actual resistance to fire or intense
heat, common lime-and-sand mortar in
small quantities, as when used for
Joints between brickwork. or as plaster
ing on a brick wall. has greater fire.
resisting qualities than any other plastic
material
The reason that brickwork endures
heat is because SO much of the surface
that is presented to the fire is of really
first-resistant material. With a u inch
brick and a s-inch joint. nine-tentbs of
the wall surface has an assured endur.
ance power of 1900 degrees to 90,
degrees F. The other tenth is held
in place, as it were. between the
superior planes of higher fire-resis,-
ance. A mechanical bond-the position
in which the brick are observation-disclosures
the strength of the wall, even after Tho
dehydration Of the first four inches Of
mortar.
Concrete surfaces. on the contrary. ex-