Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-02-28
Congratulations on the Opening of the FonteneIIe Hotel
MEN FOR REAL MEMS JOBS
Construction Of Giant Hotel One
Continual Race Against Time,
with Many Contesting.
AND RACE IS FINALLY WON

People who have watched day by day
/ for the last year and more the construc-
| ton work on the Fontenelle hotel and
have seen the army Of men swarming
about the work have wondered what
! power directed and how each OF these
men knew what TO do, when where and
/ how to do t.
The mere question OF laying brick on
brick is easily understood but how each
craft knew when 20 so on the job, how
| much TO do now and how much 20 Iea-e
undone until a moro advanced date, when
and where to lay the many miles OF pip
ing in the unfinished walls and partiaons
whore to install the machinery so as not
20 interAAe with other machinery and
equipment, naturally causes the uninll
! uated 20 wonder and forms an interest
| Ing study
The plans as drafted by Architect kim
/ ball, of course. showed what was TO be
done. but on the general contractor, In
this case the Selden Brock Construction
company, fell tho responsibility OF doing
II and doing Il right.
And Clifford r. Vaughn was the man
who was on the lob all the time keeping
a governing hand personally on the null
utude OF men Of many trades and many
professions who were doing their several
tasks In the shaping OF the great finished
thing OF beauty and comfort, the Fonte-
nello hotel.
Lets Sub-Contracts.
After the big construction had taken
over the contract one OF the first things
to be done was to let out subcontracts
For in this age OF specialization there are
dozens of different specialized trades and
professions involved in building such a
great structure. This firm digs tho cellar
this one puts in the cement work, that
one the brick and masonry, another the
floors. Here Is a firm whose speciality ia
| laying MOSAIC floors and here Is one
whose activities arc entirely confined 10
the installing OF pneumatic tubes. The
telephone people, the elevator engineers.
the experts on laundry machlnery-and so
ON down to the installers OF the latest OF
human Inventions. the telautograph
From the inception OF work IL was n
race, one profession working against tho
other. one pushing the other TO get Ger
tain work done in order that other wor,,
could go on
The riyeting gang, the sharp crack ~
whose pneumatic hammers mingIinE with
the loud roar of concrete mixers aug
mented by the coughing of donkey en-
sines and pierced by the hoarse shouts OF
foreman and workmen swelled the I'M
roar and battled to keep pace with the
erectors. wv
On the heels of the riveters came tho
carpenters. building the forms for the
housesmith with his reinforcing iron, and
pursued by the concrete gang, pouring
concrete laying floors and pushing the
other crafts to the roof.
/
Time IL Essential.
| over each operation of the various
kinds was foreman. striving with might
and main to get the work assigned 20
MIN done in the allotted time.
And ever in the midst of the rush and
uproar that was giving birth to the new
and beautiful hotel was the superintend-
ent. directing tho work. answering ques-
tions giving orders. keeping peace among
| subcontractors and seeing that they did
their work right
Race is Won.
II was race against winter to get the
floors enclosed before the thermometer
took it's we'll known annual slump
And the race was won. Nature assisted.
for the fall of last year was extraordina-
rily fine and long protracted-even for
Nebraska fall.
win the walls up, the windows In and
the roof on, and the boilers and steam
/ pipes and radiators In place. old winter
had been thoroughly foiled. and the steam
was turned on and work has gone on in
side that busy structure all winter at a
rate that has been a revelation, and the
result Is such as will amaze the people
/ Of Omaha when they soc the beauty and
up-to-dateness and completeness and
comfort OF the Fontenelle.
1t has been a mans sized Job" for the
superintendent OF construction. In fact,
there hasn't been a Job about It that
isn't mans sized job, from the presi-
dent's down.