El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-04-02
COURTHOUSE. ARCHITECTURAL
CLASSIC, READY FOR OFFICERS
Civil Appeals Court First to Move Into Six Story Ed
flee Finest of It's Kind West of Mississippi; Finish
and Furnishings Superb Materials for Its
Erection Fill 1929 Cars.
By J. ID. PONDER.

with acoustic felt and are to b. ap-
propriately decorated; and on the wall
in this large entrance hall on the ground
floor viii be handsome mural paint
ings representing the past ana pres
ent Of the borderland near III Faso-
In October 1915. the county com
missiouers accepted the plans and
specifications Of frost x frost. Crchi-
tects for the building and on Deem
Der Il. 1918. J. f Morgan the general
contractor begun work on the foun-
cation. and while working on % he be
gan assembling the material which was
TO 20 into the construction Of the build
ing. and that alone was q fun grown
mans job.
Embraces 1929 Cars of Material.
For the completion OF this handsome
pile of architectural beauty and per-
lection of builders skill Mr.. Morgan
assembled 1929 carloads or more than
= full trains OF % cars each. loaded
with material brought from ten diff
fereut states.
To give the public an idea Of the vast
amount of material that went into Fl
Faso's new court house the following
figures were secured from contractor
MOrgan's books
FL Paso Furnishes Basic Necessities.
From FL Paso 374 ears of crushed
rock. 20 cars of cement l27 cars Of
sand. 6S cars of brick. - cars Of tile
and there were $50 ears of eXcaVated
soil hauled out
From St. Louis. three cars OF Maple
flooring. % cars Of Jail steel. four cars
Of glass. two cars OF roofing. 80 cars
of plaster, five cars of plumbing sup
plies.
From Chicago. 80 cars OF terra Gotta
and five cars OF electrical fixtures
From Louisiana and Texas, - cars
OF lumber.
From Colorado, % cars OF reinfOrc-
From Georgia. Minnesota and Wis
consin- q cars OF marble.
From Topeka, L cars OF angle irons
and grating
From Georgia four cars Of granite
From san Antonio. - cars OF doors.
windows and finishings-
From New York. one car Of hard
ware. paint. cork and tile
From Philadelphia IS cars Of boilers
radiators and steam fixtures.
From Ohio. eight ears of ventilating
material and supplies and two cars OF
metal lath ana hirib-
Furniture Requires 80 Cars.
There will be 80 cars of furniture
for the interior OF the building.
There are equal to 275 miles Of re-
infOrcing steel in the building and
1900 pounds Of jail steel is car
ried on the four concrete beams over
the 34th district court. and the i'm
TO double the weight.
II the sacks Of cement in the 20 car
loads used were placed end 10 end, they
would cover a strip of ground six
miles in length and the actual count Of
brick in the building is 1900. 600. There
are $4,000 yards of plastering.
Four Acres of Space Inside.
Counting the basement there are
10000 square feet, or about four acres
Of floor space in the building.
Owing to the high ceilings the six
stories above ground make the court
house as tall as the Paso Del Norte
hotel. which is eight stories.
1t is understood that early in May
the county commissioners viii have the
building illuminated at night and kept
open from o'clock until midnight so
that the public can see it