Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-31
FRANK e. LEVIN is
BUILDER OF NOTE

lou have all read of how Noah
v built the Ark, but he had u
- cinch, compared to the task
of Frank C. Levin with the Penn
Harris. ut is comparatively easy
to describe the building, and draw
picture after it is all completed,
he writes for the Telegraph under
his own signature, but 1t is quite
another thing to work through the
entire construction of large un-
dertaking of the nature OF the
Penn Harris building and obtain the
results, particularly under the CIR
cumstances and conditions which
were brought upon all construction
work by the demands of the war.
This building is practically the only
large undertaking of its kind which
has been started and completed dur
ing the time the country was at
war. This has been accomplished
by surmounting innumerable dlfh-
culties from the start to finish.
Trouble From Start
"Beginning with the foundations
the contractors encountered trou-
bic in the eXcavating of \the hard
and slate which had to be blasted
and practically pulverized to be re-
moved, To make things worse an
old stream which was covered up
years ago was encountered, which
had a heavy flow of water in it, and
filled the foundation holes almost
as fast as they were dug out, re-
tmliring constant bailing and pump
ing. There were times when the
entire lot was covered with water,
resembling a small pond, the water
being three or four feet deep over
| the entire area.
AFTER passing the stage of the
! foundations, the concrete OF the
superstructure was started, but no
sooner had the concrete gained
some\ headway, material supplies
were considerably reduced by en-
bargoes on the railroads During
the time that the coal administra-
| tion stopped all shipments except
coal It was extremely hard to keep
| the work going. The labor avail
able was not experienced in this
class of work, which added to the
ttroubles Of the foremen in charge
of the work. In addition to all
these difficulties the hardest and
coolest winter of a generation came
along and made concrete construc-
| ton almost impossible for consid-
cradle time. 1t was necessary TO
! heat the stone and sand with steam,
! use hot water for the mixing. in
! close the form work on the upper
| floors with canvas, and keep fires
burning in salamanders for several
| days in order to keep the concrete
| from freezing.
Granite Came Late
After the combination tile and
! concrete floors were erected to
about the seventh floor, the forms
/ on the lower stories were removed
and the brick work started on an
| angle-iron ledge at the third floor
| level, in order to save time and
inclose the upper part of the build
ing. The granite and terra Gotta
work for the lower portion did not
arrive until late in the spring, as
! the quarries were frozen tight dur
! ing the severe winter and the fac
tories making the terra Gotta were
i put on half rations of coal. While
tho brick work was we'll under way
tho government started q number OF
warehouse projects in the vicinity
and commandeered tho entire out
put of most of the brick kilns In the
territory and tho kilns that were
not commandeered lost most ol
their help. that went to the govern.
mont jobs for better pay. The
building wns actually starving for
brick. There were times when the
government material ohasers inter-
| oepted carloads of brick as they
entered the Harrisburg yards, and
instead of letting them be delivered
to their oonsignee, the brick was
switched to the government work
The only chance the contractors had
to get around the government ma
| terlal men was to send out trucks
O good many miles away for brick
and have same truoked to the build.
ing as the government inspectors
| did not watch the automobile roadt
l(but only the railroads,
Il. During this period the interior