Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-08

able to spread horizontally as they increased m
number, they had built vertically upward, had
built houses Of adobe brick four stories high.
The British resident, the health Ofdcer and
climbed narrow stairs Of stone steps set IN the
wan and without balustrades, up and up. We
looked into the rooms filed with the evidences
Of crowded families, filthy evidences, and
down, far down to the street below, seen
through great gaps in the walls.
Tear it al down." said the health o6icer.
Clean 1t out"
"But It is an they have" replied the resi-
dent; I'VE can't reimburse them. What do you
say?"
The Board Of Public Works considered build
ing regulations-an awkward problem Of broad
application. Building materials in Palestine are
Of three kinds-mud, stone and rubbish. Mud
is expensive because it requires water. Stone
makes q flne-looking wall especially as facing
for wall two feet thick but 1t costs too much
to make solid wan Of It.
Let the stones be roughly trimmed TO q pyra-
midal form With q smooth bottom Lay the
pyramid on its side, the bottom forming the
face Of the wall, and lay successive stones each
on the edge Of the other pyramid. The bear
ing surface win be about an eighth Of an inch
wide and is easily trimmed to a close joint
Put up two such smooth-faced walls and I'LL
in between them with cheap rubbish. Modern
Jerusalem looks vell-on the outsideI
In view Of this practice-or worse-it is not
surprising that the board adopted regulations
requiring that headers or other bonds should
buildings should be firmly tied to each other
by some device Of croSsties extending clear
through the building or by iron bands around
the structure.
In countries where masonry is the principal
kind OF construction the rules laid down by the
British Palestine Board of Public Works should
find general application.
Steel or concrete? Among the difficulties
that arise from our modern economic system
in America and abroad is that of getting
unbiased evidence as to the behavior of one
or another kind of building material where
an earthquake has struck. Brick, terra Gotta,
concrete and steel compete through the medium
Of powerful associations and, since the ma
terials are frequently used in combination, it
is not difficult for the representative Of any
one Of them to AE the blame Of failure on
some other in case of a wreck-quite honestly,
too. Nor is it difficult for salesman to put
before an uninstructed financier evidence PROV
ing that his Is the best and only material.
TN Toxic I saw an example Of the persuasion
= Of steel, the strongest, the most elastic, the
most uniform and reliable Of all building ma
terials-also the most expensive. The Frame
work Of a large, square, eight-story building
was being erected in accordance with the idea
that the steel frame should carry all loads and
resist all lateral. e., earthquake stresses.
The huge columns and Orders looked like
heavy bridge construction. There was 90 per
cent more steel in the frame than would have
been thought necessary before the earthquake
in 1873.
On the following day accompanied Prof.
Naito Of Waseda University through six build
ings Of reinforced concrete designed by him.
They had successfully withstood the 1923
shock Does this prove that reinforced con-
crete, which Is cheaper than steel. should be
preferred to the lattera Yes, possibly, when
designed by Naito, the japanese who has shown
Us how, or by one of those who follow his