The American Architect and Building News,
VOL. XXXIV. Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass. №. 828
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
NOVEMBER 7, 1891.
Summary:—
The Natural Function of the American Institute of Architects. — The Basis of Assessing Employer’s Liability.—The Laying-out of Roads and Boards of Survey.—The Late John D. Sedding. — Disturbing a Gang of Suspected Counterfeiters.—When a Railroad Station is in a Town.—The
Working of the Zone Tariff..........................................................77 Libraries. — V.....................................................................................................................79 Architect, Owner and Builder Before the Law. —X. . . 81 Annual Address of the President of the American Insti
tute of Architects...................................................................................................84 The Twenty-fifth Annual Convention of the American
Institute of Architects........................................................................................86 Comparative Architecture.....................................................................................86 History of Prison Architecture........................................................................87 Societies.................................................................................................................................90 Illustrations:—
House of J. Hampden Robb, Esq., Park Ave and 35th St., New York, N. Y. — A Non-accepted Design for Town-hall, Union Hill, N. J. — Equitable Building, Denver, Colo.— The Snell, Heitsu & Woodard Building, Portland, Oregon. — New Pavilion of the Grand Hotel, San Francisco, Cal.
Additional: House on the Largo del Giardini, Trieste, Austria. — Doors of the Transept of St. Maclou, Rouen, France.— Design for the Completion of South Kensington Museum: Perspective View. — Elevations on Exhibition Road and on Cromwell Road of the Same. — Plans of Ground and First
Floors of the Same. — View on the Staircase of the Same. . 91 Communication : —
A Question of Commission...............................................................91 Notes and Clippings.....................................................................................................92 Trade Surveys..................................................................................................................92
I
N the choice of Mr. E. H. Kendall of New York, as the new President of the American Institute of Architects, Mr. Hunt’s term having expired by the limitations of the Constitution, the recent Convention showed a wise discrimination. It is to be regretted that Mr. Adler felt himself called upon to decline positively a nomination to the office ; hut the Institute is still to have the benefit of Mr. Adler’s energy and wisdom in his more modest sphere as Secretary, and if it can retain this, and have also the advantage of Mr. Kendall’s considerate and dignified leadership, it should be accounted very fortunate. It is likely that a good many things of importance to the profession will occur within the next two years; but, whatever happens, so long as these officers continue to serve the Institute, professional interests will not be endangered by rash or ill-considered action. Meanwhile, we would like to suggest that the present and future members of the Institute might with advantage refer some of their professional difficulties to the Board of Directors. It is unquestionably desirable that the members should come as rapidly as possible to look upon the Institute as their alma mater, and to see in it the power and influence of the collective profession, always at the service of honorable and conscientious members, ready to defend them against injustice, and to help them with advice, and, occasionally, with direct intervention. The Institute can now justly claim to be clothed with the authority of the profession, and for the coming term, this authority will be principally exercised by two of the most judicious and experienced men in the country. Any architect would be glad to have the counsel of either Mr. Kendall or Mr. Adler in his business troubles, and that of both is placed by the election at the service of members of the Institute. In saying this, we do not forget the value of the advice of the. other members of the excellent Board of Directors, All of them will be judicious counsellors, but all of them do not invariably attend Directors’ meetings, and, in practice, the President and Secretary are usually best acquainted with Institute affairs, and their opinion properly carries the most weight.
I
T looks as if, probably through the efforts of hungry lawyers, an unwarranted use was likely to be made of the very severe
employers’-liability statutes recently enacted in several States. In Massachusetts, not long ago, where the owner of a
certain building had arranged to supply power to the occupants of the adjoining building, a pulley was, in some way, allowed to fall, and, in falling, struck and injured a girl employed in the room. The girl sued the owner of the building, a rich, but also a very public-spirited and charitable man, and obtained a verdict for more than twelve thousand dollars damages. The principle adopted by the jury in assessing the damages seems to have been to transfer from the owner’s pocket to the girl’s a sum so large that the interest of it, if carefully invested, would afford her the same income that she could have earned if she had not been incapacitated from work in any way. To a certain extent, this is proper enough, and a person reduced, by no fault of his own, to hopeless uselessness and pain ought to have, during his life, an allowance from the one through whose fault he was injured, equal to that which he would probably have earned if he had not been injured, but it is impossible to see how justice requires that, in addition to this, the employer should be compelled to furnish a handsome fortune for distribution among the heirs of the injured person, who would probably never have laid up a penny out of his earnings, if he had not been damaged at all. In another case, soon to be tried in Boston, where an elevator came down upon a man engaged in repairing it, and injured him, the plaintiff claims fifty thousand dollars damages. There would seem to be a reasonable question whether a professional elevator repairer ought not to know enough to provide against having the elevator started by people above, who could know nothing about his being under it; but there can hardly be any doubt that, even if, through an employer’s fault, a man were totally deprived of the power of earning wages for the rest of his life, it is unfair to compel the employer, not only to pay the man triple or quadruple wages for the rest of his life, but to burden his estate with a continuance or the same payment to the heirs of the injured man forever; yet this is what an award of damages on this principle means. Probably, in practice, an enormous slice of the sum recovered goes to enrich the lawyers who concoct and conduct the plaintiff’s case. It would not be a bad idea, in the interest of the poor sufEerer, as well as the employer, to add an amendment to the law, either requiring the counsel for the plaintiff to declare under oath the amount of his fees, or limiting him to a certain sum ; but a better one woulc^be to follow the lead of the Germans, who make both employer and employe contribute to the payment of premiums on an accident insurance policy for the benefit of the employe. This plan secures maintenance for injured persons, in accordance with the extent of their injury, and indemnity to the heirs of persons killed, without danger, on one side, of ruining a solvent employer, or, on the other side, of leaving the employe of a dishonest or insolvent one wholly without resource in case of accident; while it does not furnish fat pickings for lawyers, or provide means, at the employer’s expense, of supporting in idleness forever the posterity of the damaged individual, or, more likely, of the astute money-lender to whom he has sold or mortgaged his claim.
THE operations of the Boston Board of Survey, which is authorized by law, on petition of the majority of propertyowners in any part of the city, to lay out streets to the territory concerned, establish grades, and construct the streets, assessing the cost on the owners of the land, have attracted the very favorable attention of the inhabitants of the neighboring towns, and Brookline, the richest and most prosperous suburban village, has already voted to petition the Legislature, at its next session, for authority to establish a similar Board of Survey, with the same powers. As the contrast between a systematic, economical and convenient method of laying out streets, and the extravagant, ridiculous and, in one word, idiotic practice at present in vogue in the other neighboring towns grows more glaring, the example of Brookline will probably be widely followed, and then, at last, will the very important suburban portion of Boston enter upon a period of substantial development. As we once mentioned, out of a total of about one hundred streets in one suburban district, which fairly represents all, more than forty are culs-de-sac, or return to the point from which they started; and every year adds considerably to the number of abortions, while the layingout of a street which can be passed through, to reach any other
VOL. XXXIV. Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass. №. 828
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
NOVEMBER 7, 1891.
Summary:—
The Natural Function of the American Institute of Architects. — The Basis of Assessing Employer’s Liability.—The Laying-out of Roads and Boards of Survey.—The Late John D. Sedding. — Disturbing a Gang of Suspected Counterfeiters.—When a Railroad Station is in a Town.—The
Working of the Zone Tariff..........................................................77 Libraries. — V.....................................................................................................................79 Architect, Owner and Builder Before the Law. —X. . . 81 Annual Address of the President of the American Insti
tute of Architects...................................................................................................84 The Twenty-fifth Annual Convention of the American
Institute of Architects........................................................................................86 Comparative Architecture.....................................................................................86 History of Prison Architecture........................................................................87 Societies.................................................................................................................................90 Illustrations:—
House of J. Hampden Robb, Esq., Park Ave and 35th St., New York, N. Y. — A Non-accepted Design for Town-hall, Union Hill, N. J. — Equitable Building, Denver, Colo.— The Snell, Heitsu & Woodard Building, Portland, Oregon. — New Pavilion of the Grand Hotel, San Francisco, Cal.
Additional: House on the Largo del Giardini, Trieste, Austria. — Doors of the Transept of St. Maclou, Rouen, France.— Design for the Completion of South Kensington Museum: Perspective View. — Elevations on Exhibition Road and on Cromwell Road of the Same. — Plans of Ground and First
Floors of the Same. — View on the Staircase of the Same. . 91 Communication : —
A Question of Commission...............................................................91 Notes and Clippings.....................................................................................................92 Trade Surveys..................................................................................................................92
I
N the choice of Mr. E. H. Kendall of New York, as the new President of the American Institute of Architects, Mr. Hunt’s term having expired by the limitations of the Constitution, the recent Convention showed a wise discrimination. It is to be regretted that Mr. Adler felt himself called upon to decline positively a nomination to the office ; hut the Institute is still to have the benefit of Mr. Adler’s energy and wisdom in his more modest sphere as Secretary, and if it can retain this, and have also the advantage of Mr. Kendall’s considerate and dignified leadership, it should be accounted very fortunate. It is likely that a good many things of importance to the profession will occur within the next two years; but, whatever happens, so long as these officers continue to serve the Institute, professional interests will not be endangered by rash or ill-considered action. Meanwhile, we would like to suggest that the present and future members of the Institute might with advantage refer some of their professional difficulties to the Board of Directors. It is unquestionably desirable that the members should come as rapidly as possible to look upon the Institute as their alma mater, and to see in it the power and influence of the collective profession, always at the service of honorable and conscientious members, ready to defend them against injustice, and to help them with advice, and, occasionally, with direct intervention. The Institute can now justly claim to be clothed with the authority of the profession, and for the coming term, this authority will be principally exercised by two of the most judicious and experienced men in the country. Any architect would be glad to have the counsel of either Mr. Kendall or Mr. Adler in his business troubles, and that of both is placed by the election at the service of members of the Institute. In saying this, we do not forget the value of the advice of the. other members of the excellent Board of Directors, All of them will be judicious counsellors, but all of them do not invariably attend Directors’ meetings, and, in practice, the President and Secretary are usually best acquainted with Institute affairs, and their opinion properly carries the most weight.
I
T looks as if, probably through the efforts of hungry lawyers, an unwarranted use was likely to be made of the very severe
employers’-liability statutes recently enacted in several States. In Massachusetts, not long ago, where the owner of a
certain building had arranged to supply power to the occupants of the adjoining building, a pulley was, in some way, allowed to fall, and, in falling, struck and injured a girl employed in the room. The girl sued the owner of the building, a rich, but also a very public-spirited and charitable man, and obtained a verdict for more than twelve thousand dollars damages. The principle adopted by the jury in assessing the damages seems to have been to transfer from the owner’s pocket to the girl’s a sum so large that the interest of it, if carefully invested, would afford her the same income that she could have earned if she had not been incapacitated from work in any way. To a certain extent, this is proper enough, and a person reduced, by no fault of his own, to hopeless uselessness and pain ought to have, during his life, an allowance from the one through whose fault he was injured, equal to that which he would probably have earned if he had not been injured, but it is impossible to see how justice requires that, in addition to this, the employer should be compelled to furnish a handsome fortune for distribution among the heirs of the injured person, who would probably never have laid up a penny out of his earnings, if he had not been damaged at all. In another case, soon to be tried in Boston, where an elevator came down upon a man engaged in repairing it, and injured him, the plaintiff claims fifty thousand dollars damages. There would seem to be a reasonable question whether a professional elevator repairer ought not to know enough to provide against having the elevator started by people above, who could know nothing about his being under it; but there can hardly be any doubt that, even if, through an employer’s fault, a man were totally deprived of the power of earning wages for the rest of his life, it is unfair to compel the employer, not only to pay the man triple or quadruple wages for the rest of his life, but to burden his estate with a continuance or the same payment to the heirs of the injured man forever; yet this is what an award of damages on this principle means. Probably, in practice, an enormous slice of the sum recovered goes to enrich the lawyers who concoct and conduct the plaintiff’s case. It would not be a bad idea, in the interest of the poor sufEerer, as well as the employer, to add an amendment to the law, either requiring the counsel for the plaintiff to declare under oath the amount of his fees, or limiting him to a certain sum ; but a better one woulc^be to follow the lead of the Germans, who make both employer and employe contribute to the payment of premiums on an accident insurance policy for the benefit of the employe. This plan secures maintenance for injured persons, in accordance with the extent of their injury, and indemnity to the heirs of persons killed, without danger, on one side, of ruining a solvent employer, or, on the other side, of leaving the employe of a dishonest or insolvent one wholly without resource in case of accident; while it does not furnish fat pickings for lawyers, or provide means, at the employer’s expense, of supporting in idleness forever the posterity of the damaged individual, or, more likely, of the astute money-lender to whom he has sold or mortgaged his claim.
THE operations of the Boston Board of Survey, which is authorized by law, on petition of the majority of propertyowners in any part of the city, to lay out streets to the territory concerned, establish grades, and construct the streets, assessing the cost on the owners of the land, have attracted the very favorable attention of the inhabitants of the neighboring towns, and Brookline, the richest and most prosperous suburban village, has already voted to petition the Legislature, at its next session, for authority to establish a similar Board of Survey, with the same powers. As the contrast between a systematic, economical and convenient method of laying out streets, and the extravagant, ridiculous and, in one word, idiotic practice at present in vogue in the other neighboring towns grows more glaring, the example of Brookline will probably be widely followed, and then, at last, will the very important suburban portion of Boston enter upon a period of substantial development. As we once mentioned, out of a total of about one hundred streets in one suburban district, which fairly represents all, more than forty are culs-de-sac, or return to the point from which they started; and every year adds considerably to the number of abortions, while the layingout of a street which can be passed through, to reach any other