The American Architect and Building News,
VOL. XXXIII,
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
No 81 3
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
JULY 25, 1891.
Summary:—
The Special Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts upon the Purification of Sewage and the Intermittent Filtration of Water. — Competition of Designs for the New English Coins.—Death of Signor Basile, Architect. — Elevated Railroad at Naples. — Omnibus and Tramway Traffic
in Paris. — Concession for another Alpine Railway. ... 45
Architecture of the United States.— II..................................47 Letter from Chicago...................................................................................................51 Equestrian Monuments.— XL I. . .............................................................53
The Dolphin in Ornamentation. — IV.............................................57 Books and Papers.................................................................. 58 Illustrations : —
Entrance Doors to Park Presbyterian Church, Corner of Amsterdam Ave. and 86tli St., New York, N. Y.—Cathedral of St. Corentin, Quimper, France. —Longford Castle, Wiltshire, Eng. — “The Zinzendorf,” Winston, N. C. — Diningroom in the House of S. B. Elkins, Randolph Co., W. Va.
Additional: A Louis XIII Chimneypiece in the Chateau de Cheverny (Loire-et-Cher), France.— Spires and Towers of some of Sir Christopher Wren’s Churches in London. — Interior of the Great Hall at “ Rhinefeld,” Hampshire, Eng. — Furguslie Park, Paisley, Scotland. — Schloss Valore.— Christ Church, Waterloo, near Liverpool, Eng.—-Combined Post and Telegraph Office, Madras, India.— Ecole Nationale des Arts Industriels, Roubaix, France.— Group of Bacchanals.—- The Salle Poirel, Nancy, France.— Statue of Eranyois Boucher. — Tombs in the Crypt at Jouarre. — Church of the Sacred Heart, Montmartre, Paris, France. — Interior of the Same.—The Zodiac Panel in the Pavement of the
Baptistery, Florence.....................................................................58 Notes and Clippings....................................................................................................60 Trade Surveys.................................................................................................................60
0
NE of the most interesting and remarkable accounts of the application of scientific methods to the elucidation of practical problems ever yet published is to be found in the Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts upon the Purification of Sewage, and the Intermittent Filtration of Water, which forms the Second Part of a Special Report on Water-supply and Sewerage. This second part, like the first, forms a good-sized volume. The persons who are familiar with the work done by the Massachusetts State Board of Health, when left unhampered by political schemes, do not need to be told that the world owes to it some of the most brilliant and useful investigations ever made in hygienic matters ; but this, its last publication, far surpasses any which have preceded it in interest and importance. Literally, the book is filled, from cover to cover, with information of the highest value, which no one ever knew before, but which will immediately determine, for the whole civilized world, many of the most important details of sewage disposal; and will render the destruction of the dangerous elements of sewage more certain and easy than ever before.
I
T would be interesting to know, if the computation could be made, liow many persons already owe their lives to the warnings and counsels hitherto published by the Massachusetts State Board of Health. We are inclined to think that the number must, by this time, have mounted far up into the thousands; and the new book will certainly add many more. As we all know, the health of about half the population of Massachusetts depends upon the efficiency of sewerage systems. Up to the present time, the systems by which they are effected have not been extremely efficient, and any general improvement in them will be at once reflected in the diminution of the death-rate among at least a million of people. Of the problems in sewerage which the State now offers, those connected with inland disposal are the most important, since the cities away from the seaboard are rapidly introducing and extending sewerage systems ; but the knowledge hitherto available on the subject has been mainly empirical, deduced from the experience of English and Continental towns, and lacking a thoroughly scientific basis. This deficiency the Board has endeavored to supply, by means of experiments extending over a space of two years, and devoted to the investigation of principles, rather than of the practical results which must form the first care of the director of a disposal system in actual use. With
this object, ten water-tight wooden tanks were prepared, each something over seventeen feet in diameter, and six feet deep, underdrained, and filled with various filtering materials, such as would be usually available on an actual irrigation area. The first tank, for example, was filled to a depth of five feet with very coarse, clean mortar-sand ; the second was filled to the same depth with very fine sand; the third with peat; the fourth with an extremely fine sand, or silt, and the fifth with garden soil. The sixth was filled only to a depth of three feet and eight inches, with coarse and fine sand and fine gravel; the seventh had the same, covered with ten inches of yellow loam, and six inches of brown garden-soil; the eighth had the same strata of gravel and yellow loam, with eight inches of sand and gravel over the loam, and the ninth had four feet and nine inches of “hard pan,” of clay, sand and gravel, covered with nine inches of brown soil. The tenth tank was used for measuring the rainfall and evaporation. Sewage taken from the main sewer of the city of Lawrence, above the entrance of the factory-drains, was brought to the tanks by a large galvanized-iron pipe, about a mile long. Besides the large wooden tanks, the surface of each of which was approximately one twohundredth of an acre, ten galvanized-iron tanks, of the same depth as the large ones, but only twenty inches in diameter, were placed in a building near by, and an irrigation field was actually laid out on the ground belonging to the Experimental Station.
W
E will not attempt to follow the results obtained by filtering sewage through each of the tanks under different circumstances. Interesting as they are, the book itself can give the only adequate account of them; and we must confine ourselves to the mention of two or three striking and novel conclusions, which were proved beyond dispute. One of these was that, contrary to the usual opinion, ordinary garden-soil is useless fo r filtering or purifying sewage. As a filter, it soon clogs and becomes worthless, while its action in oxidizing and destroying ferments and ammoniacal matters is practically nothing. On the contrary, the greatest activity in purifying sewage by the oxidation, or nitrification, of organic substances, is shown by coarse sand and gravel, through which the liquid creeps, over the surfaces of the particles, exposed, during its whole course, to the air, by reason of the large proportion of void spaces between the coarse grains. Such a medium, however, does not form so good a mechanical filter as a finer sand, and a certain proportion of bacteria and other microscopic organisms passed through it, which were retained by a tank containing a certain proportion of fine sand. Another surprising observation was that the filter-beds, even of perfectly inorganic gravel and sand, required a certain number of days to get accustomed to their work, pursued it efficiently, after they got into working order, so long as the conditions remained unchanged — were, so to speak, thrown off their balance, and lost a good deal of their efficiency, by a change in the conditions, such as the delivery of an increased amount of sewage ; but accustomed themselves in a few days to the altered circumstances, and then became as efficient as before. These variations would be incomprehensible, were it not for the fact which has been previously proved, that the nitrification of sewage is not a purely chemical, but a vital action, which is carried on by minute living organisms. These organisms can be rendered temporarily insensible by means of chloroform or ether, and the soil containing them then ceases to purify sewage passing through it, until the effect of the ansesthetic passes away, and the little organisms revive; and the experimenters at the Lawrence station show further that, instead of existing only in garden soil, they are found, or are introduced through the sewage, in pure gravel and sand, and, apparently on account of the nutriment afforded by the sewage, propagate rapidly in the sand and gravel filters, so that in a few days after the sewage is first applied to the inert minerals, the number of the nitrifying bacteria present is sufficient to consume and transform nearly all the organic and ammoniacal matter of the sewage. It was further found at Lawrence that the nitrifying action is much more vigorous in the spring months, the season of most active plant growth, so that the beneficent little objects appear to be sensitive to the actinic quality of the May sunshine, as well as to the influence of ansesthetics. For the other curious qualities of the tiny creatures, we must, again, refer to the book itself, but we cannot pass over the remarkable success
VOL. XXXIII,
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
No 81 3
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
JULY 25, 1891.
Summary:—
The Special Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts upon the Purification of Sewage and the Intermittent Filtration of Water. — Competition of Designs for the New English Coins.—Death of Signor Basile, Architect. — Elevated Railroad at Naples. — Omnibus and Tramway Traffic
in Paris. — Concession for another Alpine Railway. ... 45
Architecture of the United States.— II..................................47 Letter from Chicago...................................................................................................51 Equestrian Monuments.— XL I. . .............................................................53
The Dolphin in Ornamentation. — IV.............................................57 Books and Papers.................................................................. 58 Illustrations : —
Entrance Doors to Park Presbyterian Church, Corner of Amsterdam Ave. and 86tli St., New York, N. Y.—Cathedral of St. Corentin, Quimper, France. —Longford Castle, Wiltshire, Eng. — “The Zinzendorf,” Winston, N. C. — Diningroom in the House of S. B. Elkins, Randolph Co., W. Va.
Additional: A Louis XIII Chimneypiece in the Chateau de Cheverny (Loire-et-Cher), France.— Spires and Towers of some of Sir Christopher Wren’s Churches in London. — Interior of the Great Hall at “ Rhinefeld,” Hampshire, Eng. — Furguslie Park, Paisley, Scotland. — Schloss Valore.— Christ Church, Waterloo, near Liverpool, Eng.—-Combined Post and Telegraph Office, Madras, India.— Ecole Nationale des Arts Industriels, Roubaix, France.— Group of Bacchanals.—- The Salle Poirel, Nancy, France.— Statue of Eranyois Boucher. — Tombs in the Crypt at Jouarre. — Church of the Sacred Heart, Montmartre, Paris, France. — Interior of the Same.—The Zodiac Panel in the Pavement of the
Baptistery, Florence.....................................................................58 Notes and Clippings....................................................................................................60 Trade Surveys.................................................................................................................60
0
NE of the most interesting and remarkable accounts of the application of scientific methods to the elucidation of practical problems ever yet published is to be found in the Report of the State Board of Health of Massachusetts upon the Purification of Sewage, and the Intermittent Filtration of Water, which forms the Second Part of a Special Report on Water-supply and Sewerage. This second part, like the first, forms a good-sized volume. The persons who are familiar with the work done by the Massachusetts State Board of Health, when left unhampered by political schemes, do not need to be told that the world owes to it some of the most brilliant and useful investigations ever made in hygienic matters ; but this, its last publication, far surpasses any which have preceded it in interest and importance. Literally, the book is filled, from cover to cover, with information of the highest value, which no one ever knew before, but which will immediately determine, for the whole civilized world, many of the most important details of sewage disposal; and will render the destruction of the dangerous elements of sewage more certain and easy than ever before.
I
T would be interesting to know, if the computation could be made, liow many persons already owe their lives to the warnings and counsels hitherto published by the Massachusetts State Board of Health. We are inclined to think that the number must, by this time, have mounted far up into the thousands; and the new book will certainly add many more. As we all know, the health of about half the population of Massachusetts depends upon the efficiency of sewerage systems. Up to the present time, the systems by which they are effected have not been extremely efficient, and any general improvement in them will be at once reflected in the diminution of the death-rate among at least a million of people. Of the problems in sewerage which the State now offers, those connected with inland disposal are the most important, since the cities away from the seaboard are rapidly introducing and extending sewerage systems ; but the knowledge hitherto available on the subject has been mainly empirical, deduced from the experience of English and Continental towns, and lacking a thoroughly scientific basis. This deficiency the Board has endeavored to supply, by means of experiments extending over a space of two years, and devoted to the investigation of principles, rather than of the practical results which must form the first care of the director of a disposal system in actual use. With
this object, ten water-tight wooden tanks were prepared, each something over seventeen feet in diameter, and six feet deep, underdrained, and filled with various filtering materials, such as would be usually available on an actual irrigation area. The first tank, for example, was filled to a depth of five feet with very coarse, clean mortar-sand ; the second was filled to the same depth with very fine sand; the third with peat; the fourth with an extremely fine sand, or silt, and the fifth with garden soil. The sixth was filled only to a depth of three feet and eight inches, with coarse and fine sand and fine gravel; the seventh had the same, covered with ten inches of yellow loam, and six inches of brown garden-soil; the eighth had the same strata of gravel and yellow loam, with eight inches of sand and gravel over the loam, and the ninth had four feet and nine inches of “hard pan,” of clay, sand and gravel, covered with nine inches of brown soil. The tenth tank was used for measuring the rainfall and evaporation. Sewage taken from the main sewer of the city of Lawrence, above the entrance of the factory-drains, was brought to the tanks by a large galvanized-iron pipe, about a mile long. Besides the large wooden tanks, the surface of each of which was approximately one twohundredth of an acre, ten galvanized-iron tanks, of the same depth as the large ones, but only twenty inches in diameter, were placed in a building near by, and an irrigation field was actually laid out on the ground belonging to the Experimental Station.
W
E will not attempt to follow the results obtained by filtering sewage through each of the tanks under different circumstances. Interesting as they are, the book itself can give the only adequate account of them; and we must confine ourselves to the mention of two or three striking and novel conclusions, which were proved beyond dispute. One of these was that, contrary to the usual opinion, ordinary garden-soil is useless fo r filtering or purifying sewage. As a filter, it soon clogs and becomes worthless, while its action in oxidizing and destroying ferments and ammoniacal matters is practically nothing. On the contrary, the greatest activity in purifying sewage by the oxidation, or nitrification, of organic substances, is shown by coarse sand and gravel, through which the liquid creeps, over the surfaces of the particles, exposed, during its whole course, to the air, by reason of the large proportion of void spaces between the coarse grains. Such a medium, however, does not form so good a mechanical filter as a finer sand, and a certain proportion of bacteria and other microscopic organisms passed through it, which were retained by a tank containing a certain proportion of fine sand. Another surprising observation was that the filter-beds, even of perfectly inorganic gravel and sand, required a certain number of days to get accustomed to their work, pursued it efficiently, after they got into working order, so long as the conditions remained unchanged — were, so to speak, thrown off their balance, and lost a good deal of their efficiency, by a change in the conditions, such as the delivery of an increased amount of sewage ; but accustomed themselves in a few days to the altered circumstances, and then became as efficient as before. These variations would be incomprehensible, were it not for the fact which has been previously proved, that the nitrification of sewage is not a purely chemical, but a vital action, which is carried on by minute living organisms. These organisms can be rendered temporarily insensible by means of chloroform or ether, and the soil containing them then ceases to purify sewage passing through it, until the effect of the ansesthetic passes away, and the little organisms revive; and the experimenters at the Lawrence station show further that, instead of existing only in garden soil, they are found, or are introduced through the sewage, in pure gravel and sand, and, apparently on account of the nutriment afforded by the sewage, propagate rapidly in the sand and gravel filters, so that in a few days after the sewage is first applied to the inert minerals, the number of the nitrifying bacteria present is sufficient to consume and transform nearly all the organic and ammoniacal matter of the sewage. It was further found at Lawrence that the nitrifying action is much more vigorous in the spring months, the season of most active plant growth, so that the beneficent little objects appear to be sensitive to the actinic quality of the May sunshine, as well as to the influence of ansesthetics. For the other curious qualities of the tiny creatures, we must, again, refer to the book itself, but we cannot pass over the remarkable success