The American Architect and Building News,
Vol. XXXII.
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
No. 798.
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
APRIL 11, 1891.
SUMMARY: —
Resignation of the Supervising Architect, Mr. Windrim. — The Convention for the Purpose of Devising a National Building-Law. — The Skeleton Code Suggested. — Its Resemblance to some European Codes with a Statement of some of their Provisions. — Some Things that could be accomplished with the Savings effected under the new
Rules. — Safe Elevator-shafts.................................... 17 French Architecture. — II.....................................................................................19 Etruscan Art. — II. ........................................................................... 20 Electric-light Wiring Installations from a Mechanical
Standpoint..................................................................................................................... 23
The Nomenclature op Bricks..............................................................................24 Emmanuel Eremiet. — VI.............................................................................24 The Failure of Buildings.....................................................................................28 Illustrations: —
Armory for the Eighth Regiment, N. Y. N. G., Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. — Store for Mrs. Mary S. Van Beuren, New York, N. Y. — Accepted Design for the Troy Orphan Asylum, Troy, N. Y. — House at Lynn, Mass. — A Gambrelroofed Cottage, East Watertown, Mass.
Additional: Le Rabot, Ghent, Belgium. — Bavarian Bank, Munich, Bavaria. — Holland House, Kensington. — South Front of Same. — East Front of Same. — Turkish Baths,
Blackburn and Bolton, Eng.................................................................29
Communications: —
The Dark Ages in Boston. —The Ventilation of Railroad
Cars.................................................................................................31
Notes and Clippings.................................................................................... 31 Trade Surveys...................................................................................................................32
THE most important professional news of the week is the resignation, by Mr. Windrim, of his post as Supervising
Architect of the Treasury Department. Mr. Windrim having been offered the place of Commissioner of Public Works of the City of Philadelphia, at a salary more than twice that paid by the United States for service requiring far more skill, and involving many times the responsibility, naturally lost no time in accepting it, and, while we congratulate the City of Philadelphia on having secured so able and skilful an officer, we imagine that it will be no easy matter to fill his place at Washington. Of course, we think, with nearly all those who know anything of the operations of the Supervising Architect’s Office, that it would be far better and more economical for the country to abolish the office altogether; but it would probably be best to appoint a temporary officer, to see to the winding-up of its affairs, and the proper completion of the work now in hand. So far, the only name that we have heard suggested for appointment is that of Mr. William L. Windom, a son of the much-regretted Secretary of the Treasury, who is an architect by profession, and has had the advantage of two years’ experience as a subordinate in the office of the Supervising Architect. From what we know of Mr. Windom, who is a young man, not yet thirty, we think, such an appointment seems to us likely to be a satisfactory one. It is hardly necessary to say that the Supervising Architect does not, and cannot, do much professional work with his own hands and head. For all such service he is provided with designers, draughtsmen, computers, experts and engineers in unlimited numbers, while he is himself expected to divide his time between keeping an eye on his staff, overseeing the letting of contracts, and meeting with proper blandness the exactions of Congressmen, some of whom are said, on very good authority, to have utilized the office for getting plans made gratuitously for their own houses, while many others, who would scorn to extort private services from a public officer, find themselves moved with a laudable spirit of inquiry into the building operations of the Government, which can only be satisfied by long and frequent interviews with the head of the Supervising Architect’s office. For fulfilling a portion of these varied duties, Mr. Windom’s distinguished social position, and long familiarity with official life in Washington, would well fit him, while his professional knowledge, if not fortified by so much experience as that of the previous incumbents of the office, has been acquired by earnest industry, under favorable auspices.
THE Combined Committee, consisting of delegates appointed by the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Master-Builders, the National Association of Building-Inspectors, the National Board of Underwriters, and the National Association of Fire-Engineers, which met in New York last week, to consider the subject of preparing a model building-law, which should be recommended for general adoption, decided, after the first day’s discussion, that the conditions prevailing in different cities were, for the present, too diverse to make it possible to draw up a detailed code of regulations which would be generally adopted, and that it would be better, and more useful, to offer to State Legislatures a concise scheme, embracing the principles most essential to safe construction, which could be everywhere adopted as a basis upon which local codes could be formed by adding details suitable to the varying conditions and habits of building which prevail in different cities.
AS finally agreed upon, the recommendations of the Combined Committee were as follows:
1. That all buildings over seventy feet in height be constructed throughout of incombustible materials, protected in the most approved manner for resisting fire.
2. That interior structural ironwork in all buildings be covered and protected by fireproof material.
3. That all buildings over fifty feet in height be furnished with permanent stand-pipes and ladders for the assistance of the Fire- Department.
4. That the height of buildings to be erected should not be more than two and one-half times the width of the principal street on which they are situated, and that no building, or portion of a building, except church spires, should be more than one hundred and twenty-five feet high, except under a special permit.
5. That the open floor-space, not divided by walls of brick or other incombustible material, in all buildings hereafter erected for mercantile or for manufacturing purposes, should not exceed six thousand square feet, without special permission, based upon unusual and satisfactory precautions.
6. That every building to be erected, which shall be three stories high or more, except dwelling houses for one family, and which shall cover an area of more than twenty-five hundred square feet, should be provided with incombustible staircases, enclosed in brick walls, at the rate of one such staircase for every twenty-five hundred square feet in area of ground covered.
7. That wooden buildings, erected within eighteen inches of the line between the lot on which they stand and the adjoining property, should have the walls next the adjoining property of brick; or when built within three feet of each other should have the walls next to each other built of brick.
8. That the owner of an estate in which a fire originates should be responsible for damage caused by the spread of the fire beyond his own estate, if it should be proved that in his building the foregoing provisions were not complied with. A certificate from the Inspector of Buildings shall be considered sufficient evidence of such compliance, if the building shall not have been altered since the certificate was issued.
In addition to these general propositions, another series of suggestions was adopted, providing for proper fire-stops between the stringers in wooden stairs, and between all studdings and furrings, in the thickness of the floors, and for six inches above; for carrying brick party-walls, and outside walls adjoining neighboring property, above the roof, and for anchoring wooden floor-beams to brick walls, in such a way as to prevent the overthrowing of the walls in case the beams should be burned off and fall.
ARCHITECTS and builders will readily concede that the
enforcement of this short code, which is intended to apply to all towns and villages, would, without any additional regulations, at once immensely lessen the risk to which persons and property are now exposed in this country from fire, which, being by far the most universal and dangerous enemy to buildings and their contents, naturally received the greater part of the attention of the Committee; but the enforcement of a code, however good, is not always easy; and it was with the object of making the present regulations, where adopted by State Legislatures, self-enforcing, that the eighth section, the suggestion of which, in substance, came from the delegation appointed by the Fire-Engineers, was agreed to, after considerable discussion and modification. Those familiar with the subject will observe that it is a mild application of a portion of the law which prevails in France and Italy, and which has been the principal agent in making an extensive conflagration unknown in either of those countries. It would hardly be possible to persuade the people of this country, who have been permitted to burn
Vol. XXXII.
Copyright, 1891, by Ticknor & Company, Boston, Mass.
No. 798.
Entered at the Post-Office at Boston as second-class matter.
APRIL 11, 1891.
SUMMARY: —
Resignation of the Supervising Architect, Mr. Windrim. — The Convention for the Purpose of Devising a National Building-Law. — The Skeleton Code Suggested. — Its Resemblance to some European Codes with a Statement of some of their Provisions. — Some Things that could be accomplished with the Savings effected under the new
Rules. — Safe Elevator-shafts.................................... 17 French Architecture. — II.....................................................................................19 Etruscan Art. — II. ........................................................................... 20 Electric-light Wiring Installations from a Mechanical
Standpoint..................................................................................................................... 23
The Nomenclature op Bricks..............................................................................24 Emmanuel Eremiet. — VI.............................................................................24 The Failure of Buildings.....................................................................................28 Illustrations: —
Armory for the Eighth Regiment, N. Y. N. G., Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y. — Store for Mrs. Mary S. Van Beuren, New York, N. Y. — Accepted Design for the Troy Orphan Asylum, Troy, N. Y. — House at Lynn, Mass. — A Gambrelroofed Cottage, East Watertown, Mass.
Additional: Le Rabot, Ghent, Belgium. — Bavarian Bank, Munich, Bavaria. — Holland House, Kensington. — South Front of Same. — East Front of Same. — Turkish Baths,
Blackburn and Bolton, Eng.................................................................29
Communications: —
The Dark Ages in Boston. —The Ventilation of Railroad
Cars.................................................................................................31
Notes and Clippings.................................................................................... 31 Trade Surveys...................................................................................................................32
THE most important professional news of the week is the resignation, by Mr. Windrim, of his post as Supervising
Architect of the Treasury Department. Mr. Windrim having been offered the place of Commissioner of Public Works of the City of Philadelphia, at a salary more than twice that paid by the United States for service requiring far more skill, and involving many times the responsibility, naturally lost no time in accepting it, and, while we congratulate the City of Philadelphia on having secured so able and skilful an officer, we imagine that it will be no easy matter to fill his place at Washington. Of course, we think, with nearly all those who know anything of the operations of the Supervising Architect’s Office, that it would be far better and more economical for the country to abolish the office altogether; but it would probably be best to appoint a temporary officer, to see to the winding-up of its affairs, and the proper completion of the work now in hand. So far, the only name that we have heard suggested for appointment is that of Mr. William L. Windom, a son of the much-regretted Secretary of the Treasury, who is an architect by profession, and has had the advantage of two years’ experience as a subordinate in the office of the Supervising Architect. From what we know of Mr. Windom, who is a young man, not yet thirty, we think, such an appointment seems to us likely to be a satisfactory one. It is hardly necessary to say that the Supervising Architect does not, and cannot, do much professional work with his own hands and head. For all such service he is provided with designers, draughtsmen, computers, experts and engineers in unlimited numbers, while he is himself expected to divide his time between keeping an eye on his staff, overseeing the letting of contracts, and meeting with proper blandness the exactions of Congressmen, some of whom are said, on very good authority, to have utilized the office for getting plans made gratuitously for their own houses, while many others, who would scorn to extort private services from a public officer, find themselves moved with a laudable spirit of inquiry into the building operations of the Government, which can only be satisfied by long and frequent interviews with the head of the Supervising Architect’s office. For fulfilling a portion of these varied duties, Mr. Windom’s distinguished social position, and long familiarity with official life in Washington, would well fit him, while his professional knowledge, if not fortified by so much experience as that of the previous incumbents of the office, has been acquired by earnest industry, under favorable auspices.
THE Combined Committee, consisting of delegates appointed by the American Institute of Architects, the National Association of Master-Builders, the National Association of Building-Inspectors, the National Board of Underwriters, and the National Association of Fire-Engineers, which met in New York last week, to consider the subject of preparing a model building-law, which should be recommended for general adoption, decided, after the first day’s discussion, that the conditions prevailing in different cities were, for the present, too diverse to make it possible to draw up a detailed code of regulations which would be generally adopted, and that it would be better, and more useful, to offer to State Legislatures a concise scheme, embracing the principles most essential to safe construction, which could be everywhere adopted as a basis upon which local codes could be formed by adding details suitable to the varying conditions and habits of building which prevail in different cities.
AS finally agreed upon, the recommendations of the Combined Committee were as follows:
1. That all buildings over seventy feet in height be constructed throughout of incombustible materials, protected in the most approved manner for resisting fire.
2. That interior structural ironwork in all buildings be covered and protected by fireproof material.
3. That all buildings over fifty feet in height be furnished with permanent stand-pipes and ladders for the assistance of the Fire- Department.
4. That the height of buildings to be erected should not be more than two and one-half times the width of the principal street on which they are situated, and that no building, or portion of a building, except church spires, should be more than one hundred and twenty-five feet high, except under a special permit.
5. That the open floor-space, not divided by walls of brick or other incombustible material, in all buildings hereafter erected for mercantile or for manufacturing purposes, should not exceed six thousand square feet, without special permission, based upon unusual and satisfactory precautions.
6. That every building to be erected, which shall be three stories high or more, except dwelling houses for one family, and which shall cover an area of more than twenty-five hundred square feet, should be provided with incombustible staircases, enclosed in brick walls, at the rate of one such staircase for every twenty-five hundred square feet in area of ground covered.
7. That wooden buildings, erected within eighteen inches of the line between the lot on which they stand and the adjoining property, should have the walls next the adjoining property of brick; or when built within three feet of each other should have the walls next to each other built of brick.
8. That the owner of an estate in which a fire originates should be responsible for damage caused by the spread of the fire beyond his own estate, if it should be proved that in his building the foregoing provisions were not complied with. A certificate from the Inspector of Buildings shall be considered sufficient evidence of such compliance, if the building shall not have been altered since the certificate was issued.
In addition to these general propositions, another series of suggestions was adopted, providing for proper fire-stops between the stringers in wooden stairs, and between all studdings and furrings, in the thickness of the floors, and for six inches above; for carrying brick party-walls, and outside walls adjoining neighboring property, above the roof, and for anchoring wooden floor-beams to brick walls, in such a way as to prevent the overthrowing of the walls in case the beams should be burned off and fall.
ARCHITECTS and builders will readily concede that the
enforcement of this short code, which is intended to apply to all towns and villages, would, without any additional regulations, at once immensely lessen the risk to which persons and property are now exposed in this country from fire, which, being by far the most universal and dangerous enemy to buildings and their contents, naturally received the greater part of the attention of the Committee; but the enforcement of a code, however good, is not always easy; and it was with the object of making the present regulations, where adopted by State Legislatures, self-enforcing, that the eighth section, the suggestion of which, in substance, came from the delegation appointed by the Fire-Engineers, was agreed to, after considerable discussion and modification. Those familiar with the subject will observe that it is a mild application of a portion of the law which prevails in France and Italy, and which has been the principal agent in making an extensive conflagration unknown in either of those countries. It would hardly be possible to persuade the people of this country, who have been permitted to burn