either singly, or in parties, as they prefer, and at such times as they find convenient. For the promotion of their efforts, “ Consuls” are appointed in a great number of places throughout the architectural part of Great Britain, who, we suppose give advice to sketchers, and help them to obtain admittance to places which might be closed to strangers. In very many cases, the consuls are diocesan surveyors, and, as such, would be in a position to be of great assistance to persons wishing to measure or sketch in the cathedrals and churches within their jurisdiction. Encouragement to faithful work in sketching is afforded by the Travelling Studentship established by the Association, as well as by the prospect that good drawings may be accepted and published in the Association Sketch-book ; and the Architectural Union Company, a body in regard to which we have little information, offers two prizes in money, one of five pounds and the other of half as much, for the best measured drawings showing the construction of English buildings prior to the eighteenth century. Besides the prizes for sketches, similar rewards are offered for attainment in many other branches, and last, but not least, the library of the Association is open to all members, who are allowed to take away books and keep them for a reasonable length of time.
O
F all the devices of the Association for promoting professional study of a certain sort among draughtsmen and assistants, that of the establishment of local consuls, appears to us perhaps the most valuable. American architects, young and old, look forward, as a rule, to an occasional sketching tour abroad as a very valuable part of their professional development, and if a system of consuls could be established extending, not only through Great Britain, but into France, Italy and Spain, with, perhaps some parts of Germany, and affiliated with our best sketch clubs and architectural leagues, it might be of immense value to our students. Not only does an American student lose much time in foreign towns, by not knowing where to go to find subjects for sketching and measuring, but, unless he is more familiar with Continental languages than most Americans, he is timid about asking his way, or about penetrating into churches and convent precincts, where he would really be very welcome. A local consul, in such cases, could, at a sacrifice of a very few minutes’ time give an inquirer all the information he needed, if it should be inconvenient to do any more, and could usually tell him, besides, of other American students of architecture who might be in the neighborhood. This last would be a great advantage. A young man travelling alone, as most of our young architects do, finds himself, after the first novelty has worn off, very lonely in strange countries, and needs something to keep him up to his work. If, when in this state of mind, he meets with a party of friends from home, travelling for pleasure, he is greatly tempted to keep near them, to the neglect of the architectural objects which he intended to visit, and which generally lie far off from the ordinary tourists’ path. A student travelling alone, who can resist this temptation, and always prefer the fleas of the Auvergnat inns, with solitary architectural enjoyment, to pleasant company in the hotels of Nice or Cannes, with drives and lawn-tennis, but without any architecture, must be made of stern stuff; while two students can encourage and interest each other continuously, under the most uncomfortable circumstances, for an indefinite period. Although the benefit of such an international arrangement would, for the present, be mostly on the side of the Americans, they might do something in return. Every year sees an increasing number of English, French, and German architects, young and old, travelling in this country, which every year offers better and more important work for their inspection. American consuls, in the more important cities, could do much for the comfort and convenience of properly accredited professional tourists, and those of the latter who come again subsequently, as many of them do, to take up a permanent residence, would find their interest greatly promoted by the previous acquaintance, or even by the official introduction alone.
M.
ALBERT TOURNADE, who died recently in France, was an architect of great capacity, whose name was
already noted among the public, as well as in the profession. He was born in 1847, and was a “logiste ” and medal scholar, though not a Grand Prize man, of the School of Fine Arts. After graduation, he became assistant to M. Questel, and, later, to the late M. Touchard, whose daughter he after
wards married. He was very successful and popular in business, and carried out a host of important commissions, so many, in fact, that his health gave way, and for many years previous to his death he had suffered greatly, although, with courageous determination, he kept at his work. He was obliged, however, at intervals, to abandon his office for a period of complete rest, and, according to M. Paul Wallon, who pronounced a touching funeral oration at his grave; his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached, directed his business during his absence, in addition to taking care of her two children and her household. Although the French are accustomed to seeing women managing business affairs, M. Wallon expressed a feeling, wdiich all architects will share, of admiration for the courage and intelligence which could enable a woman, even the daughter of one architect and the wife of another, to direct successfully, so large and responsible a practice as that of Tournade. With us, we doubt if any architect’s wife, unless she had made some regular study of the profession, would dream of entering his office during his absence, much less of taking charge of it, yet the idea of giving girls a professional education, wliich seems so natural to us, is looked upon with horror by nearly all French architects. The difference really appears to be simply one of prejudice. Among us, girls can easily get a tolerably complete education for a profession which very few of them ultimately practice, while in France, much more than here, women enter into their husband’s affairs so intelligently that, as in this case, they may almost be said to practise many professions for which it is impracticable for them to get any proper training.
A RATHER important decision was given in Germany a
few weeks ago. According to the Bautechnische Zeitschrift, the Hamburg General Anzeiger is, or was printed with power derived from gas-engines. A year or more ago, the men employed in the Hamburg gas-works struck, and the publication of the General Anzeiger was interrupted until the strike was settled, and gas began again to flow through the pipes. The publisher of the Anzeiger sued the gas company for damages, on account of the losses suffered through the suspension of publication, and the case has just been tried for third time. What the decision was in the court of first instance we are not informed, but, on appeal to the higher court, the gas-company was condemned to pay. A second appeal was taken to the Reichsgericht, which seems to answer to our Supreme Court, and this reversed the decision of the court below, and decided that strikes were instances of force majeure, or “hohere Gewalt,” which it was not within the power of a contractor to avoid or guard against, and that the Anzeiger’s claim for indemnity could not be allowed.
THE Convention of the American Institute of Architects in Boston was pleasant and promises to be quite useful. At
the first session even, at least one hundred Fellows were in attendance, — by far the largest number which has ever been seen at a Convention in the Eastern States. Even before the formation of the Western Association, we have seen the business of the Institute for the year transacted by a Convention of fourteen persons, and the attendance of seventy or seventy-five at Cincinnati on the occasion of the first Convention after the consolidation, was looked upon as a remarkable exception, probably due to the interest excited by the reorganization. It is needless to say that now, for the first time, the Conventions can, with such a representation, speak authoritatively for the profession. A few years ago, the few faithful ones who went to all the Conventions were afraid to do more than pass some mildly ineffective resolutions on professional subjects, knowing that any attempt at an energetic demonstration would be laughed down, as the eccentricity of a few, perhaps rather eminent architects, who had the presumption to speak for the whole profession. Now, however, a Convention which counts like the present one, five or six members in attendance from Missouri, three or four from Illinois, and as many from Ohio and Pennsylvania, besides a large number from the Eastern cities, and in which a hundred of the most distinguished architects of the country answer to their names at roll-call, can speak the opinion of the profession without any danger that what it says will be ridiculed or repudiated; and so far as it is possible for the wrongs of a profession to be righted by the action of an authoritative and thoroughly representative body, the Convention is now the well-armed and accredited champion of the architects of the United States.
O
F all the devices of the Association for promoting professional study of a certain sort among draughtsmen and assistants, that of the establishment of local consuls, appears to us perhaps the most valuable. American architects, young and old, look forward, as a rule, to an occasional sketching tour abroad as a very valuable part of their professional development, and if a system of consuls could be established extending, not only through Great Britain, but into France, Italy and Spain, with, perhaps some parts of Germany, and affiliated with our best sketch clubs and architectural leagues, it might be of immense value to our students. Not only does an American student lose much time in foreign towns, by not knowing where to go to find subjects for sketching and measuring, but, unless he is more familiar with Continental languages than most Americans, he is timid about asking his way, or about penetrating into churches and convent precincts, where he would really be very welcome. A local consul, in such cases, could, at a sacrifice of a very few minutes’ time give an inquirer all the information he needed, if it should be inconvenient to do any more, and could usually tell him, besides, of other American students of architecture who might be in the neighborhood. This last would be a great advantage. A young man travelling alone, as most of our young architects do, finds himself, after the first novelty has worn off, very lonely in strange countries, and needs something to keep him up to his work. If, when in this state of mind, he meets with a party of friends from home, travelling for pleasure, he is greatly tempted to keep near them, to the neglect of the architectural objects which he intended to visit, and which generally lie far off from the ordinary tourists’ path. A student travelling alone, who can resist this temptation, and always prefer the fleas of the Auvergnat inns, with solitary architectural enjoyment, to pleasant company in the hotels of Nice or Cannes, with drives and lawn-tennis, but without any architecture, must be made of stern stuff; while two students can encourage and interest each other continuously, under the most uncomfortable circumstances, for an indefinite period. Although the benefit of such an international arrangement would, for the present, be mostly on the side of the Americans, they might do something in return. Every year sees an increasing number of English, French, and German architects, young and old, travelling in this country, which every year offers better and more important work for their inspection. American consuls, in the more important cities, could do much for the comfort and convenience of properly accredited professional tourists, and those of the latter who come again subsequently, as many of them do, to take up a permanent residence, would find their interest greatly promoted by the previous acquaintance, or even by the official introduction alone.
M.
ALBERT TOURNADE, who died recently in France, was an architect of great capacity, whose name was
already noted among the public, as well as in the profession. He was born in 1847, and was a “logiste ” and medal scholar, though not a Grand Prize man, of the School of Fine Arts. After graduation, he became assistant to M. Questel, and, later, to the late M. Touchard, whose daughter he after
wards married. He was very successful and popular in business, and carried out a host of important commissions, so many, in fact, that his health gave way, and for many years previous to his death he had suffered greatly, although, with courageous determination, he kept at his work. He was obliged, however, at intervals, to abandon his office for a period of complete rest, and, according to M. Paul Wallon, who pronounced a touching funeral oration at his grave; his wife, to whom he was devotedly attached, directed his business during his absence, in addition to taking care of her two children and her household. Although the French are accustomed to seeing women managing business affairs, M. Wallon expressed a feeling, wdiich all architects will share, of admiration for the courage and intelligence which could enable a woman, even the daughter of one architect and the wife of another, to direct successfully, so large and responsible a practice as that of Tournade. With us, we doubt if any architect’s wife, unless she had made some regular study of the profession, would dream of entering his office during his absence, much less of taking charge of it, yet the idea of giving girls a professional education, wliich seems so natural to us, is looked upon with horror by nearly all French architects. The difference really appears to be simply one of prejudice. Among us, girls can easily get a tolerably complete education for a profession which very few of them ultimately practice, while in France, much more than here, women enter into their husband’s affairs so intelligently that, as in this case, they may almost be said to practise many professions for which it is impracticable for them to get any proper training.
A RATHER important decision was given in Germany a
few weeks ago. According to the Bautechnische Zeitschrift, the Hamburg General Anzeiger is, or was printed with power derived from gas-engines. A year or more ago, the men employed in the Hamburg gas-works struck, and the publication of the General Anzeiger was interrupted until the strike was settled, and gas began again to flow through the pipes. The publisher of the Anzeiger sued the gas company for damages, on account of the losses suffered through the suspension of publication, and the case has just been tried for third time. What the decision was in the court of first instance we are not informed, but, on appeal to the higher court, the gas-company was condemned to pay. A second appeal was taken to the Reichsgericht, which seems to answer to our Supreme Court, and this reversed the decision of the court below, and decided that strikes were instances of force majeure, or “hohere Gewalt,” which it was not within the power of a contractor to avoid or guard against, and that the Anzeiger’s claim for indemnity could not be allowed.
THE Convention of the American Institute of Architects in Boston was pleasant and promises to be quite useful. At
the first session even, at least one hundred Fellows were in attendance, — by far the largest number which has ever been seen at a Convention in the Eastern States. Even before the formation of the Western Association, we have seen the business of the Institute for the year transacted by a Convention of fourteen persons, and the attendance of seventy or seventy-five at Cincinnati on the occasion of the first Convention after the consolidation, was looked upon as a remarkable exception, probably due to the interest excited by the reorganization. It is needless to say that now, for the first time, the Conventions can, with such a representation, speak authoritatively for the profession. A few years ago, the few faithful ones who went to all the Conventions were afraid to do more than pass some mildly ineffective resolutions on professional subjects, knowing that any attempt at an energetic demonstration would be laughed down, as the eccentricity of a few, perhaps rather eminent architects, who had the presumption to speak for the whole profession. Now, however, a Convention which counts like the present one, five or six members in attendance from Missouri, three or four from Illinois, and as many from Ohio and Pennsylvania, besides a large number from the Eastern cities, and in which a hundred of the most distinguished architects of the country answer to their names at roll-call, can speak the opinion of the profession without any danger that what it says will be ridiculed or repudiated; and so far as it is possible for the wrongs of a profession to be righted by the action of an authoritative and thoroughly representative body, the Convention is now the well-armed and accredited champion of the architects of the United States.