Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/301

 1868.] Practical Carpentry and Joinery. 247 different kinds of stone of diversified hues is much in vogue on the continent of Europe ; but it is not one that we> would advocate, or ever wish to see in- troduced into our country, as being utterly at variance with all rules of good taste. In Philadelphia, from the fortu- nate circumstance of the supply of bricks and marble being very abundant, the principle which we have been urging has been in practice for a long time ; and the effect thereby obtained has been to re- lieve the monotony that would other- wise have wearied the eye in long, unbroken lines of red brick fronts. Not that there is still no room for improve- ment in this line — so much we cannot say; but still the standard of public taste is undoubtedly steadily and surely advancing, and we yet hope to see all such defects in our style of architecture, if not entirely remedied, at least much subdued. The clay in the vicinity of Philadel- phia is very superior in its quality and properties for the manufacture of bricks, and perhaps more abundant than that of any other of her sister cities, or we may even say of any city in the Union. Hence has arisen the almost universal use of that material in the construction of the walls of our numberless edifices of all descriptions. Our marble quarries, too, are within a few miles of the city; and, in fact, some are within such close proximity, and so easy of access, that the material can be conveyed by wagons into the marble- yards. The stone produced from these quarries is probably equal, if not superior, to any marble in the coun- try, and can be obtained of all shades and of any dimensions that may be re- quired. As we have before observed, we, in this city, are indebted for the very marked improvement in the external appearance of the majority of our dwell- ings to the fact of the supply of these two materials being so abundant and so steady, as fully to meet all demands, not onty for our own requirements, but for those of other cities. And in this con- nection — although perhaps not exactly apropos — vve may be pardoned for re- marking on the singularity of a circum- stance, which has often occurred to us, as strikingly illustrative of the different characteristics in our individual States. We allude to our Eastern States, which border on the Atlantic ocean, abounding in and celebrated for their granite and brown stone. One would naturally sup- pose that, with such an inexhaustible mine of wealth, in the sliape of building material, at their very doors, they would have emplo3^ed it largely in the construc- tion of their dwellings. On the contrary, however, the granite or brown stone, actually quarried, in digging their foun- dations, often in sufficient quantities for the whole structure, is carted away, and frame dwellings are put up. We can only account for this in one way, which is doubtless the true one, viz., that the close proximity of these States to the Atlantic ocean, with their consequent subjection to the influence of the sea air, renders the atmosphere so humid, that the use of such a cold material as stone for building would be utterly unbearable. In such cases, where stone is used, it being a conductor of heat, although not a good one, still better than timber, and colder than the surrounding air, it, in common parlance, sweats, or, in other words, condenses the moisture of the atmosphere in visible drops upon the stone walls. Timber and brick walls make a much more comfortable and healthy dwelling ; and hence has arisen the custom, which is so prevalent in these States, of rejecting the material with which they have been so bounti- fully endowed by nature, and in its stead importing brick from Philadelphia, Bal- timore, and other cities noted for the excellence of their manufacture, owing to the superiority of their underlying and surrounding clay. ,