Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/679

 1869.] Descriptions. 551 expense having been spared to make it thoroughly fire-proof. The lower floor is vaulted on walls, the upper floors and ceilings on wrought-iron beams ; afford- ing security alike from without and within. The Banking-room is 51 by 53 feet, and the ceiling 40 feet high, in the clear. The rear wing of the building: is sub- divided, on the first floor, into the Presi- dents room, Treasurer's room, two large, strong rooms, and several Retir- ing-rooms ; on the second floor, into the Managers' Meeting-room, Dining-room, Waiting-room, Book-room, and Retiring- room. The ceiling will be coved and frescoed in panels, and the interior will be finished with walnut and ash woods, with the introduction of a portion of marble. The counters will have marble fronts with a top screen of walnut wood and plate-glass ; the floor will be laid, out- side the counters, with brown and blue flag, in alternate diamond patterns. It would be beyond the proper limits of this article, to go into the details of the furniture and decorations, but we are assured that every thing will be done with an eye to the proper fitness of things. We ma} T again allude to this depart- ment, when the building is entirely com- pleted ; just now we can only compli- ment Mr. Hutton on the evidence of success displajed in the well-propor- tioned, solid and suggestive building before us, presenting, as it does, those intelligent features of Bank Architecture which, while they abjure mere meretri- cious ornamentation, display a dignity at once worthy of the style, and the use it is applied to. In a former number we drew a line of distinction between the stles of finish most consonant to the respective sub- jects of Bank Building ; making the Savings Bank a less pretentious struc- ture, than that for Discount and Deposit. Mr. Hutton's design admirably illus- trates the theoiy. NEW JERSEY ASYLUM FOR THE INSANE. HOSPITAL construction is a sub- ject we have already touched upon ; but it is one which must ever prove of the utmost importance to every community. If man in his perfect health requires the safeguards which keep him in that most desirable state, how much more does he stand in need of the most careful sanitary arrange- ments when sickness and disease usurp the place of health, and leave the sj-stem impotent, and craving every aid which his attendants can afford him. His wealth will command all that science can give ; but how is it with the poorer invalid ? He, alas, is forced to accept of such assistance in »his suffering, as benevolence, dictated by religion and humanity, bestow. It is for this latter class, that, in every community, medical and nutritive assistance is given on a comprehensive scale, by institutions aptly designated Hospitals. Here the sick are the guests (hospes) of the com- munity, and receive its hospitality, until health is re-established. To the architect belongs the thorouo-h arrangement of the hospital. All the principles involved in its sanitary per- fectness are in his keeping ; subject, of course, to such hints as the medical faculty can give him, and such aids as he obtains from inventions of others. In our clay this branch of the profes- sional labors is one that calls forth all the untiring diligence and careful atten- tion of the architect, and it is some- thing to be proud of, that he is liberally sustained, in his efforts, by the commu- nity for whom he toils. The accommodation required for in- sane patients being necessarily limited in a general hospital, the establishment of institutions expressly dedicated to their wants became general. Lunatic Asylums were founded on the most com- prehensive and scientific principles, and sites for this purpose were chosen, pos-