Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/896

 728 The Architectural Review and American Builders'' Journal. [May, to be the motto nearest the heart of our conscript City Fathers. The question now to be considered is — Will any respectable architect, in good business, hazard the wasting of his time in open competition with all who may choose to try their hand at "designing," with an ej'e single to their influence in another way to make their effort a success ? We do not think that the determina- tion arrived at is one that is at all calcu- lated to conduce to the best interests of the public in the securing of municipal buildings which, without a ruinous out- lay, might prove at once a model of convenience, and a monument of archi- tecturesque beauty. HORACE GREELEY'S BARK " "A IC Y barn is a fair success. I placed J-V_l_ jt on the shelf of my hill, nearest to the upper (east) side of my place, because a barnyard is a manufactory of fertilizers from materials of lesser weight ; and it is easier to draw these down hill than up. I built its walls wholly of stones gathered or blasted from the adjacent slope, to the extent of four or five thousand tons, and laid in a box with a thin mortar of (little) lime and (much) sand, filling all the in- terstices and binding the whole in a solid mass, till m}^ walls are nearly one solid rock, while the roof is of Vermont slate. I drive into three stories — a basement for manures, a stable for ani- mals, and a story above this for hay, while the grain is pitched into the loft or " scaffold " above, from whose floor the roof rises steep to a height of six- teen to eighteen feet. There should have been more windows for light and air ; but my barn is convenient, imper- vious to frost, and I am confident that cattle are wintered in it at a fourth less cost than when the}' shiver in board shanties, with cracks between the boards that will admit 3-our hand. No part of our rural economy is more wasteful than the habitual exposure of our animals to pelting, chilling storms, and to intense cold. Building with concrete is still a novelty, and was far more so ten j'ears ago, when I built my barn. I could now build better and cheaper, but I am glad that I need not. I calculate that this barn will be abidingly useful long after I shall have been forgotten ; and that, had I chosen to have my name lettered on its front, it would have re- mained there to honor me as a builder long after it had ceased to have any other significance." We extract the foregoing as a testi- mony of the utility of concrete, by one who is an ardent lover of the useful and the practical, and whose endorsement of the material will exercise a powerful influence in bringing it fairly before the country. We are sorry that the learned phil- osopher of the N. Y Tribune did not give us the proportions of lime, sand, and broken stone he used. DRINKING FOUNTAINS. We are much pleased to see another of these most welcome springs in the thirsty desert of city life in course of construction outside of Washington Square N. and exactly opposite to Seventh street. Philadelphia has sev- eral private and public fountains, and this of which we now speak is still another of such city boons. It is con- structed of granite and is apportioned into a drinking place for animals, and also one for citizens, the latter to be furnished with the usual chained cup. It is a pity that a little more taste could not have been afforded on the design. But it is well to have the blessing, even though it be unadorned. Therefore we feel grateful for what is thus bestowed upon the thirsty, and fervently hope that the tasteful may yet enjoy their share.