Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/286

 268 THE BUILDING NEWS. Marcu 29, 1872. Academy Exhibition will be opened as usual on the | the accident was the rottenness of a wall that had first Monday in May, in accordance with the custom which has prevailed for the last 103 years. Birsaneuam Scuoor or Desten.—On Wednes- day week the students attending the designing class at the Birmingham School of Design testified their appreciation of the zealous and able manner in which Mr. Jackson has directed their studies ever since his appearance amongst them, by presenting him with a valuable work on art, entitled ‘“Polychrome.” ‘The presentation was made by one of the senior students, who spoke a few congratulatory remarks on behalf of the students and himself. More Workmen’s Dwevtincs ror Lonpoy.— Applications have been made to the Metropolitan Board of Works for permission to carry out works as follows: By Mr. Fred. Chancellor, on behalf of the Metropolitan Association for Improving the Dwel- ings of the Industrial Classes, for the formation and names of footways (22ft. to 33ft. wide) out of the Farringdon-road, Clerkenwell, and for the erection of industrial dwellings therein. (Granted.) By Mr. Matthew Allen, for the erection and construc- tion of industrial dwellings in Leonard-street, Finsbury. (Consent deferred.) American y. Forercn Buitpixne Pracrice.— Tt is asserted that the Hotel Dieu, the new half- finished hospital in Paris, in the construction of which the late Empress was warmly interested, and upon which millions of francs have been expended, is built without regard for, and in opposition to, hygienic principles; and, in consequence, several wings of the structure must be pulled down. How absurd! If wein the United States make such a blunder as this, do we think it necessary to alter the position of one single brick? Not at all, The architect publishes a card, all the attending doctors prepare elaborate statements, all the trustees send communications to the newspapers; and thus it is proved that the aspersed building is one of the best constructed in the world.—New York Tribune. A Goop Way or Raising Waces.—On Thurs- day week a meeting of the men in the employment of Messrs. Norton & Marrian, brassfounders, of Bir- mingham, was held at their offices, Lionel-street, when it was stated that the men having asked for an advance of wages of 15 per cent., it had been decided to give them sharesin the new company into which tho firm was to be converted. The orders for the shares were delivered to the workmen at the rate of one fully paid-up share for eyery two years that a man had worked for the firm. Nearly 200 shares were thus disposed of, the man who received the highest number being presented with twenty-two shares, and the lowest with one share. Buripine Orrratrves iy Cuicaco.—The Secre- tary of the Amalgamated Society of Joiners and Carpenters finding that large numbers of building operatives are at the present time leaving this country for Chicago under the impression that there is a great demand for labour in that city, and that skilled artisans are receiving from five to seven dollars per day, writes that he has received a letter from the secretary of the Chicago Branch of his association stating that trade in that city is very dull, that the supply of carpenters and joiners is more than equal to the demand, andthat the rate of wages at present is from two to three dollars per day. LAND IN THE Crry.—A move is at length about to be taken, it is stated, for covering some of the un- sightly piecesof groundon and about the Holborn Viaduct. Mr. Richard Tress, an architect, has taken a lease for eighty years of all that angle at the north- east end of the viaduct having a frontage to the viaduct itself, a round frontage towards S. Sepulchre’s Church, and is about 200ft. frontage on Snow Hill, for which he is to pay £1,725 per annum. How Mr. Tress intendsto appropriate this site is yet to be seen, Fatt or Houses ar Cuetsea.—On Friday last Dr. Diplock resumed at the Chelsea Workhouse an inquiry touching the death of Charles Freer, aged 16 years, who lost his life through the falling of two houses in the Marlborough-road, Chelsea. Mr. George Lewis appeared for Mr. Hill, a contractor, carrying on business in the New-cut, Lambeth. It appeared from the evidence that at 3 o’clock on last Thursday week, two houses, Nos. 163 and 165, Marlborough- road, Chelsea, suddenly fell, and in consequence of their giving way, the deceased, who was an appren- tice to Mr. Jones, linen-draper, occupying the pre- mises, was killed by the simultaneous falling in of both houses, which crushed him to death. A number of witnesses proved a Mr. Bradden and a Mr. Salter were the foremen who had charge of the works, and both Messrs. Salter and Bradden deposed that they had properly attended to their duties. In their evi- dence they stated that, in their opinion, the cause of formed part of the fallen houses. After a great deal of further evidence, the following verdict was re- turned :—‘‘ That the deceased expired from the effects of injuries received during the fall of certain houses in the Marlborough-road, Chelsea, and that Mr. Hillis deserving of censure for taking work of this description without employing a competent sur- veyor, and that Messrs. Bradden and Salter, the foremen of Mr. Hill, who were employed superin- tending the work connected with the fallen houses, are deserving of censure, they being too inexperienced men for taking work of that description.” DEFACEMENT OF WaAtts.—Mr. Peek asked tlie Home Secretary on Friday last whether his attention had been called to the disfigurement, and in many cases permanent injury, inflicted on houses and walls (both public and private property) by sentences stencilled upon them; whether the information furnished to him showed that such disfigurement was generally effected in the;night by men using light carts, who were altogether too quick for the police; and whether the Home Secretary was pre- pared to act on the same plan as the Government Inspector of Telegraphs, who was reported to have threatened proceedings against the chairman of the Republican Association at Ipswich if the bills of the society were found affixed, no matter by whom, to any of the post office poles in the neighbourhood.— Mr. Bruce could not say that any complaints such as those referred to in the question had reached him, but he was informed by the Chief Commissioner of Police that the offence was frequently committed, and that instructions had been given to the police, under 2 and3 Victoria, to arrest any person committing such an offence within his view. These persons, however, travelled in light carts, as the hon.member had said, and frequently eluded apprehension. As to the latter part of the question, he had referred to his right hon. friend the Postmaster-General, who stated that he could not understand that any such proceedings as those referred to had been taken or threatened. If the department had done so, it was as owners of the telegraph posts, and in the same way it was the duty of other owners of property defaced to put the law in motion. ——_—>—____ CHIPS. The Cambridge County Lunatic Asylum, having . beenrecently greatly damaged by fire, Mr. R. R. Rowe, of Cambridge, architect and surveyor, has been called in to report on the injury done, and it appears that the chapel and its roof have been almost totally destroyed. The cost of reinstating the building is estimated at £655. Plans by Mr. Pritchett, archi- tect, for enlarging the asylum, have been submitted to the Commissioners in Lunacy. It is announced that the tunnel under the city of Genoa, connecting the otherrailways with that going to Nice, will be opened on April 1. The new Workmen’s Hall, Lewes, was opened on Monday last, Mr. Alexander Payne, of 4, Storey’s- gate, Westminster, being the architect. A sum of £10,000, in £10 shares, has been sub- scribed on behalf of the projected Exchange at West Hartlepool. The office of York Herald, vacant by the death of Mr. Thomas W. King, has been conferred upon Mr. John yon Sonnentag de Hayillard, Rouge Croix Pursuivant of Arms. The Corporation of Sheffield haye purchased a plot of land for £9,210, whereon to erect a public museum and free library extension. A prospectus has been issued of the West Kent Gault Brick and Portland Cement Company, witha capital of £30,000, in shares of £5, to purchase for £10,000 the Gault clay fields, near Aylesford and Maidstone. £20,000 have been already subscribed for the erection of a monument in Calcutta to the late Lord Mayo, Viceroy of India. The corner stones of a new school-chapel for Moor Bnd, Oswaldtwistle, were laid on Saturday week. The building will provide sittings for 400 persons, ata cost of £1,200. Mr. Waddington, of Burnley, is the architect. New National Schools for the village of Kilburne, Derbyshire, were opened on the 18th inst. Accom- modationis provided for 300 children. ‘The build- ing was designed by Mr. Knight, architect, of Not- tingham, and was built by Messrs. Beresford & Knifton, of Kilburne. In accordance with custom, the Institution of Civil Engineers will not meet in Easter week, are- solution to that effect having been moved, seconded, and agreed to at the ordinary meeting on Tuesday, the 26th inst. The Sheffield School Board asks authority to borrow £89,000 for additional school buildings in that town. A moyement is on foot to illuminate the clock in the Limehouse Church tower. The dial is one of the highest in the metropolis, being 188ft. from the ground, and 12ft. in diameter, and it is visible on the river from London-bridge to Woolwich. The illu- mination of the clock will prove a most material service to those who haye business on the water. Grade Aetvs. WAGES MOVEMENT. THE HARTLEPOOLS.—The operative joiners of the Hartlepools turned out on Monday for a concession of 2s, per week on their present wages of 28s. CAMBRIDGE.—For several weeks past much agita- tion has been going on with the carpenters, bricklayers, and labourers, who are now united in one association for the purpose of demanding from their employers a reduction in the hours of labour and an increase of wages. These bodies have had meetings, at which the carpenters and bricklayers resolved upon asking for a reduction of hours to 54 in the week (with half-holiday on Saturdays), and Gd. per hour as the rate of wage. The labourers seek for a similar reduction of time, and 4d. per hour, or 18s. per week. The master builders were appealed to by committees from each class, and at ameeting passed the following resolution:—“That in justice to our employers it is undesirable to disturb the present arrangements as to time and wages existing between the masters and the workmen.” On Thursday week the operatives, 500 strong, met at the Guildhall for the purpose of considering this reply of the masters, when it was resolved that the men should persist in their demands, and that a deputation of six from the united body should be appointed to confer with an equal number of members of the Master Builders’ Association, Tue Dispure IN THE PoTTeRY TRADE.—On Monday Mr. Davis, the Stipendiary Magistrate, again sat in the Grand Jury Room of the Sheffield Town Hall to hear evidence on the part of the masters and of the men on the subject of the disputes which have arisen in the pottery trade, It will be remembered that the men are desirous of obtaining the ‘ good from hand” system in all the pottery establishments of the district, and Mr. Davis had been requested to act as arbitrator from the fact that during his residence in the Potteries he had become acquainted with the practice of the trade in that district. Evidence was given on behalf of several firms, and by a great number of workmen, and after hearing the evidence on both sides, Mr. Davis consented to go to Mr. Barker’s works (Don Pottery, Swinton), to see the ‘good from oven” system, and afterwards to go to Mr. Twigg’s (Kilnhurst), to observe the “good from hand” system. Mr. Davis will publish his de- cision on Saturday week, such decision to be binding for twelve months on both masters and men. After this decision, the masters and men will meet together to discuss the question of prices, and if they cannot agree, this question will likewise have to go before Mr. Davis for arbitration. LivEerroou.—Since Saturday last, fupwards of 100 men employed in constructing the new tunnel in Great George-street, Liverpool, for the Cheshire Lines Railway, which will connect the line from Brunswick station with the new station now in course of erection in Ranelagh-street, have been on strike for a reduction of the hours of labour, and the works are almost at @ standstill. The men haye been accustomed to work from six a.m. to six p.m., two hours of the time being allowed for meals; but they now contend for eight hours per day, including halfan hour fordinner. They base their demands upon what they designate ‘ the rule of the trade,” and they say that inasmuch as all the stone through which the tunnel has to be formed is cut (blasting not being allowed), so many hours under- ground is highly prejudicial to health, and, therefore, that the exceptional nature of the labour justifies them in what may at first sight appear an excessive demand. BROMSGROVE.—The masters engaged in the build- ing trades at Bromsgrove haye taken no notice of the request of the men, preferred at a meeting held on Wednesday fortnight, for an alteration in the mode of work, a slight increase in pay, and a limitation of the hours on Saturday. The men were much dissatisfied at this course, as the masters who attended their meet- ing as delegates promised that the masters would meet to discuss the subject in the course of a week. Dupiey.—The mill and hand sawyers and timber yard labourers of Dudley, Tipton, West Bromwich, Dar- laston, Wednesbury, and Bilston districts are on strike for an advance of 3d. per 100 English hardwoods and 6d. per 100 foreign hardwoods for piece hands, and the nine hours’ moyement for the day men. Hinckiey.—the bricklayers’ labourers in this town, after a strike of two days’ duration, have obtained an increase of 2s, per weck on their wages, and to work half an hour less time than formerly. West YORKSHIRE.—The strike of quarrymen in West Yorkshire, which has prevailed for several weeks, shows signs of coming to an end. At Morley the masters haye advanced the wages of “strappers”’ and best workmen from 25s, to 28s. per week, the hours of labour being fifty and a half, GLASGOoW.—The packing-box makers of Glasgow re solyed, at a meeting held on Thursday week, to adhere to the terms of the circular for a reduction of the hours of labour, A vote of thanks was passed to those trades in the city who had aided them during the present strike. JEDBURGH.—The master joiners in Jedburgh have agreed that those in their employment shall work only nine hours a-day instead of ten. In one of the work- shops the new arrangement has been in force for some time, and in the others it will take effect after 15th prox, Irswicu.—A large meeting of building operatives was held in the Lecture Hall, Ipswich, on Wednesday