Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/299

 Apri 5, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 281 Seen eee eee eee ee COLOURING VENEERS. OME manufacturers of Germany, who had been supplied from Paris with veneers coloured throughout their mass, were necessitated by the late war to produce them themselves. Experiments in this direction (says the Society of Arts Journal) gave in the beginning colours fixed only on the out- side, while the inside was untouched, until the veneers were soaked for twenty-four hours in a solution of caustic soda, containing 10 per cent. of soda, and boiled therein for half an hour; after washing them with sufficient water to remove the alkali, they may be dyed throughout their mass. This treatment with soda effects a general disintegration of the wood, whereby it becomes in the moist state elastic and leather-like, and ready to absorb the colour; it must then, after dyeing, be dried between sheets of paper, and subjected to pressure, to retain its shape. Veneers treated in this way, and left for twenty- four hours in a hot decoction of log-wood (one part of log-wood to three of decoction), removing them after the lapse of that time, and, after drying them superficially, putting them into a hot solution of copperas (one part of copperas to thirty of water), will, after twenty-four hours, become beautifully and completely dyed black. A solution of one part of picric acid in sixty of water, with the addition of so much ammonia as to become perceptible to the nose, dyes the veneers yellow, which colour is not in the least affected by subsequent varnishing. Coralline dissolved in hot water, to which a little caustic soda and one-fifth of its volume of soluble glass has been added, produces rose colours of different shades, dependent on the amount of coralline taken. The only colour which veneers will take up, without previous treatment of soda, is silver gray, produced by soaking them for a day in a solution of copperas (one of copperas to one hundred of water). ————— MODEL HOUSES AND HOUSE ADAPTATION FOR THE POORER CLASSES. N the 21st ult. a meeting was held at 24, Bed- ford-square, to consider the measures that might be best adapted for the improvement of the dwellings of the poorer classes. Colonel Gourley, M.P., was in the chair. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, spoke of the importance of the subject that had brought them together ; he had long thought it was one of the first subjects of the day, and one that would, sooner or later, occupy a great deal of public attention, not only in and around London, but also in the pro- vinces; indeed, already in his own town, which he had the honour to represent, a similar movement had been most enthusiastically taken up, the inhabitants having in a very short time subscribed the hand- some sum of £5,000. He doubted not that if the present gentlemen determined upon any definite organisation, it would be as warmly received in the metropolis. Mr. Banister Fletcher, having been called upon by the chairman, explained the objects of the meeting. He drew attention to the almost universal dislike of the artisan and labourer to the barrack-like system of the several lodging-houses that had been erected by the Peabody Trustees, Sir Sydney Waterlow, and others, and to the undesirability of so constructing those dwellings. The common staircases which are usual in these large blocks of buildings have been shown to be detrimental to the convenience of the elder and the morality of the younger inmates, and his experience tended to show that there are frequent complaints of the want of freedom offaction, and the poor themselves woula much prefer living in smaller classes of houses. There were other reasons why these blocks were objectionable, the principal one being the immense height they have to be built, thus overshadowing the narrow streets (suchas Streatham- street, Bloomsbury) in which they are built. Adapta- tion was to his mind the first great, and perhaps the only mode of commencing to remedy these evils: for whilst getting rid of nuisances, we are at the same time pro- viding healthy and comfortable homes, which two-fold object new building operations will effect. Another great object, if an association were formed, would be, he contended, to endeavour to enforce the provi- sions of the Sanitary Acts, which were almost en- tirely ignored, by reason of so many vestrymen, as arule, in a parish being landlords. In a pecuniary point of view, there could be no doubt that if pro- perly managed, houses could be made to pay a very fair rate of interest; as he knew from his own ex- perience, having built new houses which are paying 8} per cent: and the adaptation of existing houses would no doubt yield a larger rate of interest. In support of this he quoted Lord Shaftesbury, who, in reference to Tyndall’s Buildings, said, ‘‘ That place had now by adaptation become decent and healthy, the rents were regularly paid, and the occupants were enabled to have a tenement of three rooms at a much less figure than would be given in other places for a home in only one room.” They were enabled to do that, because they had not spent a large sum of money, not having had to build from the ground. One of his modes of adaptation, as shown in his book, was the conversion of three narrow-fronted houses into two double-flat houses, to be let at im- proved rentals, and he thought that this should have the earliest attention of the association, as by this method we get rid of the worst kind of houses, such as were really too smallin frontage to give rooms for families, and convert them into good flats, at an expense of only £50 for three houses. The following resolutions were then passed :— 1. ‘That this meeting, having listened with great interest to the suggestions of Mr. B. Fletcher, upon the subject of the improvement of the abodes of the poor, does hereby record its entire sympathy with the movement for the adaptation of their present habita- tions to decent and healthy homes.” 2. “That the Sanitary Acts require some combi- nation of persons who, being independent of local and personal considerations, will see that the provisions be strictly enforced.” 3. “That a Committee be appointed to consider the best means of forming an association, to be called the ‘Model Houses Association,’ for the purposes indicated in the foregoing resolutions.” The Committee consisted of Colonel Money, Cap- tain Charles Mercier, Mr. E. Hall, F.S.A., Messrs. J. Chester, Henry Walker, H. E. Batt, Isidore Leyeaux, Charles Walker, Banister Fletcher, with Mr. Frank E. Thicke as Honorary Secretary. > —_—__—_. IMPERMEABLE HOSPITAL WALLS. CREA parian is harder, and consequently less absorbent than plaster (writes Dr. J. C. Steele, in the Lancet), no one can doubt; but that it pos- sesses any sanitary advantage over the plaster, when the latter is properly rendered, set with compo or trowelled stucco, and afterwards well painted, is ex- tremely questionable. The dirty and unsightly ap-~ pearance of the parian after a year or two’s wear is always objectionable, and can only be satisfactorily corrected by the same process which is employed to render plaster walls non-absorbent—namely, by oil paint, which the parian readily receives, and which ever afterwards facilitates cleansing with soap and water. Allow me to say a word for the ceilings. While floors of polished oak or encaustic tile, and walls of parian or porcelain, are not thought too luxurious for hospital wards, how comes it that no heed is taken of the material which clothes the ceilings, pre- senting as it does a larger surface, and more open to contamination, than the walls themselves? Ordinary lath-and-plaster, compounded of chalk, lime, sand, and hair, which has done duty for centuries, is still thought good enough for the purpose referred to, and an occasional dash of whitewash, which is little better than an attempt to substitute white dirt for black, is about all that is done to combat those occult agencies in hospital life which we all dread so much and of which we know so little, but which, by a parity of reasoning, are morelikely to find an abiding place where they are least under control—in the higher strata of the ward atmosphere. Surely the principles enunciated with reference to the walls are equally applicable to the ceilings of hospital wards. eet PRESERVING PLASTER CASTS. CORRESPONDENT of the Atheneum writes :—‘‘In view of the approaching Royal Academy and International Exhibitions, it may be worth while to draw the attention of sculptors to the use of paraffin for saturating the surface of plaster of Paris casts, instead of employing stearine, or clogging them with coats of paint. Parattin, from its comparatively unchangeable nature, its few chemical affinities (parum ajjinis), the variety ob- tained from peat or mineral tar—indeed, having been tried for ages by exposure to all sorts of cosmical vicissitudes—seems, ¢ priori, more likely to be durable in colour and other qualities than stearine. It softens at 110°, melts at 130°, and is then easily ap- plied, in one or more dressings, to casts made pre- viously warm in an oven or on a covered stove. It imparts to the plaster an agreeable appearance of subdued transparency, combined with solidity, far preferable to the effects produced by stearine. The casts soon acquire an ivory-like tone, and their sur- face is destitute of any greasy feel or any unpleasant glare; unlike those dipped in stearine they do not —moreover, paraffin is very cheap. Of course the casts to be treated with it must be clean to begin with, and any seams should be neatly finished off. When properly saturated for half an inch or less in depth from the surface, the paraftined casts are smooth and dry to the touch, so that dust, if it gathers upon them, does not adhere to them, but may be removed by a fine brush, or may be washed off witha soft sponge and cold water, either with, or better, without soap. Warm or hot water makes them adhesive, melts the paraffin, exposes the pores of the plaster, and causes dirt to sink into the surface in patches or streaks. Any exposure to un- due fire heat or solar heat also affects theminjuriously, and, of necessity, oily dusters or greasy fingers will soil them. With care, however, they may be kept, evenin London houses, without the hideous coverin g ofa glass shade. This process of paraftining casts appears to be admirably suited for works intended for public exhibition, which are necessarily subjected to the influence of many atmospheric impurities. It not only enables them to be preserved in a compara- tively clean state, but it substitutes for the dull, cold, and ghastly whiteness of the raw plaster an agreeable hue, substance, and surface. The sugges- tion of this use of paraffin was made by Professor Marshall, and it has been practically tested by Mr. Thornycroft and his son.” oe ITALIAN FIRE-PROOF BUILDINGS. IRAM POWERS, the American sculptor, writing home from Florence, describes as follows the manner of constructing the fire-proof houses common in Italy. The plan would, doubt- less, have to be modified before it could be exten- sively adopted either here or in the United States, but the sketch is both interesting and suggestive :— “With regard to the thin arches built here for dwelling-houses, the builders first throw up all the walls without any flooring whatever. The walls are bound, when necessary, all around with iron rods, varying from an inch to an inch and a half diameter. Standing below and looking up, you at first might not perceive a slight recess in the walls at the point where the arch is to rest. It is about one and a half inches deep and two and a half inches high. When they are ready to begin the arch, a staging is made all around the room for the masons to stand on. They first of all make with plaster of Paris a smooth place on the walls, on which to draw the curve intended for the arch. Of course, this curved line presents the appearance of a bow, the ends meeting at the base of the arch at each corner of the room. Bricks 1ft. long and 6in. broad, and 1}in. thick, well burnt, but not so hard as to absorb water, are brought, and plaster of Paris instead of mortar to lay them with. The masons now stretch small cords across from corner to corner of each wall, the ends fastened Gin. distant from the latter, and on the curve of the arch. They then, with trowel and brush, mix upon their boards a small quantity of plaster to the consistency of mortar, and each, taking a brick, applies the plaster to one end and one side of it, and instantly places it in position, where it is held for a moment to allow the brick, by absorbing the water, so to thicken and stiffen the plaster as to hold the brick in its place. They then take another, placing it against the wall and the first brick, and so they go on until the four masons have projected their arch Gin. out into the space, and inclined upward according to the curve of the arch. The masons now stretch their cords on the curve of the arch, another 6in. out, and so they go on until some support is required, which is ob- tained by placing four rafters from the centre of each wall and all meeting in the middle of the space, so as not to project above the highest part of the arch. ‘They then place a brick or two on each of these rafters endwise, until they touch both rafter and arch, a little plaster of Paris is used to stay the bricks. This done, they go on again until the arch is completed. But note—where the bricks meet at the corners, they pass one another a little at every alternate row, so as to make a serrated junction. This makes the corners stronger than anywhere else. When the arch is done, it is nowhere more than 1hin. thick, but you can safely walk upon it, and it sounds like adrum. The uppermost or garret vaults are usually stiffened with braces of bricks from the walls towards the middle. These vaults have no flooring upon them The vaults done, we now want to fill up the spaces and lay the tile floors. The first we do with a number of small arches, deep at the walls, but coming to nothing as they approach the centre. These serve a double purpose—they brace and stiffen the arch, and also fill up the spaces, until, by using old wall rubbish, which is lighter than sand, the appear, after a trial of many months, to turn yellow | ground for the brick flooring is prepared, whiclr