Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/449

 May 24, 1872. THE BUILDING NEWS. 427 On Office Table. ———.>__ Tue ARCHITECTURAL Musreum.—The Council have recently received a valuable addition to the Museum by the presentation by Mr. Charles Hudson, of the large and fine collection of casts formed by his brother, the late Mr. Octavius Hudson, from the Cathedrals of Salisbury, Chester, Lichfield, and Hereford, and from other places visited by that gentleman. Tue Unirep Srates Government AncHIrecr. —The supervising architect, the man who has the primary direction of all buildings erected by the United States Government, is Mr. A. B. Mullet, a gentleman of extraordinary industry and ability. His official position gives him charge of all post offices, custom houses, mints, assay offices, &c, both as to construction and repair, and the list of edifices he has planned and built is very large. There is the new State Department building, which will cost about six million dollars; the New York Post Office, at least four millions; the Chicago Custom House, not less than three millions; the Boston Post Office and Sub-Treasury, one million and a half; the San Francisco Branch Mint, one million and a half; and the Custom House at Portland, Maine, about 477,000 dollars. Mr. Mullet, according to Harper's Weekly, is arather small wiry, indefatigable gentle- man, who can handle a hundred irons at once, work all day, and sit up the better part of the night; and it would be hard to find anywhere, in either ancient or modern times, a man who has built so much and with such general acceptability. Several of the best architects in New York competed with Mr. Mullet for the plans of the New York Post Office—the most costly edifice which has been erected by the Federal Government outside of its own capital. Dirricutty or Estimarine Cosr or DRAINAGE. —As a proof of the difficulty of estimating the cost of drainage works where water is present in the soil, Mr. Aird, one of the leading contractors for the Metropolitan Main Drainage Works, made the following statement publicly at a meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers:—‘ With respect to the cost of construction he could state that, with few ex- ceptions, they were executed within the contract price. One of these exceptions occurred ia a portion of the work on the premises of the Deptford Gas Works, where it was intended to put up a gas-holder. To facilitate this, the work of the sewer underneath, for a length of 130ft. was commenced. Unfortu- nately, the contractors were not able to carry it out. His firm then took the contract, and completed it. The estimated cost was about £2,000, whereas it actually cost upwards of £16,000. Vauur or Lanp wy rum Crry.—The freehold plot of land No. 24, Lombard-street, containing an area of 1,530 square feet, with the modern banking premises thereon, has been disposed of by Messrs. Mackenzie, Trinder, & Co., Old Broad-street, for the sum of £60,000, to Baron Grant, of the firm of Grant Brothers & Co., in whose occupation they are. This averages, exclusive of the value of the bank premises, over £32 per square foot. At the Auction Mart this week the freehold property so well known as the Poultry Chapel and Schools was disposed of by Messrs. Debenham, Tewson, & Farmer, of Cheap- side. The property covers the large area of 7,440 square feet. The biddings commenced at £30,000, and after an unusually spirited competition the property was eventually knocked down at £50,200 (uearly £7 a foot) to a gentleman who was under- stood to be acting on behalf of the directors of the London Joint-stock Bank, whose premises adjoin the Poultry Chapel. The auctioneer stated that the site was that formerly occupied by the Poultry to the Board they would be happy to find a site for it. A correspondent of the Times states that in 1852 a similar proposal was made by the promoters of the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, and as the angles of the obelisk were much chipped and the hieroglyphics on one square almost entirely obliterated, it was consi- dered not worth the labour and cost of transport. It has since been covered up by the fortifications, and the only way to remove it would be that adopted by the French in the case of the Luxor monolith (now in the Place dela Concorde, Paris), viz., by removing part of the wall of the fortifications, and digging a canal deep enough to float a caisson, which must be built round it as it lies, and thus towed during the fine weather to England. ‘The writer, however, con- tinues that it is not worth the trouble in its present state, and doubts if it is capable of restoration. Tur CompeLerion or 8. Paur’s.—Lady Burdett- Coutts, in aletter to the Lord Mayor, published in the Times, says:—“ I trust your Lordship and the sub- scribers will not, for a moment, lose sight of the fact that when the late Dean Milman, in 1858, com- menced this great movement in conjunction with his Chapter, and with the special sanction of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury (then Bishop of London), he gave a public assurance in the following words :— ‘Sir Christopher Wren’s intentions, his mode of treatment, and, as far as they can be authenticated, his very designs, will be scrupulously kept sacred and followed.’ Asa subscriber to the Fund, I think it right to mention to you that it was solely on the faith of Dean Milman’s public assurance that the designs of the great architect would be ‘ scrupulously kept sacred and followed’ that I for one was led to contribute.” US EL SE ee WATER SUPPLY AND SANITARY MATTERS. ABERDEEN.—At a meeting of the Aberdeen Town Council on Monday last, a report on the utilisation of sewage was presented by the committee appointed some time ago on the motion of the Lord Provost. The committee had examined the Murear Links, and reported very favourably on them, recommending that an arrangement should be made with Mr. Forbes, of Balgownie, to lease about 400 acres lying eastward from the turnpike. The cost of bringing the sewage to the margin of the land proposed to be irrigated was estimated at £9,950. On the motion of the Lord Proyost, if was nnanimously agreed to appoint a competent person to draw up a report as to what would be the cost of levelling the land, bringing it into a fit state for sewage irrigation, and conveying the sewage to it; and also as to what would be the probable production of the land when so cultivated. OtpBuRY.—This place was visited on the 14th inst., by Mr. John Thornhill Harrison, the in- spector appointed to make inquiry respecting an application for a loan of £5,000 towards paving, kerbing, chanelling, and repairing the roads in the district, by the Local Board. Estimates had been made showing the whole of the work would cost £8,000. There was a strong organised opposition by a number of ex-members of the Board. The inquiry showed the district to be in a very filthy state; that there is an abundant supply of good water; that it is very well adapted for a system of sewerage ; that the wells are so polluted by the filth percolating into them that a great number of the houses are without clean water to use. Oldbury has had a Board of Health 15 years, and has not a single sewer. The Inspectorintimated that he could not re- comme nd the grant of the loan, but should suggest that a thorough system of sewerage should be at once carried out. There haye been three previous inspections respecting the sanitary state of the district ; each time the importance of sewering the district has been shown to the Board. SHoREHAM.—The question of the water supply of Shoreham is engaging attention in the locality, and the Local Government Board have been communi- cated with on the subject. It appears from the Compter, and that the sale was made with the! correspondence, whichis of a voluminous character, authority of the Charity Commissioners, in conse- | that in 1866 a Government inquiry was held, when quence of the trustees of the chapel having acquired a larger site fronting the Holborn Viaduct. Tne ALEXANDRIAN Ope isK.—At a recent meet- it was proved to the satisfaction of the inspector that the drainage and water supply were most defective. Since then drainage works have been 4 7: a } carried out in the district, and the Local Board say ing of the Metropolitan Board of Works, a letter was | that when they are thoroughly completed the water read from Major-General Sir James E, Alexander, which might haye been preyiously injured by requesting the Board to take measures for transporting j to this country and placing on the Thames Embank- ment the prostrate obelisk of Alexandria. The monolith, which used to be imbedded in the sand near the sea shore, was presented by Mahomed Ali, Pasha of Egypt, to King George IV. and the British nation, but no attempt has ever been made to remove it, on account of its ponderous size, for it is 64ft. in length, about 8ft. square at the butt, and may weigh about 284 tons. On the motion of Mr. Runtz, it was agreed that Major-General Alexander be respectfully informed that the Board have no funds at their disposal for the conveyance of the obelisk to England, but if it could be brought independently of any cost proximity to cesspools, &e., would resume its natural purity. The Shoreham Local Board have resolved themselves into a committee to consider the cor- respondence. ete sg fata MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEE. Monpay.—Royat INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHI- TECTS.—Discussion on Captain Seddon’s paper “On the Strcength of Building Materials.” 8 p.m. TuESDAY.—INSTITUTION OF 8 p.m. FRIDAY.—ARCHITECTURAL Modern French Architecture.” H. West, A.R.I.B.A, 7.30 p.m, Crvin ENGINEERS. AssocraTiIon. — “On By Mr, G. CHIPS The death is announced of Mr. Frederic Doulton, for some years one of the members for the borough of Lambeth. He was 50 years of age. _ The Lords of the Treasury have refused the peti- tion of the Bath Town Council to borrow £14,000 for the completion of the water-works of that city. The Heclesiastical Commissioners have decided to build a new church at Ramsgate, to be dedicated to 8. Barnabas. The accommodation is to be for 800 persons. The architect is Mr. J. Newton. The annual meeting of the Archwological Institute, at Southampton, will begin on Thursday, August ist, and terminate on Thursday, August 8th. The Bishop of Winchester is to be president. Tho Presidents of Sections will be— Antiquities, Sir Edward Smirke, A.M.; Architecture, Mr. Beresford Hope, M.P.; and History, Lord Henry Scott, M.P. The public opening of the new schools attached to 8. Patrick’s Church, Bradford, took place on the 7th inst. They are Gothic in character, plainly but substantially built. The works were carried out from the designs of Mr. Simpson. The total cost of the schools will be a little under £3,000. The ac- commodation afforded is for 900 children, or, includ- ing half-timers, for 1,150. A new United Free Methodist Chapel has been opened at Newton Abbott. Mr. J. Chudleigh was the architect. The parish church of Burford is to be reopened on Thursday next, after partial restoration by Mr.Strect, at a cost of £3,000. The work of demolition connected with the widening of Deansgate, Manchester, is being rapidly proceeded with. The contract for erecting Barton’s- buildings (superstructure), in connection therewith, has been let to Mr. W. Southern, builder, Salford. The architects are Messrs. Corbett, Raby, & Swire. By an Act just printed, county authorities may now borrow money for the purpose of building shire- halls, &e., and also Judges’ lodgings, for thirty years, instead of fourteen years, as previously pro- vided. A rule nisi has been obtained calling upon the Norwich Town Council to show cause why a man- damus should not issue, compelling them to build a new lunaticasylum. The cost of the proposed build- ing is estimated at between £40,000 and £50,000. The ground upon which it has been decided the large powder magazines are to be erected near the present magazine at Upnor Castle, has been surveyed by the Royal Engineers, and has now been staked off. A large sum of money was voted in the last estimates for the work, and it is expected that the authorities will shortly ask for tenders. ———_.—_<—_. Grade elu. ee WAGES MOVEMENT. Croypon.—The carpenters and joiners of Croydon are now agitating for an inerease of pay. A meeting was held at the Swan Inn, North End, on Thursday week last, when upwards of 100 were present. The meeting was called by circular, and was held for the purpose of taking into consideration the best means to use towards agitating for an increase of wages. Ulti- mately, it was resolved “That a committee of six be appointed to issue acircular to the masters, asking them for the old rate of 73d. per hour,” and requesting an answer on or before yesterday (Thursday) the 23rd inst. Cupar-Frre.—Most of the builders in Cupar-Fife and neighbourhood have now complied with the de- mands of their workmen for an advance of wages from 5d. to 54d. per hour. With the exception of a few who had left the town, all the men employed when the demand was made are now re-engaged. The building trade in the district isat present ina very dull condi- tion; and owing to the rise in wages and materials, a number of buildings intended to be erected thissummer are to be delayed till another season. Guascow.—A crowded meeting of operative masons of Glasgow and neighbourhood was held on Tuesday evening in the Trades’ Hall, Mr, Robertson in the chair. It was resolved that the unprecedented rise in the price of the necessaries of life, as wellasin that of tools, since the last advance of wages was obtained, justified the request lately made tothe employers for an advance from 63d. to 7d. per hour. The meeting pledged itself to use every legitimate means to obtain the introduction of weekly pays. The represen- tative committe was empowered to carry out these resolutions. Hawick.—Two-thirds of the operative masons in Hawick have struck, the masters refusing to reduce the hours from 57 to 51 per week, though consenting to advance wages }d. per hour. Irswreu.—The builders’ strike proceeds, and in all probability will speedily be answered by the masters with a lock-out. The masters assert that the applica- tion of the operatives involves an increase of 7s. 6d. per week; the men indignantly reply that it is only a trifling 2s. 3d. It seems to be admitted by both sides