Iron Beams In Place of Wood.

Fig. 1.

In order to obtain an idea of the explosive effectiveness of roburite, eight ounces of the explosive were placed on a plate of the very best steel, at the point marked A in Fig. 1, which shows the state of the plate after the explosion. This plate was 3 ft. square by ½ in. thick, and a bulge of about 1 ft. diam. and 3½ in. deep was caused by the explosion. Twelve ounces of the explosive were then placed at A (Fig. 2) on a cast iron plate, 6 in. thick, and weighing nearly three tons. After the explosion the plate was found to be broken transversely, in the manner shown in the engraving. Unlike dynamite, roburite is said to be in no way affected by varying temperatures, and if duly protected against damp, it may be kept for years in any climate, without its efficiency becoming in any way impaired. It is also claimed by the manufacturers that roburite has an explosive force greater than dynamite by at least 25 per cent.

Fig. 2.

In exploding, roburite does not produce noxious gases, and, therefore, may be used without intermission, while the poisonous gases given off by dynamite often necessitate the stoppage of work, in some cases for a considerable time. This new explosive is applicable for use in mines and quarries, and for torpedoes and blasting operations generally.—Industries.

Speaking of the large apartment house in New York lately condemned for dry rot (see illustration last November number of this paper), theAmerican Architectsays: A few of the floors were of spruce, and these, as might be expected, had resisted the rot much better than the hemlock, and were still sound, but the construction ought certainly to be changed. In view of the dangers from this source which attend efforts to provide fire‐resisting floors of wood, it would seem that something might be done with light shapes of rolled iron beams. We have seen rolled floor beams used in Paris nearly as light as wooden ones of the same depth, and a tier of these, deafened with mortar on wire in the French manner, and wire‐lathed underneath, with a wooden floor over, would cost little more than a solid mass of wooden beams, and would be proof against rot as well as fire.

The casino is built of plastered quarry stone, with the exception of the socle, the balustrades, and the pillars, which consist of gray Vosges sandstone. The facade is ornamented with mosaics, and the roof is covered with slate of two colors.

BATHING HOUSE AND SALOON AT VITTEL—CHARLES GARNIER, ARCHITECT.

The bathing establishment is colored in Moorish style. Red brick bands in the socle, as well as the faience and mosaics in the main cornice, stand out artistically from the gray plaster of the walls. The roof is covered with red tiles.—Architektonische Rundschau.

Our immediate ancestors had their farm house, with its necessary accompaniment of granaries, barn, etc. We move to town and build our shingle palace or brick mansion, with its large front show window, in which the well preserved, gilt edged family Bible and the Rogers group have it which and t’other for supremacy—and set up in our back yard, to represent the outbuildings of our ancestry, a privy, a pile of slabwood, generally as dumped, a few barrels, perhaps a cheap stable. Not then satisfied with the amount of decaying wood about the premises, we lay a lot of wood walk.

Walking along the avenue, we see a pretentious residence. It must be occupied by people of great refinement, for is not the most prominent room in the house the library, the whole street side taken up with an immense bay window, the glass reaching nearly to the floor? How splendidly it was lighted as we passed last night! What elegant sets of books on the shelves! Plenty of pictures, too. Let us to‐day take a look at the back yard. Why do not these people board up the windows at the back of the house? Here is a well with a dirty puddle by it, the pump standing on a rotting platform; hard by some kitchen garbage, farther on ashes, and so it goes, the whole rear of the lot so bad as to discourage vegetable life even. It is mercifully screened in part from the general view by a high, unpainted board fence, against which, now and then, a weed or tuft of grass grows. Where is there better field for the crusade?

The rear of the house and the outbuildings, though not so expensively finished, have a right to be carefully and artistically done. A woodshed is not a nuisance if inclosed, well boarded and painted, and the wood kept inside. A privy has no right to exist. If there be no proper system of drainage in the house for a water closet, partition off an earth closet from the woodshed or stable. Tasteful, well cared for outbuildings and fences are not only not an offense to the artistic sense, but are rather pleasing, indicating thrift, tidiness, and comfort. But when we consider the opportunities they offer for the support of the vine morning glories, sweet peas, nasturtiums, climbing roses, and like forms of plant life, what a joyous recompense for so little labor and care. Then all the available back yard space that is not used for walks, drives, etc., should give either vegetables or flowers—minister to the comfort or culture of the family.

Listen to people who lament the bad influences of street associations upon the children. Yet they say, very reasonably, the children must have outdoor air, etc., and they have never considered but that the only alternative from the housing of the children is the freedom of the streets. They do not know what moral education is contained in a few feet of ground, congenial work for the hands, and the prettiest of life development studies for the mind. Give each of these street‐loving children a flower bed, a small set of garden tools, some flower seeds, and what help and advice they need, and note if there be not germs of nobler thoughts and desires taking root at the same time in their fertile natures. But—to moralize a little—there is a kinship between the ornamented front and disgraceful rear of a residence and the fine clothes and the false heart of the wearer, and we fear that the majority of people who inhabit that sort of residence would rather risk some contamination of their children’s characters than to see their faces, hands, and clothes besmeared with Mother Earth.

The back yard of the future will be a bower of flowers and greenery and the leisure hour resort of the family.—N. W. Architect.

Thomas Ustick Walter died at his home, in Philadelphia, on October 30, aged eighty‐four years. He had been for some years president of the American Institute of Architects.

His first principal work was the new county prison, in 1831, now generally known as “Moyamensing Jail.” In 1833 he made the original designs for Girard College, and was sent to Europe by the building committee of the institution. His tour through the principal countries was made for the specific purpose of the study of the principal buildings of the old world. Upon his return he took charge of the college buildings, which were finished in 1847, in accordance with his suggestions, when he was also made one of the directors of the college.

Mr. Walter’s next great public work was the break‐water at Laguayra for the Venezuelan government. In 1851 his design for the extension of the national capitol was adopted, and he was appointed government architect. He removed to Washington, where he designed several prominent public buildings, among them being the wing added to the Patent Office in 1851, the reconstruction of the Congressional Library building, which was destroyed by fire in 1851, the extensions of the United States Treasury building in 1855, and the Post Office in the same year, the dome of the national capitol, and the government hospital for the insane.

The sights and sounds of pine woods, the comfort and delight of walking in them, cannot be half told in a short paragraph. They are also as sanitary as they are pleasing and beautiful. It is said that the air of the Black Forest does more to revive and cure weakly patients than gallons of medicine; and from experience of the odors of pines at night, or in the early morning and dewy eve, I should say they were not only antiseptic, but strengthening as a dose of quinine. The living leaves, as well as the dead and slowly decomposing needles, redolent of healing and strengthening odors, bring back the color to pale cheeks and strength to semi‐exhausted constitutions.

The shelter of pine forests is also perfect. No matter how the wind thunders and roars among the tops, calm prevails on the surface of the ground. Just as the waves of the ocean are, after all, limited to its surface while a perpetual calm rests on its deeper depths, so the turmoil of the storm exhausts its force on the tops of the trees, while the base of the boles are hardly moved by it. Hence the superlative value of pines in masses for shelter. The shelter of a large pine wood is unique in character, providing a local atmosphere as genial as it is pleasant. The elasticity of the dead needles seems to get into one’s spirits, and enables one for the nonce to bid adieu to the cares and the ills of life. One saunters along under the shadow of tall pines without fatigue, and can rest on the clean, sweet carpet of dead needles and leaves with little fear of noxious weeds, insects, or malaria; and the whole air is deodorized and charged to the full with health‐giving properties by the odor‐distributing pines, that not only provide warmth and shelter, but health, to all who walk under or linger among them. Pine woods in England are mostly too small to furnish to the full all these advantages; but the black forests of Scotland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia are massive enough to furnish shelter, shadow, rest, and health to those wise enough to seek for either amid their grand trunks or under their dense, dark masses of branches and leaves.—The Garden.

We give from theArchitectural Erathe floor plans and perspective sketch for a cottage which presents a number of attractive features. This house might be well built for $5,500, and perhaps less, depending on the locality and style of interior finish.

SKETCH FOR A COTTAGE.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN.

SECOND FLOOR PLAN.

When the history of the past seven years comes to be written, they will stand as years of the most marvelous expansion ever known in our history. Two of them, 1884 and 1885, were held as they passed to be dull years, but even these included great growth, and were a period of industrial readjustment rather than liquidation. The population of this country has not increased more than a fourth since the census of 1880, but house building, as an industry, has more than doubled, the number of common brick made in this country having increased from 3,800,000,000 to 7,000,000,000, worth $49,000,000. As the lumber trade has increased in less but large proportion, and iron production has risen over one‐half from 4,300,000 tons in 1880 to 6,300,000 in 1886, it is certain that the past seven years have seen the most active building ever known in this country. Chicago uses one‐seventeenth of the brick made in the country, and if its building represents the same share of the cost of house erection of all sorts in the United States, fully $2,000,000,000 have been spent on buildings in this country in the last seven years. As about the same sum will be reached by adding the building in the leading cities and estimating for the rest of the country, the truth is probably not far from these figures, which are under rather than over the mark. The railroad building since 1880 has cost, at $50,000 a mile, $2,700,000,000. This makes $4,700,000,000, or about one‐tenth of the national wealth in 1880, turned into railroads and buildings in this country. As the residence and business real estate of the country, including water power, was valued in the census of 1880 at $9,881,000,000, and the railroads at $5,500,000,000, we have added one‐half to the cost of the latter and one‐fifth to the former in seven years, although the railroads represent the accumulated construction of fifty years, and the buildings are spread over an even longer period in their erection. This enormous increase has taken place without adding a bale to the cotton to be carried or a bushel to the grain raised. No more pork is produced now than in 1880, and the number of sheep is no greater now than then. Great increase has been made in cattle raised for food, in fruits, and, on the average, in canned goods. Coal, taking bituminous and anthracite together, has increased one‐half from 70,000,000 to 106,000,000 tons. Copper has advanced in output from 27,009 tons in 1880 to 69,800 in 1886, and about the same this year. A great advance is true of nearly all mineral products, but in agriculture the United States has made little or no progress in product in the last seven years, but a great advance in acreage or the cost of cultivation.—Philadelphia Press.

Charles Hardy, in theNational Builder, says: Underestimating means working for nothing and forcing others to do the same; it means impoverishment and poor work. The contractor has himself and his family to maintain, and the temptation is great to get out by doing poor work. I would suggest that every contractor purchase an account book large enough to enter, line by line, upon a single page, every item of his estimate—giving quantity, price, and labor for each item. Let him leave opposite to this page a blank page, on which he may enter, on the corresponding line opposite, the actual amount of labor expended upon the item, and he will thus be able to see the result of his contract.

A towerofVictoryhas been erected on the grounds of Washington’s Headquarters, at Newburg, N. Y., at a cost of $35,000. It affords beautiful views of the Hudson, the Highlands, and the surrounding country.

A COTTAGE FOR $4,200.[For description see page140.]

1st Story Plan.Larger image(127 kB)

1st Story Plan.

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2nd Story Plan.Larger image(139 kB)

2nd Story Plan.

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A RESIDENCE FOR $5,000.[For description see page140.]Larger image(210 kB)

A RESIDENCE FOR $5,000.[For description see page140.]

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FIRST STORY PLAN.Larger image(202 kB)

FIRST STORY PLAN.

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SECOND STORY PLAN.Larger image(215 kB)

SECOND STORY PLAN.

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We give a perspective view and plans of a neat dwelling, the general dimensions of which are as follows:

Front, 29 ft. 6 in., exclusive of bay window; side, 48 ft. 9 in., not including piazza.

Cellar, 7 ft.; first story, 9 ft. 6 in.; second story, 9 ft.; attic, 8 ft. See floor plans for dimensions of rooms.

Materials.—Foundation, brick; first and second stories, clapboards; gables, cut shingles; roof, slate.

Cost.—Four thousand two hundred dollars, including furnace and mantels.

A $4,200 DWELLING.Larger image(196 kB)

A $4,200 DWELLING.

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First Floor Plan.Larger image(166 kB)

First Floor Plan.

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Second Floor Plan.Larger image(190 kB)

Second Floor Plan.

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Fireplaces are provided in the dining room, parlor, and one bed room. The attic has two bed rooms, front room, and hall. Cellar under the whole house.

Prof. Thomas, of Little Rock, has a curious library. The covers of the books are of wood, each a different specimen. They are made from white oak, red oak, black oak, chestnut, American beech, birch, red cedar, yellow pine, pitch pine, willow, poplar, cypress, “old field” or long‐leaved pine, bois d’arc, black walnut, hickory (several varieties), white and red maple, box elder, black locust, black sumac, water locust, coffee bean, wild plum, holly, basswood, papaw, bay, umbrella, wild cherry, sweet gum, elm (several varieties), sycamore, witch hazel, butternut, pecan, hickory, and twenty or more other woods.

We take pleasure in presenting to our readers an illustration of the John Crouse Memorial College for Women, which it is proposed to erect on the hill west of the Hall of Languages, Syracuse University, Syracuse, N. Y. This edifice is to be the gift of one of the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Syracuse, Mr. John Crouse. The donor of this magnificent gift well deserves to be held in grateful remembrance by every friend and well wisher of the Syracuse University, as well as by the students and faculty. It is proposed to make this building a model one in every respect, and neither pains nor money are to be spared to render it the most perfectly equipped college to be found in the country. The structure is to be five stories in height, to be built of East Long Meadow brownstone, and to cover an area of nearly two hundred feet square.

In this connection a brief historical sketch of Syracuse University may interest our readers.

The college now known as Syracuse University had its origin in Lima, a pretty little village in Western New York, but quite out of the way, and not easy of access. It was then called Genesee College, and the first gathering of faculty and students occurred on Monday, June 9, 1851. The faculty consisted of Benjamin F. Tefft, D.D. LL.D. and Professors Houghton, Douglass, Whitlock, and Alverson. On June 12 of same year, the Rev. B. F. Tefft was inaugurated president of Genesee College, and on July 10 the names of thirty‐eight students were enrolled on the college register. November 5 saw the faculty increased by the addition of Professors Hoyt and Fowler. The college thus organized continued with varying fortunes until July 7, 1871, when it disbanded. In 1866 the subject of removing the college from Lima began to be agitated, and the idea of a central university for the Methodism of New York was first publicly announced in theNorthern Christian Advocate, during the year 1873. From this time forth the new enterprise met with great favor on all sides, except with the citizens of Lima, who were reluctant to see the withdrawal from their midst of their principal attraction, to which we may well believe they had become greatly attached, and who procured an injunction against its removal. Prominent members of the Methodist Central Conference were nevertheless commissioned to carry forward the good work, and substantial aid was soon forthcoming. Syracuse, being the most central city in the State, was finally settled upon as the most appropriate home for the new college.

Archimedes Russell, Architect, Syracuse, N. Y.Larger image(216 kB)

Archimedes Russell, Architect, Syracuse, N. Y.

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The site now known as University Hill was secured, plans made by the well known architect, H. N. White, were adopted, and July 19, 1871, the contract for building the Hall of Languages was let for the sum of $136,000, and Syracuse University became an assured fact. The corner stone of the Hall of Languages was laid on August 31, with impressive ceremonies, and the faculty of the College of Liberal Arts was inaugurated. On September 1 the college opened in the Myers block, which had been secured for the use of the university, and here the sessions were held until May 1, 1873, when the Hall of Languages being completed, it was on that date occupied for the first time. During the year 1871 the plan for a medical college in connection with the university was adopted, and its first commencement exercises were held February 12, 1873. When the Hall of Languages was erected, other buildings were contemplated at such time as the finances of the university should admit of their realization. The institution has struggled along, sometimes meeting with reverses, but now and then being fortified and strengthened by the reception of substantial encouragement from some of its many and devoted friends. Now at last the wheel of fortune has suddenly turned in its favor, and it finds itself at the flood tide of prosperity, with the prospect before it of a long and honorable course of usefulness and well deserved success. University Hill commands a magnificent view of the belt of hills which girdle the city, with Onondaga Lake set like a sparkling gem in the distance. Upon the west hill an observatory has just been erected, and near the Hall of Languages a suitable building is in process of erection, for the accommodation of the fine and valuable library which has been generously bestowed upon it by one of its friends. Syracusans are proud of the University, and they, in common with its hosts of warm friends throughout all parts of the country, rejoice in the evidence of its well merited prosperity.

The alumni of Syracuse University have members not only in almost every State in the Union, but count among their number graduates from Canada, England, Mexico, San Domingo, Brazil, China, India, and Japan.—Architectural Era.

Mr. John A. P. Macbride, sculptor, who was introduced to a large audience, chiefly of workingmen, by Sir James Picton, recently gave a practical lecture on the above subject, at the Rotunda lecture hall, Liverpool. After giving a sketch of the art and its great antiquity, the lecturer drew a profile in chalk on the blackboard, which he filled in with clay, and proceeded to demonstrate the building up and modeling of a portrait bust of soft clay. He stated that there was a general and erroneous opinion that in taking a portrait bust it was necessary to take a cast of the face. This was a mistake, for the head lost all the spirit and go by such a mechanical process that should distinguish an artist’s work. The truth was not always that which appeared to be true, and the sculptor had to convey some idea of the character as well as of the mind of the sitter; and a man who knew his work ought to be able to do so with his fingers. Carving was a secondary consideration. The lecturer then explained the process of pointing a marble statue. In this process, the model and the block of marble were each fixed on a base called a scale stone, to which a standard vertical rod could be attached at corresponding centers, having at its upper end a sliding needle, so adapted by a movable joint as to be set at any angle and fastened by a screw when set. The sculptor having marked the governing points with a pencil on the model, the instrument was applied to these, and the measure taken. The standard being then transferred to the block base, the pointer, guided by this measure, cuts away the marble, taking care to leave it rather larger than the model, so that the general proportions were kept, and the more important work then left for the sculptor’s hand.—Building News.

About5,500 buildings have been rebuilt and improved in Charleston, S. C., in the year since the earthquake, and 270 new buildings have been erected. This has been a busy year with mechanics and builders at Charleston, and about $3,500,000 has been expended in this work.

We present herewith front and rear perspectives, with plans, for a handsome stable now being erected in Brooklyn, N. Y., from designs and plans prepared at theScientific Americanoffice. The general dimensions are: Front, 40 feet; side, 25 feet. Height of stories: First story, 11 feet: 5 feet breastwork in second story.

A STABLE COSTING $5,500—FRONT VIEW.Larger image(207 kB)

A STABLE COSTING $5,500—FRONT VIEW.

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A STABLE COSTING $5,500—REAR VIEW.Larger image(196 kB)

A STABLE COSTING $5,500—REAR VIEW.

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First Floor Plan.Larger image(148 kB)

First Floor Plan.

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Second Floor Plan.Larger image(153 kB)

Second Floor Plan.

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Materials.—Foundation, stone; water table, red granite; outside walls, red pressed brick; trimmings, buff brick; tower and gables, shingles; roof, black and red slate; inside wall finish, enameled brick; ceilings and stable work, Georgia pine; cellar under carriage room. Cost, $5,500.

Special Features.—Space for six carriages in carriage room; accommodation for four horses; ample ventilation and light; stable connected by sliding door. Both floors are laid with 2 inch Georgia pine plank.

Mr. J. L. Smithmeyer, architect of the Congressional Library building, states in his first annual report that the Congressional Library building when completed will be the largest structure in Washington, with the exception of the Capitol. It will cover 111,000 square feet of space.

In a building of such magnitude and importance, every step in the progress of the work must be carefully considered, lest fatal mistakes, due to hasty construction, should occur. It was deemed of the utmost importance to test every foot of ground supporting the foundation walls. For this purpose a traveling testing machine was constructed, which will give an accurate test of the entire soil. The tests thus far made have been most satisfactory, the soil standing a maximum pressure of 13·5 tons to the square foot, only 2·5 tons being required. These tests will be continued until the foundations are laid.

The method of testing the soil and putting in the concrete foundations may be briefly described as follows: First, the trench excavations are made by the contractor to the width and depth required by the plans, the bottom of the trenches being made perfectly level. Then the testing machine, consisting of a car bearing the required amount of weight in pig lead for making the tests, is placed in the trenches upon iron rails, which rest upon four cast iron pedestals, the latter being set four feet apart each way, each pedestal covering one foot of ground. Thus, one‐fourth of the entire weight borne by the car rests upon each one of the pedestals, and the precise weight sustained by each square foot of ground is exactly determined. The soil being thus tested as to its resisting strength, is then ready to receive the concrete foundations.

We give on page136a perspective view and floor plans of a cottage costing $4,200. The general dimensions are:

Front, 32 ft.; side, 39 ft. 2 in., exclusive of bay window and butler’s pantry. The size of rooms will be seen by reference to the floor plans.

The height of stories is as follows: Cellar, 7 ft.; first story, 9 ft. 6 in.; second story, 9 ft.; attic, 8 ft.

Materials.—Foundation, stone; first and second stories, clapboarded; gables, cut shingles; roof, slate.

Cost.—Four thousand two hundred dollars, including furnace and mantels.

This house is designed to be heated by a furnace. There are fireplaces in the dining room and in one front bed room. The attic has two bed rooms and hall finished, and garret. Cellar under the whole house.

The house illustrated on page137has the following general dimensions:

Front, 31 ft. 6 in., including bay window; side, 43 ft., including bay window.

Cellar, 7 ft.; first story, 10 ft.; second story, 9 ft. 6 in.; attic, 8 ft. The floor plans show the sizes of the rooms.

Materials.—Foundation, stone; first and second stories, clapboards; gables, cut shingles; roof, slate.

Cost.—Five thousand dollars, without heater and mantels.

It may be heated by a furnace. There are fireplaces in the dining room and in one chamber. The attic has two chambers and hall finished. Cellar under the whole house. Water closet off the laundry, and private stairs from kitchen to platform of main staircase.

There are few objects connected with our art that have been more frequently dwelt on by those who have undertaken to be our guides and monitors than the right proportions to be given to rooms. Vitruvius led the way, and subsequent theorizers have laid down, sometimes very dogmatically, their views of just proportions. I find, however, in the actual practice of the ablest men such extreme diversity, and I observe pleasing effects producible by the adoption of such widely different proportions, that I find myself, I confess, much inclined to be somewhat incredulous of all these theories. Certainly if beauty could be thus reduced to a formula, and the proper relation indisputably established between the length, breadth, and height of every room, a royal road would be cleared for us, which would be at least very convenient both to those who teach and to those who learn. I fear I can scarcely hope to furnish you with such a desirable help in your studies. I find rooms of universally admitted beauty, yet of almost every geometrical figure. I have heard of the room in the museum of Florence, the Tribune it is called, which contains the Venus di Medici, spoken of in terms of rapturous approval for the beauty of its form and proportions. This saloon is an equilateral octagon on plan. I have known square rooms greatly admired—such, for example, as the saloon in Cobham Hall, which is usually pointed to as one of thechefs‐d’œuvreof Inigo Jones. Who is there that is not charmed with the proportions of the Pantheon at Rome? This, you know, is circular. The classical teacher of our art, Vitruvius, seems to contemplate only rectangular forms, and directs us to adapt the double cube and the cube and a half, whether for a temple or a triclinium.

The Sistine Chapel, attached to the Papal Palace, upon which the best art of Italy in its best days was expended, is a triple cube, viz., 133 by 44. While of modern French, Italian, and English teachers, each seems to have his own special favorite proportion. The truth I believe to be that, so bounteously have we been endowed, and so liberally have the laws of beauty in form and proportion been framed, there exists in fact an endless variety of beautiful forms and proportions. My impression is that it is as little consistent with truth to lay down any one definite form or proportion as the best as it is to extol any one particular curve as the line of beauty. I believe that there are as many pleasing proportions to be given to rooms as there are pleasing harmonies of color and sound. The purpose of a room must always be an important guide in determining the form and proportions to be given to it. If planned so long in proportion to its width as to remind us of a passage, it loses its distinctive character, and creates a false impression, which it can never be good art to do. It is indeed obvious that a consideration of the special fitness of a room for its destined uses must always greatly influence its proportions. The octagon form, so much affected by our ancestors in planning their chapter houses, owes its origin probably far more to the propriety of that form for a chamber intended for the convenient assemblage of the members of the chapter sitting in council than to any intrinsic architectural beauty, however unquestionable that beauty may be.—S. Smirke.

TheFiremen’s Heraldsays fire protection, like charity, should begin at home. However efficient may be the public service against fire, a single bucket of water properly administered may stop a fire that all the efforts of the brigade would be unable to quench, and besides, the jet of a powerful engine is as destructive in its way as fire to all perishable articles within a room, such as furniture, pictures, and bric‐a‐brac.

The universal custom now prevailing in most establishments of having a few plants in addition to cut flowers dotted about the different rooms induces me to write a short paper thereon, not only because it has developed into a very important part of the gardener’s work, but it likewise requires a fair share of taste in the arrangements, as well as suitable plants for the purpose. Generally speaking, each room being differently furnished will require a different class of plants for its adornment, but, as a rule, plants with stiff, upright growth are objectionable to the eye, as they do not hide the pot or stems unless others of a dwarfer growth are associated with them; therefore they should only be used when possessing special features either in flower or foliage. Too many plants in a room are objectionable, because they detract from rather than elevate or enhance the effect, especially if the room is elaborately furnished. For instance, plants assigned to the front hall or corridor would be unsuitable in a drawing room or boudoir.

Another important matter to study is the various kinds of receptacles provided for the use of plants. These vary in size and shape greatly, but are generally of a fanciful, elaborate, and artistic design, and the plants for these should be selected with the greatest care and taste, so as to add a completeness and finish, and in no way hide or diminish the effect of their appearance. I have often found, however, a great difficulty in getting plants to go in them without taking them out of the pots, and in many cases I have found it necessary to reduce the ball of roots in order to fit the latter in properly. This quite ruins the plant, for, in the case of choice or delicate growing subjects, it is almost impossible for them to recover. But in order to meet this difficulty, it is advisable to make a selection of plants, grow them in suitable sized pots, and use them for no other purpose. To do this it requires a sufficient number for three changes; say, if twenty plants are required at one time, sixty should be grown, and duplicates of all to be grown to follow on.

The atmosphere of rooms is generally dry, though warm, and impregnated with gas and other enemies to plant life. So different is all this to the healthy atmosphere of a plant house, that it is necessary that every plant used should have completed its growth, or some injury will follow. Take the different varieties of adiantums, for instance. If used for the decoration of rooms in a growing state, the young fronds would most certainly be injured; yet, when properly prepared, there are no more popular or suitable plants for the purpose, and they can be grown to a useful size in small pots. Nephrolepis exaltata, though not so choice as others, is a most handsome fern to use. Its long and gracefully drooping fronds are an ornament in any position, while many of the Pteris family have a fine and graceful appearance, and may be used freely. Nice plants of Spiræa japonica with or without flowers are very ornamental. The different sorts of lycopods make perfect plants for small vases, as also do the artillery plant (Pilea muscosa) and the little Caladium argyrites. In fact, there is no lack of either foliage or flowering plants suitable for a tasteful arrangement either in a drawing room or boudoir, while for more commodious places, such as the entrance hall, corridor, or staircase, and where larger plants are admissible, there is the beautiful Caladium esculentum, with noble foliage and which stands well, several sorts of palms, the larger fronded ferns, curculigo, Ficus elastica, Hibbertia volubilis, and the calla or Ethiopian lily, all of which have a reputation for retaining their beauty better than many others, and therefore should be grown for the purpose. But to avoid as little injury as possible, frequent changes are necessary, and it is a very good rule to water every plant well before it is used, and when it again needs water change it for another. Let all pots and plants be kept very clean, and avoid letting the plants remain long enough to make growth in the different positions, for such growth, when brought out to the light, is generally very weak.—Thomas Record, The Garden.

THE WAINWRIGHT HORIZONTAL FEED‐WATER HEATER.

We illustrate herewith the Wainwright Horizontal Feed‐Water Heater, adapted for use in a horizontal position under the floor of an engine room, or where the head room is limited. The feed water enters at the lower opening marked “feed,” fills the body of the heater, and having been heated by the exhaust steam surrounding the tubes, passes to the boiler at upper opening marked “feed,” the exhaust entering at either end. A drip pipe, as shown, is provided for escape of the water of condensation, and a hand hole for washing and cleaning. It will be seen that this heater contains a large body of water well disposed to receive heat, the tubes, being of corrugated copper, present 50 per cent. increased heating surface over plain tubes of the same length, while at the same time five times the strength is added, and owing to their property of expansion and contraction, all danger of the ends pulling out or the joints working and leaking is eliminated. This property of expansion and contraction also prevents any accumulation of scale and sediment.

HORIZONTAL FEED‐WATER HEATER.

These heaters are manufactured by The Wainwright Mfg. Co., 65 Oliver St., Boston.

This gas engine, manufactured by the Williams & Orton Manufacturing Company, of Sterling, Illinois, possesses various features that must commend it to the attention of all interested in the production of power from gas. It is characterized by great simplicity, having no gearing, so that it is practically noiseless. It has a power and a supply cylinder, one placed over the other, and each working or worked by its own crank. An impulse is given at every revolution of the wheel, and by the governing device the amount of gas consumed is regulated in proportion to the work done. The ignition valve is easily accessible, and needs no adjustment on starting the engine. It can be used either for gas or gasoline. For the latter, a few drops are aspirated at each stroke into the cylinder, where mingling with the air they form the mixture for ignition. The gasoline can be kept in a tank outside the building, and is subjected to no contact with the flame until it has been thoroughly vaporized and has entered the working cylinder.

GLEASON’S DOUBLE SURFACE PLANER.

A four‐roll machine that is simple and durable, and all geared with the most improved extension gearing, is shown in the accompanying illustration, as made by Messrs. E. & F. Gleason, manufacturers of improved wood tools, American Street and Susquehanna Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. Both heads are driven with one counter, and only two belts are required, the adjustment of bed and control of feed being both on left‐hand side of machine, at B C, within immediate reach of the operator. The bottom head is quite as easy of adjustment as the top head, having large screws, F, one at each box, to regulate cut or chip and keep it in line with bed and top head, both heads having self‐oiling boxes. The machine will double‐surface stuff from one‐eighth inch to six inches in thickness. It occupies a floor space of about four feet by forty inches. The counter shaft has patent self‐oiling hangers and patent self‐oiling loose pulleys.

A new method of making foundations in wet ground has been devised by M. Bonnetond, a French military engineer. His plan is to bore a hole 10 ft. or 12 ft. deep and 1½ ft. in diameter in the damp ground, and in this a series of dynamite cartridges are placed, and finally exploded. The expansion of the gases generated drives the water far out beyond the sides of the hole, into which it does not return for at least half an hour. The time thus gained is utilized in rapidly excavating the cavity, which is then filled with a cement concrete, which sets before the return of the water. The method has been adopted in the construction of a fortified enceinte at Lyons, and is said to have led to very rapid work.

In the accompanying illustration is shown one of several forms of arranging artificial sticks or logs in a fireplace for burning gas, to give a close imitation of a blazing wood fire, which has been patented and is made by Henry P. Dixon & Co, of 1330 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Several other forms of logs and grouping are also made, the sticks and the logs being colored to resemble wood, and having fixed between them splints of asbestos, which become incandescent when in use, so that when the gas is turned on and a match applied to the small jets arranged to the best advantage over and between the logs, it gives the appearance of a first class wood fire. These artificial logs are made of material not injured by the flames, and are designed to last a life‐time without cracking or breaking, the gas being supplied through a brass union fixed in the back of each log, through which connection can be readily made by rubber tubing or otherwise to the nearest gas pipe. A good, cheerful fire, which makes neither dust, dirt, nor ashes, is thus ever ready at hand and available by simply turning on and lighting the gas, the flow of which is regulated as desired.

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