Itovember 18—25, 1882





The Record and Guid





e.





91





Hewitt, to whom, more than anyone else, the changes in the architectural
style of Philadelphia's private residences is due. At present there is in course
of construction a large number of fine residences of various architectural
designs. On the northeast corner of Walnut and Twenty-second streets.
Mr, G. R. Preston, President of the Hibernian Bank of New Orleans, is
erecting what wiU be one of the costliest houses in Philadelphia, the pi-in-
cipal features being a high peaked roof, crennelated windows—some of
them being diamond shaped, the use of rustic stone woi k, as high as
the second story, and the large number of tiles used in the decoration of
the numerous chimneys.   This house was designed by Prank Furness.

Adjoining the above, and fronting on Twenty-.«econd street, Dr. James
H. Hutchinson is erecting a four-story Connecticut brown stone and red
pressed and moulded brick residence, forty feet wide. In front the
windows are divided by stone mullions; the bay window on the second
floor having been ingeniously designed, so as not to project beyond the
street line; on either side there are balconies ornamented with stone
tracery and column arches, while bold bracUets support the third floor on
each side of the bay. Iu the roof will be found dormer windows on each
side of the gables. It is due to this and other devices to give breadth,
that the elevation has been overcome, giving the building the appearance
of insufficient height.

Adjoining Dr. Hutchinson's residence, Travis Cochran will soon com¬
plete a handsome residence, from de.signs by George W. Hewitt. The
front will be of moulded brick and brown stone, the latter r jugh up to the
first story. The door and hall are at one side, thus giving an appearance
of breadth. On tho first floor, all the rooms are en suite; in fact the inte¬
rior arrangement of this house will differ materially from any yet erected
in Philadelphia.

The late Col. Thomas A. Scott's son, Mr. James P. Scott, is building a
charming residence, adjoing ,,the Presbyterian Church, at Twt-nty-first
and Walnut streets, which, when completed, will be oue of the most co.-.tly
in the city.

Edmund Smith, Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company,
is erecting a fine residence with terra cotta front, on Walnut street
adjoining the corner of Fifteenth street.

Addison Hutton, the architect, is constructing two fine dwellings on the
corner of Spruce and Twenty-first streets.- The corner house, which is
for his own occupancy, is in the Renaissance stvle, with relieved
carving, while the other, which is for Frank K. Hippie, will be built of
pressed brick, highly ornamenteci with red terra cotta, richly carved in
designs, representing fruits flowers, etc. The interior will be trimmed in
ash, mahogany, walnut, maple, and cherry woods, with stained gldss
windows.

On South Broad street, there has been a number of improvements,
while in West Philadelphia, there is quite a buildiug movement; iu fact
there has never been a greater^ building] agitation in the Quaker City
than is going on now.





New Buildings at Cornell.

With its customary enterprise, Cornell University is erecting on its
Campus two new buildings. One, which will be the finest chemical and
physical laboratory possessed by any college in the United States, is nearly
completed. It is built of red Medina sandstone with yellow Ohio stone
trimmings, and has its outer walls inset with medallions of eminent scien¬
tists. The other building, which will be completed by the new year, is
being built of brick, 100 by 60 feet, with arched windows, flying buttresses
and a steep roof. It will we used as a drill hall and gymnasium. A costly
addition to the chapel, which will contain the sarcophagus of Mrs. Fiske
and of other benefactors of the university, is contemplated, and a new and
better equipped building for the departments ot architecture and civil
engineering is only a question of a year or two. A magnificent library
building will soon be constructed, w hich shall meet the present and future
demands of a library already large, and having the finest endowment of
any college library in America, while Cascadiil Place, whose gloomy halls
long ago drove out its students, is to be entirely remodeled.—SyracxLse

Standard.

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New Buildings in the Ninth Ward.

Editor Record and Guide :

I read in your paper accounts of the activity of the building interest in
new buildings of the different wards, showing a large increase over pre¬
vious years. This speaks well for the tbrift and prosperous times of busi¬
ness in the city. The Ninth Ward is noted for the number of large build¬
ings that are being erected for storage and factory purposes. There have
been more buildings of this class erected, during the last year, iu this ward
than in any other in the city. Mr. John Glass has erected on Gansevoort
street, two large buildings, 50x80, five stories in height, intended for
wholesale stores or market purposes; also five apartment houses, on the
corner of West Thirteenth street and Greenwich avenue, with stores on
the first floor. They are an ornament to our ward. There bas also been
erected on Greenwich avenue, a five-story apartmei^t house. P. W. Devoe
& Co. have built, on Horatio street, adjoining their extensive paint works,
a six-story factory. ,50x80,.a good substantial building, Mr. G. B. Lawton
bas added to the heights of his buildings, Nos. 118, 120, 1-22 and 124 Ganse¬
voort street, three stories, to accommodate the increased basineas of his
tenants. The Rubber Paint Works purchased the plot of ground, on the
corner of Washington and Bethune streets, 66x88, and are erecting
a five-story building. A five-story apartment house, 25x70, on
Perry street, Messrs, Beadleston & Woerz have added to their
large and commodious brewery, a building for brewing lager
beer. Mr, J. B. Snook, architect, has built tor Mrs. G.
R, Hoffman, on the corner of Bank street and Thirteenth avenue, a com¬
modious fac ory, six stories in height, 1.50x1.50, and is about to commence
for the same lady a building, to be occupied for chemical works, on the
corner of West and Horatio streets, a three-story building. 88x100, to be
completed by February 1st; also on Bank street, between West street and
Thirteenth avenue, a five-story factory, 44x150, with prospects of an addi¬
tion, 33x15(1, to be completed by May 1st. The same architect has com¬
pleted for Mr. Livingston, on the corner of Jane and West streets, a one¬
story building, 88x150, to be occupied for the manufacture of lead pipe and
for smelting purposes. Mr. J. Borman Johnston has commenced a large
five-story building on Thirteenth avenue, between Bethune and West
Twelfth streets, 145x175. to be occupied by Messrs. Nash & Whiton, for
storage purposes, who also occupy the remainder of the block for the same
purpose. The demand in this ward for buildings of this class is greater
than the supply, and if several more buildings were erected tenants could
be secured for them. There isa marked increase in the business of the
Ninth Ward during the last few years, and, if continued, will make it rank
with the lower wards in point of business and prosperity. These are only
a few of the.many improvements that have been going on for the past few
yeai-s, and, as the tendency of business is moving up-town, the superior
market accommodations in the Ninth Ward will make it one of the first
business wards in the city.                                                          G. B. L.





About Conveyancing.

The case of Selleck vs. Tallman (87 N. Y,, 106) is instructive as to the
pi oper course of conveyancers in closing a title where difference arises as
to the construction of the contract.

The parties met on the day and at the place fixed for the consummition
of the contract; the (defendant productd but did not formally tend a deed
of the premises, dated as of the date of the executory contract; he insisted
upon interest from that date, to which plaintiff's attorney objected, on the
ground that the date should have ^ een the date fixed lor performance, and
that intei est should run from that date Defemlant iiwUted on his coi.-
struction of the contract upon this point, aud did not thereatter make any-
tender or offer of performance on his part, nor was there any affirmative
or express withdrawal of the construction and condition so i sisted on 1 y
him. After retiring from the room for the purpose of consultation with
bis counsd upon this subject he returned and offered to carry out ihi
contract " according to its terms," but said nothing to indicate that he hi.d
changed his construction in re>pect to the claim for interest. At this
interview the plaintiff produced aud hauded todefendant or his counsel tiie
bond and mortgage called for by the contract, and. he had a cei titled
check for the cash payment agreed ou, without interest, but made no for
mal tender.

It would appear that the vendor's counsel was not so sure of his position
as to be willing to rest h's refusal upon a plain demand for intn-est, hut in
his final reponse said ambiguously that he had i ffered to carry out the
contract according to its terms. The court held that such a generality
would not avail, as the terms of the contract, properly interprt-it d. did
n )b entitle him to interest, and as he had previously demanded inieret-t. lie
was bound, in order to get the advantage of having offered to convey
Hocording to the terms of the contract, to indicate that he reced-<! fmm
hi.s pfisition as to interest. Not having done so. if mu.^t be assumed that
he still made the payment a condition, and this being tacitly t,o made a
condition, the purchaser was excused from making any formal tender. Ic
was enough that he had his purchase money mortgage ready, aud a certi¬
fied check for the balance.—Daily Register.





Asphaltum for Paving   Purposes.

Editor Record and Guide:

In the interesting article on dampness, in a late issue, you ivfer to
the trouble caused by the introduction of asphaltum, througn the fa t o.
coal tar products having been used where asphalt was required. We have
fully appreciated this difficulty, and it is only quite recently thai uicbi-
tects have called for natural or rock asphalt in their specifications.

You mention our work in Washington and Union squttresas bfiug laid
with genuine asphaltum, may we call your attention to th'^ fact ti^at the
former was laid with Trinidad asphalt, and the latter with Sevssel rock
asphalt, from mines near Geneva, Switzerland. Washington .sqiare, by
th^ way, is not a fair sample of our work, as it was not laid on our pre¬
pared base as in Stuyvesant; square.            New York Mastic Works.





Judge Freeman has decided in a suit brought agai.nst the Commissioner
of Public Works that the latter has a right to place a water mete: in "any
store, workshop or factory." The plaintiff objected to the meter because
the Croton was used only for cooking and washing purposes, a well supply¬
ing the water for business purposes. But the judge held that the commis¬
sioner could not very well keep wa'ca over a business establishment, aud
that he was justified in testing the weight of water by the use of the metei'.
We should have a new aqueduct, and when this is complete our busiuess
establishments will not be pestered with meters. There could and should
be water enough and to spare for every one in the city.





Very few persons are acquainted with the remarkable qualities possessed
by papier-mache for building purposes. In Europe it is commencing to
rival iron in architectural and other industrial directions. A church has
been built in Bavaria (capable of accommodating 1,(0' persons), whose
columns, roof, spire, walls and altars are of papier-mache. In toys, tables
bijouterie of all kinds, we have examples of its extensive uses, ahd suggest
tions of its future applications. Papier-mache never cracks, as wood,
plaster, terra cotta, etc., will do. In the same articles it csn be n'ade, if
required, far lighter than plaster, terra cotta, metal, or even wood.
Neither heat nor cold affects it; it can be sawed, fitted, nailed or screwed,
quickly adjusted or removed, gilded, painted, marlileized orbroiiztd. It
can be made light as cork, or heavy as stone; never discolors by rust, as
with.iron; is not affected by temperature or oxygfn, as is even zinc It
can be made for a given thickness stronger than any white or rare mar.
bles, and is even tougher than slate, quite as hard, and will not chip cor¬
ners nor crack off iu strata. One of the great advautHges of papier-mache
is that it can be produced very cheaply. In architecture it can be sup¬
plied nearly at plaster price, and. taking into consideration the price of
putting up, costs no more, and sometimes eveu less. Tbis depends on the
size of the ornament, the larger being cheaper in proportic)n. It can be
made to imitate the rarest marbles, as it takes a polish superior even to
slate, and costs not half as much as the preparation of plaster of Paris,
known as scagliola, while it is infinitely stronger Pedestals, columns,
newel-posts, vases, clocks, and multifarious other articles are made of it iu
elegant and durable forms.

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At the second semi-annual convention of the National Furniture Manu¬
factmers' Association, held at Chicago on the llth of July, the surprising
fact was developed that the value of the products of the furniture factories
of the United States exceeds $100,00(),0(iO per annum. In the six great
Western furniture producing centres—Cincinnati, Louisville, Chicago, St
Louis, Grand Rapids, and Milwaukee—the number of employes of all kinds
engaged in furniture manufacturing exceeds 19,000. The reason why this
Important branch of manufacturing does not assume greater prominence
in census reports is because many branches of it are classed with other
industries by statisticians.





Special Notices.

Probably the most perfect business offices and rooms In the city are those offered
to rent by Minot, Hooper & Co., No. 53 Leonard Street. The advertisement does
not overstate the desirable character of these oflaces. Their sanitarj' arrangements
are a model to all bnilders.

Architects, builders, owners and others who may require Electro Mechanical
Bells hUng would do well to call on Mr, Oharles Belle, ot 167 East Eighty-fourth
Street, whose advertisement appears on the last page.