February 14, 1914





RECORD AND GUIDE





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AMERICAN SOCIETY OP ENGINEERING
CONTRACTORS.—Secretary, J. R. Wemlinger,
11 Broadway, New York. Meets second Thurs¬
day, in New York, except July anu August.

INSTITUTE OP OPERATING ENGINEERS.
—Regular meeting second Thursday of each
month. Engineering Societies Building, New
York City. H. B. Collins, secretary, 29 West
39th St. New York City.

NATIONAL BUILDERS' SUPPLY ASSOCIA¬
TION.—The members of the National Builders'
Supply Association will hold their annual con¬
vention Feb. 17 and 18, with headquarters at the
Hotel La Salle, Chicago, 111.

THE NEW JERSEY LUMBERMEN'S PRO¬
TECTIVE ASSOCIATION will hold its annual
meeting at the Washington Restaurant, Broad
st and Military Park. Newark, N. J., Feb. 24.
The meeting will be followed by the annual
banquet of the association.

BALL OF THE FINE ARTS, at the Hotel
Astor, on Friday, Feb. 20, under he auspices
of Eeaux Arts Architects for the benefit of their
education fund tor young draughtsmen. Lloyd
Warren, chairman ot the committee in general
charge of the b^ll, is particularly anxious that
a representative gathering ot artists, sculptors,
authors, musicians and others belonging to art
organizations shall attend.

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS.-The second an¬
nual midwinter convention ot the American In¬
stitute ot Electrical Engineers will be held in
the Engineering Societies Building, New York,
February 25, 26 and 27, under the auspices ot
the Electrical Power Committee. The general
subject of the meeting will be "Electric Power,"
and each of the sub-committees of this general
committee will present papers on the special
branch of this subject.

MECHANICS' AND TRADERS' EXCHANGE.
—At the annual meeting ot the exchange, held
February 5, 1914, the following were elected for"
the ensuing year: President, Francis N. How¬
land ; vice-president, Prank E. Conover; treas¬
urer, Edwin Outwater; secretary, Charles B.
Chedey. The following trustees were also
elected: Alfonso B. Pelham, Augustus Meyers,
John J. Roberts, Fred Usher, Lewis Harding.
Francis M. Weews, and Ronald Taylor. The
representatives on the Board of Examiners,
Building Department, Lewis Harding and Will¬
iam   Crawford.

THE NINTH EXHIBITION of the Brooklyn
Chapter of the American Institute ot Archi¬
tects will be held at 131 Remsen st. Brooklyn,
from Sunday, March 15th, to Saturday, March
28th, inclusive, without charge to the public.
The public exliibition will be preceded by the
private view, reception and annual dinner ot the
society, Saturday, March Mth. The exhibition
committee, John fi, Slee, chairman. H. Lincoln
Rogers, Carroll H. Pratt, William P. Bannister
and John P. L. Voelker, have spared no effort
to make this year's exhibition the best iu the
history of the society.





OBITUARY





JOSEPH CAREY, a retired general contractor,
died at his home, 615 Vanderbilt av, Brokklyn.
N. Y. Monday, Pebruary 9th aged seventy-two
years.

GEORGE M. CADMUS, aged seventy-five years,
died at his home, 36 Washington st, Bloomfleld.
N. J., Sunday, Pebruary Sth, after an illness of
several months. Mr. Cadmus had been Building
Inspector of Bloomfield for over seven years.





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RECENT INCORPORATIONS,





THE KESNER REALTY CORP. has been
chartered with $20,000 Sapital stock to do a
realty and construction business with offlces in
Manhattan. The directors are Arthur J. Albert,
1026 Park av, Hoboken, N. J.. John T. Duane,
.333 Bleecker st. Brooklyn, and Robert L. Red-
field. 341 West 85th st, N. Y. C. Hill, Lock-
wood & Redfleld, 35 Nassau st, N, Y. C, are
the attorneys.

THE INTERSTATE REAL ESTATE Sc BROK¬
ERAGE! CO. is a $100,000 corporation chartered
to do a realty construction, brokerage and build¬
ing material business with offlces in New York
City. Sol. Zarck, 2732 Brnadway, Roscoe E.
Blanehard, and Lvdia L. Blanehard, 230 West
lOSth st, are the directors. Karl W. Buck. Esq.,
230 West 105th st, is the company's attorney.

THE HAYPORD REALTY CORP. has filed
papers with a capitalization of $25,000 to do a
realty, contracting, brokerage and construction
material business with offlces in Manhattan.
The incorporators are Raymond B. Maben, 174
Monroe st, Brooklyn, Chas. P. Kramer, 218 Eist
11th St. N. Y. C, and Josephine A. Lane. 512
West 13.=5th St. N. Y. C. Roe & Hayes, 44 Pine
st, are the attorneys.

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT GENERAL CON¬
TRACTING CO, has been incorporated to do a
general contracting, construction and realty
business with a capital stock of $10,000, with
offlces in Richmond. The directors are Cornelius
Vanderbilt, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr.. and
Francis F. Leman, all of West New Brighton.
Prancla P. Lehman, West New Brighton, is the
attorney for the company.

JORAL REALTY CO. has been chartered with
offices in Manhattan to do a realty and con¬
struction business with $10,000 capital stock.
The incorporators are Jos. Rosenzweig. 135 West
123d Bt; Raphael Lyons. Woodmere. L. I., and
William Rosenbloom, 214 West 92d St. Jos.
Rosenzweig, 99 Nassau st.  Is the  attorney.

SPARKILL REALTY CORP. has filed Incof-
poratlon papers with $.30,000 capital stock to do
a realtv and construction business with offlces
In Manhattan. John Otto, 542 Sth av. N. Y, C,
Pred W. Kolb. 765 Ocean av, Brooklyn. Con¬
rad Gaschott, Corona. L. I., and two others.
Stover ft Hall. 60 Wall st, N. Y. C, are the
attorneys for the company.





JAMES MITCHELL has flled Incorporation
papers with a capitalization of $40,000 to do a
realty, contracting, construction and dealing in
building material supply business w'ith offlces
In Manhattan. The directors are Jas. Mitchell,
1440 Broadway, Martha L. Berliner, 160 Broad¬
way, and Clinton N. Hernandez, 515 West 184th
St. Emanuel S. Cahn, 160 Broadway, is the
attorney.





GROWING THE VARNISH TREE.





Department of Agriculture Is Urging the
Cultivation of Chinese Importation.

Atter several years of experimenting in the
South the Department of Agriculture at Wash¬
ington is ready to advise farmers in the warmer
parts of the United States to grow varnish trees
and will help start the new crop, which, with
care, should bring good profits, even on ordinary
land.

Last year the United States Imported 5,000,000
gallons ot tung oil, expressed trom the seeds of
the Chinese tung or wood-oil tree, an oil which
in recent years has had a revolutionary effect
on the varnish industry. It makes a high-grade,
quick-drying varnish with only slight tendency
to crack.

The tree which produces this varnish is a
native of the Yangtze River region. In some re¬
spects it resembles the catalpa; In the Spring
It is covered with large flower clusters before the
leaves appear.

The tree begins to bear fruit when four of
flve years old. The fruit is the size of small
apples, each containing four or flve large oil
seeds. The yield of these seeds in China ia
thirty to seventy-five pounds to the tree,. The
oil from the seeds constitutes nearly 25 per cent,
of their substance. The apple-like fruit would
be worth 25 to 40 cents a bushel, and when the
trees are planted twenty feet apart the gross
yield from an acre would be, at these prices, $50
to $85 an acre. One eight-year-old tree near
Tallahassee, Pla., bofe last year two bushels ot
fruit.

The cultivation and marketing of the fruit
and the manufacture of the oil from the tung
tree is said to be a simple process. The distri¬
bution ot several thousand trees in the South
in 1906 and 1007 has brought out considerable
Information as to the behavior of the trees in
the United States. It ha.s proved a rapid grower
and withstands a temperature approaching zero.
It drops its leaves in the Winter and does not
start again until early Spring. Therefore its
crop is not likely to be injufed by late frosts.

Tung trees have grown and fruited well in
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama. Mississippi,
Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and California, and
the Government specialists see no reason why
the experiments should not result in a profitable
Industry, particularly where land is of little
value for other crops.

The present consumption of tung oil in the
United States would require about 40,000 acres
of orchards, and the Department of Agriculture
points out that the consumption is likely to
grow. The department has. on hand for dis¬
tribution to experimenters a limited number of
one-year-old trees. What is now wanted to de¬
velop the industry, officials say. is the creation
of acre plantations in the hands of private in¬
dividuals.





Smokeless Combustion of Coal in Boiler
Furnaces.

The Bureau of Mines has Just Issued B^illetln
40, which is a reprint of U. S. Geological Sur¬
vey Bulletin 373, revised by Henry' Krelslnger.
The authors of the original bulletin were D. T.
Randall and H. W. Weeks. The Bureau of Mines
has made extended tests to determine the con¬
ditions necessary for the smokeless combus¬
tions of bituminous coal in boiler furnaces. In
the investigations of industrial establishment!
a study was made of the conditions in 13 of the
larger cities in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky.
Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York,. Ohio
and Pennsylvania, between 400 and 500 plants
being inspected: Siifflctent Ihtofmatlon was col¬
lected to make the data' from 284 plants of
value for this report.' In' nearly every city
visited coal was supplied from points both In
and out of the State, so that although nina
States we're visited, the'facts ascprtalned apply
to coal from a greater number. The main pur¬
pose ot the inspection was to obtain a better
knowledge of the Influence of furnace design,
and of the conditions under which combustion
takes place, on the production of smok». The
summary ot conclusions as Riven in the Bulletin
will Indicate what was learned by the tests.

A furnace, well designed and operated, will
burn manv coals without smoke up to a certain
number of pound.s per hour, the rate Tarying
with different coals, depending on their chemi¬
cal composition. • If more than this amount Is
burned, the efflclency will decrease and smoke
will be made, owing to the lack of furnace
capacity to supply air and mix gases.

Extremely high volatile matter In th» cnnl
usually gives low efficiency. The highest effi¬
ciency was obtained when the furnace was run
nt low capacity. When the furnace was forced
the efficiency decreased.

With a hand-fired furnace the best results
were obtained when firing was done most fre-
quontlv. with  the smallest charge.

Small sizes of coal burned with less smoke
than lar^e sizes, but developed lower capacities.

Peat, lignite and sub-hltumlnous coal burned
readily In the tvpe of tlle-roofed furnace uaed
and developed the ratdd capacity' wlfli prao-
tlcallT no smoke.

Coals that smoked badlv gave eilTlclencles 8 tiy
K ner cent. lower than tltfr coala blirallltr ~WI«S
IltOe smoke.                  1. _~        J         ~





The January Building Slump.

As shown by the preliminary report to
Bradstreet's journal last week, there was
no gain in building expenditures during
January, but rather a heavy shrinkage
alike from January, 1913, and from De¬
cember of last year. The decrease from
December was especially marked, and at
New York City the falling off was very
heavy because of the large total re¬
corded in December in Manhattan Bor¬
ough. Takifig the country as a whole,
the decreases outnumber the increases
considerably, but the decrease at New
York appears relatively more pro¬
nounced because of the December total
having been so large, the heaviest of
any month for nearly two years, in fact.

The total aggregate expenditures at
125 cities for January was $42,976,618, as
against $50,349,048 in January, 1912, and
$63,766,048 in December, 1913. There is
here shown a decrease of 32.6 per cent,
from December and of 14.6 per cent,
from January last year. As partially ex¬
plaining this slump, it might be noted
that the total building expenditures at
New York in January (four boroughs re¬
porting) was $9,168,026, as against $10,-
376,880 in January last year and $21,-
017,173 in December, 1913. Here, it will
be seen, the decrease was 56 per cent,
from December and 11.6 per cent, from
January, 1913.

---------•---------

The Graduate College Group of Prince¬
ton University.

(From  the   Builder,   London,  England.)

One of the weak points of the Ameri¬
can architect was considered to be their
inability to understand and carry out
Gothic—a failing readily understood
when it is remembered that the archi¬
tectural record of the United States
covers little more than two centuries,
and that, apart from the indigenous re¬
mains of Mexico, Peru and Yiicatan,
nothing remains in the two Americas of
an earlier date than the Spanish Renais¬
sance buildings of Mexico and South¬
ern America.

In these circumstances design of a
Classic or Renaissance character is more
natural to the American than the Euro¬
pean, and this is also emphasized because
of the climatic conditions of the United
States, as over the greater part of its
territory the summers possess a heat
and intensity which we only find in
Southern Europe.

Excepting for the round-arched Rom¬
anesque, type of architecture, which we
may almost say was "invented" by
Richardson, and which, after a series of
years, was swept away by the .general
endeavor to follow classical lines, the
buildings of every other type have been
few and far between. We see in New
York and many of the older towns_ de¬
liberate attempts to copy certain periods,
usually with a greater and more pain¬
staking" attempt at accuracy than we find
here. But the so-called Gothic of the
United States is usually a hard and life¬
less imitation of corresponding work
carried out here. 'We have now in Eng¬
land a number of designers who can
carry out churches and other buildings
which combine considerable freedom of
design with much of the spirit which has
rendered mediaeval work so interesting.

The building which we illustrate here,
the Graduate College of Princeton Uni¬
versity, shows that one firm of ai^chitects
in America understand the spirit and
nature of Gothic design, and we think
the accompanying illustrations will be
of general interest to our readers. We
do not remeinber a finer instance of
modern Gothic design in this country,
and it is doubly interesting as showing
what can be accomolished by education,
knowledge, and skill in a land without
mediaeval traditio.ns.

Mr. Cram believes' that the exponents
of Classic traditions are working on
wrong lines, and. though we are not with
him on this- point, we think the Prince¬
ton College sho~ws tlje absolute mastery
of the style whkh he believes in.

Messrs. Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson
;.ire also ihe;'architects of the Military
-£dleger ateJSTe^ .point—a fpic example
-Sf semi-wilttaiy design. ^   -;i.