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Real estate record and builders' guide: v. 10, no. 245: November 23, 1872

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AND BUILDERS' GUIDE. Vol. X. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1872. No. 245. 9 Puiillihed Weekly bu ■ THE REAL ESTATE RECORD ASSOCIATION. TERMS. One year, in advance......-................SB 00 All communications should he addressed to C. ^STV. S^VKKT. -7 AND 9 Warrkn Strkkt. No receipt for money due the RE.VTi EsT.vrE Record will be acknowledged unless signed by one of onr regular oollectors. HENRY D. SMITH or TrroJiAS F. CmnilNGS. All bills for collection will bo sent from the offloe on a regu¬ larly printed form. Special Notice. ' Whatever may have been the preconceived notions gen¬ erally entertained as to the relative merits of the different makes of safes, there can be no doubt that the severe and thorough test of the late Boston fire cstahlished the superi¬ ority of those manufactured bj' the American Steam Safe Co. Steam seems to be the reliance of all the various kinds of safes, but this company applies the principle mnch more extensively than others and, on this ground, assumes its distinctive designation. The destruction of any safe, if subjected long enough- to fire, is only a. que.stion of time. When, however, one hundred and fifty firms, who suffered by the Boston calamity, in which all sorts of .safes were tried, come forward gratefully to testify to the exceptional excel¬ lence of the Steam Safes, is is a conclusive test of their su¬ periority and a matter of such general interest as to require . special attention. TESEA COTTA. The recent fire at Boston is having the good effect of putting all building materials upon trial. The undivided testimony of all who have witnessed the effects of the conflagration, goes to prove that the material upon which was placed the greatest reliance for durability and. strength—^hard granite—utterly failed in the terrible test to which it was subjected, that all other natural stones did the same, and that bricks alone seemed capable of passing safely through such an ordeal; the only effect of the fire upon them having been to glaze their sur¬ faces. This experience -will go far to recommend the more abundant use of this comparatively homely but reliable material, owing to so recent and prominent an exposition of its qualities; but. it needed not even this last demonstration to prove the value and durability . of what had already stood the test of ages. The fact is that brick, when properly made and burnt, is all but indestructible by the ravaging of time, water or fire. Boston has just proved the last, and as to the two first we need only state the fact that the Cloaca Maxima, the great public brick sewer built in the time of the Kings of Rome, is still extant, and partly performing the functions for which it was constructed 3,000 years ago in the Italian capital. If clay thoroughly burnt in one shape can thiis prove its strength and durability, there is no reason why it should not, if produced in any other shape, and this is where Terra, Gotta brings in its claim for consideration. This j material which, as its name denotes—terra \ cotta in Italian, and terre cuite in French—^is ■ nothing but baked earth or rather clay, has \ been known and in use from the earliest ages. \ It was produced by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks in the form of vases, water-jars and other useful implements, many of which are . still in existence. Later, the E,omans made it. of finer quality, and moulded it into lamps, urns, etc., which they ornamented with raised j and depressed figures upon the surface. It was ! not until the end of the'llth century that its j use appears to have been discovered for larger purposes, and from the 12th to the 17th cen¬ tury it was extensively used in Italy for architectural ornaments. The stranger who visits the ancient city of Ferrara, and unac- quaiated -with this material, is amazed to see the sumjituous brick buildings there, with the most elaborate ornamentations, which look like brick but are made of terra cotta. The art was introduced into England about the latter part of the last century, and became quite an important branch of industry. It was largely used for public statues and decorative sculpture in architecture, and many of the old Coats of Arms to be seen over the doorways of dingy shop fronts in the ancient quarters of London, to this day, are of this material. From that time to this it has been in constant use, and in many cases is found as perfect as the day it was made, when all the surrounding stone has crumliled to decay. Terra Cotta has also been- considerably used in this country, and in this city,—the window finishings of the St. Denis Hotel being an instance that occurs at the moment,—and if it has failed to reach the popularity it merits, it is simply because the public have not been made sufficiently acquainted with its merits. It is capable of assuming any form into which stone or other material can be shaped by the hand of man, and in this respect has a great advantage over Cast-iron Castings. .In the latter case, ornaments can only be made of a certain shape, in order to admit of their dra%ving from the mould, but with Terra Cotta, after being taken from the mould, the clay can be so manipulated and undercut as to admit of all those deep hollows and shadows which formi the soul of sculptured ornaments, and in which respect cast-iron always has such a poor and shallow appearance. Terra Cotta is made of the purest clays, and fine quartz, sand or calcined flints with pulver¬ ized old pottery. These are thoroughly mixed together, and subjected to the most intense heat. One proof of the power of ordinary brick to -withstand fire is to be found in the fact that in furnaces in which terra cotta is baked, the supports on-vvMch the ^models are placed have to be of brick, as any known stone [sub¬ jected to such intensity of heat would calcine to powder. The value of Terra Cotta as a building material, when well made, can scarcely be over-estimated, as it is capable, being plastic, of assuming a magnificence of appear¬ ance, which if attempted in stone, would cost from double to even ten times as much, accord¬ ing to the elaborateness of the details. It is surprising that our architects and builders have not paid more attention to this material, especially in cases where a grand effect is required out of comparatively small means. Mb. Eidlitz, has shown us, in the Produce Exchange, Academy of Music at Brooklyn, and other buildings, what a very pleasing and even rich effect can be produced by the artistic use of brick alone. By the legitimate aid of Terra Cotta—which is, after all, nothing bnt moulded brick made almost imperishable by burning— the most sumptuous effects might be reached, at a comparatively small cost, that would be so expensive if -wrought in stone, as to place them utterly beyond attempt. A EEVOLUTIOlir Ilf CHURCH AECHI- TECIUSE. A REMAEiCABLE change is now going on in England respecting the opinions which have for the last thirty years prevailed as to the most appropriate form of Protestant church- building ; a change which is very likely to take place also on this side of the Atlantic. Dur¬ ing the last three decades, the architects of England have been servilely folio-wing the patterns of the Grothic mediaeval. churches 5 buildings originally designed for another and totally different form of worship. Before the outbreak of this Gothic lever, this beautiful style of architecture, which had commenced declining as far back as the reign of Elizabeth, and was completely transformed and disfigured by absurd Greek and Italian innovations in the time of her successors, seemed at last to have utterly vanished from sight. A so-called '' class¬ ical " taste had come to pervade the public mind, through the teachings of Stuart and Revett and other archasologists, respecting the pure and glorious productions of ancient Athens. > Flat roofs had completely superseded pointed gables, columns and pilasters were everywhere to be seen instead of buttre.sses and fihials; and often the most costly and beauti¬ ful piece of mediaival workmanship in carved stone was to be found covered over, by some mangy imitation, in plaster,, of what was con¬ sidered Grecian high art. Indigenous art was at a discount, and the glories of Tork Jilinster or Salisbury Cathedral faded before the newly- imported pretensions of the Parthenon and the" Erecthseum. Like many other things, this