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THE BUILDING NEWS. Marcn 22, 1872. EE ooo —a——unmoooa_ HOUSE IN BOSTON, UNITED STATES. HERE is insufficient repose in the United States to expect much good art either in architecture or anything else. The illustration we give of a house in Brucon-street, Boston, U.S., looks certainly more like a quaint bit of finished French architec- ture than a product of American growth; yet such it is, and Mr. Crace and Mr. Van Brunt are the archi- tects. Nothing would give us greater satisfaction than to give from time to time such specimens of American architecture. —_—___ CHIMNEY-PIECES—HOLMW0OD VILLA, NEAR GLASGOW. HE chimney-pieces illustrated this week are in Holmwood Villa, a beautiful Classic structure, from the designs of A. & G. Thomson, Glasgow. The villa, as illustrated in ‘‘ Villa and Cottage Archi- tecture,” published by Blackie & Co., is a work of art, and well worthy the study of all interested in good architecture. The dining-room chimney-piece is of Galway black marble, and those in the drawing and entrance-hall are of Italian veined white marble. There is not much carving on these chimney-pieces. The greater part of the ornamentationis sunk and gilded in the hollows, the cuttings being from jin. to Zin. in depth, and angular or rounded in section according as the ornamental forms or the purpose of contrast appeared to suggest. The effect of the gilding is much enhanced by the reflection of oppo- site surfaces upon each other, and the whole of it is so well protected from injury by being below the general plane of the marble, that after ten years wear the gold has lost little or none of its original brilliancy. The object in view in adopting this mode of ornamentation was to establish a harmony between the broad marble surfaces of the chimney- pieces and the decorated walls, and also with the articles of taste usually arranged upon the mantel- shelves. Decoration in this manner can be executed at a very moderate cost when compared with carving in relief, as there is much less work in producing the sunk cuttings; and the thickness of marble required is very little more than is required for a plain chimney-piece. =e THE CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS’ SOCIETY. N Saturday last the Members of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers’ Society visited the works of the Metropolitan Extension of the Great Eastern Railway, by permission of Mr. Edward Wilson, the Engineer to the Company. The object of these extensions is to shorten the route from the main line at the outskirts of Lon- don into the city, by cutting across, under Hackney- downs and near London-fields, into Broad-street, instead of going round, as at present, by Stratford ; and also at the same time open up a district at present unserved by any line, running from north to south. The Members first met at the site of the new station in Liverpool-street, adjoining the existing Broad-street Station of the North London Railway. The new station will be below the level of the ground, and large quantities of earth have been re- moved by the contractors, Messrs. Lucas & Co.; these excavations show a great depth of made soil, the accumulation of centuries, cesspools and sewers being in great abundance. On the west side of the site, a heavy retaining wall, somewhat after the style of those at the metropolitan stations, but more ornate, is being erected. In the foundation and backing of this wall, such of the old bricks that are sound and solid from the houses that were taken down are being re-used, and for hardness they com- pare favourably with new bricks. The North Lon- don Railway being on a viaduct immediately along- side, and as before mentioned, the new works being below the level of the ground, it has been necessary to underpin the piers of the viaduct as well as the neighbouring houses on the east side of the course of the line. This work, although not presenting a great show, takes a good deal of time, and requires great care on the part of the contractors. The heavy traffic running on the viaduct, and the tenderness of some of the concrete underneath the piers, increase the care necessary in securing a proper foundation. Between Sun-street and Brick- lane the various bridges and other works were care- fully examined; at this point, near Brick-lane, the extension line crosses under the main line of the Great Eastern Railway at an angle of about thirty degrees. The old line is carried over a viaduct, the arches of which are elliptical; these had to be cut away and replaced by girders, carried on three mas- sive walls; this work created a good deal of inte-
rest amongst the Members of the Society, the mode in which it was carried out being described by a representative of the contractors, who conducted the Members over the works. After passing under the Great Eastern main line, the extension rises by a stiff gradient from under the surface of the ground to Winchester-street, which it crosses over, and the line continues on a viaduct to Hackney-downs, where if runs into a cutting. Beyond the Mile-end Station the works are in a yery forward condition, and will shortly be opened for traffic. They were examined by the Members, but being of the usual description of railway work, they do not need any special comment. ; —_>—___ AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF GLAZING. ESSRS. RENDLE & BURROWS have for- warded to us a specimen of an improved system of glazing suitable for greenhouses, conser- vatories, railway stations, skylights, and similar erections. Its object is to dispense with putty or any like material for fixing the glass. Previous attempts have been made to accomplish this: some have tried indiarubber, others felt, but none appa- rently have succeeded in becoming at all generally adopted. The accompanying sketch illustrates the invention. Fig 1is a plan of a light for cucumber frame. A is the sash-bar; D, the cramp to secure the glass in its proper position, but not pressed down; Cis the glass. Fig. 2, transverse section of same,
showing gutters on either side to carry off the water if any should enter. Fig. 3, longitudinal section of ditto, showing the position of the glass as secured by the cramp. Fig. 4, side view of cramp D. Fig. 5, front view of ditto, showing screw for fastening against rabbet. Fig. 6, a lengthened form of cramp D,to run the whole length of asash-bar, if required. The advantages claimed are that skylights can thus be made perfectly water and air-proof; that it is simple, economical, portable, and easily repaired ; and that the fastenings, not being tightly fixed down on the glass, breakage by expansion in hot weather is prevented. The sash-bars can be had either in zine, wood, cast steel or wrought iron. —>—_—— INTERCEPTION OF THE SEWAGE OF THE CITY OF LONDON FROM THE THAMES. A REPORT has been presented to the Streets Committee of the City Commissioners of Sewers by Mr. Haywood, the engineer to the City of Lon- don, and by Mr. Bazalgette, the engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, to that body on the same subject. Mr. Haywood’s report gives a detailed list of the sewers, which do or do not, at the present time, discharge their contents into the Thames. From Mr. Bazalgette’s report we learn that the sewage formerly passing through and from the City into the Thames was discharged from an area of about 10} square miles, being principally conveyed by the Fleet, Goswell-street, London Bridge, and Iron-
gate Main Sewers, extending, in the case of the Fleet sewer, as far north as Hampstead Heath. In 1861, the drainage from about 21 square miles of the Fleet Valley was diverted from the river by the Northern High Level Sewer, and is now discharged at Barking Creek. Early in 1865, the sewage from a further area, and in succeeding years from additional parts, was diverted, until at the present time, according to Mr. Bazalgette, nine-tenths of the whole amount of the sewage of the City has been diverted from the river. In a subsequent report, presented to the City Sewers’ Commissioners, Mr. Haywood challenges several statements made by Mr. Bazalgette. Thus Mr. Bazalgatte states that nearly one-half of the City area has been intercepted. Mr. Haywood, on the contrary, affirms that only 26 per cent., or rather more than one-fourth, is intercepted; ‘and it may be stated,” he adds, “that the unintercepted area comprehends the most important quarters, and those which are the most densely inhabited during the entire day, and from calculations based upon the number of persons known to reside the whole day in the City, and of those who enter and leave the City daily, I believe that I am within the mark when I state that the excreta of at least 200,000 personsis dis— charged into the Thames from 32 miles of sewers.” The other differences between the two engineers are comparatively unimportant. The last is of a semi-persona] character. Mr. Bazalgette attributes: to Mr. Haywood an unwillingness or inability to-
supply him with the information necessary to the: preparation of his report. This rather disagreeable and apparently unwarranted assertion is replied to at some length by Mr. Haywood. ————__—__. COMPETITIONS, New Barner ConGrecGationat ScHoors. — Messrs. Fuller and Cubitt’s design has just been selected by the committee in limited competition. The building is of a simple Early Gothic type, and is to seat 300 adults when used for services. Surrey Cuaret.—tThe following architects have been invited to join in a limited competition for the erection of this chapel, on which upwards of £20,000. are to be expended. Mr. Daukes, Mr. Robins, Messrs. Snooke & Co., of London, and Messrs. Paull & Robin- son, of Manchester. Srraspourc.—In the competition for prizes for designs for the reconstruction of the Temple-Neuf at Strasbourg, which was burnt by the besiegers of the city, the results, although French, German, and English architects competed, were entirely favourable to French design. Of five prizes, three fell to pupils of M. Questel; the first prize was awarded to the work of MM. J. Bernard, H. Motte, and A. Tournade. Tue Penzance Pusric Burpres.—The plans (open to public competition) submitted by Messrs. John Trounson & Son, architects, Penzance, for the proposed alterations in the approaches to S. John’s Hall, were selected at the Company’s general ineeting, held this week.
