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THE BEE: OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1010.
Building and Construction
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BRICKSTRUCTU RES INCREASE
General Tone of Building: it Being
Rapidly Improved.
PACED BRICK IS POPULAR
Manr of New Hnraft of Omaha
Art Mad Mora Beaatlfnl hy
the Ise of itrlLh Material.
Omaha urami to ba destined to become a
cltjr of brick houses, If the present Increase
In , brick construction continues.
That there has been of lats In the west
marked Increase In the use of brick for
building purposes In apparent to the most
casual observer. Brick Is the oldest known
building material. Its worth has never been
subject to serious doubt or debate. No
other manufactured product suitable for
structural purposes presents to the artisan
the same complete, Integral, ready-to-use
unit.
A brick comes from the kiln a finished
article. It la loaded Into the car and trans
ported to customer. When unloaded at the
building site It la precisely the same as
when the burner pronounced It "done."
Now alone Is required the skillful hand
of the mason to give It place In the fall,
held only by a bond of mortar to bear Its
hoavy loHd and perform Its function, hav
ing been woven Into that fabrlo called ma
sonry, the most dependable, most pliable,
most durable and therefore the most de
sirable construction known to modern
building science. -
Other materials have come and gone but
brick lives on forever, free from uncer
tainties, Independent of that element known
as "human fallibility," Impossible of cheat
ing or being cheated, the perpetual building
material. And It Is this reliability that In
greatest measure account for the Impreg
nable postlon held by brick as a building
material. Omaha Is reputed as being con
servative, safe and sane In Its preference
as to types of construction.
Omaha la Progressive.
Omaha architects are distinctly progres
siva and well Informed and as yet they have
not "fallen" for the lure of Quick, flimsy,
uncertain and so-called cheap modern meth
ods which have prevailed In many cities.
Massive piers and foundations of masonry
support our best buildings; foundations
whose broad footings rest secure upon the
solid earth, never to yield a hair's breadth
r.o matter what winds or waters or con
flagrations may rage.
But Omaha Is not typically a city of
brick as la Denver, whose ordinances pro
hibit frame construction within Its limits.
The builder In Omaha can build most flimsy
If he so wishes. For this- very reason It Is
a credit of Investors responsible for the
business and other Important buildings, not
overlooking residences, that masonry Is
common rather than uncommon.
J. C. HARMS COMPANY
General Contractors
REINFORCED CONCRETE WORK A SPECIALTY
! OMAHA orrxoz
I3 BAMOa BUELDIHO
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OMAHA.
NEB.
HUGH MURPHY
CONTRACTOR
PAVING AND PUBLIC WORKS
OMAHA. NEB.
HOWARD KENNEDY SCHOCXi 1910.
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Figures are not available with which to
present In dollars the value of the brick
work In buildings erected In Omaha within
a period of ten years, but to any one who
has kept open an observing eye, It Is
easily apparent that the Increase In tha use
of brick has been marvelous.
In no department of masonry Is thts fact
so noticeable as In the use of face brick
for residences. Here, as In no other sort of
construction, Is the tendency toward the
use of brick so well emphasised, because
Omaha has been accustomed to see frame
dwellings erected by the hundreds with
hardly a single brick house to break the
monotony.
Many Brick Residence.
A drive through the streets of the resi
dence sections of Omaha will open the eyes
of any doubter. Falracres, for example. Is
a brick settlement. Not one of tha many
beautiful homes erected In this most charm
ing suburb Is of frame. Masonry has a
complete monopoly In Falracres,
The Field club district, which started out
to be a frame community, has undergone
a striking change of heart, and In addi
tion to the numerous handsome all-brick
residences are a dozen or more half-brick
(shirt waist) houses or stucco exteriors, in
which fine face brick have been used In a
conspicuous and generous manner.
Perhaps the most striking example of
artlBtlc all-brick work In the Field club
district. If not In the whole city, is the
now almost completed English style brick
residence of R. K. Sunderland at Thirty
seventh and Pacific. This house has at
tracted much favorable comment, largely
because of the tapestry effect worked Into
the exterior walls of fine masonry.
And what is true of these sections applies
to every Important residence part of
Omaha, The use of brick la Increasing be
cause brick has merit superior to other
building materials. The cost of building of
brick is commonly thought to be very
high. This is a mistake.
To build of brick veneer does not cost to
exceed 20 per cent more than frame. Sup
pose, therefore, the contemplated Invest
ment In a frame house Is J0.O0O. If the
builder adopts the brick type of house the
cost may run up to $6,000. Where will the
extra 1,000 oome from? It Is undeniable
that building and loan associations would
rather Increase the loan to the amount
necessary to change from frame to brick
than to carry the lower risk on the cheaper
construction. Insurance Is less on the
brick struoture. The comparative cost of
repairs and upkeep discounts the frame
Investment at the start. Ocoupants of the
brick house enjoy comforts quite unknown
to those who Inhabit the frame building.
Passerby praise the looks of the most mod
est brick house.
Increase In Valves.
Building lota usually Increase in value
quite perceptibly In ten years' time. , IT th
building is frame, the depreciation Is not
less than the Increase in land value a flat
loss of such increase to the owner. IT the
building la of brick the Idea of depreciation
is hardly suggested to the buyer. The
owner therefore saves cost of upkeep, re
pairs and worry and also saves and realises
the natural Increase In the value of the
realty.
A brick property is always saleable, while
a frame property frequently falls to attract
a buyer except at heavy loss. It Is these
facts which are turning the minds of
Omaha home builders to the use of brick
and Omaha is destined to be a city of
beautiful brick buildings.
Another factor In this change of Ideas on
the part of builders Is the recent develop
ment In the art of making fine brick. To
day 100 colors, kinds, styles arid shapes of
face brick are available where none but
smooth, dry press red, buff and grey were
formerly offered. Progressive brick manu
facturers and dealers are In a large meas
ure responsible for the presmt gener.il
Interest In brick as a building material.
There has been of late a decided Increase
in the use of brick thuughuut the entire
west, but It is only the beginning of an age
in which brick will be the generally up
proved and accepted construction muter. al.
tured to fill the contracts which are se
cured at the Omaha office.
The business carried on by most of the
Omaha firms is essentially a contracting
business. These firms send representatives
to the lettlngs which are held by the vari
ous county boards of aupervlsors and town
shrip trustees and commissioners and the
fortunate bidder closes a contract to fur
nish to that county or township all the
bridges they msy require during the per
iod, generally a year, at a certain price
per lineal foot for each kind of bridges.
Then as the counties or townships call
upon the firms for bridges, they, In turn,
place a contract for their manufacture
with some iron and steel manufacturing
company.
Time was when practically all the bridges,
large cr small In this section of the United
States, were made of wood and this con
dition still holds largely true of Nebraska.
It Is only very recently that the bridges In
this state, even those over the Platte, began
to be constructed of steel.
In most of the other states, however,
steel has, In the last decade, come rapidly
to the front as a bridge building material,
especially In Iowa where only the smallest
bridges are made of wood. It looked for a
time, a few years ago, as though concrete,
with its rapid development, would supplant
the most costly steel in bridge construction
work, but it now shows much less indica
tion of doing so. Today concrete Is used
much with steel for the building of such
parts of the bridge as the floor or sub
structure, but for the remainder of the ;
bridge It has not proved satisfactory. !
There are reasons for this. The main
reason Is that in many parts of the country j
the facilities for making concrete work
cheaply are not at hand. Such work re-1
quires an abundance of gravel and sand I
and when It Is not present, for every cubic I
yard of concrete construction, about 500,
pounds of material must be shipped which,
as will readily be seen, cuts down consld-
erably Its advantage over steel from the :
standpoint of cost. j
Another thing which has worked against
the adoption of ooncrete more universally
Is the fact that in many places contracts
have been let for concrete work to Irre-;
sponsible or poorly equipped contractors i
who have, by faulty building or by the use
of too little or too poor cement, given the
whole concrete business a "black eye"
with those who use bridges.
The local contractors do not confine their
attention, In most cases, to bridge work.
The Western Bridge and Construction com
pany, for example, make foundations and Is
just now completing a foundation for the
street railway company at Fifth and Jones
streets. The Standard people devote a good
deal of attention to steeel culvert pipe and
to steel construction work of all kinds
such as water tanks, jail linings and fire
escapes. It Is in the culvert pipe line that
ooncrete Is giving steel Its strongest com
petition, these days, In places where ma
terial suitable for concrete Is abundant.
The amount of contracting business which
passes through the various Omaha bridge
firms will total between tl.GOO.OOO to 12,000,000
In value for a year. The amount of steel
consummed and lumber used Is enormous.
One of the companies which reports a
yearly business of approximately $500,000,
uses 300,000 tons of steel and about 3,000,000
feet of lumber In the same period.
And the business is every year Increasing;
on this point, local manufacturers are
agreed, but as to the amount of that in
crease their guesses vary. One especially
optimistic bridge man places his firm's
Increase for this yesr at 30 per cent, but
moat of the manufacturers are a bit more
conservative In their estimates.
The bridge contracting companies in the
local field are the Canton Bridge company,
which has a branch office here in the
Paxton building, the Standard Bridge com
pany In the City National bank building,
the Western Contractors" Supply company
In the Brandels building, the Nebraska
Bridge Supply and Lumber company In
The Bee building, and the Western Bridge
and Construction company, also located In
The Bee building.
FAIR WARNING ON FIREWORKS
Kansas Clr Plans to Head Off the
Deadly Noise on Fonrth
of Jely.
A new ordinance for the regulation of the
sale and use of fireworks the Fourth of
July Is to be Introduced In the council of
Kansas City by Alderman Louis Oppensteln.
The ordinance will be a copy of the Chi
cago law. It Is the purpose to enact It
now so that dealers may be prepared be
fore laying in their stocks for next year.
It is believed the Oppensteln ordinance
will be accepted, fnder the terms every
dealer must make application for a license
before June IS, setting forth wher the
fireworks are to be for sale. Toy pistols,
toy cannon, blank cartridges, firecrackers
exceeding two inches In length, torpedoes
exceeding three-fourths of an Inch In diame
ter, chloride of potash and sulphur, and any
explosive more powerful than black gun
powder are barred.
A feature of the ordinance that Is ex
pected to make It effective Is a provision
that every dealer taking out a special
license- for the fireworks must put up a
cash bond of $2i0 which may be forfeited
when he violates any provision of the ordi
nance. No dealer is allowed to sell fire
works prior to the first dsy of July and
after the Fourth.
No device for exploding other substance
than the oommon black gunpowder for the
purpose of making an unusually loud ex
plosive Is permitted. The fire warden Is
to have supervision of the place and man
ner of keeping and displaying fireworks
stocks. The storing and sale of firework!
is prohibited In the following places:
Where paints, oils or varnishes are man
ufactured or kept for use or sale.
In carpenter shops or drug stores; In
buildings where kerosene or other product
of petroleum Is aold or In any building
In whloh dynamite, gun cotton, nitro
glycerin, petroleum or any of Its products
or compounds containing any of the said
substances are kept or sold.
In any building or place where tar, pitch,
rosin, turpentine, hay, cotton or hemp it
manufactured, stored or kept for sale.
In any building Illuminated by any arti
ficial light other than gaa or electricity.
In any building In which dry goods of
any kind or other light materials of a com
bustible nature, except flags, paper lan
terns, paper balloons or decorations are
kept on the mum floor and within fifty
feet of any firecrackers or other fire
works offered or exposed for sale-Kansas
City Star.
Division.
Tommy Pop. does the earth gr round T
Tommy's Pop Tee. my son, but It
wouldn't If it was divided among all tha
people who want It Philadelphia, Record.
Caldwell & Drake
Contractors Douglas County Court House
Now under construction by this firm:
j Contraot Price
Lebanon, Ind. Court House , ....$246,000.00
Springfield, Mo. Woodruff Office Building 300,000.00
Springfield, Mo. MoDaniel Office Building . ....... 120,000.00
Springfield, Mo Frisco E. E. Office Building ?t 100,000.00
Springfield, Mo. Sansone Hotel 60,000.00
Tulsa, Ark. Tulsa Hotel , 876,000.00
Canfield, Ohio Hospital ..M...... 112,000X0
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Now under construction. $1,200,000. Court House, Youngstown, Ohio.
Three of Omaha's Modern Fire Proof Buildings
Constructed by Our Reinforced Concrete Specialists
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W. K. FAgtmiSiar Omaha, Contractor.
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Interior, Hearing Compl.tlon, Showing Oonorste Construction.
AI.SaVr O. AJUBMO, Omaha, Designing and Supervising Englnasr.
MORE BRIDGES MADE OF STEEL
tharnrter of Modern Brldares Are
t'hnniced n. the Tears noil
Hound More PermHnent.
Competing with the bridge contractor of
Minneapolis, Kansas City and the concerns
situated In the western cuast cities (or the
bridge building trade of the great western
country, the Omnha concerns have always
managed to Utid a great deal more thun
their share of the contracts, and In fact
have supplied the greater part of the
bridges which span the rivers and creeks
of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and even
of Kansas and Wyoming.
Omaha has no firms which manufacture
bridges in the city, although the Standard
Bridge company maintains manufacturing
plants st Red Oak. la., Plattsmouth, Neb.,
and at one or two other points.
At these places the bridges are manufac-
" ,f,;:.tiU:i
IP. GUTH
ARCHITECT
DESIGNER OF
Dreibus Candy Co. 8 Building.
Krug Brewing Co.' Bottling Dept.
Omaha Casket Co.
Haubens Building.
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Pr--,rflFryftr ' j I & H J
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ITTlf3' s5?v Reinforced Construction. yyySijf"!
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HEN BISCUIT CO.
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arsons 1 & BSie
GENERAL CONTRACTORS
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The Development of the Cement In.
dustry during the past decade is one
of the marvels of the age.
During this time concrete has come
to be recognized as the ideal building
material for heavy work, on account
of its moderate cost, durability and
the many possibilities it allows for
moulding into various forms of arch
itectural beauty. We specialize in
concrete construction work.
Cement Construction Insures a Fireproof Building,
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Pnxlon Block
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