THE BEE i OMAIIA, "WEDNESDAY, 'AUGUST 17, 1910.
-sw K - - W V" T " AT .4 1
Building and Construction
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PIIELAII-SIIIRLEY COHPAtlY
CONTRACTORS
Main Offloa
1009-1010 Omaha NatM Bank Dldg.
OMAHA, NED.
BRIDGES C& HOYE
Brick Contractors
Drandeis Theater Morris Theater
Omaha, Nebraska
Tjie Bryant-McLaughlin Asphalt Paving Company
Natural Asphalts
Omaha, Neb, "Waterloo, la.
Fort Dodge la, Sioux City, la.
Di Moines, la.
Iowa Falls, la.
Head Operating Office,
' Merchant National Bank Building, Omaha, Neb.
JOK2I OaVaJTT, ma. and Cton. XEgT.
OUT B. GBUUTT, 8c'7 and Trees.
The Grant Paving Co.
OXKZSAA COMTBAOTOBl TOM AU XUIDS Or FATIWQ
Artlflcal Stone Walk and Drtres, Carba and Gutter,
Steps and Coping, Botnfovced Concrete, All Klnda and'
Classes of Jtsyhalt Pavement, Bltnmlnoua Macadam, '
Keuchatel Mastic a Specialty. it i i t t
Omaha, Nebraska
T.l.nhon.si Soar. 7848. Barney 338. Win rnrniea Bstlmatea om All Wer.
BSQaaaBSaa
Buffalo Paving Brick Company
SALES AGENCY
Rooms 303-02-04 Brandsis Theatre Building
Rsrasjei, WitrifieJj Paving and Face Blocks
J. J. MAMGMEN
Plumbing,
Steam
Heating...
1408 Harney St., 0 maha, Neb.
CONTRACTORS ON:
Brandeis Theater Bldg.,
City National Bank Bldg.
New York Life Building.
UMMmA.VJ.1
UAUTY
ALWAYS
Visit our P umbing Display Rooms;
You're always welcome. See the
Latest Sanitary Fixtures tor the
bathroom. Distinctive Styles.
Heating Supplies, Plumbing Goods, Water Supplies, Steam Goods
U. S. SUPPLY CO.
- J- ''"una. -VeMnrHri, m
HIGH ART IN THE
CITY'S BUILDINGS
Splendid Designs Shown Along the
Streets as Result of Archi
tects' Care.
DESIGNEES SHOW THEIR TASTE
Ideas of Beauty Embodied in Many
Solid Blocks.
DRAFTSMEN EXPERIENCE CHANGE
Effect of the Standard Oil Buying
Construction Company.
LOCAL MEN NOT YET AFFECTED
New Deal Does Net Interfere with
the Independence of the Omaha
Architects, Who Are
All Bur.
Of Omaha architects there are twenty-
two, according to the latest reckoning;,
though this figure probably wilt be out
of date quickly, Judging from the rate at
which the younger draftsmen have cropped
up In the past
The story of Omaha archlttcts is In large
measure the story of architects the country
over, particularly so at the present time,
when the bigger offices are all affected
by a new and somewhat disturbing con
dition. This is the entrance of the Stand
ard OH company into the building and
construction world.
As is well known the Standard OH In
terests have within a year or so acquired
control of several If not nearly all of the
big construction companies and have at
once proceeded to operate on a new basis.
They are financing their own work, hiring
their own architects and are thereby pro
foundly changing the relation of owners
and architects. In a number of cases the
construction companies are agreeing to de
liver the complete building including the
services of the architect for a specified sum
or for a percentage of the cost.
It Is easily seen that this revolutionised the
relation of the archlteot from that of the
protector of the owner to that of the
employe of the contractor- This, it la
agreed, is one of the cauve why at the
present time the biggest architectural
uffloea of the country are comparatively
Idle. 8uoh a condition Is known to exist
beyond amy dispute and has been the
cause of investigations among the archi
tectural association of New York, Phila
delphia and Chicago, and Omaha archi
tects have also been probing Into the mat
ter. To some of the larger men in the
country matters look ominous right now.
Local Men Net Hurt Vet.
This condition of affairs has not really
hit Omaha architects as yet and the larger
offices are busy with big work, while the
mailer architects working on smaller
buildings are, of course, not affected at
all, because the construction companies are
chiefly engaged In putting up sky-scraping
hotels and office buildings. This Is not to
Kiiy that ail the big construction com
panies are connected with the Standard
Oil Interest, but a number are known to
be and others are suspecttd.
The erection of apartment houses has
been a work which has afforded Income
for a good many local architects, while
some of these apartment houses have been
put up without the aid of a competent de
signer, and the lesult, unfortunately, shows
It. The majority of the new buildings of
this kind are going up after plans have been
well drawn, and under competent super
i vision of construction. The sum of $500,000
' has been devoted to this kind of work In
. Omaha since the first of the year and as
much more will be before another Janu
: ary, 1. It Is a certainty that the demand
will constantly . Increase because under
modern conditions of city life the apart
ment building and the apartment hotel are
,nevltable. Ihe nor van t question by itself
plays a considerable role In this, and an
other big factor Is the desire to live not
far from "downtown," which renders resi
dence districts more and more congested
as a city gains in population and make
the apartment house an inevitable propo
sition. Apartment Houses Better.
The newer apartment houses are not
any more characterized Ly devotion to a
particular historic style than old ones have
been, but they are, nevertheless, bette.
buildings from every standpoint. Including
that of the architectural art. It Is not, of
:ourse, necessary for a building of any
.V.ml to belonti to any recognlied period
style to have a slyle of its own, and
t..c reverse Is also true. Many a bulld
hich In respect to elements of con
sTi'.i'tion and detail of ornamentation is a
vf-ct example of an historic sty; has
I ;i real architectural style at all. Just ho,
J V-o, a building which cannot be pronounced
to belong to any given s.yle or period may
measure up to all the aeathetto canons,
the employment of which distinguishes
from merely mechanical or utilitarian con
struction. A good example of this and
not. by the way, the work of ait Omaha
architect Is the residence built for Arthur
D. Brandeis and now owned and occupied
by former Senator Joseph H. Millard.
Of historic styles, Omaha affords some
excellent samples. The gothlc and neo
gothlc are common In church architecture,
hlch also affords several samples of the
Romanesque. The renalssnce style Is ex
emplified so far as nrnsmentatlon goes by
many and many a building of the Bysantlne
style. The Bee building Is one of the few
goud or even bad, for that matter speci
mens In the whole west. The Spanish mis
sion style baa lately been Imported from
southern California to find Illustration here
In two or three residences.
"Steel Cage" Gala I p.
The "steel cage" type of office building
has seen Just now completed one of con.
slderable example, the new City National
building, in whloh the walls are supported
by the frames and therefore made possible
to be of the same thickness throughout.
This building, while chiefly Interesting as
a proposition of structural engineering. Is
quite admirable from the aesthetic stand
point also, and Is noteworthy for the em
phasis which has been laid on the vertical
lines. The story-long cornice Is another
feature worthy of unqualified admiration.
The new Douglas county court house has
now progressed far enougn to disclose the
fact that It architect has designed a build
ing, which will have great dignity, a well
as mere masslveneea. It Is In the nvxiern
renaissance style and Is a good specimen
of the best results possible In thai direction.
MILLIONS IN SASH AND DOORS
An Omaha. ladastrr Whose Output Is
Shipped All Over the Mid
dle West.
The sash and door business is another
In which the Omaha concerns are consist
ently holding their own with the sash and
door factories ' and selling companies In
other parts of the west. It is probable
that, In the amount of goods of this nature
sold In a year, Kansas City, with its much
larger population, has a bit the bulge on
Omaha, but, with the one esceptlor,
Omaha has no close competitors for th
trade of the middle west. Bashes and
doors are made and sold at both Sioux
City and Lincoln, but the Industry In each
of these cities Is Insignificant as compared
with the amount of that sort of business
done In Omaha.
The territory which secures most of Its
supplies of this nature from the Omaha
manufacturers and Jobbers Is a large one.
The Omaha concerns reach out for their
business over the western half of Iowa
as well as over Nebraska, Wyoming, South
Dakota, North Dakota, northern Kansas
and northwestern Missouri.
Using the term In Its common accepta
tion In Omaha, the sash and door business
is by no means confined to the manufac
ture and selling of sashes and doors. In
addition to these articles, screen doors,
porch building material, staircase material,
fancy posts, and, In fact, almost every
product of the millwrights' art Is manu
factured and sold by the local sash and
door concerns.
The manufacturing and of the business
Is confined locally to eight firms. These
are the Adams Kelly company, 1308
Nicholas street; M. A. Dlsbrow tc Co.,
1201 Nicholas street; the Weir company,
the Omaha Woodworking company, Rosen,
bery Bros., the Omaha Planing Mill com
pany, A. Bloom ft Co.. 150 California street,
and the T. H. Werrlch Fixture company.
Each of these firms not only manufac
tures sashes, doors and ether similar
products, but conducts a general retail
business within the city and wholesales Its
products to out-of-town dealers. Two or
three of the largeat of these companies
keep a large stock of their manufactured
products on band, but with the greater
number of them the articles are simply
made up to fill the orders as they are
filed.
In addition to those firms In the city
which manufacture sashes and doors, the
finished product Is found in the stock of
most every lumber yard or builder's supply
company In the city. These firms da little
iu iiiHnuiaciuring, ana in roost cases
buy their stocks from the local manufa
turera. They do both a retail and whole
sale business In the product, depending on
whether or not they do a wholesale or re-
tall business In other articles which they
handle.
With the Werrlch company, on North
Twenty-fourth street, which Is not a leader
In the manufacture of sashes and doors,
the main Interest Is the making of office
fixtures, counters and the like and the
sash and door business Is only a minor part
of the whole Industry.
The total sash and door business of the
city will aggregate between $1,000,000 and
ll,60,O0O In a year. These figures, it will
be understood, Include also the other
articles which are manufactured and Jobbed
by Ihe so-called sash and door concerns.
Dealers In the article, as well as manu
facturers, are unanimous in saying that
the Increase In this line for the year will
run higher than 5 per cent, some guessing
the Increase at 19 per cent. This Is rather
remarkable when It Is realised that last
year the sash and door business in
Omaha, was far and away ahead of what
It had been In previous years, and It looked
then as though that would remain the high
water mark for aome years.
CRAWFISH RAID CORNFIELDS
Remarkable Story from the South
Stirs the Department of
Agriculture.
Prof. W. II. Hays, assistant secretary of
agriculture, has decided to send a special
agent of the bureau of plant industry to
Mississippi, with Instructions to do every
thing poFPlbloto sav the cornfields there
that are being attacked by crawfish.
The department officials have been
amsxed during the last few days by re
ceiving dozens of letters from farmers
along the banks of the Mississippi who
say that their cornfields are being de
voured by swarms of ravenous crawfish.
The animals burrow through the ground
and attack not only the roota of the corn,
but actually climb the stalks and eat the
leaves snd ears.
The section from which the complaints
come is low and the soil Is naturally molxt.
The water Is nesr the surface and It Is
supposed that the crawfish are attracted
to the cornfields because of the scarcity
of food. At any rate, the complaints have
come to the department In such number
that Prof. Hays hss decided to send cn
of his specialists from the bureau of plant
Industry to Investigate and see what can
be done to save the cornfields.
One correspondent si sens that he has
rathered more than 100 barrels of crawfish.
The peats hsv appeared In such numbers
that most of the farmers seem powerless
to combat them. Mr. Hays says that In
all probability the crawfish are more
valuable than the corn crop. He thinks
that If gathered they could be sold for a
good priee to the restaurant keepers of
New Orleans and other places where craw,
fish are regarded aa a delicacy Brooklyn
fccgle.
MAKE ROOFS OF ALL KINDS
Omaha Supplies Buildings AU Over
West with Coverings.
MATERIAL OF EVERY SORT USED
From Shingles to Slate, Omaha Job
hers Supply (he Demand that
Grows with the Building
l'p of the Territory.
Although the roofing concerns which are
located In Omaha make no pretense of
having a monopoly on the roofing business
of the west or even of the Transmlssls
alppl region, It Is a noticeable fact, that,
each year when the totals for the period
are compiled and made public those whloh
which represent Omaha's business for the
year compare very favorably with those of
Its nearest and strongest competitors.
The territory which belongs almost ex
clusively to the Omaha Jobbers and con
tractors is, of course, the western part of
Iowa, Nebraska and the southern part of
South Dakota. Their trade Js by no means
confined to this territory, however, for
very week Omaha firms are placing orders
for their products In Missouri, Kansas,
Woymlng, North Dakota and even In Colo
rado and state further west.
For the Iowa trade, the Chicago con
cerns furnish considerable competition;
for the northern trade, St. Paul and Minne
apolis are lively contenders, and fot the
western trade Denver roofing men must be
fought. The southern competition comes
largely from St. Louis and St. Joseph.
Of course, the material most largely
used for roofing purposes In the past was
the common wooden shingle and even today
It holds flie first place for ordinary dwell
ings bncause of Its comparative cheapness
and the ease with which it may be put in
place. The common shingle Is, of course,
handled by the lumber and supply men In
Omaha as in other cities.
But for the larger and more pretentious
residences as well as for the flat roofed
business houses, shingles have neither been
practical nor popular. Formerly tin and
other sorts of metal roofs were used al
most entirely for such structures and when
that condition prevailed, the bulk of the
roofing work was, of course, handled tin
hops and metal workers.
Within the last decade there has been a
tendency away from the metal roofs and
a turning to slate, gravel and, more re
cently, to tile as a roofing material. In the
last few years the tile has been largely
supplanting the other forma of roofing In
popularity although, Just now, the patented,
largely advertised roofings which are hand
led by every lumber dealer and builders
supply men in the city, are having their
inning. They will probably never supplant
the staple materials, however.
The bulk of rhe local business Is a con
tracting business and it is handled by
these firms, the National Roofing company,
the Mica Roofing company, and the Kd.
Barrlck Roofing company. These firms, al
though they do a wholesale and retail busi
ness in roofing materials, confine their at
tention largely to the contracting business,
receiving their contracts from general con
tractors or directly from the builders both
In and out of the city.
The Barrlck company confines Its atten
tion to gravel work, but the other two will
contract for any sort of a roof although
each focuses its attention largely upon
some particular sort of roofing. The Mica
company makes a specialty of a composite
patented product known aa (Mica Roofing
which is made In Canada from mica, lum
bago, soapstone and bitumen. The National
people, who do the largest business In the
city along with the staple roofing products,
sing the praises of an especially treated
felt. This treatment the company adminis
ters to. the felt, at a plant on North
Eleventh street.
The other firms In Omaha devote their
attention largely to the selling, at whole
sale and retail of roofing materials, a!
though most any of them will do a bit of
contracting work on the side. Among
these firms are the American 'Supply com
pany, the Sunderland Machine and Supply
company, the J. R. Stevenson Roofing com
pany and C. J. Shea Robfing company.
The total roofing business for the city
In one year will reach close to the $300,000
mark, although with the' business, both
contracting and Jobbing, so split up as
Is the case In Omaha, any such figure can.
at best, be but a guess.
Local roofing men do not feel that there
will be a great Increase this year over
last, but predict that the two years will
run about equal. Ordinarily there are
no marked seasons to the roofing business,
but thl ; ?ar the summer season has been
unusually dull. This Is markedly true of
the country orders which have persistently
refused to be forthcoming. This fact the
local roofers attribute to the drouthy con
ditions which until quite recently made It
very uncertain what sort of a crop these
districts would produce.
FISHER and LAWRIE
ARCHITECTS
PAXTON BLOCK
Omaha,
Nob.
CH AS. E. FANNING j
I Contractor of Public Works V
? OMAHA, NEO. J
Agent Purington Vitrified Paving BlockGalesburg, IU. 1
McGowan & Jacobberger
Jat. M. MoGewaa
Alaaaate Jaes storgar
General Contractors
Contractors on O. & B. SL RySs New Pewer Houi
Office: No. 7 Elks Building
William P. Deverell
CONTRACTOR
Telephone Douglaa 2946.
429 Ramge Block, Oxoft&aV.
EZZZl EZZZ1 LZZZS EZZZ3 C
1Z
Hydraulic-Press Brick
COMPANY
j cm
r U
D
naiMMia3l
Omaha Branch: 330-332 Bee Building
A. J. XAXUTOB. Manage B. W. VXgXXT, Asst Bee'y and TJtsaa.
WOK8, AYXBY, BXB.
Operating SO "Hydr.ulto" naats
Largest Mannfaotoxeaa of
Teeing Brloks In the World.
Manufacturing Brick Sloe 1867.
500,000,000 Facing Brick Annually
OMAHA. - NEB.
mummm rati iw iiiinin ipaaia i ii mi manna pmmM sawwMM wmm .
i I tim mi lAl Ihnumiaid IwhhmmI fUtmmmamJ 1 Hi nil LaaaJ
M. A. Disbrow & Co.
MAKERS OF
Doors, Glazed Sash, Screens
Porch Work, Fine Interior Trinu
Roofing and Building Papers
1201 NICHOLAS STREET
Standard
B
ridge Co
mpaiiy
Ra&nfactorers and Builders oi
Bridge and Metal Structures
OMAHA, NEB.