TTTE BEE: OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, AUOUST 31, 1910.
I
Building and Construction
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William P. Deverell
CONTRACTOR
Telephone Douglas 2946. 429 Ramge Block, Omaha,
J. C MASDIS-COMPANY
General Contractors
REINFORCED CONCRETE WORK A SPECIALTY
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OMAHA,
NEB.
The Bryant-McLaughlin Asphalt Paving Company
Natural Asphalts
Omaha, Neb. Waterloo, la. Des Moines, la.
Fort Dodge, la. Sioux City, la. Iowa Falls, la.
Had Operating Office.
Merchants National Bank Building, Omaha Neb.
Buffalo Paving Brick Company
SALES AGENCY
..J
Rosins 300-02-04 Brandeit Theatre Building
Repressed, Vitrifiel, Paving and Face Blocks
y
HUGH MURPHY
CONTRACTOR
PAVING AND PUBLIC WORKS
OMAHA. NEB.
BRIDGES (& HO YE
Brick Contractors
V 1 1 I H , II
Brandcis Theater Morris Theater
Omaha, Nebraska
J. J. HAWIGHEN
Plumbing,
Steam
Heating...
1408 Harney St.,Omaha, Neb.
CONTRACTORS ON:
Brandeis Theater Bldg.,
City National Bank Bldg.
New York Life Building.
rn jyii f-ti cm
EL
Hydraulic-Press Brick
COMPANY
Omaha Braach: 330-332 Bee Building
A. J. EJltlTOS, Manag.r K. W. EBIUT, asst tee'f ud Trass,
woaxs, atest, au.
Operating- SO "atydraalio" rtaata
Largest Maanfaotarera (
raelag- Brtoks la taa Worla.
Manufacturing Briok Slnoa IS 67.
500,000,000 Facia. Brick Annually
OMAHA. - NED,
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BRICK STRUCTURES INCREASE
General Tone of Buildings is Being
Rapidly Improved.
FACED BRICK. IS POPULAR
Many ( the ITew Homes of Omaha
are Made More Beaatlfal by
the Vae of Btrllah Material.
Omaha to be destined to become a
city of brlclc houses. If the present increase
In brick construction continues. '
That there has been of late In the west
marked Increase In the use of brick for
building purposes Is 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
unltv
,X brlok comes from the kiln a finished
article. It Is loaded Into the car and trans
ported to customer. When unloaded at the
bulldlna site It Is precisely, the same aa
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
heavy load 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 oheated, the perpetual building
material. And it Is this reliability that in
greatest measure accounts for the Impreg
nable poatlon held by brick as a building
naterlal. Omaha Is reputed as being con
servative, safe and sane In Its preference
to types of construction.
Omaha Is Progressive.
Omaha architects are dlstlnctlly progres
sive 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
no matter what winds or waters or con
flagrations may rage.
But Omaha Is not typically a city of
brick aa la Denver, whose ordinances pro
hibit frame construction within Its limits.
The builder In Omaha can build most flimsy
If he so wlrhes. 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.
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 the use
of brick has been marvelous.
In no department of masonry Is this 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 emphasized, because
Omaha has been accustomed to see frame
dwellings erected by the hundreds with
hardly a single brick houee to break the
monotony.
Hair Brlclc Reatdrarea.
'A drive through the streets of the resi
dence sections of Omaha will open the eyes
of any doubter. Falracres, for exafnple, Is
a brick settlement. Not one of the 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 undnrgone
a striking change of heart, and In. addi
tion to the numerous handsome ail-brick
residences are a dosen 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
artlstlo . 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. E. Sunderland at Thirty
seventh and Pacific. This house has at
tracted much favorable comment, largely
because of the tapestry effect worked Into
the exterior wails of fine masonry.
And what la true of these sections applies
o every Important residence part, of
Omaha. The use of brick is Increasing be
cause brick has merit superior to other
building materials. The cost of building of
orica is commonly thought to be
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 tS.OuO. If the
builder adopts the brick type of house the
cost may run up to W.000. Where will the
extra 11,000 come from? It la 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 leas on the
brick structure. The comparative cost of
repairs and upkeep Clfounts the frame
Investment at the start. Occupants of the
brick house enjoy comforts quite unknown
to those who Inhabit the frame building.
Pasverby praise the looks of the most mod
est brick house.
Increase la Valaea.
Building lots usually Increase n value
quite perceptibly In ten years' lime. If the
building Is frame, the depreciation Is not
leas than the Increase In land value a flat
loss of auch increase to the owner. If 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 realties
the natural Increase In the value of the
realty.
A brick property la always saleable, while
a frame property frequently fails to attract
a buyer except at heavy loss. It la these
facts which are turning the mlnda c-f
Omaha home builders to the use of brick
and Omaha Is destined to be a city of
beautlfut brick buildings.
Another factor In thla 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 and shapes of
face brick are available where none but
smooth, dry press red, buff and gey were
formerly offered. Progressive brick manu
facturers and dealers. are In a large meas
ure responsible for. the present general
Interest In brick aa a building material.
There has been of late a decided Increase
In.thn use of brick throughout the, entire
west, but It is only the beginning of an age
In which brick will be the generally ap
proved and accepted construction material.
MORE BRIDGES MADE OF STEEL
Character of Modern Brldarea Are
rhaagrd as the Yea re noil
Round More Peraiastat
.Competing with the bridge contractor of
Minneapolis, Kansas City and the concerns
situated In the western ooast cities for the
bridge building trade of the great western
country, the Omaha concerns have always
managed to land a great deal more than
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 at Red Oak, la., Plattsmouth, Neb.,
and at, one or two , other . points.
At these places the brldires are manufac
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 supervisors 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 may 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
oompany.
Time was when practically all the bridges,
large er 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, aa 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 u?etl
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 thla . The main
reason Is that In many parts of the country
the facilities for making concrete work
cheaply are not at hand. Such work re
quires an abundance of gravel and sand
and when It la not present, for every cubic
yard of concrete construction, about 000
pounds of material must be shipped which,
as will readily be seen, cuts down consid
erably Its advantage over steel from the
standpoint of cost.
Another thing which has worked sgalnst
the adoption of concrete more universally
Is the fact that lu many placea contracts
have been let for concrete work to Irre
sponsible or poorly equipped contrsctors
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 th-lr
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 ateeel culvert pipe and
to steel construction work of all kinds
such ss water tanks. Jail linings and fire
escapes. It Is In the culvert pipe line that
concrete Is giving steel Its strongest com
petition, these days, In places where ma
terial suitable for concrete la abundant.
The amount of contracting business which
passes through the various Omaha bridge
firms will total between $1,600,000 to t2.000.000
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 ;00,000,
uses 300,000 tons of steel and about 3.000,000
feet of lumb-r In the same period.
And the business Is every year Increasing":
on this point, local manufacturer are)
agreed, but as to the amount of that In
crease their gueeses vary. One especially
optimistic nrldge man places his flfm'a
Increase for this year at 30 per cent, but
most of the manufacturers are a bit mora
conservative In their estimate
FISHER and LAWRIE
ARCHITECTS
PAXTON BLOCK
Omaha.
Nob.
Gmd&we
Contractors Douglas County Court House
. Now under construction by this firm:
Contract Price)
Lebanon) Ind. Court House ,...$246,000.00
Springfield, Mo. Woodruff Office Building .. 300,000.00
Springfield, Mo. McDaniel Office Building 120,000.00
Springfield, Mo. Frisco E. R. Office Building , . . . . 100,000.00
Springfield, Mo. Sansone Hotel. 60,000.00
Tulsa, Ark. Tulsa Hotel , 376,000.00
Canfield, Ohio Hospital , 112,000.00
c" H I CI1!' I1! &rF l'
Now under construction. $1,200,000. Court House, Youngs town. Ohio.
very
Three of Omaha's Modern Fire Proof Buildings
Constructed by Our RsJnforeed Concrsto Specialists
OMAHA
T-IHXPflOOT
' asaaaaTrrlywS TTF.Tff
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fess- GENERAL CONTRACTORS -r -;
-v ' O M A H A,,--!-?
rf""' ' 1 The Development of the Cement In- I l-Z V'4 '.'h :-
gf - - , I dustry during the past decade is one
! .1 ' &
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ONDE.Fl
CONST RUCTItN
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 Bu'Idlntf,
CONe.TJCTlO
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Let a Furnish Your Plans For
Reinforced Construction.
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