EARTHQUAKE PROOF.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 288, 5 December 1929, Page 26

EARTHQUAKE PROOF.

AN ENGLISH INVENTION. MILLIONAIRE CONTRACTOR INTERESTED. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO, October 4. William F. Kenny, New York millionaire contractor, who gained international fame by giving his barber a vacation in Europe, has now turned his attention to the matter of tornado and earthquake proof, buildings, and ho has revealed in an interview that he is considering formation of a 100,000,000dollar company to exploit an English invention which the fttventor claims will revolutionise building operations throughout the world. The invention, it is claimed, will make possible the construction of buildings proof against tornado, earthquake or even fire, and at the same time will reduce the cost of construction 20 per. cent. Elimination of expensive steel in all buildings less than five storeys in height, and of much steel in all buildings, and increased speed in construction are other advantages claimed for the invention. "I am.moat enthusiastic," Kenny said, "but I will proceed with caution, because I have not yet submitted the invention to my own American engineers. I have negotiated for the AinericAji rights to the invention, strictly subject to satisfactory proof that it will fulfil all claims. Accordingly I am planning to erect a building in the United States, probably in some tornado-ridden locality, where I can actually verify whether it will resist the elements as they are rarely encountered in the milder English climate."

The new system of building, Kenny said, already has undergone successful experiments in England. As a practical man, he said, he had great faith in the invention, and believed that if it really proved able to resist the fury of the elements it would "revolutionise the building business throughout the world." It was because of that belief, he said, that he took the necessary steps to organise world-wide control of the invention. The inventor is the well-known British building contractor and expert, E. J. Frewen, who stated that the invention is based on a brick similar to other fireproof bricks, except that it is grooved, enabling one brick to be fitted into or on to another, like "tongue and groove" wood, thus eliminating the use of mortar. "The invention means," said Frewen, "that henceforth bricks will be laid one on top of the other, interlocking to form a monolithic structure. To wreck such a structure a tornado must uproot the foundations and bloiv over the entire building, or else make it look like the leaning tower of Pisa. The interlocking bricks would prevent the building from falling apart. Thus an earthquake cavity would have to be wide enough to swallow up an entire building. Otherwise it would only tilt it."