HEARTH AND HOME.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18441, 23 July 1925, Page 5

HEARTH AND HOME.

COST OP BUILDING. EFFECT OF CONCRETE. (speciaixt WBrrrss roa "the pbess. ) .. The enormous increase in the cost of buildings during the past decade has surely had no parallel in any previous ten years. The world of invention is seeking some new development which will add to our comfort, or the ornament or usefulness of our dwellings at a price approximating the pre-war cost. All inventions seem to be obsessed with one idea—the annihilation, as far as possible, of the four principal materials used in buildings, namely, timber, bricks, stone and plaster. Incidentally they are going to annihilate, as far as possible, the skilled artisans who use these materials. Concrete Inventors. Concrete has certainly produced more inventions and inventors to the square foot than any other known material used in the construction of buildings. Fabulous fortunes have also been made by these dabblers in this fascinating material, and it certainly is fascinating. Its chief lure is that anybody can experiment with it, and it requires only a few shillings, to buy the necessary ingredients. A few buckets of shingle or other suitable material and a bag of cement are quite enough to upset the equilibrium of the average person, more particularly if it happens to bo a clever craftsman in the building industry. However, it is not necessary to havo any Knowledge of building construction to contract the .".ilment. The only.danger that should be.avoided, as far as possible, is the chronic state. It is really astonishing that shingle, sand, cement, and water can be mixed in so many different ways. Having invented a new and perfect concrete block, practically all of the inventors are ashamed of it, so thev spend more time and money in "dolling'' it up to imitate stone, or they rely oh the plasterer to k,eep it out of sight, by well known centuries-old methods. tio much for concrete. The roint is that concrete hp.s not materially reduced the cost of buildings. The three materials it aims at—timber, bricks and stone — continue to bo used in enormous quantities because the cost factor still reigns supreme. Plaster. /There still remains one more of the principal materials to be conquered. Whole armies of antagonists ,«re up against it—plaster. It has not beep the fate of this simple, durable, and inexpensive material to escape the assaults which every good thing in this world must encounter at one time or another. In spite of all that is said against it, it * remains the universal lining for the vast majority of dwellings throughout the civilised world. The merits of substitutes for plaster are well known. They have decided advantages over plaster in many respects, "but Uhfi (demon, cost, still asserts itself.

So, in spite of nil inventive genius, we seem to remain in a position ot "as you were." Yet if we look tho matter fairly and squarely in the face, the problem is, one simple of solution, because the question resolves itself into a .very personal one. LONDON'S NEW RESERVOIR. VAST ENGINEERING FEAT. After ten years' work, London's new reservoir was opened on June 13th by King George. It is one of tho biggest* engineering feats ever carried out. The inlet beneath the new bridge marks the power of the Thames,, for here is the beginning of the intako channel which goes to the great pu- ping station, about three-quarters of a mile away, allowing millions of gallons of water to pour into the largest artificially made reservoir in the world. Biver Diverted. In the making of this mighty hole strango things havo happened. Tho Biver Ash was iii the way: it had to be removed, arid cleverly diverted, it now takes a new course. Cottages which had weathered storms for hundreds 6f years were torn down, but their old C; ving is preserved. What was once the village of Littleton no longer exists, all that is left is the church, there is no post office, no inn. It may be a year before the work is finished. Tho concrete lining has yet to be completed, but already the sides aro partly lined and in places topped with a curly rim which is so designed that on stormy days tho turbulent water will be thrown back into the reservoir as it beats against tho edge. Four Miles Around. It is fo ir miles round the rim. Superintending work-in-progress inspectors Jiave often walked three times a day round the reservoir, where, at times, more than 2000 men have been engaged in the task of preparing London's new source of water supply. During the war, work was interrupted.. Sleepers from tho railway line which ran round the excavations were recognised by some of the employees of the Metropolitan Water Board near Albert, France, during tho Great War. Its war service finished, the railway was returned to perform its original duty at Littldton. . . * , . Tho pumping station is a place of dramatic power, and to the uninitiated, of dramatic mystery. The engines are steam driven. The hungry furnaces will be fed daily by fifty tons of coal. Every pint of water that so passes is automatically that at any moment the. quantity flowing ante the reservoir may be known to the ofiicials, not only at Littleton, but in London. The centrifugal pumps are giants of their kind; the pipes through which they will deliver the water are five feet in diameter, while the area, covered by the reservoir is 800 acres. . .. ■ nil- i run -—<—w