A PORCELAIN HOME.

Otago Witness, Issue 2762, 20 February 1907, Page 72

A PORCELAIN HOME.

—Can be Built in Three Days.—

The porcelain house is not the- lates* in children's toys, nor yet a pretty ornament for the drawing room; it is as serious suggestion for the ending of tha householder's troubles. Its great advantages are simplicity of erection, cleanliness, and economy, and! in consequence it is thought that the great difficulties of workmen's dweUings might ba settled by it. The house is made practicable by tne invention of a method of making 'a-rge sheets of porcelain about an inch thick, which has the strength without the bulk of a brick wall. . Perhaps it would be as well to explaini here exactly what sheet porcelain ie. It is manufactured from a mixture of Devonshire or Cornish clay and stono with French flint boulders adjusted to their proper proportions. This is carefully worked by specially designed machinery into a liquid state, when the surplus water is extracted by means of filter presses. Afterwards it is pressed again and rolled into the requisite size, sheets averaging from one quarter of an inch to oue inch in thickness. This is carried into the drying rooms and fired. Then the sheets are decorated with printe of various colours by patent printing machines, and dipped or glazed and fired again. The result is sheet porcelain glazed on both sides, and decorated on both side» with suitable designs for indoor or outdoor use. There is a wide field of desigm for the exterior and interior of dwellings. The exterior of dwellings, which are often hideous and grimy, can be transformed, by beautiful colouring and decoration into an artistic picture. Its clealiness can always be assured at a minimum of cost. The internal decorations and colourings of the jointless walls give the greatest comfort and cleanliness for the least manual labour. All that is required is the hose and wash-leather. The cleansing of the room from any nauseous gases or bacteria in the least time with the least trouble and expense should also be easy. For artistic effect bisque coloured paint* ings can be, with the aid of machine printing and coloured "lazes, made to replace wallpaper — blue-and-gold designs of Sevres, Worcester, Crown Derby, can. by thesa decorative processes be produced at a ridiculously small figure for a higher grado of dwellings. A five-roomed house, with room auout 12ft square, weighing only 18 tons, and occupying a few days for erection or taking down, might be of immense value to the owner. Sheet porcelain, half-inch thick, glazed, and decorated both sides, can be produced at 10s per yard. The housing of the poor may be by this invention of sheet porcelain relieved of many difficulties and made comparatively easy. Sheet porcelain houses should also prove of great service in tha colonies.