THE Wellington Independent. "Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 14th MARCH. THE ART OF BUILDING REVOLUTIONISED.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1842, 14 March 1863, Page 3

THE Wellington Independent. " Nothing extenuate; Nor set down aught in malice." SATURDAY MORNING, 14th MARCH. THE ART OF BUILDING REVOLUTIONISED.

.©n the Reclaimed land opposite to Mr Borlase's ■office, those are several blocks of red stone imported from Canterbury loug since, as a sample ■of what can be obtained from that Province if needed ; but even supposing the stone nvas of a suitable description, the cost would prevent its use here. Science, whose province is is to supply the defiiciencies of Nature, has forjears been trying to produce artificial stace, and has at last admirably succeeded — go admirably, that first quality stone can be made here in Wellington for building, paving, and every other purpose, by the most ordinary means, and at a price even cheaper than bricks. It is of French invention, was exhibited in the International Exhibition, is patented in England, has been tried by the French Government for all sorts of purposes with extraordinary results, and is now ordered to be used iv the reconstruction of some Of the Paris forti-

fications and in the magnificent houses which are so extensively being built in that Imperial City. To be able to make artificial stone of so durable a quality ihut it c;ui he used for all the purposes of real stone and many others beside with little trouble and at a trifling cost, sounds so preposterous that tho danger lies in the discovery being at once poo-poolied, instead of receiving that candid test and appreciation which we shall proceed to show the invention really deserves. There is no necessity to doubt as to the merits of the inventiou of M. Coignet. The French Government has enquired into them thoroughly, and has satisfied itself of its advantages in speedy construction, economy, duvability,incomhii3tibility, and cheapness. Basins steam engine basement blocks, ressrvoirs, and pavements daily crossed by an incessant stream of heavy waggons, are some of the uses to which it has been put. At Lyons an immense monolithic (i. c. is one piece) workshop has been constructed with terraced roofs, these terraces have also been used as open air workshops for five years exposed to every variety of weather without exhibiting tho least trace of injury. The floors of stables and workshops exposed for more than /five years ti> the hoofs of horses and the iron spades of numerous workmen, • do not show the faintest scratch, so hard have the surfaces become. Blocks, submerged four years since at St. Jean's de Luz by order of the Emperor, have become hard and sparkling as granite ; pickaxes are blunted and broken upon them without making a scratch, and they appear iudestmctable except by gunpowder At the government manufactory at Capsales the ground recently gave way under abasement of the artifiicial stone supporting the steam engine of the establish meut, leaving the base, ment suspend over the void,. " Yet," reports the sub-director of the establishment, "the flooring of artificial stone has not .yielded au ioata, but has maintained itself us (irmly as if still reposing on the soil." Confirmatory of all tins' ;aml much more which au article in the Joiifiial of Agriculture furnishes us, our eye accidentally caught the following in the Paris Correspondence:' of the Athenaeum i of last November: "At Vincennos, which is undergoing thorough restoration, the ancient machiolations are being so altered as to enable tho garrison to throw shot, shell, and grenades on any persons around th.eforfcress. 1 observed here that great use is m'ada of M. Coignet 's artificial stone, and wa9 informed that the Emperor has ordered it to be used in the construction of all new buildings. Tho substance consista of a stone paste which hardens in the most remarkable manner." The material being a paste can be formed into any shape, ornamental as well as plain* The price of moulds being but trifling, the reproduction of sculpture is obtained with a perfect finish at the price of plain natural stone thus bas reliefs, nearly three feet square, were on sale at the exhibition for eight shillings. "If ornamental stono be produced at such a moderate charge (says the Journal of Agriculture) it is easily understood. Now plain stone can be made still more economically. Thus stone stone, bricks, and borders, to supersede common bricks, hammered, shiver, and even hewn stone, can be made at a much cheaper rate, and, it is alleged of much greater durability. " The manufacture of bricks and small cubes will be more lucrative, inasmuch as they can be made by machinery requiring little attention; whereas heavier and more complicated work can only be effected by manual labor. At first we were puzzled to understand how this artificial stone could be made into brick at a lower price thau ordinary bricks, and yet the explanations is obvious enough. These bricks being composed principally of common sand, and nover turned or moved from the time thoy are made till disposed of, can be sold at a much lower rate than ordinary bricks, which require a long process of drying, burning, carrying to and removing from the oven. All this invo yes expense and delay, whereas the concrete brick left to itself hardens in a few days* " The saving of time in the manufacture is very great. Within eight days any form of the artificial stone maybe had to order. Pavement, stairBteps, curb-stones for streets or quays, basement j blocks, pipes for water-closets, draius, sewers, as 1 well for gas or water, may thus be had of any : required form. If M. Coignet's system be widely : adopted, men may be afraid to build houses upon ' sand, but in houses mainly made of sand they shall : not faar to dwell — such houses, it is maintained, [ being not only dry and incombustible, but parti- [ cularly agreeable to IWq in ; helourod, moreover, according to fancy, and ornamented in various ways. The interiors of houses erected by him are papered and painted like ordinary dwellings . The floors, smooth as mirrors and covered with carpets, are declared by their occupants to be warmer than common floors. Excepting the woodwork of the doors and windows. frames, and that embeded in the walls for the convenience of presses, shelves, and pegs, there is nothing aombustible about these monolith dwellings, " The mode of building is also most economical and rapid. A stratum of stone-paste forms tho foundation, and on this is placed a wooden mould without top or bottom, of tho sine of th,e wall to be built ; the mould is filled with paste, which is forcibly rammed on the paste beneath, with which it pertectly unites. The sides of the mould are then opened, and the mould itself is moved to the end of tho newly- made portion of wall, where it is rilled and rammhd as before. As many of these moulds may be kept going at the same time, the lowest section of the wall is rapidly completed, and as in a few hours it is : sufficiently hardened to admit of the Buperimposition of a new layer of paste, the building advances with a rapidity to which no other mode of. construction offers any analogy. Moulds of different shapes are employed for the various parts of the building,* every portion of | which, with the addition of balconies to the upper storeys, is constructed in the same mauner, form- j ing one solid mass which, it is asserted, in a few days acquires all the properties of the best stono. j The first application of this invention which suggests itself as useful for Wellington, is street pavement. At Otago and Canterbury asphalte has been laid down in some of the principal footpaths, but the vecent warm weather has so softened it, as to leave it holes. The mode of building is so simple, that when the material or stone paste is once made an ordinury laborer can construct a monolith house —a bouse with sides, iioors, ceilings, roof, &c n one piece. The materials of which the artificial stone is made is said to be sand and lime, with it may be, certain cements and water mixed in varying proportions. The Athenaeum correspondent beiore alluded to says. "The materials em plojed arc lime, calcaieous cements, various sands, and ashes, and pounded bricks, and burnt earth. M. Coignet says that the best compositions for building stone, are seven proportions of sand, one of burnt earth or brick and one of lime in pulp." These are titurated and mixed by means of machinery and moulded into separate blocks, into any article required, and as before shown, even into entive mouoHthic edifices. With these facts before us, we think we are justified in saying that in no very groat number of years the art of building Will be completely revolutionised.