important, element affecting his comfort and pleas-
ure*-'namely, the plaster. The plaster of a home is
more in evidence than any
other single item, and
unsatisfactory plaster or a plaster failure may cause
more unhappiness and inconvenience than any other
failure, aside from the foundation or roof.
Let ns consider for a moment the qualities and
properties which plastering in the home should pos-
sess. One of the objects of individual home build-
ing is to insure privacy both in the broad meaning
of the word and also as regards personal and in-
dividual seclusion. It is, therefore, desirable to
plaster with a material that will not transmit sound
from room to room or from one part of the house
to the other. In other words, it is desirable to use
a sound deadening material. Lime
plaster is such
a material. It is essential to use a material that will
provide at least a reasonable degree of fire protec-
tion. Such a material is lime plaster. It is essential
to use a material that will provide a suitable, stable,
lasting foundation for decoration
by one of the sev-
eral methods, such as painting, frescoe, or papering,
without danger of disintegration, cracking or discol-
oration. Such a material is lime plaster.
As the result of over two years’ study and in-
vestigatxm, the Architects of the Board of Educa-
tion, for the city of New York, specifically call for
lime
plaster in all auditoriums to be constructed in
future school houses owing to the superior acoustical
properties of lime
plaster. Many public gathering
places have proved unsatisfactory from an acousti-
cal viewpoint because of unfortunate selection in
plastering materials and the use of hard, resilient,
sound reflecting material instead of the more por-
ous and sound-absorbing lime plaster.
In conclusion it
may truly be said tliat “Lime
Is
Eternally Essential,” that it is the oldest and
most time tried of any of our materials of con-
struction, and tliat fit was a considerable factor in
the establishment of civilization, and the uplift of
mankind from the sloughs of
savagery and priva-
tion.
New York Housing Conditions.
Only such construction as will relieve the short-
age of dwelling accommodations and such con-
struction as is in the public interest, should be given
building permits, says Mayor Dylan of New York
City, urging that legislation be enacted authorizing
some responsible body to
pass on permits for con-
struction. The Mayor's report on local
housing
conditions shows that at least 100,000 additional
apartments are urgently needed to provide homes
for the city’s population. A total of 12,662 apart-
ments and houses are now under construction but
to meet the normal demand a sufficient number of
tenement houses must be erected each year to pro-
vide at least 50,000 apartments. Under the state
constitution New York City has no power to con-
struct municipal apartment houses and rent them
to private parties, but an amendment to the con-
stitution can be passed and the city could then go
ahead with its building program
in January. 1922.
In tin* meantime, the Mayor says, there should be no
standstill in the erection of homes and multi-family
liouses.
Atlanta’s Big Building Record.
The prosperity of the South is clearly evidenced
in the enormous amount of construction work now
in
progress
in Atlanta or proposed for the near fu-
ture, building permits issued for June having al-
ready reached a mark that will establish a new rec-
ord for the city during any single month. While
the Federal Reserve Bank’s curtailing of credit will
doubtless have some effect on construction, it is not
particularly noticeable as yet.
Two of the largest building permits issued dur-
ing June were for the new Metropolitan Theatre
at Broad, Luckie and Forsyth streets, $350,000, and
the new nurses’ dormitory to be constructed by
the Georgia Baptists’ Hospital, $200,000.
Two large building projects recently proposed
include a new 400-room hotel at Peachtree and
Kimball
streets, to cost $1,500,000, and a new 10-
story office building at Edgewood avenue and Equit-
able place, to cost $1,500,000. C. P. Byrd, president
of the
Byrd Printing Co., purchased the property
at Peachtree and Kimball streets for approximately
$250,000, and made the announcement of the pro-
posed hotel. The building will be 10 stories, and
Mr. Byrd is now in consultation with architects re-
garding the plans. The cotton interests will erect
the office building, which will be occupied in the
main by cotton brokers and
agents, and by the At-
lanta Cotton Exchange, which
plans the expansion
of its activities.
New
Building Inspector.
James Coles has assumed Ms duties as building
inspector for
Charleston, S. C., being the first official
of the kind on the city engineer’s staff. This of-
fice was recently created, and is expected to result
in
improved building operations and a better build-
ing code. Mr. Coles is now checking up building
permits, seeing that work authorized is carried out,
according to the ordinances. Charleston has been
doing a lot of construction, in spite of generally ad-
verse conditions, and the inspector will have plenty
of work to handle.
18 October, 1920.
THE CONCRETE AGE
EN