Heights of Buildings in 1914

From a Pittsburgh trade magazine called the Construction Record for April 4, 1914, we take this article about the implications of American skyscrapers. Already they had reached heights unimaginable in Europe, and the question of regulating the heights of buildings, and perhaps instituting some sort of zoning system, was coming up in cities all over the United States.

Heights of Buildings.

During the last eight months there has been under way a remarkably thorough and intelligent study of the regulation of the heights of buildings. This investigation was financed by a $15,000 appropriation of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of the city of New York.

The commission has investigated the practice of many cities in America and Europe in height, area and occupancy regulations. Studies have been made as to the effect of these regulations on property and rental values and on the more general growth and development of the community. The attitude of the courts with regard to the constitutionality of such regulations has also been considered.

The commission’s investigations brought to light many interesting facts. One finds, for example, impressive evidence, of New York’s peculiar situation as regards building heights by comparing the city’s tallest skyscraper with the height of buildings in other cities. The Woolworth building is 750 feet in height. This is 670 feet higher than the maximum limit for buildings in London, 678 feet higher than the limit in Berlin, 685 feet higher than the limit in Paris, 671 feet higher than the limit in Rome and 678 feet higher than the limit in Stockholm.

A building erected to a height equal to the combined maximum heights permitted in these five great European capital cities would be seven feet lower than the World building, and the World building is only half as high as the Woolworth building. A building erected to a height equal to the aggregate height limits of London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Edinburgh, Zurich, Frankfort-on-Main, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Hamburg would exceed the height of the Woolworth building by only 14 feet.

The maximum heights of buildings permitted by ordinance in some of the large cities of the United States having such restrictions are:

FEET
Baltimore175
Boston125
Charleston, S. C.125
Chicago200
Cleveland, O.200
Erie, Pa.200
Fort Wayne, Ind.200
Indianapolis, Ind.200
Los Angeles, Cal.150
Manchester, N. H.125
Milwaukee, Wis.225
Newark, N. J.200
Portland, Ore.160
Providence, R. I.120
Salt Lake City125
Scranton, Pa.125
Worcester, Mass.125

The commission’s report contains tabulations which were most difficult to obtain, but which were invaluable in framing the recommendations bearing on safety and health. In this connection there are tables showing the number of people on each floor in a number of typical factory and office buildings; showing the use of artificial light near the windows of office buildings on narrow streets at noon in summer on a bright sunlit day; showing the movements of people down stairways; showing the movements of crowds on the level; showing the congestion in office buildings, factories, large department stores, etc. From such data calculations were made showing the length of time it would take to get people out of certain typical crowded buildings, showing the congestion that would result in certain downtown streets if the buildings were vacated in a panic and showing the inadequacy of exit facilities in many buildings.

Much attention has been given by the commission to the districting or zoning system in German and Austrian cities and to the increasing adoption of this system of height and occupancy restrictions in the United States. The American cities represented in such maps are Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Indianapolis.

The Advantages of Wood-Block Paving

There was a relatively brief fad for paving with wood blocks in North America; perhaps if it had not coincided with the end of the reign of the horse in transportation, the fad might have lasted longer. Today, as far as we know, there are only a few wood-block pavements left, and only one street in the United States paved from end to end with wood blocks: Roslyn Place in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh. But in 1910, it looked as though wood blocks were the future.

THE ULTIMATE PAVEMENT.

The claims of the creosoted wood block as a material for paving purposes are becoming stronger and better known every day. To the many other good reasons advanced by those advocating its adoption, the experience of time has shown that the wood pavements laid with blocks of suitable wood—those answering the purpose best being yellow pine and gum, treated with the proper quantity and quality of creosote oil, and properly laid—are the most durable and, withal, the most perfect that have yet been devised.

In Birmingham, England, blocks that have been laid for 11 years are still in such condition as to be good for active service for several more years to come.

In Liverpool, the greatest shipping part in the world, and over whose streets the heaviest kinds of traffic are operated blocks laid 15 years ago are still in use; while in Manchester and Newcastle the wood paving installed over 12 years ago is still giving the most satisfactory results. Tremont street, Boston, over which passes some of the heaviest traffic in this country, was laid with creosoted wood blocks, which were allowed to remain down for two years, and were then carefully examined by the city engineer. The wear was found to be exceedingly uniform, averaging one-sixteenth of an inch per year, giving a life of 16 years to each inch of block. In Springfield, Mass., a similar test was made and the results obtained were even better.

The creosoted wood block pavement differs from any other known, in that it does not crumble, pulverize or wear away under traffic, but simply compresses, becoming more and more solid the heavier the weight it is called upon to bear.

As a silent pavement the wooden block stands pre-eminent. During the heat of the summer months, when it is imperative that all windows and doors shall be open as m u c h as possible, the roar and rumble of the traffic over the granite or other non-wooden paved down-town streets in the business districts of the larger cities is not only an annoyance, but a positive hinderance to the carrying on of business in the nearby offices. The wood block pavement, however, does away with this aggravation to an enormous extent, even to deadening the pounding of the horses feet, as contrasted with the sharp metallic ring given out by a horse running or walking on a macadam or asphalt pavement.

From a sanitary viewpoint, the creosoted wood block pavement is a decided success. The blocks themselves cannot absorb filth, and the joints being tight, prevent their being filled up with unsanitary matter; while the blocks are themselves treated with a highly antiseptic material that, in itself, destroys any germ life that might exist on the surface.

That creosoted wood block paving has come to stay is an undeniable fact. It has passed out of the purely experimental stage of its history, and while it is, of course, to be expected that improvements will be made from time to time, both in the method of treating and laying the blocks, yet the fact is now clear that as a commercial proposition the wood block paving industry stands on its own feet.

All over the country city engineers and street improvement committees are investigating the merits of the creosoted wood block as a paving material. Its use is also becoming more general every day on bridges, crossings, courts, foundry floors and, in fact, in all places where a hard, smooth surface is necessary. There is no question in the minds of those who are best informed on this subject but within the next few years vast quantities of wood block pavements will be laid in this country. The owners of yellow-pine and gum stumpage have at their hand an opportunity which, if properly grasped, will result in the consumption of billions of feet of lumber over and above that which they now have a market for.

—The Construction Record, August 20, 1910.

Two Anecdotes of Helen Jewett, a Girl of the Town

Helen Jewett was a girl of the town (which is to say a prostitute) who was murdered with a hatchet in New York in 1836. The case made a sensation in the newspapers of the time, and a nameless printer (nameless to avoid arrest on obscenity charges, since merely mentioning prostitution could get an author and printer in a heap of trouble) came out with a little book to capitalize on the widespread interest:

An Authentic Biography of the Late Helen Jewett. a girl of the town, who was murdered on the 10th of April, 1836: together with a full and accurate account of the circumstances connected with that event. By a gentleman fully acquainted with her history. New York: 1836.

Aside from the gruesome details of the murder, what seems to have given the case such interest was the character of the victim. She was remarkable for her quick wit; more recent readers may be reminded of Mae West. Here are two stories from that little book that illustrate the kind of woman Helen Jewett was.

Upon one occasion, at a house in this city where she was boarding, she had a quarrel with a foolish fellow who frequented the house. He got exceedingly angry, and drawing a pistol, presented it to her breast. Without being in the least agitated, she instantly struck the pistol from his hand, and with her bright eyes flashing fire, in tones calm and clear, indicative of the strongest contempt, she said to him, “You poor contemptible libel upon manhood! You have done what would disgrace the meanest coward that walks the street. You must see, therefore, the necessity of making an immediate apology for such brutal conduct.” Her opponent declared he would do no such thing. “Then,” said Helen, “you must see the necessity I am under of pulling your nose.” Suiting the action to the word, she took the gentleman’s proboscis in her fingers, and tweaked it in no gentle style. (Page 9.)

She was once up before one of our Courts as a witness in a case in which the woman with whom she boarded was a party. The counsel, Mr. F. J., who cross-examined her, asked her a number of impertinent and irrelevant questions, and among the rest, whether there were not many gentlemen in the habit of visiting the house.

“Yes.”

“Well, what did they visit the house for?”

“To see the girls.”

“But what did they want of the girls?”

“I believe there is no one better qualified than yourself to answer that question, as I have observed you frequently among our visitors: will you be so kind as to save me the trouble of answering the question, and communicate to the Court your own experience upon the subject.”—The learned counsel concluded he had caught a Tartar, and backed out of the scrape, though with rather a bad grace. (Page 10.)

Edison’s Phonograph

Edison Home Phonograph
Edison Home Phonograph from a 1901 catalogue.

From the Musical World for January, 1890, an article on what people might use the phonograph for when it is perfected. The article reveals much about the assumptions of late-nineteenth-century performers: Beethoven and Mozart would certainly have performed their works the way we perform them if they had had the ability and the technique.

EDISON’S PHONOGRAPH.

Edison’s phonograph is still attracting a great deal of attention in Europe, and many speculations are indulged in, as to the practical good that is to be derived from it. One writer in the Hamburger Musik Zeitung thinks, that its greatest benefit will consist in the preservation of musical performances, as models for future generations. No doubt there is some truth in this, but then imagine, if you please, a phonographic picture of the first performance of Schubert’s great Symphony in C, or of Beethoven’s “Eroica.’’1 Certainly something could be learned from such phonographic information, but we doubt whether it would have more than a mere historic value. No leader would play the Schubert Symphony in C, as it was first performed in Vienna, and, could Beethoven or Mozart hear their orchestral works performed now-a-days, they would see a progress, which is quite beyond our comprehension. What an inventive people we are! If American symphonies or operas are not attracting the attention of the European art world, our inventions will always be accepted and used abroad with gratitude. Europeans often are unwilling to believe the wonderful progress that is constantly being made in this country, especially in the line of labor-saving machinery. Europeans can neither comprehend the extent of our country’s domains, our ideas of liberty, nor our extensive use of machinery. But whether they realize the rapidity of our progress or not, we are nevertheless moving onward and, if our morality keeps pace with our scientific progress, we are sure to become eventually the greatest nation on the earth.

  1. Misprinted “Ervica” in the original. ↩