MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREADWELL. 401 



no means as " fire-proof." A strictly fire-proof building is one into which no wood 

 enters, either in floors, doors, windows, or shelves, and very little furniture.* 



The stone for the foundations furnished by the contractors was a disintegrating 

 sienite. It had been used in the foundations of the meeting-house of the First 

 Parish in Cambridge, and was already crumbling into a coarse gravel. This 

 Professor Treadwell rejected, and substituted granite from a quarry in Quincy owned 

 by President Quincy. Subsequently the stone from the same quarry was selected 

 for the whole building, for which it was eminently fitted. This drew from Mr. 

 Quincy the following letter, quite in keeping with his old-fashioned integrity. 



* Although not the architect, Mr. Treadwell felt the responsibility ^yhich rested upon him as superintendent of 

 building, and knowing that some points in the construction had not, after fifteen years, been carried out, again called 

 the attention of the President to the facts in the following letter, dated Cambridge, May 28, 1852 : — 



" Dear Sir, — You may remember that several years ago I callcfl at your office and stated to you that the 

 partitions of the alcoves over the Librarian's room in Gore Hall were formed of trusses which supported the gallery ; 

 that according to the original design of the building these trusses were to be themselves supported by small iron 

 pillars, to rest upon the piers built in the basement, and pass through the Librarian's room to the ceiling. The con- 

 struction of these pillars was neglected at the time the building was finished, from the pressure of other things, and 

 because it was well kuown that the trusses possessed ample strength for the support of their load so long as the wofid 

 should remain sound. I furthermore stated to you, that I thought the pillars ought then no longer to be neglected ; 

 that whenever the ends of the trusses which enter the walls and the large main columns of the building should become 

 decayed, the trusses and partitions would fall, and might possibly thrust the main pillars inwards. To destroy them 

 would bring down a portion of the inni roof of the building. Now as those who shall occupy the building after the 

 present generation will not be likely to know that any pillars were designed or required for its support, any longer 

 delay in causing them to be made and put up may involve, not only a great injury to the building, but a great 

 destruction of life. 



" At the same time that I made the above relation, I furthermore stated to you, that it had recently been found 

 that the smoke or products of combustion of anthracite had in many instances aS^JCted injuriously the mortar of tlie 

 flues through which it passed, and that therefore the maiu flue of Gore Hall ought to be thoroughly examined, and, if 

 fcinnd in the least wanting in adhesiveness or solidity, that the flue should be lined with cast iron or bronze, either of 

 which might be put in without any great cost, and would render it entirely secure. I -was aware that this might 

 seem like over-caution, but I thought that the character of the property at risk warranted it, as no money could 

 replace many of the books which would be destroyed if the building were burned. I have thought it my duty again 

 to call your attention to these subjects, and in this formal manner, and I beg you, if you do not think tlicm worthy 

 of being acted upon, to file this letter with the Corporation, to make the matter so known to the Honorable and 

 Eeverend the President and Fellows, that I may not in any case be considered responsible for what may come 

 hereafter. 



" May I trespass upon your indulgence a few words more ? When Gore Hall was building, and before the towers 

 were finished, I perceived that, if they were raised to the height shown in the model and plans, which had been made 

 and adopted before I bad anything to do with the building, they would be much too lofty for the body of the edifice. 

 I compared them with the plates of King's College Chapel, from which the design was taken, and computed willi 

 some labor the comparative proportions of the buildings, with the height of the towers of each, and found that those of 

 Gore Hall would be eight or ten feet above the true proportion of King's College Chapel. Upon this, I procured a 

 meeting of the building committee with Mr. Bond, the architect of the building, to attend it, and proposed, for the 

 reasons above given, that the towers should be curtailed in the proposed height. This was opposed by Mr. Bond, 

 and, not a single member of the committee agreeing with me in my views, the towers were of course carried to the 

 altitude given in the model and plans." 



When completed, it was obvious that Mr. Treadwell was right, and some years after the towers were reduced in 

 height as he proposed. 



