FIRE TESTS OF NEW YORK BUILDING STONES II 



This same writer observed that the window seats, lintels, pro- 

 jecting cornices and, in short, all exposed corners in thin edges 

 of stone work were badly broken and splintered. 



With regard to the effect of the Baltimore fire on stone work 

 Grieshaber 1 says: 



Stone generally acted badly. Granite, especially the Mary- 

 land, spalled and cracked even where heat did not seem to be 

 great. Marble calcined, and in some places seemed to be con- 

 sumed with the heat. Limestone and buff sandstone acted badly 

 and the only brownstone that seemed to stand heat fairly well 

 was a dark brown of the appearance of Connecticut or Belleville. 

 Slate generally acted badly. It shivered into splinters. 



Woolson 2 in a report to the Engineering News says of the effect 

 of the fire at Baltimore on building stones: 



All varieties of natural stone suffered severely from the fire- 

 Granite, sandstone, limestone, marble and slate all perished before 

 the long continued high temperature. Granite and sandstone 

 cracked and spalled, limestone and marble cracked and calcined, 

 while the slate shivered into thousands of thin plates. 



There are some interesting exceptions to this general rule, 

 whether due to the variety of the stone or the way the heat struck 

 it, I am unable to state positively, but the former appeared to 

 be the controlling cause. 



Maryland granite, such as used in the Maryland Trust building 

 and the Custom House failed badly. The same was true of the 

 granite in the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co.'s building, which was 

 said to come from Missouri. On the other hand, the Milford 

 granite in the Equitable was little damaged, and that in the Cal- 

 vert building (which looks like a New England stone) is in fair 

 condition. The most remarkable preservation of granite I noticed 

 was in the polished front of the First National Bank. It is in 

 perfect condition, despite the fact that nothing but the walls 

 remain . 



Sandstone should give the best record of any of the stones, 

 but in most cases it seemed to have succumbed like the others. 

 Lake Superior red sandstone seems to be the stone employed in 

 the Farmers and Merchants National Bank. It was badly spalled. 

 Brown sandstone gave an equally poor showing in numerous 

 buildings, but I noticed the front of three buildings which were 

 in remarkable contrast, for they were uninjured. . . Two 

 of these buildings had wooden interior construction and were 

 completely burned out, as well as all the surrounding buildings, 

 but the face walls withstood the heat without any apparent damage, 

 while the huge granite blocks of the Custom House a few doors 

 away were ruined. 



Plates 1-8 show the effect of fire on building stone. The Pater- 



i/cm. 1904. 51:173- 

 1 Ibid. 1904. 51 195. 



