86 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Feb. It, 



The whole of these works is being executed under the direction of Wni. 

 Cuhitt, Esq., as engineer in chief; Mr. E. Deader Williams, being the resident 

 engineer, and Messrs. Grissell and Peto, the contractors. 



CANNABIC COMPOSITION ORNAMENTS. 



At the last meeting of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the 

 Institution of Civil Engineers, several ornaments of tliis new material for 

 decoration were exhibited. Any new material tliat m:iy facilitate the intro- 

 duction of ornaments into our dwellings cannot he otherwise than accept, 

 able, for fortunately a great demand exists in the present day for decora- 

 tions. 



The Cannabic composition is an Italian invention, which, although it has 

 been some years in existence, has only lately been hrought to such a degree 

 of advancement, as to justify its introduction into this country. The mate- 

 rial which is used in (his coniposilion is the common hemp, wliicb possessing 

 great tenacity and equal plial}ility at the same time that it is procured in 

 abundance and at a moderate price, affords every facility for carrying nut 

 the invenlian. It admits of application to any iiiternal architectural orna- 

 ment, as cedings, bosses, tru5s moulding, brackets, panels, ca|)itals, pilasters, 

 and mouldings of evoiy kind and in every style, as well as for external purposes. 

 It has an exceeihngly good surface, admitting of any kind of varnish, paint, 

 or finish. For gilding it is most admirably adapted, likewise for painting, 

 -varnishing, burnishing, and bronzing, as may be seen, by specimens at Mr. 

 Ponsonbv's, tlie gilder and decorator in Piccadilly. It takes a beautiful bronze 

 colour, and by gilding acquires quite a metallic surface and high burnish. 

 The advantage' of these properties in decoration will he well appreciated by 

 the ai'chitect, as giving new resources for carrying out his ideas. Neither 

 are the consistency and durability of the material less observable, being at 

 ■the same time hard and elastic. From these properties it is not liable to 

 ■crack when put up in a room. It possesses a great degree of sharpness and 

 'iholduess, which it is the intention of the patentees to increase by using a 

 • greater degree of mechanical power. It is such a light material that it 

 admits of being put up in large masset on ceilings and in other situations in 

 relief. With regard to external properties, it is not at all effected by wet nor 

 by the vicissituiles of tlie atmosphere, being waterproof. In centre pieces 

 for ceilings, door-panels, and other compositions, as it admits of being exe- 

 cuted in larger pieces, it is much less troublesome than the ordinary mate- 

 rials. The number of patterns for selection in the cannabic material at 

 the present moment amounts to about four hundred, many of them quite 

 new; but this number will speedily be increased, while the patentee will lie 

 most happy to afford every facility to architects who may wish to have pat- 

 terns executed from their own designs. 



The price, it is st;ited, ranges from about 10 to 20 per cent, below the 

 •prices of articles in common use, and it is on this ground that the patentees 

 .expect its extensive application. For decoration in the colonies and the 

 iEast and West Indies, great difficulties at present exist, as most materials 

 ■sutTer rapid deterioration from the climate. The supply of a durable and 

 cheap material will therefore be the means of extending ornamental deco- 

 ration in our extensive possessions : it is likewise well adapted for the deco- 

 ration of steam vessels. 



ON SUPPLY OF WATER AT FIRES. 



A great many proposals having lately been urged upon Government with 

 •the view of establishing in London, and all the large towns throughout the 

 provinces, a system for the more speedy extinction of fires, viz., by attaching 

 iiose or leathern pipes, with branches, to the plugs and mains laid down in 

 the streets, so that the water might be thrown to a sulHcient altitude by its 

 own pressure, without the aid of fire-engines, an experiment a few days since 

 was made by Mr. Quick, the engineer of the Southwark Water Company, in 

 order to ascertain how far it could be made ajiplicable. The company nut 

 having the necessary apparatus to make the trial, the assistance of the Fire 

 llrigade was granted to carry out the experiment, Mr. Braidwood, the super- 

 intendent of the force, being present on the occasion, tlie particulars of which 

 will he found to be highly important. The report, which is extremely vo- 

 luminous, states that it took place on the morning of Thursday, 8th instant, 

 between the hours of 4 and 9 o'clock, Mr. Quick selecting Old Gravel-lane, 

 Union. street, and Tooley-street, as the most favourable spots to carry on the 

 operations. During the whole period the jiressure of water at the company's 

 works at Battersea was kept at 130 ft., and every service pipe or outlet was 

 kept shut, so that the trial should be fairly made. The first experiment took 

 place in TJnion-street, by having lengths of rivetted leathern hose {2k in. in 

 diameter and 40 ft. long) attached to G standeocks, placed into plugs, all 

 situate within the space of about 700 yards. The water was conveyed from 

 the head at Battersea, through 5,300 yards of iron piping, consisting of 4,'250 



yards of 20-in. main, 550 yards of 15. in. main, and 500 yards of 9-in. main. 

 On one standcock being opened, the jet of water thrown from the copper 

 liraneb (with |-in. hose pipe on) reached an elevation of 50 ft., and the de- 

 livery was at the rate of 100 gallons jier minute. The next object sought 

 was to ascertain the quantity of water that could he obtained from the plug. 

 The branch-pipe for this purpose was taken oft', but the length of hose re- 

 mained on. The delivery was then found to he 200 gallons per minute, 

 showing that nearly two-thirds of the water was lost by confining it to a 

 small jet. Had the standcock and hose been taken away, there would have 

 been quite sufficient water to supply three fire-engines, each delivery being 

 equal to the discharge from the first standcock. Another was then opened, 

 and the jet from the former was reduced to 45 ft. elevation. Other two were 

 added, and the jet of the first was then 40 ft.; and on three being opened, 

 the jet from the first rose to 35 ft. The fourth was opened, and the jet of 

 the first decreased to 30 ft. The fifth was then brought into play (viz. si.v 

 in all), and the jet from the first only measured 27 ft., fully sliuwing that 

 there was a regular gradation in the height of the jets, according to the 

 number opened. The next trial was made in Tooley-street, the standeocks 

 being used as in the former case. Some slight difference was observed in the 

 elevation to which the jets were thrown, the first gaining 60 ft. ; and wlien 

 the whole were opened the height was reduced to 40 ft., tiie delivery of water 

 being at the rate of 70 gallons per minute. Another trial was then made in 

 a street leading into Tooley-street, where there was only a service-pipe laid 

 down, called a 5-in. main. The first standcock threw a jet of 40 ft. , and on 

 the others being opened, the one furthermost from the first started only 

 emitted a jet of 24 ft., and a delivery of 58 gallons. 



FAILURE OP A QUAY WALL. 



A GOOD many years since a breast wall or quay was built at Ardentallan, 

 in Argyleshire, for shipping stones from a quarry at which much work has 

 been done. When Mr- David Smith, builder, at Olian, was erecting the 

 beacon of Skervuil in Jura Sound, for the Northern Lights' Board, be fitted 

 the courses of blocks for that work to their places on the quay, and has oc- 

 casionally had upwards of 200 tons of stones upon it at a time, without 

 accident. The quarry has lately been worked for the repairs of the Caledo- 

 nian Canal, and on the 23d iilt. there were between 170 and ISO tons of 

 diessed stones lying upon the quay ready for shipment, when, to the astonish- 

 ment of the quarriers, the crane upon the quay was observed to move and 

 shake without any visible cause, and some openings appeared at the surface 

 of the quay, which were rapidly widening; the men on the instant cried out 

 for the foreman, who rushed to the spot, and saw the quay, with its crane 

 and the cairn of blocks upon it, moving outwards from the shore, and sink- 

 ing in the deep water ; and in less than two hours the whole liad proceeded 

 seaward about 50 yards, and settled with a depth of lift, water over them. 

 This quay was 48 yards in length, and had a large space behind for arranging 

 materials for shipment. The face wall was founded one foot under the lowest 

 tide mark, upon a bed of strong blue clay, covered with a thin stratum of 

 gravel; and at 100 yards from the site of the quay the water deepens to 

 4 fathoms. It is remarkable, that with much heavier loads this breast work 

 should have stood so long without any apparent failure, and after the founda- 

 tion was so much consolidated, that it should have completely left its site 

 and settled in deep water. The whole mass is now so coni|detely absorbed 

 in mud and clay, that although the height of the quarry and materials could 

 not he less than 20ft., it has not lessened the depth of water at the entrance 

 of the place. — Scotsman. 



MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES FOK THE ENSUING WEEK. 



Monday. — Royal Institute of British Arcliitects at 8. — Some original Drawings, by Fredtf- 

 ricli C.illicrwood, Esq., Architect, Honorary and tJorrespouding Member, of Arthi- 

 tectural AnliijuUies recently discovered in some ruined Citieit in central America, will 

 he exhihited and described. 



— Chemical Society, at S. 



Tuesday.— The Institution of Civil Engineers at 8. — " Description of a bridge across the 

 river Shannon at I*ortnnina," by 'i'. Rhodes, M. Inst. C.E. — " Uoscriptinn of a bridge 

 over the river Whitadder at Allanton," by J. T. Syme. — " Description of a cast anil 

 wrought iron trussed girder for bridges, \vith a serirs of experiments on their strength," 

 by F. Nash. 



Wednesday. — Society of Arts, at 8. 



— Geological Society, 8J. 



— London Institution, Finsbnry Circufi, at 7. 



Tliursday. — Royal Society, at 8.^.— Society of Antiquaries, at 8. 



Friday. — Royal Institution, at 8^. 



Saturday.— Royal Institution, at 3.— Professor Braude, ** On the Chemistry of Agri 

 culture." Lecture IV. 



