1850.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



127 



^V'he^e it is impracticable to obtain bricks made 

 on either of the plans above described, the walls 

 may be built hollow, 11 inches wide, \vith com- 

 mon bricks, (see Plan, No. 3); a cavity of 2 inches 

 beinfif left in the centre, and tlie length of the 

 headers being made up with 2-inch closurs, would 

 bond every course and render them perfectly dry. 



Where flint or concrete is used, the walls can- 

 not be less than 12 inches thick with either ma- 

 terial; they may be lined with the patent hollow 

 brick, which would bond every course. 



The main partitions on the ground-floor 

 should be of brick — hollow bricks, or Messrs. 

 Hertzlet and Co.'s rebated tiles, 12 inches square, 

 where obtainable, may with advantage and econo- 

 my be used for this purpose; in either case, they 

 should be set in Roman or Portland cement. 

 Where the upper-floor partitions stand perpen- 

 dicular over those to the ground-floor, brick or 

 tile is decidedly preferable to wood. Stairs may 

 also be made of iire-brick clay, with great ad- 

 vantage. The ground-floor should be raised not 

 less than six inches above the external surface, 

 and where wood floors are used they ought to be 

 ventilated by means of air-bricks built in the 

 external walls. The warmest and most econo- 

 mical floor is probably that formed with hollow 

 bricks. In some parts of the country, lime and 

 sand floors are pretty generally used, and found 

 to last, when well made, upwards of forty years. 



Tiles will generally be found a preferable 

 covering for the roofs to slate, being warmer in 

 the winter and cooler in summer, and requiring 

 much less lead, are decidedly more economical 

 in some localities; however, slate may more eff'ec- 

 tually exclude the weather. 



In closing these remarks on the Dwellings of the Labouring 

 Classes, I cannot but add that it will be to me a source of per- 

 manent satisfaction if they should prove of any service to the 

 members of the Institute, or conduce in any way to the removal of 

 obstacles which present so formidable a barrier to the social and 

 religious advancement of a numerous and deserving class of the 

 community. 



To contrrbute to the welfare of our fellow-creatures, with a 

 view to the glory of God, carries with it tliat durable happiness 

 which the pursuit of wealth, of fame, or of fleeting pleasure 

 cannot afford. 



Mr. Sydney Smirke, V.P., rose to express bis thanks to Mr. Roberts for 

 laving liefore tlie meeting his views on this important subject, and also for 

 the clear, intelligible, ami accurate manner in which be had done so. This 

 was a subject of great public interest and importance. It was a subject he 

 had long felt an interest in, and he (Mr. Smirke) believed that his attention 

 was first directed to it by becoming acquainted with the fact that an indivi- 

 dual, enjuying the luxury of a private carriage, and giving his son the bene- 

 fits of an university education, derived bis income from some low lodging- 

 bouses in St. Giles's. This was sufficient to satisfy him of the inordinate 

 extent to which the poor were surcharged for their habitations ; of one 

 thing he was quite certain, namely, that the poor paid far more, in propor- 

 tion, than the rich, for their lodgings and food. This was now pretty 

 well understood to be the case with regard to their lodgings. It must also 

 be admittt?d to be the case with respect to their food : it was impossible, in 

 all London, from Bond-street to Cheapside, to go into any more extravagant 

 shop than tlie small chandlers' in the suburbs of London. In such places 



struction of walls has been fully described it may be useful to gire a section and descrip- 

 tion of a holloiv brick, designed by Mr. Rawlin- 

 8on, C.E., whose attention has been much 

 diiected to this subject, and who states that it 

 combiiies many adviinta(,'e3. and may be moulded k - V 

 as easily as any other torm. The an^le ribs in ■"^"'^ 



the inside give strength and surface at that por- 

 tion of the joint, and admit of tile or slate |V 

 don-els being inserted on any or all of the sides, 

 to close the joint ; by this means a continuous 

 flue, perfectly tight, may be formed. Tivo of 

 the external faces are even and plain, two are 

 partially recessed ; these latter are supposed to 

 be the beds or side-joints, as the case may be, 

 the slight s nlOng of about l-lfith of an inch 

 being to relieve the hollow side and thin portion 

 of the brick from undue weight or bearing in 

 the work, — to bring t his on the solid ed^es, and 



aho to act aS a slight lock, or dowel, with the _^ 



cement or niortar. The joint dowels will only 



be required where one surface or more is exposed, or where any particular course requires 

 to be made into a contniuous flue, for ventilation or any other purpose. For partitions, 

 or for lining external walla, where plaster is to be used, the dowel will not be required 



No. 1. 



9iu. HULl.ow BRICK WALLING AS AT WOUUKS. 



No. -i. 



0"- - 



^ 



Dill. PATENT COXPEL) HOLLOW BRICK WALLING. 



llm. CU.M.MON HOLLOW Bi;ICK WALLING. 



11"- 



ijeet. 



o, 



1_ 



.A 



the worst possible article was sold at the highest possible price. The owners 

 of those establishments had realised that snmnrnm bonum of political eco- 

 nomy — they bought in the cheapest market, and sold in the dearest. He 

 did not think we should have done all we could, or ought to do, for the im- 

 provement of the working classes, until we shall have used every passible 

 exertion to secure for them those two great requirements, namely, cheap and 

 healthy lodgings, and cheap and wholesome food. From what Mr. Roberts 

 had detailed that evening, he (Mr. Smirke) thought that the poor were in a 

 fair way to obtain the first-mentioned desideratum, and he hoped that with 

 respect to the second, success need not be regarded as impossible. He (Mr. 

 Smirke) hoped he might he permitted to suggest the establishment, in every 

 parish, of a large store of the principal articles of food consumed by the 

 poor, to be sold only to those who were known to be in needy circum- 

 stances ; such articles to be really pure and good of their kind, and charged 

 at fair moderate prices. With respect to the more immediate subject of the 

 paper before them, he had but one other remark to make — that all those, 

 who had from circumstances been enabled to know anything of the habits 

 of the working classes in their own homes, must admit, that as tenants, 

 they were rather a destructive class. On this account he thought the inte- 

 rior fittings of all dwellings for the poor should be formed as indestructible 

 as possible ; plaster was not fit for the walls of the rooms ; the chimney 

 hearths should be of cast-iron, and the ironmongery generally should be of 

 special strength and simplicity. 



Captain Boller, R.N., observed, that some years ago be made tiles a foot 

 long and six inches thick, and as he used them singly the walls were only 

 six inches thick. He plastered them inside, and they are very dry, except 

 when there is much wind and driving rain. He sometimes used those bricks 

 for flooring, as they are very dry. An objection, however, arose to their 

 use. It was a very dry place where he introduced them, and the ants finding 

 them comfortable residences, crept in, and often annoyed people by eating 

 up their bread and butter, in other respects they answered the purposes 

 anticipated. Two cottages built together cost him about 100/., consisting of 

 two rooms and a kitchen, 13 feet square, all on the ground floor. 



Mr. Godwin called attention to the oppressive and injurious tendency of 

 the window-tax on such dwellings, and hoped that all present would aid in 

 leading ministers to consider a matter of such moment. 



The Rev. Mr. Eddrup stated, that having had some experience in visiting 

 the poor, both in town and country, he could assure the meeting that the 

 condition of iheir dwellings was one of the greatest obstacles the clergy 

 had to contend against, in endeavouring to make their moral condition 

 better and holier. The miserable state in which many of them are com- 

 pelled to live, constitutes the chief difficulty. The bed-rooms of the poor 

 are often so over-crowded that modesty, reverence, and decorum are almost 

 entirely destroyed. He strongly sympathised therefore in this admirable 

 movement for the benefit of the labouring classes. 



18* 



