The Importance of Cement and Its Products in House Building 
which the more usual material, 
stone, is replaced by cinders. As 
cinders are, of course, cheaper than 
stone the cost is lessened, and as 
they are the lighter material there 
is a gain in that direction also. 
Cinder concrete, however, has its 
limitations. In the first place it is 
much less strong than stone concrete, 
and can never be used for any por¬ 
tion of the structure that is not en¬ 
tirely self-supported. It will do well 
for walls of cottages or as a filling 
over floors which are otherwise abun¬ 
dantly strong to carry themselves. 
But it should never be used for the 
primary floor material, which, as we 
have seen, must always be of rein¬ 
forced stone concrete. 
Damp Concrete, while very re- 
Resistance sistant to dampness is 
not absolutely waterproof and it is 
usual either to line outside walls with 
hollow tile made for the purpose, or 
what is quite as effective and more 
economical, wooden strips are inserted 
in the concrete which, being withdrawn before it 
has become thoroughly hardened, leave a series of 
hollow flue-like spaces in the walls near the inner 
surface which keep the interior always thoroughly 
dry. 
the finished surface of the coal pocket after the 
IS EMBEDDED IN THE CONCRETE 
IN PLACE READY FOR THE CONCRETE 
Interior of Government Coal Pockets, Bradford, R. I. 
Clinton IVire Cloth Co. 
A Concrete There is one phase of monolithic con- 
St y le crete house budding which should not 
be overlooked. Like all other building materials, 
concrete has a distinctive character and distinctive 
qualities of its own, and if these are not regarded in 
the design, artistic failure is cer¬ 
tain to result. It is not possible 
for instance to copy successfully 
in concrete a design which has 
been made for execution in 
carved stone or molded brick. 
Fine moldings cannot be run in 
concrete, nor ornamental foliage. 
To be successful, broad effects, 
after the Spanish manner, only 
should be attempted In other 
words concrete should be used 
in its own way and for its own 
admirable ends and not tortured 
into masquerading in the dis¬ 
guise of something else. 
I desire to record my obliga¬ 
tions to the American Cement 
Co., to the Atlas Cement Co., to 
the American Cement Co., to the 
Hayden Automatic and Equip¬ 
ment Co., to the editors and pub¬ 
lishers of The Cement Age, and 
to the Clinton Wire Cloth Co., of 
Clinton, Mass, for valuable data 
used in the preparation of this 
article. 
WIRE CLOTH 
WIRE CLOTH 
Clinton JVirt Cloth Co. 
245 
