32 THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND FIRE. 
plate caused the failure of the third floor, as shown in PL XXIX, B. 
The plaster protection of the columns was in fair condition, and the 
columns were uninjured. The principal damage from earthquake 
was to the brick walls, the south and west walls showing a number of 
cracks. The granite trimmings around the doorway and the terra- 
cotta trimmings of the building were badly spalled by the fire, as 
shown in PI. XXIV, B. The basement floor, which was of concrete 
7 or 8 inches thick, was pushed up under the sidewalk, reducing the 
headroom at this point from 8 feet to 3J feet, approximately. This 
bulging was probably caused by settling (PL XXV, A), as the 
foundation piling did not extend under the sidewalk. 
appraisers' warehouse (united states custom-house). 
The four-story custom-house building, on Jackson, Washington, 
and Battery streets, shown in PL XXVIII, A, passed through both 
earthquake and fire without injury, although located on the alluvial 
flats. All the buildings around it were burned, but the fire did not 
gain a foothold in this building, and there was, therefore, no fire test. 
As an example of successful resistance of the earthquake test, how- 
ever, this building stands as a favorable testimony to first-class mate- 
rials and workmanship. The walls were of brick, with granite 
ornamentation, and the roof was slate covered. The partitions and 
cross walls were all of solid brickwork, and the only damage that they 
sustained consisted of a few cracks in the archways near the stairways 
on the upper floors. 
ARONSON BUILDING. 
The ten-story Aronson Building, on the corner of Third and Mis- 
sion streets, had a steel skeleton with hollow-tile partitions and fire- 
proofing for the columns. The floors were of concrete reenforced 
with expanded metal. 
Two of the columns on the first floor buckled by reason of the fail- 
ure of the hollow tile (PL XXVII, B), the columns being shortened 
about 10 inches. Columns also buckled in the basement and on the 
fifth, eighth, and tenth floors. In the basement two columns were 
fireproofed with concrete, and remain in first-class shape, but near 
them are two badly buckled columns which were fireproofed with 
terra cotta. This result is an excellent object lesson on the merits of 
the two systems of fireproofing. The sandstone was badly spalled by 
fire, and the walls were badly racked by the earthquake. The cast- 
iron stairways were very much damaged. The fire in this building- 
was not severe. 
