BEHAVIOR OF INDIVIDUAL STRUCTURES. 83 
Market street by 8 inches and Third street by 10 inches. This indi- 
cates clearly that it is not safe to trust the eye in the matter of a 
building out of plumb, because when previously examined — not only 
once but several times — the Call Building presented the appearance 
of leaning away from Market street instead of toward it. In my 
judgment the deviation from the vertical in this building may have 
been due in whole or in part to the earthquake, but it is not at 
all impossible that it may have been built out of plumb. With the 
rigid type of connections used in the Call Building, strict mathe- 
matical accuracy of construction at all points would be essential to 
insure the exact perpendicularity of the building. As this accuracy 
is practically unattainable, it is ordinarily necessary to accept slight 
deviations from the plumb line and probably, in the majority of 
cases, a certain amount of torsion in the frame itself. So far as 
these deviations are kept within reasonable limits they make no 
serious difference, and the building is just as good for all practical 
purposes as if it were perfectly plumb and true. 
On the whole, the foundations and steel frame of this building 
were admirably designed. The bracing of the steel work seems to 
have taken up the vibration due to the earthquake, so as to preserve 
the masonry of the outer walls. As long as there is no deflection 
sufficient to crack the masonry, there can be no doubt that the build- 
ing is safe. It is a question whether other buildings which were not 
so well braced, and in which the piers between windows were 
badly shattered, were not dangerously near collapse, and it may well 
be doubted whether there is not serious damage to the steel work as 
it is. This matter could be determined only by uncovering the steel 
and making a detailed inspection. 
The only safe plan in the construction of steel-frame buildings 
is the one followed in the Call Building — that is, to brace the steel 
work so that by itself it is able to resist the stresses due to the vibra- 
tion. The engineer who designed the foundations and steel frame 
of this building may well be gratified at the admirable manner in 
which his structure fulfilled its purpose. Had the building been as 
well designed to resist fire as to resist earthquake, it is probable that 
the total damage would have been very much less than it was. 
CHRONICLE BUILDINOS (OLD AND NEW*) . 
The old Chronicle Building (PI. XXX, B) seems to have been 
built in two parts — a west and an east wing. The west wing had 
protected cast-iron columns, rolled beams, and terra-cotta fireproof- 
ing. The interior structure had entirely collapsed, apparently from 
the heat. It was impossible, with the debris piled around it, to 
determine just what the cause of the failure was, but it was probably 
