104 THE SAN FRANCISCO EARTHQUAKE AND EIRE. 
had apparently been covered in by a furred beam, or other archi- 
tectural feature, since destroyed, was entirely devoid of protective 
covering. A great many people in San Francisco regarded the 
behavior of these columns as a substantial recommendation of cinder 
concrete, but the whole building bears evidence of having been sub- 
jected to only a moderate heat. 
SHREVE BUILDING. 
The columns in the first and second stories of the Shreve Building 
were covered with cinder concrete; those in the upper stories with 
hollow tiles. All the evidence in this building points to a moderate 
heat. The plastering on the columns was not seriously damaged, 
and such plastering never stands an intense heat. The hollow tiles 
on the columns came off very generally, but it is probable that the 
heat was more intense in the upper portion of the building than in 
the lower portion. This theory is supported by the fact that the 
damage to the masonry adjacent to the windows was most severe in 
the upper stories. 
This building, like the St. Francis Hotel, is cited as an example 
of the excellent behavior of cinder concrete as a column covering, 
but in this case also there is every reason to believe that the con- 
crete did not receive a severe test. The only cinder-concrete cover- 
ing I saw that had evidently received an extreme test was in the 
basement of the Aronson Building, as described on page 79. 
SLOAN E BUILDING. 
The mercantile structure known as the Sloane Building, at 114 
Post street, had cast-iron columns, protected with expanded metal 
and plaster. The floor slabs were of expanded metal and cinder 
concrete. The basement of this building was subjected to an ex- 
tremely fierce heat. At least six or eight of the columns had their 
covering destroyed, and the columns themselves either buckled or 
failed to such an extent that a large portion of the framework above 
was knocked down afterwards as a matter of safety. In the rear 
of the basement two rows of columns across the entire width of 
the building had practically all failed in the same w T ay, but the 
debris was piled around them to such an extent that views could 
not be obtained. 
SPRING VALLEY WATER COMPANY'S BUILDING. 
The Spring Valley Water Company's Building, at Post and Geary 
streets, was used for office purposes in the upper stories and for mer- 
cantile purposes in the first and second stories. The southeast corner 
had totally collapsed (PL L, A), apparently from the failure of the 
