Article August 6, 1932 Issue

Item of Interest

Watchmen are on duty in the new Publishing House by day and by night to see that all is well within the structure, the "B" Section or plant portion of which rises to its full height—four stories above the basement. With the completion of the concrete roof the steel tower at the end has been removed and the outer edges of the roof now present a new appearance, for the stone setters are at work around the base of the building and there are eight derricks on the roof. Eight groups of masons and their helpers are at work so that the stone will rise simultaneously on the three sides. The granite base course rises about two feet above the sidewalk level, and doorways too are partly of granite. Each stone, marked to show where it is to be set, is anchored to the concrete wall by means of the anchor slot set in the concrete and described in a previous Item of Interest. The stone is also set in mortar laid underneath and at the back and sides, and in order to insure a tidy piece of work a strip of narrow hemp rope is pushed into the joints from the front just far enough to prevent the mortar from extending to the face of the stone. After the stone has set, the masons remove these strips of hemp and later point up the joints with fresh mortar. Before the stone is laid the concrete exterior receives a coat of asphalt (tar) partly to keep moisture which is absorbed by the limestone from entering the concrete and partly to prevent the concrete from staining the stone. At points where there is a setback in its structure and more protection is necessary, waterproof fabric is applied in strips to the concrete. Two carloads of stone a day are set, hand hoists being used for masons' supplies while the roof derricks lift and place the stone.

In the interior of the "B" Section some of the ceilings are formed by the use of Prestwood, a composition wood having a very smooth finish without the variation and creases left by wooden forms. A concrete ceiling formed by Prestwood can be whitened and needs not to be plastered.

Over the loading and unloading platforms there has been installed a cork ceiling. It is there to protect or insulate the second floor from the heat and cold entering below. When finished the two-inch cork layer will not be in evidence, for there will be plaster beneath, and above it the concrete of the second floor, the whole being about eleven inches in thickness. The steel girders at this point, as has already been mentioned, are the heaviest in the structure. One weighs fourteen tons, another fifteen, two welded together weigh twenty-four tons, and a single girder weighs twenty tons.

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