Apbil 29, 1899.
THE ESTATES GAZETTE
696
THE RAILWAYS AND THE FARMERS.
BY W. M. ACWORTH.
BARRISTER-AT-LAW.
This was the subject of a paper read by Mr. W. M. Acworth at the meeting of the :Surveyors’ Institution at Bristol, on Wednesday. The writer began with a statement which, no doubt, many of his hearers were a little surprised to hear, namely that English railway rates for the conveyance of agricultural produce were not excessive. He went so far as to say that, compared with the rates in force in other countries for similar quantities of similar articles under similar conditions, they were low rather than high. He gave this as the expression of his opinion—an opinion which, however, was based on a study both practical and statistical of the conditions in this and other countries which had extended now over a good many years. He had no intention whatever of attempting to justify his assertion by figures. In the case of railway rates, where the tariffs of different countries were constructed on different bases, dealt with different average quantities, carried for different average distances, and under absolutely different conditions, figures might, in the hands of a manipulator who knew the very rudiments of his business, be made with consummate ease to prove anything he wanted them to prove. If anyone, whether he be deputed for the purpose by a railway company or a chamber of agriculture, desired to prove by a comparison with examples from other countries that our English rates for the carriage of agricultural produce were high or low, he was quite ready to cap each of his instances with two others to nrove the opposite.
Thinking that this method of argument might, not be fruitful in results, Mr. Acworth gave one notable instance of English railway rates. For the sum of 4d., he said, the Great Eastern Railway would bring from any part of its district, say an average distance of 80 or 100 miles, into London, and deliver free to the consumer’s door, a hox weighing up to 20lb. Such a box would hold, for instance, a pair of ducks, a couple of pigeons, a dozen eggs, 211). of butter, and leave room to fill up with trimmings in the shape of sausages, tomatoes, flowers or anything the grower may have handy. The minimum value of the contents could hardly be put lower than 10s. to 12s. It would surely not be said that 4d. out of 12s. was an excessive ■amount to pay for carriage. Mr. Acworth went on: “ Look at the matter from a railway point of view. The minimum charge made by the local parcels delivery companies in London is 4d., and I am assured by a friend of great experience that 3d. is a moderate estimate of the actual minimum cost of delivering a parcel by a railway cart. This leaves the company id. for receiving the parcel at the country station, carrying it by train 100 miles, transferring it at the London terminus, and keening the accounts of the whole transaction. Where the allowance for profits comes in members of the Institution can calculate for themselves. We often hear of the marvellous cheapness of American railway rates, and that corn and tinned meats are carried in train loads of 1,500 tons over the 1,500 miles from the Missouri River to New York at rates so low that, we in England can hardly grasp them, I should be the last to deny. But I may also say that I have more than once tried to discuss this Great Eastern tariff with American railway friends, and been stopped at the outset by a flat refusal to believe that such rates could really be in existence at all.”
Having mentioned other facts in support of his argument, Mr. Acworth remarked that he was far from saying that English railway rates for the carriage of agricultural produce ought not to be lower than they were at present. He believed they ought to be loweT—in fact, much lower, but he thought ■the figures he had given were a sufficient answer to the oft-repeated charge that their railway rates were mainly responsible for agricultural depression. When they knew that the gross retailer’s profit ranged anywhere from 20 to 100 per cent, on the price as received for the article by the producer, it was absurd to say that l¿ to 7 per cent, on the retail price, or, if they would, 2^r to 14 per cent, ■on the producer’s price, was a charge that strangled trade. Indeed, considering the value and the indispensability of the service rendered by the railway companies, and the enormous cost at which that servict was furnished, it might fairly he claimed that the railways only charged a very low percentage. He thought it would be found that the railway companies’ percentage did not on the average exceed the commission of the London salesman; and, after all, to carry a quarter of beef or a bushel of apples from Taunton to Smithfield or Covent-garden seemed at once a more expensive and a more valuable service than to supply a desk and an auctioneer’s hammer in a market salesroom. In his judgment, our railway companies could make out a good case for saying that they did the work the agriculturists ask of them at a moderate price, and that, if agriculture was depressed,
work which is exposed or defective, and render | it capable of keeping out wet.
Ordinary internal plastering is applied in three coats called “rendering,” “floating and “setting.” In all cases it is most important that the lime they contain should be thoroughly slaked or it will blister. Plaster is therefore usually made with rich limes some time before if, is required. “Course stuff” is used for rendering and floating walls and ceilings. Is is composed of lime and sand in nearly equal proportions mixed with long sound ox hair to hold it together. “Fine stuff” is used for setting walls; it consists of nearly pure lime slaked to a paste and usually mixed with a little hair. Plasterers’ putty is more carefully prepared, but very similar ■to the last; hair is, however, not used with it. Gauged stuff is used where the work is required to set quickly. It is composed of about three parts of plasterers’ putty and one of plaster of Paris (ground and calcined gypsun).
Plaster of Paris is also used in cornices and enrichments, and sets very quickly, and plaster containing it must therefore he used as soon as mixed. The whitewash used for common purposes is composed of pure white fat lime and water, and should be applied quite fresh. It will not stand, however, and rubs off easily. For better work it is mixed with tallow, and as such is used for ceilings and known as lime whitening. It is coloured by the addition of pigments when required. When these coloured washes are mixed with size ■they are known as distempers.
IMPORTANT FURNITURE SALE.
The very interesting sale by auction of the antique furniture and other effects of the Old Manor House, Hvthe, was held on the premises by Messrs." Eiloart and Co., of Folkestone, on the 18th and 19tli inst. Among the more important items were the following: Two Hepplewhite armchairs, with cane seats, and oval panel backs, painted in Flaxman designs in leather medallion centres and on top of backs, £6 15s. ; four occasional chairs to match, £5; a Hepplewhite armchair, with cane seat and cross rail back, painted in Angelica Kauffman designs in medallion centre and on top of back, £5 10s. ; two books of litho drawings from sketches by G. Morland. £7 7s. ; an old lac-japan tallboy, eight-day striking clock, by James Jorden, of Chatham, £6 10s. ; a Sheraton gentleman’s wardrobe of Spanish mahogany, with inlaid trellis satin-wood fronts, enclosed by pair of panelled doors, inlaid with vase designs, £37 ; two Hepplewhite cane-seated■ occasional chairs with vase-shaped backs, painted lacquered design, loose extra seats, £3 6s. ; two similar chairs, £3 bs. ; a 6ft. canopy bedstead, with swept and reeded head and foot boards, decorated in brown and gold, fluted columns and shaped canopy m the Adam style, £10 10s. ; an 8ft., Sheracon, inlaid, Spanish mahogany winged wardrobe, with scroll top, £45 ; a 2ft. 8in. Spanish maho ganv inlaid, Sheraton, escritoire, £15; a 2ft. 5in. Spanish mahogany, inlaid, Sheraton, dressing chest, £21 ; three Spanish mahogany, Chippendale, shield■ back chairs, inlaid in the Sheraton style with carved open hacks in the lotus pattern, £13 10s. ; a Hepplewhite table in ebony, with ■waved carved mouldings and octagon centre panel, carved in alto relievo, and incised corner and side panels, representing the four winds, £27, Louis Seize fauteuJ, in carved frame, with reeded and headed block legs, £7 15s. ; two 5ft. Sheraton ebonised tripod standard fire screens, £16 16s. ; two Louis Quinze fauteuils, with carved frame, ivory white enamelled, £14 14s. each; two Louis Quinze fauteuils, with handsomely carved frames in high relief, £10 10s. each; a 5tt. 6in. Louis Seize settee, handsomely carved and ornamented frame in ivory, white and gold, £42 ; two oval back fauteuils, en suite, £27 6s. ; two lyre back occasional chairs, en suite, £16 16s. ; Chippendale armchair, with dome top, carved rush pattern and perforated rails in ivory white enamel, £13 ; an Adam pattern Cariton escritoire of Spanish mahogany, £17 17s. ; an llin. Empire ormolu and bronze tripod censer, with pierced cover and pine top, £15 15s. ; an S^in. ormolu tripod encrier, with winged female head supports, £13 13s. ; 28in. ormolu three-branch candelabrum, £7 ; a 20in. circular top buhl, inlaid tortoiseshell, coffee table, £10 10s. ; a Hepplewhite settee, with triple shield hack, carved in the celebrated wheat-ear pattern in relief, etc., £30 ; a Henri Deux carved oak armoire, £20; a pair of Henri Deux carved high hack chairs, £13 ; a handsomely inlaid old dower chest, forming a fine example of Italian work of the 17th century, £16 16s. ; a superb lantern in matt and burnished ormolu, etc., £30 ; a 6ft. Sheraton Spanish mahogany sideboard, inlaid marque-terie, £28 7s. ; 12 mahogany frame dining chairs, with carved reeded front legs stuffed over hacks, £20 8s. ; a fine old lac-japan cabinet, fitted with 10 drawers, £36 15s. ; and the magnificent grand pianofort, made by Mott,, of Pall Mall, for George IV., was sold after the sale for £120.
before use and not taken direct from the quarry to the works. Stonework requires great care and considerable skill in whatever form it is used. In the case of ashlar the blocks must bed exactly true or they will break and chip under the pressure of the wall above, and in rubble work the stones must be carefully selected in shape so as to “ bond ” as much as possible. Good pointing and good mortar are essential in the case of stonework, and the rougher the class of work the more important is this. A few of the best known stones out of their own immediate locality are the Portland and Bath lime stones, Yorkshire and Mansfield sandstones, and Aberdeen and Peterhead ■granites.
Slates should be hard and tough, and not brittle. Colour is not much of a guide to quality, but the red slates are generally preferred to the blue, Welsh slates are considerably the best, those from the Carnarvonshire quarries best of all. Westmorland and green slates are usually of large size and used for the sake of their colour. The best size for ordinary use are “Countess” (20in. by lOin.) and “Ladies” (16in. by 8in.). Slates are sold by the “long thousand.”
Mortar is composed of cement or lime mixed with sand, or some substitute such as ground ashes and water. The sand must be sharp and free from earthy or vegetable matter, but otherwise its quality is. not of much importance ; on the other hand, very much depends upon the quality and condition of the lime or cement. These are made by heating limestones so as to drive off the carbonic acid and leave the caustic lime and vary in quality according to the purity of the limestone. Rich or fat limes made from pure limestones are of little use for building, they slake rapidly and have no strength after. For this reason, however, they are well adapted for plastering, as they do not swell after the work is׳ done.
Poor limes which contain impurities, which, however, have no chemical •action, are better. They slake slowly and are stronger, but are unreliable, and should not be used, if betttx can be got. Hydraulic limes contain impurities, usually clay or magnesia, which are chemically active, and unite witli lime and water to “ set.” The best of them set strongest under water, but they vary much. The slaking process is hardly appreciable, and care should therefore always be taken that the lime is well ground so as to secure uniformity of slaking. They ■should be specified in all good work. Blue lias lime is perhaps the best known of all.
Cements, of which Portland cement is the chief, are much similar ■to hydraulic limes, but are stronger and have a greater power of setting under water. They are usually made from artificially mixed ingredients. Portlind cement is used largely in engineering works and in ordinary buildings in mortar for exposed positions, such as copings, door cills, and chimney tops.
Concrete is a compound of lime or cement (called the matrix) and gravel, brickbats, 01-other similar matter (called the aggregate), with water. Lime concrete is used in foundations, under floors, and in similar situations. Portland cement concrete is employed in engineering works and as a substitute for stone in paving, and for other purposes. The study of all the uses and proper treatment of concrete almost attains to the dignity of a science by itself. Care should always be taken that the aggregate is clean and well broken, and that the whole bulk is well mixed dry before the water is added.
Brickwork is measured by the yard cube, by the standard rod equivalent to 272ft. super of 14in. work, or by the yard super of specified thickness. For ordinary work, door and window openings are not deducted as the extra labour in making the reveals and ■turning the arches is considered an equivalent, but in good-class work openings are deducted, and extra laboui on arches, reveals, etc., priced separately Footings, string courses, work in cement, etc., are measured extra usually by the foot run.
Stonework is usually taken by the yard cube and cills, string courses, plinths, mouldings, etc., extra at per foot run. Concrete is universally measured by the cube yard.
Tiling and slating are measured by the “square” of 100ft. super, ridges, valleys and eaves being priced extra at per foot run. Brick and quarry floors are usually measured by the yard super.
Plastering is of various kinds. For outside work, usually called “ stucco,” Portland cement mixed with sand is used and applied in two or more coats according to the quality. Another form of outside work is known as “ rough easting,” and is composed of lime (preferably well-ground hydraulic lime) and sand for the first coat, and lime, sand and gravel, or other similar material, for the surface coat. The first of these outside forms of plastering is tlie most expensive, and is used where it is desired to give an appearance of stonework or to cover over poor brickwork and keep out wet, and it is then often painted. Rough casting is used principally in architecture between the beams in half-timbered work, and is resorted to largely for estate purposes to cover brick-
ESTATE BUILDINGS. *
BY H. W. RAFFETY, F.S.I.
II.
Now let us spend an hour at the brickyard watching the processes, whereby clay or marl become bricks and tiles. Notice the true ring and hardness of a well-burnt brick, enquire how the work is paid, whether by royalty or by the yard of clay, or by the thousand of bricks. Here, too, make careful notes of the various wages ; the amount of coal used foi each burning; the capacity for brickholding of drying shed and kiln. These few suggestions merely pave the way for a hundred other questions which any intelligent׳ person will discover for himself.
There are nearly as many kinds of elayworks in the country as there are farming systems. Here the raw material makes blue bricks, there red; here are glazed sanitary works, there only agricultural tiles are manufactured The varieties turned out extend from a Norfolk clav-lumn to a turquoise tinted Minton s tile. The price of bricks vary, too, considerably, from 45s. or more per thousand, wheie coal is scarce, to 25s. or less in the north and midlands. Brick earths are of three mam classes—pure clays, which make an in.erioi brick, which is often misshapen and weathers badly; sandy clays, which make very good bricks, particularly if they contain lime or iron to fuse the sand and bind the whole; marls, which are most suitable of all for brickmaking. Care must, however, be taken that the lime thev contain is in a finely-divided state, 01 the' bricks will be split up as the lime slakes. The colour of bricks depends largely upon the amount of iron in the clay. When tnere is a very large proportion of iron, the clay requires a much greater heat, and the result is the ear l blue or brindled bricks, known as Stafford-shires. Manganese in the clay will give an almost black colour to the bricks. Magnesia and lime, with or without a little iron, give white, yellow or brown colours. There are many special kinds of bricks made from artificially mixed clays and used for special purposes, such as 'facing bricks and rubbers, paving clinkers, glazed bricks, etc. Eire clay-lumps and terra cotta are made from special varieties of clay.
Roofing tiles are made from stronger clays than bricks, and are of several forms, but the most usual are the small, plain “ Bridgewater,^ or their improved form known as “ Broseley, in which the tile is slightly curved so as to grip the one beneath closely at the bottom and prevent the entrance of rain. A good tile will absorb very little water, but some have the absorbant capacity of a sponge, and are to be avoided. Hip, Valley and Ridge tiles are purposely made to the necessary shapes. Other forms of tiles are glazed tiles for hanging on walls and encaustic tiles for high-class pavements in halls and greenhouses, etc., and the cheaper forms■ of paving tiles usually ’mown as “quarries.”	.
Drain pipes vary from the common agricultural ■pipes to the glazed and socketed stoneware pipes used in the best■ drainage scheme of which there are many patent forms. The best are made from the Lias clays, specially mixed to prevent shrinkage. Terra cotta and fireclay pipes are also made, but are not so good. Ordinary unglazed pipes made from common clay are only suitable for land drams and the very cheapest work.
Now let us go to the quarry where we find a staff of men engaged in blasting the face of the rock, levering the displaced blocks of stone, hammering and splitting them into pieces, chiselling them into shoddies, througlis and rubble, copings, plinths, and flags, heads, mils and mullions. Here a great crane lifts some weighty block on to the cart, and there ^ a skilled' hand shapes out a piece of decorative work. Notebook in hand, our pupil stands gleaning information as to the various rates of pay, the cost of materials, and the length of time required for each process.
The value of a stone for building purposes depends upon the facility with which it can be worked and its durability, and in a lesser degree upon its appearance. Of all classes ot building materials none vary so much as stone. The hard granites and trap rocks are generally most durable, but cannot be worked so easily or so effectively as the softer limestones and sandstones, hut a stone may be quite unfitted for architectural treatment and yet answer admirably for other purposes, suen as rubble walling or pavings. In ordinary circumstances there are several common forms of stonework—ashlar, or sawn blocks, on one hand, irregular rubble on the other, and intermediate forms of the various coursed rubble types. All stone should be laid upon its natural quarry bed. or it will decay much more rapidly,' and should always be seasoned
Revised
F.S.I.
* From “ Land Agency ” (new edition), and brought up to date by H. W. Raffety,