THE STONE-MASON, THE BRICKMAKER, &c.

THE MASON.

1. The art of Masonry includes the sawing and cutting of stones into the various shapes required in the multiplied purposes of building, and in placing them in a proper manner in the walls and other parts of edifices. It is divided into two branches, one of which consists in bringing the stones to the desired form and polish, and the other, in laying them in mortar or cement.

2. The rocks most used in building in the United States, are marble, granite, greenstone, scienite, soap-stone, limestone, gypsum, and slate. These are found in a great many localities, not only on this continent, but on the other side of the Atlantic. Of these stones, there are many varieties, which are frequently designated by their sensible qualities, or by the name of the place or country whence they are obtained; as variegated, Italian, Egyptian, or Stockbridge marble, and Quincy stone.

3. The Stone-cutter.—Stone-cutters procure their materials from the quarry-men, whose business it is to get out the stones from the quarries, in which they lie in beds, consisting either of strata piled upon each other, or of solid masses. Stones of any desirable dimensions are detached from the great mass of rock, by first drilling holes at suitable points, and then driving into them wedges with a sledge. These blocks are usually removed from the quarries, and placed on vehicles of transportation, by means of huge cranes, with which is connected suitable machinery.

4. The blocks of stone, received in their rough state by the stone-cutter, are divided, if required, into pieces of smaller size, by means of a toothless saw, aided by the attrition of sand and water. The other rough sides of the blocks are reduced to the proper form by means of steel points and chisels driven with a mallet. A kind of hammer with a point or chisel-like edge, is also used to effect the same object, especially in the softer kinds of stone.

5. For some purposes, the stones are required to be polished. This is especially the case with those employed in the ornamental parts of buildings. In the execution of this part of the work, the surface is rubbed successively with sand, freestone, pumice-stone, Scotch stone, crocus, and putty. When the face is a plane, the sand is applied by means of another stone, which is moved backwards and forwards upon it. In this way, two surfaces are affected at the same time.

6. In polishing irregular surfaces, the different kinds of stone are used in masses of convenient size; and the part applied to the surface to be polished is first brought to a form corresponding to it. The putty is an oxyde of tin, in form of powder. Crocus is the peroxyde of iron. The building-stone capable of receiving the highest polish is marble; and it is on this material that the stone-cutter, and the architectural carver or sculptor, exert their utmost skill; but some of the other stones which have been mentioned, possess the same quality to a considerable extent.

7. Carving architectural ornaments, such as pillars with their capitals, is a refined branch of this business; or it may rather be considered, of itself, a branch of sculpture. In the execution of this kind of work, the operator is guided by patterns, formed from the well-defined rules of the science of building. Very few stone-cutters attempt the execution of work so very difficult.

8. From the manufacture of mantel-pieces and monuments for the dead, the stone-cutter derives a great proportion of his profits. This will be manifest even to the superficial observer who may visit a few of the many stone-cutters' yards, to be found in any of our large cities. In some of these, blocks of marble are cut into slabs by the aid of steam-power.

9. In districts of country, also, where valuable stone is abundant, water is extensively employed for the same purpose. This is especially the case in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, where marble of a good quality is abundant. A great proportion of the marble slabs used by the stone-cutter are obtained from such mills. Some other operations of this business are also sometimes performed by the aid of machinery.

THE STONE-MASON.

1. In Philadelphia, and in many other cities not only in this country, but also in Europe, the stone-cutters set their own work; and this practice has led to the habit of applying the term stone-mason to both stone-cutters and those who lay stone in mortar and cement. In New-York, however, as well as in some of the cities farther east, these two employments are kept more distinct. The stone-cutters in Philadelphia are sometimes denominated marble-masons.

2. But, in every city, there are persons called stone-masons, whose business consists exclusively in constructing the walls and some other parts of buildings with stone; and their operations are considerably enlarged in those places where there are no marble-masons. In many cases, the bricklayer is also so far a stone-mason, as to lay the foundation-walls of the buildings which he may erect. This is especially the case in the country, where the divisions of labor are not so minute as in cities. It may be well here to remark, also, that the bricklayers, in some places, perform the services of the marble-mason.

3. The marble-mason, in joining together several pieces in a monument, employs a kind of cement composed of about six parts of lime, one of pure sand, a little plaster, and as much water as may be necessary to form it to the proper consistency. No more of this cement is used than is required to hold the blocks or parts together, as one great object of the artist is to hide the joints as much as possible. The substance thus interposed, becomes as hard as the marble itself.

4. The cement employed in laying marble in common or large edifices, is somewhat different from that just described, as it consists of about three fourths of lime and one of sand. The latter substance is obtained, in an unmixed state, on the bays in every part of the world; hence it has received the appellation of bay sand.

5. When it cannot be conveniently had in a pure state, particles of the same kind can be separated in sufficient quantities from their admixture with other substances. This is effected by sifting the compound through a sieve, into a small stream of water, which carries off the lighter particles that are unfit for use, whilst the sand, by its superior specific gravity, sinks to the bottom. The part which may be too coarse, remains in the sieve. This, however, except the rubbish, can be used in the coarser kinds of masonry.

6. The mortar, used in laying bricks and common stone, has a greater proportion of sand, which is generally of an inferior quality. Besides, the materials are incorporated with less care. Lime for the purposes of building is procured chiefly by calcining limestone in a kiln, with wood, coal, or some other combustible substance. It is also obtained by burning chalk, marble, and marine shells. Water poured upon newly-burnt or quick lime, causes it to swell, and fall to pieces into a fine powder. In this state it is said to be slacked.

7. Masonry is often required in situations under water, especially in the construction of bridges and locks of canals. Common mortar resists the action of the water very well, when it has become perfectly dry; yet, if it is immersed before it has had time to harden, it dissolves, and crumbles away.

8. The ancient Romans, who practised building in the water to a great extent, discovered a material, which, when incorporated with lime, either with or without sand, possessed the property of hardening in a few minutes even under water. This was a kind of earth found at Puteoli, to which was given the name of pulvis puteolanus, and which is the same now called puzzolana.

9. A substance denominated tarras, terras, or tras, found near Andernach, in the vicinity of the Rhine, possesses the same quality with puzzolana. It is this material which has been principally employed by the Dutch, whose aquatic structures are superior to those of any other nation in Europe. Various other substances, such as baked clay and calcined greenstone, reduced to powder, afford a tolerable material for water-cements. Several quarries of water lime, which is similar in appearance to common limestone, has been lately discovered in the United States, which, being finely pulverized and mixed with sand, makes very good water-cement.

10. In buildings constructed with marble and other costly stones, the walls are not composed of these materials in their entire thickness; but, for the sake of cheapness, they are formed on the inside with bricks, commonly of a poor quality, so that in reality they can be considered only brick walls faced with stone. These two kinds of materials have no other connexion than what is produced by the mortar which may have been interposed, and the occasional use of clamps of iron. Such walls are said to be liable to become convex outwardly from the difference in the shrinking of the cement employed in laying the two walls.

11. The principal tools employed in cutting and laying stone are the saw, various kinds of steel points, chisels and hammers, the mallet, the square, the compasses, the level, the plumb-rule, the trowel, and the hod, to which may be added, the spade and the hoe. The last three instruments, however, are handled almost exclusively by laborers.

12. Besides these, contrivances are required to raise heavy materials to the various positions which they are to occupy. These consist, for the most part, of one or two shafts, commonly the mast of an old vessel, to which are attached tackle extending in various directions, and also those by which the blocks are to be raised. The rope belonging to the hoisting tackle is pulled by a machine worked with a crank.

13. Masonry is one of the primitive arts, and was carried to great perfection in ancient times. The pyramids of Egypt are supposed to have stood about three thousand years, and they will probably remain for centuries to come, monuments as well of the folly as of the power and industry of man. The temples and other magnificent structures of Greece and Rome, exhibit wonderful skill in masonry, and leave but little, if anything new, to be achieved in modern times.

THE BRICKMAKER.

1. Brick is a sort of artificial stone, made principally of argillaceous earths formed in moulds, dried in the sun, and burned with fire.

2. The earliest historical notice of bricks is found in the book of Genesis, where it is stated that the posterity of Noah undertook to build a city and a lofty tower of this material. Whether the bricks were really exposed to the action of fire, as the passage referred to seems to imply, or only dried in the sun, is an unsettled point. But Herodotus, who visited the spot many centuries afterwards, states that the bricks in the tower of Babylon were baked in furnaces.

3. It is evident, however, that the earliest bricks were commonly hardened in the sun; and, to give them the requisite degree of tenacity, chopped straw was mixed with the clay. The manufacture of such bricks was one of the tasks imposed upon the Israelites, during their servitude with the Egyptians.

4. The extreme dryness and heat of the climate in some of the eastern countries, rendered the application of fire dispensable; and there are structures of unburnt bricks still remaining, which were built two or three thousand years ago. Bricks both sun-dried and burned, were used by the Greeks and the Romans.

5. The walls of Babylon, some of the ancient structures of Egypt and Persia, the walls of Athens, the rotunda of the Pantheon, the temple of Peace, and the Thermæ, or baths, at Rome, were all built of brick. The most common bricks among the Romans were seventeen inches long and eleven broad; a size, certainly, far preferable, as regards appearance, to those of modern manufacture.

6. In the United States, a great proportion of the edifices, particularly in the cities and towns, are constructed of bricks, which are usually manufactured in the vicinity of the place where they are to be used. The common clay, of which they are made, consists of a mixture of argillaceous earth and sand, with a little oxyde of iron, which causes them to turn red in burning. The material for bricks is dug up, and thrown into a large heap, late in the fall or in the winter, and exposed to the influence of the frost until spring.

7. The operation of making bricks is conducted very systematically; and, although every part of the work seems to be very simple, it requires considerable dexterity to perform it properly and to the best advantage. The workmen, in the yards about Philadelphia, are divided into gangs consisting of three men and a boy. The first is called the temperer, who tempers the material with water and mixes it with a spade; the second is called the wheeler, who conveys it on a barrow to a table, where it is formed in moulds by the moulder, whence it is carried to the floor by the boy, who is denominated the off-bearer.

8. The bricks are suffered to remain on the floor a day or two, or until they have become dry enough to be handled with safety. They are then removed and piled into a hack, under cover, in such a manner that the air may circulate freely between them. It is the business of the whole gang to remove the bricks from the floor, and also to place them in the kiln to be burned. In both cases, each one has his due proportion of labor to perform.

9. The day's work of a gang, when the weather is favorable, is to make and pile in the hack a tale of bricks, which consists of 2332, or an even 2000. The former number is called a long tale, and the latter, a short tale. Considerable skill and much care are required in burning the bricks in a proper manner; too much fire would cause them to vitrify, and too little would leave them soft, and unfit for atmospheric exposure.

10. In many places, the clay is mixed or prepared for the moulder by driving round upon it a yoke of oxen, or by means of a simple machine, consisting of a beam, into which has been driven a great number of spokes. One end of this beam is confined in a central position, while the other is moved round in a sweep by animal power.

11. Machines have also been invented by the aid of which the clay may be both mixed and moulded; but these have been very little used. A machine, however, is often employed in pressing bricks which have been formed in the usual manner. The pressing is done after the bricks have become partially dry. Such bricks are employed in facing the walls of the better kinds of structures.

12. Tiles.—Tiles are plates used for covering roofs. They resemble bricks in their composition and mode of manufacture, and are shaped in such a manner that when placed upon a building, the edge of one tile receives that next to it, so that water cannot percolate between them. Tiles, both of burnt clay and marble, were used by the ancients; and the former continue to be employed in various parts of Europe. Flat tiles are used for floors in many countries, and especially in Italy.

THE BRICKLAYER.

1. The particular business of the bricklayer is to lay bricks in mortar or some other cement, so as to form one solid body; but he frequently constructs the foundations of buildings in rough stones, and, in some cities, he sets hewn stone in the superstructure. In the country, plastering is likewise connected with this business.

2. Bricklaying consists in placing one brick upon another in mortar, chiefly in the construction of walls, chimneys, and ovens. In connecting these materials, especially in walls, two methods are employed, one of which is called the English bond, and the other, the Flemish bond. In the former method, the bricks are most commonly of one quality, and are laid crosswise and lengthwise in alternate rows. The bricks which are laid across the wall are called headers, and those which are laid in the other direction are called stretchers. The brick-work of the Romans was of this kind, and so are the partition-walls of many modern brick edifices.

3. The bricks employed in the walls constructed according to the Flemish method, are of two, and frequently of three, qualities. Those placed in the front, or on the external surface, are manufactured with greater care, and, in some cases, are formed in a larger mould. A wall put up on this principle may be said to consist of two thin walls composed of stretchers, with occasional headers, to unite them together. The space between them, when the wall is thick, is filled in with the inferior bricks.

4. The inclosing walls of all brick edifices are erected on this plan, although they are thought to be more insecure than those constructed on the old English method. The reasons alleged for the preference, are its superior beauty, and a considerable saving in the most expensive kind of bricks. Greater security might be attained by the use of larger bricks, say sixteen inches in length, and wide and thick in proportion. Besides, an edifice constructed of well-made bricks of this size would be but little inferior in appearance to marble itself.

5. Most of the instruments used by the bricklayer are also employed by the stone-mason; and they have, therefore, been already mentioned. The particular method of laying bricks, in their various applications, can be learned by actual inspection in almost every village, city, or neighborhood, in our country, a more particular description of the bricklayer's operations is hence unnecessary.

6. Before closing this subject, however, it may be well to state that the chimney appears to be an invention comparatively modern, since the first certain notice we have of it is found in an inscription at Venice, in which it is stated that, in 1347, a great many chimneys were thrown down by an earthquake. It is conjectured that this valuable improvement originated in Italy, inasmuch as it was here that chimney-sweeping was first followed as a business.

7. Before the introduction of the chimney, it was customary to make the fire in a hole or pit in the centre or some other part of the floor, under an opening formed in the roof, which, in unfavorable weather, could be closed by a moveable covering. Among the Romans, the hearth or fire-place was located in the atrium or hall, and around it the lares, or household gods, were placed. To avoid being infested with smoke, they burned dry wood soaked in the lees of oil. In warming other apartments of the house, they used portable furnaces, in which were placed embers and burning coals.

8. It is said by Seneca, who flourished about the middle of the first century of the Christian era, that in his time, a particular kind of pipes was invented, and affixed to the walls of buildings, through which heat from a subterranean furnace was made to circulate. By this means, the rooms were heated more equally. In the southern parts of Italy and Spain, there are still very few chimneys. The same may be said of many other countries, where the climate is pleasant or very warm.

9. Hollinshead, who wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, thus describes the rudeness of the preceding generation in the arts of life: "There were very few chimneys even in capital towns: the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued out at the roof, or door, or window. The houses were wattled, and plastered over with clay; and all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people slept on straw pallets, with a log of wood for a pillow."

THE PLASTERER.

1. In modern practice, plastering occurs in many departments of architecture. It is more particularly applied to the ceilings and interior walls of buildings, and also in rough-casting on their exterior.

2. In plastering the interior parts of buildings, three coatings of mortar are commonly applied in succession. The mortar for the first coat is composed of about twelve parts of sand, six of lime, and three of hair, with a sufficient quantity of water to bring it to the proper consistence; that for the second coat contains a less proportion of lime and hair; and that for the third coat is composed exclusively of lime and water.

3. The mortar is applied directly to the solid wall, or to thin strips of wood called laths, which have been fastened with small nails to the joists, and other parts of the frame of the building. The tools with which the plasterer applies the mortar are trowels of different sizes and shapes, and the hawk. The latter instrument is a board about a foot square, with a short handle projecting at right angles from the bottom.

4. In all well-finished rooms, cornices are run at the junction of the wall and ceiling. The materials of these cornices are lime, water, and plaster. The lime and water are first incorporated, and the plaster is added with an additional quantity of water, as it may be needed for immediate application. The composition is applied in a semifluid state, but the plaster causes it to set, or to become solid immediately. In the mean time, the workman applies to it, in a progressive manner, the edge of a solid piece of wood, in which an exact profile of the proposed cornice has been cut.

5. Ornaments of irregular shape are cast in moulds of wax or plaster of Paris, and these are formed on models of the proposed figures in clay. Such ornaments were formerly the productions of manual operations performed by ingenious men called ornamental plasterers. The casts are all made of the purest plaster; and, after having been polished, they are fastened to the proper place with the same substance saturated with water.

6. The branch of this business called rough-casting, consists in applying mortar to the exterior walls of houses. The mode in which the work is performed varies but little from that adopted in plastering the walls of apartments. It, however, requires only two coats of the cement; and, when these have been applied, the surface is marked off in imitation of masonry. It is likewise sometimes colored, that it may resemble marble or some other stone.

7. The cement is commonly made of sharp sand and lime; but sometimes a kind of argillaceous stone, calcined in kilns and afterwards reduced to powder by mechanical means, makes a part of the composition. The qualities of this material were first discovered by a Mr. Parker, who obtained letters patent for this application of it, in England, in 1796; hence it has been called Parker's cement.

THE SLATER.

1. Slate stone is valuable for the property of splitting in one direction, so as to afford fragments of a sufficient size and thinness to answer several purposes, but especially for covering houses and for writing slates. The best slates are those which are even and compact, and which absorb the least water.

2. The slates used in the United States, are obtained either from our own quarries, of which there are several, or from those of Wales, in the county of Caernarvonshire. The stone is quarried in masses, which are afterwards split into pieces of suitable thinness. These are trimmed to an oblong figure by means of a knife and a steel edge, which act upon the slate much in the manner of a large pair of shears.

3. As it is impossible to dress all the slates to the same size without much waste of material, those engaged in their manufacture have introduced several sizes, the smallest of which are made of the fragments of the larger kinds. These are designated by names known to the trade, and to those practically conversant with the art of building.

4. The slates, when brought to market, especially those from Wales, require additional dressing to fit them for use. The manner of applying them to roofs differs but little from that employed in putting on shingles, as they are lapped over each other in the same way, and confined to their place by means of nails of a similar kind. The nails, however, have a broader head, and are somewhat larger, varying in size to suit the dimensions of the slate. The holes in the slate for the nails are made with a steel point attached to the slater's hammer, or to his knife, technically called a saix.

5. Slates are preferable to shingles on account of their durability, and, in a majority of situations, for their fire-proof quality. They, however, are objectionable on account of their weight and expensiveness, and are therefore beginning to be superseded in this country by sheets of zinc, and by those of iron coated with tin. Copper and lead are also used for roofs, but the metals just mentioned are beginning to exclude them altogether.

6. A serious objection to metal roofs has been their liability to crack, caused by the contraction and expansion of the material, in consequence of variations in the temperature of the weather; but a particular method of putting the sheets together has been lately devised, which appears to obviate the difficulty. Tiles are not used in this country, although in Europe they are very common.