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Show AN AliClECT TALKS Of Come of the Handsome Edifices that Contribute to the Beauty of tho City. BEE HIVE, THE PUEE8T IN STYLE. Comments on the Hooper, Dinwoodey, Mercantile, unJ the Chamber of Commerce Buildings. Mr. Mendelssohn, who is architect of the East Sido hole', had just been reading read-ing the Times' account of tho action of the home architects in regard to restricting res-tricting competition on the city hall to the local numbers of the profession did not consider it serious or that it would at all allcct the rest of the building. build-ing. The fault might have been in setting set-ting the stone, in not placing sufficient mortar in the joints, or in removing the frame scaffolding before tho mortar J had sutlicieutly hardened. As to the architecture of the East Sido hotel, he said he did not aspire to build a temple of beauty, but simply to build so much building for so much money, and to build it well. It was not the intention to mako a building that would be conspicuous either for its beauty or for its ugliness. He considered con-sidered that tho interior whs well arranged ar-ranged and would meet the purposes for which it was constructed. , It is noticeable that the fine front of the Hooper building is growing handsomer hand-somer as tho chiseling, or sculpturing, progresses, and when the rather abrupt termination of the bay window is relieved re-lieved by a railing it will still further be enhanced. when I run across him iu the Walker house lobby. "You might as well," said he, "build a Chineso wall about the city at once. Tho Omaha architects tried to draw the line of exclusion, but it wouldu't work. While we had an efficient body of architects tho men believing they could securo better skill ".My heart alwaysswells with pride as I stand in front of the new chamber of commerce," said Fred Simon who was one of the instigators of that tine edifice. edi-fice. It certainly was an intrepid undertaking, un-dertaking, and now that it has been carried to a successful finish, Mr. Simon's Si-mon's pride is ipiite pardonable. Seventy thousand dollars for a public building is not so easily shelled out as may be imagined. and were wilting to indulge themselves by paying tho bill, drew on Chicago for talent, I found the same thing in Chicago the meeca of tho profession that many of the tine buildings were by New York architects. Again New York draws from London and Paris and by this importation wo get the best results of the great architects of the world, which gives novelty and variety of style to the architecture of our cities." "Which do you consider tho finest building in the city!" I asked him. "From an architectural standpoint the Bee-Hive I mean the building next to tho Eagle gate. It is by all odds tho purest in stylo, the simplest and most harmonious of any in the city," and he qualified this by adding: "15efore the addition was put on." As to the Mormon architecture in general he was somewhat disappointed, as he cvpected to see something "In-dianish" "In-dianish" in color anil line. While he had traveled a great deal in this country coun-try and abroad, he hail never seen anything any-thing like tho temple, and he conceded that it had individuality of design. But the most wonderful building in his estimation is the tabernacle where the immense audience of 14.0)10 can be dismissed in five minutes, and its fine acoustic qualities. Speaking of the tabernacle brought up tho great auditorium at Chicago and Mr. Mondelssohn told me a novel feature fea-ture about this building that I do not recollect of hearing. The auditorium room is not rectangular, nor illiptical like the tabernacle, but trumpet shaped, the stage being at the small end of tho horn. Not only do the side walls widen out as they retreat from the The two fires for which Chief Stanton was soundly abused, and which were looked upon as public calamities, have turned out to be blessings iu disguise, and we can join tho Phenix cities of Washington in the paradoxical conclusion conclu-sion that "the best way to build up a city is to burn it down." , Out of the Dinwoodey ashes has sprung up one of the handsomest blocks in the city, and since the plate glass has been set in its line oak casing it can bo said, truly, that the Dinwoodey storeroom is the most metropolitan of of any in the city. ft This will hold good until the Walker Bros', mercantile building will boom up at Third South and Main, when one of the most spacious dry goods rooms in the west will dispute its title to that distinction. And yet I never step into the mammoth mam-moth co-op store without feeling like j taking off in reverence to the accomplishments accom-plishments of a past that it is the province pro-vince of small minds to be little. And what building stands up more majestically majes-tically than Zinn's Savings bank If the architect who designed it never saw the Potter building in New York ho must have anticipated it. But history repeats itself, even in buildings. ft Mr. M. P. Mason and wife of Carthage, Carth-age, New York, have been stopping at the Walker house for tho past few days and have left for Texas points. Mr. Mason is a gentleman of very high standing and is very well informed in regard to the prosperity and future of the newer cities of the United States. stage but the ceiling rises higher. This peculiarity of construction is not readily detected as the decorations in a great measure overcome it. From the same person I learned that in Omaha the foundations of ninety per cent of all the buildings are of brick, the tine quality of Omaha hard burned brick being preferable to stone. In fact brick is rapidly growing in favor as the material for foundations. ft ft In regard to the settling of the arch in the Homes block, Mr. Mendelssohn He tells me in regard to Salt Lake that tho business blocks now in process of erection are liner and costlier than those found iu any of tho cities ho has visited. That not so many dwelling houses are being erected here as iu some other cities but that next year will probably be the great year for house building. Ho was also greatly impressed by the great number of people peo-ple on the street and the activity in business. Mr. Mason is figuring on the purchase of some fifty thousand dollars worth of acreage through the firm of Tousey & de Kicqles, which shows pretty good faith in the city. |
