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Show . WOULD CAST CONCRETE I HOUSES LIKE METAL. '.-".'" .sbsjsssssssssssiiissssssssbs '"'., 1 Thomaa A. fcdison, the wlard of lnven-: lnven-: tion, has announced that he la working on a plan to mold houses whole to a single sin-gle casting out of concrete, and that the v- total cost will be 500 a house, with - probable lower prices when the Invention is developed. i Dearer men who know all there Is to : know - about concrete at - present claim that Mr. Edison's scheme Is not feasible. 8. O. Shaw, head of the concrete ma- chlnery company at 1721 Arapahoe, said: "I do not think it can be, done. Of course, the name of Edison carries great weight, and we hay seen him defy ere ry thing we - 'thought a natural law with success so t often that no man can safely say such , and suoh a thing cannot be done. "But I can see reason for Edison's , wanting to cast houses in ' one' casting. . ; The price of $600 Isn't any lower than the present eost for a small house, f "Today concrete houses are built out of i. cement blocks. Just like brick or stone. ,v Why should a man want to cast, a house whole when it can be built piece by piece - for the same price? But, then, as I said. . Edison can aohieve the impossible, and he may perfect machinery that will giro .. L us a house that Is entire, all at one fell .swoop. But what execrable taste I You y call up the "Edison Whole House com-vpany com-vpany on the telephone and say to the ' clerk: 'This is A. B. Smith. I am a f hard-working laboring man and I want a concrete house at once. Build me one im-; im-; mediately. I'll call tor it at 4 o'clock. The clerk asks whether you want one like ' class A. No. 9, or style C. pattern 8. Of oourse, they only hare to, shift the casting cast-ing to change the position of the parlor, make an extra bedroom, . attach more closets, etc., and there yu are, concrete house, modern, bath, plumbing, fireplace, a brass doorknob and a dog house besides all ready by. 4 o'clock. AH you hare to do Is to send-for i the ' expressman and more in before summer." ' ' H. . Herbert Toogood. manager of the Colorado Concrete Mixer company, said:. "I can't see where Edison can save cost, time or energy. Now, the way concrete constructions are' put up is this: First, a cast is made for the walls, say four feet high. The concrete is poured Into this cast and allowed to harden. Then the cast Is simply moved up another four feet and that much more of the wall is added. .This system is rapid enough for anybody but a man like Corey. Of course, ' these fast fellows might want to live In a concrete house, anyway, and a working man Is usually willing to wait a few hours, so who would want Edison's machine t . "Just think of the results. A thousand working men all lirlng with their thou-sands thou-sands of children and wives in a thousand thou-sand little concrete houses, all with the same sized kitchen, the same kind of a porch, identical roofs. The monotony would be awful." . Miller Henry, who built many concrete walls, said: "This Idea is one of the Insanities In-sanities of genius. Edison is crasy. He wouldn't be a great inventor If he were not. But this thing Is the limit. I admit concrete has only come Into use during the past ten years, and new uses are being discovered for It every day. For Instance, a little while ago, it was learned that concrete Incorporates Itself with steel rods put Into it when It is Soft and when it hardens the concrete will not break until the steel Itself breaks. Concrete Con-crete flooring will stand 600 pounds pressure pres-sure to the square foot, and this beats anything but solid stone. But as for Edison's Edi-son's idea It may be done sometime. . "A man who can solve the automobile question with cobalt batteries for electric elec-tric machines can do almost anything else. I expect to see concrete used In building houses a great deal more in the future than it is at present. It wears forever, and can be made to look very pretty. Concrete can be made to imitate any kind of stone, and no one but an expert ex-pert can tell the difference between a concrete house and a genuine brown front granite or marble. "If Edison does perfect a machine for casting concrete houses whole in a single casting, it will be a great boon to the poor man and will stimulate home building. build-ing. Also, it will mean that concrete houses will then be built wherever It is possible to transport cement in 100-pound sacks." |