Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, September 26, 1891

Excerpt

THE NEW LABOR EXCHANGE, PARIS.

The new Labor Exchange is soon to be inaugurated. We give herewith a view of the entrance facade of the meeting hall. The buildings, which are the work of Mr Bouvard, architect, of the city of Paris, are comprised within the block of houses whose sharp angle forms upon Place de la Republique, the intersection of Boulevard Magenta and Bondy street. One of the entrances of the Exchange is on a level with this street. The three others are on Chateau d'Eau street, where the facade of the edifice extends for a length of one hundred feet. From the facade and above the balcony that projects from the first story, stand out in bold relief three heads surrounded by foliage and fruit that dominate the three entrance doors. These sculptures represent the Republic between Labor and Peace. The windows of the upper stories are set within nine rows of columns, from between the capitals of which stand out the names of the manufacturers, inventors, and statesmen that have sprung from the laboring classes. Upon the same line, at the two extremities of the facade, two modillions, traversed through their center by palms, bear the devices "Labor" and "Peace." Above, there is a dial surmounted by a shield bearing the device of the city of Paris.

The central door of the ground floor opens upon a large vestibule, around which are arranged symmetrically the post, telegraph, telephone, and intelligence offices, etc. Beyond the vestibule there is a gallery that leads to the central court, upon the site of which has been erected the grand assembly hall. This latter, which measures 20 meters in length, 22 in width, and 6 in height, is lighted by a glazed ceiling, and contains ten rows of benches. These latter contain 900 seats, arranged in the form of circular steps, radiating around the president's platform, which is one meter in height. A special combination will permit of increasing the number of seats reserved for the labor associations on occasions of grand reunions to 1,200. The oak doors forming the lateral bays of the hall will open upon the two large assembly rooms and the three waiting rooms constructed around the faces of the large hall. In the assembly rooms forming one with the central hall will take place the deliberations of the syndic chambers. The walls of the hall will, ere long, receive decorative paintings.--L'Illustration.

Roofing paper was first used in Scandinavia early as the last century, the invention being accredited to Faxa, an official of the Swedish Admiralty. The first tar and gravel roofs in Sweden were very defective. The impregnation of the paper with a water-proofing liquid had not been thought of, and the roofs were constructed by laying over the rafters a boarding, upon which the unsaturated paper, the sides of which lapped over the other, was fastened with short tacks. The surface of the paper was next coated with heated pine tar to make it waterproof. The thin layer of tar was soon destroyed by the weather, so that the paper, swelled by the absorption of rain water, lost its cohesiveness and was soon destroyed by the elements....