Hansom and His Cab

1933

After diligent search it might appropriately be possible to find in New York, U. S. A., its last American stronghold, a specimen of the high-wheeled vehicle which will have its centenary celebrated this summer in York, England. For in the English city a century ago Joseph Aloysius Hansom designed the "Patent Safety Cab" which immortalized his name.

Hansom had a talent for construction and design. Born in York in 1803, he left his father's joinery shop to become an architect's apprentice. When he was 28 years old, his designs for the Birmingham Town Hall were accepted, with unfortunate financial results for Hansom. Next he patented the "Safety" cab and sold the rights for $50,000 which he never got. Apparently disgusted with his profession, Hansom founded a newspaper in 1834. Lack of capital put an end to the venture, so he returned to architecture, with success. He obtained commissions for public and private buildings not only in the United Kingdom, but in Australia and South America. Hansom died in London in 1882.

His name lived after this, particularly through the '80s, the era with which the Hansom cab will forever be associated. In the original design the driver's seat was at the side, but eventually only the high wheels and the axle prevailed through various changes of construction.

Consequently it was noted less for its safety than for its elegance. Although the seat tilted at a restful angle and the motion was soothing, there were hazards involved in getting into the cab. The driver had his perch at the top and back, with a little trap-door in the cab's roof which threatened the privacy and seculsion offered by the hooded body and hinged apron shutting the occupants snugly within. The cabbies of those hansoms could tell tall tales to make the modern taxi- driver's life seem spiceless in comparison, if one may believe rumors.

Off-hand Hansom is scarcely remembered as the name of a man. But the word "hansom" will stand in the English language for the graces and formal elegances of a "nice" age that died with the Nineteenth Century, in which the cab was invented. — Detroit Free Press.

—San Antonio Express, May 20, 1933, p. 10.

No Wood in This Building

1905

Baltimore Architects Seem to Have Evolved Fireproof Structure

Two Baltimore architects have drawn plans for a building entirely without wood. It will be six stories and will have a frontage of 41.5 feet. The entire structure is to be of reinforced concrete and steel. Even the doors, trims, window sashes and door jambs are to be of metal.

The windows will be glazed with wire glass. The frame for the show windows will be of steel, into which the plate glass will be fitted. The side walls, columns and rear walls as well as the supporting columns of the front walls will be of concrete. The floors will also have a top dressing of cement one and a half inches thick. The stairs will be of concrete, with slate treads and wrought iron balustrades. The elevator shaft will be of concrete, as will also the enclosure around the stairway and the elevator hall. The cellar and roof are to be of cement.

In order to eliminate all wood, even the flagstaffs on top will be of steel. — Engineering Mining Journal.


Busts in Butter

Not long ago a dinner was given by a novelist in London, at which all the butter on the great table was in miniature busts of noted authors.

The Pearl Mosque of Agra, India

1878

A traveler in India describes one of the architectural wonders of the country as follows:

The Pearl Mosque of Agra stands inside the fort, and its three domes rise above the crenelated wall so as to be visible at considerable distances. They have been compared to bubbles, which have rested there for a moment and were liable to be blown away by the first breath of wind, and certainly the comparison is not inapt.

Domes, roofs, walls, pillars, floors, and all are of white marble, and the whole work is finished as carefully as if intended for observation under a microscope. It is not a closed building, like the mosques familiar to visitors to Constantinople. One side is quite open to a large quadrangle, and as you stand in the latter, with the sun of India beating down upon you, your eyes can penetrate to the depths of all the arches that support the domes and roof.

Never, before have I seen a more perfect specimen of the Saracenic arch, and as the arches cut each other at right angles the perspective from any given point is absolutely bewildering. There are twenty four intersecting arches and groined vaults; the structure surprises you at first by its plainness, and then by the splendor of its effect. You cannot understand why it has so captivated you, and I think that many visitors to the Pearl Mosque have gone away with a higher appreciation of Saracenic architecture than ever before.

There is nothing of decoration or ornament about it; nothing but the purest Saracenic art, whether in the mosque itself or in the cloister-surrounded quadrangle. There is no trickery of many-colored stones or elaborate work in mosaic; you see only the pure marble beneath, around, and before you and the blue sky above. As a triumph of architecture it is complete.

The Luxury of a Great Porch in the Summer

1912

SUMMER PORCHES

The Luxury of Living Outdoors in Hot Weather

WHAT PAINT WILL DO

Get Out Your Own Chairs, Buy Two New Wickers, Give Them a Green Coat and Then Dress Them Up In Gay Chintzes

It seems a pity that all country homes are not built with roomy, spacious piazzas. After all, the principal reason that any one has for living in the suburbs and going through all the trouble of commuting is because he wants to live in the country. Of course six months in the year it is too cold to sit out of doors, but when spring comes the suburbanite wants to enjoy the country to the utmost. He cannot do this by sitting indoors, certainly. He wants to read his paper and smoke his pipe where he can see nature's beauties spread all out before his eyes — namely, on the porch.

Modern architects are realizing more and more the need for big porches, no matter how small the house. Of course the suburbanite who owns his own home can always add to the porches if he wishes. But the others must make the most of what they have and do the best they can to make their piazza cozy and comfortable, no matter how small it may be.

You women who live in the country will find that a can or two of paint and a bolt of pretty chintz will do much to transform your porch furniture. If you have no comfortable chairs for piazza use do buy one or two. They need not be expensive pieces, but be sure they are comfortable and have pretty lines.

The wicker or reed furniture is really the most attractive for verandas, and it is not at all expensive.

You need not worry if you have two or three pieces of one kind and a couple of pieces of another variety. After you have given them all a coat of the same paint and made chintz cushioned seats and backs for them they will look enough alike to fool any casual eye. Besides, no one expects rigid formality in porch decorations.

If your house is white or gray you will find that green porch furniture will look best. Give all the chairs, tables and settees a coat of green paint and one of green enamel paint. The chintz for green furniture should contrast with it, and a figure with a good deal of red in it will be found most effective.

It may be wisest to have a cheap upholsterer make the seat cushions and backs if you are afraid to tackle so tricky a job. Have them made with some white goods as a cover. Then you can yourself make slip covers of the chintz for them. The reason why it is better not to have the chintz put right on as the first cover of the cushions is because it may soil very quickly, being where the street dust can easily reach it. If the chintz is made into slip covers they can be removed and washed when soiled.

If your house is any other color except white or gray brown porch furniture is prettiest. So you can paint your furnishings brown and use almost any gaily colored, pretty bright chintz for cushions.

—The Kingston Daily Freeman, Kingston, New York, June 24, 1916, page 7.

The Present Butterfly Decoration Craze

1912

The Butterfly Craze

There is at present a craze for butterfly effects. The design flutters on parasol tops, on smart veilings, and is worked in wonderful, iridescent effects on the new trimmings. The winged favorite is used also as shoe buckles, brooches, coiffure ornaments and beautiful designs are seen in enamels and simuli diamonds. Black satin and velvet butterfly bows edged with brilliants or colored stones are lively. The material is slipped into a frame, and thus any color can be added to the diamond's rimmed bow.


Men's Defects Sized Up

The ten chief defects of men, as decided by the votes of the women readers of Femina, one of the most popular women's weeklies in France, are egotism, easily first with 2,387 votes; then comes jealousy, 1,968; infidelity, 1,783; intemperance, 1,417; cowardice (or rather base mean-spiritedness), 1,350; immorality. 1,070; despotism, 1,057; anger, 1,051; conceit, 1,000; and idleness, 935.


Ideal School Described

M. Augustin Rey, a Parisian architect, has described his ideal school in a recent paper. He said that the beneficial effects of the violet rays were so well known that it was criminal to build in such a way that they could not penetrate to every part of a room; it was doubly important that this should be possible in schoolrooms. If there was a choice between heat, ventilation, and sunshine we should see that we had the sunshine first. His building was so arranged that the classes should meet in the east rooms in the afternoon after the morning sun had thoroughly disinfected them and in the west in the morning, since the afternoon sun would have disinfected the western rooms on the previous day. There should be plenty of ground and plenty of sand about school houses. It is better to economize in decorations than in sunlight and ventilation. He said that while this was his ideal school, he preferred the open air school.


Slow Coach

A gentleman was one day, in the old coaching times, traveling by a coach, which moved at a very slow pace. "Pray," said he to the guard, "what is the name of this coach?" "The Regulator," was the reply. "And a very appropriate name, too," said the traveler, "for I see all the other coaches go by it."

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 18, 1912, page 3.

New Zealand's Many Names

New Zealand has been called by its inhabitants "The Fortunate Isles," "The Star of the South" and "The Wonderland of the Pacific."
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And "Safe"
The New York savants who have been trying to pick out the 25 most beautiful words in the language seem also to have overlooked the inherent beauty of the word two-bagger.
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Acting a Part
During courtship, be it long or short, is it not a fact that both Phyllis and Corydon with the best intentions in the world, are acting a part as much as if they were assisting in private theatricals? -- U. Caldwell.
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The Ruins of Yucatan
There is in Yucatan a chain of ruins three hundred miles long where once stood buildings richly decorated and erected with a vast amount of architectural knowledge. The buildings belong to the Stone Age, when the figures were carved with pieces of flint. The people of this age had not the use of either bronze or iron.
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Sagacity of Frogs
In the manner of disposing of their eggs many species of frogs exhibit remarkable peculiarities. A tree frog, native of Paraguay, makes its nest in a bush overhanging a pond. The lower ends of a number of leaves are drawn together and fixed in that position by a number of empty egg capsules. The eggs are also covered with a shield of empty capsules to protect them from the sun and air. When the eggs are hatched the plug at the bottom appears to fall out and the tadpoles tumble into the water.

--The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, 1911.