Email #19 - Breather Wall Archeology

I took these two pictures (4x5" film) to show the structural remnants of the breather walls, namely the holes in the ceiling through which the hollow clay tiles passed. Note that these slits extended the entire length of the wing (5.5 bays each) as shown in the bottom photo of the North Wing, 1st floor. I bet it looked pretty much the same on the day in 1908 when they took the ceiling formwork down.

Note the small holes in the ceilings, as seen in both photos from the 1st floor. The holes were empty when revealed in 2006 (i.e. no pipes or wires). My guess is that the holes were made in 1909 for piping gases & water to the 2nd floor chemistry labs.

In the top photo you can see a breather wall slit being used now as demolition chute. In June they used the slit to the right as the demolition chute, but then scaffolding installation on the floor above prevented easy Bobcat access. So they moved the demolition chute one bay to the north.

Hey, where did all that dirt come from? … Surprise, buildings are mainly dirt!

John Stamets
Aug. 19, 2006

See #3 and #18

Note: Demolition chutes are naturally dangerous when active, even in a small building. Last week in Dallas two workers were killed when a Bobcat driver inadvertently pushed a concrete slab off the 19th floor of an historic building under renovation. It landed at ground level on two workers at a parked truck. From the initial news reports, it seems that there was no designated demolition chute at the site, possibly a code or OSHA violation. (http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_226125554.html)