790 The Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal. [June, CORRESPONDENCE. Il must be distinctly understood that we do not hold ourselves accountable for the opinions of correspondents. Mr. Editor: — Will you favor me with an opinion ? I am about to lay down concrete for a foundation in soft soil. I wish to know if common lime will an- swer, and how it is best to treat the mixture — whether to throw it down from a height or to ram it when laid ? — L. S. Answer. — In soft soil or damp situa- tions it is better to use cement, instead of common lime, and lay on the concrete in courses of two or three inches in thick- ness. It used to be the practice to give a fall of seven yards to the concrete in locating it ; but some prefer ramming. There is, however, an opinion now becom- ing prevalent that it is better to avoid both these modes of treatment, and let the concrete set undisturbed, as the effect of collision, either by a fall or by ramming, dislodges the binding material in many parts, and therefore renders the mass friable. Editor Review. — May I through the medium of your useful pages call the at- tention of those concerned in the capa- cious " rinks" which have been erected in our chief cities, recently, for skatiDg purposes, and are now used for veloci- pedal exercising, to the fact that there is a very serious want of public baths throughout the Union. There are too many of the small private and objection- able sort, but of capacious swimming- baths thei*e is a very great want. jS t ow, as our municipalities are not likely ever to confer such a boon on the sweltering tax-payers, however hot and uncomfort- able the approaching mid-summer may be, it appears to me to be a most desir- able speculation for those proprietors of the "rinks" in question. What splendid swimming basins could be excavated in those areas, — and lined and floored with hydraulic cement, how perfectly water-tight they could be made ; and how clear the water would become, from the influence of the lime. Added to this would be the fact that in winter time Jack Frost would contract to transform the fluid into glassy ice, and restore to the skaters their borrowed domain. The expense to be incurred in the construction of dressing-rooms, or boxes, would not be very serious, and these might be made movable, or so put together as to be easily taken apart in a comparatively short time. Your publication of these hints may have the desired effect of drawing at- tention to this, what I consider, paying speculation, and confer happiness on all who have consideration for the sanitary condition of our cities and the cooling influences of the blissful bath. West Philadelphia. R. M. Gr. We fully agree with the writer as to the necessity for public baths, and trust that even speculation may be aroused to a work which humanity ought to at- tend to. Sir : — I am erecting a house on a con- fined lot, and am obliged to build on the boundary line at either side. I have a very neat design for a cornice, and would wish to execute it complete : but, as it returns at each end, I don't know whether I can do so or not. Both the flank build- ings are below the line of my intended cornice. Will you please advise me in the difficulty ? A Builder. Answer. — The projections of the re- turns of the cornice here spoken of would be a trespass on the neighboring lots. We would recommend our corre- spondent to cut off his cornice at each end, by the introduction of consoles.
