(Published In 1895.)

An office and store building has just been erected by Marc Eidlitz & Son. builders on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighteenth Street, New York City, for the estate of Henrietta Constable according to the plans of William Shickel & Co-, architects. The plumbing has been executed by T. J. Byrne, with Arthur H. Napier, C. E., as consulting engineer. The building has a frontage of 100 feet on Fifth Avenue and a frontage of 200 feet on Eighteenth Street, and consists of a basement and 12 full stories, with bulkheads, tank-house, toilet-room, and janitor's apartments, forming a thirteenth story over portions of the building. The first and second stories are arranged for large stores and the remainder of the building for offices singly and en suite.

The plumbing comprises a supply of cold water to washbasins throughout the building, hot water to the slopsinks on every floor and to the main toilet-room; filtered water to each corridor, water under tank and pump pressure for fire service, public and private toilet-rooms, and complete independent domestic apparatus in the janitor's apartments. There is also the necessary system of tanks, pumps, filters, and • meters, beside the main and distribution supply pipes, soil, vent, and sewer pipes. Some of the essential and characteristic features of this installation are here described and illustrated from original sketches and the working drawings and specifications. All exposed drains in the basement, and all soil, waste, and vent pipes and branches, and all leaders are made of standard welded steel tubing. All such pipe and fittings (except where exposed in basement) are thoroughly coated inside and outside with a good asphalt varnish. Exposed pipe in the basement is tar-coated on the inside only and painted on the outside. All fittings, traps, etc. for steel pipe are special extra heavy, recessed threaded, cast-iron drainage fittings. Branch fittings and ells have threads tapped at a grade. Reducing fittings are used instead of bushings, and no steam fittings or cast bushed fittings were used.

All cold supply piping, mains, pump, tank, heater, and filter connections, cold risers, fire lines, and safe wastes (except ½ - inch pipe) are of galvanized wrought-iron pipe, with heavy galvanized malleable and galvanized cast-iron fittings. All lead traps are of Six-pound and eight-pound lead, with brass trap screws; water-closet bends are of eight-pound lead.

All hot supplies, all exposed fixture branches, and all ½-inch supply pipes are of brass. Brass waste and vent branches at traps are of "iron pipe size," and all brass traps were specially made to permit the use of this heavy pipe. All supply and fire lines have finished brass gate and globe valves, with iron or brass wheel handles, and are plated or polished to correspond with pipe. Valves 2 inches and over are gate, others are globe valves, and 4 inch valves have an iron body. Connections between cast-iron and steel drain pipes are made with special calking fittings. Joints between lead and cast-iron, wrought-iron, or steel pipe are made with brass ferrules and soldering nipples the size of the fitting, with the lead run through the ferrule. The joints between pipe stacks and the roof are made by special roof fittings and sleeves of 20-ounce cold-rolled copper, extending 18 inches on all sides of the pipe fittings under the tile and its chambered sleeve above. All changes in direction, and fixture connections are made with Y branches and 45-degree elbows, or on upright lines only, with the special long 90-degree Y's. All branch fittings and bends on waste and soil lines, etc. have threads accurately tapped to give a uniform grade of one-fourth inch or one-half inch per foot. All sewers and drains and horizontal wastes, or their branches have a uniform fall of at least one-fourth inch per foot, and as much more as may be practicable. The rainwater leaders are of 4, 5, and 6-inch steel pipe, with special running traps. There are three 5-inch and two 4-inch lines of soil pipe and 11 lines of 3-inch waste pipe, the latter all increased to 4 inches just above the highest connection.

PLUMBING IN THE CONSTABLE OFFICE BUILDING, NEW YORK CITY.

All branches are in general of steel. At the ends of soil and waste pipe branches, at angles, and on all iron traps there are set Y-branch or trap hub clean-outs of the same size as the pipe, closed with special heavy cast-brass plugs. The water-supply lines in the basement are run exposed on the ceiling, but throughout the building they are covered in with the waste lines. All lines and branches are graded so as to completely empty at the lowest point in the basement. Drip pipes with globe valves are provided for all mains, risers, returns, etc., and are run to the sink or receiving tank in the basement, so that any or all parts of the supply system may be emptied for repairs.

Figure I is a diagram of the basement showing the arrangement of the pumps, etc., and the approximate location of the hot and cold water distributing mains and riser branches on the ceiling.

Figure 2 shows the arrangement and support of the group of pipes in one set supported from the basement ceiling.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the building showing the arrangement of the hot and cold water risers on one side of the building. Horizontal branches are taken off from the vertical pipes up to the fourth floor, above which level the lines are direct to the rows of superimposed fixtures

Figure 4 is a tranverse section showing the principal lines of soil waste, and vent pipes and the arrangement of risers to avoid obstructing the stores on the lower floors and to connect with one of the three separate lines of sewer pipe which cross the building tranversely.