(Published In 1895.)

The Presbyterian Building, at Twentieth Street and Fifth Avenue, New York City, is a large 12-story edifice planned, constructed, and equipped essentially upon the lines of modern metropolitan office buildings, but having some additional features, such as a large first-floor chapel or auditorium, committee rooms, etc. The main part of the building is however devoted to stores and upper-story offices, and by the requirements of such uses the features of the plumbing are mainly determined. Mr. J. B. Baker, C. E., is the architect and engineer, and the plumbing was executed in conformity with his plans and detailed specifications by Messrs. Byrne & Murphy, of New York City.

The plumbing comprises the cold-water street supply, which is received in a suction tank and pumped to storage tanks in the roof house, and thence brought down to distribution drums in the basement, where the separate risers to different lines of fixtures are controlled; three fire lines with hose connections on every floor; hot-water service to sinks, toilet-rooms, and janitor's apartments; washbasins in offices and elsewhere, public urinals and water-closets, slopsinks, basement sinks, and fixtures in janitor's apartments; waste and soil pipe and trap-vent system; local vents from all water-closets and urinals, roof drainage, and cellar-floor drainage. The fixtures, connections, and piping, etc. in offices and toilet-rooms, etc., present a neat and attractive appearance and workmanlike finish, while the principal features of design and arrangement are developed in the systems of receiving, storing, elevating, distributing, and controlling the water supply, and are chiefly connected with the storage tanks and the pump-room apparatus, both of which are unusually well provided for in convenient and attractive locations.

The special tanks are built in a large room with finished floor and good lights, just beneath the steep-pitched roof, and the room is warmed by a steam radiator. The pumps, hot-water boiler, distribution drum, and valves controlling the separate supply lines are compactly and systematically arranged in one part of the engineer's room, at all times accessible and convenient for his inspection and control. An ample floor space in the basement is devoted to the engine-room, which contains the engines, pumps, dynamos, feed-water heaters, electric switchboard, much of the plumbing apparatus, etc., and is a high, light, and well-ventilated apartment, tastefully finished with glazed tiling, all carefully designed and adapted to the purposes of the large mechanical and power plant of the building. It forms an attractive hall, the apparatus being well displayed and the whole arrangement conducive to sanitary conditions and the proper operation of the different installations there.

The three main house sewers from street sewers to the inside of the house traps are extra-heavy cast iron tested and tarred. All pipes in the soil, vent, waste, and leader system inside of the house traps are of best lap-welded extra-heavy standard wrought-iron steam pipe, and of these all the vent or back-air pipes throughout are galvanized, and all the others are thoroughly coated with asphalt. The connections and fitting of soil, waste, and leader pipes are in accordance with the " Durham System of House Drainage," with screw joints packed with red lead and giving perfectly smooth inside passage at all joints. Vent pipes have ordinary steamfitter's joints. All fittings are extra heavy, of uniform thickness, and those of vent pipes are galvanized. All connections with lead pipes are made by means of soldering nipples and all connections with iron pipes are screw joints packed with red lead.

Horizontal lines of pipes are provided with hand-hole openings and brass screw caps located not more than 20 feet apart. All iron pipes of the water service are of best quality heavy wrought-iron tubing, galvanized, with extra-heavy galvanized-iron fittings and screw joints packed with red lead supported on galvanized-iron hangers and holdfasts. Lead waste and soil pipe where used for short connections is of the following weights: 1½-inch pipe, 3½ pounds per running root; 2 pipe. four pounds per running foot; 3-inch pipe, six pounds per running foot. Lead water-service pipes are of the following weights: ½-inch pipe, three pounds per running foot; ⅝ - inch pipe, 2½ pounds per running foot; ¾-inch pipe, 4¾ pounds per running foot. Other sizes are extra-heavy drawn, of uniform thickness "AAA." All are put up with hard metal tacks and screws, not over 30 inches apart. All lead pipe in contact with concrete or deafening is painted two coats of metallic paint. All brass supply pipes are tinned. All exposed brass pipes are polished. Hot and cold water pipes are kept apart everywhere that it is possible; when they cannot be separated isolated packing is used. Where water pipes are exposed to frost they are wrapped in boiler felting and the whole protected by a galvanized-iron sleeve pipe of proper size.

There are three cesspools under the basement floor, one in the boiler-room, one in the western storeroom, and one in the eastern part. At various points cast-iron catch-basins are built in, with perforated covers, set flush with the graded floors as follows: One in the pump-room, one in the dynamo-room, two in the boiler room, and two in the storeroom. These catch-basins discharge through 2-inch trapped pipes into the cesspools. A 3 inch pipe is run from each of the cesspools to the cesspool in the boiler-room, connecting with the latter 4 inches below its cover. Inside of this cesspool extending through its wall, are two pipes with screw caps and 2-inch stop valves, so that possible ground-water pressure under the main building can be relieved. The boiler-room cesspool is on a lower level than the others, and is provided with an automatic steam syphon having an auxiliary water connection so that the house-tank water pressure can operate the syphon instead of steam, if necessary.

The general features and arrangment of the main pipe lines and operation of the water-pressure system were developed by the architect, and a conventional diagram of it was made and attached to the contract specifications. The principal points of it were carried out in construction, subject of course to modifications of convenient position and relative location of pumps, tanks, etc., which will be shown in detail in the following part. The specification diagram, Fig. 1, needs no additional explanation and forms a desirable supplement to the written specifications, from which some of the data of this article have been prepared.