(Published In 1890.)

This building, at 33 Wall Street, New York City, is designed for an office building and to accommodate the Mechanics' Bank, which occupies all of the first floor. The building is about 30 feet front by 70 deep and is nine stories high, exclusive of basement and janitor's apartments on the roof.

PLUMBING IN MECHANICS' BANK BUILDING, NEW YORK.

The plumbing includes the following fixtures: One basement toilet-room for the bank employees, containing four water closet sinks, three urinals, and five washbasins. One private toilet-rcom on the first floor, for the bank officers, containing one water-closet, one bathtub, one washbasin, and one urinal. One general toilet-room on the ninth floor that contains eight water-closets, three urinals, and one washbasin. On the floor there is a ladies' toilet-room containing three water-closets and one washbasin.

The eighth floor has a small toilet-room with one washbasin, and there is a slopsink on every floor above the basement, and on each floor from the second to the seventh inclusive there is a toilet-room, one water-closet, one washbasin, and one urinal. The janitor's apartments contain one bathtub, one water closet, one washbasin, one pantry sink, one kitchen sink, and 13 tray laundry tubs. In the basement engine-room are the hot and cold-water distribution drums, a dripsink, and water-closet.

Figure 1 shows the distribution system of the basement near the pumps. Y is the cold and Z is the hot water drum, each about 2x5 feet, made of galvanized iron and supported by the gas-pipe table X X, etc , set in the footing of the foundation walls. The drum Z contains a 2½ - inch pipe a, supplied with live or exaust steam through a pipe S.

The arrangement of the pipe a is similar to that made by Byrne & Tucker for the Mills and the Duncan Buildings in New York, described respectively on p. 203, Vol. VI., and p. 296, Vol. VIII., of The Engineering RECORD. The pipe S passes through a stuffing-box b, and is screwed into a wrought-iron head plate that is welded into the top of the pipe a. The return steam pipe s is screwed into a hollow rivet that is cast on the bottom of the cap c that is screwed into the bottom of the boiler and tapped to receive the pipe a. The stuffing-box permits the pipe S to slide back and forth through it with the expansion movement, which is taken up by the spring of the horizontal branch S S. The large pipe a is used instead of the usual steam coil to prevent noise when the full head of steam is turned on, and to heat the water rapidly. Cold water under tank pressure is received through the 2-inch* pipe C and supplied to the distributing drums through branches W and W. Q is a 1½ - inch pipe supplying water under street pressure. Ordinarily its valve V is closed, but by opening it the drums Y and Z may be filled directly from the street mains, or the basement fixtures, which are branched from Q, may be supplied from the tank.

Cold water is distributed through the building from the drum Y through the 1½ - inch pipe D and the 1-inch pipes E, F, and G to different lines of washbasins, and through the 1- inch pipes N, O, and P to the various flushing cisterns.

Hot water is delivered from the drum Z through the ¾-inch pipe R to the engine-room sink and through the 1½ - inch pipe A to all the slopsinks and to the officers' toilet-room. B is a ¾ -inch return-circulation pipe, H is a 2-inch safe waste from the roof tank, and I, J, K, and M are 1- inch safe wastes from the toilet-rooms. L is a 2 inch delivery pipe from the pumps to the roof tank. V is a drip pipe through which all the rising lines may be drained by opening their cocks T T, etc. The drums Y and Z may also be drained into it through their emptying pipes U U.

Figure 2 shows the roof tank, built of ¼-inch iron plate and 2X2-inch angles with 5/8 - inch tie-rods A A, and tee-bar stiffeners B B, etc. The tank is filled through the 2-inch pump pipe G, overflows directly upon the tiled roof through the 3-inch pipe D and may be emptied also directly upon the roof through the 1½ - inch pipe E. F is a 3-inch fire line .with hose couplings on every floor. C is the 2-inch supply pipe to the distributing drums Y and Z (Fig. 1), H is a 1½-inch supply pipe direct to the janitor's apartments, and I is a 2-inch supply pipe direct to the ninth- floor toilet-room. K K K are vent pipes to facilitate the discharge of all the water in the supply lines C, H, and I, after their valves J J J are closed. L is a vent pipe from the hot-water drum Z, Fig. 1. M is a float whose chain N operates the index of the tank gauge in the pump-room. The float M is made of a butler's pantry copper sink with a sheet of copper tightly soldered over the top.

* The sizes given for pipes are correct but the sketch is not drawn to scale.

Figure 3 is a diagram of the ninth-floor toilet-room, which is about 12 feet wide by 22 long, and contains eight water-closet sinks, three urinals, and one washbasin. It has a tiled floor, oil-finished woodwork, and white marble wainscot and panels A A, etc. The irregular shape of the room made it necessary to arrange the urinals as shown, two of them, U U, placed back, to back opposite the entrance and screened by a 7-foot marble slab B. C is a marble safe.

Figure 4 shows the suspended horizontal boiler in the janitor's kitchen. Cold water is received through the pipe C and hot water through the pipe H; the branch B supplies the kitchen sink and the branch A supplies the laundry tubs, bathroom, etc. The janitor's bathroom is finished with unusual elegance, having marble washbasin table, royal porcelain bathtub, ivory-finished water-closet, and nickel-plated exposed brass pipes. The floor and wainscot are finished with white and tinted ceramic tiles.

Figure 5 shows the dripsink S in the engine-room. It is supported on pieces of 1-inch gas pipe A A, leaded into the footing of the foundation wall over which it is set so as not to occupy much floor space. An adjacent water-closet at B is also arranged so as to be convenient for the firemen, etc., and not take up unnecessary floor space. Q is the drip pipe from the roof-tank safe, and H, I, J, K, and M are drip pipes from the toilet-room safe wastes. R is the hot and Q the cold supply (Fig. 1). N N are safe wastes, P is a trap vent pipe, and O is the drip pipe from the steam radiators.

C. W. Clinton, of New York, was the architect of this building, and Byrne & Tucker, also of New York, did the plumbing.