Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 January 1896 — ABOUT A NEW COURT HOUSE [ARTICLE]

ABOUT A NEW COURT HOUSE

This is one of the richest conntries in the world, and never until the Administration of'“‘Grover ClevelancLwftfi its credit left fit the - mercy of a syndicate of bond .operators who are allowed to speculate on the candition to which the Treasury has been reduced by offi. cial incapacity. State Gas Inspector Leach finds | as have all, of his predecessors, that the gas supply in this state is being rapidly exhausted, ; and that it is only a matter of time, and evidently not such a long time either, before it will be practically all used up. The way gas has wasted in this state in years past, is the monumental folly of the age. We have been waiting for a ringing message from the President on the subject of Protection for the United States. ‘ If Mr. Cleveland is willing to fight John Bull on behalf of the Venezuelans, why not on our own account? If he objects to John Bull’s invasions there, why not object to his invahere, at home, in our own markets? If there is to be a lock- out of Mr. Bull from Venezuela, why not also from the United States. The safety of our American institutions against foreign invasion lies not only in a patriotic citizenship which at a moment’s notice would create a volunteer army of defense, but it also consists in the great natural resources we enjoy. Destroy the wool industry and what would be the result in case of a foreign war, with our ports blooaded and dependent upon for eign wool to clothe bur army and our people? This is in my opinion, one of the strongest reasons for protecting and fostering the production of wool—J. W. Babcock, M. C. from Wisconsin. It is a fact generally known that in case of a war with Great Britain which should result in invasion Indiana would be the principal headquarters of the army of the Red Cross. Indiana contains the only land owned by the society and it is upon this land, the only spot in the world which is neutral by reason of its ownership and without special treaty, that the Red Cross would establish permanent headquarters in time of actual war. The tract owned by the society embraces nearly eight hundred acres and was presented to the so. ciety by Dr, Joseph Gardner. It lies in Liwrence county near Bedford on the Louisville, New Albany and Chicago railroad. It is a beautiful place. A part of it is being turned into a park while the larger part of the soil is being'tilled by tenants. It is the expectation that after a few years the national headquarters will be permanently established here and that this place will become a base of supplies for the work of the society either in national calamities such as fire, famine and flood or in case of war. Here also it is the intention to establish permanent hospitals and training schools for nurses as well as a retreat for homeless women. This was the idea of the great philanthropist who gave the valuable tract of land and it will be carried out as soon as the society is financially able to do so. Indiana should be proud of the Red Cross society. Indiana should give it support—Logansport Journal. People who think the war spirit is dead in bld England are mightily deceived. . The promptness with? which Ei gland answered the bluff of Kaiser Wilhelm, of Germany, in the Transvaal matu-r is sufficient proof of that fact. Within a few days after the “war lord” made his hold break, John Bull has, figuratively speaking, shaken his fist in German} ’s face, by getting togfther and ostentatiously paiadmg an invincible fleet of war vess Is, and the sight of which has ey.ideoth h<:d a vecy?booling efiect on William’s war spirit. And in view of the unnecessary and < ffinsive promptness bv which German* an- ' ck»rsed the English side in the Venezuela matter, a few weeks ago. nobody on this side of the water need feel very sorrv for her present humiliation at England’s hands.

The True History Of The Matter So Far'As It Has (Jone. ' At the December Term of the Commissioners’ Court of Jasper County, the commissioners entered an order condemning the old court house, and providing for the erection of a new one. This action upon their part, appeared to have at first the almost universal approval of the people of all parts of the county; and even yet in all parts of the county except the extreme south, .the general sentiment seems in favor of the building of the new house. » -> In the south end a few persons, by an ingenious and unscrupulous appealing to local jealousy and 10-t cal prejudice, coupled with loud but untruthful representations of the condition of the old building, have succeeded in working up a general sentiment in opposition to the new building. In view of these facts, a brief statement of the facts connected with the proposed building of a new court house, is proper at this time.- In making it, we shall adhere strictly to the truth, as always; and while we shall endeavor to correct some of the mis-state-ments that have been made, we I shall not in any degree seek to imitate the abusive, the shamefully abusive and libellous style of argument adopted by the opponents of a new building. In fact, that kind of argument usually answers itself in the minds of right thinking people, and we have no doubt but that very soon, if not already, the people of the south end must begin to see that it must be a very poor cause which can be advocated only by abuse and misrepresentations. The condition of the court house had been considerably discussed by the commissioners, during the past summer, but the first time any formal action was taken, was when Judge Wiley, of the circuit court, officially called their attention to the leaky and generally demoralized condition of the court room. At this conference, as well as at all the informal talks Mr. Jones the able and clear headed commissioner of the third district, was present, and no one admitted more freely than he the dilapidated condition of the old building, and none were so fully convinced as he of the utter uselessne'Efe of wasting apy more money in trying to patch up the old building.

Finally after consultation among ALL the commissioners, it was decided to hold a special session solely to consider the court house matter. This special session was held Nov. 18th and Mr. Jones was present and was consulted in all that was done, and gave it his dorsementWe specially the past i Mr. Jones has taken, because havI ing since been sick and unable to ' speak for himself, it has been falsely represented that he was ignored and not consulted in this matter. At this special session the important and we might say, decisive action was taken of ordering- the ' examination of the old building by a competent architect, who should report to the commissioners at the December session. A certain party who, indiis heart knows its falsity, has made injurious insinuations regarding the employment of an architect, but in that as in everything else, the commissioners pursued a straightforward, honorable course. The names and addresses of a number of prominent architects, whose references as to ability and honor were unquestionable, were handed to the county auditor, with instructions to correspond with them, and to secure ohe to make the examination' of the building. Alfred Grindle, of Fort Wayne, a man whose standing both as an architect and a man of honor is above question, agreed to come and liis offer was accepted. He made a full, careful,unbiased examination of the building, and sub~ emitted the following report:

Report of Condition of Court House Building, Rensselaer Ind,, Dee. 4th fm. To The Honorable Board* County CbrnmissiOners, Jasper Co., Rensselaer, Ind. Gentlemen— After a careful examination of the above building, I feel it necessary to reports the following facts concerning the condition and stability of the structure at the present date, viz. December 4th., 1895- -* ;—REMARKS. Upon making inquiries I find that the Court House was partially destroyed by fire at or about the' year 1864, after being in use some few years, probably five or six. After the fire it was reconstructed, i. e., that entirely new woodwork was placed, the main walls of the building not being fe-built as the fire left them standing. Undoubtly some repairs were necessary to the brick-work, but the fact remains that the present walls are the original walls of the building. I have not been able to ascertain whether these walls were imperfect condition after, but it is very likely however that the walls werfe materially injured at that time.

‘ FOUNDATION WALLS. 1. Thb foundation walls have settled unevenly, especially where the main loads of superstructure occur, viz. Piers between openings and brick plasters at different parts of building, cracks and fractures are to be found under many of the piers and plasters, and the corners of the building have been materially effected by settlement and decay. In many places it is pos Bible to pass a sharp instrument several inches into the points of the stonework and some of mortar taken out of joints has lost all its nature and is" simply loose sand, that may be crumbled between the fingers and thumb. It would probably be found if stone wall was removed that much of the mason ary was not solidly bedded during construction, thereby causing a serious defect as the material would not be a solid mass after settlement occured and the foundation wall would be unable to do its work efficiently, this defect alone would be liable to as sist in greatly injuring the superstructure. POSITION OF FOUNDATION WALLS. 2. The foundation walls have been set in such a position that much of the weight of brick work and floor loads comes on the inner part of the walls, instead of towards the centre, this defect may have somewhat assisted in throwing some of the wallsout of plumb, altho’ it is possible that at the time of the fire these walls, went outward and were not well anchored to floor and roof timbers during

BRICK WALLS. 3. The brick walla to outside of building are, I consider, iu a serious condition. I find them one mass of fractures, in atldition to wall on Cullen Street, elevation being from 2 to 3 inches out of plumb. This wad is also the most seriously fractured wall in the building, many of these fractures occur in portions of walls that require the greatest carrying strength. These fractures will undoubtedly continue to open, also increase during time of storm or other violent atmospheric disturbance. Many of these fractures a re already open from | to f in. in some cases, fractures may be traced in one line from top to base of building, but the tendency of this defective brickwork has greatly been to weaken the building above the first story ceiling line, as I notice the floor construction of court house is in a shaky condition,, stamping on the floor or walking heavily being sufficient to shake every window and door in the court room. Light joists and insufficient anchorage have probably assisted in making this weakness. I believj/also -that the walls have left the joists on account of insufficient anchorage; as had there been plenty of anchors from ends of joists ipto brick work, the wads would have been liable to keep thrir positions. Inside brick walls on first story are in a fairly solid condition, altho’ settlements have occured sufficiently gr*at so throw doors into rooms out of level. While it is possible for this brickwork to budding to stand some little time, I have no hesitancy in saying that I consider it un sound, as in case of fire or a terrific storm (especially fire,) there Would be a liability of total collapse of superstructure. AH of the chimneys above the eaves line are iu 'such a decayed conditioji that there* is danger of them falling down at any time. STATIONARY VAt’LTS. 4. I find three brick vaults in

- main building and one br ck vault in County Clerks department in rear of -building These walls vaults are constructed with 12 inch and 16 inclv vails, covered by brick arches and concrete, and also by concrete and cement bot toms. Had the outer walls been 20 or 24 inches" thick I should consider them suitable for their purpose. * As it is there is conconsiderable timber construction near to them and in case of fire a great heat would be created. This heat would probably injure these comparatively thin walls, cause'them" to Burst when water was thrown Onto them, thereby exposing county books and documents to great risk. FLOOR AND ROOF CONSTRUCTION. 5. First floor appears to be in a fairly solid condition with exception of floor boards. Court Room floor is in poor condition, vibrating very considerably when stamped upm or while walking heavily over it, probable reasons for this have been explained in claiise 4. Floor boards are in a wretched condition. Roof frame-' work appeared to tfe fairly solid, i. e., trusses, rafters, beams and ceiling joists. I notice however that weight of feet of rafters is thrown on to ends of ci iling joists which pro , ject 24 inches or 30 inches beyond face of walls. Rafter loads should have been thrown on wulls direct and whatever projections were made, should have been carried from walls and rafters; as it is the walls and trusses carry the ceiling of court room and ends of ceiling joists projecting at least 24 inches beyond outside ot wall, carry a poriion of roof, this method of construction allows of more vibration during storm and is liable to disturb roof coverings and flashings. I believe the roof covering is in a state of deca*, hl-o the flashings, also the weatherboard covering to the gable ends. Many defective places have occured to cause leakage and cold air to pass into the building, in fact in its present condition this r<>of is unfit to give proper shelter to the rooms below. DOOR, WINDOW ANU OTHER F NISH. 6. I find the door finish thrown out of Fvel and plumb*' by settlement of building and other causes. Windows,- sash and frames loose, and in many instances wood finish to dobrs and windows, also base finish are drawn away from walls, much cold and damp passes into building through .these crevices, so much so that heat' Should be kept in all rooms, especially court room, whether in use or not, during damp and Cold weather, this wood finish to buildii g is in a most d fective condition, some of it fall ing apart. ACCOMODATION OF BUILDING. 7. I fil'd your bud.ring has accomo ations and that <>f a’ very indifferent nature for four officers viz. County Auditor, Treasurer, Sheriff, and Recorder. Yon have a frame building in rear which is used as a County Clerk’s Office; there is no adequate toilet accomo ation for any officers in the builoing, neither is there a proper heating arrangement. Moves are used in the rooms, result being that room is deathly hot near the stoves and c<dd near the doors. Ventilation there is none. I'here is a room on 2nd. floor with 2 hmajlrooms at front of room no accomodation is provided for Judge. Lawyers, Jury or witnesses. This room thioughout is in a most dilapidated condition. Ceiling and walls stained by leakage, walls cracked in places, windows, doors and other finish in a j oor coudi-. tiou. Out of about ten County Officers, only four as stated above have accomodation in building: the others viz. County Attorney, Asses sor, Surveyor and Count* Superintendent have to use office# outside of the court house grounds. The County Commissioneis hold their sessions in the office of the Auditor,.they having no accomodation whatever.

FINALLY. I "am obliged to express tbe opinion that this building is not only inconvenient and inadequate to fulfil its uses, but that it is unhealthy, and unfit to be m-ed day after day as a place of occupation by any min, or body of men. With reference to its stability, the structure is in a condition of general decay. The outer walls I con-id6r‘ are totally u safe. Should a h»avy storm •c ur during any time >hut the bull'it g >s occupied, its occupants would »• running considerable risk. In c»*e of I b>g to state thav nolhii v i m> opinion could swr tin- 'ui ib g. vaults and contents fr> m t"'al d. s motion, as the/limber construct ■•n jn floors and roof would burn v n rapidly and the walls undiHiliiKl'v go to pieces, the risk of fire coi>\mencii'g in this hmhling is great »s I find severe cracks in all the \ chimneys running entirely through and extending a consider-

able distance down the walls. Should a spark pass through one of these cracks'o the timb r work, nothing coubl save the budding. Alfred Grindle. Architect. Bsss Block, Fopt Wayne, Ind. This report, as will be seen did not touch on the question of what j could tie done to repair and make safe and habitable, the old building, and being asked by the commissioners t - report on these points, Mr. Griu le sent in the following Supplementary Report. Fort Wayne, lud., Dec. 5, 1895. The Hon. Board of Commissioners ot Jasper County, Rensselaer, Ind. Gentlemen:-—After having given caretui consideration to the condition and stability of your Court House building I beg hereby to express the opinion that it is practically impossible to repair in any way the above building, the condition of the structure, especially the brick work, is so decayed and unsafe that the only way to repair this building, is to je-build it; certainly nothing i can be done to the outside walls i 'without completely tearing them down and renewing. I cannot-give j you an estimate on the probable cost of repairs as I consider it impossible to do anything with your structure and have no hesitation in saying that the court house is beyond re- ; parri. g, and should, on no account, ; be allowed to stand, as I condemn it as an unsafe building in every respect. Alfred Grindle Architect. With these reports before them, and the full truth of which any competent architect would doubtless endorse, as would also any ordinarily intelligent and unbiased man who would carefully examine the building; knowing thus the dilapidated, irreparable and disgraceful condition of the court house; knowing that the construction of a new one was only a matter of two or three years, at the mo t; knowing that to build now would, in all human probability, be much cheaper than a few years later; knowing that to build now would put an end to the danger of the loss of our county records by fire; our commissioners decided, just as any ordiwstify psmdent individual or corpora- j tion would have decided, in the like circumstances in their own affairs.

That they took the action at the Decmber term instead of waiting until March, was for the best of reasons. If the building is to be bpilt and completed this year, as it ought to be if b«-gun at all, there would not have been time after March to decide upon the kind us building wanted,to advertise for and secure plans; and then to fi t the contract and have the building completed, this season. For all this wwk there is none too much time, bj beginning when they did.