PISl DE TERRE IN YPRES. T HOSE of our readers, and
we are sure they are many, who are interested in Pise de Terre will be glad to read a most interesting and important communication which we have received from the well-known firm of English contractors, Messrs. Holland, Hannen, and Cubitts, of 258 Gray's Inn Road, London. They have had the pluck and public spirit to undertake a large amount of Pise work in Flanders, and have actually built not only one-storeyed but two-storeyed houses in the great square at Ypres. The photographs which accompanied their letter, for which unfortunately we are not able to find space, show unmistakably the firmness and stability of the buildings, and this in spite of the extreme rapidity with which they were completed. This quickness in the matter of erection is a point in favour of Pise work which is too often neg- lected. Given a sufficient supply of labour and adequate shuttering, it is quite possible to complete the walling of a cottage or a big shed in one day. We do not say that this is always the most economical way of building in Pise, but unquestionably Pise construction, other things being equal, is far more rapid than that of any other form of walling. Two facts call for special notice in Mr. Eshelby's letter. The first is his discovery of what he terms " a solution for rendering the earth proof against weather and vermin and for permanently hardening it." That is most interesting, for though in most ordinary climates (note especially Spain and Morocco, places, by the way, with a very heavy rainfall at certain times of the year) the earth requires no special treatment for hardening it, there are parts of the world like Belgium where the nature of the soil and climate do call for some adjunct of the kind noted by our corre- spondent. In the South of England, witness the experi- ments made by us at Newlands Corner, no hardening process has proved necessary. The cart-shed built at Newlands five years ago becomes harder every year, and the walls of the experimental cottage built last year, parts of which were purposely left uncovered by any cement or plaster, clearly demonstrate that no protection is required. As for vermin, ordinary untreated Pit:to is absolutely vermin-proof.
Another remark which interests us is that connected with plastering. Mr. Eshelby complains that the covering of plaster does not adhere well to the earth walls, and that under concussion the plaster falls clean away in slabs. We can only conclude that the plaster was not well keyed on to the walls, or else the plasterers forgot how essential it is in all plastering to wet, the surface well to which the plaster is to be applied. The present writer has before him a portion of an earth wall at New- lands to which, exactly a year ago, some quarter of an inch of ordinary lime plaster was applied as a test. About three months after the application of the plaster the experiment was tried of cutting through the wall with a pickaxe. The plaster, instead of being shaken off in the process of demolition, adhered tightly to the fragments of wall. A perfectly clean and hard line between earth and plaster is shown in the fragments. There is no space between them.
Before leaving our readers to consult Mr. Eshelby's communication for themselves we desire to say how grateful those who want houses ought to be to his firm for their successful effort at building in Pis& But, we may ask, if these things can be done in such a place as Ypres, why cannot they be done here ? The answer no doubt will be that the opposition to Pise is too strong to make its use possible. This means that we are to sit down under the weakness and want of initiative of the Govern- ment, the conservatism, the foolish fears and alleged self- interest of the ordinary contractor, and the equal if not greater foolishness and misplaced selfishness of the Trade Unions.
As a proof of how far the opposition to Pig is carried we may note that Housing, the official paper issued by the Ministry of Health Housing Department, actually printed in its number of August 16th the following ridiculous paragraph in regard to Pise de Terre :— " Many experiments have been conducted with a view to reviving the erection of buildings of rammed earth. It is true that a few rammed earth buildings have lasted for many years, but they are the only survivors of thousands of others which have been swept away. Rammed earth or unbiunt clay built up with clay mortar was one of the earliest forms of construc- tion, and its use continued in certain primitive parts of England where labour was cheap. Being better than wattle and daub, it is still used throughout the world for poor-class dwellings, but even in the near East there is a suggestion that it indicates inferior caste, and for this reason it is not likely to be popular with English workmen oven if the present experiments of ram- ming the earth by pneumatic rammer are successful. With unskilled labour at 2s. Id. per hour the cost exceeds the cost of brick-work."
Ignorance and prejudice are to be found in every word of this piece of official " crabbing " of the Pig system of building, which, by the way, can hardly still be called a fad of the Spectator after it has been used at Ypres in the way described by Messrs. Cubitts' repiesentative. Mr. Eshelby's letter gives an admirable answer to the ridiculous statement that the cost of Pig now exceeds the cost of brick-work:- J. St. Loe Strachey, Esq.,
Newlands Corner, Near Guildford, Surrey.
Dear Sir, Knowing the interest you have taken for several years
past in the advancement of the employment of Pise de terre am a practical solution of the small housing problem and the publicity you have given it in the pages of the Spectator, I entertain some hope that the subject of this letter and the small album of snapshot photographs accompanying the same will be of interest to you. As a preface I must explain that I am the manager for the Belgian branch of Messrs. Holland and Hannen and Cubitts, and as such have very intimate personal knowledge of the whole of the devastated areas from Verdun to Nieuport ; further, all last year and, this I have witnessed the costly and ineffectual efforts of numerous governmental departments both
French and Belgian to solve the problem of housing industrial and agricultural work-people and the various services necessary for their welfare ; up to now nothing has been attained beyond uncomfortable and unhygienic habitations perpetrated under the cloak of " temporary dwellings."
It is a local proverb that in France it is only the provisional that endures, and it is evident that for many years to come the people of these unhappy areas are doomed to support these terrible conditions whilst awaiting a sane solution of the problem. Last Christmas my attention was drawn to the question of Pied in the Spectator, and, knowing next to nothing about it, it took me some time to arrive at a complete documenta- tion. Nothing existed in French, but I found interesting data in both English and German, and particularly in Mr. Clough Williams-Ellis's Cottage Building in Cob, Piee,and Chalk. For three months I conducted experiments with all kinds of earths with some remarkable results, and in conjunction with an engineer-chemist arrived at a solution for rendering the earth proof against weather and vermin and permanently hardening it. This is very necessary in this country, as those who formed part of the Grand Army and spent some part of their time in Flanders will appreciate. It is necessary to experience the effects of a three days perpetual downpour coming from the south-west to realize its power of penetration. The fact that men, horses and guns frequently disappeared in the mud during the war is in itself sufficient evidence.
Once clear on all points the difficulty of making a start was resolved by the Royal High Commissioner of Ypres, who took one evening to make up his mind on reading an illustrated digest I had prepared in French, and it is curious that a process well known in rural France should possess no literature in French, and that it should rest with a Britisher to supply it. En peasant I may remark that not only is Piaci popularly employed in the Rhone Valley, but that I have discovered examples everywhere. Between Lyons and the Belgian frontier, at Landrecies, Le Cateau and all along the lines of the British retreat in 1914 from Mona, examples are to be seen, shell-stricken and full of holes, but standing up at the present day. It was decided to make the experiment at Ypres, and the site allocated was one of the most shell-stricken areas of the whole front, on a spot where the shadows of the noble cathedal of St. Martin used to fall, now, alas I a fragment incapable of throwing any shadow, for the mutilated stub of the spire and a fretted fringe of an apse alone remain to testify to former glories.
The site thus abutting on the " Holy Ground " of Ypres consisted principally of a multiple shell-hole full of water, formerly the Library, lesser shell-holes, tortured masonry and a mixture of melted iron bedsteads, fused bottles, rifle barrels, dud shells, and the usual horrible aftermath of a war of positions. For foundations we used the loose small debris of the cathedral, which, mixed with a modicum of cement, made an excellent raft, and for the walls we laid tribute on the bishop's garden. When at last we discovered it, the labour used was that which presented itself casually. There is no local labour ; of the 5,000 that work at Ypres each day, 99 per cent. averages four hours a day train travelling, and they are a Hobson's choice ; equally incompetent and untrained, they offer themselves as bricklayers, joiners or plumbers as the need arises. However, even with this apology for labour the houses went up, and are a success ; hundreds visit them each week from Belgium and France, and only the contractors are against them. They recognize that a formidable opponent to their system of col- crate blocks and slabs is in the field, and they are anything but pleased. It was too late to carry out any extendeil scheme this year, and the authorities desire to see how these samples stand the winter. If they are satisfied, next spring will see a big pro- gramme under way. The French authorities are also very keenly interested, and all much appreciate the action of Messrs. Holland and Hannen and Cubitte in financing this experiment, which will undoubtedly do much to solve the difficulties of the authorities and enable decent homes to be provided for the pioneers of the devastated areas. The following figures are official for Belgium, to which must be added 12,000 houses per year for five years—the pre-war average natural expansion. The French figures are not yet available. Out of a total of 687,502 houses in 1914, 68,901 have been totally destroyed and 11,000 rendered uninhabitable. West Flanders alone lost 41,301, and of inland towns Termonde lost 2,115, Dinant 924, Louvain 840, Lierre 1,457, Vise 606. On a rough average 10 per cent. of the total habitations were totally destroyed. French Pisa up to now has always required to be coated with a good layer of protective cement plaster and then painted. The new examples at Ypres have no wall covering, either exterior or interior, as, on account of the process employed, it is unnecessary, and naturally realizes a considerable economy. I have noticed, too, that the covering of plaster does not adhere well to the earth walls, and that under concussion the plaster falls clean away in slabs without detaching any of the wall surface. This is apparently due to shrinkage, and the plaster is really kept in position by suction. Once an aperture is made in it the end is near.
As regards cost, the walls of the construction cost us the same as the price of transport of brick's would have done if bricks had been used. The economy realized thus is, bricklayers' and labourers' time, bricks, mortar and plastering. hi effect this is about the sum total of the economy, as whatever system of roof and internal finishings, such as joinery, is employed, it is equally applicable to brick or other construction ; still this economy in itself is very considerable and worthy of close attention. The other special advantage is speed of construction. A five-roomed house or a row of houses should be ready for safe habitation well within two months of date of starting work. At Ypres, working under the most difficult conditions imaginable, f he five-roomed house was inhabited in ten weeks, whilst the block of eleven houses was completely finished and only held up from habitation in the same period owing to the non-delivery of the doors and windows. The whole period under survey was exceedingly wet, and on at least two occasions rain fell con- tinuously for two days and nights, and all work was suspended. As regards the stability of PistS walls in places where there is much vibration, the single house at Ypres is a proof that vibra- tion has no ill-effects. The garage of the Ministry of the Interior is immediately behind the house, and every day and all day the heavy army-type lorries pass and re-pass. The road is in front of the house at a distance of 10 ft., and the entrance to the garage is at the side at the same distance, so that the ground is constantly under heavy vibration, and not the slightest ill- effects have been observed. The old adage, that when one is looking for rose nobles one finds them in every field, is really applicable to Patti and its offshoots. I find it everywhere in one form or another. For instance, one third of Rheims was built of earth, not Pisa, but an unburnt earth brick of English dimensions of remarkably low crushing strain ; 2.5 kilos per centimetre square, a good brick for comparison, should hold up to 150 and the best bricks 300. This brick is, and has long been, a recognized building material, and evidence of its use as partition walls in four storeyed important buildings can still be seen in Rheims. The method of its manufacture is extremely primitive : the chalky soil is broken up till there remains nothing larger than a filbert • it is then wetted sufficiently to make it adhesive, then moulded with a rough metal case to the desired size and left to dry in stacks protected more or less effectively overhead. The bricks thus made are ill-shaped for the most part and fall to pieces if they get thoroughly wet. An air-dried clay brick would be much superior, yet one may see anywhere in Rheims to-day rows upon rows of houses, many of two storeys, built exclusively of these bricks. The floor joists and beams repose directly on the earth bricks, and apparently the system has stood the test of ages. This system is general in the chalky district, which extends for a considerable area north, south and east of Rheims.
Still another system is to be found in Lyons and districts where furnace slag is available, and entitled Pisa de Machefer. This consists of furnace cinders well rammed with an admixture of hydraulic lime, roughly two sacks to a cubic yard. Houses of three storeys exist in Lyons, and, being workmen's dwellings, carry a very full human load. This system is admissible at Paris, where a hundred blocks of dwellings are to be built of it on the site of the old fortifications. A tour of the fighting line from the North Sea to Verdun produces examples to disprove every existing rule or theory of good building practice, and one can only assume that our British factor of safety is capable of very serious reduction, and that the continental builders have fol- lowed the time-old precept, " If you get the house up it will stay up." I am, dear Sir, Yours faithfully,
(Signed) J. D. ESNELBY.
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