THE VICTORIAN MINT.

Evening Star, Issue 2852, 10 April 1872, Page 2

THE VICTORIAN MINT.

The Victorian Mint is nearly completed, and the Melbourne Argus devotes three coin ms of the paper of March 28 to a description of it, from which we extract the following particulars The work was begun on the 16th November, 1869. The buildings are in William street. The area of ground covered by the various departments is extensive. ‘ In form it is nearly square, the depth back from William street being a little greater than the length, which extends from Latrobe street to Little Lonsdale street. Privacy being one of the chief things considered, the block is shut in on three sides by solid brick walls, stone capped, and a strong railing erected upon the fourth side. A roadway, 20ft. wide, runs betwe. n the workshops and the outer walls. Watchboxes are lixed at the corners, and a pavement laid down along the walls for sentries, who will have to pace constantly down the sides and across the back of the entire area. The buildings arc 310 ft. long, with a depth of 3o'2ft. The rear line of buildings have considerably more than their due proportion of width. Those divisions which stand behind the brick walls —vix., the divisions on three sides out of four —are one story high, and of plain red brick. From the middle of the fo.iegrcund rises a structure of solid form and large dimensions. The purity of the cement and the sharpness of the outline gives it a strong resemblance to freestone. Two styles of architecture have been embodied in the design. On the face of the first story we have the Doric, and on tl e face of the second the lonic—simplicity below, elegance above. The striking feature ii the portico, with its pair of massive columns upon each side of the entrance, and the Royal arms, cart in cement, above the balustrade. The eye next takes note of the columns along the face of the second story, with their beautiftlly-mounted capitals. These columns occur in pairs, and come forward three-fourths of their diameter from the walls. 1 hey stand, two ant} two, upon each side of the seven windows which illuminate the second story. These windows are in re-ts--, They are more ornamental than the c-rrespHiding windows in the lower story. They are arched at the top. The frieze is pierce 1 by a series of small round windows, flattened out a little. Above all is the cornice of tl e lonic order, with considerable richness of embellishment.

Two entrances have been provided, one near the northern corner, the other near the southern. The corners arc occupied by the guardhouses, which, on account of the pro- ( JHiuent post they occupy, have been made of i considerable size, and stuccoed like the central block. The railings are strong ; for firmness, they are set ih bluestone foundations. The gateways are supported by massive pillars, with appropriate bases and capi- • tals. The workmanship upon the large block of wVich each pillar consists is admirable. The finely picked panels and the polished margins suggest granite rather-than common place basalt, bach block is i ft. by 2ft. 4in., and weighs 3 tons. Royal arms, similar to those above the portico, are to be set over the gateways. 'Hie easting of the fi mires has been admirably executed. 'The interior of the hall contains the rooms in which the official business of the establishmeut will be transacted, ami the pnneipd apartments are the bullion office on the groun-1 floor and the board-room overhead. A hall reaches from the front to the back of the building. The length is 56ft and the height ‘2oft. Piers ascend from the floors to 'support arches that give variety and beauty to the ceiling The bullion-room will be like the public room of a bank. It his a length of 52ft. and width of 30ft, and a ceiling of the same loftiness as the hall. Pilasters, springing from the floor, bear up the beams. A counter .reaches three par ts of the way down the room, and ends in cedar fittings, which close in one corner of the room which surround and cover over the bullion stroiv-room, a piece of brickwork and masonryof extreme strength. There arc three strong-rooms in the whole establishmentone for each of the departments in which gold will make a temporary stay during the processes of melting and coming. It seems to defy attack The walls and roof have a thickness of 3ft. of brick. The floor is of bluestone, in large blocks, each T2in. thiough, and these blocks are not merely cemented, but do led and cramped into each other and the walls. A bed is thereby obtained winch has the strength and firmness of one solid block of stone. The door is Chubb’s patent, and it is hinged upon and bolted into masonry. The other rooms in the administrative department are capacious and lofty. The southern portion of the building has been set apart as a dwelling-place for the superintendent of the coining department. It has a private entrance at the side.

The operative departments are very complete, and the numerous rooms, halls, and outhouses are compactly set together. J here are three great divisions, each of them covering a larger area than the stately edifice in front For the melting department, the builder has erected the edifice which extends along Latrobe street. An iron railing reaches from the administrative department to the end of the wall of the melting house, and prevents ingress on the part of outsiders. The general width of the house is 35ft. The first 40ft. of its length are divided into offices for the melting superintendent and his clerks. The next 86ft. are devoted to the melting house proper ; beyond it the building widens out about 13ft., and, in a length of 66ft,, has a grou j of machine rooms, laboratories, storehouses! &c., besides rooms where workmen can take their meals, bath-houses, and other conveniences. A wall clones in ’he yard at the rear, and prevents persons from entering or leaving the building except by the antliopised ways. On the opposite side of the block, along Little Lonsdale sticet, is an edifice of correspon ling dimensions, shut in in a similar manner from the space in front of the main building. In a length of 102 ft. there are some 12 rooms for the assay department The remainder belongs to the coining depaitment, and is connected with the coining-hall, which extends from north to sooth across the block, and stands behind the administrative department. The hall is capacious, and has walls that attain an elevation of 2 Ift. ; its length is 147 ft,, and its width is 42ft. The ceiling of the hall, as well as the ceiling of other large workrooms, follows the shape of the roof. The supports are irons which give the whose an appearance of lightness, and at the same time stability. Behind this hall is a labyrinth of rooms of a plainer and rougher description, where the engines and boilers are situated, and the carpenters, litters, and blacksmiths are provided with appropriate quarters. This block, like the melting house, is shut in at the rear (it has enly one opening in front), by high walls or iron gateways, which prevent any workman from going further than the bath-house or the meal, room.

The engine which drives the whole of the machinery on the premises is ti xed into thick foundations of bluestone, in parts 9 feet deep, which hold the framework with the grasp of a vice, and prevent all perceptible trembling. Other places have been flagged, some covered with concrete. Where gold has to be handled, in the melting and coining processes, the flooring consists of fluted iron plates. Metal sweepings will, therefore, drop into hollows where the sol's of the workman’s boots cannot touch them, and at the end of each day’s work they will he collected into I oxes below the plates. In the fitter s and carpenters’ shops, where instruments are likely to be dropped, blocks of wood have been substituted for iron or stone, so that the keen edge may not be chipped by an accidental fall. A form of roof has been erected, which will promote coolness of temperature in the rooms they cover, On the inside they are somewhat like the roofs of churches, but the practice of theehurch architect who haves no space between the lining boards and the slates has been carefully avoided. In the coining hall, the clear space between slates and hoards is 12in. deep, in the other divisions 6 in. Ventilators occur at regular intervals ; the coining hall is further improved by means of a Most of the windows have been filled in with rough plate-glass which dulls the light and prevents glare. There are covered ways across the open ground enclosed by the buildings, but enough spa e has been left for a green or garden. Each guardhouse is a dwelling, and has its kitchens, cellars, and outhouses, but a wall rounds them all in, and their presence would not be suspected. In the same way, the superintendent’s quarters, in the central block, are provided with the requisite appurtenances, yet so aptly have they been placed, that they do not in any way disfigure the appearance of the premises. As regards the three chimneys, the principal shaft rises from the hack of the coining hall, and carries off the smoko from the boiler, furnaces, and blacksmith’s fires, Its height from the ground is 12Gft., and from the foundations 137 ft. The other two are each 85ft. high. The one on the south side bears away the fumes from the assay furnaces ; the other, on the north side, is connected with the melting house, where there is a long range of fireplaces. They have been costly works these three shafts, and no small pams have been

bestowed upon them. The report rendered is that they are built as true as workmanship can make them. ' The plans for the whole establishment were prepared in the Public Works department. The cost has been L 70,000.