A Fireproof Church.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 32, 7 August 1902, Page 7

A Fireproof Church.

The dedication of St. Josephat's Church, Chicago, marks a distinct epoch in church building iv* this country (says a Catholio exchange).

This structure is the first absolutely fireproof Catholic church in the United States, and ia the kind of a building Father Hogan, the distinguished writer on church architecture, had in mind when he pictured the future church as a building Btrong and massive monumental in character as well as artistic, and who«e entire structural properties are of steel and one that ia in the highest degree fireproof.

There is not a particle of woodwork anywhere excepting the furniture. The interior *upportH are bu^e angle-and -plate steel columns 65 feet high, which carry the he.tvy steel trusses, havinj* a clear sp*n of 6rt feet. These trusses are framed to form a foundation for the steel beams and angles to which are fastened the hollow fireproof tile, which receive the flat shingle tile. The lower members of the trusses are bo arranged as to receive the steel ceiling 1 ties, which in turn support a beautiful panelled ceiling, the heavy plaster panels being fastened direct to the steel angles by heavy iron bolts. J