Lead. k n o w n ancl used for centuries, is still serving many usef u l p u r p o s e s in t h v building inclustr? T h e m e t a l a n d its alloys are used exten&el! for piping, roofing. pressure-relie\ ing j o i n t s , 5ibration-absorption pads, etc. The compounds of lead are universally used in building for paint pigments: among the more important are w h i t e l e a d , red lead, and the lead chromate pigments.
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Lead in Bu
G. 0. HIERS A: Yational Lead (:ompan)., Brooklyn, S . 1..
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ETALLIC lead has a n iinportaiit place in the building industry, since it is an earily worked inaterial of great Derinanence w t h Y dignified beauty when used for a r c h i k c t u k purposes. In the form of compounds, used extensively a;: paint pigments, lead finds another importarit, way to serve the hidding iuclustry. Builders have used lead for centuries arid are continuing theqe ancient a i d many IXT uses of the metal totlay. Metallic Lead TT'hen Rome ivas a t its height, the water for its fountailis
and baths was carried in lead pipes which have survived the centuries and are today in x perfect state of preservation. In modern use of lead pipe, our principal advantage oyer the Romans lies in improved methods of using an extrusion process for making the pipe; our predecessors had t o resort to soldering together the edges of a lead d e e t which had lieen rolled over a rod. Important advantages of lead for piping work are: (1) its pliability which permits the pipe to he bent' around obstacles atid eliminate. any tlanger of hreakage that might otherivi*e
result froin settliiig of builclings, vibration$, or t:inp:tratiire expansions and contractions: and ( 2 ) its cnrro-ion re?ktaiice which eliminates all danger of water discoioraticm I n the ancient city of Ponipeii a house was recently uncovered in which the walls mere conipletely rvs,ter~iroofed ivitli sheets of lead. One of the iieiver lmik builtlitig.: i n S e w York ha3 a vault far down in tile earth ivhwe valuable content-: are protected agsinst the penetration nf nioisture l)y sheet lesd waterproofing. There is con+iderahle similarity betiveen the room in ancient Ponipeii a n d thig vault in iiiotlern Sew Tork. Ted a major role in the construction of the Iieautiof ancient Greece. As early as 400 B. C. the f the Parthenoil used sheet lead for giving the ivall block:: a true bed and inolteii lead to fill the .-paces a n d bed the blocks securely after they m r e >et. In Constantinople there are tivo great stone column.
