Story of a Contest for Height by Two Builder Industry and Mechanization the Prevailing Keynote of United States modern skyscraper is practically immune from earth shocks, and point to the modern hotel in 'Tokyo which was practically the only building' totally. to withstand the rious earthquake in Japan a few Pao Our Owx New York, Nov. 27.
New York has been interested during the past few months in watching the competition of two! well-known architects to produce the highest building in the city. At the present moment this honour goes to the Chrysler Building, a marvellously imposing structure superb in fittings which embrace utility, bemity and grace seen in no other similar building in the world, Tis designer was instructed to make it the highest building, but rumour has it that, when a professional opponent with another Duilding not far away changed. plans to go still higher to eclipse the Chrysler, the only possible way in which the battle could be won was to erect on the top of the edifice a tower with a steeple. This was done, and as one looks from the street up and up to the summit. of the Chrysler Building ko isin terror of falling backwards, for this steeple appears to pierce the very sky. Neither the Chrysler nor its competitor is yet officially open, finishing touches still going on, yet comes now still another building which it is intended to make higher. Franco astounded the world when the Eiffel Tower, for many years the highest structure man} had erected, was built, and at that if an architect had come forward to declare that he would build 'a building in the very heart of the world's largest city even half as high his very sanity would have been questioned. But this is now more than doubled by what is being done in New York.
The average European, coming to the United States for the first time, is literally bewildered by these high buildings. In the downtown area, around the narrow Wall Street district, there are short streets which receive no sunshine whatever, for the tall buildings on either side keep them constantly in the shadow. These "canyons," as the New York-ex calls them, are lined on either side with office buildings which, if} they were suddenly emptied, would 0 fill the streets with people that they would be compelled to walk on each others' heads. This remark applies to practically all the congested downtown area of Man-hatton,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.