Of wax finishes one very largely used is that made by the Butcher Polish Company of Boston. It has all the best qualities of other wax finishes and has stood the test of time and experience.
There are numerous variations in the products referred to above suited for different purposes. The Wood-Mosaic Company makes end-wood mosaic 7/8 inch thick made of small blocks joined by means of a lead tongue; wood carpet similar to that of S. C. Johnson; and thick and thin parquetry. S. C. Johnson also makes a flooring of 1/4 inch face glued to a backing of pine to make 7/8 inch, 1 inch, or 1-1/4 inch stock which is found to stand the changes of temperature in American houses remarkably well. The thicker floors of 7/8 inch and upwards are frequently made with tongued and grooved joints and blind nailed.
These patterns when properly chosen are just as appropriate for stairs, walls, or even ceilings, as for floors, and are frequently used for these places.
Modern Mosaic Floors.
The use of mosaic floors, especially for corridors and entrances of public and business buildings and in some positions of private residences, is rapidly increasing, and every specimen of work gives this art impetus. The laying of a mosaic floor is not so simple a matter as it appears to many architects, and the fact that anyone cannot do it is proven by the bad work one constantly runs across. It is, therefore, advisable that work of this sort be entrusted to a concern that can be found after the job has been finished and paid for, and that has a reputation to maintain and a willingness to make good any imperfection that a few months' wear will bring to light. As this number of The Brochure Series will often be referred to where ornamental floors are being designed, we take pleasure not particularly in recommending a house for executing such floors, but rather in calling attention to some of the work executed, inspection of which will be the strongest endorsement possible. We refer to the Murdock Parlor Grate Company of Boston, a house known by name at least to every architect and builder of New England.
Organized over forty years ago, and with prospects of active existence for as many or more years to come, their contracts contain the element of responsibility that is the best guarantee an architect can have that his client's interests are in good hands.
The mosaic and terrazzo flooring department of the Murdock Parlor Grate Company already has a list of over fifty public buildings in which important work has been done. The terrazzo floors so much admired in the new Public Library, covering a surface of 60,000 square feet, the mosaic floor of the Members' corridor in the Massachusetts State House, and especially the entrance to the Members' vestibule, a part of this floor, and the lobbies to the Bowdoin Square and Keith's Theatres, Boston, also mosaic, are examples easily inspected by Boston architects.
Other public buildings in New England in which this company have done admirable mosaic work are the new McLean Asylum buildings, the Arlington (Mass.) Public Library, the Exchange Club, Boston, and a number of bank buildings.