fit Willi' ¥1 2C Bui News York lEx ICthrts SEYMOUR DURST When you leave, please leave this book Because it has been said " Ever'thing comes t' him who waits Except a loaned book." Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library Gift of Si.ymour B. Durst Old York Library Site of the Metropolitan Life Building, Metropolitan Life Building, Madison Square, New York Covers an entire block, has a floor area of over 25 acres and contains 48 elevators The Metropolitan Life Building MADISON SQUARE, NEW YORK AMONG the many monumental structures for business purposes erected in New York City the Home Office building of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company stands notably in the foremost rank by reason of its great size, the impressive stateliness of its design, the thoroughly substantial character of its construction and the completeness of its appointments. The main building contains eleven stories and is 164 feet high. The distance around the building is 1,250 feet, each avenue frontage being 200 feet and each street frontage 425 feet. It has a total floor space of nearly 25 acres. The entire exterior, 345,000 square feet, is faced with pure white Tuckahoe marble, about half a million cubic feet having been used in its construction. High and lofty, like a great sentinel keeping watch over the millions of policy-holders and marking the fast-fleeting minutes of life, stands the Tower, its completion marking the culmination of this series of building operations which, commencing with the construction during the years 1S«)0 to 1893 of the southwesterly section of the structure fronting on Madison Avenue, ended in 1909. The dimensions of the Tower are 75 feet on Madison Avenue and 85 feet on Twenty-fourth Street, and its total height 700 feet, exceeding considerably that of any other structure of steel and masogfy hitherto attempted (the Eiffel Tower not being included in this comparison, that being in reality only an open-work "skeleton" structure). In its general design and outline the Metropolitan Tower is modeled after the famous Campanile of St. Mark at Venice, which was taken as a prototype, but with such deviations as were necessary to have the Tower in architectural harmony with the main building. The highest lookout is reached at the balcony of the fiftieth story, 660 feet above the sidewalk level, from which vantage point a most comprehensive and unique panoramic view may be obtained. Within range are visible the homes of over one-sixteenth of the entire population of the United States. The Tower Clock One of the interesting and unique features of the building is the mammoth clock, the largest four-dial tower clock in the world, located 346 feet above the sidewalk, and visible far and wide over the city. The dials are built up of reinforced concrete faced with vitreous blue and white mosaic tile. Each dial is 26 feet 6 inches in diameter. The figures on the dial are 4 feet high and the minute-marks 10 V inches in diameter. The minute-hand measures 17 feet from end to end, 12 feet from center to point, and weighs 1,000 pounds; the hour- hand measures 13 feet 4 inches from end to end, 8 feet 4 inches from center to point, and weighs 700 pounds. They are built on iron frames, sheathed with copper, and revolve on roller-bearings. The driving-power of this huge, mechanism is electricity, none of the many devices connected therewith requiring any manual operation, the entire installation being automatic. The master clock, located in the Directors' Room on the second floor, not only controls the entire tower clock outfit, but about 100 other clocks throughout the building, as well as several programme instruments for sounding various schedules of bells in the different departments. Through the medium of a special transmitter, minute impulses are sent to the tower clock mechanisms on the twenty-sixth floor, keeping them in exact synchronism with the master clock; and at each quarter-hour electrical impulses are transmitted to the electric hammers on the forty-sixth story, and simultaneously are heard the notes of the old historic Cambridge chimes, composed by Handel. "O" "CT "CT Following the fourth or last quarter the hours are sounded on the 7,000-pound bell, with an impact of about 200 pounds. This blow, struck on such a large bell, may be heard many miles away. The chime comprises four bells, the largest weighing 7,000 pounds (key of H flat); the second, .>.()<><) pounds (K flat); the third, 2,000 pounds (F natural), and the smallest, 1,500 pounds (key of G). They are mounted on pedestals between the marble columns outside the forty-sixth story, and are said to be twice as high above the sidewalk as any other large bells in the world. As the evening darkness draws near, at any predetermined hour for which the mechanism may be adjusted, hundreds of electric lights appear back of the dial numerals, the minute- marks and the entire length of the hands, all of which are brilliantly illuminated with splendid effect — a feature never produced by any other clock in the world. Simultaneously with the illumination Of the hands and dials, an automatically actuated switch lights up a great electric octagonal lantern, eight feet in diameter, located at the top of the Tower, from which powerful electric flashlights, marking the hours in the evening, may be seen for a great distance, far beyond any possible transmission of sound, the time being signaled therefrom as follows: Each of the quarter-hours is flashed in red and the hours in white light. One red flash for the quarter, two red flashes for the half, three red flashes for three-quarters, and four red flashes for the even hour — these latter flashes followed by a number of white flashes marking the hour. Some Interesting Statistics Size of building: Main portion of building 200x425x164 feet high Tower 75x85x700 feet high Size of Annex 75x80x216 feet high Superficies of exterior 345,000 square feet Including Annex 405,000 square feet Cubical contents, including vaults (excluding courts). 16,287,934 cubic feet Including Annex 17,850,239 cubic feet Floor area of building (about twenty-five acres) 1,085,663 square feet Including Annex 1,189,388 square feet Total weight of building 170,000,000 pounds — 85,000 tons Total weight of Tower 87,226,000 pounds — 43,613 tons Weight of structural steel: Tower 7,500 tons Balance 8,000 tons Total 15,500 tons Normal weight on corner steel columns 7,500,000 pounds Additional load due to high wind pressure 2,900,000 pounds Or a total load of 10,400,000 pounds Cross sectional area of steel corner columns, sub-basement, 540 square inches Weight of basement corner columns 22 tons Number of bricks in building, about 35,000,000 Number of barrels of cement in Tower alone, over 40,000 Number of cubic yards of concrete in Tower alone, about 9,000 Number of cubic feet of white marble in exterior facing 556,000 (More than in any other structure in the world.) Number of passenger elevators (thirty hydraulic, eight electric) 38 Number of freight elevators (hydraulic) 10 Number of stories in Tower 50 Number of steps from first story to top of Tower 1,053 Combined length of corridors 3| miles Combined height of elevator shafts l£ miles S'orage capacity of water tanks 90,900 gallons Storage capacity of coal vaults 4,000 tons Horse-power boilers 3,350 Number of miles of plumbing pipe (about) 13 Total length of cables of elevators: Hoisting and counterweight cables 121,000 feet Operating cables 19,000 feet Distance traveled by elevators in one year 124,090 miles Electric lights 30,000 Electric light fixtures 15,000 Motors (total horse-power, 707) 116 Iron conduits 800,000 feet — 15 1} miles Electric light and power wire 1,000,000 feet — 189 miles Telephone and signal wire 13,000,000 feet— 2,462 miles The Marble Court as it appeared at a Reception to the Fourth International Conqress of Actuaries Upper View of flic M,irblc ( ourt Some Places of Interest in New York Statue of Liberty.— Bedloe's Island. vSteamer from Battery every hour. 25 cents round trip. Battery Park. — Southern extremity of Manhattan Island. Aquarium. — Battery Park. Open 10 a. m. to 4 p. M. Free. Bowling Green. — Foot of Broadway. Oldest Park. Drill ground in 1626. NEW Custom House. — Bowling Green. Trinity Church. — Broadway, opposite Wall Street. Sub-TrEasury. — Wall and Nassau Streets. Site of Washington's inaugura- tion. Stock Exchange. — -"Broad Street. PrauncEs' Tavern. — Broad and Pearl Streets. 179 years old. Singer Building. — Broadway and Lib- erty Street. Terminal Building of McAdoo Hud- son River Tunnels. — ■ Church Street, from Cortlandt to Fulton Streets. St. Paul's ChapEL. — Broadway and Vesey Street. Built in 1766. Attended by Washington, whose pew remains. City Hall.— City Hall Park. Brooklyn Bridge. — Manhattan termi- nal at City Hall Park. Promenade free. Manhattan Bridge. — Manhattan ter- minal at Canal Street and the Bowery. Williamsburg Bridge. — Manhattan terminal at Delancey Street. GracE Church. — Broadway and 10th Street. Visitors welcome. Washington Arch. — Foot of 5th Ave. Tammany Hall. — 14th Street, between 3d Avenue and Irving Place. Madison Square.— Broadway, 5th and Madison Avenues, 23d to 26th Streets. Metropolitan Life Building. — 4th and Madison Avenues, 23d to 24th Streets. Largest office building in the world. Tower 700 feet high. Madison Square Presbyterian CttURCH.— Rev. Dr. C. H. Parkhurst, pas- tor. Madison Avenue and 24th Street. Appellate Court. — Madison Avenue and 25th Street. Madison Square Garden. — Madison and 4th Avenues, 26th to 27th Streets. Pennsylvania Railroad Terminal. — 7th to 8th Avenues, 31st to 33d Streets. Public Library. — 5th Avenue, 40th to 4 2d Streets. St. Patrick's Cathedral. — 5th Ave- nue and 50th Street. Open daily. Visi- tors welcome. Queensboro Bridge. — Manhattan ter- minal at East 59th Street. Central Park. — 5th Avenue to 8th Avenue, 59th to 1 10th Streets. New York Historical Society. — 170 Central Park West. Menagerie. — Central Park, opposite East 64th Street. 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. F A ree. Metropolitan Museum of Art. — Cen- tral Park, opposite East 82d Street. Daily, 10 a. m. to 5 p. m. Sunday, 1 to 5 p. m. Free, except Monday and Friday, 25 cents. Obelisk. — In Central Park, near Museum of Art. 'Erected in Egypt 1500 B. C. Presented by the Khedive, and brought to New York in 1 88 1 . Museum of Natural History.— Man- hattan Square, Central Park West and 77th Street. 9 a. m. to 5 p. m. Free, except Monday and Tuesday, 25 cents. Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. — Riverside Drive and 89th Street. Cathedral of St. John the Divine. — Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Park, 1 10th to 1 13th Streets. Corner-stone laid in 1892. Time estimated to build, 50 years. Columbia University. — Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, 1 16th to 120th Streets. Grant's Tomb. — Riverside Drive and 123d Street. Open daily, 10 A. M. to 5 p. m. Free. College of the City of New York. — Amsterdam Ave., 138th to 140th Sts. Jumel Mansion. — Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street. Washington's head- quarters. Once the home of Aaron Burr. High Bridge. — Over Harlem River at 175th Street. Washington Bridge. — Over Harlem River at 181st Street. New York University. — University Heights, Sedgwick Avenue, West 179th to 181st Streets. Hall of Fame. — University Heights. Bronx Park. — Southern Boulevard, East 182d Street and Pelham Avenue. Free. Botanical Gardens. — In Bronx Park, mar Bedford Park Station of the Harlem Railroad. 10 a. m. to 5 P. m. FYee. Zoological Park. — In Bronx Park. Free, except Monday and Thursday, 25 cents. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. (INCORPORATED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK. STOCK COMPANY) JOHN R. HEGEMAN, President HOME OFFICE, 1 MADISON AVENUE, NEW YORK The Daily Average of the Company's Business During 1910 was 507 per day in Number of Claims Paid. 6 163 $1,428,738 Issued and R t?1? "7T0 1") per da> in Payments to Pol- •KIl,/ JJ.LJ Icy-holders and addition to Reserve. and Revived. lay in New Insurance Revived. $121,717.71 per day in Increase of Assets. In its Industrial Department the Metropolitan issues policies on every healthy member of the family from age 1 to age 65, with premiums payable weekly from 3c. to 50c and collected at the home by the Company's agents. No initiation fee is charged. Males and females are taken at the same cost. Claims are paid promptly at death. In this department the Company has 10,000,000 policies in force insur- ing over a billion dollars. In its Ordinary De- partment the Metropol- itan issues policies from $1,000 to $100,000 on plans adapted to all situations and circum- stances of life, at rates considerably lower than those of other first -cl.rs companies. Premiums are paid yearly, half- yearly or quarterly, at the option of the policy- holder. Policies arc free from restriction as to travel and reside nce; are clear, concise business contracts; leave nothing tot he imagination j make definite provision in dol- lars and cents. ASSETS Municipal and R. R. Bonds, and Stocks $135,405,847.32 Bonds and Mort- gages 126.5S9.S2S.62 Real Estate 24.116.301.56 Cash 4,016,872.76 Loans to Policy- holders 13.779,542.63 Premiums, de- ferred and in course of collec- tion (net) 6,207,200.14 Accrued Interest, Rents, etc 3372.740.! I313.9SX.334.00 LIABILITIES Reinsurance Fund SJ.'0 .3*11.929.1 hi All other Li. il. ili- ties 12365.321.36 Capital & Surplus 30.742.083.64 $313,988,334.00 The Metropolitan is- sues, through its Inter- mediate Branch, even £500 policies on men and women from ages 12 to 65 nearest birthday, pre- miums payable yearly, half-yearly or quarterly. They are in full benefit on the date of isMie. Midi t i( ms are plain and simple and easily under- stood. Provisioafl and privileges are libera] and extensive. Send for a copy of its rates for policies of $5,000, which are the lowest in the I'nited States PRINTED BY THE METROPOLITAN LIFE PRESS