concrete has failed in tension at this point. If used, vertical tension
members should be considered as taking all the vertical shear, and, as
Mr. Godfrey states, they should certainly have their ends anchored so as
to develop the strength for which they have been calculated.

The writer considers diagonal reinforcement to be the best for shear,
and it should be used, especially in all cases of "unit" reinforcement;
but, in some cases, stirrups can and do answer in the manner suggested;
and, for reasons of practical construction, are sometimes best with
"loose rod" reinforcement.


J.C. MEEM, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The writer believes that
there are some very interesting points in the author's somewhat
iconoclastic paper which are worthy of careful study, and, if it be
shown that he is right in most of, or even in any of, his assumptions, a
further expression of approval is due to him. Few engineers have the
time to show fully, by a process of _reductio ad absurdum_, that all the
author's points are, or are not, well considered or well founded, but
the writer desires to say that he has read this paper carefully, and
believes that its fundamental principles are well grounded. Further, he
believes that intricate mathematical formulas have no place in practice.
This is particularly true where these elaborate mathematical
calculations are founded on assumptions which are never found in
practice or experiment, and which, even in theory, are extremely
doubtful, and certainly are not possible within those limits of safety
wherein the engineer is compelled to work.

The writer disagrees with the author in one essential point, however,
and that is in the wholesale indictment of special reinforcement, such