Stair.
（
Carpentry.) One of a series of steps for ascending from one story to another.
The
riser is the vertical portion of a step.
The
tread is the flat portion on which the feet rest.
The
nosing is the rounded front edge of a
tread projecting beyond the face of the
riser.
A
staircase is the complete arrangement of supporting frame, casing, balusters, etc.
Flyers ascend in a straight line, and form a
flight.
Winders ascend spirally, around a solid or open
newel; or they connect
flights.
A
well-staircase has an open
newel.
A
starrway is a
staircase bounded by walls or casing.
A comfortably proportioned staircase is a modern contrivance, unknown to
Egyptian,
Greek, or
Roman.
The first bottom step is the
cwtail step, when its end has a round turn, on which the
newel or baluster-post is placed.
See newel.
The top step is the
landing.
A resting-place at the end of a flight, midway of the two floors, is a
half-space or
quarter-space, according to extent.
Stairs are known by the following names:—
| Corkscrew. | Geometrical. |
| Dog-legged. | Open newel. |
| French-flight. | Solid newel. |
 |
|
Spiral stair. |
Fig. 5523 is a spiral staircase, in which the steps are perforated at the center and secured upon a central post, so that the respective ends of the steps belong to separate adjacent staircases, at opposite sides of the central post.
Fig. 5524 shows on a larger scale two stairs of a set. The iron stairs are cast hollow, and with an end portion, which forms part of the solid newel in the center.
A succession of these pieces forms the stairs.
See also Close's patent, No. 111,610, February 7, 1871, in which a number of segmental plates are arranged in a space above a spiral stairway, and can be operated so as to open or close the stairway, to prevent fire from communicating from story to story of a building, and also to prevent heat from ascending from a lower to an upper story.
Instruments are made for laying out scrolls and curves for stair-work.
See spiral; instrument for drawing.
A stair with double risers is economical of room.
Each foot
[
2300]
treads its own side of the stairs, ascending a riser at each step, and only advancing at each second step.
 |
|
Spiral stair. |
Artificial flights of steps are among the most ancient monuments.
The pyramids themselves, now that the envelope which filled the steps has worn off, form the most magnificent artificial flights of steps in the world.
The stairs at the Nilometer of Elephanta, and those of
Benares on the
Ganges, are other notable examples; the former are mentioned by
Strabo.
 |
|
Double-riser stairs. |
Stairs are mentioned several times in the
Bible, as are also steps; the
steps of the altar, of the king's throne, etc.
Great as is the convenience of a stairs or interior flight of steps, it was a comparatively uncommon thing until a recent date, except in the form of a ladder.
The ladder is once referred to in the
Bible, in the vision of Jacob, but may be presumed to have been quite a well-known contrivance.
We know by the
Egyptian paintings that scalingladders were common in the wars of the great
Pharaohs.
Also, that they were a regular part of the military equipment of the Romans.
Perhaps the first notice of regular stairs occurs in the description of Solomon's temple at
Jerusalem.
This structure was 30 cubits high, say 50 feet, and it may be inferred that the stairs had one exterior and one interior flight.
“The door for the middle chamber
was in the right side of the house; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle
chamber, and out of the middle into the third”
The italics are the addenda of the translators.
The middle story of the three, which would be called the
first story in
England, and which we call the
second story, appears to have had a door on the outside, “the right side” to a person facing the principal entrance; but the winding stairs led “out of the middle (2d story) into the third” (story).
If we assume the “winding stairs” to have been of the simplest form, they were made to wind around a central post, the outer edges of the
treads being supported by a circular wall of posts.
The hight of the stories may have been 20, 20, and 10, unless the dimensions given (50 feet perpendicular) include the roof; but this was probably flat, as usual in
Palestine.
The assumption that the building was after the Greek model is absurd, as the earliest
Greek order, the
Doric, did not commence till 350 years afterward.
Persons with Masonic enthusiasm without a
Mason's knowledge, in stating that the order was Corinthian, have anticipated
Callimachus 650 years. The Corinthian order was unknown until the period of the
Macedonian conquest of the southern states of
Greece.
The staircase of the
Scala Santa at
Rome consists of three flights.
The middle one has 28 steps, which are stated to have been sent from
Jerusalem to
Rome by
Helena, the devout and highly successful explorer.
These steps are stated to have been formerly in the house of Pilate, and to have been ascended by our Saviour in his progress to the judgment-ball of the capricious Roman The pilgrims ascend them on their knees.
“A winding stair-ladder joined on to the open chamber, leading to the secret walk, and a banqueting-room capable of containing nine couches, constructed and furnished in the
Egyptian style.” — Description of the ship of
Ptolemy Philopator, by
Callixenus, and quoted by
Athenoeus in the “Deipnosophists.”
The staircase became a prominent feature in interior architecture in the reign of Elizabeth of
England.
