Recently, in the vicinity of Boston, trenches, 32 ft. wide, and from 25 to 35 ft. deep, with heavy buildings on one side, have been braced with 8 by 10-in. stringers, and bracers at 10-ft. centers longitudinally, and from 3 to 5 ft. apart vertically; this timbering apparently was too slight for pressures which, theoretically, might be expected from the natural slope of the material. Just what pressures develop on the sides of the structures in these deep trenches after pulling the top sheeting (the bottom sheeting being left in place) is, of course, a matter of conjecture. There can be no doubt that there is an arching of the material, as suggested by the author. How much this may be assisted by the practical non-disturbance of the virgin material is, of course, indeterminate. That substructures and retaining walls designed according to the Rankine or similar theories have an additional factor of safety from too generous an assumption in regard to earth pressure is practically admitted everywhere. It is almost an engineering axiom that retaining walls generally fail because of insufficient foundation only. For the foregoing reasons, and particularly from observations on the effect of earth pressures on wooden timbers used as bracing, the writer believes that, ordinarily, the theoretical earth pressures computed by Rankine and Coulomb are not realized by one-half, and sometimes not even by one-third or one-quarter in trenches well under-drained, rapidly excavated, and thoroughly braced. J.C. MEEM, M. AM. SOC. C. E. (by letter).--The writer has been much interested in this discussion, and believes that it will be of general value to the profession. It is unfortunate, however, that several of the points raised have been due to a careless reading of, or failure to understand, the paper. Taking up the discussion in detail, the writer will first answer the criticisms of Mr. Goodrich. He says: "The writer believes that, in the design of permanent structures, consideration of arch action should not be included, at least, not until more information has been obtained. He also believes that the design of temporary structures with this inclusion is actually dangerous in some instances." If the arching action of earth exists, why should it not be recognized and considered? The design of timbering for a structure to rest, for instance, at a depth of from 200 to 300 ft. in normal dry earth, without considering this action, would be virtually prohibitive. Mr. Goodrich proceeds to show one of the dangers of considering such action by quoting the writer, as follows: "About an hour after the superimposed load had been removed, the writer jostled the box with his foot sufficiently to dislodge some of the exposed sand, when the arch at once collapsed and the bottom fell to the ground."