Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-04-12
A uxIyERsaL NEED.

TIE scarcity Of building material,
says the West Shsrs. Ia q serious incon-
ysnienee felt throughout tae whole
Northwest. With thousands Of square
miles Of timber, we are without lumber,
ard this, too, when sawmills are work
ins day and night. The reason for this
il the great mills on Puget Sound, some
Of which cut 10000 feet per day, ship
their product TO San Francisco aud for
eign markets, generally on large con-
s@ so smaller anS .G' ns nae shp has u%Sss DSs
into the interior would involve an ex-
pense such as to almost preclude its use.
Every county and district has its saw
mills, and the local supply and demand
has chiefly regulated the price and
quantity cut; but the wonderful aotivi-
ty in building during the past and pres
ent seasons has rendered these mills in
capable Of supplying tho market. New
ones are going up ON every hand, and
still there IL dearth Of lumber. Is.
pecially is this Inconvenience felt east
Of the Cascadis, where lumber does not
grow on 0very mans quarter section.
This evil. however. will be- remedied;
but there ia still greater one. and that is
scarcity OF brick. From every city and
town In the new and growing regiops
there is universal demand for brick.
At Seattle, Stsilacoom, Tacoma, Oiym-
pia, Vancouver, Pendleton, Walla Walla,
Dayton, Colfax. Sprague, Cheney, Spo-
KANE Falls. and ell along the lines Of
railroad through Idaho aud Montana;
there will be business blocks and resi-
dehCes erected this season almost with
at A.. n. \
reasonable price or In sufficient quantity
the majority Of business blocks, At least,
would DO constructed OF that material.
The builders prefer II, and will only use
wood by force OF necessity, and yet not
one Of these places has enough TO sup
ply its wants, and somc have mono what
ever. 1t il not for the lack Of material.
nor, even. for the want Of brick yards.
II is because the facilities at preseRt are
entirely inadequate 70 supply this un-
precedented demand. A man who uu-
derstands the manufacture of brick
cannot fail to make money anywhere,
and m0ulder who can mould even the
semblance TO one need not be idle for
want Of work at good wages. II some
eastern manufacturers do not see here
an inviting feld, we call them blind,
Indeed. The demand for brick will not
end with this season nor the next. Il
will be permanent and continuous. Not
only are men with capital needed, but
laborers. men who can mould and burn,
There IL room and work for both.
We need labor in this great region.
We need il as badly a. the boy did the
ood-chuck. We are short Of lumber
because there arc not enough men who
can 60 into tho woods and get out logs
for tho mills. There are men enough
Who will build mills IL the logging could
Be done. Houses are desired by the
thousand, and carpenters cannot be had
TO build them. Brick blocks arc wanted
By business men, but there are not
brick mAters enough to supply the ma
tsriAl. Enough masons cannot be found
% lay the bricks now being made. and
Il all the brick needed could be obtained
there are not half enough masons to lay
/ them in mortar. Carpenters, brick-
builders and masouS are In great de-
mand by the railroad companies as well
~ unskilled labor.