Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1896-12-26
WOOD lATHlNG DOOMED.
Growing Demand From Nearly All Archi.
facts For Iron mr. Steel Devices.

Growing Demand From Nearly All Archi.
tects For Iron or Steel Devices.
One industry which is declining
IN this country is the manufacture
of wooden laths. 1t is not owing to
any general decrease OF building,
nor to business depression. but to
the growing demand from nearly
all architects for metallic lathing in
the construction Of the partitions of
modern buildings, Metallic lathing
isused less with Il view to making the
buildings tireproof than to making
the walls and partitions stronger
and less likely to crack. Ordinary
wooden laths are nailed to the stud
dings while still green OF wet from
exposure to the weather. 1t would
make no difference if they were per-
fectly dry, for the mortar would
quickly moisten them, Then comes
the drying out process. AS the laths
dry they twist and turn, cracking
the mortar and weakening the wall.
The wooden lath is doomed except
for the construction of the cheapest
kind of buildings The advantages
of any form of metal laths are SO
great that architects have no diff
Guilty in per,uading prospective
builders to use them 10 the eXclu-
sion OF wool.
The evolution of the Hath is rather
interesting In the early days, just
after the log cabin era in this coun-
try, 4 plasuered wall was looked up
on IA Il luxury. Stllddings We're
hewn from hard wool and the laths
were liven by hand from the
straight"-t r'raiue.l timber obtain
able and occasionally dressed with
the drawknife or spoilrShave when
too thick for use. They were fasten-
ell to the studling with handmade
nails sting ORB shillings pound,
and before the rough coat of NOR
tar and hair WAS put OH the lathed
wall presented a rugged appearance,
having no straight lines anywhere
and showing chinks varying from IL
mere crack up to fully TN inch when
crooked lath came in iuXtaposi.
ton to moderately straight one
Then came the sawed laths, each
one ripped from the edge of an inch
and Il quarter plank with Il handsaw.
Next came the laths made one at Il
time with circular saws, and then
came the Snngsaw machines, which
made scores of laths at one cut.
These laths were cut from the log
with Il shaving knife and chopped
into widths as toothpicks and cigar
lighters are.
The next innovation was a metal
lath made of thin sheet iron strips
ribbed or having the edges turned
over to give strength. Perforated
sheet iron with ragged punctures,
in which the mortar would clinch,
succeeded the strips, and wire net
ting lathing was introduced. 1t was
generally strengthened with ribs of
coarser wire and is still extensively
used, not only for partitions, but
for concrete floors as well.
Within Il few years scores OF pat
ents have been granted for metallic
lathing, and in almost every in.
stance they have been for making
sheet steel plates provided with Sits
or perforations to hold the mortar.
Several varieties are designed to get
more surface out of the metal sheet
than by mere perforating and are
known as expanded metal lathing.
One CUIII l,ony he" he'd .'l,-,ast " mo
..orol,- of expanding notal in thie
manner by the use of an ingenious
machine, upon which it has patents
here and broad. The sales run uI
to considerably more than 81, O0O,
600 Il year in the United States, it is
said This lath is said fully to dou-
bic the width of the original plate
from which it is cut. Recently an
other company has produced a ma
chine by which even more expan-
sion is gained by an ingenious form
of cutting and colrugdting. All this
is clear gain, and the effort is being
directed to getting tie greatest stiff.
ness with the iightcst metal, which
means more gain to tho Makers
New York Sun.