The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-04
SACRIFICING TO MoLocH.

the houses of the hardy settlers were built of logs, as a general thing. The forests were unbroken and had to be cleared away to make room for the | farmer. He had his pick of the logs and could choose just such as he want ed. Any man of ordinary intelligence | could build a substantial and comfort able log house. It required neither mechanical skill nor set of carpen- ter's tools It could be put up in few days and when properly built was not a bad home.
 That was the first step in all timber ed regions. Then the whip saw came along and after it the saw mill. The virgin forests of all this region abound ed in the finest yellow timber and the | home-maker could have his choice of the best. It required higher grade of workmanship, but the house carpen- ter followed or went along without civ iiization. The fine yellow pine was cut into lumber, the best was selected and properly seasoned and then the con- scientious workman built house that I old Deacon's wonderful one-hoss shay" Some of those houses here in Alabama, built fifty to seventy-five years ago. still stand as sturdy monti- ments to the skill and honesty of the workman and the excellence of the ma terial used. It was not then a question of saving money and time so much as of building a good house.
 That time. too. is past, or is fast passing. Except in few places the best of the yellow pine has been cut and used. Builders now must be con- tent with an inferior article if they build their houses of wood. The infe- rior material and the hurry of preparing 1t for building purposes makes 1t de- cay and burn more easily than in for mer times. Worst of all is the mania for quick building and cheap workman ship. To inferior material is joined insufficient seasoning. cheap mechanics and limited time for building. Such houses are neither durable nor safe. In short they are built to burn. and many of them fulfill their destiny.
 What is to be done? The material for building even cheap wooden houses ito burn-cannot much longer be pro- cured. and why should time and money be spent on them. especially in our large cities? Why build combustible houses at all? As The Star declares. 'It Is silly to declare that the combus- tible materials are cheaper" and it speaks truth. The material for wood en houses may be cheaper to begin with, but when we consider safety and durability as factors we must admit that wood is not the cheapest In the long run. Sand and clay and gravel are practically inexhaustible. The material for brick and artificial stone machinery and labor-saving facilities of the present day a wooden house Is not the cheapest. all things considered.
 It is within the memory of many now living that there was a strong senti- ment in favor of building concrete structures of cement and stone. or gravel. The movement was led by Professor O. S. Fowler, and was taken up in various parts of the country but owing to lack of knowledge in some cases. and to inferior materials and workmanshiprin others, the plan never attained much popularity. It was not really what was wanted, then or now.
 The manufacturer of artificial stone and of sand brick is now attaining con siderable prominence, and both prom ise favorable results. If bricks that will be cheap and durable can be manu- factured without clay, 1t will be great advance. If artificial stone can be made that will for all practicable purposes be as durable as stone, at only a tithe of the cost of shaping granite and other building stones, 1t will be another for ward movement of vast importance Clay bricks sand bricks and artificial stone, with real stone for those who can afford it, offer a solution of the matter, ready to hand.
 Of one thing we feel assured, and that is that the authorities in our cities must eventually take steps to prohibit the erection of houses to burn. Under the present system both life and prop erty are too much at the mercy of tho flames to be satisfactory. Almost every day we read of flimsy wooden houses going up in smoke. We are continu- ally reading of public buildings burn ing down with shocking loss of life There ought to be an end to 1t. and the law should end 1t. Walls of incom. bustible material, beams and girders oi iron or steel, and floors of concrete mean a building that is virtually fire proof and therefore safe. Such ( house will cost more at the outset, but that extra cost will be far overbal anced by the advantages in various ways of such structures. There ha! been enough sacrifices to cheapness inefficiency and dishonesty, and i should end for all time. No nor, houses to burn should be built in th' crowded sections of any great city.
 A writer in The New York Times tell