The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-04-21
SOMETHING NOVEL IN BUILDING.

SOMEIhANG NOvEL IN BUILDlNGs
 To those who have paid even cursory attention to the subject the problem of house-building Is year by year be- coming a more serious one to the poor, or even to persons of moderate means. In the rural districts where timber Is yet plentiful. log houses can still be erected at moderate cost to the owner of the land and the trees. Little outlay of money, and little me- chanical skill are required to build really comfortable and durable home. and many of them are yet to be found out in the country. And 1t is not out of place here to say that some of the best products of American manhood and womanhood were born and reared In such homes.
 But to those who are not so situ- ated that logs are easily available. or to those who want something better and handsomer than Thy old cabin home" the difficulties are all the time growing. Lumber of all kinds has ad- vanced in price with rapid strides of late years, so that if a man wants framed house he must take his choice between paying a big price for 1t or putting up with fiimsy and unsightly structure, built of the cheapest grades of lumber, and which when completed is neither slightly nor safe. The man with ample means can still have handsome and substantial house built of wood, but the man of small means cannot.
 The facts give interest to one of the latest alleged projects of that won- derful scientific and mechanical wizard. Thomas A. Edison. and which is thus described by one who appears to know whereof he writes:
 MT. Thomas A. Edison's latest role is that of a benefactor to mankind, and best of all 1t is the working man who will derive the most beneht. His latest step consists in Inolding houses out of concrete in a single cast, com plete in every detail. in four days: The method of procedure is described briefly as follows:
 An architect will be employed to de- sign dwelling houses of different de- signs; metallic holds will be made to correspond The mold for each house will be made in detachable parts that can #Dt StTtWtu tOBelHtE tdSilJ tO IOi III an entire house. The mold for the whole house is set up. and concrete pumped into every nook and cranny. After four days the parts of the mold the. solid concrete house will remain.
 MT. Edison claims that the house will be so complete that dormer win dows chimneys, spouts: inside. inside cupss Ips even bath tubs will be formed in the cast in which the house proper will be made. Even the plumbing and gas piping will be of concrete and molded in the original cast. From each mold, the first cost of which with all its parts, is estimated at $c5,000. an up- limited number of houses may be pro- duced, because the parts of the mold may be detachable. It will be port able and one mold may be sent with little difficulty from town to town. It could be built in one year by the use of single mold, at cost of $500 to $500 apiece"
 This, we repeat, Is of interest to both the present and future gener- ations of home makers. We have no means of knowing where the basis was obtained for ascertaining the cost of material used. as both material and labor may be considerably cheaper in
 
 a strong, slightly and durable house for a small family can be built inside of a week. and at a cost of not ex- ceeding $500 1t is plain that MT Ed ison has added one more to the many boons he has conferred on the human family.
 The use of concrete for building is no longer a novelty, of course, but the Edison plan of molding a house com p1ete in all its details is certainly something new. It remains to be seen if the project works out as thoroughly as he predicts, and it must be said of him that his plans rarely miscarry. If this one is a success to the extent ex- pected of it there will be something of a revolution in building before many years have passed.