Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-25
Constructing Brick Houses

Progress before precedent is as appli-
cable to the construction OF houses as to
national legislation. We can easily under
stand why our forefathers In their pri-
mitive way, built their habitations of wood.
IL was necessary to clear, the land of tim
Der, in order to obtain open fields for cult
walton, and as there was no contractors
In those days, each man hewed his own
home, out of the forest, thereby making his
labor serve a double purpose. Clay pro-
ducts were unknown in the country at
that time. These primitive homes were not
beautiful, but there gradually evolved from
the necessities OF frame construction, "A
classic style called the carpenters re-
naissance," but more specifically, it is the
colonial architecture in wood. They are
homes in their way, but we have as a
nation outgrown them and necessity mas
brought out other and more durable ma
teriaIs with which to shelter our families.
our stately forests are fast disappearing
before the hand in search of gold, but old
Mother earth still remains and from her
bottomless clay beds We must obtain our
building material of the future the uses
of which are so well known in the. present
day and have long since been tried and
not found wanting.
The wooden age Of house building be-
longs to the past. 1t is fitting and proper
from every viewpoint to make our houses
of brick today, as &c was to make them
OF wood in the olden times. 1t is unques-
tionably a more durable construction and
therefore more economical. A perlshable
material must be very cheap indeed If il
is less expense in the long run, than a more
durable substitute, but wood construction
is not cheap under the prevailing prices Of
lumber. In addition to the durability and
economy of brick construction is the wider
range admitted In the matter of beauty,
Even age adds to its beauty, instead Of
gTudual deterioration and final decay.
A brick house will immediate
respect, even when poorly designed in an
architectural way. How enduring and sub
stantial it looks with its solid walls and
deep reveals, how much strength of char
acter is expressed in the very color of
brick work, which only becomes the more
beautiful with age, and it lasts unreneTed
for ages. II pardonably wears a blush OF
vanity which will not come off under blast
ing frost or driving rain. or blister beneath
the summer sun. Its beauty is not skin
deep" but four inches of good, sound, old
Mother Earth, baked to Withstand the
heat of the hottest sun and with a fineness
OF texture which makes it imperious to
other limatic attacks. Moisture does not
affect brick work. 1t is true that it is
more or less porous, but there are so many
simple ways OF preventing the moisture
from penetrating the inner surface of a
wall that that's not a point to be consld-
cred. Brick will not disintergrate when IL is
frosted. as is the case with many kinds
OF stone. Having already been burned In
the kilns until popaque, il will withstand
the hottest fire and win not crack and
crumble under the severe test OF alternate
intense heating and sudden cooling with
water. Marble becomes chalk under this
test and but few kinds OF stone will stand
it.
Since stone Will not stand as well as
brick, the varying conditions under which
il is often placed, it is not strange that
the life of a wood-frame house is so
much shorter than that OF a brick one
Wood will rot when damp. II will deterio-
rate when dry, and dry rot when ex-
cluded from the air. Looking back over me
annals OF our youthful country, how many
of the wooden houses are stil existing in
which ware planned It's freedom II Is safe
10 say that not one Is standing in a good
state OF preservation. All have met de-