The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-15
STEEL E TAKING
 PLACE OF WOOD Metal Is Now Used In Hun dreds of Various Forms CHANGES IN RECENT TIME Barrels, Counters, Boxes and Many Portions of Houses once Made of Wood Are Now Made of
 Steel.
CHANGES IN REGENT TIME

Philadelphia, November 14.-(Special.)- J. A horseless truck. carrying load of woodless barrels was passing through Liberty avenue the other day when A Pittsburg business man hurrying by stopped long enough to take note, and comment on the significance of that spec tacle
 50 many things strange and new are going on about us these days that we hardly have time to notice them,' he said. There is an auto truck of one of the greatest oil corporations in the world, moving through the street. It is piled high with oil barrels, which a few years ago formed a most important fac tor in the lumber trade. for they were made of wood, and as oil consumption increased the lumber man benefited. To- day, steel barrels like those on that truck are being used almost to the ex- clusion of wooden ones.
 incidentally, I might add that that auto truck is made mostly of steel and iron, even to it's sign boards. Look therer' he ejaculated, that street car is of steel. And that freight train cross- ing the avenue on that bridge is made up almost entirely of steel cars. few years ago these street cars were not possible except we went into the forests and cut down trees for timber and boards for them Likewise. the amount of lum- Der consumed for freight cars was enor- nous and amounted to billions of feet annually. Surely there is a great con servation movement going on amongst us without any special campaign other than that of enforced economies and advanced ideas of business methods
 OId-Fashloned Rain Barrels.
 I'm a young man yet. but I can easily recall the time when my father wanted a rain barrel and sent me with half dollar to our groceryman to get an oil barrel. tried the other day to get one. and was told that about three times that old price might bring one after care- full search The cooperage business for oil companies and refneries has fallen <p an insignificant item of late, and Is gradually getting smaller from year to year. And let me say that it is wip ing out one of the best sources of trade of the coopers. But 1t has not stopped there. It has taken hold, this steel craze. and is cutting down much of the box trade. Wooden boxes are being supplant- ed in commercial life by steel package receptacles. which mean little more than steel boxes that can be emptied and re- turned to the shipper for refilling many times before b< scrapped and melted over and into so{he other form of steel.
 "The other day I was talking to a bridge engineer. He told mo that he was a great believer in conservation of our forests for he was then drawing plans for great railroad bridge, and instead of using millions of feet of stout timbers for bling and cofferdam work. was calling for steel sheet piling. If we take in the growth of the steel tie for railroads. which is regarded as one of the most certain of steel products of the near future, the lumber consumption will appear to be contracting still more. It's coming, I tell you; and, before we know it. steel will be the common ma terial for general construction work. and commercial transactions all over tho country.
 Steel in House Building.
 Let us take, for instance, the custom of partitioning houses and other build ings l remember, as of yesterday, that partitions in new building were made of upright scanting, covered with hem- lock lath and then coated with plaster. How about the custom today? Why. the most ordinary structure has tile par tition, over which is spread the steel wire lathing and then plaster, and not a stick of wood as big as a match Is used for 1t.
 And, remember, that in the Pittsburg market alone there was sold upward of 6l,000,000 feet of timber for lath in a sin gle year. That represents good .many trees from forest. Likewise shingles were commonly used a few years ago. Today most of them come from the Pa cifc Coast and are used very little. Roofing is confined to slate or tile or some other material than wood. It is more durable. stronger and f1reproof. But only year or so ago 27,00O,0O0 feet of timber were consumed in the shingles sold out of Pittsburg in one 12-month period.
 'If we take the rest of mo6ern build ings, look at the thin sheeting of wood that Is laid over the cement floors. We used to think, too, that wooden window frames and door frames were essential, even in the best of freproof buildings. Not now, though, for they are metal and more durable and noncombustible. Metal door frames, metal skylights and even metal office furniture. Is common and is growing more so as time passes,Na the lumber demand is dwindling for these pur- tn cfa office desks with roll tops; steel filing cases, steel office tables and chairs, even for the stenographer.
 'The other day man showed me & sample lot of steel counters and tables for retail store, wbich looked so much like wood that for moment I was in clined to disbelieve him when he told me what they really were. But as if to make the matter more emphatic, l read that of the scores of great power transmission lines all over the country, most are using
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