The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-04
EXPECTING GOOD
 YEARS BUSINESS

Our business has shown a consid- erable increase this year over the same months of last year" said Mir c. D. Patterson, manager of Brick Selling company, land when spring gets we'll under way with some of the larger buildings that are to be started to go- ing we look for a good business in all lines of building materials. The rapid depletion of our forests. causing steady advance in the cost of lumber, particularly of the better grades, is forcing other materials as substitutes to be more closely investigated, especi- ally in residence work.
 Formerly the most expensive homes were built of brick as the public gen erally was of the opnions that the cost of d brick house was so much more than frame as to make it prohibitive for the home of moderate price. But this idea is erronous, as the first cost of house of brick Is but slightly over that of the frame building and when period of 10 or 1 3 years is taken into consideration with the savings in in surance and repairs, the cost of the brick house is even less than frame, to say nothing of it's greater comfort being warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The moment the carpenters and painters leave a wooden building deterioration begins, they soon have to return, but when the brickmason fin ishes his work he never gets another chance al it, as well-burned brick, prop erly laid in a wall, are the most last ing building material known to man, and being of small units, with great varieties of shades of color to select from. admit of more artistic possibil-
 ties than any other material.
 "The public generally are already aware of the advantage of this class of construction in a general way, but this country having been so recently a for est, with lumber very cheap, it was pos sble to build with it cheaper than with anything else, so every one building would follow the example of those around him without investigation, until our great forests have been used up to such an extent as to cause the government to begin taking steps for their protection in the great conservation movement now so popular.
 We are glad to note a growing ten dency toward better and more prema- nent homes, especially of those of mod crate cost, in our city as is being shown
 in our orders for brick for residence work and as the public becomes educa,- ed to the fact that the first cost of the brick house is but very little more than for wooden one of the same size, this demand will continue to grow.
 We represent four of the best known plants in this district, having an annual capacity of 40 to 50 million building brick, two of them using clay and two shale for their raw material, and all are equipped with the latest machinery and the most approved types of round down draft kilns which produce larger per centage of hard-burned brick than it is possible to get from the old type of up draft kiln.
 ''The growing demand for rough tex ture face brick for high class exterior work caused l.. l.. Stephenson, who op- crates the Shale brick plant at Larick to investigate this product. and after spending a great deal of time and money in experimenting he is now making a very high class rough face mission" or oriental brick at his plant, so that it is no longer necessary to go to a distance and pay the railroads an inn mense royalty for this popular class of
 
 and get a product which compares fla vorably with the best from distance and save the difference in freights. These oriental brick are being used very largely in all the larger cities throughout the country and make most beautiful wall They are made from slate shale which is blasted from the solid mountain side, ground up by pow erful machinery, is thoroughly temper ed" and then run through special ma chinery which cuts them up into separ- ate unite, and produces the rough ef- feet on the face of each one; they are then thoroughly dried by artificial heat after which they are carefully set in the kiln and subjected to intense heat for several days, which produces the deep rich shades of color varying from a rich red through to dark browns ana blacks When laid in wall they pro- duce a most beautiful effect resembling in beauty the color and texture of an imported oriental rug and having been subjected to intense heat they are prac- tically vitrified, therefore impervious to moisture and such particles of dust as may adhere to their surface is washed off by the rains which beat against them.''