Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1916-09-29

WOOD SHINGLES
Iowa Chemist Discovers Com
pound That Makes Shingles
Absolutely Fireproof.
BOON FOR SHINCLE TRADE
Single Industry Has Long
Been Experimenting With
Fireproofing Liquids.

SEATTLE, Sept. 2S.-According te
information in the hands of the Wes
Coast Lumbermen's Association, al
Iowa pharmacist, after seventeen
months experimenting, has turned the
chemical trick" which makes woder
shingles absolutely fireproof.
The shingle industry OF the Paci
fc Northwest which has gone bach
| rapidly in recent years, after making
possible the early agricultural devel-
opment of Western Washington and
| Western Oregon, may through this
new invention, regain lost markets
and re-establish itself as one of the
primary industrial factors of the West
Coast
In test of the new fireproOfing
liquid, made at the University of Iowa
! by the inventor who was formerly a
student there but now is pharmacist
of Badger, Iowa, block of wood one
half inch thick was saturated with
the fireproofing and then placed in
running water for twenty-four hours
After that it was thoroughly dried and
held for one hour over Bunsen burn
er, which had a temperature Of be-
tween 700 and 1000 degrees Fahren-
heit, that being a much greater heat,
it is said, than is developed in con-
flagration.
The wood was not burned and only
charred very slightly at the point OF
the flame.
The shingle industry has been ex-
perimenting with fireproofing paints
and liquids ever since cities first be-
gan legislating shingles out of fire
limits. 1t was found that certain
mercury and zinc salts, and zinc
chloride, for example, prevented COM
bustion, but mercury salts are ex-
pensive and zinc chloride, which alb
serbs moisture from the air, is easily
washed out.
The new compound, is said to have
none of these objections. 1t is re-
ported to be sufficiently low in cost
to make it practical in connection
with shingle manufacture, and when a
shingle is saturated the moisture drys
out leaving an insoluable mineral fire.
proofing substance in the fibre cells
of the wood. 1t cannot be washed
out with water and is said to abso-
lutely prevent combustion.
At the University of Iowa rag was
saturated with the new solution, kept
under running water for eight days,
| and then could not be made to burn.
A sheet of paper dipped in the pre-
paration burned freely until it reach
ed the treated half and then died out.
The preparation is a little heavier
than water; it's specific gravity being
1.15. 1t is said to smell slightly of
amonia. When made with pure chem
icals it is colorless, otherwise it has
a yellowish tinge.
Patent rights are still pending at
Washington, D. c., but just as soon
as the manufacturing rights are avail
able Western Washington Rite-Grade
shingle manufacturers will probably
give it a thorough and practical test.
Wooden shingles combine archi-
lectures basic principle of utility.
beauty and durability, but the use of
these shingles is decreasing because
they are being legislated out of cities
on the theory that they constitute a
! fire menace. The invention may
bring them back in the list of city
building materials and thereby res
tore the lost markets of West Coast
manufacturers. The restoration of
the shingle industry, with the pos
sibiity of fireproofing enabling West
Coast manufacturers to exploit Euro
pean markets, would mean many mil
lions of dollars for the people of the
Pacific Northwest.