Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-10-17
Substitutes For Wood

One might infer that the wooden age was passing
from the opening remarks Of recent report OF the
federal forest service on the substitution of other
materials for wood Disregarding the temporary
effect OF the war with its sudden demand for lum
Der and it's great enhancement Of prices the report
points out the tendency in the long being
that of depreciation of the lumber interests.
Each wear more steel concrete, brick tile is
being used in places where lumber formerly
EMPLOYED This is particularly true in cities where
enactment OF building codes and the development
of new forms OF construction have created de
mand for more durable building material Shingles
have given way largely to composition and tile roof
ings wooden sidewalks have been almost wholly re
placed by cement while the modern skyscraper with
its steel framework, and stone, brick or tile walls
occupies the site of some former frame structure
Railroad crossties and mine props are about the
only forms of wood which not affected.
According TO the government estimate the total
replacement of lumber in all forms of use is more
than eight billion board feet p per cent OF the
lumber consumption of the United States in 1913.
The rate of substitution is represented as ncreas-
ing. now being in excess of half a billion board
feet year. Apparently 20 per cent of the lumber
cut goes into forms of use whose demands appear
20 be decreasing Twenty per cent more goes into
strongly competitive fields. In the remaining 1o
per cent of wood uses it is held there seems to be
much better opportunity for larger consumption
1t is pointed out by the government report, how
ever that increasing substitution has not yielded
a reduction of lumber prices to the consumer On
the contrary they have steadily advanced, while the
cost of many substitutes has decreased. The erect
of the growing use of other materials has been to
accentuate competition and decrease profits in the
lumber business. AS result OF this and otner
reasons alternate periods of curtailment and over
production have made the lumber market unstable.
This in turn has resulted to the disadvantage not
only of the persons whose money is invested in tim
Der and sawmis, but to the many hundred thou
sands who are dependent upon the lumber industry
for their living .
Lumbermen are held accountable for their own
troubles, to a large extent by the government ex.
perts They are charged with having failed to adopt
aggressive selling methods and with having been
unable to supply the consumer with trustworthy
information regarding lumber. A complicated sys-
tenn of grades is in use which is not ineligible to
the average consumer and is the subject of dis
pute among lumbermen. Manufacturers of other
building material, it is pointed out, have spent
large sums of money to obtain reliable information
about their products. They have had to advertise
extensively to make a "pace in the sun" for them
selves Substitutes for lumber are guaranteed to
meet specifications which are easily understood by
the consumer. These facts have combined to make
the substitutes increasingly popular, the report
states while advising the lumbermen to follow the
example of their competitors, both in acquainting
themselves with the qualities of their and in
advertising such information. ~. ~. 4
Even with the increasing substitution for wood
the report concludes, there will be need for ala the
wood in the United States and more. The total
consumption of the country for many years has
been far in excess of the growth. Already in many
regions, it is stated, timber shortage and high
prices have followed the exhaustion of the local
supply. From the public standpoint there is real
need for growing forests vastly larger than are
now planned.
Hawaii has vital interest in the proposition
just stated the local question however, being one
that invites special treatment and persistent dis
cussion.