The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-07
HOUSES OF GREEN
 WOOD MAKE HIT New Use for Elm Promises Boom in English Home
 Building

London, March 1-(Reciprocal News
 Service.)-It is constitutionally easier for
 the British to hark back to old times
 than to plunge into the unknown. So
 when young architect-contractor, dis
 tracted by the poverty of building ma terials at his disposal, rediscovered gle lost art of green wood house construc- tion and entered at the ideal home exhi- bitton a rural cottage made of compressed green elm wood. he has been swamped with orders to build houses for the roof less rural population.
 And of all the model homes exhibited 'at this remarkable show in London syis , small wood and cement cottage is far and away the most attractive, and as it hap pens it is so much cheaper than any of the. others that it seems the old saving is In danger of being completely reversed and the cheapest is to be the best in the long run,
 It is the long run that is going to count in England, too. Here fanny inhabitS the same house for generations. sons and the sons of sons prefer to Se born under the same roof tree, anA if that roof tree is matched, so much to fsle good.
 No wonder the ministry of health has set it's unqualified approval upon the green wood homes. and stamped tlfem as being the most progressive step toward
 meeting the present urgent demand for houses Elm wood is and has been for ages
 locked upon as the weed of the forest Its cost is practically nithing. In many dis tricts the landlords pay to have it re- moved. But it is the most expensive wood to work when seasoned. present. ing enormous difficulty requiring spe- cal tools.
 But while green elm can be worked cke any other wood. This is the point upon which the whole serene rests. As in the old days elm from the hedges and dtches, the commons and the waste spinneys is cut and sawn, but now it is cut to stand ard measurement. While it is still green it is built into a cottage and with the process of time and as the green wood dries out the sections clamp itno place as if bound with girder sf steel Elm wood assumes a rock-like hardness after set- soned and the sections tongued and
 grooved together present rrawfess SIr- face which defies fire, damp vermin and weather.
 The only detail which would seem to interfere with the individualistic demands of the English is the standardization of doors, wndows and panels. But this in realty presents no difficulties. As the sections are standardized. doors. wni- dows porches and stairways can be set
 in any combination of groups and the cottage tdH be lHiiillleiy NdTleu dS u
 size and design. The six-inch beams
 which support the root are made of blocks
 and wedged together and can be set in
 any form.
 The roof of the cottage is by prefer
 ence of thatch. This most picturesque Of
 all roofings is the most weather-proof
 in this climate. It requires repairs only
 once in twelve years and the only dan-
 ger, fire. is eliminated by sprinkler sys-
 tenn embedded in the roof-tree, which is
 controlled from the ground By uis
 Wmeans the entire sursuce of the roof can
 be flooded in half a minute.
 Inside the cottase any modern improve
 ment for domestic work can be most easily installed The elm house is much
 warmer and dryer than stone or brick,
 and the walls require neither paint nor paper The floors are made of inch-thick elm blocks doye-tailed in long wedges which present the most curious and beau- tiful surface, and one absolutely hos tile to dirt and grease. It takes high polish or may be sanded, favorite floor treatment in rural districts.
 These houses can be delivered in sec- tions and erected by nonspecialized labor. The whole construction of six-rcSsn cottage weighs twenty-three tons to She
 130 tons of brick cottage of the same size This, of course, necessitates only
 a light concrete reinforced foundation and
 the transport expense is relatively les
 have a permanent home, snc what IS ict-
 ter still home within eight weeks of the
 time when the first elm tree is felled.