The Washington herald., 1921-11-20

Too often in the past the men
ton of freproonng in home build
ing automatically has suggested
excessive costs to the average
, builder. The fear OF FIRE Is fire.
quently considered as the lesser OF
two evils and is outweighed by the
bugbear of costs and as result
an unprotected frame house is
built.
Now. this is not an impeachment
of the frame house for there al
ways has been full appreciation OF
its beauty, its permanence under
proper care and of the fact that
thousands of frame houses have
successfully survived the ravages
of hre. Yet with the human tend
ency toward carelessness, II seems
advisable that some protection
should be given the frame house to
reduce its danger to untimely de-
struction by fre and thus enhance
its sales value. Here are some
simple ways to freproof the vulner-
able points without adding much 10
the cost of the house:
!. First of all. the most common
way of protecting frame houses
from hre is in the use OF a hre-
resisting roofing material. Sparks
from neighboring chimneys Cor
ones own) have caused so many
fires that non-combustible roofing
materials have become almost a
necessity to the average house.
In order to make roofings of this
sort adaptable for use on residences
the shingle idea has been followed
with the result that very good
asphak and asbestos shingles can
now be obtained and are so popu-
lar as to make them in great de-
mand by home buyers, One of the
first things a home buyer looks al
in houses today is the roof. and
fortunate Is that realtor who has
provided a fire-safe roof.
Asbestos shingles are made OF
rag or asbestos felt which is sat
urated with. asphalt and coated on
top with a heavier coat of hard
asphalt. When this top is hot, a
mineral such as crushel slate or
feldspar is rolled into it. The
asphalt coating waterproofs the
shingle while the mineral coating
Of green. gray, red or brow co)ors)
forms a shield against sparks. .
One asphalt shingle, Is tapered to
make II Mt snugly to the roof an
other has a ,self-sDacing shoulder
another Is made wide to allow for
quick laying: another is made In
single shingles, multi-shingles tour
combined in one row. and in rolls
another is cut to resemble tile and
comes in rolls. ...
One asbestos shingle is made to
resemble aged, weathered roofs and
another has a blend Of colors which
give the old English slate roof ef-
feet. All these points are incor-
porated in the making of asphalt
and asbestos shingles to make them
serve the purpose of. the popular
shingle roof and at the same time
provide a protection to the, frame
houses in a hre-safe roof.
Asbestos shingles are made OF
asbestos fiber and Portland Cement
united under great hydraulic pres.
sure. A very durable and freprooi
shingle is thus made and is gen.
orally colored In beautiful shades.
Deep down in everyone's heart Is
desire to own a home was well
brought out by Past President
Weaver in refutation of the sug-
gestion. made by a New York dele
gate, that where land legislation
has been adopted workingmen dc
not want to own their homes
Weaver, said:
TT may be true that in Greater
New York where land values prac-
tically compel tenancy. and where
high rentals have, stimulated oppo-
sitfon of tenants, rent legislation
has affected the minds OF the peo-
pie against home ownership, for
the very essence Of New York Is
tenancy. ...-- -.
-But gentlemen. we submit that
imbedded In the heart OF every fam
fly there is the. desire for a home
Our national government, this as
ISOLATION and other associations
have given great thought to the
own your home csmpaign.
TT strikes at the yiyAls of our
national life, It stimulates our re-
ligious thought. 1t represents q bat
ter, government, IT fathers ahd
mothers more children. We must
not be allowed to drift into 4 ten
ant nation. Our Example is Eng
land with a civilization over SOC
years old. She has failed rs ma
tion Of tenancy. i understand in