New-York tribune., 1922-05-22
Call Shipment
of Brick Here
'False Hope''
Transporting Material From
Abroad Impossible To Be
Carried On Successfully.
Say Dow Service Reports

1t was demonstrated to rcnresenta.
yves OF the Lockwood committee twice
ast week that foreign building brick
oHcr no practical cure for the present
iamino in building material supply, &C.
/ cordlng 10 the current Dow Service
Daily Building Reports.
The public Is not only being fed
with false hope. says the Dow Scrv-
zee, WHEN it lends itself TO shape It's
building construction plans upon such
a proposal, but American brick manu-
tacturers, doing business in the big
gest building material consuming mar
hot IN the world, with more capital in
vested IN their industry this year than
ever before in recent years, would have
their energies chilled at the outset OF
their endeavors TO meet the emergency
did they not know that only as war
time eNpedient is it either practical or
possible to successfully transport COM
mon building brick across the Atlantic
Tor building construction purposes.
In August-Septembe 1917, when
this country was at war with Germany
j. j. !. brick, manufactured by Jovn
vas purchased by the government for
delivery IN France at cost of $50
per thousand. set down upon a French
Pier These brick were shipped with
out regard to the condition they were
in At time of delivery in France. They
were not incased in casks as many
steamship companies require, for pur-
poses Of easy handling or for stability
IN time Of storm at sea while IN transit
They were droppcd into the hold of the
ships, stacked as best they could be
and we're hauled out of the vessel on
the other side by bucket,
This represented the first time since
Colonial days. when Holland brick was
brought to this city for use in the
construction Of Fraunces' Tavern and
other historical structures, that com
mon building brick had been trans
ported across the ocean in any guam
titv for practical building construction
purposes.
Foreign Brick Larger
Since that time common brick has
been brought to this country in holds
Of ships in limited quantities tor
ballast Shipping companies have
sought to sell 1T upon its arrival here
but the edges were round, from eroslon
que ~ SIN tllS VI "a 49, N"i $500 :
stormy passages at soa, they were OF
size larger than American standard
size. they we're full of bilge water
which would stain white upon the com
pleted wall. if they could have beer
used at all. and the breakage was sc
great as to cause the entire quantity
to be sold for grinding purposes solely
Ten million brick, said to be avail
able for shipment to this country
would not be sufficient to meet tentf
of the requirements of this marke
for the next two months. The only
place in Europe where a quantity o1
brick is available at present is 3
Danzig, according to available record
and that brick is about the size OF
our FIRE brick, 9x4 1aX2 q inches, where
as the standard size of an America
common brick is Sx4x2 inches. The u.s.
Of sn out size brick in American wall
would require the redes signing o
thousands of buildings. Three Ameri
can size brick laid side by side make
a 12-inch wall. Three European siz'
brick laid the same way would make
a wall 1872 inches thick. which woult
throw out all steel specifications, win
dow. door and vent detail and srlls.
The United States government. dur
ing the war, after an investigation into
the actual cost of manufacturing com
mon brick on tho Hudson River, season
1917, set S11 so thousand at the yard
The cost of making this same brick II
1920 was $1319, plus S3,43 a thousanc
for transporting to this city by barge
making $1712 a thousand, and brlce
actually sold here at wholesale atstha'
time at SIS, as quoted OH open market
on September Is of that year.
Commercial Building
The trend of building construction
from housing, which financiers believe
has been overdone in New York as ar
inve estment proposition, toward com
mercal building is bringing with IT
an accentuation of the almost con
stant climb in building construction
costs for the last year. Housing actlv-
itv created a market for cheaper grades
of building materials, which established
the market price quotations for that
period Now, however, the demand fot
materials for use in higher grade fire
proof construction is causing a stlHen
ing of prices IN general
1t is fact that certain material man
ufacturers are less inclined to make
forward order commitments They
cannot make sure of coal supplies and
they are disposed not to make con
tracts for delivery beyond their pres
ent fuel supply.
The cumulative result of this situa-
ton, plus others. is that the real &C
tivity of the building construction sea
son of 1922 is to be pushed over into
the last half of the year, when build
ing material prices will be higher IL
most lines because no reserve stocks
are being piled up. while fuel is hard
or Impossible to obtain. The specula
tive house builder is no longer the
dominant factor in the building mar.
ket. He has retired in favor Of the
investor who foresees the demand here
for commercial space year or two
hence and who has resources sufficient
to permit him to overcome present OBJ
stacles so as to be ready when the big