The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-05-03
81 AY ROOFING
STANDS TEST
OF AGES
Product Of Prehistoric Times
Retains Its Good Qualities.
Tiles Best Modern Type

Tiles Best Modern Type
Burned clay is practically imper-
ishable-it is proof against decay,
weather and fire.
Wherefore clay roofing tiles, often
unbroken, have been unearthed
from the ruins of prehistoric struc-
lures, being the only surviving
relics of certain bygone ages. Hence,
because of the enduring quality Of
these tiles, the paths followed by
the tile-making races came to be
traced in their migrations. Behold,
then, q lowIy tile-an inanimate
thing OF common clay-telling the
story OF it's maker down the ages;
historian Of a race that antedateS
history
The origin Of the first clay roof
ing tile il lost in the fog of antiquity
II was probably several centuries
after the aborigines conceived the
original idea Of thing their roofs SO
rain would run off instead of merely
lodging thereon. Even so, 1t Is Ger
tain clay tiles were in use ten or
more centuries before the time Of
Christ.
Types Unchanged.
The most astonishing thing, how
ever, is not the great age Of roofing
tile, 900 years or so--but the fact
that the Oldest known type Of this
clay tile is the most common form
in use today on our own modern
buildings!
When the world was some thirty
centuries younger than it now is,
olaf roofing tiles were being used
In Asia Minor and probably q few
centuries earlier in China. In fact,
It is highly probable and easily be-
lievable that China is the birthplace
Of roofing tile. 1t Is, Of course,
historical fact that terra-cotta roof
ing tiles Of the present trough-and-
cover type were found among the
ruins Of the temple Of Hera at
Olympia, dating a thousand years
befors Christ.
Greeks Imported idea.
However, it cannot be supposed
that the Greeks, in one fell swoop,
forsook leaky thatch for this eff.
Gent system of tile roofing. The be-
gtnnings of other 9recian arts-pot-
terry, Woodworking, sculpture, etc.
were imported froN1 the older CIV
citations Of Asia Minor and other
places. So 1t is logical to assume
that in tile roofing, as in other
crafts, the Greeks did not discover
or invent, but instead developed
this art by slow process to plane
never attained by the older and
cruder civilizations preceding them.
Not only in Greece, but through
out all parts Of the Old World, tiles
or fragments of them have been
found, establishing them as 1.-The
Roof of the Ages" In fact, the
use of clay tile as a roofing ma
teriaI was and is practically uni.
versal. In one form or another
1t is easily adaptable not only to
the Old World style of architecture,
but to the newer and modern types
Of structures that defy architectural
classification and precedent.
Eight basic types Of roofing tiles
have come down through the ages.
The most acient is the two element
type Of trough-and-cover tile-a form
In common use today.
Roofs Show Nationality.
The colonies of the mother coun-
try naturally adhered to the form
Of roofing title in use at home.
Hence, a fiat tile made in Penn
sylvania around the year 1876 is
proof Of q German settlement. In
another part Of the same State,
enduring clay memoirs indicate
the Moravians pursued the art Of
tile roofing there as early as 1740.
Doctor c. c. Abbot once discovered
q pan tile on an island in the
Delaware river, on q site of a
house estimated to have been built
in 1858. He read the historic title
"Dutch settlement here" In Mexico
J and California the half-round trough.
and-cover tile used on the missions
clearly was made by the early.
Spanish pioneers. And 1t is recorded
that in 1884 roofing tile factory
was established at Santa Barbara,
the first output being manufactured
by Mexicans.
TO dispel a popular fallacy, a fallacy
much to confuse the public. Our
go-called California mission" tiles,
the full half-round troughs-and.
covers, and the flatter trough and
cover "Cordova" and ''Granda" are
the only true historic Spanish or
Mediterranean type tiles.
spanish" Tile Is Fake.
The "S-shaped" tile now on
the market, known to the trade and
to the deluded public as Spanish"
is, historically, English or Scandi-
navian. There is nothing Spanish
about the tile sold under that al.
Turing name. No S-shaped tile or
any other one-element tile ever
came from the shores Of the blue
Mediterranean. The name Spanish"
probably was given to these, tiles
for the same reason that the same
name is given to innumerable ar
chitectural creations clothed in
chicken wire and plaster-they sell
quicker! This modern S.shaped tile
was designed tor economical produc.
ton by machinery. In this respect
1t has succeeded. 1t is the least
costly of them all both in ma.