Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-03-31

Washington, March 1S-The typical
American home is built of lumber.
The United States IS the leading
home owning country of the world.
These statements are closely related,
for it's Is the abundance and suitable
ity of lumber as a structural and fin
ishing material and it's cheapness
that have made us q nation Of home
owners. According to computations
made by the Division of Building and
Housing of the Department of Com
merce, the percentage Of lumber built
homes in eleven different respresen-
tatite states ranges from SO to 81 per
cent of all dwellings in towns with q
population Of over $500. In the rural
regions, including towns Of less than
$500 Inhabitants, lumber built dwell
ings constitute about 90 per cent of
the whole.
These are facts which should
prompt the prospective home builder
to consider carefully whether frame
house will not be more suitable to his
peculiar requirements than any other.
l: is not merely because lumber Is
relatively cheap and almost univer-
sally obtainable that II Is so freely
used in America. 1t has certain quail
AGANS IL n iiASoS uCGA q JIG
material for the varying climatic con-
ditions Of this continent. 1t is suit
ed to nearly every style or architec-
ture.
Wood Unique Among Materials
1t Is quickly applied and it presents
pleasing exterior. Wood is easily
worked. 1t has sufficient strength
and hardness for general purposes,
to @sy,a 1tfrht tn xr.aiyl1f
and 1t Is an excellent protection
against both heat and cold. "These
properties" says the United States
Bureau of Standards, which are due
to its peculiar chemical nature and
physical structure have made wo d
unique among building materials"
Nelson C. Brown says in his vol
time, "The American Lumber Indus
try" that wood Is the most economi-
cal and universally used construction
material. "From the earliest historic
times until the present 1t has been
used in a greater variety of ways
than any other material, not only for
building and structural purposes, but
for the arts and industry and decora-
tive purposes as WELL" Mr.. Brown
summarizes the advantages Of wood
construction as follows:
~ in proportion to it's weight
wood is the strongest known material
(2) Wood 10 the most workable
material and lends itself readily to
manufacture into many shapes and
1al "wood Is a nonconductor of
heat. thus helping to make homes
warm in the winter and cool in the
summer. CA most important consid-
GRAFTON in our severe American cli-
mate.) ~. .
a, Its grain and appearance are
generally attractive and readily ac-
oeptabie to artistic treatment, thus
adding to the beauty and attractive-
ness Of furniture, finish, trim. etc,
Cd wood is comparatively mex
pensive as a construction material,
and IL used with care and without
undue waste will be available for
many years at a reasonably low cost.
(6l Wood is abundantly available
IL so many different kinds. shapes,
sizes and forms that It ID suitable for
practically all purposes"
While the manufacturers of lumber
recognize that individual and local
considerations often make some
>other structural material preferable
w WOOu AOk HSAAkC Duu0lflSy ,GtS1 tlef =
observed with regret tendency in
some quarters to propagandize
against the use of wood as a struc-
tural material and even for interior
use. One idea that is often ad
vanced is that the nations timber
supply is running SO low that it is
Door national economy to use wood
ior any purpose for which substi-
sute, however inferior, can be found.
An Erroneous Idea
According to no less an authority
han the bureau Of standards this is
IN erroneous idea. We still have
enough virgin timber in this country
to last for several generations, and
with the growing practice OF fores-
try a certain supply will always be
maintained, partly by increase in
yield Of timber per acre, and partly
by chescing the waste in the use OF