Evening star., 1928-04-24
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS.

value: 1t is a rival Of the silkworm for
miladys gown. Such instances Of new
utilization of formerly despised woods
might be multiplied.
=
Even more important reforms in
practices are urged upon builders. in
economy of construction. This applies
first to the habit Of ordering lumber
only in 16-foot lengths and then saw
ing 20 per cent Of ii. by hand, into s.
foot and 8-foot lengths. So only one
third Of the tree is now used for lurn-
Der, and. of course. that demand for
long boards and timbers makes the cost
high. More enlightened orders would
make for the use of two-thirds Of the
tree. and that would double the avail
able supply.
Color prejudice against lumber frcm
the heart of the tree Of a blush tint
cheapens that very heart of the log.
although such lumber is even more
durable than the clear white. The
prejudice is as unfounded as that
against brown eggs. in place of white.
When short lengths are ordered from
the mill not only is the hand-Sawing
by carpenters saved, but many timbers
and boards with knots can be utilized.
When the knots are sawed out, two
short lengths are created. Only the
companies which make a business Of
ready-Sawed houses realize that the
short lengths may add 20 per cent TO
the available wood in a log. The blush
or browniSh heart Of log is four times
more durable than the boards sawed
outside OF that heart.
DRY rot" Is the bane of hometown
ers, but 1t is not rot at all. and it may
be wholly eradicated. Il is the deStruc-
ton OF the SillS by white ants, and II
the sillS be treated with creoSote. as are
railroad ties. all that may be prevented.
CreoSoted sillS prevent the ants not
only from attacking the sillS theri-
selves, but from climbing up into the
house. No ant can cross such q bar
rier. Yet builders have not vet adopted
creoSoted SillS in their construction,
hence home-ownerS suffer.
The Standardization OF lumber grades
and lengths is Just beginning 70 be sp-
preciated. The American Lumber As
Sociation has adopted definite gra6eS
and standard lengths, so that an archi-
tect--or, better still, a construction en-
gineer-can now determine definitely
what grade and what size timber VIII
serve particular need most economical
". and ne can prescribe" exactly what
is wanted
In pioneer days lumber was SO cheap
that builders needed not TO know the
exact minimum requirements. and ~
they usually played safe by using orly
the higher grades and tremendously
abundant wood for beams or other pur-
poses. That great waSte Is today
avoided. The engineer figures exact
stresses and preScribeS the exact grade
OF timber needed. No longer can local
dealers buy low grades and palm them
on on non-expertS as higher-graSle
NUMBER FOR every piece is stamped az
the mill on both ends. and the stsr3p
cannot be erased nor counterfeited.
Soon after the committee ON wooS
atilSation was organized. il checked
over certain large specifications Tor
government lumber. and. hy SuhStisus-
ms lengths and grades scientifically. 81
changed the specifications as 10 Savs,
the Government SO per cent ON its hanl-
Der eli. The same can be done On
many private builders specifications.
Americans have much 10 learn from
europeans concerning the use at shorter
pieces OF lumber, merttSed and lani-
mated. Very short lengths OF southern
pine such as have been thouSht al only
Tor fuel because SO short. can Be uS.,d
Tor parQuet flooring, and when is il
worked at the min IL is not more ex-
pensiVe than ordinary lang- hoard fsoorS.
Vet much handSomer.
-
The most important reform of all lies
in the manner OF harvesting a forrSg
iogether with reforcStation, No hnGle
vsdual can afford to ret0TeSt, because he
cannot i've long enough 10 heneflt frpYsa
TIE new Secoad~growth trees Holt
great corporation which lives many CEN
eratlonS can do So, with early prefE.
'lnee fmapcierS are learnhag 20 rslSsSnipe
that harvesting" forests Is a very eif-
serent thing from mining" the timber.
ana 'hat there Is NO Sprer security for
loans than gruwIng forest.
A banker would look aSkanee upea
ot q Sawmtll~-cr any mIia~
y security for a tong~tInae loan. Machtn,.
IS fapidN deterioraSeS. Hat IL a hum
oer corpNratfnn approaches a banker
WITH statement that it wants 20 has~
grove It's equipment With q million do
afS' worth OF additional machinery. ana
nat Its bonds are backed BY 1 eco acres
u timber which viii mature IN 1851
and 900 to mature each year there
after. Sot several wears. che banker vii
so0nt that security as gilt-edRee
specially Is that pIonahle If the hankeY
Knows that the timber win be "haTyeSt-
d and NOS merely mined" un-
ter scientific harvesting, only trees ef
aFopef maturity viii he cut and thai
here WIN be none neglected which are
eady for the az
The Mture Will not see q repetitiOn Of
he practice OF cur pioneer hlmheFmen.
she laid waste vast tracts OF virem
efeSt, and then les the eut-eyer land
II enly for trees, 50 hack 20 the country.
atheF than pay taxes ca Idle acres.
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