In view of such conditions there is urgent need of conserving our
lumber supply by every available means, the simplest and most
direct of which is to confine lumber strictly to its legitimate
uses or, at any rate, not use it where more fitting materials are
at hand. Take the abnormal demand pressure off lumber in every
possible way, and we reduce the danger of a lumber famine that
threatens us for some years to come. Thus, lumber should not be
used in the exterior walls of a house, where it is exposed to the
vicissitudes of the weather or to the trial of fire, especially
when building material such as brick, which is nearly as cheap, and
considering its durability and fire-safety, far more economical, is
everywhere in evidence.
Lumber has its very legitimate and varied uses, but among them is
not outside work where wind and rain and frost and fire search
out its weaknesses. In view of its very nature and the great
variety of its proper uses, it should never displace the exterior
masonry wall, which in stone, tile, or brick makes the most secure
and enduring structure. If the 80 per cent of building in this
country, now done of frame, were put into brick, or other durable
and fire-resistive materials, it would result in a great economic
national gain, people would have better and more substantial
houses, and the lumber which everybody needs would be conserved for
the legitimate uses to which it is admirably adapted.