176 



SELLING LUMBER 



Salesmen 

 Must Help 

 to Meet 

 Conditions 



A Plea for 



Honest 



Lumber 



Specify the 

 Right Species 

 Then Get It 



know that you cannot get blood out of a turnip, and that you cannot 

 get better work out of a man than^what is in him. 



The owner has the right to the architect's best judgment, his 

 best skill, his best advice his absolute fidelity and good faith, and 

 these conditions must be met before the architect's duty is accom- 

 plished. 



To meet these conditions we must ask of the material man, 

 such as your lumber salesmen, that you be honest with us and 

 help us meet the conditions. 



And so, gentlemen, we ask for honest lumber. 



I have said before, somewhere, that lumber is coming back, 

 not only for a number of every-day users, where the substitutes 

 have had their chances and failed, but for really big things, where 

 mistakes would cause damage well up into thousands of dollars, 

 such as in warehouse construction, factories, wharfs, etc. In this 

 connection we take up the question of the proper species of yellow 

 pine for constructional purposes. Mr. Frank E. Davidson, presi- 

 dent of the Illinois Society of Architects, has been very earnestly 

 waging a campaign among the members of his association to in- 

 duce a careful use of the three varieties of Southern Pine. 



The general practice is to specify long leaf, whether the lum- 

 ber is to be used where severe stresses are to occur or where rela- 

 tively greater strength is not essential. 



In the construction of ordinary flat buildings and residences, 

 although long leaf pine may be specified, it is stated that either 

 a mixture of short leaf or loblolly is almost invariably delivered, 

 and that those grades are^satisfactory, for the floor loading require- 

 ments do not necessitate the use of long leaf, nor are there special 

 conditions to induce dry rot. 



But where there is the need for long leaf pine, as in mill con- 

 struction, because of the heavy floor loading or exposure to dry rot, 

 the architect should pay special attention to the kind of lumber 

 used, and insist upon long leaf. The same discretion in delivery 

 that is taken by the seller when long leaf is specified in ordinary 

 dwelling houses should not be permitted to occur. The corrections 

 of this laxity, Mr. Davidson believes, would be easier if the arch- 

 itect were to specify short leaf or loblolly where those grades are 

 suitable, instead of specifying long leaf. He says that the archi- 



