WOODEN SHINGLES OR SUBSTITUTES 



233 



Courtesy Clear Lake Lumber Company. 



PACKING THE SHINGLES 



The shingles come down the chutes to the packing machines where they are secured by bands and cross 

 strips and conveyed on the moving chain to the kiln trucks. 



much it would cost to put on a roof of a certain size. 

 Directions for applying the substitute shingles were very 

 carefully worked out for pitch of roof, etc. The pur- 

 chaser was shown just how and where to put in the 

 nails, and given the fullest possible co-operation by the 

 manufacturer. He could also choose from a number of 

 colors and shades without the 

 labor of staining or painting 

 himself. 



Furthermore the fire resist- 

 ant qualities of asbestos and 

 metal were already well known, 

 and the improved ready roofing 

 materials were well received for 

 that reason. . So effectively has 

 this feaure been laid before the 

 general public that various towns 

 and municipalities throughout 

 the country have made building 

 regulations forbidding the use 

 of wooden shingles in certain 

 closely settled districts, and fire 

 underwriters began in certain in- 

 stances to give lower rates for 

 buildings which did not have 

 wood covered roofs. 



At this time when we are 

 awakening to the threat of a 

 world-wide lumber shortage, it 

 would be well if we could thus 

 discover an equally good and 

 permanent substitute roofing ; 

 but builders and dealers in build- 

 ing materials generally, together 



with others who have made a 

 study of the situation, agree that 

 the knell of the wood shingle 

 roof has by no means been 

 sounded. 



As above stated, the argument 

 most often employed against the 

 use of wooden shingles is that of 

 fire risk. A great variety of 

 statistics has been brought for- 

 ward in this connection and the 

 lumber manufacturers have in 

 turn introduced other figures in 

 refutation. Although many sta- 

 tistics have been misquoted, fig- 

 ures prepared by the National 

 Board of Fire Underwriters, 

 covering fire losses of the United 

 States during the year 1918, are 

 said to give the strongest case 

 against the use of wood shingles 

 for dwelling house roofs. Here 

 it is shown that only 2.36 per 

 cent of the loss was reported as 

 caused by "Sparks on Roofs," 

 but that out of a total dwelling-house fire loss of sixty- 

 four million dollars, four and one-half millions or 7.1 

 per cent was attributed to this origin. "Defective chim- 

 neys and flues" is credited with 12.4 per cent of the 

 dwelling loss, and "Lightning" comes next with 7.5 per 

 cent. While the evidence that one dwelling house fire 



Courtesy Clear Lake Lumber Company 



WASHING THE CEDAR LOG 



As the log is being hauled up to the mill it is thoroughly washed by force sprays in order to remove the 



the dirt which would dull the saws. 



