1030 



Canadian Forestry Journal, March, 1917 



Wooden Homes for Belgian Refugees 



A proposal that combines relief 

 mearsures at present with export trade 

 possibihties for the future has been 

 placed before the lumbermen of the 

 Paific Coast by Albert G. Von 

 Hecke, professor of civil engineering 

 at the University of Louvain, Bel- 

 gium. 



Belgian refugees to the number of 

 1,000,000 have migrated to Holland. 

 The housing of this influx of settlers 

 required considerable attention on 

 the part of the people of Belgium. 

 The construction of two, three and 

 four room portable houses was under- 

 taken. The material for these houses 

 came from the Baltic. The price of 

 this material prior to the war was 

 Si6 per thousand delivered in Hol- 

 land, on a S2.50 per 1000 normal 

 freight rate from the Baltic. This 

 price has advanced considerably, due 

 to the abnormally high charter rates. 



Mr. Von Hecke is touring in the 

 interest of the Belgian Relief Fund, 

 and has suggested that the lumber- 

 men of the Pacific Coast, including 

 fir, pine and redwood manufacturers, 

 contribute a cargo of lumber, say 

 three million feet, of such material 

 as would be suitable for building 

 these temporary structures in Hol- 

 land, which later, upon the restora- 

 tion of Belgium, may be moved over 

 the border into that country. 



Excellent Advertisement 



Mr. Von Hecke states that he 

 believes an admirable opportunity 

 now exists to advertise the merits 

 of Pacific Coast woods in Holland, 

 Belgium and France. The class of 

 material required for these iiouses 

 would be common grades, but Mr. 

 Von Hecke believes that some of 

 the higher grades of Douglas fir, 

 pine and redwood should be included 

 in the sample cargo with a view of 

 demonstrating the qualities of both 

 lower and upper grades of Pacific 

 Coast lumber. He has suggested 

 that this lumber be stenciled so as 



to identify its species and the source. 

 The stenciling to be effective should 

 be in Flemish, French and EngUsh. 



Modern Houses Rare 



In an interview Mr. Von Hecke 

 stated that the people of Europe, 

 with the exception of Norway and 

 Switzerland, were not accustomed 

 to the wooden house, the ordinary 

 building material being brick and 

 stone. It was a revelation to him 

 to learn that wooden houses 100 

 years old are in good condition in 

 some sections of to-da3\ This fact 

 should be impressed very strongly 

 upon the people of Europe, who look 

 upon wood merely as a temporary 

 building material. 



Cost of Rebuilding 



The New York Economic World 

 has printed a most valuable com- 

 pilation showing the approximate 

 losses sustained by France and Bel- 

 gium on account of the war. The 

 figures are stupendous. The pre- 

 sentment is a most interesting one 

 and will be studied with deep in- 

 terest and appreciation by the lum- 

 ber interests. 



"In a report on 'World Trade Con- 

 ditions After the European War,' 

 submitted to the Fourth National 

 Foreign Trade Convention, at Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa., January 25-27, 1917, 

 estimates were included of the value 

 of the property destroyed as a re- 

 sult of the war in Belgium and North- 

 ern France, and of the cost of what 

 will be immediately required for re- 

 placement purposes upon the con- 

 clusion of peace. The sections of 

 the report covering these matters 

 are as follows: 



"Several attempts have been made 

 to estimate the financial loss caused 

 by the war in Belgium and North- 

 eastern France. These estimates were 

 mostly made in the early part of the 

 war. 



"During February, 1915, the Cen- 



