84 
House & Garden 
APPRECIATION 
The owners of the Wills Sainte Claire are 
those owner- drivers who appreciate the 
thrill of tremendous power and eager obedi¬ 
ence to the lightest touch; who realize that 
in this car, and this car only, perfection of 
balance is combined with lightweight, 
sturdiness, roadability, ease of riding and 
responsiveness that give them a new expe¬ 
rience in safe, yet thrilling travel. 
T he Motor — Eight'cylinder, actually twin 
fours; 60 horsepower; overhead camshafts 
and valves in cylinder head . This construe - 
tion produces the enormous, flexible power; 
the smooth, noiseless operation; the un- 
equaled simplicity and accessibility of all 
essential parts. 
C. H. Wills &. Company, Marysville, Michigan 
WILLS SAINTE CLAIRE 
©C.H. W. Co. 
Insulating the New House 
( Continued, from page 71) 
porous material would have a muffling 
effect on the solid parts of the building. 
Wave motion is not possible where the 
air chamber is sufficiently isolated. 
It is rather a romantic idea to know 
that some homes are being made sound¬ 
proof, fireproof, and every other proof, 
by the use of cushions of eel grass. And 
yet one of the best known scientific in¬ 
sulators of heat, sound and fire is a 
fabric of eel grass. This grass is woven 
into a thick elastic cushion, filled with 
dead air spaces. It seems that it is neces¬ 
sary to use long flat blades of grass for 
perfect insulation. And the eel grass is 
also practically indestructible. A sample 
280 years old is in possession of one of 
the insulating manufacturers. We under¬ 
stand that it is absolutely sanitary, that 
it will not harbor insects or vermin, that 
it is an actual fire retardent. It grows 
in salt water and contains silicon to a 
large extent. This renders it non-in¬ 
flammable, uninviting to rats and mice 
and also tough and elastic. 
This lining is very popular in warm 
climates as it makes rooms habitable 
that have been thought perfectly use¬ 
less through intense mid-day sun. On 
the other hand, it has a popularity in 
Greenland and was used to shelter some 
of the huts in the Scott Antarctic Ex¬ 
pedition. As to noise, it seems to perish 
in the face of these eel grass cushions 
which have a power of breaking up and 
absorbing sound waves. Think of the 
delight of renting an apartment without 
being tortured with the fear of the 
midnight festivities of the tenants above, 
or at the side or below. 
Eel Grass Sheets 
These sheets of eel grass may be used 
as an insulation medium throughout 
the building, for floor deadening, wall 
insulation, roofs and partitions; for 
sound and cold it is used about a half 
inch thick. For cold storage at least 
three quarters of an inch; for water¬ 
proofing purposes, it is made up with a 
waterproof paper on both sides and 
with the needle hole seal. Charts are 
sent out showing the method of using 
this material for every detail of house 
insulation. 
Practically all these insulation mate¬ 
rials, including felt, cork and asbestos, 
are very light weight. They are also clean 
and inodorous. The best of them repel 
rather than attract insects so that, on the 
whole, they seem to have become an 
essential in good building construction. 
Hair insulating is singularly effec¬ 
tive as a sound deadener. It consists 
of a heavy layer of thoroughly cleaned 
cattle hair securely fastened between two 
sheets of protective paper. The cattle 
hair is treated with a chemical process, 
which renders it vermin proof and odor¬ 
less. It will not dry out, split or rot with 
age; it shrivels when it comes in contact 
with fire, but will not carry flame. It 
is extremely light in weight and is so 
flexible that it fits into odd corners, 
which makes it very easy to apply. The 
round and beveled edges allow one inch 
lap, assuring an excellent insulation. 
There are many varieties of this hair 
insulating material, some especially for 
weather, some for water, some for ver¬ 
min and, of course, a number for fire. 
Gypsum 
Many architects will tell you that 
some of the most desirable qualities in 
insulation are afforded by the modern 
wall plaster made from gypsum rock. 
This plaster has the unique property of 
reverting, when set, to its original rock 
state. As a result of the present highly 
developed methods of manufacture, it 
can be made to rival concrete in com¬ 
pressive strength. 
It was several years ago that a manu¬ 
facturer of gypsum products conceived 
the novel idea of casting gypsum plas¬ 
ter between two layers of fibrous ma¬ 
terial into sheets, or wall sections, ready 
to be nailed directly to the studding or 
joists, thus combining the excellences 
of the gypsum plastered wall with rapid, 
clean and usually economical applica¬ 
tion. 
In order that the large sheets—they 
are 32" or 48" in width, 6' to 10' in 
length, and y&" in thickness—will not 
break when handled, the gypsum used 
is toughened by a special process, so 
that the sections, although solid and 
rigid, can actually be bent without 
cracking the plaster core. One of the 
virtues of wall plaster is that the 
changes in humidity which cause heavy 
furniture to come apart and doors and 
drawers to stick, never cause it to warp, 
shrink or bulge. If the walls and ceil¬ 
ings of the building are lined with gyp¬ 
sum wallboard, fire would undoubtedly 
be confined to the room in which it 
started for some length of time. Tests 
made in the experimental laboratory of 
the University of Illinois have demon¬ 
strated that less than the Volsteadian 
one-half of one percent of sound can 
pass through a gypsum slab. 
Hollow Tile and Metal Lath 
In addition to the actual fireproof 
construction such as hollow tile, and 
metal lath, there is a concrete which is 
waterproof in its composition. This is 
considered one of the most economical 
and important developments in building 
materials. Waterproofing in concrete, 
added as an integral part of the material, 
lines the tubes or pores throughout the 
mass with a water-repellent film that 
resists dampness permanently. There is 
also a waterproofing paste that can be 
put on over other substances, and pastes 
that are incorporated in cement and 
stucco. It is also essential to remember 
a fire felt sheet and block which are 
especially adapted for hot surfaces. 
Insulating sheets for fire, dampness, 
heat and cold are used as a plaster base. 
And there is a variety of wall boards 
which can be incorporated in the ex¬ 
terior walls and floors for insulating 
purposes. Good builders today consider 
it essential to use an insulating sheath¬ 
ing for furnaces, heating pipes, refriger¬ 
ators, etc., in fact, for every kind of 
mechanism where it is desirable to avoid 
the dissipating of heat or cold. Innu¬ 
merable paints and stains are listed as 
waterproof and fire deterrent. 
It has been proved by architects as 
well as builders that cork flooring also 
has a fire resisting quality, that fire has 
a harder fight through a cork surface on 
the floor than almost any other material 
except concrete or tile, and where lino¬ 
leums are laid down in a concrete bed 
they are fire deterrent to a degree in fin¬ 
ishing a home. 
Stock Room Fittings 
One of the needs today is to have a 
stock room so insulated that it can be 
kept cool, no matter what the change in 
temperature outside. To automatically 
correct the temperature in a stock room 
that has become warm, connect your 
stock room with the outside air by 
means of two separate conduits of 
rather limited cross section; both con¬ 
duits to end in the open near each other, 
preferably on the shady side of the 
house, both running as straight as pos¬ 
sible, one ending in the stock room very 
close to the ceiling, the other ending in 
the stock room close to the floor. 
These two conduits assure automatic 
ventilation, without direct draft, espe- 
(Continued on page 86) 
