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REAL ESTATE
AND
(CopTrlgbt, lOlT, b7 Tbe Record tod Oalde Co.)
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 15, 1917
HOUSING FOR WORKMEN SHOULD BE STIMULATED
Urgent Demand for Structures of the Type—Concrete
Can Be Utilized—Minneapolis Cited as an Example
By WILLARD REED MESSENGER
'T'HE patriotic and also the purely
â– *• business advantages, or disadvan¬
tages of building during the war, are
being widely discussed by the people
who know what they are talking about
as well as those who do not; by those
who are prejudiced and would like to
see building curtailed in order to raise
rentals of existing structures and by
those who own vacant property and
want it built upon in order to produce
a revenue to meet the increasing taxes,
and by builders who naturally want to
build and continue their business, which
is one of the basic activities of the
nation's life.
Aside from these discussions, there
are also the incessant demands of manu¬
facturers who are appealing for a place
into which they can move immediately
their machinery, put labor to work and
meet an urgent and necessary demand
for their product, which would inci¬
dentally help to reduce soaring prices
of some essentials.
This factory and industrial plant prob¬
lem is being solved by one means or
another a little more satisfactorily than
has the housing problem for the work¬
ers employed in such plants. Thus there
comes an appeal from the industrial op¬
erators in the Borough of Queens, urg¬
ing those familiar with the industrial
housing question to construct more
homes for factory workers.
In one plant controlled by the Govern¬
ment located at a distance from New
York, housing and living conditions in
the neighborhood are so undesirable
that more than ten thousand workmen
have come and gone at that one plant
within a short period. Anyone familiar
with efficient manufacturing administra¬
tion knows what a demoralizing and
tremendously expensive situation this
condition creates.
This general situation at diflferent
points has become so serious that the
Federal Government, through the re¬
cently created "House Building Board"
working through the "Council of Na¬
tional Defense" and including represen¬
tatives from both the Army and Navy
Departments, is undertaking to study
overcrowded living conditions in the
most congested centers, such as the
iron and steel center at Birmingham,
Ala., manufacturing communities such as
Bridgeport, Conn., where housing facil¬
ities are at a great premium, at Akron,
Ohio, Newport News and Norfolk. Va.
It appears from careful investigation
that in some localities and in many in¬
stances, building at just this time is a
real patriotic service. In some cases
it seems important to push both fac¬
tory and housing facilities at the same
time. In other instances existing plants
have doubled the number of their em¬
ployees by working extra shifts, and
by additions to existing plants and new
factory construction, have doubled the
demand for homes. Thus it seems im¬
possible to speed up production without
considerable building of one kind or
another.
It therefore becomes important to an¬
alyze the situation, to study the factory
requirements regarding raw material
supply, the market for the finished prod¬
uct and the subject of distribution;
WILLARD Uii^i:.^ lUESSENGER.
whether by railroad or water transpor¬
tation and also the vitally important
question of labor supply, for labor at
the present time is difficult to attract
and hold, even with a wage bonus.
Therefore the unwise policy somewhat
in vogue early in the war, of locating
factories on cheap land but with meager
facilities, is giving way under a more
careful study and a better understand¬
ing of original costs, fixed charges, per¬
manent assets, labor requirements,
freight rates, handling charges, mar¬
ket and housing conditions.
Business Advantage and Policy.
Aside from these questions arise also
the business advantage and policy of
building under present conditions. Iron
and steel of course are high, but there is
little indication of a general range of
lower steel prices for some time to
come. The Southern States have been
given a strong industrial impetus
through shipbuilding and other indus¬
trial plants due to war conditions and
will require millions of dollars of sup¬
plies even after the war is terminated
in order to carry out the industrial
policies and ambitions of their re-
spe'ctive sections.
The reconstruction period abroad will
make unheard of demands for American
building materials. The great steel in¬
dustries and other engineering and in¬
dustrial organizations are today actu¬
ally planning in detail for this_ coming
period. They are already sending rep¬
resentatives abroad, to the Orient, to
South America and to Europe. Already
some classes of building materials de¬
mand at the seaboard, a higher price
for export, not only to the war zone
in Europe but to South America, than
for domestic use and this indicates the
growing requirements for construction
and building supplies abroad.
In order to construct wisely at the
present time it is necessary to analyze
the prices and advantages of different
classes of building material and not to
be misled by price discussion in general.
For instance, reinforced concrete has
become one of the most popular and
HKCORD AND GUIDB }S IJV ITS FIFTICTU Y£:AR OF CQNTINUOUS
serviceable types of building for all sec¬
tions of the United States for factory
construction. Considerably more than
two-thirds of the inaterial for concrete
is sand and gravel, usually obtained lo¬
cally, thus avoiding the expense of
transportation for long distances and
also relieving the railroads from the
burden of extra tonnage. The 20% or
25% of cement is obtainable from plants
located both East and West of the Mis¬
sissippi and in the South and also along
the Hudson River adjacent to New York
City, and at other points where trans¬
portation by water can be utilized, thus
again avoiding overcongestion of the
railroads.
These same favorable conditions ap¬
ply to the construction of concrete
houses for workingmen. At the at¬
tractive community of Roslin Farm at
Carnegie, Pa., this type of construction
is used, even in the midst of the steel
center. Attractive workingmen's cot¬
tages have been built at Seawaren. N. J.,
constructed entirely of precast concrete
slabs, where the industrial workingmen's
colony is being developed under the
auspices of the Sage Foundation Homes
Company and another model city,
known as Morgan Park, at Duluth,
Minn., is also constructed entirely of
concrete.
Here in New York building can
profitably and patriotically be pushed in
the same way. The present is not the
time for every type of construction such
as the skyscraper or unnecessary
theatres or amusement places, but on
the other hand factories to produce
necessary food and clothing and other
supplies, and homes for the workmen,
should be continued.
It should also be remembered that
the percentage of highly skilled labor
required on steel construction is not
necessary for concrete, although it is
subject to extremely artistic design and
in the case of factories is non-vibrating.
Large areas of structures of this type
are composed of glass windows. Con¬
crete is cool in summer, and these build¬
ings are easily heated in winter. In
houses and cottages, inexpensive but at¬
tractive stucco and color features are
produced. All types of concrete are
fireproof and last for centuries. Such
construction is therefore an enduring
asset both to the individual, the com¬
munity and the nation.
It would seem to be the part of pa¬
triotism, efficiency and good business
to review the whole subject rationally.
At Minneapolis a gigantic industrial
community comprising 200 acres is not
merely being discussed but actually de¬
veloped, with the only union freight
station in the city. The plan is the re¬
sult of cooperation between the munici¬
pality, the business men's organizations
and the twelve railroads entering Min¬
neapolis, substituting a model factory
and terminal development for what was
industrial slums.
Where perpetual waste in time, money
and efficiency exists, through incom¬
plete or antiquated facilities, such con¬
tinued waste and total loss should be
stopped by the creation of just what
Minneapolis has developed—a valuable
asset which can serve the nation and
the community effectively.
PUBLICATION.______________