Show A NEW BUILDING MATERIAL the hollow concrete block as a building material has rapidly come into use during the past five years and its manufacture and utilization has grown almost surprisingly as has the manufacture and use of portland cement which is now so abundantly employed in connection with different phases of the mining industry throughout the west one of the causes of the popularity ot this new building material is the rapidly falling failing supply of lumber another is the widespread interest in all applications of portland cement and in the various and almost innumerable uses to which it can be so readily applied and still another is that the hollow concrete block is an efficient substitute for wood offering the advantages of durability safety comfort and beauty in many localities there is good reason to believe that concrete will become the chief building material of the future for large and costly buildings many good reasons are advanced in favor of the use of the hollow concrete block and for smaller structures especially factories and dwellings it is claimed that concrete is much cheaper more suitable and that its use requires much less technical skill in erection and that the possibilities ties of this type of construction are unlimited the hollow concrete block is now in common use in the east it is rapidly coming into general use in the west and when its value application and economy is more fully realized it will become a popular building material in many of our mining camps and especially so where lumber is scarce or where lack of transportation facilities almost prohibits the use of lumber for building purposes |