Sugar Cane Fiber Yields Durable Building Material

Increasing building activities and the larger demands for lumber eaih month, all over the country has turned many minds to thinking of suitable substitutes, and to the perfection of materials that will answer the purpose at a non-prohibitive cost.

One remarkable example of a successful achievement standard-size sheets, 4 by 12 ft., though of course it may be 'cut into any other sizes.

The manufacturers state that the innumerable minute air cells contained in Celotex gives the material effiiciency as a sound deadener and insulator. The product is waterproofed. Because of this it can be used for exterior as well along this line is the making of Celotex Insulating Lumber from the fibre of sugar cane after the juice has been pressed out at the sugar mill. This material is being made into a substitute for lumber which possesses peculiar qualities.

Celotex is the result of many years of experiments by experts in the insulation business and utilizes a patented process.

'fhe bagasse is baled, as it comes from the rollers of fhe sugar mill, and shipped to the "lumber factory." There it is first cooked to destroy the decay-producing spores and is treated with chemicals to make it waterproof. It then passes to beating machines, which pound it to a pulp. When thoroughly beaten, it is passed through rollers and compressed into a continuous sheet, 12 ft. wide. At this stage it is soft and must be dried.

The drying building is more than 1,000 ft. long. Here the product is subjected to intense heat by means of c'oiled ste,am pipes placed beneath the floor. The finished lumber'comes out in sheets 12 ft. wide and 9@'ft. long, sufficient material to build three or four five-room bungalows. It is sawed, in the same manner as ordinary lumber, into as for interior work. It will not decay even if not painted, but can be painted, stained or kalsomined.

The cellular formation which makes Celotex so light also serves as an insulation and it is ,claimed that a house built of it would be cooler in summer and would require less heat in winter.

Among the interesting instances of the installations of Celotex on the Pacific Coast are the bungalettes constructed by the William Wrigley interests at Catalina Island and the 'Spreckles cottages on the beach at Coronado. The Western Celotex Company, who are distributors for Celotex in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, advise that Celotex is being used in great quantities in the construction of interior and exterior sets by the leading motion picture studios of California. While these installations are ,of interest, the great bulk of Celotex used on the Pacific Coast has gone into the construction of hundreds of dwellings, apartment houses, flats, stores, office buildings, schools houses, gymnasiums, etc.

Celotex has met with such remarkable success that the manu,facturing plant is now being tripled in capacity to meet the growing demand for this product.