Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on February 16, 1956.
Wise Use of Materials is Being Urged
“If everyone uses scarce building materials wisely, more building can be done in Porter county and vicinity during the emergency,” according to Charles E. Foster, Jr., local lumber and building materials dealer and member of the public affairs committee of the national retail lumber dealers association.
“Because of production restrictions adopted to meet the needs of the rearmament program, supplies of certain building products, such as nails, pipe, gutters and downspouts, metal lath and reinforcing steel, are likely to be restricted for some months to come,” Foster said.
“By not using those scarce products unless absolutely necessary, using no more than is required for safe construction, and avoiding waste in their use, the available supply can be made to stretch over a larger amount of construction work and benefit a larger number of local people.
“There should be plenty of lumber, wall board, cement, brick, and other non-critical building materials in the months ahead, but the amount of building that can be done will be determined largely by the care with which materials containing critical metals are used in building.
“With the virtual elimination of copper and aluminum for construction purposes steel now is the material which must be carefully conserved in building until such time as expanded production makes it possib;e to meet both defense and civilian needs.”
