HOUSE BUILDING.
One afternoon Fred, who had waded over to Lumberville after some
provisions, came splashing back holding aloft a large square envelope.
It was from Uncle Ed and contained a photograph of a group of Wichita
Indians building a large grass lodge. In a brief explanatory letter
Uncle Ed suggested that we build a similar hut on our Island.
THE GRASS HUT.
[Illustration: Fig. 131. Making the Frame of the Straw Hut.]
[Illustration: Fig. 132. Doorway of the Hut.]
The grass lodge appealed to us as very picturesque, and we set to work
immediately on its construction. We made our hut much smaller, however,
only 12 feet in diameter, and 8 or 9 feet high. First we procured two
dozen light poles between 10 and 12 feet long. These we set up about 18
inches apart in a circle like a stockade, the sticks being buried in the
ground to a depth of 12 inches. At one side a space of 3 feet was
allowed for a doorway. Inside the stockade we erected a working platform
of planks supported on barrels, and standing on this we took two
opposite poles, bent them inward and lashed their upper ends together.
Then a second pair of opposite poles were similarly bent inward and
tied, and so we proceeded until the entire stockade had been converted
into a dome-shaped cage. Around these poles we laid lighter sticks, or
bands, tying them at the points of intersection. At the doorway two
posts were set firmly in the ground, projecting upward to a height of 4
feet. A lintel nailed across the top of the posts completed the door
frame. Sticks were nailed to the lintel and to the side posts, extending
to the main frame of the hut, to which they were tied. We were now ready
to thatch our hut. Reddy and Dutchy went over to Lumberville for several
bales of straw. We tied the straw in bunches and applied it to the
frame, copying, as best we could, the process illustrated in the
photograph.
But for its location the hut would have proved a very serviceable
habitation. In order to have a good, dry dwelling without laying down a
board flooring, we had selected for its site the sandy shore at Point
Lookout. This part of the island was not sheltered with trees, and the
hot sun beat down on our hut so strongly that we found the quarters very
uncomfortable indeed. It was this fact that led to the construction of a
tree hut--a building that would be perfectly dry and yet shaded and
cool. Bill had read of such houses in the Philippines and felt confident
that we could build one. We couldn't decide at first where to locate our
hut until Dutchy moved that we build it in the gnarled oak tree
overlooking the "Goblins' Dancing Platform." Immediately the motion was
seconded and unanimously carried.
THE GOBLINS' DANCING PLATFORM.
Just above the town of Lumberville there was a cliff which rose sheer
200 feet above the level of the river. So perpendicular was the cliff
that a stone dropped from the overhanging ledge at the top would fall
straight down to the railroad track below without touching a twig in its
course. Back of this broad ledge there was a very peculiar formation. A
column of stone rose abruptly 40 feet higher and was topped with a large
slab about 12 feet in diameter. This was known all over that region as
the Goblins' Dancing Platform. The only possible way of gaining the
summit of the column was by climbing a scraggly oak tree which grew on
the high ground back of the pillar, crawling out on an overhanging limb,
and then dropping down to the platform below. It was in this oak that we
decided to build our house. It was a very inaccessible spot, and to
reach it we had to make a wide detour around the back of the hill, and
through the fields of a cranky farmer, who more than once threatened to
fill us with bird shot for trespassing on his property. How were we to
carry all our building materials up to this great height? One would
think that the difficulties would be enough to discourage us, but not so
with the S. S. I. E. E. of W. C. I. Nothing daunted us.
DUTCHY TAKES A DARE.
Our first task was to try some other approach to the top of the cliff.
At one side of the overhanging ledge there was a fissure in the rocks
which ran from the base of the pillar to the foot of the cliff. Down
this zigzag crevice Dutchy had scrambled, one afternoon, on a dare. We
were rather frightened when he started, because it was a very hazardous
undertaking, and we watched him anxiously, peering over the edge of the
precipice. By bracing his back against one of the walls of the rock, and
digging his feet into the niches and chinks of the opposite wall, he
safely made his way to a shelf about half-way down, where he paused to
rest. From that point on the fissure widened out, and a steep, almost
vertical incline, sparsely covered with vegetation, led to the railroad
track below. I think he must have become rather frightened at his
position, because he hesitated long before he resumed his downward
course, and when he finally did make the attempt his foot slipped upon
the moss-covered rocks and down he fell, scratching and clawing at every
shrub within reach. Believing him to be killed, we rushed down the hill
and around to the foot of the cliff. It probably took us about fifteen
or twenty minutes, though it seemed ages before we came upon our
venturesome comrade coolly trying to pin together a rent of inconvenient
location and dimensions in his trousers.
"Say, Dutchy, are you killed?" cried Bill, breathlessly.
"Killed, nothing," he replied, with scorn. "I suppose you fellows think
I had a fall. Well, I didn't."
"You didn't, eh? We saw you slip."
"Oh, go on. I came down that way on purpose. There was no use in picking
my way down like a 'fraid cat, when I could just as well take a smooth
and easy toboggan slide on the bushes all the way down."
Smooth and easy toboggan slide! Well, you should have seen the hillside.
The course was well defined by the torn and uprooted shrubs and the pile
of branches and vines at Dutchy's feet. Whether the hare-brained Dutchy
really imagined he could glide easily down on the shrubbery, his frantic
movements on the way certainly belied his story, and when, the next day,
we proposed that he repeat the trick, somehow he didn't seem to be very
enthusiastic on the subject.
[Illustration: Wichita Indians Building a Straw Hut.]
A PATH UP THE FISSURE.
[Illustration: Fig. 133. The Jacob's Ladder.]
It was up this fissure that we decided to haul materials for our tree
hut. Our first task was to build steps and ladders in the steepest
parts. We had no tool for cutting out niches in the rock, but wherever
natural depressions were formed we wedged in sticks of wood between the
side walls to serve as ladder rungs. If no such niches appeared for
considerable height, we would stretch a rope ladder to the next fixed
rung. In most places the natural formation of the rock was such as to
afford sufficient footing.
ROPE LADDERS.
[Illustration: Fig. 134. Rope Ladder.]
The rope ladders were made of two parallel side straps, tightly
stretched between the fixed sticks, and then at intervals of fifteen
inches we inserted the ends of the ladder rung between the strands of
the rope. Below and above each rung the rope was bound with cord. The
rungs were notched at the ends to prevent them from slipping out.
[Illustration: Fig. 135. A Ladder Rung.]
[Illustration: Fig. 136. The Derrick.]
After providing a means for scaling the cliff (we called it the Jacob's
Ladder), we were still confronted with the problem how to cart our
building materials to the top. It was a very hard task and you couldn't
have hired us to do it under any other circumstances. First, Bill
planned out on paper just how the house was to be built, and we cut all
the pieces to the right size so as not to carry up any superfluous
matter. When all was ready the boards and sticks were loaded on the
scow, and ferried over to the cliff. Then we carried them on our backs,
three or four at a time, up the slanting hillside to the first ledge.
From there up, owing to the steepness of the ascent, we had to employ
different tactics.
THE DERRICK.
[Illustration: Fig. 137. The Derrick in Use.]
A derrick was constructed of two sticks 10 feet long, which were bolted
together at the top, and secured about five feet apart at the bottom by
a cross piece, as shown in Fig. 136. The derrick was then taken apart
and with some difficulty hauled piecemeal up to the next ledge above.
Here it was put together again. The fall and tackle used in our aerial
railway was attached to the apex of the derrick, and the latter was then
erected with the legs set into depressions in the ledge and the upper
ends slanting outward but kept from falling over the edge by a rope tied
to one of the fixed rungs set in the fissure. With this derrick we
hoisted up the boards in a few hauls. The job was a very ticklish one,
but Bill used the greatest care to prevent accident. The derrick, rope
and tackle were carefully tested before used, and as soon as the load
was attached to the lower pulley block the two who did the loading were
instructed to crawl back into the fissure so as to be out of danger in
case anything gave way. At one time a stick which had been carelessly
tied did fall, and it might have badly hurt some one had we not observed
this precaution. When we had raised the material to the second ledge we
transferred operations to the top ledge, and when the materials had been
hauled up to this point we finally rigged up our fall and tackle in the
old oak tree itself.
THE TREE HOUSE.
[Illustration: Fig. 138. Main Girder of the Tree House.]
[Illustration: Fig 139. Top View of the Platform.]
The tree had two large limbs which extended out at a wide angle from the
main trunk. Across these two limbs, at about seven feet out, we laid our
first girder, nailing it securely in place. Then to the main trunk we
nailed the second girder on a level with the first. Diagonal braces were
extended from the trunk to support the ends of this girder, and a tie
piece was nailed to the braces, as shown in Fig. 138, to prevent them
from spreading. The girders were rough sticks about 4 inches in diameter
and 10 feet long. We cut flat faces on them at the points where they
were nailed to the tree, and then, to make them doubly secured, we
nailed cleats, or blocks of wood, to the tree under them. The floor
beams were then laid across and nailed to the girders. They were cut to
a length of 10 feet so as to project beyond the outer girder to provide
for a piazza overhanging the Goblins' Platform. Six floor beams were
used, spaced 20 inches apart. All branches projecting up between the
beams were then cut away and a flooring of slabs was laid on. To the
main trunk six feet above the flooring, a stick or (to use the technical
term), "wall plate," was nailed on, and its ends were supported by
upright posts resting on the platform. Thirty inches from the outer end
of the platform two more posts were erected eight feet high and secured
by sticks nailed across from the other posts, and also by a second wall
plate connecting their upper ends. Four more posts were erected, one
between each pair of the corner posts, and then we were ready to enclose
the framing.
[Illustration: Fig. 140. The Frame of the House.]
[Illustration: Fig. 141. Nailing on the Clapboards.]
The sidewalls were first clapboarded, because we were afraid the roof
would not hold us until the framing had been strengthened by nailing on
the siding. Slab boards were used for this purpose. Beginning at the
bottom, the boards were laid on, each lapping over the one below, as
shown in Fig. 141, so as to shed water. In each side we cut a window
opening and nailed on a window casing of the type shown in Fig. 142,
which will be described in a moment. As soon as the clapboards were
applied, we nailed on the rafters and then applied the roofing. The same
principle was here used for shedding water. The lowest board was first
laid on, and then the others were successively applied, each lapping
over the one below.
[Illustration: Fig. 142. The Window Casing.]
[Illustration: Fig. 143. The Window Sash.]
The window casings we used each consisted of a frame about 15 inches
square, but with the upper and lower pieces extending 12 inches beyond
one of the side pieces. On these extended pieces a slideway was formed
for the window sash by nailing on two strips of wood about 3/4 inch
square and over them a pair of wider strips projecting inward, so as to
overlap the edges of the sash. The window sash consisted of a frame
13-1/2 inches square, made of 3/4-inch square strips over which canvas
was tightly stretched and tacked. A spool was nailed on at one side for
a handle. These windows were closed only in rainy weather, to keep the
water out.
SLIDING DOORS.
[Illustration: Fig. 144. Section of the Door and Frame.]
We had two doors; one at the back of the house, from which a ladder
extended down to the ground, and another opening out onto the veranda,
from which we dropped a ladder down to the Goblins' Dancing Platform. In
order to save space we used sliding instead of swinging doors. The back
door frame was 5-1/2 feet high and the front door frame 6 feet high. The
doors were mounted on the outside of the building. The side posts of
each frame were 2-1/2 feet apart, and the lintel and sill extended 3
feet beyond the side post at one side. The upper face of the lintel was
planed down perfectly smooth, and its edges were tapered off to make a
track for the rollers on the door. The rollers consisted of two spools,
which turned on tenpenny nails driven into the top of the door. At the
lower end two more spools were mounted, turning on nails driven in the
bottom edge of the door. The rims of the spools extended slightly beyond
the outer face of the door and rolled against the sill. To keep the
water from leaking in at the top a slanting board was fastened above it,
as shown in Fig. 144. The back door was similarly constructed. Our tree
house was completed by a running balustrade around the veranda.
It strangely happened that just after our tree house had been built we
received a photograph from Uncle Ed of a Filipino tree house made of
bamboo.
[Illustration: A Filipino Bamboo Tree House.]