For any structure which is intended to be permanent never use the logs
with bark on them; use _peeled_ logs. When your house is finished it may
look very fresh and new without bark, but one season of exposure to the
weather will tone it down so that it will be sufficiently rustic to please
your fancy, but if you leave the bark on the logs, a few seasons will rot
your house down, making it _too_ rustic to suit any one's fancy.
Lay up the pen of this house as already described and illustrated by Figs.
229, 233, etc., and when the sides and front walls have reached the
desired height, frame your roof after the manner shown by Fig. 49 or any
of the other methods described which may suit your fancy or convenience,
but in this case we use the Susitna form for the end plates, which are
made by first severing the root of a tree and leaving an elbow or bend at
the end of the trunk (Fig. 264). This is flattened by scoring and hewing
as is described and illustrated under the heading of the Susitna house.
The elbows at the terminals of the end plate are carved to represent
grotesque heads (Fig. 253). The house when built is something like the
Wyoming olebo (Fig. 236), but with the difference which will appear after
careful inspection of the diagram. The Wyoming olebo is a one-story house;
this is a two-story house. The Wyoming olebo has a roof built upon a
modified plan of a Kanuck; this roof is built on the American log-cabin
plan, with the logs continued up to the top of the gable, as are those in
the Olympic (Fig. 240). But the present house is supposed to be _very
carefully_ built; to be sure, it is made of rude material but handled in a
very neat and workmanlike manner. Great care must be used in notching and
joining the logs, and only the straightest logs which can be had should be
used for the walls of the house. The piazza may need some additional
supports if there is a wide front to the house, but with a narrow front
half, log puncheons will be sufficiently stiff to support themselves.