Famous reproduction of the Cliff-dwellers’ Ruins, near Colorado Springs,
Col. The cliff-dwellers of early America built their habitations in the
canyons of the Colorado and Rio Grande, where the action of the elements
had worn away a layer of soft rock, leaving layers of hard rock above
and below as roof and floor for the dwelling.]
What were the First Apartment Houses in this Country?
A great many years ago, long before the white men came to America, there
was a race of Indians called “cliff-dwellers,” because they built their
dwelling places far up on the sides of steep cliffs. They probably made
their homes so hard to reach in order that they might be safe from
visits of their enemies. While many of their homes were small
single-family houses, there were also a number of large two and
three-story dwellings with many rooms in which different families lived.
Some of these cliff dwellings may still be seen in the valleys of the
Rio Grande and the Rio Colorado and its tributaries. Close examination
shows that many of them were very skilfully built, every advantage being
taken of the natural rock formations, and the stones being dressed and
laid in clay mortar, very much as the bricklayer does his work on an
up-to-date apartment house today. The outsides of the buildings somewhat
resembled the cement houses which have been put up in later days, a coat
of clay being spread on the outside walls and carefully smoothed off.
Oftentimes the inner walls were plastered too.
Many relics of the inhabitants have been found in these cliff dwellings,
although we cannot tell how they lived, for the region is now rainless
and therefore destitute of food plants. Conditions must have been
different then and the ground less barren.
Why do We Call 32° Above Zero “Freezing”?
We know that freezing is the transformation of a liquid into solid under
the influence of cold. Each liquid always solidifies at some fixed
temperature, which is called its freezing point, and the solid melts
again at the same temperature. Thus the freezing point and the melting
point, or point of fusion, are the same, and the point is always the
same for the same substance.
Consequently the freezing point of water, or the melting point of ice
(32° F.), is taken for one of the fixed points in thermometry. The
freezing point of mercury is 39° below zero, of sulphuric ether 46°
below zero, of alcohol 203° below zero F.
How is Fresco Painting Done?
In producing fresco paintings, a finished drawing on paper, called a
cartoon, exactly the size of the intended picture, is first made, to
serve as a model.
The artist then has a limited portion of the wall covered over with a
fine sort of plaster, and upon this he traces from his cartoon the part
of the design suited for the space. As it is necessary to the success
and permanency of his work that the colors should be applied while the
plaster is yet damp, no more of the surface is plastered at one time
than what the artist can finish in one day. A portion of the picture
once commenced, needs to be completely finished before leaving it, as
fresco does not admit of retouching after the plaster has become dry. On
completing a day’s work, any unpainted part of the plaster is removed,
cutting it neatly along the outline of a figure or other definite form,
so that the joining of the plaster for the next day’s work may be
concealed.
The art is very ancient, remains of it being found in India, Egypt,
Mexico, etc. Examples of Roman frescoes are found in Pompeii and other
places. After the beginning of the fifteenth century fresco painting
became the favorite process of the greatest Italian masters, and many of
their noblest pictorial efforts are frescoes on the walls of palaces and
churches.
Some ancient wall paintings are executed in what is called “Fresco
Secco,” which is distinguished from true fresco by being executed on dry
plaster, which is moistened with lime water before the colors are
applied.
Fresco painting has in recent years again been revived, and works of
this kind have been executed in the British Houses of Parliament and
other public and private buildings, more especially in Germany.