New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-12-03
HOUSE-BUHDRG.

UERApfrR.
ks;lt and inhabited successfully at least half
sozso. A few logs cut from trees that grew bat
Yesterday Cd the site Of the projected habtadon,
fsm The sides Of the edihce, with saPGngs for
Yafers, barb for roofing split logs Tor naked EARN
DR. flooring, a stOne-heap Cor fireplace eiayed
sticks for q chimney, chopped hoie for WIDOW;
visible a board Qf it is to be had) cut IN TWO ana
naIed together with two crOss-sticks for door,
completes the primitive structure-such as Adam
vsald doubtless have built when driven from Eden
had be been so fortunate as to own an AK. Tms
orieipal--though not decentralization re-
mains the type or germ Of the American rural
donica long after rbe necessity for following 80
rude pattern has vanished; hence we see wooden
houses going up to-day in our own State and New
EpgIand on the impulse and at the cost OF men
ed enough to know better and abundanty able to do
better The log house. with all its defects, beside
being a necessity of pioneer life, is substantial
afair-a fortress against savage assault, and
vretecton against Winter winds which needs but
days claying up of its crevices to render 1t al
most perfect; while half days work at removing
She clay CASUALLY needless where there are young
children abOut) makes it cool and airy again for
Summer. But pretentOus house Of boards and
shinges, lath and plaster is quite out OF place IN
our severe, caprcious clmate-tOO cold IN Winter,
Zoe hot in Summer-aDd only needs the Gothic
peak and trimmings TO render it detestable.
An obyious fault Of most American houses is
tbsir utter lack of character. Each is just Ike a
thousand others; or, if unlike, neither owner nor
ANYBODY else can tell why. 1t embOdies too much
timber. too little thought. But good house should
Do as iDdvidual--not to say unique-as good
poem. and every feature should have its reason. 1t
should have been the subject Of reflection, study,
consultation, comparison, and so be harmOnized in
m things with the locality and the landscape. And
a coed house is by no means of necessity costly
one. 1t may have but two rooms, pantry, an
entry. and an attic and still be ga thing of
beauty" which the poet truly says is JOY for
o. sever" while another that costs twice as much
r,ay be unfit to shelter rational beings. 1t may
lave dozen snowy rooms yet no place fit to think
or read or live in.
It is not merely mistake to keep on building
fral thin evanescent structures of wood for human
Affiliations in localities from which good timber
has disappeared. 1t is wasteful Better construct
thoroughly good, enduring house of brick or stone
thirty feet by forty and story high, than windy
wooden shell as big ss church. And it is not ne
cessary to build dear house in order to have it
lasting. We know by actual experiment, that the
80 Tave-walp' mode of building commendedin FOw-
lers g. Wells's book lie feasible, servceable durable
Any sort Of rough, sbapeless stone, such as almost
every farmer of the North il bothered to get rid Of
may bysthis process be used to form three-fOurths
Of the walls of your house barn. the residue being
mortar of sand, cement, and lime. We have
bailt barn on this plan, which frost Will never
penetrate which is cool in Summer, in which cattle
are kept at far less cost than in shiyery board
edifoe, and which viii outlast the Nspoleonic en-
pire and dynasty by at least five hundred years.
And though it wasn't cheap novelties seldom are),
Ee are sure that houses and barns may be and Will
DO built cheaply of this material wherever stones
and sand are abundant
We were in Danbury, Conn, a few days since,
and were there invited by friend to visit and in
rpeet his house, built of unburned, compressed
brick OF artificial stone, made according to what we
believe tobe Western recipe, patented sone two or
shree years ago. which remember to have de-
soribed at the time, but which we had almost for
petteu. These brick or stone are formed OF the
ordinarv sandy loan Of all granite regions, with
sbeut oue.tenth of lime, and are then run through a
macmillan press. from which they emerge smooth as
pobshed marble and almost as hard. They are
then exposed for a few days to sun and AIR, wher
saes are ready to be laid up into walls. eve are
not pretending to describe with accuracy, for We
have forgotten the patentee's name and speak only
of
n twice or thrice the size of an ordinary brick anC
has an obong hole in its center. Its advantages al
set forth by our friend, are-1. 1t costs but abou
half 80 much as the ordinary burned brick. 2. Il
b hid up much faster. 3. Being so large and per
Sesly true, it requires far less mortar a. 1t hard
ems BY age and exposure. S. IL makes perfectly
dry walls, on which you may plaster directly. Pos
sibly, further experience may develop some draw
backs; and We cannot say how wide is the range
Of materials from which this brick may be made;
but it does seem to us worth considering by every
one who contemplates hOuse-bulding, at least in a
granite country.
The latest invention which promises henceforth
10 exert an important and beneficial influence over
hesse- building is that of q remarkable Enamel for
bricks forming the faces of houses, stores, &C.
The inventor is Mr.. Decius w. Clark of the widely
kBswn and now thoroughly successful Flint Enamel
Pottery at Bennington, VT. Mr.. Clark has devoted
Ai 6fb and energies 10 Pottery, and for the last
aeven years has been studying and experimenting
On Glazes-we hear with most brilliant results
Careful and thrifty men who have looked into his
processes believe that his discoveries will speedily
,.vol,sf, co;za the Poffarv husineSs rescuing our