The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1881-05-20
BUILDING AN IGL00.
The Kind Of Houses People Live In Near the
North Pole.


The builder selects snow Of the proper
consistency by sounding drift with 9
cane made for the purpose of reindeer
horn, straightcned by steaming, and
worked down to about half an inch in
diameter, with ferule of walrus tusk OF
the tooth of bear on the bottom. By
thrusting this into the snow he can tel
whether layers deposited by success
sive winds are separated 10y bands Of
soft snow, which would cause the blocks
to break. When the snow is selected
he digs a pit to the depth of eighteen
inches or two feet, or about the length
of the snow block. He then steps into
the pit and proceeds to cut out the
blocks by first cutting down at the ends
Of the pit and then at the bottom af'
terward, cutting a little channel about
an inch or two deep, making the thick
ness of the proposed block. Now comes
the part that requires practice to ac
complish successfully. The expert will
with few thrusts of his knife in just
the right places split off the snow block
and lift it carefully out to await removal
to its position on the wall. The tyre
will almost inevitably break the block
into two OF three pieces, utterly unfit
for the use of the builder When two
men are building an ieloo one cuts the
blocks and the other erects the wall,
When sufficient blocks have been cut
out TO commence work with the builder
marks with his eye, or perhaps draws
line with Lis knife, describing the cir.
cumference of the building, usually
circle about ten on twelve feet in diane.
ter The first row of blocks is then
arranged, the blocks placed so as to in.
cline inward and resting against each
other at the ends, thus affording mutual
support. When this row is completed
the builder cuts away the first and Sec
ond blocks, slanting in from the ground
upward, so that the second tier, resting
upon the first row, can be continued on
and around spirally, and by gradually
increasing the inward slant a perfect
dome is constructed of such strength
that the builder can lie fat upon the
outside while chinking the interstices
between the blocks. The chinking, is
however, usually done by women and
children as the building progresses,
and additional protection secured from
the winds in very cold weather by bank
ing up, with a large wooden snow
shovel, the snow at the base often being
piled to the depth of three or four feet.
This makes the igloo perfectly imper-
vious to the wind in the most tempest.
uous weather. When the house is
completed the builders are walled in.
Then small hole about two feet square
is cut in the wall on the side away from
where the entrance is to be located and
is used to pass in the lamps and bedding,
1t is then walled up and the regular
door cut about two feet high and
niched at the top. 1t would bring bad
luck to carry the bedding into the igloo
by the same door it would be taken out.
Before the door is opened the bed is
constructed of snow blocks, and made
from one to three or four feet high, and
occupies three-fourths of the entire
space. The higher the bed and the
lower the door the warmer the igloo
will be,-From an Aric Explorers
"reminiscences.