The Portland daily press., 1881-01-10
Arctic Architecture.
The Way the Igloo of the Esquimax is
Constructed.

From an Arctic Explorers "reminiscences
AS probably many people know, an Igloo Is
usually built Of snow. The word, however.
means house, and as the houses consist OF a
single room, it also means rooms Sometimes
at points that are regularly occupied during the
winter months, igloos are built of stones and
moss piled up around and over them so that
when covered by the winter SHOWS they make
comfortable dwellings. This is the case
at Igloolik, which means the place of
igloos, and also near Tulloch point on King
Williams Land, where the ruins of these IN
derground houses are quite numerous. They
had been built great many years ago by the
Ookooliks, when they occupied the,land be-
fore the Netchillik invasion. A long, low
passage way leads into each dwelling, so con-
structed as to exclude the wind from the in
terror, though ventilation is permitted by
leaving the door open. This is by the way,
an Inuit custom. Even in the coldest weather
the door is open, except when the occupants
are asleep, and they are only closed then to
keep the dogs from making a raid on the Ig-
loo If the door faces the wind, a shelter is
erected outside to keep off the wind so that
the door need not be closed The coolest day
L ever saw, when the thermometer was II de-
grees below zero, the door of the igloo was
open all the time we were not asleep. The
snow igloo is made of snow blocks about three
feet by Is inches wide and five or six inches
thick. The snow knife is simply large thin
bladed knife, like cheese knife of the gro
Gerry stores, with handle made large enough
to be conveniently grasped with both hau
The builder selects one of the propebA
sistency by sounding drift with q cane,s "a
Tor the purpose, OF reindeer horn, Strengthened
by steaming, and worked down to about half
an inch in diameter, with ferule of warus
tusk or the tooth of a bear ON the bottom By
thrusting this into the snow he can tell where
the layers collected by successive winds are
separated BY bands Of soft snow, which would
cause the blocks to break. When the snow is
selected he digs pit to the depth of 18 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 the bottom after
ward, cutting little channel about an inch or
two deep, making the thickness OF the pro-
posed block.
Now comes the part that requires practice to
accomplish successfully. The expert will,
with a few thrusts of his knife in lust the right
places, split off the snow block and lift il
carefully out to await removal to its position
on the wall. The tyro will almost inevitably
break IL into two or three pieces utterly unfit
for the use of the builder. When two men
aIo uuiiuiuS All lSlOO one cuts Cne docks and
the other erects the wall. When sufficient
blocks have been cut out to commence work
with, the builder marks with his eve or per-
haps draws line with his knife describing the
circumference of the building, usually circle
about 10 or IL feet in diameter The first row
oil blocks Is then arranged, the blocks placed
so as to incline 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 second blocks,
slanting in from the ground upward, so that
the second tier resting upon the edges of the
tirst row can be continued on and around
spirally, and by gradually increasing the in
ward slant, perfect dome is constructed of
such strength that the builder can lie flat upon
the outside while chinking the interstices be-
tween the blocks. The chinking is, however,
usually done by women and children as the
secured from the winds in very cold weather
by banking up, with large wooden snow
shovel, the snow at the base often being piled
to the depth of three or four feet. This makes
the lgloo perfectly imprevious to the wind in
the most tempestuous weather. When the
house is completed the builders are walled in.
Then small hole about two feet square is cut,
and 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 theltop. 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.