The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1884-11-28
The Virginia Mountains.

a correspondent of the New York
Eoening Post, travelling 10 the noun
tainous district of Virginia, says -
The majority of dwellings in this re-
gion, outside of the villages, are built
of logs. There is but one general pat
tern. There are two rooms below, into
one of which the front and back doors
open Gf there be two doors), and there
are always few windows. The typical
ground-plan seems to have been made
when glass and window sashes were
difficult TO obtain, and one window
generally is made to suffice for room.
Sometimes there is second floor, or
rather an attic under the roof, which
must have window, but unnecessary
openings in log house are to be avoid.
ed as weakening the structure. The
chimney is usually substantial feature
of the edi6oe, and is built of stone, un-
less brick happens to be convenient. 1t
is almost always on the outside of the
house, at one end, but there is many
little structure here which boasts two
chimneys, which, in such cases, dwarf
the house itself. Many a time, too,
one chimney is finished and the place
| left at the other end for the other,
which may not be erected for years.
Sometimes farmer havinga thousand,
two thousand, or even more acres, and
large riches in focks and herds, not to
mention stocks in moneyed corpora
tions, will still live in the log g-house of
his fathers. Perhaps he will have ad-
ded on one side wing of more pre-
tension, and he may have built about
both piazzat, or galleries, as they are
called here. These may be broad and
very convenient, and, really, a log
house is not to be despised for comfort,
with its thick walls aud great chimney
affording hearthstone on which great
logs may be rolled, where by the light
OF the rich pine wood ('light-wood" it
is called, one may read with ease and
comfort Those pioneers who learned
their lessons under such circumstances
are not to be so much pitied as We
are called upon to think, who read of
them only in campaign biograph
les.
Sometimes these cabins are of almost
idyllic charm. There is one clinging
to the mountain side behind thi. house
that would do the eyes of a North.
ern housekeeper good to see 1t con-
sists of two rooms, but each one in this
instance is house by itself, separated
from the other by few feet. One of
them boasts a second story, Outside
they are white-washed to brilliant
uniformity. Inside the walls are COW
cred with paper, but it is old newspa-
pers. Neatness seems to have reached
it- ultimate possibility in the houses
both inside and out. Hives of busy
bees are found in the little door-yard.
The grounds are neatly cared for,
though the unLr,ken forest lies all
about and the mountain rises perpen-
dicularly behind the place. Through
the spring-house there runs mountain
stream, which cools the milk, and
makes the atmosphere in which the
churning is done invigorating in the
hottest summer day. The housekeeper
and every member of the family (even
the man J! are inspired by the same
spirit of neatness, and although sepa-
rated from all the world by circum-
stances, they do not allow themselves to
fall into carele.- habits. The son, a
little fellow of dozen years, sells pro-
duce and fruits to the summer visitors,
and goes TO school somewhere in the
hills during the cold season. The
little clearing that surrounds the
house is like an oasis in desert.
There is another building, the smoke
house, which is usually prominent on
the farmstead. It is structure of
brick not quite as high as the house,
but often not much less, having holes
at the sides for the smoke to issue
from. In it the hams are hung when
ready to be cured, and there they are
left under lock until needed for use.
Almost all houses have near them, too,
receptacle for teaching ashes, made
by boards slanting together in the
shape OF v, and supported in posi-
tion by a square frame which binds to-
gether four posts that are are fixed in
the ground at Its corners. have no.
tlced besides kettle filed with chips
soaking in water, which | am told is to
furnish family dye.