Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1891-05-09
| A Loa oAsIN.
An interesting ReminISesnee OfEary OAy'
on the Frontier.

on the Frontier
Log cabin building was great nun 70
! ths hayS although they did not n u
easv work. There was a certain move.
~ about the raising Of the structure thA'
was 10 be a home, and an interest IN
learning the use Of rude toolS ma
l.sted until the cabin was finished Inc
man and the wedges, the frow n b
Iittle maui intended for it, and all
other means and appliances OF the hulIo-
inc were all new and strange to hese
bright lads
First the size Of the cabin, twelve
feet wide and twenty feet long was
| marked out on the site on when ""S
10 rise. and four logs were laid 10 oe-
fine the foundation. These were the
stills of the new house, AT each emo OF
every log two notches were cut one On
the under side and one on the upper, 10
fit into similar notches cut in the log
below, and in that which was 10
be placed on top. So each corner
was formed by these ln'eFlaSlhs
and overlapping ends. The logs
were piled up, n above ano'ner,
lust as children build "coo-houses'
from odds and ends Of playthlngs
Cabin builders do not say that a caoln
is a certain number Of feet high they
usually say that it is ten logs high' OF
twelve logs high, as the case may De
When the structure is as high as the
caves are intended TO be, the top logs
are bound together, from side to side
with smaller logs fitted upon the upper
lops of each side and laid across as II
thew were to be the supports OF a hoor
for another story. Then the gable,
ends are built up of logs, shorter and
shorter as the peak OF the gable is ap-
preached, and kept in place by other
small logs laid across, endwiso OF tho
cabin, and locked into the end OF each
log in the gable until all are in place.
On these transverse logs, or rafters' the
roof Is laid. Holes are cut or sawed
through the logs for the door and win
dows, and the house begins to look
habitable.
The settlers on the Republican Fork
cut the holes for doors and windows be-
fore they put on the roof, and when tho
layer of split shakes that made the roof
was in place, and the boys bounded in
| side to see how things looked, they were
greatly amused to notice how light 1T
was. The space between the logs was
| almost wide enough to crawl through,
Oscar said. But they had studied log
cabin building enough to know that
| these wide cracks were to be ~"chlnked'
with thin strips OF wood, the refuse of
shakes, driven in tightly, and then
daubed we with clay, a fine bed of
which was fortunately near at hand.
The provident Younkins had laid away
In his own cabin the sashes and glass
for two small windows; and these he
had agreed to sell to the newcomers
Partly-hewn logs for loorjoists were
placed upon the ground inside the cab
in, previously leveled off for the pur-
pose. On these were laid thick slabs of
oak and hickory, riven out of logs
drawn from the grove near by. These
slabs of hard wood were "puncheons,"
and fortunate as was the man who
could have a floor Of sawed lumber Il
his cabin, he who was obliged to use
puncheons was better off than those
with whom timber was so scarce that
the natural surface of the ground was
their only loor.-Noah Brooks, in St.
Nicholas.