The morning call., 1891-02-15
4 Sno,o- House Of Ioloo.

HIS white polar Du0llce stone Is as nara
as rock, and during extremely low tenn
perature, &c to 70 below zero, if block of it
be suspended and struck it will ring like
bar of tempered steel, although, of course,
not nearly so loudly and generously. It
never has the wet Soggy and heavy texture
of most of our snow, and is much stronger
in resisting bTeakage OF blocks when cutting
them out.
Ebierbing generally known as Esquimau
Joe In this country, who was the faithful
friend and Esquinau interpreter of Captain
Hall, famous American Arctic explorer,
and who was afterward with me in the same
capacity, told ME that one winter when Hall
was lecturng in the New England States
and using Ebierbing and his wife, Tokoi-
took, as exemplary Arctic Inhabitants, he
several times persuaded Joe to try TO build
an igloO, as the + quimauX call the snow
house. but the latter never succeeded in
getting perfect one, the snow being too
much soft and bad" as he put it.
So the average American boy, DESTROYS of
becoming local Arctic explorer, need not
feel much discouraged nor chagrined, at
least, If bis first efforts are failures, when
an Esquimau has done but little better on
the same ground.
The only implements used by the Esqui-
mau in building an igloo is a snow-knife,
with blade or inches long and a handle
OF nearly equal length, so thai it can be
gTaSped readily by both hands Formerly
these were made in a rude way from rein
deer horn, but where they can get them by
trading with the whalers OF fur-traderS they
now use common butcher" knives, remOv-
ing the handle and putting on new one Of
about double the length OF the old one To
the novice of this country common hand
saw will be found as convenient as any and
will need no change in its handle or other
parts.
The snow blocks are to be made about .
feet long, about foot and a half wide, and
or Inches thick. These blocks are To be
cut from trench in q compact snow drift,
whose width is the length of the blocks. The
builder stands in the bottom of the trench as
he cuts--or saws-out block after block,
placing them alternately to right and left of
the trench on the snow drift
Right here would speak of an error that
nearly all boys fall into who take an inter-
est in this cold weather work. They have
an idea that the snow blocks are in fiat
courses in the completed building like we
construct our houses, when in reality there
is only one course, spiral one leading from
bottom to top, and which can well be COM
pared to the old bee hives, made of long rope
that Is wound round and round until a
dome-shaped hive is made.
when the first course is completed, which
rests on the solid snow drift, the first block
laid down is cut in two by a diagonal sweep
OF the knife upward from the lowest corner
where 1t touches the last block laid on this
course, TO tue dlagunaIyS opposite one, and
on this incline the next snow block is laid
and which may be truly said TO be the be-
ginning OF the spiral course which ends only
at the center and top when the igloo is dome
Each block thereafter inclines inward
slightly more than its previous fellow until
the last one, which we may call the KEY
block, in the center and top, is perfectly
horizontal, and firmly wedges in and binds
the whole structure.
The snow house looks very much like the
half OF an egg-sheli cut in two parts per-
pendicular to its longer axis; and if a spiral
lead-pencll mark Is drawn around this shell
from the point on the edge. where it rests
on the table, 10 the top, and about one
fourth of an inch wide, or between the lines
as measured vertically; then block-work
courses are made on these by drawing up
right lines every balf-inch, but breaking"
joints with or overlapping those below then
the little egg-shell. as it rests on its rim, will
look very much like the outside OF an Es-
qulmeu lgloo, or snow house.
Now imagine the shell to be about an
eighth of an inch in thickness; pour in one
about fourth to third of an inch-and
when this hardens slice off one-thlrd of it by
vertical cut OF your knife, and what is left
will represent the snow bed. or bedroom if
you desire to call it such. The sliced off
parts will then represent the parlor (hardly
enough room to turn around without scrap.
ing the snow off the roof with the pointed
hood OF the reindeer coat, and lust opposite
the wall of the snow bed the door is cut
only large enough TO allow person to enter
and even sometimes by crawling through
tlatwiSe.
In my representation by an egg she'll |
nave said that the rim should be made by
cutting through the egg perpendicularly to
the length OF the shell. but in reality it
should be slightly inclined, say twenty
degrees to thirty degrees to the horizon,
ms VIII represent the general inclination
OF the snow banks or snow drifts, for they
never form on perfectly level plains as on
the ice OF the lakes or fiat prairies, but on
the shores of the lakes and bases of the
hills and mountains. The door is always
on the down-hill side and the trench is
usually cut so as to assist in Following
out the snow bank in the interior of the
lgloo and leave as little block-work as posi-
BILE to be done.
From twenty to twenty-five snow blocks
are used In the average sized snow house,
although the camping igloos, or those used
only for the single night while on journey,
are much smaller and contain fewer blocks
of snow. Then again there are those built
Tor permanent abodes and are correspond
ingly large and roomy, with probably
forty or fifty blocks used in their con-
struction.
The young snow-builder having cut the
required number OF blocks lays his base
course OF them on the slanting snow drift.
| remembering to put one block back in the
trench where the base course crosses it on
the down-hiil side. The vertical ereyces
between the two blocks are firmly cemeted,
so to speak, by working the snow knife up
ana down between them two or three times.
tile nne powdery snow produced acting like
sort OF mortar to chlnk the creyices quite
securely. Each block as it is thus fitted to
its previous fellow, is given light but
| smart rap with the open palm of the hand
| On the free vertical edge before the builder
turns TO the next one to put in its place.
Once completed so far, then take a shovel