Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-02
HOUSES MADE OF SNOW.
Curious Dwellings That People Live in wher,
Frost Reigns Eternal

| curious dwellings mat People Live In w nero
Frost Reigns Eternal
THERE ARE SOME PARTS OF THE
Il world where. during the winter season,
rain falls in the shape of what is called snow,
transformed by freezing into white and
feathery fakes, with which the ground is COW
cred often to the depth Of several feet Al
though such phenomenon never occurs in
Washington it may not be without interest to
learn how in certain arctic countries the ma
tives make use OF this crystallized water as a
material for building houses for themselves
during the months OF greatest cold.
The Eskimo construct such dwellings Of snow
with great experiences. In the region which
they inhabit it might be supposed that build
| ing material of this sort plentiful enough,
| but in fact il has to be selected very care
fully. The snow bank chosen as a quarry, from
which the blocks are to be cut, must have been
| formed by a single storm. In order that they
may be solid and homogeneous Blocks cut
| from drifts composed of several layers break
! easily and crumble. The material must be
very finely grained. but not so hard that it can
| not be readily cut with the saw or snow knife.
| The building is constructed of blocks OF
about three or four feet in length, two feet In
height and six or eight inches In thickness
They cut with curved ivory knives or dove
tail saws. which for this reason are eagerly pur-
| chased by the Eskimo from traders. The
easiest way to quarry the blocks Is to attack
the side of steep drift, making parallel cuts
and lifting out the blocks as fast as they are
| detached.
| THE BUILDING BLOCKS.
Two men usually unite in building such a
house, one cutting the blocks while the other
| does the construction. Instead of being ar
ranged in parallel courses like bricks. the
| blocks are so adjusted that they form spiral.
| inclined inward so as to make dome-shaped
structure, with the elimination Of the spiral at
| the middle of the top. where two or three tri-
angular blocks finally put in to close up the
! hole. This method of building is extremely
! ingenious, rendering it possible to put to-
| gether a vault without the aid OF n scaffold If
| the blocks were placed In parallel rows the
/ first block OF n new row would have no support,
| whereas by this system each reclines on the
previous one.
When the dome Of snow. which looks like the
half of sphere set on its fiat side. is finished
the joints between the blocks are made air
| tight with filling of snow mortar pressed into
them. Thus the building is rendered close in
every part without any holes through which
the warm air inside can escape. Such house.
about i've feet high and seven feet in diameter,
| Is used as camp on winter journeys Two
skilled men can make and finish it Ill about two
hours. For winter quarters, to be used as
dwellings, the vaults are built from ten to
| twelve feet high and from twelve to fifteen feet
| in diameter. In order to reach this height the
builder makes n snow bench inside on which
he steps while finishing the upper part Of the
structure.
| THE ENTRANCE
Such snow dwelling for winter occupancy
has ordinarily an entrance attached in the
shape of two smaller vaults, through which
passageway runs. Alongside this entryway are
| couple OF little added rooms for the storage
n IN md ,sata Il Lab
Der. The door between the main dome and the
entrance leading to it is about three feet high.
with step up of about nine inches as one
goes In. window is cut in the wall of the
main room. which is covered with the transu-
cent lntestlnes OF seals sewed together. There
is hole in the middle through which one can
look out. In some cases a slab of fresh-water
Ice is inserted in thesyindow to serve the same
purpose as glass pane. 1t is made by letting
water freeze In a sealskin.
THE INTERIOR.
All around the inside Of the main room is a
bank of snow two and half feet high, which,
in fact. covers the whole floor space of the
apartment except for a passage from the en-
trance through the middle and half way
across. On these benches the occupants sleep
cook and deposit their refuse. The hut is
lined with the skins which form the covering
OF the summer dwelling. This prevents the
warm air inside from melting the snow roof,
as ABOVE the SKINS there Is always layer OF
colder air. At the top of the building a small
hole Is cut through for ventilation anu to pro-
vide draught for the lamps. Some tribes
do not line the huts, but heap great guam
titles OF loose snow over the whole building,
covering 1t all up, save for the window the
yentilating hole and the doorway on the out
side.
THE SNOW BED.
The snow bench opposite the entrance to the
main room is used for a bed the edge of which
is formed by long pole, while the surface is
covered with pieces of wood. paddles and tent
poles. This foundation is spread over with a
thick layer of shrubs for a mattress and finally
with many heavy deerskins- Thus a very com
Portable couch is prepared. At night. when
the Eskimo go to bed, they put their clothing
under the deerskin 80 to make pillows One
blanket OF deerskins serves for a whole family
On the side benches are the shallow lamps of
soapstOne followed out, which are filed with
blubber for burning Over the lamps tin pots,
purchased from traders, are suspended. The
central tribes have forgotten the art OF build
Ing more permanent houses and always live in
snow huts. Representations of such dwellings
on a small scale are now being prepared for
exhibition at the National Museum.
THE UNDEvELOPED NORTHWEST.