Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1894-04-21

for some time 10 come. l. is absolute ly necessary for you to have a house. but you have no lumber. except that of which your big wagon is composed. You are miles from q railroad, and still many miles from il sawmill. You may have ten thousand dollars in gold in your pocket, but gold won't buy lum- Der where there is none to buy, and you can't build house out of gold it. self, What shall you do? If you are a sensible man, you simply dig you a house in the ground roof it over and spend your nights unmolested by cyclones in the spring or northers in the winter. Of course. you expect some day soon to build you a house of q different kind, but you gradually grow to like your new quar- ters, and as you are very busy any way, that some day doesn't come for a long time Dugouts have been great help to Texas. Many a herd has been kept and many farm has been culti- vated which never would have been till years later had the owner been obliged to wait till he could build him home of wood or brick.
 Some are dug straight down into the ground, while others are dug in the side of hill. The one in which re- gently spent the night was of the former kind. It was fifteen by twenty feet at the bottom and about seven feet deep. About three feet from the floor the walls were abruptly widened out thus giving shelf in the solid earthen wall, some three feet wide and extend ing around the whole of the room. This was an exceedingly convenient ar- engagement, as it answered for chairs, dining miscellaneous shelving and beds, all in one My friend had cut fireplace of proper size in the solid dirt wall, and by means of post-hole augur had bored chimney down to it. One single joint stovepipe projected from the top of this chimney out. into the open air. Looking up from within l could see the structure of the roof One log had been laid across the dug out in the direction of it's greatest eX- tent, and did duty as ridge pole. Smaller ones were placed with one end on this and the other on the ground, just as the rafters of house are ar ranged. Hay had been thrown on top of these, and above all pile of dirt had been banked up. There was slanting door in this like that of eel lar, and leading up to it was flight of steps. T hese were rather steep, but one was not afraid of their breaking down with him. They were cut in solid dirt Under ordinary circum- stances one might have objected to the room on the score Of it's having noth- ing resem bling a window, but with the temperature outside as it was. this was an advantage rather than otherwise. A bright roaring fire burned on the hearth, and as wereclined on the i blankets spread over our shelf-like beds, 1 thought the whole scene an em- bodiment of substantial, comfortable, and picturesque luxury. We could hear the wind bowling and roaring outside but aside from this there was nothing to indicate that the first northern of the season, and one of the tiereest known for years, was raging outside.
 One class of dogouts, instead of go- ing vertically into the ground go in horizontally. at the side of a hill or a bank of earth. This form is prefera- ble to the other, but of course the finding of suitable hill is pre-req- uisite to it's construction. Once when in the Swisher country, over one hum dred miles west Of here, 1 saw a house of this kind, furnished in a manner to satisfy anvbodys taste. It was built with view not to saving money, but to saving weed. The walls and cell ing had been canv sed and papered, the floor had been strswn with hay and then covered with rich carpeting, but there was not partIcle of wooden flooring, and only enough wood for a l framework for walls and ceiling. l There were three rooms. ranging in size from twenty feet square to ten by eight. The walls were tastefully ornamented with pictures, and to crown it all. big upright l piano was one Of the main articles of 1 furniture i'll the largest room. The W hole house was kept as neat as q pin, and was considered palace of luxury
 hy all tle neig. btrs for miles around. 1 It even went 90 far as 10 have win dow with glass panes in it for every room.
 To stranger. the sight of a whole hamlet or village Of these dugouts is a
 novel one At first he would notice only a nun Der of piles of dirt, each with one solitary joint of stovepipe sticking up out of the ground. As he gets nearer he notices that each. dirt pile has q door opening down into it. 1 Then, perhaps. q child will stick it's head out Of the door and stand gazing at him like prairie dog standing at the entrance 10 it's hole. The entire village will remind him very much of q prairie dog town. 1t will be hard at
 fest for linn to realize that these can