The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-08-06

htut I'M. w ~ nv ''ss
Durable-A Favorable Climate.
Architectural engineering is branch
Of the gentle art Of making mud pies in
the land where the adobe houses grow.
In the land Of sunshine, where rainy
day is so rare that il is marked with a
red cross, the native contractor and
builder wastes no time figuring ON the
strength Of material, the crushing limit
of tubular columns and the wind pres
sure per square foot of elevation. He
does not pore over blue prints OF plans,
cross sections and elevations, nor does
he whittle down his figures 10 the finest
point so as 10 come under some other
contractors bid He simply rolls his
trousers up above his knees, digs down
in a favored ditch or pond until he
strikes the "dobe mud, and in a short
time he is ready TO begin constructive
operations.
Adobe houses are brick houses, but
the brick is sun dried and made with
straw. The clay or mud of which the
brick is made is natural cement pc
culiar 10 the arid plains of New Mexico,
| Arizona, Nevada and that belt of states
and territories. IL is turned out in the
| most primitive manner, and the Blue
Island brickmaker who might happen
upon half breed or Mexican 'dobe
brickmaker would view the operation
with amusement OF disgust. Kiln burn
ed brick, made Of blue clay. however,
would not meet the requirements i'm
posed by the climatic conditions of those
countries where adobe brick is used.
In summer an adobe house is cool in
winter il is warm. Its thick walls alb
sorb the occasional rain, and, although
the sun dried brick is soft compared TO
the kiln dried article, il does not crum-
BILE, and il stands for ages
A man who recently travelled through
New Mexico was much interested in the
'dobe houses. For weeks he inquired
and searched for 'dobe house in the
hands Of the builders At length in
Santa Fe he stumbled upon a couple of
men stamping with their bare feet upon |
clay in wooden frame. He inquired |
and found that he was looking upon two |
Mexicans making adobe brick. In de- |
scribing the process he said
The men actually dug up the 'dobe
mud from the bottom of the ditch which
skirted the road. They mixed it, or, as
we say tempered it with water until
IL was of stiff, clayey consistency.
Then they chopped alfalfa hay into
short pieces and mixed it with the clay,
and their material was ready TO make
into brick. A wood frame lay on the
ground. This frame was filled with the
'dobe mud mixed with hay, and one Of
the men got into the frame and stamped
the mud down with his bare feet, at
the same time tamping it with a stick.
After the frame was packed hard he
scraped the surplus mud of with a
stick, 50 that the top surface was level
with the upper edges Of the frame, and
then lifting the frame from the clay he
carried the brick to one side of the road
and stood II on its edge. The next brick | ,
be made he leaned against the first one,
md soon he had dozen large bricks
sach twice as wide and long and thick
Is an ordinary brick-drying in the
un. One Of the men told me that the
'rieks would be ready to lay in three or
our days, and that they used the mud
which the bricks are made of for the
,laster
The walls Of an adobe house are very
hlck, sometimes two or three feet, and
n the ordinary one story adobe house,
which Is characteristic Of that region,
hey are built up perfectly plain until
hey reach the roof. The roof is support
q On wooden beams, laid edgewise on
he walls, and the bricks are built up | ,
eVeI with the top Of the beams between |
he timbers, leaving the edge of the
ALTERS exposed. The roof has a slight
liant, and Is made of adobe bricks.
When 1t rains, the water soaks into the
oof bricks, but does not begin to drip
Town INTO the rooms below until the
AIN Is over. Then the family moves out
NTH the water is through with its
tripping lsaw an adobe house in Santa
'e which was built in the sixteenth
entury, and, so far as could see, the ,
walls were as strong and good as any ,
Iouse around there.
Walls are built Of stone, plastered
With adobe cement, if / may so call it,
nd such walls are strong and solid.
oppose If that country had half as much
am as falls in Chicago the 'dobe houses
you'd after a time crumble away, but
he average year in New Mexico is
1ade up OF 1877 days of unclouded sky.
30 days when sunshine predominates
nd only 80 days of cloud, so that the
ainfall does not amount to much more
han good sized fall of dew"
1t is estimated that an adobe house +
osts about 800 a room, but there are
lansions built of this material which 9
ost not less than $50, 900 to construct.
When the Americans" settled in New
lexico, Utah. Arizona, Nevada and the
over part of California they accepted
ne treeless condition of the country
nd built their houses of 'dobe mud.
lNfx Il