Evening journal., 1896-09-21
HOW TO KEEP COOL.
SOME OF THE METHODS EMPLOYED
BY NATIVES OF THE TROPICS.

If people will only profit by example
they can keep cool. just see how the
other fellow, who lives where it is al
ways hot, manages to be comfortable,
and then you will have struck the key
note.
For centuries the inhabitants Of the
tropics have been devising ways to
keep cool Not only have the natural
resources Of their own countries been
converted into methods Of cooling
schemes, but the mechanical skill of
modern science has also been introduced
by the fabulously wealthy rulers of these
semibarbarous lands.
The natives of New Guinea, who are
compelled, owing to the intense heat,
to 90 almost naked during most Of the
year, have hit upon a scheme that is
claimed to make life not only bearable,
but highly enjoyable during the long,
hot days when the broiling sun is send
ing down seeming rays of fire.
While their plan does not tax the
brains Of modern science. it is, never
theless, unique aud involves the labor
of an enormous army of workers Their
method is to take broad stretch Of
land adjoining their large villages and
convert it into a swamp. This is done
by clearing the land thoroughly of all
vegetation and underhrush, only the
trees being left standing. By months Of
patient labor, in which all inhabitants
of the village, both men and women,
join, they dig a canal from the nearest
lake and drain IL into their artificial
marsh Tho depth Of water in these
marshes varies from 10 to 20 or 80 feet,
according to the excavation done before
hand.
Trees are then cut and carefully strip
ped of both bark and branches and
driven in groups in numerous parts of
the marsh, leaving about 10 or 10 feet
above the water. On the tops Of these
stills, or piles, the houses are then built
and so overhang the marsh.
In some parts OF India floating viii
lagos" have been constructed with great
success. The inventors of this mode Of
keeping cool came from inland tribes of
natives, where the heat killed Off hun
dreds every year. These men journeyed
to the river shores and there built their
houses on large fiat RATS. Some of these
villages have now grown to large pro-
portions, and one near MacCluer's inlet,
or gulf Of Ouin, as it is now called,
numbers over 500 houses They are all
connected by ropes with some 20 feet
Of water between. and move with the
current. This hugo IA.4-a-1A feet rs it
appears, la2ily floats from one shore to
the other and up and down the stream,
catching all the air that comes from the
neie ehboring forests. The difference in
temperature between the land and the
RATS averages 20 degrees.
In Syria the latest and most effectual
scheme Of escaping the sitting heat has
been found in the subterranean passages,
of which tho country has many. Large
forces Of Syrians have made mammoth
excavations in the passages, and here,
deep down in the bowels Of the earth,
built abodcs 1t is very cool down there,
the rocks oftentimcs being actually cold.
This is largely accounted for by their
contact with the numerous subterTanean
waterways, which flow along undor
| ulDuuillub anu lthin III AAlt AoDhn NnbnDNA
by internal volcanic oruptions
Down there. hundreds of feet beneath
| the earth's surface and in, as il were,
a gigantic tomb, the Syrians pass the
heated portion Of the day in quiet Sc
clusion and peaceful rest
The Chinese, although a backward
and unprogrcssivo race, have ncverthe-
less tried many experiments for keeping
cool, and think they have solved the
question by their "trce dwellings. AT
least it is tho most satisfactory method
that has ever been put in operation in
the Flowery Kingdom.
Taking advantage Of the tremendous
growth of trees in some parts Of the vel.
low empire, the natives have built then
houses, like nests, in them. This they
do BY splitting the large and topmosl
branches and fitting the foundation oi
these houses securely in these splits.
Perchod up there, q hundred feet ii
the air and in tho direct sweep Of th'
wind when there is any, the Celestial'
dream away the tedious summer day,
The type of architecture is more preten
tious than that displayed in the simple
log cabin. The walls are decorated
with curious designs, and the inter
woven latticework of palm and bnmbC'
which form the houses give them q de
lightfully cool and airy appearance. /
l is an ideal nest, and one in which thu
Celestial never tires CT lingering
= The king OF Siam has scheme o.
c which that swarthy ruler labored fo
many years, and which, besides beinl
wholly original, represents an expendi
! ture of money that would make "a dozei
men wealthy for life. In substance, it j
mammoth glass room. measuring
/ some 20 feet square by 5 feot high
s constructed on the surface Of n lake
e into which it is submerged on hot days
!. With the exception Of the floor, it
r entirely of heavy plate glass closely fit
: ted into steel frames Il took over iiv
years Of steady labor to mako this re
: markable room, and so jealous of tn
; secret was its imperial inventor tina
y each particle of the room was manufaC
tured in a different place and by work