The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1896-09-17
HOW TO X EEP COOL.
SOME OF THE METHODS EMPLOYED
BY NATIVES OF TaE TROPICS.
Artificial Swamps of New Guinea India,s
"Floating Villages" subj s.raneau Dwell
ings of the Syrians -The King of slams
Glass House.


ings of the syrians The King of slams
Glass House.
If people will only profit by example
they can keep cool. Just see how the
other fellow, who lives whore 1t is a.
ways hot, manages In be comfortable,
and then you viii have struck the key
note
For centuries the inhabitants of the
tropics have been deyising ways to
keep cool Not on live 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
semi barbarous Lands
The natives of Nv Guinea, who are
compelled, owing to the intense heat
to go almost naked during most of the
year, have hit upon scheme that Is
claimed to make lie lot only bcarable
but highly enjoyabla during the long.
hot days whom the brailns sun is send
ing down seeming ~ of fire.
While their plan does not tax the
brains of modern science. il 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 lTee villages and
convert it into IL swamp. TINS Is done
by clearing the land thoroughly of all
vegetation and underhrush, only the
trees being LIFT standing By months Of
patient labor III winch all inhabitants
of the village, both men and women
JOIN, they dig canal from the nearest
lake and drain it into their artificial
marsh The depth Of Water in these
marshes varies from In In % or 30 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 % on ) feet
above the water On the tops of these
stills, or piles, the HOUSES are then built
and SO oYerhanG the marsh.
In some parts of India floating vii
:
success The inventors of tins mode Of
keeping cool came from inland tribes of
natives where the heat killed off hun
dreds every year. These men juurncved
10 the river shores and there built their
houses on large flat rats. Some of these
villages have now grown To large pro-
portions, and one near MacClucr's inlet,
= ,4f (l,,t,, ii
numbers over 500 houses. They are all
connected by ropes, With scme 20 feet
of water between, and move with the
current This huge excursion fleet, rs it
appears, lazilv floats f.om ono shore To
the other and up and down the stream,
catching all the air that comes from the
neighboring forests. The difference in
temperature between the land and the
RATS averages 20 degrees.
In Syria the latest and most cffoctual
scheme of escaping the sitting heat has
been found in the subterranean passages,
of which the country has many. Large
forces of Syrians have made mammoth
excavations i'll the passages, and here,
deep down i'll the bowels of the earth,
built abodes. 1t is very cool down there.
the rocks oftcntimes being actually cold.
This is largely accounted for by their
contact with the numerous subterranean
waterways, which flow along under
mountains and rents i'll the rocks caused
by internal volcanic eruptions.
Down there, hundreds of feet beneath
the earths surface and III, as it We're,
gigantic tomb, the Syrians pass the
heated portion of the day i'll quiet Sc
clusiGn and peaceful rest.
The Chinese. although n backward
and unprogrossive race, have ncverthe-
less tried many experiments for keeping
cool, and think they have solved the
question by their tree dwellings. AT
least ii is the most satisfactory method
that has ever been put i'll operation III
the Fla"eYy Kingdom.
Taking advantage of the tremendous
growth of trees iii some parts of the vel
low empire, the natives have built their
houses, like nests, i'll them. This they
do by splitting the large and topmost
branches and fitting the foundation of
these houses securely i'll these splits,
Perched up there, "a hundred feet i'll
the air and III the direct sweep Of the
wind when there is any, the Cclcstials
dream away the tedious summer day.
The type of architecture is more prcten-
tious than that displayed i'll the simple
log cabin. The walls are decorated
with curious designs, and the inter
woven lattlccWOrk of palm and bamboo
which form the houses give them de.
lightfully cool and airy appearance, 1t
is an ideal nest and one III which the
Celestial never tires of lingering.
The king of Siam has scheme ON
which that swarthy ruler labored for
many Yeas, and which, besides being
wholly original, represents an cXpendi-
ture of money that would make dozen
men wealthy for life In substance, it is
mammoth glass room, measuring
some go feet square by Is feet high,
constructed On the surface Of lake,
into which it is submerged ON hot days
With the exception of the floor, 1t Is
entirely Of heavy plate glass closely fit
ted into steel frames. 1t took over five
years of steady labor to make this re
marlable room, and so jealous Of the
secret was its imperial inventor that
each particle of the room was manufac.
tured in "a different place and by work
men entirely unfamiliar with the other
parts of the structure New York Jour
nal