New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-15
MUD HOUSES ~ THE SOUTHWEST.
THE MAKING AND BAKING OF THE ADOBE BRICK.
From The Chicago Record

THE MAKING AND BAKING OF THE ADOBE BRICK.
From The Chicago Record.
Architectural engineering il a branch Of the gentle
houses grow In the land Of sunshine where "A rainy
day is that 1t is marked with red cross
native contractor and builder wastes no time iig-
uring the strength of material. the crushing
limit Of tubular columns and the wind pressure per
square foot of elevation. He does not pore over blue
prints OF plans. cross sections ara elevations no.
does he white down his figures to me hnest point
so s to come under some 9ner n bovc his Knee,
the 'dobe mud. and in a short time he is ready to
re STcK Houses but the brick
sonSrs " and Is made with straw The clay mud
oso Tfh to '9s the D as pas Of
Nevada and that belt of States and Territories It
Blue Island brickmaker who might happen upon a
half-breed or Mexican 'dobe brickmaker would view
Tx k Ip]s brsh made q blue ssy however ,s
climatic conditions of h%e countries where the
warm It's thick walls absorb the occasional rain,
and although the sun.dried brick Is soft compared
10 the kn-dred article IL does not crumble and IL
AIT x man an Who recently travelled through New
For weeks he inquired and searched for 'dobe
at length in santa Fe he stumbled upon a couple
Of men stamping with their bare feet upon clay in a
wooden frame. He inquired and found that ne was
looking upon two Mexicans making adobe brick In
describing the process he said;
bottom OF the ditch which skrted the road They
miy cd or as say, tempered IL, with water,
until il was OF stiff clayey consistency Then they
chopped alfalfa hay into short pieces and mixed II
with the clay ard their material was ready to make
into brick ,r,,
was filled with the 'dobe mud mixed with hay, and
one Of the men got into the frame and stamped tee
mud down with his bare feet. at the same time
tampng II with stick 4,
After the frame was packed hard he scraped the
surplus mud off with stick so that the top sur
face level with the upper edges OF the frame.
and then lifting the frame from the clay he carried
the brick to side Of the road and stood II on It's
edge ,., s. =. ,..,., .oa,,.. o..
first one and soon he had dozen large bricks
each twice AS wide. long and thick as an ordinary
that the bricks would be ready to lay in three or
four days and that they use the mud OF which the
bricks are made for the plaster. "
The walls OF an adobe house are very thick. some
times two or three feet. and In the ordinary one
story adobe house which Is characteristic Of that
region they are buiit UP perfectly pam u"th they
.The roof IL supported wooden beams laid edge.
wise on the walls and the bricks are built up level
with the top OF the beams between the tmbers,
leaving the edge OF the rafters exposed
"The roof has slight slant and is made OF adobe
bricks When 1t rains the water soaks into the roof
bricks but does not begin to drip down INTO me
rooms below until the rain " over Then the family
moves until the water Is through win ts drip
ping. .ao,.. house in Santa Fe which was
but in the sixteenth century. and so FAR as could
see the walls were as strong and good ms any mousse
walls are built Of stone. .pastered with adobe
and solid / suppose II that country had half as
much rain as falls In Chicago the dope houses
would after a time crumbe away, but the average
year In New-Mexco is made up OK III days Oh W.