Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-06-16
INDIANA CABIN RAISING
Home In a Forest Built on
 Primitive Lines.
A FEW FARMERS DID THE WORK

others Lounged About Offering Good
 Advice - The Cabin at Bussard's ] Reost, In Marion County, Will Be
 Presented to Indianapolis and Pre-
 served For Future Generations to
 See How Pioneers Lived.
 There was Hog cabin raisin'" at
 Buzzard's Roost the other afternoon
 the first in Marion county, Ind, 1t is
 thought, for the last twenty-five or thirty years, says the Indianapolis
 News. It was of the old fashioned
 sort all through, with four or five men doing nearly all the work and about
 twenty men lounging about on conven- tent piles of lumber and logs and of
 fering good advice.
 The manner in which the cabin was
 ''raised' was not the only interesting
 feature connected with 1t. On Easter
 day of 1897 William Watson Woollen
 of Indianapolis was wandering along
 Fall creek between Millersville and
 what is now the Benjamin Harrison
 army post when he discovered" Buz-
 zards Roost. It was simply an un-
 named tract of forty-four acres of
 wilderness, and its primitive state ap-
 pealed to Mfr Woollen's love of nature
 in the rough. He determined to be the owner of that forty-four acres, and in a few months he was. When he dis
 covered the tract man told him of the number of turkey buzzards that
 were in the habit of roasting in big
 tree on the land, and therefore Mir. Woollen gave to 1t its present name.
 He bought the land that bit of primitive Indiana might be preserved to the future generations, and the log cabin is part of this scheme. The city of Indianapolis is to receive the tract of land and the cabin some day without charge, according to MT. Wool lens plans, when he no longer is here to enjoy it. When fifty or more years have passed" he explains, there will be at least one place in this state where people can go and see the way their forefathers lived in,primitive In- diana-see not only the. tangle of forest and the old log cabin, but also some of Indiana's native birds"
 It Is probable that MT. Woollen will spend his last years in the cabin when he is ready to retire from active life. He Is never so happy as when near to nature and when surrounded by his friends, the birds. He has planted more than 800 cherry trees in the rich bottom lands, along with many berry bushes. and in this way the place will be self supporting before 1t Is turned over to the city. The rest of the land will be left in its present primitive state.
 But to revert to the "cabin raisin'" and the raisers. For several weeks the work preliminary to recent Sat urday's event had been going on. Trees had been cut here and there out of Buszard's Roost forest in such manner that their loss would not be noticed, and these logs had been dragged to the top of the jill. where there was small clearing in the thicket. There they had been hewed roughly Into shape. Meanwhile a big basement of cement blocks had been built. Then the cabin had been built up about three logs high by men hired for the work.
 And then the invitations were sent out by word of mouth to all of the farmers in the neighborhood to attend the ''cabln raisin'." These accommo- dating neighbors began to arrive early in the morning. and about the time that the ordinary dweller in the city was turning over in his bed for his "beauty sleep the ax and the adze were sounding from the clearing, and chips were flying in all directions.
 Four or six lusty farmers would slip two or three heavy poles under log, pick 1t up and carry 1t to the wall. There they would heft 1t to the top of the log wall by main strength, and two men on top would trim the ends of the log so that 1t would lie firmly In place at each corner of the cabin. Only a few men could be employed at a time, so the others lounged about. chatting. offering good advice or sharp ening their jackknives on the big grind 4 stone. By the time that Mir. woollen had arrived the work was well under way, and he was asked. with friend ly grin. if he had come to lay the cor nerstone. He really was not needed, for the men worked as though raising log cabins had been an everyday pur- suit with them. and about all there was for him to do was to hand up tools occasionally to the men on the wall and to keep out of the way of the men who were carrying the logs.
 The cabin is practically two cabins of one room each and basement, by covered porch, and each room is eighteen feet square. Tn each will be a big. old fashioned fire place with crane. In one a sister of Mrs Woollen. Mrs. Pruenetta Mapes of yincennes. will make her home. and the other Is to be fitted up for a sum- mer school for nature study. A library of suitable books will be furnished and ! big table and plenty of easy chairs.
 The cabin is patterned after that in which Mfr. Woollen was reared. which stood about mile and q half from Buzzard's Roost From recollection Mfr. made a rough sketch. and from this an architect made drawing. A peculiar feature of the building at the present time Is the fsct that no provision has been made for doors or windows. and this looks . bit strange