The Washington herald., 1907-10-29
Some Peculiar Homes
BY FREDERIC }. HASKIN.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

sands Of workmen and their families
were hurried out to the arid regions
around Great Salt Lake TO accomplish
the task Of making stones lie in the
buO, ant water and support the piling.
homes were a necessity The railway
company promptly met the need with
trains Of box cars. which housed the
families and soon looked hOme-llke, with
curtains at the windows and flower pots
at the door. Construction gangs on rail-
ways have lived in them for many years.
and more than one small railway termi-
nus boasts its switchmans house Of I'M
mistakable box-Car origin Freight cars
have many times done duty as railway
stations In embryo towns Of the West.
and across from such a station in a North
Dakota town stood a flOurishing bank
built Of tarred paper and occupying an
extensive space Of ground. fifteen feet
square,
There are potentates who may live in
private cars that are rolling palaces. if
they like. but only one negro couple has
gone on record as having had a private
Pullman for nearly year This was in
the early days Of Pullmans. and the cou-
pie was the porter and his wife. who had
attached the car for the porter's wages
and refused TO be put off. The car was
shunted of on a side track down in Flor
ida, bat the couple remained there in
calm serenity until matters Were even
tually adjusted to their satisfaction.
Street cars have often stood the test of
transformation from public chariot to
d enid playhouse, a shOc-shine uarlor.
or convenient quick lunch stand when
horse power had given way 10 electricity
and such C0nveyances were back num-
bers. 1t remained. however. for a X7r-
ginia negro TO use one for a kitchen. He
has home near the battlefield Of Port
Republic, and the casual visitor to the
field is suddenly startled on rounding the
house 70 see car firmly anchored 10 the
back Of the cabin, with the smoke OF
domestic fires rising from a flue set rak-
ishly in the top.
Aboriginal American Indians had the
first apartment houses, the homes Of the
Pueblos. perched high on the shelf Of
some canyon, anticipating New YorKs
towering tenemeuts, and the Long
House" Of the Iroquuis antedating He'll
con Hall and other communal houses of
to-day. New Yorks first model tenement
was built at Mott and Elizabeth streets.
in 1850 and housed hundreds Of families
It later became a resort for thieves. and
better and more healthful apartment
houses were built up, until near Riverside
drive one finds the largest apartment
house In the world. In contrast 10 this is
the smallest frame house in the world a
piano box, in which lives the hermit Of
St Louis County" This box is set in
the bushes on the road between Clayton
and Brentwood, Mo, and with Il small
stove Just outside the box, and his shot
gun TO keep him IN game, old Franz
MendOl leads care-free life Once or
twice Summing parties with the best in
tentions have been to see him, and once
he was taken 10 a charitable institution
in the hope Of teaching him to mend his
ways. but the call Of the wild was strong,
and the old piano box too inviting, and
he went back 10 his own again.
Tree jewellers helped make history in
prehistoric times, and with the national
| tendency to turn TO outdoor life many
country jewellers have built summer
/ houses in the forks of some giant tree
Miss Helen Gould's being possibly the
/ most notable OF these. In her ieafy study
MISS Gould spends much time when at
/ He' country home, reading and debating
10 Htr secretaries. giant cedar stump
IN Washington has been transformed into
I al f4r
/ oregon, less primitive than this one was
made by its owner all OF one trees An
| average lr was cut into lumber. and from
/ this he built a one-story cottaga fo-t,,
Ieet square, fence and a walk. and had
plenty LETT 10 supply frewood for year
j ule' or basket fiber. is common buiId-
/ ing material Of Indians living in the viii
/ lase OF Fochanga, less than 100 miles from
Los Angeles. Light and airy structures
/ Dee-hlve IN shape, they OCCUPY the he'd NJ
an old inland sea. There Is MEXICAN
blood In these Indians. as is evidenced bv
their adding adobe to the tule in making
some Of the huts.
Kiplng, with an EngIishman's re,-er.
ence for ancestral halls. once in derisio,
declared that America was only a nation
Of campers-out California and Ariz,D,
with their colonies Of tent houses tbair
innumerable camps under the stars and
the tendency 10 lead all the rest Of the
country in crusade against too pucn
indoor life, are helping to prove the truth
of the statement with a vigor that re
moves the sting that Kipliug intended
These only help TO further vary the
architecture of houses that An,arioa,,-
I'VE IN and give a novel page or two ~
the nations BODYBUILDING records. Amer
lean architects are said to lead the world
IN the knowledge OF proper heating, light
ing ana sanitation in buildings. and with
physicians to urge a fresh air gosnaI
along with this. we may later be be,Itb,,
and wise, as well as wealthy.
To-mOrTOw-AbOut Notable Ameri-
cans