UC-NRLF $B 555 abb if A ijmQ&MMM. ^ :i R:EAME i "ji ■ ■ ■ 's HOW WE ARE SHELTERED jH^^ HOME AND WORLD SERIES HOW WE ARE SHELTERED A GEOGRAPHICAL READER BY JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN, Ed.B., S.B, 1) DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA AUTHOR OF "how WE ARE FED," "HOW WE ARE CLOTHED," AND "field and LABORATORY EXERCISES IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY" THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ijsd. 1911 AU right» reserved ■IV Copyright, 1906, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1906. Reprinted February, December, 1907; September, 1909 ; September, 1910; September, 1911. J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE The most marked tendency in the educational movement of to-day is the effort to make the experience and the power gained within the school fit into and supplement the life with- out. Education has been, and is^ too largely a process of dealing with abstractions^ with expression rather than with experience. By a strange perversity we have insisted upon pre- senting to the child that which is distant in place and time, and we have then wondered why he was so ignorant both of that and of the life about him. Education is the application and the enlarge- ment of experience, resulting in the develop- ment of the individual. Geography is one of the important factors in education. All real knowledge of geography is based upon expe- riences derived through study of the home surrounding's and relations. To-day^ as never 261152 •vi PKEFACE before, the home and the world, the individual and the millions of mankind, are bound to- gether by ties as strong as chains of steel, yet as sensitive as nerves. In the teaching of geography, we should help the child to grasp, as far as he is capable, those physical and human conditions by means of which the life about him, his life, is main- tained. This involves the presentation of con- ditions and peoples remote from him, it is true; but whatever line may be followed, the pupil soon becomes aware that the study of the subject begins and ends in the home, while it encompasses the world. This furnishes the only real foundation for all later study of geography. Since much of the thought and activity of every individual and nation is centered about food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and com- munication, these should be made the corner stones of home geography. But while these are the central thoughts, the countless oppor- tunities which they present to teach facts and truths aside from them should be seized by the PREFACE vii teacher. Indeed, if this be not done, the work falls far short of its purpose. Much of man's progress has grown out of cooperation and specialization, and his present daily life is, in large • measure, dependent upon them. This great truth, applicable to the family, the community, the school, the world, is not sufficiently developed by teachers and parents. In the abstract it means nothing to the child, but in this work he is repeatedly brought face to face with it, in ways that show clearly how his own welfare and happiness de- pend upon the labor and the thought of others, and how he, in turn, should contribute to the benefit of those about him. Maps and globes should be constantly used by teacher and pupils. All places mentioned should be definitely located and routes of travel traced. The pupil should see the position of places with reference to his home, and should have some idea of the time required to reach them. While the books of this series are called geographical readers, they are calculated to Viii PREFACE perform a much larger function than do sup- plementary books. Where the plan here pre- sented is followed, lessons will be assigned and the books used as regular texts. In the school with which the author is connected this has been done for several years. More and more we are realizing the value of good illustrations in our schoolbooks. In the preparation of this volume no effort has been spared to secure pictures which actually illus- trate the work undertaken. It remains for the teacher to use them in the most effective manner. I take this opportunity of expressing my indebtedness to Miss Kathrine Lois Scobey of Dearborn Seminary, Chicago, who read the entire manuscript and furnished many valuable suggestions. Trusting that this little book may be of real service in the great field of education, I submit it to my fellow-teachers. JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN. Los Angeles, California. CONTENTS Introduction . , . • Sheltered by Snow • • Homes in Cliffs A Pueblo Home Indian Homes ...» The Dwellings of the Dwarfs Where the Chrysanthemum Grows A Visit to China . Filipino Houses In the Land of Cocoanuts . Life in a Log House Lumbering .... How Bricks are Made . Houses built of Stone . Artificial Stone . . • Nails Glass Fire and its Uses . How Coal is Made and Mined Light Petroleum • t # » PAGE 1 12 20 24 32 42 47 59 67 76 82 89 110 124 139 143 146 150 157 168 178 Ix HOW WE ARE SHELTERED HOW WE ARE SHELTEEED INTRODUCTION This afternoon I stood in front of a large schoolhouse, and watched the children march out. Down the stairs and out into the yard they came keeping time to music. As they passed through the gates they began to separate^ each going to a different place, yet each going home. About five or six o'clock each evening one may see a stream of men and women coming from the mills, factories, and business houses of a great city. The work of the day is over, and each of the workers is going home. People often leave their homes to go to the seashore, to some lake, to the woods, or to the mountains, for a vacatioUc Some cross the ocean and travel in foreign lands. It is pleasant to 2 HOW WE AJIE SHELTERED watch the great blue waves with their shaggy crests of white, rush against the rocks and dash themselves into spray. To sit beside some laughing stream, and watch the fish as they play in the clear, deep pools, brings rest and joy. A visit to other countries is full of dehght. But no matter where we may go; no matter how much we may enjoy our visits and vacation trips, we are always glad to return to our homes. What is this home of which we each are so fond? It is a house, you answer. Yes, it is a house. It is a place where we are sheltered from the winter's cold, the summer's heat, and storms of all kinds. Here we are provided with food ; and here we sleep at night. Home, then, is the place to which we go for food, shelter, and rest. But it is much more than this. All of these things are provided in hotels and boarding houses, but we do not think of these places as homes. The home is the place of all the world most dear to us. Here we enjoy the love of mother, father, and all of the members of the family, and INTRODUCTION" 3 give ours in return. Here the thoughts, the words, and the actions are those of love. The streets, the parks, the cars, the schools are for all. The home is for the family. K4 Fig. 1. — A Bird Home. Many animals as well as people have homes. Sometimes animals occupy the same house for several years; and sometimes they use it for but one season. Animals often show much skill in building their houses. Here is a bird home. If you wish to visit it, you will have to use a ladder or else climb the 4 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED tree. The owners reach their home much more easily. The house is made of twigs, and is hned with hair and bits of thread. How patiently the parents worked in building this home ! In it the baby birds eat, sleep, and grow, while they are rocked by the breezes. Squirrels build summer homes of leaves and twigs high up in the tree tops. In winter they live in houses in the hollows of the trees. Dur- ing the bright autumn days the squirrels carry nuts and acorns to these snug homes. The muskrat builds a winter home of coarse grass and reeds. It is in a marsh or by the edge of a lake or stream. The beaver carries sticks, stones, and quantities of mud out of which he builds his lodge. Bees and ants are wonderful builders. They live in communities rather than in families. They are very industrious. Have you ever watched ants as they worked? The homes of animals differ greatly. Some are in the ground, some are on the ground, and some are far above the ground. They are made of different materials and in different ways. Fig. 2. — A Beaver Lodge. INTRODUCTION" 7 The homes of people differ very much also. You know that the homes in your neighborhood differ in appearance. Some are large, and some are small. Some are built of wood, some of brick, and others of stone. These are not the Fig. 3. — Hawaiian Grass House. only materials used. Some houses are made of grass; some are made of skins; some are made of mud. The Eskimo builds his house of snow and ice. The material of which a house is built depends upon climate, upon what can be obtained to HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Fig. 4. — Laplander's Winter Home. build with, and upon the skill of the builders. Some people, like animals, wander about a great deal in search of food and water for themselves or for their flocks. Natu- rally such people cannot have jper- manent homes. Fig. 5. — Hut on the Kongo Eiver. The home of the Indian is often carried from place to place. INTRODUCTIOlSr 9 There is a difference between country homes and city homes. In the coimtry each family has its own house, usually made of wood. In a great city there are many buildings known as tenement or apartment houses. In one of these Fig. i). — A Home in tlic Country. houses there may be fifty families. Each family rents a few rooms from the owner. Of course there are many city people who own their homes. Brick and stone are used a great deal in cities because of the danger from fire. 10 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED You know that food and clothing are necessi- ties of hfe. In most parts of the world shelter is also a necessity. In some parts each man makes the house for his family. Did the people in your neighborhood make their own houses? ,i i; 1 s 1 M % : |a i ? 1^ ;X^ 1 1 1 R ■ 1^ ^A .. Xx ^ i-. « Fig. 7. — An Apartment House in New York City. Of what are they made ? Where did the materials of which they are made come from ? Let us take a journey together, and visit homes in our own, and in other countries. We shall learn how these houses are made, and of what they INTRODUCTION 11 are constructed. We shall also become some- what acquainted with the people who live in them, and with the countries in which we travel. SHELTERED BY SNOW You have probably played in the snow many times. Perhaps you have made forts of snow, and dug caves in some great white drift. I am sure, however, that you would never think of making a house of snow to serve as your home during the long, cold winter. People do make houses of snow, and they keep warm in them, too. These people are our Eskimo friends, who live in the far northland. There are no forests there, for it is too cold for trees to grow. For many weeks during the winter the sun does not shine^ for there is one long, unbroken night. When the Eskimo gets ready to build his winter home or igloo, he selects a place where the snow is deep and firmly packed. With a long knife of bone he cuts a great block from the snow, and throws it to one side. He then stands in the hole thus made, and cuts out other blocks. 12 SHELTERED BY SNOW 13 The blocks are from eight to ten inches in thick- ness, about two feet wide, and perhaps two and one-half feet in length. These are placed on the snow, end to end, forming a circle. Fig. 8. — Building Igloos. From the Report of the National Museum^ 1901. A second row of blocks is placed upon the first, and so on, each circle being smaller than the one below it. At last only one great block is needed to finish the igloo. Putting this last one on is a little like putting a stopper in a bottle. You know that the bricks in a wall are laid so that the joints, as they come together, do not form a line. The Eskimo lays his bricks of snow in the same way. 14 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED When the igloo is finished, it looks like a great white bowl turned upside down. The little crevices between the blocks are carefully filled with snow, for the breath of the frost king is bitter cold; and it must not be allowed to enter. But the house is not finished when the walls have been laid. Neither doors nor windows have yet been constructed. When the Eskimo wishes to make a door, he cuts an opening underneath the lowest layer of blocks. Then he makes a burrow or tunnel in the snow for some distance. This is the entrance to the house. Skins or blocks of snow are placed before the openings to keep out the cold. The window is a cake of clear ic^ set in the wall. Your home has several rooms. Perhaps it is more than one story high. An Eskimo house consists of but one room. There is very little furniture in the house, but of course there is a be^. What do you suppose it is made of? Snow! At one side of the igloo the snow is packed hard, and upon this, moss, grass, and twigs are placed when they can be obtained. Over these, SHELTERED BY SNOW 16 heavy skins are laid, and the softer skins and furs that serve as bedclothes are spread on top. Another thing that would interest you very much is the stove. It is not purchased at a store, but hke nearly everything else that the Pig. 0. — An Eskimo Home. Eskimo people use, is made by their own hands. The stove is nothing but a stone that has been hollowed out. It is both a stove and a lamp. Some whale oil and a wick of moss complete it. I will tell you more about it in another place. 16 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED The heat from Jthis lamp keeps the house quite warm when the entrance is closed. Sometimes it is so warm in the igloo that water drips from the ceiling of snow. When it is very cold the moisture from the breath of the people collects on the ceiling, forming beautiful crystals which sparkle like jewels in the light. On the walls are bear, seal, and walrus skins. Some articles of clothing, bows and arrows, harpoons, knives, cups, and pails are to be seen. The cups and pails are made of seal- skin. I am afraid that you would not think the igloo a very comfortable home. The '^chil- dren of the cold^^ know of no other kind of home ; and they are quite happy in it. They know nothing of cakes, pies, and other dainties with which you are familiar. They are as dehghted with pieces of fat from the seal, rein- deer, or walrus as you are with a chocolate cream. Often their food is eaten raw. Sometimes they are so hungry that they are glad to eat bits of the skins of these animals. Although the winters are very long and cold, the Eskimos do not remain indoors all of the SHELTERED BY SNOW 17 time. The men must go in search of food, and sometimes the women go with them. The chil- dren have great sport riding on their sleds which are drawn by dogs. The sleds are called kamu- tees, and the dogs mikies. When at last the winter is over and spring has returned to the north- land the igloo begins to melt. The walls must be patched up for a short time, but soon the house has to be given up entirely. Now the tupec or tent must be built. This is the summer home, and is made of the skins of the walrus and the seal. A number of these skins are sewed together. The tent poles are the long bones of the walrus and whale. During the summer the Eskimo people move about a great deal. This is the season when most of the hunting and fishing is done. The snow and ice have melted and the boats can be used. The boats are made of skins, and have ribs of bone. The boat used by the men when hunting the seal is small and Hght. It carries but one person, and is called a kayak. There are larger boats, known as umiaks, in which the family sometimes move from place to place. 18 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Even in Eskimo land there is some grass in summer. Mosses and a few flowers may be seen. Birds build their nests in sheltered places among the rocks and raise their families. The children enjoy the summer very much. They have plenty of time to play, and they also hunt Fig. 10. — The Tupec. for eggs and thus help to supply the family with food. They gather moss and roll it into large strings to be used as wicks in the stone lamps. A supply of this moss must be gathered during the summer. Why? There are Eskimos on the west and the east SHELTERED BY SNOW 19 coasts of Greenland, in the region around Hudson Bay and in Alaska. Find these regions on your map. The homes differ in the different sections. In some places the winter home is made of stones and earth. In the places which the white men have visited, a good deal of wood is used in building. In these homes are found many things, such as cloth, needles, thread, knives, guns, and dishes which the Eskimos have ob- tained from their white visitors. There is very much more to be told about these northern neighbors of ours, but I am sure that you now feel somewhat acquainted with them. You have many things which the children of the snow do not have, but they would be no more contented in your home than you would be in theirs. HOMES IN CLIFFS In the southwestern part of our country are to be seen some of the most interesting houses in the world. I have called them houses, but they are little more than niches in cliffs on moun- tain side or canon wall, and so they come to be called ^^Chff Dwellings/' and the people who once lived in them, ''Cliff Dwellers.'' Although the people who inhabited these deserted homes, have long since passed away, their descendants still dwell in that thirsty land, in homes almost as wonderful as those of their ancestors. Rock is often found in layers or strata, like the leaves in a book, only, of course, many times thicker. Along a mountain or canon side, the edges of many strata are frequently exposed to the weather, and some wear away much more rapidly than do others. In the spaces left by the wearing away of the softer rock, the Cliff Dwellers made their homes. 20 HOMES IN CLIFFS 21 I once visited one of their silent villages. It consists of three stories of rooms perched on the edge of a canon. In front is a ledge but a few feet in width, and when I dropped a stone over it, down it plunged farther than it would if it had been dropped from the top of the highest building in New York City. Think of the dark- skinned babies who once toddled about these narrow front yards, without wall or fence between them and this great chasm. There was no one to greet me as I entered the empty rooms. I was obliged to stoop a little, for the ceiling was low. The height of the rooms depended upon the thickness of the layer of rock that once occupied the space. There was not much building to be done in making a cliff dwell- ing, for the roof and rear wall were provided by nature. A wall of rough stones plastered over separated the rooms, which were smaller than ordinary bedrooms in our homes. Outside, the yellow sunlight fell upon the rocks, and sifted between the branches of the tall pines, but these houses of stone were gloomy, for Uttle sunshine could enter them. There 22 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED were no windowS; and the single entrance to each house was small, so that enemies would not find it easy to enter. House cleaning had not occurred here for a long time, for there were several inches of sand Fig. 11. — a Cliff Dwelling. on the floor. I dug into this sand, and found bits of pottery, and some dried and shrunken corncobs. Do you wonder how the cobs came to be there? The people cultivated fields of corn on the lowlands, and ground the kernels between stones. The stove was a hole in the floor, and the chimney an opening in the roof. HOMES IN CLIFFS 23 As I looked across the deep, wide canon at my feet, I could see on the farther side another row of cliff dwellings exactly like those I was visit- ing. I could almost fancy that I saw dark figures moving to and fro, cultivating the little fields of corn far below, and patient women slowly toiling up a flight of steep steps, cut in the face of the chff, to the houses far above. A PUEBLO HOME Little Kopeli is a child of the desert. He has never seen a train of cars, a street car, or an electric light. He knows nothing of the telegraph or the telephone, and he has never ridden on a bicycle, or in an automobile. Cool, shady woods and soft, green meadows are not seen where Kopeli lives, for it is a land of little rain. Most of the scanty vegetation is quite different from that with which you are familiar. A curious plant often found in this country is the cactus. Do not touch it, for it is covered with sharp spines. See how thick and leathery the leaves are. This helps it to live in a dry climate. It bears a fruit which is yellow when ripe. Kopeli has often eaten it, but you would not think it very good. This desert region of which I have spoken is in the southwestern part of our country. Most of the people who Uve there are Indians who are 24: hiQ. V2. — A Cactiis. A PUEBLO HOME 27 called Pueblos. Pueblo means village, so I hardly need tell you that these people live in villages. Generally we find but one family of Indians in a house, but this is not the case with the Pueblos, for a whole village may consist of but three or four dwellings. The Pueblos are the descendants of the Cliff Dwellers of whom I have told you, and nearly all of them live in New Mexico. When the father of Kopeli wanted to build a house, he did not go to a carpenter, but, with the help of his wife and neighbors, did the work himself. Before beginning the dwelling, however, he went to the chief of the village. The chief took four eagle feathers, sprinkled them with meal, and blessed them. Folding the feathers carefully under his blanket, KopeU's father carried them to the spot where the house was to stand. With reverent hands he placed a feather at each corner, covering it with a stone. There were other ceremonies connected with the building of the house. One of the prettiest was the singing of songs to the sun. Strange as it may seem, the Pueblo mothers 28 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED do much of the work of building their houses. The houseS; and all that they contain, belong to the women instead of to the men. Kopeli watched while stones were collected, and built into the walls of the house, which were then given a coating of plaster made of mud and water. The floor was made of the flat stones, over which a coating of this same plaster was laid. From the mountains the men brought long poles about six inches in diameter. These they placed across the top of the walls. Kopeli 's mother and the other women placed willow branches upon the roof poles. Over these they placed grass and twigs, and then a coating of mud. The roof, like all of the others in the village, was nearly flat. In one corner of the house a fireplace and a chimney were built, and around the walls some rough benches were placed. The house had two small windows of glass, but in earlier times the people used thin pieces of a translucent stone. The Pueblos are fond of bread, so the mealing stones were not forgotten. These stones are used for grinding the grain, and they take the A PUEBLO HOME 29 place of flour mills. They are smooth and flat, and are placed on the floor along one side of the room. Kopeli's mother, sitting on the floor, grinds the corn between two of them. If she Fjg. 13. — A Pueblo Dwelling. wants very fine flour, she uses the smoothest stones; if coarser flour, the rougher ones. Each house has its loom on which blankets and clothing are made. The weaving is quite commonly done by the men. They raise their own sheep and cotton, and they dye the yam bright colors. 30 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED As I have said, a Pueblo village sometimes consists of but three or four houses, each of which may contain two or three hundred rooms. The pueblo of Pecos, New Mexico, has one house in which there are nearly six hundred rooms. Some houses are but one story high, while others are five or six. You must not suppose that these large houses are built in a few weeks or months as our houses are. They are built piecemeal, and are added to from generation to generation. When the houses are more than one story high, they are built in terraces, the roof of the first story form- ing the front yard of the second, and so on. Ladders are often used to climb from one story to another. There is Httle in a Pueblo house to make it comfortable or beautiful. There are no couches, carpets, curtains, dressers, pictures, pipes for hot and cold water, gas or electric fixtures. All of the water used in the village is carried by the women, from a stream some distance away, in earthen jars or baskets lined with clay. In spite of this lack of conveniences; Kopeli is hannv in his homp. A PUEBLO HOME 31 The Pueblos are farmers. They raise com, beans, red peppers, squashes, melons, peaches, tobacco, and cotton. They dig ditches from the streams to their gardens, and so water their crops. This is called irrigating. In the autumn, strings of sliced squashes, pumpkins, and peaches may be seen drying on the roofs of the houses. Of course the crops could not be raised without rain, and these people have some strange cere- monies which they seem to believe will cause rain to fall upon the thirsty soil. One of these is known as the snake-dance. Bands of nearly naked men dance to and fro, carrying about their arms and necks, and even in their mouths, deadly rattlesnakes. The ceremony is a religious one, and it means a great deal to these people. We must bid good-by to little Kopeli, but we shall not forget him, nor his strange home perched upon the rocks in New Mexico. INDIAN HOMES When Columbus discovered America, he found the land in the possession of a race of men whom he called Indians. Columbus supposed that the country upon whose shore he had landed was India, so you see why he named the people In- dians. Indians used to live in all parts of both South and North America. They roamed over the land upon which Boston, New York, Chicago, and other large cities now stand, and their camp fires gleamed beside every lake and stream. Perhaps your own front yard was once chosen by some squaw as a good place on which to erect a wigwam for her papooses. There were many wars between the white men and the Indians, but in the end the Indians were always defeated. To-day most of the Indians of North America live in the West on reserva- tions. A reservation is a tract of land set apart 32 INDIAN HOMES 33 by the government for the use of the Redmen. There are many different tribes of Indians, and they build somewhat different styles of houses. Many have fashioned their homes after those of the white people. The Indians have always been great hunters. In the early days they did little besides hunting, fishing, and fighting. As meat was their chief food it was necessary to follow the great herds of buffalo, elk, and other animals from place to place. The ponies, too, needed new pasture ground from time to time. Because of this, the people did not build permanent dwellings as we do, but rather houses that could be easily and quickly constructed. Poles, skins, bark, leaves, grass, and even dirt were used. Often the house was carried or dragged by ponies from place to place to save building a new one each time they moved. For their homes Indians have many names, such as lodge, wigwam, tepee, wicky-up, hogan, and kan. By the Indians who live on the plains, the house is often called a tepee. As you see by the picture it is cone shaped. In the early 34 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED days it was covered with buffalo skin. Upon it were paintings in bright colors representing battles or hunting scenes. To-day the covering is of cloth. Do you know why? Fia. 14. — A Tepee. From the Report of the National Museum, 1901. The frame of the tepee is of poles twelve to sixteen feet in length. Notice that they are tied together at the top and spread out at the bottom. The cloth is sewed in strips, and placed over the frame. The door, you see, is like the of a tent. INDIAN HOMES 35 If you could see a house being set up, you would be surprised to see that the Indian women, who are called squaws, do all of the work. They spread cloth on the ground where the tepee is to stand. Then they tie three of the poles together at their small ends, using thongs for the purpose. A minute more and the poles are pushed under the cloth and through the opening at the top. You would know this was not the first tepee that the squaws had set up, or they could not so easily lift the house to its place. Look how they spread the poles far apart at the bottom. One by one the other poles are fastened in place. Tap ! Tap ! Tap ! The squaws are driving a few pegs into the ground, fastening the tepee at the bottom; and now the work is finished, and the family can move in. You notice that the cloth does not come to- gether at the top of the tepee. The opening takes the place of a chimney. A fire is built on the ground in the middle of the house. A kettle is hung over the fire, and here the cooking is done. Around the edge of the tent are skins 36 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED and blankets upon which the members of the family sleep. Here are some houses made by the Wichita Indians. The one on the left looks like a pile of hay or an old-fashioned beehive. At the right are two workmen building a house. Fig. 15. — Wichita Indians building a House. From the Report of the National Museum, 1901. They select poles and push their large ends firmly into the ground. They then tie the ends together at the top, as you see. Now smaller poles are bound to these horizontally, forming circles like the hoops on a barrel. Next wisps of grass are woven over the framework, and the house is complete. INDIAN HOMES 37 This is the home of a family of Navajo Indians. The part at the right is called the hogan. It is a great mound of earth placed over a frame- work of poles. Underneath the dirt is a layer of bark and weeds to keep it from falling through into the house. You can see the hole Fig. 16. — Navajo Hogan and Eamada. at the top which serves as a chimney. How would you like to live in such a house? Adjoining the hogan is a summer house. This is called the ramada. It is covered with boughs and grass, and serves to keep off the bright sun- shine. In California, Utah, and Nevada live the Digger 38 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Indians. They received this name because they dig roots from the earth, and use them in various ways. Pig. 17. — An Apache *'Kan," or House. The chief food of the Diggers is acorns. They make long trips across the mountains in search of these, carrying them home in baskets such as you see in the picture. Then the women grind them in mortars of stone, and bake a sort of bread from the flouTo Fig. 18. — Home of a Family of Digger Indians. INDIAN HOMES 41 The home, as you see, is made of rushes. They are bound together, and fastened to a frame- work of poles. Just think of the difference between this house and the one in which you Hve. THE DWELLINGS OF THE DWARFS Far off in the central part of Africa there are great dark forests. The trees are so thick^and their branches are so closely woven together, that little sunshine finds its way to the ground. In fact it is almost like twilight in these forests all day long. It is very difficult to journey through this region. Hanging from the trees are rope-like plants called lianas^ while vines and creepers entangle the feet of the traveler, and fallen trees block his way. Most of the paths belong not to men but to animals. Some of them were made by the feet of elephants. Of course we know that there are no such things as sprites, goblins, and brownies, yet in these gloomy forests there is a race of people so small, and so full of pranks, as almost to make us believe in them. These little creatures are called Pygmies. When full grown, they average 42 THE DWELLINGS OF THE DWARFS 43 about four and one-half feet in height, or about as tall as a ten-year-old boy. Although they belong to the Negro race, some of them are reddish brown in color. The Pygmies are real hunters, and do not till the soil at all. Their weapons are bows and arrows, spears, and knives. The arrows are generally poisoned. So skillful and so brave are these little people that they kill the largest animals, even the elephant. The Dwarfs usually live close to some tribe of larger Negroes, who have banana plantations and fields of sweet potatoes. The Pygmies are very fond of these things. Sometimes they ex- change meat, skins, ivory, and feathers for them, and at other times they help themselves by night. If their larger neighbors take this good-naturedly, the little people will leave presents for them, pull the weeds from the plantations, and kill the animals that would destroy the crops while the owners are sound asleep. Are they not like the brownies? It is not an easy matter to visit these little creatures, for although they are brave and even 44 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED cruel, they are also very shy. Generally they will not allow white men to see them unless the larger Negroes tell them that they will not be harmed. The Pygmies have no dogs, horses, cattle, or domestic animals of any sort. They wear but lit- tle clothing, and their homes are very simple. Al- though they live in villages, you might pass very close to one of them, and not know it, for the buildings are very low. There are no chimneys rising above them, and there are no stores, mills, or factories. The homes are arranged in a circle, that of the chief being in the center. When the Dwarfs wish to build a house, they cut a number of light poles, and bending each into the form of an arch, push the ends firmly into the ground. These form the frame of the building. Next, grasses and broad leaves are woven between the poles, forming a thatch. How high do you suppose one of these houses is? A man of average height could not stand erect in one, for they are but four or five feet high ! Often the breadth is no greater than the height. THE DWELLINGS OF THE DWARFS 45 Let us imagine ourselves entering one of these little homes. We cannot walk in, but must get down on our knees. A small bush standing in front of a hole in the wall, is the door. We push this aside, and crawl in. How dark it is ! There is not a window in the house. Soon our eyes become accustomed to the darkness, and we examine our surroundings. The house con- sists of but one room. There are neither stoves, tables, chairs, nor furniture of any kind. Yes, there is a bed, but it is simply a pile of dry leaves. We are very much surprised to learn that the children, when quite small, are placed in tiny houses by themselves ! How would you like to live in that way? The Pygmies are, at times, quite frolicsome. They laugh, sing, dance, and imitate in various ways the things which they have seen others do. They have been known for a long time, but few white people had seen one of them until the sum- mer of 1904. During that year a missionary brought a number of them to the Saint Louis Exposition. This gentleman had visited the Dwarfs in Africa, and they felt that he was 46 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED their friend. Yet even he had great difficulty in persuading them to leave their forest homes, and I am sure that they were very glad to return to them. WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS Near the western shore of the great Pacific Ocean, and a little to the east of China, is Japan. Fig. 19. —The Mongolia. Can you point to it on the map? The country- consists of many islands, most of which are very small. Let us imagine that we are making a 47 48 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED journey to that far-away land. We leave San Francisco on the great steamship, Mongolia, and after traveling over the blue waters for about three weeks we reach Yokohama, the great sea- port of Japan. The Mongolia is six hundred and fifteen feet long. If a twenty-story building were placed sidewise on the vessel, it would not reach halfway from bow to stern. After attending to our baggage we leave the wharf to look for a cab. A large number of men shouting and wav- ing their arms is gathered not far away. They are dressed in blue, and wear shallow oval hats. As we draw nearer we Fig. 20. — A Jinrikisha. Courtesyo/A.C.Vroman. See that Cach Is beckoning to the passengers and calling, ^' 'Rik'- sha?'' '^^Rik^sha?'' Jinrikisha is an odd name for a two-wheeled cart or carriage, is it not ? — but it is still more odd for it to be drawn, not by a horse, but by a man. The name really WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS 49 means man-carriage. It must be much easier to draw this small 'rikisha than that one which carries two people. The 'rikisha man agrees to take us about the city, so we get in. He steps between the shafts, and taking one in each hand he trots off, drawing the load as easily as your pony draws the dog cart. Hour after hour he trots on, stopping only when we ask him. Then we must hold fast, for the stop is so sudden that we are liable to be spilled out. Yokohama is quite different from the cities of our country. The buildings on both sides of the narrow streets are lower than they are at home. There are few horses and wagons to be seen. Men do much of the work that is done by horses in the United States. We see many 'rikishas, and occasionally a person riding in a sedan chair, for street cars are not common. Let us ride out in the country where farms are very small. Instead of seeing plows, harrows, and harvesters in the fields, we see men tending the crops by hand. Many rice fields are to be seen, for rice, you know, is the chief food in Japan. 60 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Patches of bamboo are common. The bamboo is a great friend to the Japanese people. It serves them for water pipes, for fan and umbrella mak- ing, even as material for furniture and houses. Strange to say, this good friend is used even as an article of food, for the young shoots of the bamboo are as tender as aspar- agus. The Japanese are very fond of flowers and near- ly always have them in their Fig. 21. — A Bamboo Grove. Courtesy of A. a Vr Oman. homeS. Some- times their gardens glow with the brilliant hues of chrysanthemums ; sometimes they shine with the bright tints of azaleas, of red peonies, and beautiful blue irises. Sometimes the loveliest flowers are found in the orchards, and when the WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS 51 cherry trees grow white with blossoms the Japan- ese children clap their hands with dehght. As the breezes stir the branches the petals drift down almost like snowflakes. But before they have all been blown away their beauty is cele- brated by a festival in which old and young together rejoice in the feast of the cherry blos- soms. In our country cherry trees are planted for their fruit, but in Japan they are planted for their blossoms. Is not this a beautiful custom? Very tiny are the houses. They are usu- ally but one story in height. The roofs seem much too large and heavy for such frail walls to support. This one is thatched ^ as many of the roofs in the country are. The thatch is some- times of grass, and sometimes of straw or reeds. It is bound in bundles, and then tied to the rafters of the building. Then a man with a great pair of shears, such as we use for cutting hedges, trims the thatch. The roof is very thick and extends for some distance beyond the walls. Frequently the roofs are made on the ground, and then raised on bamboo poles. Of course much dirt collects on the thatch. 52 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Seeds lodge there also. Because of this we see grass and weeds growing on many roofs. Be- neath the eaves are troughs made of bamboo. Some of the roofs are tiled and some are shingled. When a roof is to be tiled, boards are laid on it and upon these mud is placed. The tiles are then pressed into the mud. Japanese shingles are much smaller than ours, and the carpenter uses bamboo pegs for nails. Here is the house to which we have been in- vited. Our friends see us, and come out to bid us welcome, as we step on to the veranda. Little Kiku makes a low bow and assists us to remove our shoes. Kiku means chrysanthemum, for many girls in Japan are named from flowers. Are not wistaria and hyacinth pretty names for the dainty little maidens? The Japanese never wear their wooden shoes or geta^ as they call them, in the house. You will understand why a little later. The door does not swing open as the doors in our houses do. It is a panel that slides back and forth, having a frame of wood and being covered with paper. The walls and the parti- WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS 53 tions between the rooms are of this same material. The panels are usually about three feet wide. The partitions between the rooms are arranged to slide in grooves made in the ceiling and the floor. Sometimes the partitions are of plain Fig. 22, — luku's Home. Courtesy of A. C, Vruman. paper and sometimes they are ornamented with beautiful paintings. It may be a picture of Fuji-Yama, the sacred mountain, snow capped against a sky of cloudless blue. Or perhaps one sees soaring through the clear air birds of mar- 54 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED velous plumage; or perhaps it is a garden with blossoms of violet, of crimson, or of gold. Often these partitions are taken out, and the whole house is thrown into one room. If Kiku could step into your house, she would be much surprised to see the glass windows. In her home, and in many others in Japan, the win- dows are of paper. The windows are called shoji. They are much like the paper walls be- tween the rooms, but you notice that the paper is white. Paper of this color lets in more light. About two feet above the floor, in the shoji of some houses, there are pieces of glass. The Japanese are skilled paper makers. Even their tissue paper is tough and durable, of a finer quality than that with which we are familiar. Paper is used for window panes every day in the year, but on one special day it is put to a still more curious use. That is the day of the festi- val for boys. Almost every flagstaff in the ^'Flowery kingdom'' is decorated with paper fish, sometimes several feet in length, the gift of parents or friends. With wide-open mouths the fish wiggle and twist as they flap to and fro in the breeze. WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS 55 Our friends do not ask us to take chairs, for there is not one in the house. Instead, we sit upon soft white mats that cover the floor. Lit- tle Kiku sits very quietly with her feet drawn up under her, and her hands hidden in the wide sleeves of her kimono. Now you see why we left our shoes at the door. It would not do to soil these white mats. They are quite springy to the step, so there is no soimd of heels upon the floor in a Japanese house. The mats are six feet long and three feet wide, and about two inches in thickness. The size of each room is determined by the num- ber of mats that it is to contain. Would twelve mats cover a large or a small floor? Near one end of the living room you see a low platform on which there are vases containing flowers. There are bright-colored flowers in nearly every room, for, as I have told you, the Japanese are very fond of them. In your home the same pictures remain on the walls for years. In Kiku's home they are changed frequently, and only a few are in sight at one time. A Japanese artist paints a picture 56 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED very quickly. He uses few strokes and does not show as many details as would one of our artists. Kiku goes to another room, and brings in tables — one for each person. You open your eyes wide in surprise, for the tables are only about one foot high. The white mats that cover the floor are our chairs. The maid brings in the din- ner served in dainty dishes. We have soup, then salad, and finally rice, tea, and wafers. The tea- cups are about the size of half an eggshell, and the saucers as large as butter plates. The tea is boiled over a little charcoal brazier called the hibachi (hi ba'che). These are the only stoves which the Japanese have in their living rooms and bedrooms. In the kitchen there is a sort of range for cooking. The hibachi may be a round or square box partly filled with ashes or sand and about as large as a cracker box. The teapot is placed on a three-cornered support which is pushed into the sand. The fuel consists of a few bits of char- coal. On cold days Kiku curls up beside one of these queer stoves and tries to keep warm. We keep warm by living in houses that keep WHERE THE CHRYSANTHEMUM GROWS 57 out a great deal of cold, and by having hot fires in our rooms. When the people of Japan are cold, they put on more clothing. Would it not seem strange to attend a party where each one of the company sat on the floor beside his own stove? We might see such a sight were we to visit Kiku's home in the wintero Where are the beds? Kiku has never seen a bed such as the one in which you sleep at home. She is not accustomed to snowy sheets and soft fluffy pillows. In Japan the mats are the beds. See, the servant is putting all of the partitions in place so that there may be enough bedrooms. What was the dining room a moment ago will soon be used as three bedrooms. Now some padded quilts are brought in. Some of them are spread upon the mats, and some are to serve as covers. It is very little trouble to make the bed, you see. Look at those little wooden boxes, each cov- ered with a roll of cloth. You cannot imagine what they are for, I am sure. They are Japanese pillows. Over each is spread a piece of paper to take the place of a pillow slip. You will think 58 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED the pillows very uncomfortable, but Kiku does not. She is wondering how we will enjoy sleep- ing in a Japanese house, for her parents have told her that our homes are quite different from hers. Even in the country, most Japanese houses have bath tubs, and every night each member of the family takes a hot bath. Many of the bath tubs are round, looking a little like a half bar- rel. In one side of the tub is a charcoal stove whose fire heats the water. Not all Japanese houses are like this one. Some have walls made of plaster instead of paper, and some are made of lumber. Stone and brick are not very commonly used in build- ing. One reason for this is that there are so many earthquakes. The last sounds that we hear are made by the servant in putting up the shutters that protect the shoji. This is locking up the house for the night. We are soon asleep and dreaming of our home in America. A VISIT TO CHINA China is a very old land. Its people are backward; most of them know almost nothing of the rest of the world, and very little of their own country. This is not to be wondered at, for there are very few railroads in this country. The Chinese have not always been backward. They taught the world many things. They discovered how to make silk and they invented printing, the compass, gunpowder, and other things. These discoveries and inventions were made many centuries ago. In the fertile portions of China the population is very dense, for the farms are hardly larger than the gardens in our country. Nearly all the work on the farms is done by hand. There is a man cutting grain with a sickle as it was done thousands of years ago. After the grain is har- vested, women and children will pull up the short stalks that remain. They will carry these home, dry them, and use them as fuel. Farm 60 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED work is not well paid; the laborers usually receive about ten cents a day. Everywhere we see canals. Some are large, and some are small. We see many curious boats on them. People travel along these canals as commonly as we travel along roads. Many farmers take their produce to market on boats. Along the canals are houses within a few feet of the water. They are set up on posts^ and are entered by means of short ladders. You know that in our country the farm- houses are scattered along the roads. They are not built in groups. In China the farmers live in settlements. .There are sometimes wide stretches of country between them without houses. Usually the country houses are but one story high. Many very poor people build their homes of mud or of clay. Sometimes the frame of the house is of wood. To this, strips of bamboo are fastened, and mud is then plastered over the bamboo. Some houses have thatched roofs, and some are covered with tiles. A VISIT TO CHINA 61 Let us step into one of these houses. You will think it quite cheerless, I am sure. There are no carpets, for the floors are simply hardened mud. The partitions are made of strips of Fig. 23. — A Chinese Home. bamboo woven in and out, and plastered with mud. There are chairs, tables, and beds, all made of bamboo. In this house the windows are of paper, and have heavy wooden shutters. In many homes 62 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED the windows consist of a lattice work of bamboo. Pieces of thin shell are tied into the spaces thus formed. There are no stoves such as we have in our homes. Here is a sort of box partly filled with sand. In it the fire is built. In some houses the stove is much larger, and is of brick and plaster. People put on extra clothing when it is cold. They even carry tiny stoves in their sleeves, and they have a sort of foot lamp, also. The houses in the cities are larger and more substantial than those in the country. They are usually made of brick or stone. The roofs are generally covered with tiles. Often mats stretch across the street from roof to roof, for the streets are very narrow. These mats keep out the sunshine. There are no fine residence sections as there are in our cities. The hovel of the very poor man often stands beside the home of the man of wealth. In many cases the family of the merchant lives in the back part of the store. You can see some of the children observing you through A VISIT TO CHINA 68 the open door as you make your purchases. They think your clothes very odd. You do your trading by means of coins called cash. In the center of each there is a small square hole, so that they may be strung on a string or wire. It takes about twenty cash to equal in value one cent in our money. An ordi- nary purse, you see, would be of no value to you in China. Although the streets in these cities are very narrow, there is much business done in them. People hurry and push their way along, carrying goods on their backs or on poles which rest on the shoulders of two men. Here comes a man riding in a sedan chair, and there is another riding in a wheelbarrow ! In the city of Shanghai there are about two thousand wheelbarrows used for carrying passengers. Carriages and wagons are seldom seen in Chinese cities. Here is a barber carrying on his business right in the street. People mend shoes and even cook meals in these narrow, crowded streets. If you are to walk about in a Chinese city at night, it will be well to carry a lantern, for the 64 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED streets are dark and dirty. The common street lights are candles placed in paper-covered boxes. We sometimes travel in ships, but our real homes are upon the land. Many of the Chinese Fig. 24. — Riding in a Wheelbarrow. Coiirtesy of A. C. Vroman. have no homes upon the land. They live on boats or rafts. These floating homes are to be seen along some of the rivers. By means of ropes they are fastened to the banks so that they cannot drift away. On many of these boats there are tiny vegeta- A VISIT TO CHINA 65 ble gardens, and a few fowls. Here children are born, and here they grow up. Just think of spending your life on a boat or a raft ! There is no yard in which to play. There is no chance Fig. 25. — House Boats. to wander through fields and woods, gathering flowers and nuts. There is a roof over a part of the boat to keep out the bright sunshine, as well as the rain. See, this little Chinese child is tied to the boat. This will prevent it from falling into the water. There is a child somewhat older with a barrel 66 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED about a foot long tied to its back. What can be the meaning of this ? We are told that should the child fall overboard, the barrel will keep it from sinking. It is said that there are one hundred thousand people in the city of Canton living in these house boats. Look at the map of China and find this city. FILIPINO HOUSES You have heard of the PhiHppine Islands, I am sure. They are situated thousands of miles to the westward of California, and not far from the coast of China. Although these islands are so very far from us, they belong to the United States. In that land there are many cone-shaped mountains called volcanoes. At times fiery streams of molten rock pour down their slopes, destroying everything in their path, while the air is filled with bits of rock and dust hurled from their tops, and dense clouds of vapor form above them. At such times, as well as at many other times, earthquakes shake the region. So violently does the earth tremble, that trees sway to and fro, buildings rock, and often fall to the ground, while the people flee in terror. You must not think, however, that there is 67 68 now WE AKE SHELTERED nothing pleasant or beautiful on these islands. There are many things in that distant land with which you would be delighted. The Filipino children never wear mittens, and they do not skate nor ride in sleighs, for it is always summer where they live. At all times of the year the sun is almost directly overhead, for the Filipinos live in the torrid zone. The warm sunshine and the abundant rainfall produce great forests. Mountain and plain are covered with trees and plants such as most of you have never seen except in greenhouses. Great forests, in which the vines and creepers form such a tangle that it is almost impossible to walk through them, stretch for miles. In the cultivated portions of the country there are fields of tobacco, sugar cane, and rice. Most of the Filipino children can pick bananas from the trees whenever they want them, while over many homes the cocoanut tree waves its graceful leaves. The Filipinos have dark skins and black hair. Their food, dress, homes, and language differ from yours in many ways. Some of the people FILIPINO HOUSES 69 in that land are savages, and roam through the forests almost as animals do. They build no homes, and many of them have never seen a white person. Many of the Filipino children, however, go to school as regularly as you do, for there are a large number of American teachers on the islands. Probably you have seen bamboo used for fishing rods, but I presume that you would be surprised to see people using these slender poles in building their homes. The Filipinos use them in just this way, however. Bamboo is really a grass, yet in that land it sometimes grows to a height of fifty feet or more, and it may be six inches in diameter. A Filipino home is very different from yours. The houses are low, being seldom more than one story in height. The buildings rest upon four or more stout posts set firmly in the ground, the floor of the house being five or ten feet above the surface. If you were to enter one of these houses, you would do so by means of a short ladder instead of by a flight of steps. Do you wonder why people live in this way? It is 70 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED because the ground is so damp. In the open space beneath the house, hogs, chickens, and tools are kept. The framework of the house is made of pieces of bamboo fastened together by means of rattan. You can see that the Fihpino car- FiG. 26. — Filipino Homes. penters do not make as much noise as our car- penters do, nor do they leave as many nice blocks about the new buildings. Often the walls of the houses are made of nipa palm. The walls are really nothing but mats made of nipa. When a man wishes to build a FILIPINO HOUSES 71 house, he can make or buy as many of these mats as he needs. There is no danger of breaking the windows in such a house, for they are simply openings cut in the walls. Often there are shutters of nipa which may be raised or lowered. The Filipino does not shingle his house as we do, but you must not think that it has no roof. The roof is so well thatched with grass or palm that it will keep out rain for a long time. I must tell you another strange thing about these houses. The roof is made on the ground, and then raised on poles, and set in place. In order to keep the thatch from blowing off, bamboo poles are laid on the roof, and are tied down. Let us enter one of these houses. We climb up the short ladder, and walk in. The house consists of but one room. There are many houses like this one, but some contain several rooms. In one corner of the room we see a bed of hardened mud; this is not to sleep on, but it is the place on which the cooking is done. As there is no chimney, the walls of the house are covered with soot. You are wondering where the furniture is. 72 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED These people do not think it necessary to have much. Those mats spread on the floor are the beds. The table is of bamboo slats, and see, tied to one of the legs is a game cock. Through the spaces between the slats which form the top of the table, bits of food fall to the floor, and so the game cock does not go hungry. The floor is not solid as it is in your home. It, also, is made of bamboo, placed with the rounded sides up. Such homes as this one are easily made, and are very cheap. You would not want to live in one of them, I am sure, but the Filipino people seem perfectly satisfied with them. Many of the people do not know that there are homes of a better kind. Houses of this kind do not last very long. Many are destroyed by earthquakes such as I have mentioned. In the late summer and fall terrible winds, called typhoons^ sweep over the islands, uprooting trees and tearing down houses. In our country we call such storms hurricanes. Like China and Japan, the Philippine Islands produce a great deal of rice. The plowing and FILIPINO HOUSES 73 cultivating are done b}^ means of a water buffalo or carabao. This is a large awkward beast with flat horns about liaK a yard long. Usually the ground is covered with water when the plowing is being done, and when the men sow the seed, Fig. 27. — a Filipino Village. they wade in the water. Plowing and cultivating the rice fields is not the only work which the water buffalo do. They take the place of horses in drawing loads on carts. When not in use, they spend their time in lying in pools of muddy water. 74 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED Now that we have seen something of the country, let us visit Manilaj the largest city on the islands. Manila is built on both sides of a river called the Pasig, On one side of the stream is the old city. Here the houses are built, and the people live, much as they did three hundred years ago. On the opposite side of the river is the new city. This is much more like a city in our own country than is the old one. The houses are much better than those in the country, but they are seldom more than two stories high. Some of the buildings are of wood and some are of stone. On many of the older houses we see roofs of tile, but corrugated iron is used a great deal now. Roofs of this sort are not likely to fall off when earthquakes occur. Even in Manila the dwelling houses seldom have windows of glass. Instead, shells are used. About two hundred and sixty small shells are used in a single window. The shells are not transparent, but they admit a soft light which is very pleasant. In these city houses there are beds, but they are often of bamboo. You have seen cane-seated chairs. The mattresses FILIPINO HOUSES 75 used on the beds are of just such material. The legs of the beds are placed in basins of water in order to prevent centipedes, ants, and other crea- tures from crawling up. A sort of roof is attached to the high bedposts, and over all a large piece of mosquito bar is stretched. In the homes of the wealthy Filipinos there is rich and costly furniture. The floors are of hard wood, and are beautifully polished. There are musical instruments, pictures, books, and such comforts and conveniences as are found in the best homes in our own country. IN THE LAND OF COCOANUTS If you were to sail southwest from the city of San Francisco for a distance of about four thousand miles, you would reach the land of cocoanuts. On all sides of the Samoan Islands stretch the blue waters of the great Pacific. From the fleecy clouds about the mountain tops, to the foam of the waves along the shore, the islands are dressed in a mantle of green. Winter never puts the laughing streams to sleep in this land, nor spreads his spotless robe of ermine over all, for here summer is always queen. There are several islands, but if they were all united in one, the area would be but a little greater than that of our smallest state. Can you name it? In ages past, these peaceful sunny slopes were rudely shaken, while fiery streams of lava flowed down them, and volcanic dust and ashes settled upon the land. But now on every hand we see palms with their 76 IN THE LAND OF COCOANUTS 77 fanlike branches, ferns of various kinds, the cacao, breadfruit, banana and cocoanut tree. The cocoanut palm is one of the most beautiful of trees. It seems to love the restless ocean, for it always grows where sea breezes may play among its graceful, feathery branches.. Many of the cocoanuts sold in our cities come from these islands. This is a land of contentment. Food is easy to obtain. The Samoans do not need to prepare for cold weather, for, as I have told you, they have no winter. There is no need of working from morning until night, so these island dwellers find plenty of time to rest in the shade of tropical trees, to swim in the clear waters of the ocean, and row over them in their canoes. They wear little clothing, and that of the lightest weight. Their brown skin glistens, for one of their curious customs is to rub their bodies with oil. Here are some native Samoan houses. As you see, they are made of grass and are cone shaped. Some of the houses are thirty or forty feet in diameter. Posts about six feet in height are set in the ground, in the form of a circle, and grass is 78 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED woven about them. This forms the walls of the dwelling. In the center of the house is a post much taller than the others. It may even be a breadfruit treeo Fig. 28. — A Samoan Feast. The most important part of a Samoan house is the roof. It is made by laying poles from the wall posts to the central pillar. No shingles are laid on the roof, but it keeps out the rain, for it IN THE LAND OF COCOANUTS 79 is carefully thatched with the long leaves of the sugar cane. Branches of the cocoanut palm are used to fasten the thatch in place. Such a roof will last for several years. You would think it odd indeed to see a family, when moving, take the roof of their house and leave the house behind. Our friends in Samoa sometimes do this. A native house is but one story in height, and it usually contains but one room. See the curious little windows the houses have. They are simply openings which may be closed by grass, woven like that in the wall. The woven grass, mat-like in appearance, takes the place of glass. It hangs down on the wall during sunny weather, but when clouds darken the blue sky, the Samoan "prepares for rain by fastening it across the win- dow opening. Mats are the most valuable pieces of furniture in this, as well as in many other dwellings, and some of them are very expensive. They take the place of beds and chairs. What curious pil- lows these are ! They are simply pieces of bam- boo raised on short legs. Here are cups^ pails. 80 HOW WE AEE SHELTERED and other utensils made of the shells of the cocoanut. Are you wondering where the stove is? That hole in the earth just outside of the house is the stove. Fig. 29. — Interior of a Samoan Home. The building of a house in Cocoanut Land is not a very serious undertaking. In fact, it is frequently a sort of wedding celebration. When a newly married couple wants a home, the relatives and friends help them build it. With shouts and gay laughter posts for the walls and poles for the roof are collected. Grass, sugar cane, and m THE LAND OF COCOANUTS 81 palm leaves are brought. The roof poles are fastened to the posts by means of the fiber of the cocoanut palm. No painting, plastering, or papering is done, and the house is quickly completed. LIFE IN A LOG HOUSE The bright September sunshine was filtering through the branches of the trees and falUng in golden patches upon the leaves, as a heavy wagon, covered with white cloth, and drawn by oxen, came to a stop on the bank of a river in northern Indiana. In the wagon was a family of pioneers. For weeks they had traveled over mountains, through forests, and across prairies, and now at last they had reached the spot which was to be their future home. You may be sure that the parents, as well as the children, were happy to reach the end of their long journey. All helped in arranging a camp, for they could have no other shelter than that afTorded by the covered wagon, until the father could build a house. There were neither lumber nor brick yards in the vicinity, for this was in the year 1805, just a century ago. The country was new, and Indi- 82 LIFE IN A LOG HOUSE 83 ana had not yet been made a state. The house must be made of logs, so Mr. Harrington went into the forest, the edge of which was but a few rods away, to cut down trees. Hour after hour and day after day his ax rang out, while occa- sionally a forest giant fell to the earth with a crash. Wilber and Annette enjoyed these bright autumn days. They gathered cat-tails, rushes, and great bunches of golden-rod. They found clumps of hazel-nut bushes, tall hickory trees with their rough bark, and walnut trees with widespreading branches. When at the bidding of the frost the forest trees put on their brilliant autumn dresses, the children were as busy as the squirrels, gathering a supply of nuts for the winter. Wilber liked to watch his father cut down the trees, trim off the limbs, cut the trunks into logs of the required length, and notch the ends. When the logs were all prepared, they were one by one dragged by the oxen to the place where the house was to stand. There were a few settlers scattered along the 84 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED river, the nearest a mile away, and the men now came to help Mr. Harrington raise the new house. A raisingj which was quite an event in those days, meant putting up the walls of the house, and raising the rafters over them. Two logs were placed on the ground, notched sides up, parallel, and as far apart as the house was to be wide. Next, two logs were placed notches down, across the ends of the first two, so that the notches fitted to- gether. This was repeated again and again, until at last the walls were of the required height. The gables were made by building the end walls higher than the side walls. The logs were laid one upon another, each being shorter than the one just below it. The ends were cut slanting on the upper side, and the logs were fastened together by means of long wooden pins driven into auger holes. Now poles were Fig. 30.- -The Home of Wilber and Annette. LIFE m A LOG HOUSE 85 raised above the walls, forming rafters, and wooden pins were used in these also. The raising was completed before dark, and as Mr. Harrington could do the remainder of the work without help, his kind neighbors, after a hearty supper, started homeward. We employ carpenters to build our houses, but the pioneers, you see, were their own house builders. ''When can we move into the house?'' asked Mrs. Harrington the next morning. ''Just as soon as I can put the shakes on the roof,'' replied her husband. The shakes were made by split- ting short sections of logs into thin boards. They were used as we use shingles now. The first night after moving in, the family was obliged to sleep on the floor of rough boards, for there were no bedsteads. Mr. Harrington did not go to a furniture dealer as we would do, but built them himself. They could not be moved from place to place as yours can be, for they were nailed to the walls in the corners of the rooms. Indeed the walls formed two sides of each bed, while the other sides were made of rough boards. Across the beds, strips of deerskin were fastened, 86 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED and upon these were placed mattresses filled with dried grass. '^Next fall/' said Mrs. Harrington, ^^we will fill the mattresses with corn husks.'' Wilber's bed was in the loft When he went to bed, he had to climb a ladder fastened to the wall. In the large room which served as kitchen, dining room, and living room, Mr. Harrington built a fireplace of stone, with a great chimney outside of the house. The fire in the fireplace furnished the only means of heating the house, as they had no stoves. Fastened to one side of the fireplace was an arm of iron, so made that it could be swung from side to side. This was known as the crane. Attached to the crane were three iron hooks, and by means of these, kettles and pots were suspended over the fire. When Mrs. Harrington wanted to bake, coals were raked out on to the broad hearth, and a tin oven called a baker was placed upon them. During the long winter evenings when the snow lay deep upon the ground, and the wind whistled through the tree tops, the family gath- ered about the fire. How the burning wood LIFE IN A LOG HOUSE 87 snapped, and how the flames roared up the wide chimney ! Sometimes the parents told stories, and sometimes they helped the children with their studies, for there were no schools in the neighborhood. Wilber used to dread to leave the fire, and climb the ladder to the cold loft, for although the cracks between the logs were chinked with thin pieces of wood and mud, the fine snow often sifted in. There were no pohshed chairs, tables, or dressers, in this log house. All of the furniture was rough and was made by Mr. Harrington. There were no carpets on the floors, and no pictures on the walls. The other homes in this, and in many other parts of our country, were much hke that of the Harringtons. As I have said, the settlers lived far apart, but they gladly traveled miles in order to help one another. It was a long distance to the nearest town, and visits to it were made only when necessary. The whistle of a locomotive was never heard, and there were no telegraph and no telephone lines. There was no public library, and there were neither magazines nor newspapers in the 88 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED home. The children never turned on the gas nor the electric light, for their only artificial light was furnished by tallow candles. Water could not be obtained by simply turning a tap, but was carried in pails from the spring, a few rods from the house. How would you hke to live in such a home as that of Wilber and Annette? I am very thank- ful that you have the countless comforts and opportunities that you now enjoy, but I want you to know something of the hard work, courage, perseverance, and suffering, which these cost. For many of the blessings which we now enjoy, our thanks are due the brave pioneers who settled in the wilderness. Do not forget that some of our most useful and noble men and women lived in log houses. LUMBERING Have you ever spent a vacation in the woods ? Have you wandered through them in the spring in search of buttercups, anemones, and honey- suckles? Have you gone blackberrying in the summer? Have you gathered bright-colored leaves, and nuts in the fall? If you have done these things, I am sure that you love the trees. The breeze is the playfellow of the trees. He knows them all by name. He rustles the leaves of the hickory, oak, maple, and elm. He sighs, and sings among the slender, dark green needles of the pine trees. The long feathery branches of the cocoanut and date palm bow gracefully as he passes among them. In some parts of the world there are great prairies J where one may travel many miles without seeing a tree; while in other regions dark forests stretch for hundreds of miles. Can you give a reason for this? 89 90 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED We love the trees because of their beauty, and because of the peace and enjoyment which they offer. They are of great benefit to us in other ways also. Fig. 31. —In the Forest. The forests furnish us with a large part of the material which we use in building our houses. Just think of the long rows of wooden buildings which you have seen in the city. In the country, too, there are many houses and barns built of lumbero The work of cutting the trees and changing them into timbers, boards, shingles, LUMBERING 91 and laths, is called lumbering. I am going to take you with me on a visit to a lumber camp. You know that some trees drop their leaves every autumn. These are called deciduous trees. Other trees remain green all of the year. These are evergreen trees. Both deciduous and ever- green trees furnish lumber. How many of each kind can you name? In our country the pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir produce most of the lumber for building homes. When the frosts of autumn are painting the leaves of the oak, maple, and hickory in yellow, crimson, and gold, the work in the lumber camp begins. These lumber camps are far from towns. There are many of them in northern Maine, in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California, Ore- gon, and Washington. Locate these states on the map. Here in the logging camp we find three large buildings made of rough boards. This one is the blacksmith shop, where the horses are shod, and the tools are repaired. That building just beyond is the mess house. It is the boarding house of the lumbermen. You will not find fine linen, silverware, and cut- 92 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED glass on the table. The men use tin plates and cups, and steel knives and forks. There is plenty of food, but it is plain. Fig. 32. — A Logging Campo Now we will step into the bunk house. This is where the men sleep. The house, you see, consists of one large room. A wide shelf running around the walls is partitioned off into spaces LUMBERING 93 called hunks. Sometimes there are two rows of them, one above the other. After supper the men gather around this great stove in the center of the room. For a short time they tell stories and sing songs. They Fig. 83. —The Fall of a Giant. begin their work very early in the morning, and so they do not sit up late. The first thing done in the fall is to form the camp. Next, roads are laid out. The roads are made from the heart of the forest to some stream, or to a railroad. After the roads have 94 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED been graded, and made as level as possible, they are sprinkled. For this purpose a great sprink- ling cart is driven over them. After the water has frozen, more is put on. Sometimes there is a layer of ice on the road more than a foot thick. The workmen now attack the trees with axes and saws. There is a forest giant nearly ready to fall. A man is driving wedges into the cut in order to make the tree fall in a certain direc- tion. See, it is beginning to totter. The workmen give a shout of warning. With a terrible crash the great tree falls to the ground. What a short time it took the men to cut it down ! It has been growing for a hundred years. Now the workmen are cutting off the branches. They are not valuable for lumber, and it would be difficult to move the trees if they were left on. Here are men loading logs on to sleds. To do this requires much skill, for the logs might do great damage if they rolled off. Those heavy chains are used to bind the logs to the sled. Each teamster is anxious to haul a larger load than do his companions. Day after day the work goes on. After each heavy storm a snowplow LUMBERING 95 must be run over the roads to scrape the snow from the ice. As spring approaches^ great piles of logs accumulate along the banks of the stream. When the sun unclasps the icy fingers of the frost king, these logs will be rolled into the water. The stream will carry them to the saw- L. . 1 ^^ Im^^^^lg J '^^:s^^ ""^'i^^-%.s*-i\ ,_ . ,. i_ . ^^ ~^ HP ^I^IES ri .i^Ji. #««l>-*l.i« nj.iniji •r^.. M -^ *'"'V9i^^''^«««^ »■ --* ^.,^' v*--a" ■• « Fig. 34. — Loading Logs on Sleds. mills far below. The mills are often located on falls or rapids. Why? Bangor, Auburn, Lewis- ton, and Augusta in Maine, and St. Paul in Minnesota, are so located. Find these places. Here are men marking the ends of the logs before they are rolled into the streamo With their axes the workmen cut out letters and 96 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED figures of various kinds. Several lumber com- panies float their logs down this stream, but each company can pick out its own logs by means of its mark. Marking the logs is a little like brand- ing cattle, you see. The logs do not float to the sawmills without any stops. They lodge against rocks, and they strand in shallow water. In order to keep them moving as fast as possible, men called drivers follow them downstream. Driving is exciting and dangerous work. The men are armed with long poles. In one end of each pole there is a strong iron hook, by means of which the logs are pulled and pushed about in the stream. See ! There is a driver actually riding on a log as it floats down the river ! Now he springs from that one to another. How can he keep his footing ? If you were to ask him, he would tell you that in the soles of his shoes there are sharp iron spikes which prevent him from slipping. Here is a place where some logs have lodged. How rapidly they collect ! On they come, one LUMBERING 97 after another, and crowd against the upper side of the pile. Such a collection of logs is called a jam. Fig. 35. — A Jam. Now the drivers will have a hard piece of work. They must break up the jam as soon as possible. They wade out into the icy water, and clamber over the jam. Presently they find the particular logs which are holding the rest back. They pull 98 HOW WE ARE SHELTERED at them with their hooks, but cannot loosen them. The pile is growing every minute. Some- thing must be done at once, so some dynamite is exploded in the pile. With a great roar the Fig. 36. — Logs going up Incline to Mill at Vicksburg. jam breaks up^ and the logs start again on their journey. Near the sawmills are places where the logs are collected and sorted. These are called booms. The logs are driven into a body of water joining 1 1 3 "15!!^^^- I '^ ^^^'^mmmSHKtfl^nmBBm '