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Show Log Cabin . , Soddyor Soddy or House of Stone- Stone StoneAll StoneAll Stone StoneAll - ' , All Have BeenIHomel Been 'Home Home IHomel IHomelSweet ' . , Sweet Home Homel . " Recalls Evolution of Amoncan American Houses from the Days DaysWhen DaysWhen Week Celebration of Better Homes Dj DjWhen When the P.oneer-s P.oneers P.oneer Poneer s Ploneel"s Ploneels Pioneer's Pioneers . " ' - Cab.n Cabn Cabm Cabin . Was Botha Both a Dwelling Dwellmg Place anda and a Fortress Down to Houses Housesof Ho . . . . . . . . . . . , Materials . With Their TI TIi Great /---i i / - - - Variety Varietyof v vi -i i - . of t Architecture A h + pr- pr priirB - + iirB and Buildinq BUilding Materials of ot the me Present rn-st-iii rn st iii - - "u u " " > - - - - - , IB II B : ) Western Weslern Newspper Newsplper Newsp per Union By ELMO SCOTT WATSONA WATSONONG WATSON WATSONAMONG AMONG ONG the mulb multifarious multifariousweeks multifarious/\ multifarious multifariousweeks anous anousweeks XONG A / \ weeks ' ' we are calledupon calledupon called calledx x upon to observe eachyear each eachyear eachyear associated associatedwlth associatedwith associatedwith year is one that is wlth with an idea very dear to the thehearts thehearts thehearts hearts of all Amencans Americans AmencansThat AmericansThat AmericansThat That is Bettel Better Homes Week WeekApnl24 WeekApril WeekApril Apnl24 April 24 to 30For 30For 30 30For For we Americans Amencans give to tothe tothe tothe , the . word v.ord vord 'home home ' home " a sentl sentt sentlmental senttmental sentimental mental attachment which we webestow webestow webestow bestow upon no other word wordwIth wordwith wordwith wIth the possible exceptlon exception exceptionof exceptlonof of ' "mother mother " " 'Home Home ' Sweet SweetHome SweetHome SweetHome Home " and 'My My ' My Old Ken Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky tucky Home ' and ' Old Folks Folksat Folksat Folksat at Home ' are still among ourbest our ourbest ourbest best beloved folk songs and ' Tin Tm Pan Alley " knows that thatthe thatthe thatthe the chances are better than than50 50 50 for writing wntmg a ' sure fire firehIt firehit firehit hIt ' if it can get home ' inthe m In mthe Inthe the title of a new song or orbuIld orbuild orbuild buIld the theme of it around aroundthat aroundthat aroundthat that word Has any popular popularsong popularsong popularsong song of recent years showed showedgreater showedgreater showedgreater greater promise of endurmg enduring endurmgpermanently enduringpermanently enduringpermanently permanently than Billy Hill s ' Home on the Range ? ' Yes we Americans Amencans love loveour loveour loveour ' our homes even though weare we weare are sometimes called ' ' the themost themost themost most restless people on onearth onearth onearth earth " who in m these days of ofthe ofthe ofthe the automobile and the hard hardroad hardroad hardroad road seem to spend as littletime httle little httletIme littletime tIme as possible in m them them'Twas them'Twas them'Twas themTwas 'Twas Twas ' not always thus of ofcourse ofcourse ofcourse course as a glance back - - - - = - - - - - - - = - - - = - = - - - - - - - = . . t tA , I L Ls -s s - rsNF ' A Typical Log Cabin Home Borne ofbuilding of ofbuilding building buildmg log cabins in m which winch to tospend tospend tospend spend their vacationsErnest vacationsErnest vacations vacationsErnest Ernest Thompson Seton once oncewrote oncewrote oncewrote wrote a magazine article in m n whIch whichhe whichhe , he told how a group of men JOIned joinedtogether joinedtogether i itogether together to do that Of the resulthe result resulthe ! he said saidAnd And what had we got got7 ? ' Some Some- Somethmg Something Something - - thing thmg out of the woods w \ oods conquered conqueredout out of the woods by ourselves a amLxture amixture amixture mLxture mixture of nature and human en enthusasm enthusoasm enthusiasm thusasm thusoasm ] a something somethmg which we wecould wecould wecould could not but 10\ 10 lo\e lo e 10e lose \ e fort for ] it was a apart apart apart part of ourselves V . .e e . e had con contacted contasted contacted tacted tasted the wild woods at almost almostevery almostevery almostevery every point pomt without any mter inter mtermedlary intermedrary intermediary medlary medrary medraryWhen . . * . When the frontier had been beenpushed beenpushed beenpushed pushed beyond be } ond and the forest clad cladlands cladlands cladlands lands east of the Mississippi and andbegan andbegan andbegan began spreading spreadmg across the great greatplams greatplains greatplains plams plains of the West the pioneerhad pIOneer pIOneerhad pioneerhad had a nehome new ne\\ ne \ \ home building . , , prob problem problem problem lem Timber \ was \ as scarce and andwhat andwhat andwhat what thereas there \ was \\as as mostly cotton cottoni cottonwoor i \ \ % oo ooh ' and elm made poor lum r A T ad , a < y ya ya yar r S ' " . ' The Soddy Soddyrronher SoddyFrontier -rronher rronher -Frontier Frontier - nome Home on the Great Plams Plains of the W \ est through our hI hi&tory hitory history & : . tory will showli showIf show showIf If li as one of our popular popularmodern popularmodem popularmodem modern modem writers wnters of verse says saysIt saysIt saysIt It takes a heap o a livmTo lovinTo livin livm lovin livinTo To make a house a home homethen homethen homethen then u \ we e had real homes back m in mthe inthe inthe the da das ; ) s when our pIOneerIng pIOneerIngforefathers pioneeringforefathers pioneeringforefathers forefathers lived in m log cabms cabins cabmsFor cabinsFor cabinsFor For they certainly certamly did a heapo heapa heap a o livin livln livrn in m house houses of that kmd kind kmdNot kindNot kindNot Not only w \ as ] it t a place of rest for forthe forthe forthe the pioneer after a hard day s swork swork swork work clearing clearmg the forest but it itwas ] itwas t twas was also his bulwark of defense defenseagainst defenseagainst defenseagainst against one of the most redoubtable redoubt redoubtable redoubtable able foes in m history-the history the history - the Indian Indianarnor Indianwarrior Indianwarrior IndianwarriorTruly \/arnor arnor warrior warriorTruly \ / arnorTruly Truly the log cabin cabm was 0 tI e eAmencan eAmerican eAmerican Amencan American pioneer s castle in m a amore amore Emore more literal sense than Sir Ed Edward Edward Edward ward Coke the famous English EnglishJUrist Englishjurist Englisljurist JUrist of the S xteenth teenth century centurycould centurycould centurcould } could ever have real zed when re 1-e 1 e redeclared 1edeclared hdeclared - ( declared that a man shouse s house is ishis ] ihis S Shis ! his castle For the story of the theAmerIcan theAmerican thAmerican ( AmerIcan frontier ] is S a saga of ofthe ofthe o the stout hearted men and worn wom en in JI1 this trus combmed combined combmedhome combinedhome combinedhome home and fortress against agamst whose whosethick whosethick whosethick thick walls the tides of savage savagehatred savagehatred savagehatred hatred beat in m vainBy vainBy vain vainBy By the middle of the Nineteenthcentury Nineteenth Nineteenthcentury Nineteenthcentury , century the log cabin had be become become come a symbol of American de deI democracy democracy I mocracy It with its all ed sym symbols symbols symbols bols of frontier life the coonskin coonskinand coonskmand oonskln oonsklnand and hard cider coder helped send oonsklnI Wil William WilLiam William I liam Henry Harnson Harrison to the WhiteHouse White WhiteHouse WhiteHouse House and long after the frontier frontierera frontierera frontierera era had passed one of the sur surest surest surest est ways for a candidate for of office office office fice to appeal successfully to the theelectorate theelectorate theelectorate electorate . was v.as vas to emphasize the thefact thefact thefact fact that he was born in m a logcabin logcabinEven log logcabin logcabin cabin cabinEven Even in these modern days daysmemones daysmemories daysmemories memones memories of the log cabin era erasurVI erasurvise erasurvive surVI\ surVI surVIe survise speechWhen \ e m in our everyday spcech speech spcechWhen speechWhen When you invite mVlte mvite someone to VISit VISityou visityou visilyou you do you assure him that he he1111 hesill hewill \1111 1111 sill \ alwa always ) } s find fmd the latchstringout latchstrmgout latchstrmg latchstring out ? ' Your log cabin dwellmg dwelling dwellmggrandfather dwellinggrandfather dwellinggrandfather grandfather used that term and andhe andhe anche he meant that a buckskin thong thongpushed thongpushed thongpushed pushed through a hole m n the thestout thestout thestout stout oak door of h s home would wouldbe wouldbe woulcbe 1 be hanging down outside When Whenthe Whenthe Wheithe the visitor pulled the string strll1g It IthUed itlifted ilifted ; hUed lifted the latch a bar of wood woodfrom \ woodfrom \ ood oodfrom from its slot so that he could couldpush couldpush coul coulpush < push the door open and walk mAlthough inAlthough in m inAlthough pastt Although that era is long past pastit pastit it ] t does not mean that it is for forgotten forgotten forgotten gotten Significant Slgl1lficant of the fact factthat factthat factthat that Americans still cher sh the thelog thelog thilog log cabin cabm as the symbol ofa of a way wayof wayof wa : of 1 I te fe that vi v u . as somel ow 0\1 0 1 \ freer freerand freerand freeand theyknow and happier than the one they the : know in this mach ne age is the thenostalgic thenostalgic thnostalgic nostalgic oflhem ofthem attempt by many of f lhem them to recapture the past by b ber for ] it t warped and tWisted tWistedwhile twistedwhile twistedwhile while drying drymg in m the sun So with withcharacten withcharacterietoc withcharacterftic characten characterietoc tlc versatility he heturned heturned heturned turned to the only material matenal avail available available available able and made it serve his pur purpose purpose purpose pose Thus came into mto being the thetype thetype thetype type of pioneer home known as asthe asthe asthe the sod house or soddySelecting soddy soddySelecting Selecting Selectmg a likely site for hisnew his hisnew hisnew , new hor.e hore hor < . + e he hitched his y ioke oke of ofo ofoxen oioxen o oxen en to a prairie praIne breaking breakll1g plow plowthe plowthe plowthe the only implement that could couldcut couldcut couldcut cut through the tough sod with withItS withits withits ItS interlaced mterlaced roots of grass and andprairie andprairie andprairie prairie plowto plants Setting Settmg h s plow plowto plowto to a depth of about three mches inches mcheshe incheshe incheshe he ran a long straight furrow as asnear asnear asnear [ near to the location of his soddy soddyas soddas } as possible so that he would not nothave nothave nolhave have the task of moving his hisbUilding hisbuilding hi ; building materials so farStrips far farStrips Strips Stnps of sod a foot wide and andtl andti anctl tl ti broughto broughtto ree feet long were then brought to the site of the new house and andhe andhe anche he building begun After the thedlmens thedimens th thdimens < dimens dlmens ons of the house had beer been decided upon the ground was wassmoothed wassmoothed 5 smoothed off so that a space was wasI wa wasleft left for the I walls which were weretwo weretwo wer wertwo two feet fcet or more thick The Theglowmg Theglowing glowing glowmg grass was left on the sod sodand sodand soiand and this formed the chinks chmks between be becen betw \\cen cen tw \ \ cen the la lay lasers ers so that it was wasnot wasnot wanot not necessary to chink chmk chmkup chinkup up the thespaces thespaces thspaces spaces between the layers of sod sodThe sodThe The walls were built up to a aheight height of seven or eiglt eigt elgl t feet feetopenings feetopenings ; openings being bemg left for the Win WinI Windows dows and doors which were re- re recessed recessed - - - I dlstance distance cessed into the \ walls aIls for a dls dis di ; ; tance of a foot or more moreAfter moreAfter After the walls were complete completed - _ - r . " : 1 ' " 1L --L L - the ( he Earljr Early American Pioneers Pioneersa a ridgepole was secured It wasusually was wasusually usually a native tree with other othersmaller othersmaller smaller trees or branches to be beused beused used for rafters or supporters supportersBrush supportersBrush supportersBrush Brush was thrown over this then thena a layer of prairie pralne hay or straw strawafter strawafter strawafter after which wruch the sod roof was put puton puton puton on the la lasers ) } ers being bemg leveled ofI oft ofIand oftand oiland and chinked up so that not a adrop adrop adrop drop of water enteredDoors enteredDoors entered enteredDoors Doors and windows wmdows were then thenmade thenmade thenmade made by the homesteader from fromnative fromnative fromnative native lumber or from the bO boxes boxesFew boxesFew es esFew Few of the first soddies soddles had glass glassm glassin glassin m in their thetr windows wmdows Oiled paper or ormuslIn ormuslin ormuslin muslIn was used msteadThe insteadThe instead mstead insteadThe The soddy was now ready for forthe forthe forthe the pioneer and his family to live liveIn liven livein In n In many instances to make makeIt makeit It more attractive a coat of ofhltewash ofwhitewash ofwhitewash \\hltewash hltewash whitewash hltewashwas whitewashwas \ \ was given the mSlde inside mSldewalls insidewalls insidewalls walls : It t was made from native nativelime nativeline nativelime lime line which he secured from the thehills thehills thehills hills along the river and burnedhimself burned burnedhimself burnedhimself himself Most of the pioneer sod soddies soddies soddies dies had no wood floors the floors floorsbemg floorsbeing floorsbeing bemg being made of clay which was wasdampened wasdampened wasdampened dampened and tamped down un until until , , tli til it was smooth and e\en e en een e\ e es eenWith \ en enWith With its ItSalls \ walls \\alls alls two feet thickand truck thick truckand thickand and its roof from eight mches inches to toa toa toa a foot thick the soddy made a acomfortable acomfortable acomfortable comfortable home for the pIOneer pIOneerfamilywarm pioneerfamilywarm pioneerfamily family-warm family warm - warm in m the winter when whenone whenone whenone one of those terrible ternble blizzards blizzardsswept blizzardsswept blizzardsswept swept across the plains plams and cool coolm coolin coolin m in the summer when the hot sun sunbeat sunbeat sunbeat beat down upon it from a cloud cloudless cloudless cloudless less sky and blistering blistermg winds windsswept windsswept windsswept swept over it And like the log logcabin logcabin logcabin cabin of his Eastern forefathers forefathersit forefatherst it ] t a \ was \ as a s \ veritable entable eritable fortress which whichcould whichcould whichcould could resist Indian IndJan attack espe especially espedally cally cially ] when its defenders were werearmed werearmed werearmed armed with those straight shoot shootmg shooting shooting heavySharps mg ing Kentucky long rifles or heavy Sharps buffalo bufIalo guns gunsa a * . s * . * . With the passing of the fron frontier frontier frontier tier eia ela on the plains plams the plO pio plOneers pioneers pioneers neers and the sons and daughter daughters daughtersof ; of the pioneers who no longer longerneeded longerneeded longeineeded needed to hve lIve in m these combination combma combina combmatlon combination tlon tion homes and prairie pralne fortresses fortressesb'gan fortressesbegan fortressesbegan b'gan bgan began ( ' building bUlldmg houses of v.ood vood wood v.oodstone woodstone . woodstone stone and brick bnck similar to those thoseJI1 thosein thosfm JI1 in today-East today East toddYEast the East Americans Amencans toddY- toddY - - East and West and North and andSouthlive andSouthlive am |