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Show W s A House Built Christmas Day i . . . by . . . j Frances Grinstead A HOME that was built on a Christmas day stood for a i long tim on the old Santa ' Fe trail where it passed near Arrow Ar-row Rock, Mo., on the Missouri river. Though not quite completed in a single day. with the help of ; his neighbors on that "holiday" ! about a hundred years ago, Henry j Nave got his cabin ready for his family and the day after Christmas Christ-mas took them into his shelter. Of course the house was built of undressed lumber, felled right on his farm. When he had selected the location this pioneer cut down round poles for the walls, rafters ' and joists the framework. Mr. Nave had found some large, fiat stones, and in the afternoon they dragged these into place for the hearth. Then of other suitable rocks, by much puffing and pulling they built a fireplace one of those great practical ones which served to heat the home and to cook venison, ven-ison, buffalo meat, corn pone and other "victuals." The exterior of this fireplace was wood, the stones providing a fireproof lining. The mortar to bind the stones was chiefly mud; to obtain even this simple ingredient it was necessary nec-essary to build a fire in the middle of the half-constructed cabin and thaw the ground. But, writes this hardy woodsman, "It was not many days until we While the Little Nave Children Wished for Things. were living snugly in our cabin and in good health and with fine appetites." Holidays among our ancestors were made occasions for such celebrations cel-ebrations as this, but they never witnessed the cessation from labor la-bor ours afford. There was always need for immediate shelter, crop harvesting, or game killing. Hence log-raisings, corn-huskings, and gun-shoots were made social occasions. oc-casions. But do you suppose we ever have more fun than Henry Nave's family and friends had building a house on Christmas day? |