For a toilet closet, build a shed four feet wide, six feet long, and
eight feet high. Use a movable pail or box. Lime slaked or unslaked
or dry dust or ashes must be scattered every time the closet is
used. Always clean before it shows signs of becoming offensive: keep
it covered fly tight and mix the contents with earth or litter, and
scatter on the garden.
A shack can be built of logs which will do for comfort and will look
dignified.
Horace L. Pike, in _Country Life in America,_ says: "The lot on
which we meant to build our log house stood thirty-five feet above
the lake. The problem was how to build a cabin roomy, picturesque,
inexpensive, and all on the ground.
"The ground dimensions are thirty-two by thirty feet outside. This
gives a living room sixteen by fourteen; bedrooms twelve by twelve,
twelve by ten, and nine by seven; kitchen eleven by nine; a five-by
four-foot corner for a pantry and refrigerator; closet four by six,
front porch sixteen by six feet six inches, and rear porch five by
five--705 square feet of inside floor space and 130 square feet of
porch.
"A dozen pine trees stand on the lot, and maneuvering was required
to set a cottage among them without the crime of cutting one. The
front received the salutes of a leaning oak, the life of which was
saved by the sacrifice of six inches from the porch eaves, the trunk
forming a newel post for the step railing.
"We closed the contract immediately for 120 Norway or red pine logs,
thirty feet long and eight by ten inches diameter at butts. The
price was low--one or two dollars their like should have brought. We
used, however, only eighty-one logs; forty thirty-foot, fourteen
eighteen-foot, thirteen sixteen-foot, and fourteen fourteen-foot.
"Work was begun on April 22. Two days sufficed for the owner and one
man to clear and level the ground, dig post holes, set posts, and
square the foundation. The soil was light sand with a clay hardpan
three feet down.
"Twenty-seven days each were put in by two men from start to finish,
with assistance rendered by the owner. There were seven days by the
mason, eight by carpenters, and four teen and one half by other
labor. On June 4 the cabin was ready for occupancy, and the family
moved in. The prices, as in most cases cited, are higher to-day.
Cheaper transportation or lower tariff may reduce them again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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