34d 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



Houses in Honduras 



Where the climate of a country is neither 

 very hot nor ever cold a style of building 

 peculiarly its own is developed. Honduras, 

 now so much in the limelight by reason of 

 the proposed loan of $40,000,000 by Morgan 

 & Co., has a very characteristic style of archi- 

 tecture, as will be noted in the street scene in 

 San Pedro Sula. The building on the right 

 in the picture is one of the largest hardware 

 establishments in the country, the main busi- 

 ness section of the city being centered within 



place. Times are dull in that country, and an 

 American mechanic must sell his labor in the 

 cheapest market imaginable, while all he can 

 eat and wear must be imported at the liighest 

 possible prices. 



There is a "concrete" building going up 

 in San Pedro, for hotel purposes. Hotel ac- 

 commodations now are of the most primitive 

 sort: a hard cot in a bare room, two cots to 

 a room, at one dollar a cot. This ' ' concrete ' ' 

 building is on the style of the old fortresses 



proof houses, and with the material to builij 

 those seemingly best suited to the climate, the 

 housing becomes a matter of little concern. 

 One does not have to buy laud, but when a 

 Hondurean wants to build a house he jjuts 

 it any place he wants it, of course on property 

 not previously occupied by a house nor fenced 

 in, and that is called "condemning," and the 

 land is his for a small yearly rental which 

 the government collects. But he cannot own 

 a home, so he' builds a "manacca"' shack 

 on it, and he is all right until that rots down 

 in a few years, and l>y that time he is ready 



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KTREET SCENE IN SAN PEDRO SUI.A. HONDURAS 



CONCRETE BUILDING IN CONSTRUCTION AT SAN PEDIiO SULA 



the few squares shown, which is the best part 

 of this city, which is second in size in Hon- 

 duras. The streets are about deserted during 

 most of the day, the baud concerts in the 

 Plaza at night, two or three times a week, 

 bringing out what little life there is in the 



A .MANACCA TREE WHICH YIELDS BUILD- 

 ING MATERIAL EOR THE HOUSES 



one sees in old time books. The walls are two 

 feet tliick, and so much lime and poor sand 

 are used in the concrete that it should more 

 properly be called a ' ' dobe ' ' house. The most 

 primitive methods of handling material are 

 used. The concrete is mixed near the front 

 corner of the building aud is carried up in 

 a bucket by way of one ladder, on the back 

 of the building, so a man working- right over 

 the mixer must wait until the ' ' moser ' ' goes 

 clear around the building and up the ladder 

 and back to him, and he may be only ten feet 

 from the mixer. 



An im]irovement on this method was tried 

 once, and by means of a well pulley and a 

 rope, a liucket was hoisted up to the scaft'old 

 by two boys. But accidents will happen, and 

 one day the boss called one of the boys just 

 as they had a bucket almost at the top. He 

 promptly let go his hold of the rope, while 

 the bucket, being heavier than the boy. 

 promptly hoisted tiie lad up to the scaffold, 

 but not near enough to catch hold of it. These 

 people seemingly have no brains, and the boy 

 did not know enough to slide down the rope, 

 but yelled lustily until aid reached him. Amid 

 the clamor of jabbering tongues he finally 

 managed to understand that he should slide 

 down, which he did safely. But the march 

 of progress was halted and tlie infernal traps 

 of the Giingoes was discarded for the slower 

 but safer way of going around the building. 



Bame Nature is largely responsible for the 

 condition of things in Honduras and for the 

 mode of living and housing of the people. 

 With a climate nearly the same the year 

 round, with little or no necessity for weather- 



to go elsewhere and put up another one. The 

 material for his house costs nothing but the 

 gathering. The mannacca tree grows only too 

 abundantly, and it needs nothing but the 

 ever-ready "machete" to cut off the long 

 leaves and split them down the center. From 

 this tree the builder gets his shingles or 

 thatch, his binding to tie on the thatch, and 

 from the palm the split ' ' pew ' ' or rail to 

 which the leaves are fastened. Xot a nail 

 or piece of hardware of any sort enters into 

 the construction of the native 's house, aud 

 there are neither doors nor windows — just 

 openings, and they are never closed. 



TYPES OF NATIVES AND A BUNCH OF 

 MANACCA NUTS 



