The Log Cabin 19 



There were but few windows in the cabin, very 

 often not more than one. Greased paper took 

 the place of glass. The window was closed at 

 night with a heavy shutter of wood. The door, 

 swinging on wooden hinges, was thick and strong. 

 It was fastened with a wooden latch, which was 

 operated by a latchstring that hung outside 

 during the day. At night, or when visitors were 

 unwelcome, the door was made secure against 

 intrusion simply by pulling in the latchstring. 



The logs in the cabin did not fit smoothly to- 

 gether, and therefore the cracks between them 

 were filled or "chinked" with moss and clay. In 

 the fall, earth was piled up against the foundation 

 logs of the house to keep the wind from blowing 

 underneath. 



There were no cellars under the log cabins. 

 Some of them had no floor other than the ground 

 itself, packed hard by the feet of the settler and 

 his family. Some of the better cabins had a floor 

 of "puncheons " - logs hewed flat with the same 

 broadax that had been used in chopping the 

 logs for the house. Such a floor, rough as we 

 would think it now, was little short of a luxury 

 then; it was certainly a comfort. 



