OTHER BRANCHES OF INDUSTRY. 323 



built of late have nearly all shingle roofs. In Los Angeles 

 county, the roofs are generally made of asphaltum, obtained 

 from the bituminous springs, of which there are a number 

 alonor the southern coast. The rafters are covered with boards 

 or cane, upon which earth is thrown, and upon that the asphal- 

 tum is placed. Sometimes the asphaltum is poured upon the 

 earth in a melted condition; sometimes it is thrown on in 

 hard lumps during the summer, and the melting is left to the 

 heat of the sun. The asphaltum cracks in the cold and melts 

 in the sun ; so the eaves are dripping in July and August, and 

 in the winter, if a rain comes immediately after a severe cold, 

 the roofs are certain to leak. The cracks are always filled up 

 again when a hot sun shines on the roof and melts the asphal- 

 tum. Most of the dwelUngs are surrounded by verandas or 

 corridors, which are the most pleasant parts of the houses in 

 the summer-time. Some of the dwellings are built in the form 

 of a hollow square, with a paved court inside, planted with 

 trees, and with a corridor running round. This corridor is the 

 favorite place for spending the day, and here visitors are gen- 

 erally received. 



§ 232. Furniture^ etc. — Nearly all the fine furniture of the 

 state is imported. The cabinet-makers' shops are few and 

 small. The costly articles of fine wood- work, made on a large 

 scale in California, are the billiard-tables ; and these are made 

 of unsurpassable excellence and with unsurpassed elegance. 

 Our agricultural implements, wagons, carriages, omnibuses, 

 and coaches, are mostly imported ; and when they are made 

 here, imported wood is used. No hubs, spokes, or felloes, are 

 made in the state. It may be that all our agricultural imple- 

 ments will soon be manufactured at home, for a contract has 

 lately been made to employ one hundred of the state-piison 

 convicts in this labor ; but we shall probably continue to im- 

 port our wagon-lumber, for very little of the Californian tim- 

 ber is strong enough for such uses. Our tubs are mostly made 

 here, and are of good quality. We have many well-built 

 wooden bridges in the state. 



