HOUSES, PORTABLE. 



425 



land and France, were sent out by sea for the 

 use of the allied forces, and the civil war in the 

 United States still further developed the trade. 

 Since that time a large demand for such build- 

 ings has come from railway constructors on 

 the great transcontinental lines; from settlers 

 in the Western wilderness; from miners; from 

 camp-meetings; and from the rapidly increas- 

 ing army of people who seek an out-of-door 

 life during the summer months, and are lining 

 the North Atlantic sea-coast with cottages. 



FIG. 1. SECTION FOR ROOF OR SIDING. 



Much ingenuity has been directed to details of 

 construction, and a high degree of perfection 

 has been attained. 



The finished buildings may be classified as 

 "frameless," "knock-down," and "perma- 

 nent." The same system of construction en- 

 ters largely into all three of them, different 

 makers, of course, following different plans of 

 nomenclature as well as of design. 



The siding and rooting is a prime considera- 

 tion, and one of the most approved systems is 

 shown in Fig. 1. Panels or sections are made 



FIG. 2. CAMPER'S HUT (EXTERIOR). 



as indicated of tongued and grooved half-inch 

 boards, the outer course being vertical and the 

 inner horizontal, with a layer of roofing-felt 

 or prepared sheathing-paper between them. If 

 a more sightly inside finish is desired, a third 

 course is " blind-nailed " on the inside, afford- 

 ing more warmth, greater strength, and, of 

 course, greater weight. The sections are made 



of different sizes, according to the dimensions 

 or class of the intended buildings. Fig. 2 and 

 3 represent a " camping-hut," exterior and in- 

 terior. The sides, ends, and floor are each a 

 single panel, and the roof is in two similar 

 panels, joining under the ridge-pole. A hut 

 like this with two cots, shelves, etc., weighs 

 500 pounds. 



The "knock-down " class is more elaborate, 

 calling for several panels in roof and sides, and 

 for windows and doors (Fig. 4). The edges of 

 adjoining roof -panels meet over the rafters, 

 and a groove in the top of each rafter leads 

 to the eaves the small amount of water 

 that finds its way through the openings. 

 The siding-panels are interchangeable, so 

 that windows and doors can be placed 

 wherever they are wanted, or even shifted 

 if need be. The example given is the sim- 

 plest in its class. Its size renders necessary 

 some interior framing and truss- work, so 

 that it properly belongs to a different class 

 from the camper's unframed hut. The 

 third or "permanent" class is still more 

 elaborate, including two and three storied 

 structures, with some pretensions to archi- 

 tectural effect. One of them a summer 

 cottage is shown in Fig. 5. Each of the 

 classes described contains numerous varia- 

 tions on the types illustrated, including 

 chicken-houses, hen-coops, barracks, hospitals, 

 churches, club-houses, and the like, any of 

 which are on short notice packed at the fac- 

 tory and shipped to any part of the world with 

 full printed directions for setting up. 



FIG. 3. CAMPER'S HUT (INTERIOR). 



An entirely different type of structure is 

 found in the field-hospitals or portable bar- 

 racks recently exhibited at Antwerp at the in- 

 stance and invitation of the Red Cross Society. 

 This association, it will be remembered, be- 

 came prominent during the Franco-Prussian 

 War (1870-"T1), and it has since devoted itself 

 largely to the perfecting of field- hospital equip- 



