422 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



adjunct to the log house in more ways than one. It 

 fastened timbers together. Set firmly in auger holes in 

 the wall, such pins formed the stairway in many a cabin 

 that had a loft; and pins in the walls acted the part of 

 wardrobes, for on them the extra clothes of the family 

 were hung. 



The early cabin builder wanted nails above everything 

 else, and he frequently found it impossible to procure 

 them. He was willing to go to extremes in their quest, 

 even at times resorting to questionable methods. The 

 Virginia colonists found it necessary to enact laws to 

 prevent the burning of old houses to recover the nails. 



in order to get nails, had torn to pieces the outbuildings 

 belonging to the fort. 



The builders of some of the old Jesuit missions of 

 southern California, about 130 years ago, fastened tim- 

 bers together with thongs of rawhide for want of nails ; 

 and the Mormons at Salt Lake resorted to a similar ex- 

 pedient. Some of those old buildings are standing 

 yet. 



The present day builder uses wood more economically 

 than his ancestors used it. Its cost impels him to take 

 that course. The strength of beams is considered, and 

 the loads they can or must carry are taken into account. 



A HAPPY KENTUCKY FAMILY AT HOME 



The size of the family is interesting, but the picture is meant to show a typical two-story log cabin, stone chimney, and clapboard roof, except 

 that the roof boards are not weighted down with poles. The builder evidently economized on window glass and did not patronize the sash 

 and door factory. 



In Hening's statutes of Virginia a law is recorded, 

 Volume 1, page 291, providing that when land containing 

 buildings was abandoned, the houses should not be 

 burned for the purpose of recovering the nails, but the 

 owner was "to receive so many nails as may be com- 

 puted by two indifferent men were expended about the 

 building thereof, for full satisfaction." In 1785 the 

 commandant of Fort Harmar wrote to the governor of 

 Pennsylvania complaining that Kentucky frontiersmen, 



Pieces larger than are necessary are not employed, nor 

 are pieces used which are so small that they endanger 

 the safety of the structure. Men know more about the 

 limitations of building material than they formerly knew, 

 and this knowledge is put into practice. The expert 

 who understands timber physics is considered essential 

 now, and his advice in matters pertaining to his profes- 

 sion is regarded as a paying investment. Thus there is 

 a saving in the first cost of building material, and a prob- 



