NOVEL SPRING HOUSES 



means, and possibly within the skilful handiwork, 

 of the average landowner. 



For twenty-five dollars or even somewhat less, 

 it is asserted a spring house has been built on the 

 Dickinson estate, near Crescentville of patriotic 

 fame. As it is of generous dimensions about four- 

 teen by twenty feet with deep underground walls 

 and peaked roof, and with sheltering porch at the 

 entrance-way, -one readily surmises that this, price 

 necessitated an abundance of field stone to be had for 

 the gathering, and also owner-building. In this in- 

 stance, however, a stone mason's apprentice made 

 a slight expense for work; a tight shingle roof, an 

 extra door at the back and flooring boards for the 

 interior, brought the cost of material and stone- 

 laying near the twenty-five dollar mark, while the 

 carpenter work as well as the greater part of the 

 stone-work was finished by the owner. This struc- 

 ture presents the novel feature of a second story. 

 The entrance beneath the sheltering porch at the 

 front leads down a few steps into low, cool depths, 

 with a cemented floor; just above this entrance-door 

 flooring boards have been laid to form a ceiling for 

 the lower story and floor for the upper. The boards, 

 however, are laid in the form of slats instead of close- 

 fitting, thus forming a cool upper storage room with 



a narrow upper entrance at the back. 



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