. 
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 thete are a number 
along 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 dwellings 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, ete.—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 acontract has 
lately been made to employ one hundred of the state-prison 
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. 
