10 BULLETIN 583, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
CAMP BUILDINGS, 
Portable buildings and tents were used for housing the inmates 
and officers. The stable, harness shed, and blacksmith shop were 
constructed at the site of rough lumber and galvanized iron. The 
portable buildings were of a special type designed by the Office of 
Public Roads and Rural Engineering. The sills, 4 inches wide and 
8 inches deep, were cut to the proper lengths to support buildings 
18 feet square and were so arranged that any number of such build- 
ings might be joined end to end to form a building 18 feet wide and 
any multiple of 18 feet in length. They were fastened together at 
the corners of the building by means of 6 by 6 by f inch angles and 
f-inch bolts and lag screws. The floor joists, 2 inches wide by 6 
inches deep, were set on 2-inch strips nailed to the bottom of the 
sills, and were spaced 2 feet 2 J inches apart and held in an upright 
position by means of 1-inch blocks nailed to the sills on each side of 
them in such manner as to form slots. 
The walls were built in sections, each 3 feet 7 -ft- inches in width 
and 9 feet from floor to eaves. They were built of | by 4 inch 
tongued and grooved material on frames of 2 by 4 inch pieces. 
Alternate sections were fitted with standard 6-light 38 by 42 inch 
window sashes and solid wooden shutters of f-inch tongued and 
grooved lumber. These were hinged at the top so as to swing out- 
ward, and when open they acted as awnings. The wall sections were 
joined together with J-inch bolts through the 2 by 4 inch frames, 
and were held down to the sills by means of f-inch lag screws. 
The floor consisted simply of 6 by f inch boards, 9 feet long or 
equal in length to one-half the width of the buildings. These were 
laid across the sills and were fastened at their ends only. Along 
the center of the building they were held down by a batten or floor 
strip screwed through them to the center joists, and at the sides of 
the building by the wall sections which rested on them. 
The wall sections were tied together at the top by 2 by 4 inch 
pieces bolted to the top of the sections. When thus bolted to the 
2 by 4 inch frame, they formed 4 by 4 inch plates upon which rested 
the 2 by 6 inch rafters, spaced 3 feet 7yV inches apart, so that they 
fell directly over the wall joints. The rafters were braced and held 
down to the plates by means of knee braces of |-inch round iron 
rods provided with turnbuckles. They were tied near the ridge by 
short wooden collar beams, 2 by 6 inches in section, and near the " 
eaves by J -inch round iron tie rods provided with turnbuckles. 
The turnbuckles on the two sets of the rods made it possible to allow 
for swelling and shrinking of the lumber in seasoning, and at all 
times to keep the walls vertical and the roof as it was designed to 
stand, at a pitch of 5 inches to 1 foot. 
