?AiRJ\L 
^■rnTTwil^^ 
PRICE SIX CENTS, 
$2.63 PER YEAR. 
VOL. XXXL No. 7 
WHOLE No. 1307. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875. by the Rural Publishing Company, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
substantial, homely, home-like house is worth 
a thousand of these filigree structures for hon- 
et, homely, home-loving men and women. 
control, but the direction at which it is ap¬ 
plied also. Other mechanism, Lf used instead 
of hammers to perform the same duty, 
would from its nature require to be a com¬ 
plicated machine, and act but in one direc¬ 
tion or in one plane.” 
axle, inclined plane, screw, or lever, as an 
agent for concentrating and applying power, 
noting the principles of its action first, and 
then considering its universal use, and he 
will conclude that if there is a mechanical 
device that comprehends distinct principles, 
that device is the common hammer; it 
seems, indeed, to be one of those things pro¬ 
vided to meet a human necessity, and with¬ 
out which mechanical industry could not be 
carried on. In the manipulation of nearly 
kind of material the hammer ri con- 
NOTES FOR BUILDERS 
A SUMMER HOUSE 
A Worn Screw Hole. — The American 
Builder says :—Very often a screw hole get3 
so worn that the screw will not stay in. 
It has been urged that the character of a Where glue is handy, the regular carpenter 
family may be determined by'the external makes the hole larger and glues in a large 
appearance of their home. This cannot plug, making a nest for an entirely new hole, 
safely be depended upon as a guide, for the But this is not always, the case, and people 
family that occupies'a dwelling may have without tools and in an emergency, often 
purchased, lentodor inherited the result of have to fix the thing at ouce. Generally 
some other man’s or family’s taste, and leather is used, but this is so hard that it 
there be not a particle of sympathy in taste, does not hold well. The best of all things i3 
culture or habits between the creator of the to cut narrow strips of cork and fill the hole 
home and those who happen to occupy it. completely. Then force the screw in. This 
Again, some homes are purely the con- will make as tight a job as if driven into an 
ventional creations of architects who have entirely now hole. 
received orders to plan at their discretion The Out - Buildings on a farm cannot be 
with limits as to cost only. The family to too freequently looked over when built of 
occupy it has little to do with its external timber and it is desired to use economy; for 
character or internal arrangement, but set a nail put into a board at the right time and 
about adapting themselves to it as soon as place, or a shingle replaced, or a batten put 
as they have taken possession, This matter on may save more costly repairs. Wc never 
of adaptation in such cases is frequently yet could find a good reason for skiing a 
most difficult; indeed we know instances I bam at all and leaving half-inch spaces be- 
wlu-re it is impossible; and no matter how 1 tween the siding for wind, rain and snow to 
earnestly the feat is attempted, the family enter. If we had such a barn we would 
might as well be in straight jackets with the spend some portion of this delightful winter 
hope of freedom of motion as to hope to har- stopping such spaces—especially where there 
monize with their surroundings. An honest, | were stables. Please make a note of this. 
Lining the Walls of 
BUILDING AND CHARACTER, 
utterly lacking in harmony with their sur- every 
roundings. Rustic summer houses are less tinually necessary in order to exert a for (, e 
likely to be outre and inharmonious, because beyond what the hands command, unaided 
the 3 T are less likely to be painted glaring by mechanism to multiply their force. A 
colors and to embrace pretentious fllligree carpenter In driving a 3piko requires a force 
work. At this season there is leisure to plan of from one to two tons ; a blacksmith re- 
tlie house, collect and prepare the material quires a force of from five pounds to five 
with which to erect it. Indeed, the house may tons to meet the requirements of his wot k, 
be erected and made ready for adornment by * stonemason applies a force of from one 
planting about it the proper climbers early hundred to one thousand pounds in driving 
in spring. Designs for such houses are vari- the edge of his tools ; chipping, calking, in 
ous am fmany are beautiful. The design we fact nearly all mechanical operations, con- 
give is ail English one, and although more sist more or less in blows, and blows are but 
angular and less graceful than many we have the application of an accumulated force ex- 
seen on American grounds, yet there are pended throughout a limited distance, 
many situations for which it is suited, and it “ Considered as a mechanical agent, the 
is given here as a suggestion for those of our hammer concentrates the power of the arms 
readers who desire to spend their winter | and applies it in a manner that meets the 
days in preparing such pleasant additions to requirements of the work, lf great force is 
the beauty of the homestead. Any one can needed, a long swing and slow blows accom- 
easily comprehend the method of construe- plish tons ; if but little force is required, a 
tion and imitate or modify this plan at will, short swing and rapid blows will serve, the 
-- 4 -«r*- degree of force being not only continually at 
THE COMMON HAMMER. 
This may not be strictly 
an architectural topic, but 
it is certainly an essential 
architectural implement or 
tool, and the following re¬ 
marks concerning it, which 
we find credited to an En¬ 
glish author of a book on 
mechanical topics (G. 
Richards), will help those 
who use it to a better ap¬ 
preciation of it, perhaps: 
” Few people in witness¬ 
ing the use of a hammer, 
or in using one themselves, 
ever think of it as an en¬ 
gine giving out tons of 
force, concentrating and 
applying power by func¬ 
tions which, if performed 
by other mechanism, would 
involvo trains of gearing, 
levers, or screws ; and that 
such mechanism, if em¬ 
ployed instead of hammers, 
must lack that important 
function of applying force 
in any direction that the 
will may direct, 
“ A simple hand - ham¬ 
mer is, in the abstract, one 
of the most intricate of 
mechanical agents—that is, 
its action is move difficult 
to analyze than that of 
many complex machines 
involving trains of mech¬ 
anism ; bin, our familiarity 
with hammers makes us 
overlook chis fact, and the 
hamrier has even been de¬ 
nied a place among those 
mechanical contrivances to 
which there has teen ap¬ 
plied the mistaken name of 
mechanical powers. 
Let the reader compare a 
hammer with a wheel and 
Good TfuiUUnos are fre 
quently destroyed by fire 
for want of ladders. Every 
building of value should 
have permanent or mov¬ 
able ladders on or about it. 
