1 
VoL. LXXVI. 
NEW YORK, .TETA' 
1917. 
No. 4407. 
The Old-fashioned Community Spirit 
Barn Raising in Lancaster County, Pa. 
NEIGHBORHOOD EA’ENT.—A “barn raising” 
in laincaster County, I’a., is a neighorhood 
event and has been so from the days of tlie early 
settlers. It is always largely attended. It seldom 
falls to the lot of a farmer to build a barn more 
than one time dtiring his life, while many need not 
build. Most of the barns that dot this rich farm¬ 
ing county are built by contractors, who fre(iuently 
are local lumber dealers. The.v employ artisans, in¬ 
cluding masons, cement workers, carpenters, paint- 
place of every piece of timber in the lU'w barn, di- 
'rects the work of the various men'employed and sets 
the day for the raising. ' ■ • ' 
• A FREE-WILL GATHERING.—When this is de¬ 
cided word is'sent through thcAommunity. no longer 
■ by “wireless.” for the telephone now reaches most 
families or their neighbors. No matter how busy 
farmers or laborers ma.v be the informal invitation 
to participate in the I’aising takes prece<lence of 
every other event, except a funeral of a relative. It 
would not be possible to erect the framework with¬ 
out neighborhood co-operation, except at great ex¬ 
pense and much delay. This service on the part of 
iilar .size is 40. oO. or even 00 feet in width. SO, 100, 
or more feet in length, with usually a height of 10 
feet to the square, the large timbers forming the 
upper rectangle of the structure on which the roof 
rests. The term bank barn is applied because if 
erected on the level a sloping bank of earth is re¬ 
quired iu the rear to form a driveway to the barn 
floor beneath which the stables for stock are located. 
Strangers from a distance attending these gather¬ 
ings are impressed with the orderly conduct of the 
men and the frictionless way in which the work pro¬ 
ceeds. One man remarked that all the time he 
mingled among the workers he could not recall hear- 
The Helpers at a Barn Raising in Lancaster County, Pa., Fig. 346 
ers, roofers or tinners and i)lumbers. The frame¬ 
work is prepared by the carpenters (ui the premises, 
and near the building site. Alt the pieces of timber 
are cut to proper iengths, mortised, tenoned, drilled 
and numbered, so that when l)rought to their respec¬ 
tive places they are an exact tit. and when braces, 
uprights and cross supports are fastened to the 
main timbers by driving wooden pins through the 
holes at the mortised sections tlie parts become an 
entity of great strength and firmness, and the com¬ 
pleted structure will withstand the severest shocks 
of .storms. This preliminary work takes weeks, 
sometimes months. The foreman of the carpenter 
gang of workmen is held responsible for the exact 
working out of the architect’s plans, must know the 
the neighbors is a free-will otfering, and is one of 
the factors that makes that community or fellow 
feeling which is “wondrous kind.” Anyone who 
would hint on such an occasion that he expects pay 
would learn that he has a streak of meanness in his 
composition that needs eradication. Everybody 
comes to make himself useful and there is a spirit 
of altruism manifested that does one good to see. 
The spirit of co-operation is productive of such pro¬ 
gress that the raising of the framework of a large 
barn is often completed in half a day. 
BARN CONSTRUCTION.—Lancaster County has 
long been noted for its tine, large barns. Most of 
them are what are knows as bank barns, many of 
the “Swiss” models or variations of them. A pop¬ 
ing a single word of profanity. Neither were there 
imperious orders from the foreman as though he 
considered himself a czar on the occasion. The in- 
stimctions were given in courteous words and no 
louder than necessary to be heard. Everyl)ody seems 
to understand what to do. and among those able to 
work there are no slackers. The majority of men 
are engaged in carrying timbers from the prepar¬ 
atory grounds to the building site and here is where 
splendid team work comes in, heavy timbers requir¬ 
ing as many as 12 men to convey, six on either side 
with poles underneath about six feet long. The crit¬ 
ical work is left for carpenters, skilled climbers and 
men not getting dizzy in ascending heights to make 
joints up iu the air and erect roof supports. 
