a coil in a small 
corner. In cold 
this stove, but in 
an advantage in having the kitchen 
and bathroom plumbing all together. 
The spout from the force pump may 
be swung around and directed either 
into the kitchen sink or the bathtub. 
Whenever one feels strong enough to 
operate the pump a few minutes, how¬ 
ever, there is running water, hot or 
cold, from tanks on a shelf overhead. 
Water is heated by 
wood stove in the 
weather we cook in 
summer a small 
t w o-b u r n e r oil 
stove is more de¬ 
sirable. This rests 
on a shelf inside 
the door of the 
kitchen cabinet 
and folds out of 
sight when not in 
use. A small oven 
that folds flat may 
be obtained from 
almost any dealer 
in camp equipment. 
The built-in kitchen 
cabinet is tin-lined 
against possible 
field-mice. It con¬ 
tains ample shelf 
room. A surpris¬ 
ingly small amount 
of shelf room is 
required, by the 
way, when cooking 
utensils are built 
according to the 
camp idea, in 
graduated sizes, 
one fitting into an¬ 
other. For a cellar, 
there is simply a 
cooling space be¬ 
neath the kitchen 
cabinet, about 
three feet square 
by two and a half 
feet deep, into 
which we let down 
a dumb - waiter. 
The space is sur¬ 
rounded by hollow 
tile and we have 
never felt a need 
for any better 
refrigeration. A 
third space beneath the kitchen floor 
serves as a storage bin for either coal 
or wood. Other features of the kitchen 
are a fold-up table and a seat that 
may be dropped against the wall. 
Inasmuch as the kitchen is only 
eight by ten, one may sit at breakfast 
and without leaving his chair reach to 
the wood stove, the oil stove, the sink, 
or the shelves in the kitchen cabinet. 
Any clever mathematician could spend 
a delightful afternoon or evening figur¬ 
ing out how many footsteps might be 
Page 683 
saved here in the course of a year. 
Being small and with light on three 
sides, the kitchen is both light and cool 
even on a hot or gloomy day. Three 
persons can eat in the kitchen with 
reasonable comfort. Four might man¬ 
age it, but with more than that number 
there is a noticeable tendency to be 
crowded. It is best then to move into 
the main room. 
I have discussed the kitchen first be¬ 
cause, since it is also the bathroom, it 
seemed to be the key to the whole ques¬ 
tion of compactness. The original 
plan, however, was to have no kitchen 
and cook over the fireplace with the 
opposite end of the main room devoted 
to a kitchen cabinet that when closed, 
might masquerade as a bookcase. 
When a kitchen, bed-room and living 
room are all in one, though, there is 
always a chance that the place may 
eventually fail to look orderly and im¬ 
maculate. With the kitchen separate, 
the main question was to simplify the 
heating arrangements — to make one 
fire do for both living room and sleep¬ 
ing quarters. 
One suggestion was to have an up¬ 
stairs to the cabin and a fireplace on 
each level, one chimney for both. An¬ 
other was that the upstairs should be 
heated by a coil in the fireplace down¬ 
stairs. Either of these plans seemed 
to contain needless complications and 
the final solution was a sleeping bal¬ 
cony, large enough for three beds. A 
single fireplace 
would thus heat 
both the main 
room and sleeping 
quarters, and we 
should have no 
furnace problem. 
Many homes have 
been ruined by dis¬ 
cussions about the 
care of the furn¬ 
ace. The balcony 
extends along one 
side as well as 
across one end of 
the cabin. A rus¬ 
tic rail with a 
bearskin or dark 
blanket thrown 
over it provides 
reasonable privacy 
for those disposed 
to crawl into bed. 
The beds have 
light steel running 
gear, with springs 
and frame all in 
one, and low head 
and foot rail. By 
the way, has any¬ 
body ever heard of 
a sensible reason 
other than custom 
for having the 
head of a bed 
higher than the 
foot? Besides the 
beds on the bal¬ 
cony, there are two 
bunks downstairs 
that serve as 
couches by day. 
And I keep an 
army cot or two 
stored away for 
unexpected visiting brothers. 
The main objection to having a 
sleeping balcony in the living room is 
that in winter when one wishes to 
ventilate the sleeping quarters, the 
whole place is cold at getting-up time 
and one is likely to stay in bed long 
after sunrise from sheer dread of step¬ 
ping out into the chill air. This diffi¬ 
culty is overcome in a measure by 
getting up temporarily, closing the 
windows, and harassing the fire, after 
which one may scoot back into bed 
