t
can tell me when the first brick in America was made? Or even where it
was made?... I thought not.

Well, it was made in New Haven in 1650. Mr. Scrimshaw does not say what
it was made for, but a conjecture would be that it was the handiwork of
Yale students for tactical use in the Harvard game. (Oh, I know that
Yale wasn't running in 1650, but what difference does that make in an
informal little article like this? It is getting so that a man can't
make any statement at all without being caught up on it by some busybody
or other.)

* * * * *

But let's get down to the art itself.

Mr. Scrimshaw's first bit of advice is very sound. "The bricklayer
should first take a keen glance at the scaffolding upon which he is to
work, to see that there is nothing broken or dangerous connected with
it.... This is essential, because more important than anything else to
him is the preservation of his life and limb."

Oh, Mr. Scrimshaw, how true that is! If I were a bricklayer I would
devote practically my whole morning inspecting the scaffolding on which
I was to work. Whatever else I shirked, I would put my whole heart and
soul into this part of my task. Every rope should be tested, every board
examined, and I doubt if even then I would go up on the scaffold. Any
bricks that I could not lay with my feet on terra firma (there is a joke
somewhere about terra cotta, but I'm busy now) could be laid by some one
else.

* * * * *

But we don't seem to be getting ahead in our instruction in practical
bricklaying. Well, all right, take this:

"Pressed bricks, which are buttered, can be laid with a one-eighth-inch
joint, although a joint of three-sixteenths of an inch is to be
preferred."

Joe, get this gentleman a joint of three-sixteenths of an inch,
buttered. Service, that's our motto!

* * * * *

It takes a book like this to make a man realize what he misses in his
everyday life. For instance, who would think that right here in New York
there were people who specialized in corbeling? Rain or shine, hot or
cold, you will find them corbeling around like Trojans. Or when they are
not corbeling they may be toothing. (I too thought that this might be a
misprint for "teething," but it is spelled "toothing" throughout the
book, so I guess that Mr. Scrimshaw knows what he is about.) Of all
departments of bricklaying I should think that it wo