hough the old Long Islanders copied theirs from the homes they
left in Holland, but we must remember that even the effete civilization of
Europe once had a backwoods country a long, long time ago, and then they
built their houses from the timbers hewn in the forests as our own
ancestors did in this country; consequently, many of the characteristics
of present-day houses which seem to us useless and unnecessary are
survivals of the necessary characteristics of houses made of crude
material.

XLII

HOW TO MAKE A FIREPLACE AND CHIMNEY FOR A SIMPLE LOG CABIN

FIG. 269 shows a simple form of fireplace which is practically the
granddaddy of all the other fireplaces. It consists of three walls for
windbreaks, laid up in stone or sod against some stakes driven in the
ground for the purpose of supporting them. The four-cornered stakes are
notched or forked and small logs are laid horizontally in these forks and
on top of this a pyramidal form of a log pen is built of small logs and
billets, and this answers the purpose of a chimney. This style of
fireplace is adapted to use in camps and rude shacks like those shown by
Figs. 187, 189, 191, and 192; also for the most primitive log cabins, but
when we make a real log house we usually plan to have a more elaborate or
more finished fireplace and chimney. The ground-plan of Fig. 269 is shown
by Fig. 270.

Mud Hearth

Here you see there is a mud hearth, a wall of clay plastered over the
stones of the fireplace. This will prevent the fire from cracking and
chipping the stones, but clay is not absolutely necessary in this
fireplace. When, however, you build the walls of your fireplace of logs
and your chimney of sticks the clay _is_ necessary to prevent the fire
from igniting the woodwork and consuming it. For a log-framed fireplace,
make a large opening in the wall of your house and against the ends of the
logs where you sawed out the opening, erect jamb pieces of planks two or
three inches thick running up to the log over the fireplace and spiked to
the round ends of the logs (see plan, Fig. 272). Next, lay your foundation
of sill logs on the fireplace, first two side logs and then a back log,
neatly notched so as to look like the logs in the walls of the cabin.
Build your fireplace walls as shown by Fig. 271, after which take your mud
or clay and make the hearth by hammering the clay down hard until you have
a firm, smooth foundation. The front hearth may be made, as sh