Suggestions for interiors of surprise dens and sketch of Dr. Root's surprise den.Suggestions for interiors of surprise dens and sketch of Dr. Root's surprise den.
If the reader's house is already built, the surprise den may be erected as an addition; it may be built as a log cabin after the manner of any of those previously described in this book, or it may be made an imitation log cabin by using slabs and nailing them on the walls in place of real whole logs. Doctor Root's surprise den, or "loggery," is made of whole logs and chinked with moss.Fig. 310is supposed to be made of slabs, half logs, or puncheons nailed to the walls and ceiling and so arranged that the visitor cannot detect the deception. Personally, however, I do not like deception of any sort and would recommend that the house be made, if possible, of whole logs; but whatever way you build it, remember that it must have a generous, wide fireplace, a crane, and a good hearthstone, and that your furniture must either be made of the material to be found in the woods or selected from the antique furniture of some old farmhouse, not mahogany furniture, but Windsor chairs, three-legged stools, and deal-wood tables—such furniture as might be found in an old pioneer's home.
Fig. 311.Fig. 312.Fig. 313.Fig. 314.Fig. 315.Fig. 316.Fig. 317.
Fig. 318.Fig. 319.Fig. 320.
Details of combined door-knob and wooden latch.Details of combined door-knob and wooden latch.
The principal thing to the surprise den, however, is the doorway. The outside of the door—that is, the side seen from the main part of the house—should be as formal as its surroundings and give no indication of what might be on the other side. If it opens from the most formal room in the house, so much the better.Fig. 321shows the outside of the door of the surprise den; I do not mean by this outside of the house but a doorway facing the dining-room, library, drawing-room, or parlor.Fig. 321shows one side of the door andFig. 322the other side of the same door. In this instance one side of the door is supposed to have a bronze escutcheon and a glass knob (Figs.315and316). Of course, any other sort of a knob (Fig. 313) will answer our purpose, but the inside, or the surprise-den side, of the door must have
After some experiments I discovered that this could be easily arranged by cutting a half-round piece of hardwood (F,Fig. 312) to fit upon the square endGof the knob (Figs.311and313) and be held in place with a small screw (Fig. 314). When this arrangement is made for the door and the knob put in place as it is in Figs.315and316, a simple wooden latch (Fig. 317) with the catchK(Fig. 319) and the guard (Fig. 320) may be fastened upon the den side of the door as shown byK,L, (Fig. 317). When the door is latched the wooden pieceFfits underneath the latch as shown byFig. 317.When the knob is turned, it turns the half disk and lifts the latchHas shown inFig. 318; this, of course, opens the door, and the visitor is struck with amazement upon being ushered into a pioneer backwoods log cabin, where after-dinner coffee may be served, where the gentlemen may retire to smoke their cigars, where the master of the house may retire, free from the noise of the children, to go over his accounts, write his private letters, or simply sit before the fire and rest his tired brain by watching the smoke go up the chimney.
Fig. 321.Fig. 322.
The "surprise den." A log house inside a modern mansion.The "surprise den." A log house inside a modern mansion.
Here also, over the open fire, fish, game, and chickens may be cooked, as our grandams and granddaddies cooked them, and quaint, old-fashioned luncheons and suppers served on earthenware or tin dishes, camp style. In truth, the surprise den possesses so many charming possibilities that it is destined to be an adjunct to almost every modern home. It can be enclosed within the walls of a city house, a suburban house, or added as a wing to a country house, but in all cases the outside of the surprise den should conform in material used and general appearance to the rest of the house so as not to betray the secret.
Thegreat danger with rustic work is the temptation, to which most builders yield, to make it too fancy and intricate in place of practical and simple. Figs.323,324,325, and326are as ornamental as one can make them without incurring the danger of being overdone, too ornate, too fancy to be really appropriate.
Fig. 323.Fig. 324.Fig. 325.Fig. 326.
Which would you rather do or go fishing? Suggestions for log gates.Which would you rather do or go fishing? Suggestions for log gates.
Fig. 328is a gate made of upright logs with bevelled tops protected by plank acting as a roof, and a flattened log fitting across the top. The gate and fence, you may see, are of simple construction; horizontal logs for the lower part keep out small animals, upright posts and rails for the upper part keep out larger animals and at the same time do not shut out the view from the outside or the inside of the enclosure.Fig. 324shows a roof gateway designed and made for the purpose of supplying building sites for barn swallows or other useful birds. The fence for this one is a different arrangement of logs, practical and not too fancy.Fig. 325shows a modification of the gate shown byFig. 323; in this one, however, in place of a plank protecting bevelled edges of the upright logs, two flattened logs are spiked on like rafters to a roof, the apex being surmounted by a bird-house.Fig. 326shows another gateway composed of two upright logs with a cross log overhead in which holes have been excavated for the use of white-breasted swallows, bluebirds, woodpeckers, or flickers.Fig. 327is another simple but picturesque form of gateway, where the cross log at the top has its two ends carved after the fashion of totem-poles. In place of a wooden fence a stone wall is shown. The ends of the logs (Fig. 327), which are embedded in the earth, should first be treated with two or three coats of creosote to prevent decay; but since it is the moisture of the ground that causes the decay, if you arrange your gate-posts like those shown in the vertical section (Fig. 328), they will last practically forever. Note that the short gate-post rests upon several small stones with air spaces between them, and pointed ends of the upright logs rest upon one big stone. The gate-post is fastened to the logs by crosspieces of board running horizontally from log to the post, and these are enclosed inside the stone pier so that they are concealed from view. This arrangement allows all the water to drain from the wood, leaving it dry and thus preventing decay.Fig. 329shows another form of gate-post of more elaborate structure, surmounted by the forked trunk of a tree; these parts are supposed to be spiked together or secured in place by hardwood pegs.
Never forget to add the bird-house or bird shelter to every gateway you make; it is more important than the gate itself. In my other books I have described and told how to make various forms of bird-houses, including my invention of the woodpecker's house now being manufactured by many firms, including one in Germany, but the reader should make his own bird-houses. I am glad the manufacturers have taken up these ideas for the good they willdo the birds, but the ideas were published first solely for the use of the boys in the hopes of educating them both in the conservation of bird life and in the manual training necessary to construct bird-houses.
Fig. 327.Fig. 328.Fig. 329.
Gateways for game preserves, camps, etc.Gateways for game preserves, camps, etc.
Fig. 330.Fig. 331.Fig. 332.
Log gate and details of same.Log gate and details of same.
The reader must have, no doubt, noticed that the problems in this book have become more and more difficult as we approach the end, but this is because everything grows; as we acquire skill we naturally seek more and more difficult work on which to exercise our skill. These gateways, however, are none of them too difficult for the boys to build themselves. The main problem to overcome in building the picturesque log gateway shown byFig. 331is not in laying up the logs or constructing the roof—the reader has already learned how to do both in the forepart of this book—but it is in so laying the logs that the slant or incline on the two outsides will be exactly the same, also in so building the sides that when you reach the top of the open way and place your first overhead log, the log will be exactly horizontal, exactly level, as it must be to carry out the plan in a workmanlike manner.Fig. 330shows you the framework of the roof, the ridge-pole of which is a plank cut "sway-backed," that is, lower in the centre than at either end. The frame should be roofed with hand-rived shingles, or at least hand-trimmed shingles, if you use the manufactured article of commerce. This gateway is appropriate for a common post-and-rail fence or any of the log fences illustrated in the previous diagrams.Fig. 332shows how the fence here shown is constructed: theAlogs are bevelled to fit in diagonally, theBandClogs are set in as shown by the dotted line inFig. 332.A gateway like the one shown here would make a splendid and imposing one for a permanent camp, whether it be a Boy Scout, a Girl Pioneer, a private camp for boys, or simply the entrance to a large private estate.
The writer has made these diagrams so that they may be used by men or boys; the last one shows a gateway large enough to admit a "four-in-hand" stage-coach or an automobile, but the boys may build it in miniature so that the opening is only large enough to admit a pedestrian.
The End
THE BEARD BOOKS FOR BOYSBy DAN C. BEARD
Shelters, Shacks, and ShantiesIllustrated by the Author$1.25 netHe gives easily workable directions, accompanied by very full illustration, for over fifty shelters, shacks, and shanties, ranging from the most primitive shelter to a fully equipped log cabin. Boys will find it an invaluable guide in constructing temporary or permanent shelters in their hikes or encampments.Boat-Building and BoatingA Handy Book for BeginnersIllustrated by the Author$1.00 netThe directions for making boats are practical and illustrated by simple diagrams, and the work is full of new and suggestive ideas for all kinds of craft.The Boy PioneersSons of Daniel BooneIllustrated by the Author$1.50 net"A book that is truly fine and will probably have a wider influence on the lives of boys into whose hands it falls than almost any other book that comes their way."—The Interior.TheField and Forest Handy BookOr, New Ideas for Out of DoorsIllustrated by the Author$1.50 net"Instructions as to ways to build boats and fire-engines, make aquariums, rafts and sleds, to camp in a back-yard, etc. No better book of the kind exists."—Chicago Record-Herald.
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With over 700 illustrations by the Authors8vo. $1.50 net
An elaborate book for girls, by Lina and Adelia Beard whose former books on girls' sports have become classic, which contains a mass of practical instruction on handicrafts and recreations. So many and so various are the things it tells how to do and make that it will give occupation to any sort of girl in all seasons and all weathers.
"The girl who gets this book will not lack for occupation and pleasure."—Chicago Evening Post.
New Ideas for Work and PlayWith more than 300 illustrations by the AuthorsSquare 8vo. $1.50 net
This book is the result of the authors' earnest desire to encourage in their young friends the wish to do things for themselves. Its aim is to give suggestions that will help them to satisfy this wish. Within its covers are described a great variety of things useful, instructive, and entertaining, suited for both indoors and out.
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In this book Lina and Adelia Beard, the authors, tell everything the girls of to-day want to know about sports, games, and winter afternoon and evening amusements and work, in a clear, simple, entertaining way. Eight new chapters have been added to the original forty-two that made the book famous.
"It is a treasure which, once possessed, no practical girl would willingly part with."—Grace Greenwood.
With some 600 drawings by the Authors that show exactlyhow they should be done8vo. $1.50 net
This book by Lina and Adelia Beard comprises an infinite variety of amusing things that are worth doing. Some of these things are:—"A Wonderful Circus at Home," "The Wild West on a Table," "How to Weave Without a Loom," "How to Make Friends with the Stars," "A Living Christmas Tree," etc.
"Everything is so plainly set forth and so fully illustrated with drawings that the happy owners of the book should find it easy to follow its suggestions."—New York Tribune.
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Transcriber's NotesPage202fat side changed to flat side.Page230numer changed to number.
Transcriber's Notes
Page202fat side changed to flat side.Page230numer changed to number.