** How to Make an Eskimo Snow House [5] By George E. Walsh

Playing in the snow can be raised to a fine art if boys and girls will build their creations with some attempt at architectural skill and not content themselves with mere rough work.  Working in snow and ice opens a wide field for an expression of taste and invention, but the construction of houses and forts out of this plastic material provides the greatest amount of pleasure to the normally healthy boy or girl.

The snow house of the Eskimo is probably the unhealthiest of buildings made by any savage to live in, but it makes an excellent playhouse in winter, and represents at the same time a most ingenious employment of the arch system in building.  The Eskimos build their snow houses without the aid of any scaffolding or interior false work, and while there is a keystone at the top of the dome, it is not essential to the support of the walls.  These are self-supporting from the time the first snow blocks are put down until the last course is laid.

The snow house is of the beehive shape and the ground plan is that of a circle.  The circle is first laid out on the ground and a space cleared for it.  Then a row of snow blocks is laid on the ground and another course of similar blocks placed on top.  The snow blocks are not exactly square in shape, but about 12 in. long, 6 in. high and 4 or 5 in. thick.  Larger or smaller blocks can be used, according to size of the house and thickness of the walls.

First, the snow blocks must be packed and pressed firmly into position out of moist snow that will pack.  A very light, dry snow will not pack easily, and it may be necessary to use a little water.  If the snow is of the right consistency, there will be no trouble in packing and working with it.  As most of the blocks are to be of the same size throughout, it will pay to make a mold for them by forming a box of old boards nailed together, minus the top, and with a movable bottom, or rather no bottom at all.  Place the four sided box on a flat board and ram snow in it, forcing it down closely.  Then by lifting the box up and tapping the box from above, the block will drop out.  In this way blocks of uniform size are formed, which makes the building simpler and easier.

While one boy makes the blocks another can shave them off at the edges and two others can build the house, one inside of the circle and the other outside.  The Eskimos build their snow houses in this way, and the man inside stays there until he is completely walled in.  Then the door and a window are cut through the wall.

[Illustration:  Laying the Snow Bricks]

[Illustration:  Three-Room Snow House]

Each layer of snow blocks must have a slight slant at the top toward the center so that the walls will constantly curve inward.  This slant at the top is obtained better by slicing off the lower surfaces of each block before putting it in its course.  The top will then have a uniform inward slant.