[Fig. 155.] [Fig. 156.] [Fig. 157.] [Fig. 157.A.] [Fig. 157.B.] [Fig. 157.C.]
[Fig. 158.] [Fig. 159.] [Fig. 160.] [Fig. 161.]
The original American boy's hogan or underground house.
Dangerous Caves
The trouble is that with caves which the boys dig for themselves there is always serious danger of the roof falling in and smothering the young troglodytes, but a properly built underground hogan is perfectly safe from such accidents.
Framing
After you have levelled off the foundation erect the rear posts of two-by-fours A, B and C, D ([Fig. 156]). These posts should be of the same height and tall enough to allow the roof to slant toward the front as in [Fig. 155.] The front posts E, F and G, H, although shorter than the back posts, should be tall enough to allow headroom. One, two, or three more posts may be erected between the post A, B and the post C, D if additional strength is required. The same is true of the sides, and in place of having only one post in the middle of each side (M, N and O, P, [Fig. 156]), there may be two or three posts, all according to the size of the house you are building; the main point is to make a compact and strong box of your framework so that in the wet weather the banks surrounding it will not be tempted to push in the sides and spoil your house.