Title: American homes and gardens
Identifier: americanhomesga41907newy (find matches)
Year: 1905 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Landscape gardening
Publisher: New York : Munn and Co
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS July, 1907 July, 1907 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS begin with, and while the initial cost is greater all the way through, it is also far more expensive to maintain. A small gasoline launch, which will serve for tender, ex- press and market boat, will be found a great convenience and an almost indispensable adjunct to the house-boat. Aside from its great usefulness, it enables the owner, the family and guests, to make frequent excursions and to visit and ex- plore all the nearby places. The advantages of the marine gasoline motor need not be extolled here, but suffice to say that these handy and simple little machines have now been brought to a very high point of perfection. The aim of nearly all manufacturers has been to make them "fool- pose, unless, of course, one insists on having a maid. If the boat is large enough and the owner desires to keep a servant, a man will prove far more satisfactory. Chinese are by far the best; but few are to be had. Swedes and Norwegians come next, and they are Invariably good boatmen; they till the requirements very nicely. They are generally clean, and most of them can cook sufficiently well to prepare in a palat- able way the simple fare one demands when living afloat. West Indian negroes have been tried by many with ex- cellent results. Those bred in the British possessions make the best servants. Most of them can cook, and besides being reasonably clean, are usually good swimmers and watermen. 269 ceries can be had for the same price one pays in town, while green vegetables, milk, cream, etc., should be cheap when they are to be had from farms adjacent to the anchorage. To suggest anchorages and mooring places where house- boats may be best enjoyed would be an almost endless and futile task, for our country is a net^'ork of rivers and streams. Besides the numberless inland waters there are the coast lines with the indentations and bays, suitable for house-boat moorings. There are certain things to bear in mind when picking out an anchorage, wherever it may be. Be sure that it is per- fectly sheltered from every quarter, anchor as near the shore entirely new; that is, the scows were specially built to take the house, which insures a tight and clean hull. Taking an old scow or hull and building a house on it is a questionable operation, for the converted hulls are generally leaky and frequently are infested with vermin. The building of an entirely new boat may mean a greater outlay at first, but she will be far more satisfactory and in the long run the cost for repairs will be less. "Hostess," the smallest of the quartet, was designed for his own use by Mr. Charles D. Mower, a well-known naval architect practicing in New York City. She was built at College Point, L. I., under the designer's supervision.
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The Galley Is Conveniently Ananged for Cooking Purposes The Duan ProMdes L\tra Sleeping Accomodation (or a Gui proof," and anyone with ordinary intelligence can handle the motor with ease and safety. Power tenders can be had at moderate figures, some good ones can be bought as low as $150. The modified dory and sharpie make admirable launches, and have the great ad- vantage of being most inexpensive. The cost of the engine itself is very much the same, no matter in what type of hull it may be installed. A sailing dory makes a handy tender, for it can be easily propelled with either oars or sails. A canoe adds to the com- pleteness of one's fleet; it is cheap, is easily paddled, and may be readily lifted out of the water and put on the upper deck out of the way. The servant question is not as vexatious as one might sup- When one IS fortunate enough to secure a good Jap he will prove to be all that could be desired. But in general the Japanese are hardly to be recommended, for they are con- stantly changing, and many are careless and dirty. The good ones command a high wage, and the poor ones are not wanted at any price. For the children one should, of course, select a servant who can swim and handle a boat well, for he can teach the young folks to swim and sail and row; and one may go to town in the morning with the satisfaction of knowing that the little ones are in good hands. The cost of living on a house-boat should average a little less than it does in town. Meats will cost a little more, but under some conditions fish and shell fish may cost less. Gro- as you can, and still avoid mosquitoes and noises from shore resorts or other objectionable places. A mushroom anchor (shaped as its name indicates) and a chain cable are always good investments. If they are large enough they afford the best sort of insurance, and on stormy nights one need never sit up and worry and wonder if the boat is dragging. To give a full and practical idea of the immobile house- boat, I have selected four craft, all of which are built within a short distance of New York City. These boats have been taken not alone because they are representative craft of their type, but because they were built where labor and material are higher than elsewhere in this country, and boats that can be built for the figures mentioned in this locality could be constructed for less money elsewhere. All four boats were "Hostess" was intended for a bachelor's quarters afloat, and while Mr. Mower has lived alone on the boat for the past three seasons, there is ample room to put up a guest for a night or longer. She is twenty-six feet long over all and ten feet wide. The bottom is flat, and is of i 'i-inch yellow pine planked athwart-ships. Three fore-and-aft stringers, 3 by 4 inches, give additional stiffness. All the seams are well caulked with oakum. Yellow pine, I'i inches thick, is also used on the sides of the scow, which are stiffened by the studs that run down to the stringers on each side. Weather- boarding, ^'4 inch thick, covers the sides and end of the house, the top of which is planked with ^-^ inch tongue and grooved pine. The entire roof is covered with painted canvas. Spruce beams, 1^4 inches thick, support the roof;

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