How to Build a House

How to Build a House has a section headed THE OLD CHÂTEAU, with a chapter headed PAUL PURSUES A COURSE OF STUDY IN PRACTICAL ARCHITECTURE. The text says letters and newspapers were daily bringing the most distressing intelligence, that the enemy had crossed the French boundary a week ago, and that building was a matter scarcely to be thought of. A speaker says a trench of about 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet deep is to be dug to receive the walls forming the perimeter of the house, and that concrete is to be poured over the whole area of the building with a thickness of 2 feet to 2 feet 6 inches.

A character named Paul asks how good building-stone can be distinguished from that of inferior quality. One speaker says we must teach, endeavouring to make knowledge, reason, and the habit of reflection penetrate everywhere, and especially into the minds of the rising generation. A speaker plans the linen-room, an important matter, to be placed over the kitchen, and a nursery to be over the dining-room.